Hogwarts: The Exemplary Wizard I Am Chapter 658: Another Day of Envying Dumbledore - Novel Cool

Chapter 658: Another Day of Envying Dumbledore

Chapter 658: Another Day of Envying Dumbledore

By the time Kyle found Snape, he was in his office fiddling with an ancient stone basin on his desk.

The surface of the Pensieve was engraved with a circle of magical text, emitting pale blue lights that flowed like fish.

"A Pensieve?" Kyle wondered why such an object would be here when he saw Snape quickly cover it with a cloth and ask coldly, "What are you doing here?"

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to come," Kyle said. "He wants me to be your assistant and help Harry learn Occlumency."

"How proud you must be," Snape drawled. "A Mastery in Occlumency at sixteen. What a remarkable achievement."

"So you're eager to tell everyone and flaunt it? How foolish."

"You're absolutely right, Professor Snape," Kyle agreed, nodding. "I also think it's not a good idea, but Headmaster Dumbledore insisted that I come, and I didn't dare to disagree openly."

"It's good that you're honest and speak your mind, Professor. Rest assured, I'll convey your message to the Headmaster." Kyle gave a thumbs up.

"The Headmaster sent you?" Snape paused, having thought that Kyle had taken it upon himself to offer help.

"Yes."

"I'll go and ask him about it right now." Snape stood up. "If you're lying, I won't hesitate to give you a two-week detention."

"I wish I were lying," Kyle said nonchalantly.

Snape had barely taken two steps when he noticed Kyle's glance towards the desk. This caused him to stop and point towards the door.

"Out! If Dumbledore tells me this isn't true, you'll receive a detention notice before curfew."

"Alright," Kyle said, leaving Snape's office with some disappointment.

If he had known Snape would be so guarded, he should have controlled his curiosity better.

...

That night, Kyle naturally did not receive a detention notice, but he also did not receive a schedule for tutoring Harry.

However, Kyle wasn't worried at all. It was better if Snape didn't say anything, as it gave him an excuse to slack off blatantly.

...

The next day, the holidays began.

Early in the morning, everyone carried their packed trunks and boarded carriages headed for Hogsmeade Station.

Kyle also prepared to go to London to visit Sirius, even though he had signed the stay-at-school list a few days ago and couldn't take the train. But that wasn't a problem.

He went to the Headmaster's office, and fortunately, Dumbledore was still at the school and hadn't left yet.

A few minutes later, Kyle appeared in the living room of 12 Grimmauld Place, London.

"Who is it... Oh, it's you, Kyle, dear." Mrs. Weasley came out of a room, surprised. "Did the train arrive so early today?"

"No, Mrs. Weasley. I used the door key that Headmaster Dumbledore gave me." Kyle said, holding up a woolen glove.

"I was planning to go directly to St Mungo's, but the Headmaster insisted that I come here first."

"He's right." Mrs. Weasley hugged Kyle. "You should be on the train now, not at St Mungo's. It could cause trouble if someone from the Ministry saw you... Come, have you eaten breakfast? I made beef pies."

"Oh, I've already eaten," Kyle said.

But Mrs. Weasley still brought out a large plate of steaming pies.

"Haven't you eaten yet?" Kyle asked.

"I have," Mrs. Weasley said.

"What about the others?"

"There are no others, just me." Mrs. Weasley led Kyle to the kitchen and brought out a jug filled with pumpkin juice.

"Everyone's been busy lately. Arthur has to protect and look after Sirius at St Mungo's, Lupin hasn't been back for a long time, and the others are working. Chris and Alastor dropped by last night, but they didn't stay."

"Wait... Who came by yesterday?" Kyle asked, looking up.

"You heard right, your father. He officially joined the Order of the Phoenix a month ago, invited by Dumbledore. He was also the first to discover Sirius and drove away the Death Eaters who tried to break into the Ministry."

Kyle wasn't particularly surprised that Chris had joined the Order of the Phoenix; he felt it was only a matter of time.

He was more concerned about the latter half of Mrs. Weasley's sentence... the Death Eaters who tried to break into the Ministry.

