After May began, the weather gradually turned sunny, and the sky was as clear and blue as a forget-me-not swaying in the wind.
Not long ago, Hufflepuff played their second Quidditch match and won decisively against Slytherin.
Slytherin seemed to want to imitate Ravenclaw's strategy, using a numbers advantage to trap Kael, who had a Firebolt.
But the problem was, Slytherin didn't have Cho Chang, and Kael easily broke through Montague and the rest with the speed of his Firebolt—the sluggish Nimbus 2001s couldn't even see his broom's twigs.
The whole game basically turned into his personal show, and the screams from the stands hardly ever stopped.
Half an hour later, Cedric caught the Golden Snitch right under Malfoy's nose, locking the score at 360:10.
You could say this match practically handed victory to Hufflepuff—their lead over second place was huge, and as long as they scored a few goals in the third game, the Quidditch Cup would be theirs for sure.
This had the Hufflepuffs absolutely thrilled.
But Professor Snape didn't seem quite as happy—he watched Kael, who was surrounded by a crowd in the middle of the pitch, his expression gloomy as if he was pondering something.
Once the players returned to the ground, he snorted coldly and turned to head back to the castle.
But after that match, exams drew even nearer. The Hufflepuffs' excitement lasted only a day before they had to dive back into their heavy workload.
On the third day after the Quidditch match, it happened to be the first weekend of May. As usual, the sixth-year students gathered in the auditorium for Apparition training.
"Just like we said before, you can all practice freely," said Teckros.
But most students weren't too motivated—recently, every Apparition lesson had ended with someone being splinched, with some even leaving half their body behind.
Although Professor McGonagall promptly put them back together, that horrifying sight still made most people feel some resistance, causing progress to slow more and more.
Still, there were some who weren't bothered by it.
When Conna landed precisely in the wooden hoop five feet away with a crisp bang, Teckros clapped happily.
"Excellent. Five weeks in a row without a single mistake..." he said to Conna with a smile. "No problem, I think you've thoroughly mastered Apparition. All you have to do now is wait for next month's exam, no need to come again."
"Thank you, Professor." Conna said happily.
Amid a sea of envious looks, she ran over to Kael on the other side of the auditorium.
Actually, after the first Apparition lesson, Teckros had stopped bothering with Kael, and he kept his promise too, giving Kael a great big bag of heavy candy.
But Kael had shared them out—everyone present got a share, even the professor wasn't left out.
"I've mastered it..."
"Congratulations..."
The two said at the same time, then left the auditorium together.
"How are those Fire Dragon claws coming along?" Kael asked.
"They've all been ground to powder, and I've got enough to last till our assessments are over." Conna beamed, taking out a box and handing it to Kael. "Oh right, this is for you."
"What's this?"
"No idea. Professor Snape asked me to give it to you," Conna said.
Kael's outstretched hand paused. "Uh… this isn't, like, frog brains and rat spleens or something, is it?"
"Oh, come on!" Conna said in mock annoyance, "Professor Snape would never give you that sort of thing."
"Well, it's not impossible..." Kael muttered quietly.
He had just soundly beaten Slytherin a couple days ago—it was hard to say if that petty guy Snape was still holding a grudge.
"Hmm?" Conna narrowed her eyes a bit. "What are you thinking?"
"N-nothing," Kael coughed, hurriedly taking the box.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Conna had read his mind... Looks like he'd better keep working on his Occlumency.
With Conna watching, Kael braced himself and opened the box.
Thank goodness, there was nothing weird inside—just a pile of eggshells and a complete horn.
Kael recognized the unicorn horn at once—the golden spiral patterns only unicorns had.
Kael was a little surprised. This stuff wasn't cheap... and those eggshells as well.
There were six in all: three silver ones, shining so brightly they looked like pure silver ornaments. Only bird snake eggshells were that color.
The other three were orange, with irregular red stripes circling them.
"Ashwinder eggshells?"
Kael was even more surprised. That was rare stuff, almost as valuable as unicorn horn.
Put it this way: this box together had to be worth over a hundred Galleons.
Professor Snape giving him something worth more than a hundred Galleons... somehow, it all felt a bit off. Was it April Fool's Day today?
No, April Fool's had been over for more than a month.
Kael scratched his head. "Conna, this should be for you, shouldn't it..."
"Of course not," Conna replied. "Professor Snape told me to give it to you."
"Huh?"
Kael stared at the box in his hand, and after a moment of thought, he seemed to get what Snape was up to.
This lot was worth about a hundred Galleons, and the Fire Dragon claws he'd given Conna went for about the same price on the market.
Now it all made sense.