Chapter 557: Nicodemus' Letter
Chapter 557: Nicodemus' Letter
Was Diana once an Auror?
To be honest, this was a bit of a surprise to Kyle. His first instinct was that Professor Moody had made a mistake, but upon further reflection, it seemed entirely plausible.
Kyle recalled that the year he received his Hogwarts letter, he had gone to Diagon Alley to shop. The usually bustling Leaky Cauldron had fallen silent the moment Diana pushed open the door, as if a spell had been cast.
However, her identity as a Silencer for the Department of Mysteries did not seem sufficient to warrant such a reaction. After all, that position was confidential, and not many were aware of its existence.
"An Auror..." Kyle murmured softly before turning back towards the classroom door and joining Connor as they headed towards the stairs.
For the next two weeks, Kyle continued his Saturday lessons with Dumbledore, arousing the envy of his peers.
With Easter approaching, the last long holiday before the end of the year loomed.
The O.W.L. exams for their fifth year seemed just around the corner, and the workload was increasing, with the professors becoming stricter by the day.
The amount of parchment they had to use daily now exceeded what they had used in an entire week previously.
However, Kyle was an exception. Thanks to his lessons with Dumbledore, he only needed to complete assignments for Potions and History of Magic.
Needless to say, not even Dumbledore could exempt him from Snape's Potions assignments, but as for History of Magic... Dumbledore's words carried no weight with the class.
Even so, Kyle saved a significant amount of time. According to Mikkel, Professor McGonagall assigned them a roll of parchment worth of work each day, and he had to buy a stack of parchment and two bottles of ink every time he visited Hogsmeade.
On the day before the Easter holidays, which also happened to be a Saturday, anyone outside the castle would have seen the windows of the Headmaster's office glowing with a brilliant red-gold light.
And inside the Headmaster's office, the room had undergone a remarkable transformation. Dumbledore had enlarged the space infinitely, bringing in a lake that rivaled the size of the Black Lake.
On the surface of the lake, tiny flames flickered, and the room's temperature soared, resembling a blazing furnace. The portraits of the previous headmasters, framed against a wintery backdrop, huddled together as if seeking relief from the heat... despite their inability to sense temperature changes.
Fox, however, was delighted. He perched on his branch, half-lidded eyes exuding contentment, and let out a comfortable purr from time to time.
"Not bad," Dumbledore said, looking at Kyle, who was sitting in a chair and panting heavily. "Even I can't find any faults with your performance."
With a wave of his wand, the lake vanished, and the Headmaster's office returned to its original state.
"Have a drink; I think you'll enjoy it."
A cup of hot cocoa appeared on the nearby table, and Kyle took a large gulp.
"As I mentioned earlier, Kyle," Dumbledore said, taking a sip of his own tea, "you have completely mastered this spell, and there's no need for further lessons...
"Starting next Saturday, you are free to do as you please and need not return here."
"Okay," Kyle nodded, calming his excited mind before taking out the booklet Dumbledore had given him at the start and asking, "Professor, can I keep this?"
"Of course, if you'd like it," Dumbledore said with a smile. "To be honest, when these contents were first published, hardly anyone paid attention to them... Most people aren't interested in ancient Runic literature."
"But there are still some who are, aren't there?" Kyle said.
"Indeed," Dumbledore acknowledged with a smile. "Oh, and there's one more thing I wanted to tell you."
"What is it?" Kyle asked, putting the booklet back into his pocket.
The reason Kyle was so familiar with it was that he had one himself, only his was blue. It was given to him by Nicodemus a few years ago, who said that if necessary, it could take him back to the study room of his old Paris mansion.
However, up until now, Kyle had never used it and didn't know what Nicodemus meant by "if the need arises."
"It seems you remember well, so I won't need to explain further." Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, this is the door key.
"Nicodemus wrote to me yesterday, saying you might need this... Oh, speaking of which, it has arrived."
As he spoke, a brown owl appeared right outside the window.
Dumbledore opened the window to let it in.
The owl flew straight to Kyle, dropped a letter into his hand, then shook itself vigorously, turning into a pile of feathers and disappearing from view.
"Don't be surprised." Dumbledore explained in a timely manner: "This is what Nicodemus made using owl feathers... to prevent others from finding his address through the owl."
Kyle nodded to indicate his understanding.
Then he opened the letter.
"I take back what I said to you before, you might need to come over after all, as a certain lady seems to want to have a chat with you..."
The letter was short and there was no signature, only a crown-like pattern at the end.
"It looks like you have something new to deal with." Dumbledore said with a smile, "Do you need any help? I've been quite free lately."
"Thank you, Professor, but it should be fine for now." Kyle said after a moment's thought: "It's about something I asked Nicodemus to help me fix, and it seems there's been a little problem."
"That's quite rare, for something handled by Nicodemus to have a problem... Oh, I think I understand."
Dumbledore suddenly realized, "I was wondering how you were going to deal with the locket, whether you would directly destroy it with a Basilisk fang, but it seems giving it to Nicodemus was a good idea.
"I remember Nicodemus once spent a long time researching Horcruxes, and no one knows more about them than he does."
"Yes, that's what I thought." Kyle said.
Dumbledore had guessed correctly, but only half-right. Nicodemus' letter was indeed about Horcruxes, but it wasn't about the locket.
Previously, Nicodemus had mentioned that he was busy dealing with the Philosopher's Stone and the Time-Turner and didn't have time for other matters, so the locket should still be untouched.
And from the crown pattern at the end of the letter, it was clear that he was referring to the Crown of Ravenclaw.
Of course, Dumbledore didn't know this.
"Professor, when is the time period for this door key?" Kyle asked.
"Anytime." Dumbledore said, "Just hold it and silently chant Nicodemus' name.
"However, I suggest you go tomorrow morning. Nine o'clock is when the students leave for the holidays.
"Don't forget that you are still a Champion, and your every move is being watched. If you leave early, it may arouse suspicion among our guests."
"Alright, then I'll go tomorrow." Kyle said.
He hadn't intended to leave immediately anyway.
Nicodemus' letter was too sudden, and there were many things he didn't understand and needed to think through carefully.
Who was this lady who wanted to talk to him... Kyle felt that it definitely wasn't Nicodemus' wife.
And together with the mention of the Crown of Ravenclaw, Kyle couldn't help but think of one possibility.
Although it sounded a bit absurd, it seemed there was no other answer.
...
(End of Chapter)
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