Harry instantly felt that the chocolate in his mouth lost its flavor.
"Did you... take this from the kitchen?"
"Yeah." Kael nodded, "After all, like you just said, there's no proper lunch on the train, so I took a trip to the kitchen before we departed.
"You should know, our Hufflepuff common room is very close to the kitchen, so getting these wasn't hard."
"Yes, yes." Harry said.
He looked at the sumptuous lunch in front of Kael, and then at the pile of snacks in front of him, and his throat ungratefully twitched.
"Come join me." Kael said, "The little elves were too enthusiastic, I asked for one portion, but they gave me so much, there's no way I can finish all this by myself."
"Can I?" said Harry.
"Of course you can."
Kael waved his wand, and the food that had gone cold was steaming hot again.
The heating spell is like a little life magic Kael invented, especially handy in winter when going to bed.
"Thank you."
Harry decisively tossed the chocolate back... with pork chops, who needs to eat these!
"Kael, what do you plan to do for work after graduation?" Harry imitated Kael, sandwiching a pork chop between a muffin, sprinkled some black pepper, and took a big bite.
He didn't know if it was just an illusion, but even though it was the same thing, it was especially delicious when eaten together, with a unique texture, he couldn't help but take another bite.
"Isn't it obvious? Kael is definitely going to work in the Ministry of Magic." Hermione looked at Harry, somewhat disapproving of his crude eating habits, but seeing Kael doing the same, she said nothing.
"Don't forget that Kael is a Senior Ministerial Assistant, he's definitely going back to the Ministry of Magic, right?"
"Um... not necessarily." Kael thought for a moment. "Actually, at this point, the Ministry of Magic's decisions are basically tied to the Death Eaters, just capturing them.
"So right now, the Ministry of Magic is in most need of Aurors and Beaters, not an assistant to advise the Minister."
"Then will you become an Auror?" Harry said, "I also want to be an Auror, maybe by next year we'll be colleagues."
"I didn't really think about it, so we'll see." Kael shrugged, "Anyway, Fudge definitely won't let me into the Auror Office.
"If possible, I actually quite want to open a shop in Diagon Alley, at least there's less trouble."
Harry and Hermione both looked incredulous, as if they hadn't expected Kael to say that, but Ron wasn't too surprised.
Kael had always been selling things like maps with Fred and George at school, so wanting to open a shop after graduation wasn't that surprising.
And on the train, everyone was just chatting, and soon others joined in on the topic.
Hermione said she wanted to work at the Ministry of Magic, preferably in the Law Enforcement Department.
Harry wanted to be an Auror, just like he said during career counseling.
Ron was undecided between wanting to go to the Ministry of Magic and becoming a professional Quidditch Keeper.
...
Even though Kael brought quite a bit, there were many of them; the four barely ate half-full, but with some snacks in between, it was enough.
After lunch, Hermione forcibly took Ron to patrol the corridor, and Harry hesitated for a moment before following them to the regular compartment.
The train continued to move, one village after another quickly receding outside the window.
Finally, the train slowed down, turned a corner, and entered the familiar Platform 9¾.
The students filed out of the carriage, passed through the wall, and arrived at King's Cross Station.
"Over here, Cho, I'm over here..."
In the station, an obnoxious idiot was jumping up and down, waving to attract someone's attention, looking from afar like a peacock in heat.
"Ced!"
Cho, who had just gotten off the train, naturally noticed the commotion on the platform, she dropped her luggage and dashed over, throwing herself into his arms.
The two of them just hugged on the platform, oblivious to their surroundings.
"Ugh... so shameless." Being force-fed dog food, Kael couldn't be more irritated, spat vehemently.
"Tsk tsk, isn't that expression a bit too ugly?" A teasing voice came from behind.
"When good friends reunite after a long time, shouldn't we offer our sincere blessings?"
Fred and George appeared on either side of Kael.
"So where's your blessing?" Kael said without turning his head.
"Weasley's Strong Magic Glue." Fred's voice rose slightly, "Our new product, it can even stick wands together."
"Just now, while Cedric was peeking around, we smeared it on that peacock's clothes." George said, "Don't they like hugging? They probably won't mind staying that way."
"What a wicked behavior." Kael said disdainfully, but he also noticed Fred was discreetly putting a white bottle into his pocket.
From his actions, it seemed he intended to smear it on Kael, but for some reason decided against it.
"Right back at you." Fred said calmly.
George raised an eyebrow, "Exactly, we're all the same."
The three of them exchanged a knowing smile.
"Congratulations." Fred patted Kael on the shoulder, "From today on, you're finally free from the cage, no more homework and exams to worry about."