Chapter 696: A Close Shave for Harry, Coincidence (Happy New Year!)
Chapter 696: A Close Shave for Harry, Coincidence (Happy New Year!)
Newt remained with the giants for an extended period, eventually accompanying New Gog and several giants to the largest cave.
At this point, he disappeared from Kyle's sight. Out of concern for provoking the giants and due to their trust in Newt, they maintained their distance, merely observing from afar.
When Newt returned, it was already late at night.
"Good..." He said with a smile, "New Gog has informed me that he initially disagreed with Gog's decision, so the giants won't be joining the Death Eaters in this war... Of course, they won't be siding with the Order of the Phoenix either. They intend to remain neutral and stay out of the conflict."
"See, I told you so," Kyle said, turning to Hagrid and Maxime.
"It's exactly as you said," Hagrid blurted out. "How did you know?"
"It was just a guess, and not a difficult one at that," Kyle shrugged, "Just look down there. Almost all the powerful giants are injured, and the stronger they are, the more severe their wounds.
In this situation, they'll want to recuperate and rebuild their strength instead of engaging in further warfare, unless they get restless.
So, regardless of who the new leader is, they will choose to remain uninvolved and continue their seclusion."
"Yeah, Kyle's right," Newt nodded in agreement.
"As long as the giants don't side with the Death Eaters, that's the best outcome for us."
He looked up at the sky.
"Now that this matter is settled, we should head back," Newt turned to Hagrid and Maxime. "If there are any signs of giant activity or if Death Eaters try to approach them again, be sure to contact me immediately."
"Don't worry, we'll handle it," Hagrid assured him, patting his chest.
"Won't you come back with us?" Kyle asked.
"No, Dumbledore entrusted us with keeping an eye on the giants, so Olivander and I will stay a while longer. But..."
Hagrid suddenly became hesitant, "Can I see Norberta again? Just one more look."
He had been longing to see Norberta again, but due to the pressing matters at hand, he had been holding back. Now, he could no longer resist the urge.
"Wait until school starts, Hagrid," Kyle said after a moment's thought. He shook his head, "Because of that Hungarian Horntail, Norberta is in a bit of a temper right now. If she accidentally bumps into you, it might cause problems for our upcoming plans."
"Oh... alright then." Hagrid couldn't help but glance at the box in Kyle's hand. Though reluctant, he nodded, "Fine, but you promised that when school starts, I get to see Norberta again... She's grown so beautiful, hasn't she?"
Beautiful?
Maxime frowned slightly. She recalled that Hagrid had used the same word to describe her... Could it be that in his eyes, she resembled a dragon?
This realization dampened Maxime's previously cheerful mood, and her expression turned gloomy.
She furrowed her brows, subtly moving to stand farther away from Hagrid.
However, no one else seemed to notice this.
Newt, on the other hand, picked up a twig and tapped it with his wand.
"Portus!"
The twig glowed with a golden light, vibrating intensely in Newt's hand before calming down.
"Oh, it should work now," Newt checked it and then handed one end of the twig to Kyle.
But Kyle didn't take it; he eyed Newt suspiciously and asked, "Should work? What do you mean? Won't this thing take me to some strange place?"
"Of course not," Newt explained. "Due to being deceived too many times, I've tried making Portkeys myself in the past, but each time, the Ministry tracked me down.
As soon as I appear, the Aurors arrive shortly after. So, it's been about fifty years since I last used this magic."
"Wow..." Kyle whistled.
A piece of magic that hadn't been used in fifty years... Now he was even more reluctant to touch the twig, "Why don't we just have Lupin come and pick us up, like they did before?"
"Don't worry, I'm certain there won't be any issues," Newt reassured him. "And the members of the Order of the Phoenix are quite busy as well. It wouldn't be right to trouble them over such a minor matter... Come on, you only have five minutes."
With Newt's repeated assurances, Kyle finally plucked up the courage to grasp the twig.
"Have a safe trip!" Maxime waved goodbye.
As soon as she finished speaking, Kyle was pulled away from the ground by an irresistible force and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.
"My Norberta..." Hagrid muttered softly, then turned to Maxime and said, "Olivander, you go get some rest. I'll keep watch for any giant movements."
"No need," Maxime said expressionlessly. "You took the night shift yesterday, so I'll do it tonight. Maybe you'll get to see your dragon again in your dreams."
"Huh?" Hagrid scratched his hair, confused as to why she had suddenly become upset when she seemed fine just a moment ago.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
"Nothing, I'm fine," Maxime replied without turning back.
...
Meanwhile, in a small village somewhere in England.
After a nerve-wracking journey, Kyle finally found himself on solid ground once more.
He immediately let go and looked around.
He appeared to be in a village, surrounded by rows of houses, with the faint sign of a pub visible in the distance. Thankfully, it wasn't some desolate place.
"I told you there was nothing to worry about," Newt said happily. Then, he frowned slightly, "But this doesn't look like St. Kachibol Village..."
"So, the Portkey's destination is St. Kachibol Village?" Kyle's voice rose slightly.
"Of course," Newt said, "I agreed with Chris that after everything was over, I'd send you home."
