It was fairly early when Kyle showed up for class. Taking advantage of the abundance of empty seats, he instinctively plonked himself near the back, and used his backpack and notebook to reserve the two seats on either side of him. There was another reason why he had arrived ahead of time. Retrievin...

Kyle nodded encouragingly at Riley’s words. “I’m sure we can,” he said with an outwardly confident smile. Beating the Gryffindor Quidditch team was easier said that done, and they both knew that. However, it was for that exact reason that they shouldn’t worry excessively and instead keep their moral...

Kyle’s promise that he would tell Anwen about the incident that turned his entire life upside down seemed to be enough for her. Right now he still wasn’t ready, but he would have to open up about it if he wanted to overcome his negative feelings and move on. But there was something else he wasn’t pr...

Spinning a biro absently in his hand, Kyle stared blankly at the equally blank paper before him. Should he wait till things were more or less finalised before he reached out to the kind lady from the Muggle Liaison Office? How was he to word his request delicately, provided it was even possible to d...

“Till the Dawn Breaks” – Part 2 9th July, 2005 ♪ “Big” – Man-Made Sunshine ♪ Staggering unsteadily through the doorway, Kyle looked around the flat for a good place for his sloshed father to sit down and rest. The place was almost the same as he remembered. It was noticeably messier, but not too si...

Dear Sam, Thanks so much for dropping by, and for the cauldron cakes. They definitely more than made my day. I was so hungry when I woke up after being out cold for a few days straight. You’re an absolute lifesaver. I’m sorry, the boggart thing wasn’t true. I don’t remember much about what happened,...

Thanks so much for dropping by to visit. I’m sorry you had to deal with all the nosey parkers, and for conking out for so long. If I had woken up earlier, maybe there wouldn’t be so many people pestering you for answers. Please don’t feel the need to rush over when this letter reaches you. I’m more ...

“Till the Dawn Breaks” – Part 1 9th July, 2005 A waxing crescent hung high in the cloudless night sky, distant and cold and uncaring as Kyle trudged home, worn out after a long day of work at Osman’s restaurant. Business had been brisk and everyone had been working in double-quick time to satisfy t...

The more Kyle tried to keep his troubles to himself so as to not impose them on Anwen, the more concerned she became about him instead. In the past most people did not respond in this manner; they were usually satisfied with a false reassurance from him that he was all right. She was different, as t...

Anwen didn’t seem completely at ease when Kyle said that he had been through worse. Which, come to think of it, was completely logical, but with his still-foggy brain he hadn’t came to that conclusion quicker. “They say everything happens for a reason,” Kyle shrugged as he broke eye contact and cast...

Professor Forrester’s impromptu announcement of the first Hogsmeade visit was met with elated cheers from some of the students. They were soon followed by a low murmuring of confused questions; a number of students hadn’t been paying attention, and they were now bugging their friends to tell them wh...

Though he had never serious considered tracking down the wolf himself, it intrigued Kyle to hear about his movements from Quinn. “The Whomping Willow… the wolf’s probably agile enough to avoid its flailing branches with ease, I guess.” And when the Gryffindor mentioned the Three Broomsticks Inn, he ...

Anwen assured Kyle that she was all right, and turned his question back to him; after all, he was the one who had been slumbering for days on end. “I’m fine, I think,” he replied with a smile, hoping that would assuage her concerns. “Don’t worry; I’ve been through way worse than this.” When Anwen sa...

Did the healer forget something? Kyle thought as he turned to look at the newcomer. His eyes widened in surprised as he recognised her immediately. “Anwen?” He wasn’t the only one caught off-guard by the turn of events, for Anwen yelped and dropped her sandwich the moment she saw him. Tears began t...

Kyle came round and found himself staring at a high ceiling, much higher than the one at his dorm. At the top edge of his vision, light streamed in through a row of tall windows, and to his right there was a blue curtain. There was a bit of background noise too, just enough to sound comforting witho...

Kyle was hoping that his offer to foot the bill for all the snacks would go uncontested, but the other two wouldn’t let him have his way. Riley piped up about how she could treat the others too because her father had given her too much money again, a situation which Kyle could relate to despite his ...

Kyle had gotten up earlier than usual on the morning of the first Hogsmeade trip of the school term. He was looking forward to hanging out with Quinn, but alas that was not the reason why he had dragged himself out of bed at such an unholy hour. Earlier that week the gamekeeper had asked Kyle to hel...

With his own shield raised, Kyle looked up to check on Trent. The latter’s shield was up as well, an identical-looking blue disk on his non-wand arm, but there was a strange fleeting expression on his face. Furthermore, he sounded a bit distracted as he indicated that he was ready. Maybe he’s trying...

As much as Kyle wanted to make Riley feel better, the Keeper was right: Quidditch fans were a difficult lot to please. “Yea,” he agreed as she shared how she would turn their fans’ displeasure into a source of motivation. “That’s a good way to look at things.” Having played Quidditch for so many yea...

In all the years that Kyle had known Trent, it wasn’t too often that he got to see the his friend smile so broadly. Him agreeing to lend his notes must have lifted a heavy weight off Trent’s chest. “I’m just doing what any friend should do,” he said as he returned the smile, equally heartened that h...

As the other students shared their differing views on how difficult Divination would be, Kyle found himself unable to come to a clear conclusion on the matter. “I certainly hope so,” he replied to Sam. “But I’ve heard that only a small minority of people are blessed with the gift to see the future. ...

Unconvinced that they were facing a boggart, the Auror demanded an explanation, something that Kyle should have seen coming when he made that claim. Just because he could easily discern if someone or something before him was a boggart didn’t mean that others could. “The person trapped in the flames ...

“Just two more years,” Kyle replied. Riley was in her Fifth Year, and with luck she’d be able to Apparate to London by the time she was a Seventh-Year like he was now. “I just thought of this: there’s nothing stopping an adult or someone else from using side-along Apparition to bring you to King’s ...

The way Riley talked about how she needed to be a great Keeper because of her size – or more accurately, her lack thereof – made Kyle feel a bit bad. He was pretty tall and had definitely used his longer reach to his advantage, so he didn’t feel that he was in any position to say that size didn’t ma...

Fortunately for Kyle, Riley didn’t seem to mind the intrusion too much, though he felt a small pang of guilt for interrupting her sleep. For those who lived far away from London and didn’t Apparate or use the Floo Network, the journey to King’s Cross Station could be quite tiring. “I can only imagin...