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Kyle raised his eyebrows. Somehow, he seemed to smell a sour smell all of a sudden.
Cedric now looked as if he had entered the wrong password when returning to the common room and was covered in vinegar.
Fred and George also noticed this, and they came together and couldn't help but talk.
'Why don't you go to Madam Puddifoot's tea shop...' drawled Fred.
"That's right." George said with a smile, "That's where you should go. Wouldn't it be nice to go and have a glass of syrup?"
"No, it should be coffee..."
"Well, syrup disguised as coffee..."
Then the two of them laughed together.
Of course, in the end Cedric and Cho did not go to Madam Puddifoot's tea shop. After leaving the Three Broomsticks, they returned to Hogwarts together.
They walked through the gate and chatted and laughed along the grounds towards the castle.
"How strange..." Connor, who was chatting with Qiu, suddenly said, "Look at that house-elf. His outfit seems to be different from those in the kitchen. Could it be that Dobby?"
"What?" Kyle followed her gaze.
Connor was right. There was indeed a house-elf standing in the open space next to the castle.
And unlike the elves in the kitchen who were only wearing tea towels and pillowcases, the elf in front of him was dressed a little too fashionably.
He was wearing long boots, a brown leather jacket that looked like a racing driver's, a cowboy hat, and goggles underneath.
"Oh, that's cool..." Fred couldn't help but say, "This house-elf is quite unique. Do you know where he works in the kitchen?"
"I don't know." Cedric shook his head. "To be honest, I've never seen him in the kitchen."
That's for sure...
Kyle's mouth twitched, he recognized him. There was only one other house-elf dressed like this in the entire wizarding world, except Tata from Nicolas Flamel's family. Even Dobby couldn't accept such a trendy outfit.
But the question is, how could Tata appear here? Hasn't he always been staying in Nico's manor?
Or...Nico is here?
Because of the crown?
Kyle's heart beat twice.
At this moment, the house elf came over and stood in front of them.
"Are you...Tata?" Kyle asked.
"Yes, sir. Tata greets you." Tata took off his hat and bowed slightly. "Mr. Dumbledore and the master are in the castle. They asked Tata to come and see you, sir."
"Oh, Kyle, you know this house-elf?" Fred said in surprise.
"Yes, it works at Nico's house." Kyle said.
Then he looked at Connor and said, "Sorry, I may have to go see Professor Dumbledore first. See you at dinner. If everything goes well, maybe I can give you a surprise then."
After saying that, Kyle followed Tata into the castle, while the others just stood there staring at each other.
Finally, Fred was the first to break the silence and said, "Kyle just said Nick? Nearly Headless Nick?"
"That's what I heard." George scratched his hair. "Does that mean ghosts also need house-elves?"
"Can you please use your brains?" Qiu said unhappily, "Kyle is obviously not talking about the ghost Nick you know."
"I was thinking of someone." Cedric whispered, "You remember, one year during the vacation, Kyle went to France."
"France..." Fred suddenly realized, and he lowered his voice as well, "You mean... Nicolas Flamel?"
"That should be right." Cedric said, "Don't forget that the house-elf just mentioned the headmaster's name."
"If that's the case... then he's really a big shot." Fred exclaimed, "I'm starting to get curious about what exactly the surprise Kyle was talking about is."
……
On the other side, Kyle had followed Tata to the principal's office on the eighth floor of the castle.
In the huge headmaster's office, Dumbledore was still sitting in his original seat, and opposite him was a white-haired old man.
It was Nicolas Flamel, wearing a yellow striped shirt and a pair of sunglasses on his breast pocket.
"I was just saying that you should have come back." Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Long time no see, Kyle, how have you been lately?" Nico also greeted with a smile.
"Not bad." Kyle said, "Nico, are you here for that thing again? I don't think you need to go to Hogwarts. Just write a letter."
……
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but after saying this, Kyle found that Nico's expression seemed to become a little unnatural.
"Oh?" Dumbledore looked over with his blue eyes. "I guess this is not the same topic we are going to discuss later."
"Ahem, nothing, Albus," Nico said, "It's just that Kyle asked me to help fix a little thing a while ago."
"I see." Dumbledore said with a smile, "Kyle always finds some new and interesting gadgets. I have seen this many times."
"That's right." Nicolas Flamel nodded in agreement.
Ravenclaw's diadem, there is probably nothing more novel in the wizarding world than this. I really don't know where Kyle got it from.
"Well, let's talk about this later." Nico did not continue the topic, and said: "I did think about inviting you to the manor again, but Albus told me that you are now a champion of the Triwizard Tournament. In order not to distract you, I think it is better for you to come over."
"No need." Kyle shook his head. "It's still too early for the game to start. There's no point in being distracted."