So the Death Eaters were heading for the Ministry that day?

Mrs. Weasley also realized she had let something slip and quickly changed the subject.

"Eat up while the pies are still warm." She hurried out of the kitchen.

Kyle picked the smallest-looking pie and ate it while pondering Mrs. Weasley's words.

It seemed that the Death Eaters had originally intended to go to the Ministry that night, but they had discovered Sirius and the wizard named Sturgis tailing them.

Then, according to Voldemort's orders, they wanted to get rid of Sirius... Wait, was Voldemort there too?

Kyle frowned and then shook his head.

It was unlikely that Voldemort would have appeared at that time, and Harry had said he had killed someone, but neither Mr. Weasley nor anyone else had mentioned this.

"That proves Voldemort was somewhere else at the time, and he probably gave the order to the Death Eaters through the Dark Mark."

But why did they want to go to the Ministry? Kyle immediately thought of the Department of Mysteries.

That was probably the only place in the entire Ministry that would interest Voldemort.

As he thought of this, Kyle felt a surge of anxiety because Diana worked in the Department of Mysteries.

Fortunately, they hadn't broken in this time.

Kyle lost his appetite and pushed the beef pie aside. He took out some parchment and a feather quill and began to write a letter to Diana.

When he finished, Mrs. Weasley returned.

"Are you sending a letter, Kyle?" She looked at the envelope in his hand and asked, "But I don't think I've seen your owl."

"I didn't bring my owl with me this time," Kyle said.

"That's troublesome... " Mrs. Weasley put down a basket of Christmas decorative ribbons. "There are no owls here, and if you didn't bring one, you'll have to wait until the children come back for the holidays."

In fact, he hadn't planned on sending the letter via owl in the first place.

Ever since Voldemort's resurrection, Diana had been assigned to an urgent task, and under such circumstances, owls typically couldn't deliver letters to the Department of Mysteries.

"That's good, then." Mrs. Weasley nodded and continued to fetch other Christmas decorations.

After she left, Kyle opened his trunk, jumped inside, and woke Fox, who had been dozing off.

Although Kyle had borrowed... err, acquired Fox under the pretext of guarding the snake monster, ever since its arrival, it had spent most of its time sleeping and rarely even spared the snake monster a glance, taking the art of slacking to a whole new level.

However, this was understandable. After all, every time Kyle visited the Headmaster's office, Fox would be asleep on its perch, and there seemed to be no difference now, aside from the change in environment.

Upon being roused, Fox poked its head out from under its wing.

"Sorry, but can you help me deliver this letter to the Department of Mysteries?" Kyle asked, holding up the letter.

He then took out a sprig of Gillyweed and added, "This is your payment. Consider it a bonus snack."

Fox's glittering eyes fixed on Kyle, and after a moment, it nodded.

However, instead of eating the Gillyweed, it turned its head toward the direction of the forest and let out a soft chirp.

"You want some Mandrake too? Sure, no problem." Kyle readily agreed. "If you bring the letter to her, I'll pick out the biggest Mandrake for you when I get back."

With that, Fox no longer seemed sleepy. It flapped its wings and perched on Kyle's shoulder, snatching the envelope from his hand.

"Try to find my mom, Diana... if you can," Kyle continued. "I'll give you two extra Biting Ton-Tongue Beans if you do."

Fox rubbed its head affectionately against Kyle's neck and disappeared in a burst of flames.

"Now that's convenient." Kyle smacked his lips, feeling a twinge of envy.

The uses of a phoenix were indeed immense. Not only could its tears heal wounds, but it also possessed a unique ability to apparate, which was incredibly handy for sending messages, setting up alerts, or making a quick escape.

More importantly, in critical moments, it could even take a Killing Curse for its owner due to its immortal nature. It was truly an all-around magical creature.

In contrast, his own fire dragon...

Kyle glanced at Norbert, who was not too far away, scaring the mooncalves. He rolled his eyes in mild exasperation.

It was just so dumb; it really was a case of not knowing what you had until you saw it side by side with something better...

Norbert seemed to sense something and released the mooncalf from its claws, lifting its head to look at Kyle. It let out a happy snort, spraying two small flames that ignited the tail of one unfortunate mooncalf.

