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Well, now I can confirm that the person in front of me is indeed Dumbledore himself.
Kyle removed the magic text from the tip of his staff and glanced behind him.
A vague figure was staggering towards this side.
"That's Harry." Dumbledore explained: "Because you happened to be standing under the moonlight, he recognized you from a long distance away."
Kyle tried to understand the scene before him, but he still couldn't figure out why he saw Dumbledore here.
Could it be that the Ministry of Magic detected the portkey? Dumbledore came to pick them up specially?
It shouldn't be, it's not like he can't disapparate.
"Professor, why are you here?" Kyle couldn't help but ask.
"I think this is the right question for me to ask." Dumbledore said, "Aren't you solving the problem of giants? Why did you come to Barberton Village late at night?"
"Barberton Village?" Kyle couldn't help but glance at Newt, "Well... it's very complicated to explain. In short, according to normal circumstances, we should actually be in St. Catchpole Village now."
Dumbledore also looked over.
At this time, Newt was looking up at the sky, seeming to be very interested in the night sky.
After a moment, Dumbledore seemed to understand something.
"Sorry, I didn't think well," he said, "I should have asked Fox to go with you."
Kyle moved his mouth and said something. Compared to being brought back by Phoenix, this situation seems not unacceptable now.
At this time, Harry also ran over panting.
"Kyle, it's really you." He said with some surprise: "I said I couldn't be wrong. Did you hear me calling you just now?"
"So, it was you who called my name?" Kyle looked a little strange.
"Yes." Harry nodded, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing." Kyle said, "I'll give you a suggestion. From now on, it's best not to shout other people's names loudly at midnight in places like this where there are no people around."
"Ah, why?"
"Because everyone is sleeping." Kyle continued: "If you make as much noise as you did just now, you will probably get beaten."
"I know, I was just too excited just now." Harry said, "By the way, how come you are here? Did Professor Dumbledore bring you here?"
"No, it's because..." Kyle hesitated, shook his head and said, "Forget it, it's a long story, just treat it as a coincidence."
Then he looked at Dumbledore and said, "Professor, we are going back first."
"Oh, don't worry, let's go together since we meet." Dumbledore said with a smile, "Originally I wanted to invite you to come, but now it's just right."
Then he looked at Newt, who was still studying the night sky, but as soon as he turned his head, Newt suddenly disappeared, leaving only a crisp sound echoing in the silent village.
"okay."
Dumbledore looked at Kyle again, blinked and said, "Remember to keep it a secret. To be honest, after all, he hasn't used certain spells for a long time. It's normal for there to be some deviations in the details."
"I understand," Kyle said.
"That's good." Dumbledore walked towards the village again, "Follow me, I think we should be there soon."
"Professor, where are we going?" Kyle asked.
"I have lost count of how many times I have said this in recent years." Dumbledore sighed and said, "But there is no way, Tonks insists on being transferred back to the Auror office, so we are short of professors again. .
"We are here this time to persuade a retired colleague to come back to work and return to Hogwarts."
"But how can I help?" Harry asked.
"I think you will come in handy." Dumbledore said, "Oh, and Kyle, the same goes for you. With the two of you here, I think our success rate will be improved a lot this time... Turn left .”
Old colleague? Kyle had an idea of who they were going to meet.
Harry continued to ask from the side: "But Professor, why can't we just apparate to that old colleague... I mean, that old professor's house."
"Because that would be as rude as kicking down someone's door," said Dumbledore, "and most wizarding homes have enchantments to protect against unwanted Apparators, just like Hogwarts." …”
Feeling a little bored along the way, Kyle looked at Dumbledore in front of him and asked: "Professor, didn't I remember that Dean Sacia of St. Mungo's said that he wanted to go to Hogwarts after retirement? Why don't we go? Invite her."
"If Sacia is willing to come, I am even willing to give her the position of principal." Dumbledore sighed, "It's a pity that she changed her mind, especially after getting those precious potion materials. In a short period of time, she I probably won’t choose to retire.”
Kyle immediately shut up.
He didn't expect that the words he just said casually out of boredom would actually come back to him.
He didn't want to take the blame. Besides, he was doing a good deed by donating those snake sloughs and snake blood to St. Mungo's.
However, Harry didn't notice anything strange, and instead chatted with Kyle about the holidays.