"Phew..." Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. As he expected, he shouldn't have trusted Newt so readily.
"But it doesn't matter," Newt continued, "I can assure you that we're still in Britain."
"How do you know?"
"Because of those..." Newt pointed to the faint black mist floating in the air, "You only find that in Britain."
"The famous London fog, huh.
"Wait, Dementors?" Kyle didn't have the heart to dwell on whether he had misunderstood, and quickly asked, "What about the Dementors that escaped from Azkaban, weren't they dealt with?"
"That's right," Newt said, "But the remaining ones have also joined the Death Eaters. On the very day your holiday began, there was another mass breakout from Azkaban, and this time, even more escaped.
The mysterious figure promised the Dementors they could feed openly, absorbing souls as they pleased, so almost all of them have defected to the Death Eaters' side."
"What should we do then?" Kyle asked.
"There's nothing we can do." Newt sighed, "This time, the Dementors aren't gathered together, they're scattered all over the place, so it's impossible to deal with them all at once."
"Then we'll just have to take them out one by one." Kyle narrowed his eyes, "As long as we keep moving, we'll eventually get them all."
"That's what Dumbledore did." Newt said, "Unfortunately, it's too slow, and usually, a wizard can't kill a Dementor."
"What about the Patronus Charm?"
"It won't work." Newt shook his head and said, "A Dementor has to be in prolonged contact with a Patronus to be destroyed, but they're not stupid. They'll flee as soon as a Patronus gets close.
"And most Patronuses are ordinary animals, unable to capture a Dementor, so this spell usually only works to drive them away... unless it's a Phoenix like Dumbledore's, which can easily capture and peck them to pieces."
Kyle raised an eyebrow and said, "I think my Patronus can do it too." His Patronus wasn't a phoenix, but it seemed to be able to capture Dementors, which had been proven in a previous encounter.
More importantly, his jellyfish Patronus could bind several Dementors at once, making it a group attack that was even more efficient than a phoenix.
"Oh, that's right." Newt suddenly remembered something, "I recall your Patronus is... an octopus?"
"It's a jellyfish." Kyle corrected him.
After all, he had learned the Patronus Charm from Newt himself at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, so it was hard to imagine that Newt would get the species wrong.
"Sorry, I don't know much about ordinary animals." Newt apologized, "Could you show it to me again?"
Kyle immediately took out his wand.
Soon, a jellyfish glowing with silver-white light appeared in front of the two of them, and the annoying gray mist in the air dissipated almost instantly.
"I wanted to say this last time, it's really beautiful." Newt couldn't help but comment, his gaze falling on the jellyfish's fine, long tentacles.
"Indeed." Newt said in surprise, "These tentacles aren't as conspicuous as those of a normal Patronus, so even if they get close to Dementors, the Dementors won't feel threatened."
"Oh, I should have thought of this earlier. You're more suited to stay here instead of going with me to deal with the giants."
"It's not too late now." Kyle said.
"Yes, it's not too late." Newt nodded, "But before that, I need to send you back. Grab my hand, Kyle.
"Although I don't know where this place is, as long as we're in Britain, we can use Side-Along Apparition."
"It's okay, I can Apparate too." Kyle said.
"But you haven't taken the test yet." Newt said, "I remember this year's Apparition test was postponed to July 30th due to special circumstances."
Kyle wanted to say that even without taking the test, he could use Apparition without worry... at least, Fudge wouldn't have any objections.
But before he could say anything, he vaguely heard someone calling his name.
At first, Kyle thought he had misheard, but the next second...
"K... y... l... e..."
This time, he heard it very clearly; someone was calling his name.
Wow, in the middle of the night, in a remote village that he didn't even know the name of, someone was calling his name... This was truly terrifying.
Even though Kyle could calmly have tea with a ghost, he still felt his scalp go numb at this moment. Instinctively, he drew his wand and pointed it in the direction of the voice.
"Who's there, come out!"
A dozen balls of golden-red flames began to dance around him.
Now, Kyle felt much calmer. He believed that no matter what came his way, the Flaming Wrath would teach them that scaring people in the middle of the night was wrong.
"Oh, calm down."
As a familiar voice rang out, Kyle felt his vision blur, and a figure appeared in front of him.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Kyle asked in confusion.
"It's me." Dumbledore nodded, glancing at Kyle's wand, he said, "I didn't teach you that spell so you could use it on your friends."
Well, this confirmed that the person in front of him was indeed Dumbledore.
Kyle retracted the magic at the tip of his wand and looked behind him.
A blurry figure was staggering towards them.
"That's Harry." Dumbledore explained, "Because you happened to be standing in the moonlight, he recognized you from a distance."
Kyle tried to make sense of what was happening, but he still couldn't understand why he was seeing Dumbledore here.
Could it be that the Ministry had detected the use of the Portkey? Did Dumbledore come to pick them up?
That didn't seem right, he knew how to Apparate.
"Professor, why are you here?" Kyle asked.
"I think that's a question I should be asking you." Dumbledore said, "Weren't you dealing with the giant issue? Why are you in the village of Barried Baberton in the middle of the night?"