Startled, Norbert quickly swallowed the unlucky mooncalf and only spat it out once the flames were extinguished.

"Well... it's not the brightest, but it doesn't have any other major flaws. It's fine." Kyle shrugged.

He waited a while longer, and about five minutes later, Fox returned, bringing with it a brooch.

It was a fire-dragon scale brooch they had bought as a souvenir during their previous trip to the Romanian Fire Dragon Reserve, a gift from Chris to Diana.

"You really found her?" Kyle blurted out.

But he immediately realized his question was unnecessary. If Fox hadn't found her, where would this brooch have come from?

True to his word, Kyle promptly rewarded Fox with the promised Mandrake, adding two Biting Ton-Tongue Beans and the previous Gillyweed to the feast.

"Go ahead, eat up. There's more if you want..." Kyle stroked Fox's feathers affectionately before reluctantly leaving the trunk.

He had wanted to stay a bit longer, but his trunk was still in the kitchen, and Mrs. Weasley could return at any moment. Being discovered here would spell trouble.

So, it was better to leave sooner rather than later.

...

Fortunately, when Kyle emerged from his trunk, Mrs. Weasley was still busy decorating for Christmas.

After stowing away his trunk, Kyle lent a hand by helping her hang mistletoe and holly on the walls and ceiling.

At noon, it was still just the two of them in the house.

It wasn't until 5:30 in the afternoon that someone else returned.

To Kyle's surprise, it was Bill and Charlie.

"Mom... we need to head to the station to pick them up. Do you know where the car keys are?" Bill called out as he walked through the door.

He then noticed Kyle standing in the entryway and paused briefly.

"Kyle, when did you get back?"

"It's just me, and I didn't take the train." Kyle offered a brief explanation before asking, "What about you? When did you get back?"

"About a week ago," Bill replied. "Dad thinks the Death Eaters will make their move soon, so Charlie and I both took an extended leave."

At that moment, Mrs. Weasley hurried over and handed a set of keys to Bill.

"Dear, can you drive?"

"Of course, Mom," Bill said as he took the keys. "When I was a Curse-Breaker, I almost bought a car myself. Sometimes it's far more convenient than a broom or a flying carpet."

"Kyle, I'm heading to King's Cross Station now. Do you want to come along?"

"No, thanks." Kyle shook his head. "I plan to visit St. Mungo's."

"That works out perfectly," Charlie chimed in. "I need to take over Dad's shift at six, so we can go together. You probably can't apparate openly yet, right?"

"No, I can't." Kyle sighed. "So, I was planning to take the tube. By the time I get to St. Mungo's, the train should have arrived as well."

"No need for that. I can take you," Charlie offered.

With the opportunity to save time, Kyle naturally had no reason to refuse.

...

And so, at six o'clock on the dot, the two of them appeared in a telephone booth near St. Mungo's.

"This is a designated spot for wizards to apparate, just like the Floo Network's fireplaces," Charlie explained.

Kyle had never heard of this particular spot in St. Mungo's, so he curiously looked around the small and seemingly ordinary telephone booth.

He pushed open the door and walked out, with the shop that had the "Closed for Renovation" sign not far to his left.

As Kyle exited, he noticed a tall woman curiously eyeing him from behind.

"How odd, when did this telephone booth get here?" she mumbled to herself, walking over to take a closer look.

However, just as the woman's hand was about to touch the telephone booth, she suddenly stopped, as if she had just remembered something important, and quickly walked away.

"Come on, Kyle." Charlie stood in front of the shop window and said to the mannequin inside, "We're here to visit Sirius Black."

The mannequin nodded slightly.

Charlie walked straight through the glass, and Kyle quickly followed.

The waiting room of St. Mungo's was still as crowded as before, with rows of male and female wizards sitting on creaky wooden chairs, some looking normal and others bizarre.

However, Kyle and Charlie didn't linger there and headed directly to the second floor, where Sirius' ward was located.

"I'm fine now, so can't I go home?"

