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"Ha, is this the kind-hearted wizard Dumbledore was talking about?"
"Uh..." The person next to him hesitated. "Maybe the person Albus is talking about is his father. I think his name is Chris, the Director of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic.
"I've seen him a few times in my Ministry portrait. He's a standard Hufflepuff."
……
On the other side, Kyle, who left the principal's office, didn't know that the portraits were talking about him behind his back. He stretched out and rubbed the calf that was sore from Fox's peck.
"Kyle, how are you?" Harry's voice came from the side, and he had been waiting here.
"I'm fine, I just got pecked a few times by Fox." Kyle lifted up his robe, revealing his bruised calf, "I shouldn't say it, but Phoenix's pecks are quite painful."
"What, Professor Dumbledore sent a phoenix to peck you?" Harry asked in surprise. He had thought that Kyle would only get points deducted at most, but he didn't expect that the principal would punish students in this way.
It would hurt him for a long time to be pecked by Hedwig, let alone the phoenix... Isn't this a bit too much?
"Huh? No!" Kyle shook his head, "I accidentally dropped Fox to the ground."
Kyle waved his hand, not really wanting to continue the topic, and asked instead: "Why are you still here?"
"I'm waiting for you." Harry originally wanted to ask Kyle what Dumbledore meant when he told him so much, but when he thought of Kyle's sleeping appearance just now, he shut his mouth.
Forget it, let's wait until we get back and ask Hermione and the others.
"I'm fine, don't worry." Kyle waved his hand and said.
The two separated along the next corridor, Harry heading back to the Gryffindor common room and Kyle heading downstairs.
……
Ten minutes later, curfew time came.
A figure walked through the quiet corridor on the eighth floor and quickly came to the gargoyle stone head.
It seemed that he had known that someone would come. He didn't even say the password, and the stone statue jumped to the side, revealing the passage behind him. The light spreading from the principal's office also shone on the face of the visitor.
It was Snape. He walked in and opened the oak door at the back.
"Dumbledore, I have... what's wrong with you?"
Snape was just mid-sentence when he suddenly realized that something was not quite right in the room.
Dumbledore's hair was disheveled, as if he had just been attacked, and there were silvery things everywhere.
Snape picked one up casually and looked at it carefully. It seemed like...a beard?
"What happened here?" He couldn't help but ask, "Did the Dark Lord sneak attack you just now?"
"It's worse than that..." Dumbledore looked at his scattered beard distressedly, sighed and said, "How are you doing over there?"
Snape didn't ask any more questions and said, "I've already contacted Draco, and he seemed a little unconvinced."
"Yeah, that's understandable." Dumbledore waved his wand, and the principal's office became clean and tidy again.
"After all, it was the first time he was entrusted with an important task, so he would naturally want to perform well."
"Entrusted with an important task?" Snape sneered, "The Dark Lord didn't even want to keep him alive. This was his punishment for Lucius Malfoy!
"Let Draco kill you. What a ridiculous task. Even he can't do it himself."
"It's not impossible..." Dumbledore said with a smile, "What Tom can't do doesn't mean that everyone can't do it. You know, I never stay wary in front of students."
Speaking of this, Dumbledore suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but touch his remaining beard.
He found that this was not a very good habit, and it would be better to break it if there was a chance... at least he had to be vigilant when facing a certain student.
"So how was your conversation?" Dumbledore continued, "Does he agree with your suggestion?"
"He should not act rashly again," Snape said.
"That's good." Dumbledore said, "The child's soul has not been completely eroded by the darkness, and there is still a chance to turn back."
"You mean he gave up his plan at the last moment and knocked Katie over?" Snape asked.
"This is only part of it, and it is also the most intuitive manifestation." Dumbledore said, "Severus, do you think who planned this, young Mr. Malfoy?"
"Draco did buy the opal necklace." Snape was silent for a while, "But this morning, Narcissa left Malfoy Manor, and no one knows where she went."
"Really?" Dumbledore glanced out the window. "It seems that Minerva is right. I really shouldn't agree to the students going to Hogsmeade at this time."
"Severus, could you please pay more attention to Mr. Malfoy in the future?"
"It's definitely fine for me," Snape said, "But on the other side, he was attacked for no reason. Do you think he will let it go?"
"Don't worry, I will find another opportunity to talk to Kyle." Dumbledore took off his glasses and wiped them.
The reason why he kept Kyle here this time was definitely impossible for him not to pursue the matter completely, but Dumbledore felt that if he hinted at it, he would be able to restrain himself somewhat.
After all, there are too many differences between the two sides. If Kyle really wants to deal with Malfoy, then he won't even have room to resist... Umbridge of St. Mungo's is the best example.
But no one expected that there would be an incident in the middle, and he was interrupted before he could mention it.
