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Chapter 679: Bellatrix and Umbridge
Chapter 679: Bellatrix and Umbridge
As May arrived, the weather gradually cleared up, and the sky became as clear and blue as a cluster of forget-me-not flowers swaying in the wind.
Not long ago, Hufflepuff held their second Quidditch match and achieved a decisive victory over Slytherin.
Slytherin seemed to want to replicate Ravenclaw's tactics, using their numerical advantage to trap Kyle, who possessed the Fire Arrow.
However, the problem was that Slytherin didn't have Autumn Zhang, and Kyle easily broke through Montague's encirclement with the speed of the Fire Arrow. The Firebolt 2001 couldn't even keep up with his broomstick.
The entire match turned into Kyle's personal show, and the cheers from the stands never seemed to stop.
Half an hour later, Cedric caught the Golden Snitch right under Malfoy's nose, and the score froze at 360 to 10.
This match brought victory within reach for Hufflepuff, as they now led by a large margin. If they scored a few goals in the third match, the Quidditch Cup would be theirs.
This made the Hufflepuffs exceptionally excited.
However, Professor Snape didn't seem to share their enthusiasm. He stood on the stands, his gaze fixed on Kyle, who was surrounded by the crowd, his expression somber as if deep in thought.
After the players landed, Professor Snape let out a cold harrumph and turned to return to the castle.
Nevertheless, with the match over, the exams loomed closer. The Hufflepuffs' excitement lasted only a day before they had to dive back into their heavy workload.
Three days after the Quidditch match, on the first weekend of May, the sixth-year students gathered in the Great Hall as usual to practice Apparition.
"Let's stick to what we discussed before, and everyone can practice freely," said Terrence.
However, most students weren't very enthusiastic. Recently, every Apparition lesson had someone splitting apart, and some even left half their body behind.
Although Professor McGonagall quickly put them back together, this chilling scene made most students feel a sense of resistance, causing progress to slow down.
Still, there were some who remained unaffected.
When Conna landed precisely inside the wooden hoop five feet away with a crisp cracking sound, Terrence applauded happily.
"Very good, no mistakes for five consecutive times..." he said to Conna with a smile, "No problem, I think you've completely mastered Apparition. You just need to wait for the exam next month."
"Thank you, Professor," Conna said happily.
Amidst envious gazes, she ran to Kyle, who was on the other side of the Great Hall.
In fact, after the first Apparition lesson, Terrence had stopped paying attention to Kyle, but he also kept his promise and gave Kyle a large bag of heavy sweets.
However, Kyle distributed them to everyone present, and even the professors received a share.
"I've mastered it..."
"Congratulations..."
They spoke simultaneously and then left the Great Hall together.
"How are those Dragon Claws doing?" Kyle asked.
"They've all been ground into powder, and I have enough to last until the end of the exam," Conna said happily, taking out a box and handing it to Kyle, "Oh, and this is for you."
"What's this?"
"I don't know, Professor Snape asked me to give it to you," Conna said.
Kyle hesitated for a moment, "Hmm... this box doesn't contain something like frog brains and rat spleens, does it?"
"How could it be!" Conna said irritably, "How could Professor Snape possibly give you that kind of thing?"
"It's not impossible..." Kyle muttered.
Just two days ago, he had won against Slytherin in a crushing manner, and it was hard to say if Professor Snape, that stingy fellow, might hold a grudge.
"Hmm?" Conna narrowed her eyes, "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing," Kyle coughed twice and quickly took the box.
He always felt like Conna had guessed his thoughts... it seemed he needed to continue improving his mind-blocking techniques.
Under Conna's gaze, Kyle mustered up the courage to open the box.
Thankfully, it didn't contain anything strange but rather a pile of eggshells and a complete horn.
Kyle immediately recognized it as a Unicorn horn with its distinctive golden spiral pattern.
Kyle was a bit surprised, as this item wasn't cheap... and then there were the eggshells.
There were six of them in total, three of which were silver and shone brightly, almost like pure silver artifacts. Only the eggs of a Basilisk would have this silver color.
The remaining three were orange with irregular red stripes circling them.
"Ashwinder eggshells?"
Kyle was even more surprised, as these were not common, and their value wasn't much lower than that of a Unicorn horn.
To put it simply, the contents of this box added up to at least one hundred Galleons.
Professor Snape giving him something worth over one hundred Galleons... something seemed off. Was it April Fool's Day? No, April Fool's Day had passed a month ago.