"I don't think so." Nico said with a smile, "The Triwizard Tournament is a grand event, especially for the warriors participating in it. Every second is related to whether they can win the championship in the end, so they can't be careless."
Kyle didn't say anything. He always felt that the reasons Nico gave were a bit far-fetched, but the other party had already arrived at Hogwarts after all, so there was no point in saying more.
"I'm so glad they can restart the Triwizard Tournament. I saw the first event. It was very exciting, much more exciting than the last one... If you ask me, you shouldn't hold the competition at Durmstrang. Every Triwizard Tournament they held was not very good."
Nico seemed to be lost in memories, and kept talking about how terrible the last Triwizard Tournament was and how unreasonable the arrangement of the event was.
It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that Dumbledore had to interrupt him.
"While the history of the Triwizard Tournament is interesting, let's get down to business first, Nico."
After hearing what Dumbledore said, Kyle vaguely felt that Nico came to Hogwarts this time not because of the crown, but for something else.
"OK then."
Nico didn't continue talking. He looked at Kyle and said seriously, "I came here mainly to borrow something from you."
"What?" Kyle asked.
“The ashes after the phoenix is reborn.”
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 538 Dumbledore’s request
Kyle did have a vial of phoenix ashes, which Fox had given him in his third year.
However, that thing is a top-end material, and he will definitely not use it before he accumulates enough experience, so the bottle of ashes has always been placed at the innermost part of the box.
"Can I ask why?" Kyle was a little curious, and then added: "Of course, if it needs to be kept secret, forget it."
"Oh, that's as you should be. After all, they all belong to you."
Nico glanced at Dumbledore, and after receiving a positive response, he continued, "Remember the Time Turner in the Chamber of Secrets?"
"Of course." Kyle nodded.
It was because of the time-turner that he met the Big Four of Hogwarts, so he would never forget it.
"Look, I fixed it." Nico's expression was calm, and his words were like thunder.
"Is that time-turner repaired?" Kyle subconsciously looked at Dumbledore.
He had never seen Dumbledore like this before. His usually wise blue eyes were now filled with unconcealable expectation and fear.
"It wasn't going to be this quick, but I got some crucial help... and that's thanks to you, too, Kyle."
Nico blinked and said, “But now we are still missing the last… and most important part, the core that provides magic power for the Time Converter.
If one wants to go back a hundred years, the amount of magic power required is simply incalculable, and no existing magic symbols can solve this problem."
"Is it not possible to stack symbols?" Kyle asked subconsciously.
"No." Nico shook his head, "Stacking the magic-enhancing symbols to a certain number can indeed meet the activation requirements, but the subsequent magic supply cannot keep up.
"In this case, the Time Turner is likely to... no, it will definitely break again. In this case, the user will be trapped in it forever, maybe for the fiftieth year, or maybe for the seventieth year, unable to reach the scheduled time, and unable to come back."
Kyle nodded. He knew that the user Nico was talking about was Dumbledore, and the hundred years of going back were also prepared for him.
If he was just stuck in the past, Dumbledore might not mind, but being unable to arrive at the scheduled time...
and many more.
Kyle suddenly thought, what would Dumbledore do if he was thrown into the past sixty years? Besides, would Grindelwald recognize him at that time?
Thinking of this, Kyle couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth, but he quickly restrained himself.
Nico didn't notice Kyle's abnormality at this time, he continued: "So I thought of another way, the Philosopher's Stone!
"Only the Philosopher's Stone can continuously provide the Time Converter with a huge amount of magical power."
"But hasn't the Philosopher's Stone been destroyed?" Kyle asked after he came to his senses.
"That's right." Nico smiled, "But have you ever thought that I was able to refine the Philosopher's Stone six hundred years ago, so why can't I do it now?
"To be honest, the process of refining the Philosopher's Stone is not difficult for me. It's just that the required materials are hard to find. The ashes left after the Phoenix Nirvana are the most important part of the Philosopher's Stone."
Kyle understood. To put it simply, once the ashes were loaned out, they would never come back.
Of course, if he could get a Philosopher's Stone in return in the end, he would definitely not hesitate, but the question is, can he really get the Philosopher's Stone?
Just look at the previous experience and you will know. When he returned to the correct time in the secret room, the time converter was destroyed and nothing was left. The only shell was shattered into pieces.
Although it took a thousand years last time and only a hundred years this time, but what if... After all, no one knows whether this thing is a first-time product.
Well, so this time not only did he not get the crown, he also had to lose another good thing?
But there was one thing Kyle couldn't figure out. Nico had lived for more than 600 years and had collected so many good things. Could it be that among them there were no Nirvana Ashes? That shouldn't be the case.
Kyle thought so and asked the same question.