Dumbledore touched his beard again. For a moment, he even wondered if Kyle didn't want him to talk about this topic on purpose, but when he thought about it carefully, he felt that it was too far-fetched.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 729 Kyle: Am I some kind of Dark Lord?
"Good news, Kyle!"
Early the next morning, the new Quidditch team captain Grace excitedly found Kyle who was reading in the library.
"What's wrong, so happy?" Kyle put the book in his hand aside, "Did the mysterious man be killed by Principal Dumbledore last night?"
"Ah?" Grace blinked in confusion, "Really, really?"
"I'm asking you." Kyle raised his head and glanced at her, "Didn't you say there was good news?"
"No, it's not..." Only then did Grace realize what Kyle meant, and she quickly shook her head and said, "The news I'm talking about has nothing to do with the mysterious man, it's about the team."
"Oh." Kyle suddenly lost interest, but still asked politely: "What's wrong?"
"Do you know who we played against in the first game?" Grace asked.
"Gryffindor?" Kyle said casually.
"You, how do you know?" Grace asked in surprise: "Did Ms. Huo Qi tell you?"
"No, I guessed it," Kyle said.
"Then your guess is correct, it's Gryffindor." Grace lowered her voice, "I noticed that their goalkeeper, Weasley, is in very poor condition. Isn't this good news for us? ?"
"Bad condition?" Kyle asked curiously, "What do you mean?"
"Mikel and I secretly watched their training..." Grace said, "Don't get me wrong, this is a normal behavior, to gather information."
After noticing the change in Kyle's eyes, she shrugged and said, "Every team does this. Maybe you didn't notice that one month before the finals last year, the Weasley twins often took advantage of us. Hanging out around the field during training... they're not here for a picnic."
"Okay." Kyle nodded, "You continue."
No wonder he always ran into Fred and George after training. The two guys even lied to him and said they were testing new joke props. Now everything makes sense.
"Where did I just say it?" Grace thought for a moment, "Oh, by the way, the goalkeeper...
"When we went to collect intelligence this time, we found that the goalkeeper Weasley was always absent-minded, and he could miss some shots that seemed to me to have no technical skills at all.
"Sure enough, Mikel is right. Not every Weasley is a Quidditch genius."
Grace looked a little excited.
"I remember that Ron Weasley, he seemed to be good friends with their captain, Harry Potter."
"That's right." Kyle nodded, "They are inseparable, and they can even wear a robe."
"Wear a robe?" Grace was stunned again, "Although I heard that the Weasley family is not that wealthy, it's not like they can't even afford a robe... second-hand robes are not worth it. One galleon."
"No, this just describes their good relationship." Kyle waved his hand.
"Okay." Grace didn't pay too much attention and continued: "I guess he must stay in the team because of his relationship with Porter. If it were me, his poor performance would definitely be impossible. Be a goalie.”
Kyle nodded, he quite agreed with Grace's statement.
Ron's talent is actually quite good. When he played Quidditch in St. Catchball Village, his performance was also remarkable, and he was even recognized by Charlie.
But his mentality is not good, and his strength will shrink significantly at critical moments. This was also shown in last year's game.
There were three Gryffindor games, and in two of them Ron was sleepwalking, not knowing what he should do at all.
Logically speaking, in this situation, a substitution would definitely be necessary, and former captain Angelina Johnson did the same.
But in order not to make him sad, Harry recalled him to the team again after becoming captain and gave him opportunities again and again.
In Harry's words...he knew Ron could do it, he was just too nervous.
He used this reason to convince himself that he was not abusing his power, then infinitely magnified the shortcomings of Ron's competitors, and then used this to convince others.
……
"Potter made a big mistake. He abused his power as captain, but this is good news for us." Grace said excitedly:
"If Ron Weasley is still in this state on the day of the official competition, we will definitely win!"
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, and her voice couldn't help but get louder.
"What are you doing! No noise is allowed in the library!"
Mrs. Pince came angrily and kicked Kyle and Grace out.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Standing at the door of the library, Grace apologized repeatedly. "I did not do it on purpose."
"Forget it, it doesn't matter..." Kyle, who was implicated, felt helpless, "I'll just ask someone to help me borrow those books then."
"Then will you participate in next week's game?" Grace looked at Kyle with burning eyes, "We have a great chance of winning."
Only then did Kyle finally understand her purpose.
Because at the beginning of school, Kyle took the initiative to find Ms. Huo Qi and adjusted himself from the main position to the substitute.
Therefore, according to the regulations, he must find Ms. Huo Qi in advance to adjust the team before he can play.
Kyle hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, I'll play."
He went as a substitute just because he had to go to the Ministry of Magic on the weekend, but now that the fireplace leading to the Ministry of Magic was blocked, he suddenly had a lot more time, and there would definitely be no problem participating in the competition.
Grace ran away excitedly. She needed to find Ms. Huo Qi as soon as possible to change the roster of the main players.