Kyle ran his fingers through his hair, "Conna, these should be for you..."
"Of course not," Conna said, "Professor Snape told me to give them to you."
"Huh?
Kyle stared at the box in his hand, and after a moment's thought, he seemed to guess what Snape was thinking.
These items added up to over a hundred Galleons, and the Fire Dragon Claw he gave to Conna was worth exactly the same amount on the market.
That's how it added up.
Tsk, tsk.
After thinking of this, Kyle put the box away, "Thank Professor Snape for me, by the way, did he say anything?"
"No..." Conna glanced to the side.
In fact, when Snape gave her the box, he also instructed her to stay away from Kyle.
But she didn't say this, and before coming here, she also took away the note that was attached to the box.
"It shouldn't be like this." Kyle shook his head and didn't say anything else, "Forget it, I'll take these things. Remember to thank Professor Snape for me."
"Okay." Conna nodded.
"And this, help me give it to Professor Snape." Kyle took out something the size of a palm, wrinkled and wrinkled.
"What is this, snake skin?" Conna asked as she took it.
"It's almost like that, this is a snake's shed skin." Kyle smiled, "Just say it's from me, Professor Snape should like it."
...
The next day, Kyle was preparing to go to the Ministry of Magic to slack off as usual, but as soon as he walked out of the common room, he saw Snape standing in the corridor outside like a ghost. As soon as he saw Kyle, he pulled him aside without a word.
"The Basilisk is indeed in your hands!" Snape said with a gloomy face.
"You can't talk nonsense, Professor Snape." Kyle's face remained unchanged, "The Basilisk was handled by Professor Dumbledore, I don't know anything about it."
"Then what about this?" Snape took out the snake's shed skin.
"Oh, I picked this up." Kyle said, "You gave me such a precious thing, I should return something... If you don't like it, then forget it."
Kyle was about to take the snake's shed skin.
Subconsciously, Snape retracted his hand, and Kyle missed his chance.
"You..." Snape stared at Kyle, his face changing colors, "Do you have more of this? Give it to me!"
"No more." Kyle blurted out, "But Professor Dumbledore entrusted the Basilisk to Mr. Scamander, if you want it, you can go find him."
Snape's face turned slightly blue.
If he knew where Newt Scamander was, would he have come to find Kyle?
"How about this..." Kyle continued, "I can go ask Mr. Scamander for you. See if he has any extra snake shed skin. I think he should still have quite a few there. I'll have Conna send it to you later."
"No." Snape said coldly, "You'd better stay away from her!"
After saying this, he left without turning back.
Kyle looked at his billowing cloak and helplessly spread his hands.
Really, it was just a Quidditch match. Although the score difference was a bit large, he also let Slytherin score a goal, not shutting them out completely. Was it necessary to hold a grudge until now?
"So petty." Kyle muttered.
Snape, who had not walked far, suddenly paused. Just as he was about to turn around, he saw Harry and Ron running down the stairs with their broomsticks, almost colliding with him.
"What are you doing!" Snape asked with a dark face.
"We're going to the Quidditch pitch." Harry said softly, "We're training today..."
"Before answering my question, you should have shown some manners." Snape said coldly, "Gryffindor loses five points."
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"Oh, I'm sorry..." Harry said.
"No manners." Snape drew out the word, "Gryffindor loses five points."
"Okay, I'm sorry, Professor Snape." Harry said.
"Hmm." Snape acknowledged with a faint sound, "Also, the school prohibits running and playing on the stairs, Gryffindor loses another five points."
Harry clenched his fists tightly, barely restraining the urge to punch Snape in the face, gritting his teeth in anger.
But to Snape's disappointment, Harry ultimately restrained himself and did not do anything out of line.
However, after deducting fifteen points from Gryffindor, Snape's mood improved significantly. Without paying any attention to Harry and Ron, whose eyes were almost shooting fire, he strode towards the underground classroom.
"He must be holding a grudge from the Quidditch match a few days ago." Ron immediately said after confirming that Snape had left, "I heard Montague and his gang got a severe scolding, and Malfoy too. Cedric caught the Golden Snitch right under Snape's nose, and he was furious."
Hearing Ron's words, Harry's anger subsided.
The match a few days ago was one of the most exciting ones he had ever seen. Slytherin was trailing by three hundred points, and his cheers never stopped.
To cheer for Hufflepuff, he even bought a flag, waving it until his hands were sore.
In comparison, losing fifteen points didn't seem like a big deal. After all, they were already in last place, and losing another fifteen points didn't matter.