Just as they reached the door, Kyle heard Sirius' voice from inside, "Arthur, Harry's on holiday now, and I want to spend Christmas with him at home, not here at St. Mungo's."

"I understand how you feel, but the healer said that the snake venom from the Runespoor needs to be completely cleared, and they need to observe you for a few more days."

Charlie pushed open the door, interrupting their conversation.

The ward was small and dimly lit, with only a tiny window opposite the door.

There were three people inside, Sirius' bed closest to the door.

When they walked in, he looked up, and upon seeing who it was, he smiled happily.

"Long time no see, Kyle. Are you on holiday now?" Then, he anxiously glanced towards the door.

"Don't worry, it's just the two of us." Kyle said, "Harry might come by later, though."

"Ah, no." Sirius said, "I actually don't want Harry to come and visit me."

"I understand."

Mr. Weasley and Charlie stepped out, and Kyle took out his prepared gift—a large bag of chocolates with various flavors.

Seeing the chocolates, Sirius' eyes lit up, and he eagerly unwrapped a chocolate frog and popped it into his mouth.

Ever since he was acquitted, he had developed a habit of eating chocolates every day, or perhaps every wizard who had been to Azkaban had this habit.

"Arthur doesn't want me to eat these, saying it's not good for my recovery." he mumbled, "Honestly, I don't care. Compared to the Dementors, these little wounds are nothing."

"You should still be careful." Kyle smiled and said, "At least if you recover a day earlier, you can leave a day earlier."

"Alright, you're right." Sirius chewed and then restrained himself from eating another one.

"I heard that Hogwarts has a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher..." Sirius didn't care about the other two patients in the room at all as he spoke loudly, "That Umbridge's Hem Hem Edict, disgusting toad, has she been giving you a hard time?"

"It's impossible for her not to." Kyle shrugged, "I dare say that if Harry were to make a list of his most hated professors, Umbridge would rank even higher than Snape."

Surpassing Snape in just half a semester. That really said something.

"That damn toad." Sirius angrily pounded on the bed, "If she dares to hurt Harry, I'll never let her off the hook!"

"Don't get worked up." Kyle glanced at the other two people in the room, "I have a way to deal with this problem."

"You mustn't do anything reckless." Sirius frowned, "As awful as she is, she represents the Ministry of Magic, and it would be very troublesome if you did something to her."

"Rest assured, I know." Kyle smiled and said, "And you're the one I should be saying that to."

"Ha, you're right." Sirius couldn't help but laugh.

The two chatted for a while longer before Mr. Weasley and Charlie came back in.

"Healer Smethwyck, what brings you here?" Mr. Weasley said as he pushed the door open.

Kyle and Sirius also looked over.

"I heard from Dumbledore that you might be coming to St. Mungo's around this time." she said, "How about a cup of tea? I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Of course, that's fine." Kyle said. He turned to Sirius and said, "I'll come back to see you later."

After the two left, Sirius blinked in bewilderment, "Arthur, how does Kyle know the Head Healer of St. Mungo's?"

"Well... Kyle received the Order of Merlin, Second Class when he was in his first year for defeating a werewolf here." Mr. Weasley said, "I think that's probably when they first met."

"But that was several years ago." Sirius said, "Is it worth it for Healer Smethwyck to come here personally and invite Kyle for tea?

"I remember Healer Hibberton mentioning that the Head Healer of St. Mungo's is very busy, and that woman..."

Sirius pointed to the middle bed, "Flinte, she donated five hundred galleons before she was discharged, and she only met the Head Healer once."

"Yes, they just spoke a few words." Mr. Weasley nodded.

In fact, he was also surprised by Kyle's connections but didn't think too much of it, attributing it to Dumbledore's influence.

After all, the last time they came, it was this Head Healer who had brought them here.

"By the way, Sirius." Mr. Weasley said, "I have to go back to work tomorrow, there's a mountain of work piled up, and Charlie will take my place here to take care of you."

"No need, let him go back too, it's the busiest time now." Sirius shook his head and said, "I don't need anyone to take care of me."

"It's better to be cautious." Mr. Weasley said.

...

Happy New Year, dear readers!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end

Report