Hogwarts Mystery: Kenneth Russell & The Mysterious Room

Chapter 14: Hallowe'en

Kenneth couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the amount of students cheering and applauding whenever he walked through the corridors the following day. News of his duel against Merula had spread like dragon fire and within two days, the whole school now knows of it. The duel was the only thing anyone would talk about.

The original rumours of Merula besting Kenneth in their first 'duel' was immediately corrected by the witnesses that saw the real duel first hand. The moment they saw Merula cowardly try to jinx Kenneth when his back was turn made them realize the truth: Merula lied about the rumours and her reputation was now tarnished.

It was now her turn to face the wrath of jeers and taunts whenever she walked through the corridors. She would more than one time lose her temper and threaten to hex anyone. She made the foolish mistake of saying it with Professor McGonagall nearby - earning her another day's detention.

Kenneth may have received a week's worth of detention and lost a decent amount of house points (though he did get them back and an extra thirty from his classes), but the good outweighed the bad. For starters, he earned the respect from his fellow older Gryffindors, including the rude third-year he met on his first night. Angelica, indeed, was very proud and looked as though she was going to kiss him the moment she learned that Kenneth had managed to earn back the points and an extra thirty more.

All the other houses, except Slytherin, congratulated him. Slytherin had the look of murder in their eyes whenever he came across any of them. They were not going to let Kenneth get away with embarrassing one of their own and having cost them sixty house points. Some leered at him, others cracked their knuckles in intimidation and a few others threatened him publicly. Kenneth would have to turn his cheek and ignore the threats, or suffer further consequences. He had suffered enough punishment of having to polish the trophy room without magic.

The room was full of trophies and memorabilia. He saw plaques of Quidditch teams that have won the Cup. James Potter and Lily Evans were Gryffindor's Head Boy and Girl. A student named Tom Riddle had received the only Special Award for Services to the School; although Kenneth had never heard of this particular student before. His other punishment was to help organize and decorate the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en Feast, a punishment that sounded more like a privilege than a punishment and Kenneth enjoyed it more.

Another good thing that happened to Kenneth was it wasn't just Angelica and other students that sang his praises. From that moment on, since talking to her that afternoon in the corridor and having dinner with her the following day, Penny Haywood had become a new friend. It paid to have someone like her be one because she was in the know of everything going on in the vast castle. She wasn't bragging when she said she knew all the gossip around Hogwarts, it was a fact. Her gossip was more of the day-to-day lives of the castle, like a newscycle and it was never mean-spirited or to talk badly about someone behind their back. If she heard any gossip that was mean-spirited, she would not proceed further into it. It amazed Kenneth that despite her popularity, she was so kind-hearted and sweet, and he began to deeply admire her even more.

Getting to know Penny personally was something that Kenneth enjoyed immensly, and Penny seemed to reciprocate that feeling, as well. This revelation of having Penny as a friend caused Kenneth to receive a large number of jealous and angry looks of many first-year students that tried desperately to be a part of Penny's inner circle. Winning Penny over, Kenneth noticed, seemed to be equivalent to winning a war. The boys eyed Kenneth with envy, knowing that he could make her smile or laugh without trying. The girls eyed him disapprovingly, feeling that he was unworthy to be breathing the same air as Penny when they walked together in the corridors towards their classes. Because he gave his undivided attention to the professors, Kenneth now noticed that he actually shared several classes with Penny other than Flying Class.