"Baberton Village?" Kyle glanced at Newt, "Well... it's complicated to explain, but in any case, according to normal circumstances, we should be appearing in St. Kachibol Village right now."
Dumbledore also looked over at Newt.
And at this moment, Newt was looking up at the sky, seemingly fascinated by the night sky.
Kyle opened his mouth to speak, thinking that compared to being brought back by a phoenix, the current situation didn't seem too bad.
At that moment, Harry rushed over, breathless.
"Kyle, it really is you!" he exclaimed happily. "I knew I wasn't mistaken. Did you hear me calling your name just now?"
"So, it was you shouting my name?" Kyle asked, his expression peculiar.
"Yes," Harry nodded. "Is something the matter?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Kyle said. "But let me give you a piece of advice. In the future, when it's midnight in a deserted place like this, it's best not to shout someone's name loudly."
"Oh, why is that?"
"Because everyone is asleep," Kyle continued. "If you make a ruckus like you did just now, you might get beaten up."
"I know, I was just too excited," Harry said. "By the way, how did you get here? Did Professor Dumbledore bring you too?"
"No, it's because..." Kyle hesitated, then shook his head and said, "Never mind, it's a long story. Let's just call it a coincidence."
He then looked at Dumbledore. "Professor, we should be heading back now."
"Oh, there's no rush," Dumbledore smiled. "Since we've met, we might as well go together. I was actually planning to invite you anyway, so this is perfect timing."
As he spoke, he glanced at Newt, who was still studying the night sky. But in that brief moment, Newt suddenly disappeared, leaving only the crisp sound of his footsteps echoing in the quiet village.
"Hmm..."
Dumbledore turned back to Kyle and winked. "Remember to keep this confidential. To be honest, it's been a while since he last used certain spells, so it's normal to have some discrepancies in the details."
"I understand," Kyle said.
"Good." Dumbledore turned and began walking towards the village again. "Come along, I think we're almost there."
"Professor, where are we going?" Kyle asked.
"I've lost count of how many times I've explained this in the past few years," Dumbledore sighed. "But we're short-staffed again since Tonks insisted on returning to the Auror Office.
"This time, we're here to persuade a retired colleague to come out of retirement and return to Hogwarts."
"But how can I help?" Harry asked.
"I think you'll be of great use," Dumbledore said. "Oh, and Kyle, the same goes for you. With both of you here, I think our chances of success will be much higher... Let's turn left here."
Retired colleague? Kyle had a guess as to whom they were going to meet.
Harry, on the other hand, continued to ask questions. "But Professor, why can't we just Apparate directly to that retired colleague's... I mean, the old professor's house?"
"Because that would be like kicking down someone's door," Dumbledore said. "And most wizards' residences have magic to prevent unwanted Apparitions, just like Hogwarts..."
The journey was a bit dull, and as Kyle looked at Dumbledore walking ahead of them, he asked, "Professor, didn't Healer Sascia from St. Mungo's mention that she wanted to retire to Hogwarts? Why don't we invite her instead?"
"If Sascia is willing to come, I'd even be willing to give her the position of Headmaster," Dumbledore sighed. "Unfortunately, she changed her mind, especially after receiving those precious potion ingredients. I doubt she'll be retiring anytime soon."
Kyle immediately closed his mouth, not wanting to be blamed for this. After all, he had only donated the snake moltings and blood to St. Mungo's out of goodwill.
However, Harry didn't notice anything amiss and continued chatting with Kyle about his holiday.
"I heard you went traveling?"
"Traveling? Who told you that?"
"Ron," Harry said. "Fred and George went to look for you, and your dad told them that you and Mr. Scamander went traveling. They then told Ron about it.
"I thought you would only be back after the holidays ended."
"Ah, there wasn't much to see, so I came back early," Kyle said.
"Where did you go?"
"Probably Romania."
"The Dragon Sanctuary?"
"No, it was another place that Mr. Scamander took me to."
"That must have been interesting," Harry said longingly. "Hermione told me that Mr. Scamander is the greatest Magizoologist of our time."
"It was alright, quite interesting," Kyle thought for a moment and said. "We witnessed the entire process of a tribe choosing their new leader, which is something rarely seen."
Dumbledore also looked intrigued and asked, "What was the new leader like? Was he easy to get along with?"
"I suppose so," Kyle said. "At least he and Mr. Scamander got along very well."
Dumbledore nodded, "And what about the tribe? How are they doing now?"
"After a grand celebration, they'll need some time to rest," Kyle said. "They're no longer welcoming visitors."
"Is that so." Dumbledore smiled, and then he didn't ask any further questions.
"That's a shame." Harry looked at Kyle with envy.
Choosing a tribal leader... a grand celebration... just hearing about these things made it sound fascinating.
He really envied Kyle's freedom to go wherever he wanted and experience different things, while he was stuck at Privet Drive, unable to go anywhere.
However, Harry's spirits soon lifted as he remembered Dumbledore's promise to take him to 12 Grimmauld Place after they finished their business.
The thought of seeing Sirius again filled him with joy.
He was determined to set up his own room this time... a real room, not a cupboard or an attic storage room.
With that in mind, going to Romania didn't seem so appealing after all.
(End of Chapter)
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