"I heard you went on a trip?"
"Travel? Who told you that?"
"Ron," Harry said, "Fred and George came to see you, and your father told them that you and Mr. Scamander went on a trip, and then they told Ron.
"I thought you wouldn't come back until the holidays were over."
"Ah, there's nothing interesting, so I came back early." Kyle said.
"where have you been?"
"It should be considered Romania."
"Fire Dragon Sanctuary?"
"No, it was another place. Mr. Scamander took me there."
"That must be very interesting." Harry said with some admiration, "I have heard from Hermione that Mr. Scamander is the greatest master of magical beasts in our time."
"It's okay, it's quite interesting." Kyle thought for a while and said, "We witnessed the whole process of a tribe choosing a new leader, which is hard to see."
Dumbledore also looked very interested and asked, "How is the new leader? Is it easy to get along with him?"
"So be it," Kyle said. "At least he and Mr. Scamander are getting on well."
Dumbledore nodded, "What about that tribe? What happened in the end?"
"After a big carnival, there's always a break," Kyle said. "They no longer welcome guests."
"Really?" Dumbledore said with a smile, and he didn't ask any more questions after that.
"What a shame." Harry glanced at Kyle with envy.
The tribe chooses its leader...a grand carnival...just hearing this tells me that it must be interesting.
He really envied Kyle for being able to go wherever he wanted and see different things, and he didn't want to have to stay at Privet Drive and not be able to go anywhere.
But Harry soon became happy again, because Dumbledore promised him to send him to No. 12 Grimmauld Place as soon as he finished the work.
Harry felt a burst of inner joy at the thought of seeing Sirius soon.
This time he must decorate a room that is his own...a real room, not a cupboard or an attic storage room.
Thinking of this, traveling to Romania doesn't seem so enviable anymore.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 697 Horace Slughorn
The village of Barberton may seem large, but it is actually not small at all. The group walked for more than ten minutes before Dumbledore finally stopped in front of a dilapidated house.
"Oh! God, God!" he exclaimed.
Kyle and Harry followed his gaze.
The first thing they saw was a carefully maintained path with neatly manicured gardens on both sides of the path, but what was incompatible with these was the house that looked like it had been blasted by a blasting curse.
The front door was reduced to a floor of broken wood, with only a small piece the size of a table left, hanging crookedly on the door frame.
Dumbledore looked around and whispered: "Kyle, Harry, pull out your wand and follow me."
He walked cautiously up the garden path, followed closely by Kyle and Harry.
Then Dumbledore pushed open the front door, wand in hand.
"Fluorescence."
The situation in the room was worse than outside. It was a mess. It seemed that everything had been turned out. A piano fell to the ground and the keys were scattered everywhere.
There were also broken vases, glass shards, and various mats and other things scattered everywhere on the ground.
In addition, there was a large blood stain on the wall that was dazzlingly red.
"Something terrible must have happened here," Dumbledore said softly.
But the nervousness in his tone had disappeared, and now it was a bit... well, artificial.
"Yes." Kyle nodded and said, "Harry, can you help move the piano to the armchair? I feel like there should be something underneath."
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Although Harry didn't understand why he put the piano on the sofa, since Kyle said so, he must have a reason.
So Harry obediently pointed his wand at the piano.
The piano slowly floated up, and then, under Harry's command, landed on the inverted armchair.
The next second, the armchair screamed, "Ouch, take it away!"
Harry was startled, his hand shook, the spell was interrupted, and the piano fell heavily.
The screams became louder, sounding like mandrakes that had just been pulled out.
Dumbledore waved his hand in time and moved the piano aside.
"Good evening, Horace." Dumbledore said with a smile, "It's okay with you."
Harry stared with dumbfounded eyes. In the blink of an eye, the armchair turned into a fat, bald old man squatting there.
He held his waist, narrowed one eye, and looked at Dumbledore with tears in his eyes.
"That was a piano, why didn't you stop them..." He struggled to get up, "Do you know how painful that was?"
"I'm sorry, Horace," Dumbledore said, "but it's not my fault. There are absolutely no flaws in your Transfiguration, and I didn't find any."
"Although you said that..." The fat old man glanced at Dumbledore angrily, but he didn't seem so angry anymore.