As Kyle exited the Headmaster's office, he had something in his hand besides the anti-magic potion.

A feather. A warm, fresh phoenix feather.

It was a gift Fawkes had given him when he saw Kyle leaving.

One moonflower in exchange for a fresh phoenix feather. Kyle didn't just break even; he profited.

What a generous phoenix.

After leaving the eighth floor, Kyle hurried towards the Quidditch pitch.

However, when he arrived, he saw a group of badgers carrying Cedric, rushing towards the hospital wing.

At the same time, they kept cursing:

"Those shameless Slytherin bastards."

"Rude behavior, dirty tactics. They don't deserve to play Quidditch!"

"Their team should be disqualified!"

Cedric, being carried by the badgers, was holding his head with one hand and his right leg with the other. He looked very pained.

Seeing this, Kyle also hurried forward.

From the badgers' conversation, it was easy to guess that Cedric had been injured. And it was the Slytherin players who had done it.

Kyle found Ryan and Mickel in the crowd. He walked quickly over to them and patted one of them on the shoulder, "What happened on the pitch?"

Ryan was startled. He turned his head and asked in surprise, "Kyle… where were you? Why are you just getting here now?"

"The Headmaster wanted me. I went to his office." Kyle briefly explained, then asked again, "Don't worry about me. How's Cedric?"

As soon as they mentioned it, Ryan's face flushed red. "Those shameless Slytherins! You wouldn't believe it. Cedric was about to catch the Snitch. He was so close, we were going to win…

Then, the Slytherin captain, actually punched Cedric in the head when Cedric was focused on the Snitch. He knocked Cedric off his broom."

"That's right." Mickel added, equally furious, "You know what his excuse was? That shameless bastard told Madam Hooch that he thought Cedric's head was the Snitch!

That rude moron, that overgrown gorilla. He doesn't deserve to participate in this tournament. He should be benched!"

"This isn’t football, Mickel." Ryan reminded him, "You can't bench someone in a Quidditch game..."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Mickel argued, "But you can't just give Hufflepuff a free kick. It’s so unfair!"

With Ryan and Mickel explaining things back and forth, Kyle quickly understood what had happened.

It was the same as what he had thought.

They couldn’t win fair and square, so they resorted to dirty tactics. Alright, this was very Slytherin.

Soon, the group reached the hospital wing.

"Merlin's beard, what happened?!"

Madam Pomfrey looked very angry, "Nasal bone fractured, right leg completely broken. I don't understand. Why does Hogwarts have to hold such a dangerous game?"

"Every year, someone is sent here. Every year…"

Madam Pomfrey took a second to set Cedric’s broken leg, then kicked everyone out.

But Kyle was allowed to stay.

The freshly set bone couldn’t move yet, so Cedric needed someone to look after him. There were other patients in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey definitely wouldn't be able to handle it all.

And out of this group, Madam Pomfrey only remembered Kyle. So, the task naturally fell on him.

As she closed the door, she still couldn’t help but click her tongue, complaining that the sport was too dangerous and the teachers were too incompetent.

Kyle sat next to the bed and poured Cedric a glass of water. "How do you feel?"

"My leg still hurts a bit." Cedric moved his shoulder, "But it's much better."

Madam Pomfrey’s skills were unquestionable. If Cedric had broken his arm instead of his leg, he probably would have been discharged by now.

"It’s just a pity about the match. We were leading by thirty points."

Cedric leaned against the pillow and sighed dejectedly, "If only I had paid more attention to what was happening around me."

"It's alright. It was only one match, winning or losing doesn't matter." Kyle comforted him. "Besides, breaking rules is a Slytherin tradition. Even if you avoid it this time, they'll find trouble for you later. If you keep avoiding them, you won’t be able to catch the Snitch."

"That’s true." Cedric scratched his head in annoyance, "What about the next matches?"

Hufflepuff and Slytherin had more than just one match. Normally, they would meet at least three more times.

Cedric didn’t want to be hospitalized three more times.

"Don't worry." Kyle thought for a moment, "Just rest up. I’ll take care of the rest."

"Are you going to join the Quidditch team?" Cedric exclaimed in surprise, "What position are you going to play? Are you going to be a Beater?"

"You're overthinking it." Kyle rolled his eyes, "The match already started. Unless a player voluntarily quits, I can’t join the team, even if I want to."

The Hogwarts rules on Quidditch were clear. Each house only had one chance to recruit new players. And it was limited to the second week of school.

But normally, the captains of each house would choose their players during the first weekend. They would then report the names to Madam Hooch on the scheduled date in the second week.

This way, the new players would have three more chances for team practice. And the professors wouldn’t intervene in this kind of small matter.

But after the second week, Madam Hooch wouldn’t allow new players to be added, unless someone quit and the team was short-handed.

However, this rarely happened. It’s not that easy to quit.

Only if there were unavoidable reasons, such as transferring, dropping out, or a physical condition preventing them from playing Quidditch, would Madam Hooch allow the team to change players mid-season.

Otherwise, it was out of the question.

On this point, Madam Hooch was very resolute.

"So, you said you’d take care of it… wait, you wouldn't be thinking of going to trouble Slytherin, would you?"

Cedric seemed to suddenly think of something and said seriously, "Don’t do anything against the rules. I only broke my leg, it’s not that serious.

Besides, you’re only a first-year. Those Slytherin players are all third-year and up. They’re just waiting for you to go after them.

And Professor Snape wouldn’t…"

“That, hold on for a second.”

Seeing that Cedric was going off the deep end, Kyle quickly interrupted him, raising an eyebrow. "What first-year, third-year? You wouldn't think I'm going to duel them, would you?"

“Uh, wouldn’t you?” Cedric was stunned.

"You wish." Kyle rolled his eyes, "I think it’s necessary to have Madam Pomfrey come back here and examine your brain."