"The only pity is that they scored a goal." Ron sighed, "If Hufflepuff's goalkeeper had been more reliable and could have stopped Montague's goal, they would have had zero points.
"Yes, indeed!" Harry nodded in agreement.
Slytherin's zero points in the competition was indeed a delightful thought.
"We need to hurry," Ron checked the time, "It's all Snape's fault, we're past training time."
"You're right, if we were any later, Angelina would have killed us for sure."
The two exchanged a glance and ran towards the castle.
Kyle emerged only after everyone had left and made his way up the stairs to the fourth floor.
Although Umbridge had left the school, her office remained, and the fireplace was open for an hour every weekend, allowing students to travel to the Ministry of Magic.
When Kyle arrived at the Dark Arts Defense office, Cedric was already waiting.
"Why are so slow? We're already late," he said with a hint of impatience.
"I couldn't help it, I ran into Professor Snape on the way, which delayed me a bit," Kyle replied nonchalantly, "Besides, our working hours are different from the official employees; we just need to get to the Ministry before nine."
"That's true, but it's better to be early."
They traveled through the fireplace and soon arrived at the Ministry.
It was as bustling as ever, with wizards filling the halls.
Recently, the newspapers had been reporting incidents of Death Eater vandalism every few days, causing everyone to be on edge, and the Ministry was busier than ever.
"Breaking news, the Death Eaters have appeared in the south again," two witches were discussing the latest news on the elevator.
"This time it's that lunatic, Bellatrix Lestrange, and she seems to be searching for something."
"Yes, apparently she ran into the Hit Squad who were pursuing her, and the entire street was destroyed in the chaos."
"If the Aurors had led the team, they might have caught her."
Initially, Kyle didn't pay much attention, assuming it was just another false report from Umbridge.
But as the witch exited the elevator, Kyle caught a glimpse of her newspaper, and to his surprise, there was indeed a photo of Bellatrix on it.
As the elevator stopped at the floor of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Cedric was about to speak when Kyle suddenly dashed out.
"Wait, Kyle, you haven't arrived at the Department yet," Cedric called out.
"I know," Kyle replied without turning back, sprinting towards Chris's office.
Chris was writing something, and upon seeing Kyle, he jokingly asked, "Well, does the Minister have a new mission for you to deliver?"
"Dad, do you have the Daily Prophet here?" Kyle asked directly.
"Oh, it's right there," Chris pointed to an unopened newspaper on the table, "It just arrived a minute ago."
Kyle quickly opened it.
Indeed, there was a photo of Bellatrix on the front page, using her wand to push back the Hit Squad members and disappearing in a cloud of black smoke with a maniacal laugh.
"The Hit Squad encountered the escaped Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange, in Hampshire, but she managed to escape after a confrontation.
"The Deputy Minister, Dolores Jane Umbridge, who led the operation, shows signs of being subjected to the Cruciatus Curse and has been sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries..."
Kyle didn't think the photo was fake because Bellatrix's madness was difficult to imitate. Mungo's.
More importantly, he also spotted Dumbledore in the photo.
Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, he was indeed in a corner of the photo amidst a burst of fire, apparently being transported by a Phoenix.
Perhaps it was because of Dumbledore's presence that Bellatrix fled in such a panic.
"Dad, do you know what's going on? The Order of the Phoenix should have some information," Kyle asked.
Chris glanced at the newspaper and then used his wand to close the door.
"I know a bit," he said in a hushed tone, "The Headmaster is looking for someone, and the Death Eaters are after the same person."
"Who is this person?"
"Bob Ogden," Chris replied after a moment of silence.
"That name again," Kyle frowned, "Who is he?"
This time, Chris didn't explain; he simply shook his head and said, "This is an Order of the Phoenix matter, Kyle. Although Dumbledore said we shouldn't hide anything from you, you can't help with this."
Chris didn't want to say more about Bob Ogden, and after some thought, Kyle didn't press further. Instead, he asked, "Then why didn't they send the Aurors with the Hit Squad?"
"Well..." Chris suddenly laughed but then restrained himself as if realizing it was inappropriate.
"As it happens, didn't you give Fudge an idea?"
"Yes," Kyle nodded. He hadn't hidden this from Chris, and several core members of the Order of the Phoenix were also aware of it.
"That's it," Chris said, "We received news yesterday that someone was illegally smuggling Nifflers in Hampshire, so Umbridge thought it was an opportunity to take action. She left early this morning."
(End of Chapter)
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