https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-709-Iron-Armor-Charm-The-Lost-Sirius/13012893/
Chapter 708: A Letter
Chapter 708: A Letter
"What did Cona give you?"
"Open it quickly and take a look."
As soon as Dumbledore left, Fred and George stood on either side of Kyle, their eyes twinkling with mischief.
Kyle didn't hesitate and opened the box directly.
Inside was a robe, but its style was completely different from the common ones in Britain, and it was more luxurious, resembling a formal robe.
The brown fabric had a unique light-colored pattern, almost like a floral design, but upon closer inspection, one would notice that it was caused by the fabric itself having two colors.
The ends were brown, and the middle was light gray, woven together in a specific way to create this unique pattern.
"I've seen a scarf made of similar material in Hogsmeade before," Fred said thoughtfully.
George thought for a moment, "I remember the shopkeeper saying that it was...Leek, Leek something, anyway, it's a rare magical creature's neck fur."
"Leucrotta," Kyle said.
"That's right, that's the name." Fred nodded repeatedly.
Leucrotta is a large magical creature resembling a moose with an incredibly large mouth.
When its mouth is fully open, it can easily swallow a cow... Of course, it is a herbivore and has a gentle temperament.
This magical creature itself is not uncommon; it's just less frequently seen in Britain.
"Speaking of Cona, where did she go?" George asked. "We've written her many letters, but we haven't received a single reply."
"Kyle, do you know?"
"I only know that Snape took her to participate in the assessment of the Association of Exceptional Potion Masters," Kyle shrugged, "But I'm not sure where it is, as I haven't received any replies either."
"But I guess it's probably in Northern Europe."
The reason for this guess is that Leucrotta prefers cold environments, and witches and wizards in places like Denmark or Norway love robes and cloaks made from Leucrotta fur, which provide much better insulation than wool.
"I hope she succeeds," Fred said sincerely.
"Alright, stop talking about this. We'll find out when school starts, won't we?" George said, "Kyle, try it on quickly."
"It's August now..." Kyle looked at him incredulously, "You want me to wear this?"
"Just try it on, you won't wear it all the time," Fred said.
"Fine, I'll do it." Seeing their excited expressions, Kyle sighed, took out the robe, and put it on.
Surprisingly, the size was just right, and it fit perfectly, as if it were custom-made.
"That's strange," Kyle smoothed out the wrinkles on the robe, "Why isn't it hot?"
"Of course you're not hot..." Fred shivered, rubbing his arms as he spoke, "It's just that it suddenly got cold..."
George also tightened his thin clothes, "What's going on? Is it winter already?"
Before he could finish his sentence, a terrified scream came from upstairs.
"Oh no!" Kyle suddenly remembered something and turned to run upstairs.
Honestly, how could he have forgotten something so important!
To save time, Kyle used the Disillusionment Charm to appear directly on the third floor in front of Harry's room and pushed the door open with force.
As expected...
In the room, a Dementor hovered aimlessly in mid-air. Harry, Ron, and Hermione huddled together, shivering in the corner.
The Dementor turned its head and, upon noticing Kyle, immediately floated towards him.
"Be careful, don't come in!" Hermione screamed, "There's a Dementor in here?"
The next moment, her voice abruptly stopped.
Hermione watched in disbelief as Kyle opened a box, and the Dementor obediently jumped into it, the entire process going smoothly as if it were meant to be.
But that was a Dementor... not a pet owl.
Hermione was a little dazed.
"Sorry," Kyle said apologetically, "I had temporarily used this box to contain a Dementor, but with everything that happened later, I forgot about it."
"It's, it's okay..." Harry shivered as he stood up.
In fact, after Lupin's guidance, he was no longer as afraid of Dementors, but the situation just now was too sudden.
He opened the box with joy, preparing to put something inside, but as soon as he opened the latch, a Dementor stuck its face right next to his, and he could clearly see the skull-like face under its hood.
Anyone would be scared in that situation, and Harry was courageous for not fainting on the spot.
"But Kyle, why are you carrying a Dementor with you?" he asked, still shaken.
"I caught this one," Kyle explained. "I was planning to hand it over to the Ministry of Magic, but as I said earlier, I forgot about it."
"What happened!"
At this moment, the adults, alerted by the commotion, arrived.
"I heard someone screaming just now," Sirius was the first to rush in, carefully examining the situation in the room while asking, "Are you all okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine." Harry glanced at Kyle and then said calmly, "We accidentally opened a prank item just now, and Ron got scared."
"Yeah, that's right, exactly like that," Ron agreed.
"Prank items?" Sirius looked around curiously. "Odd, why is it so cold? It feels like a Dementor..."
"I guess it's something like a snowflake tree," Harry suggested.
Before Sirius could finish his sentence, Dumbledore walked in, reminiscing, "That was the trendiest thing a decade ago. It could cover a tree in snow in just a few seconds."
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry stood up, glancing nervously to the side.
But Dumbledore seemed to ignore his subtle movement and continued, "However, I must remind you, Mr. Weasley, that Professor McGonagall would never approve of anyone bringing such things into the school."
"Oh, is that so?" Fred, unsure of what was happening, still responded, "Then we won't sell them."
"Exactly," George chimed in, "We won't have these in our shop anymore."
"That's great," Dumbledore smiled. "Sirius, if you don't mind, I'd love a glass of whiskey to warm up."
"No problem, Professor Dumbledore," Sirius nodded. "I remember there are a few bottles of aged Firewhiskey in the basement."
The adults left one by one.
Harry patted his chest and said, "Do you think Professor Dumbledore noticed?"
"Definitely," Hermione affirmed. "Nothing can escape Professor Dumbledore's attention."
"Then why didn't he expose us?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"He probably didn't want to cause panic," Kyle suggested. "Remember, Sirius still has his fears about Dementors."
"Anyway, thanks for covering for me," Kyle added.
"No problem, we're friends," Harry waved it off. He glanced at the box on the floor, "I hope there's nothing else in there."
"Don't worry, there's nothing else," Kyle assured him. "But if you're concerned, I can get you a replacement."
"No, no," Harry waved his hand dismissively. "As long as there's nothing else, I quite like this box."
"Kyle, I think it's better if you tell everyone," Harry continued. "I mean, with a Dementor in there, can you sleep at night?"
Harry knew that if it were him in the same room as a Dementor, he wouldn't be able to sleep, even with the box as a barrier.
"Don't worry, it's fine," Kyle said. "It's just for one night. Tomorrow, I'll hand it over to the Ministry."
"Okay, then," Harry agreed, seeing that Kyle had made up his mind.
"Your robe is so beautiful," Hermione admired, eyeing Kyle's attire. "Where did you get it? Madam Malkin's Robes? I didn't see a similar style when I was there a few days ago."
"Oh, this is a gift from Cona," Kyle explained, removing his robe.
As the Dementor vanished, the coldness dissipated, and Leucrotta's fur did its job, and within minutes, Kyle was sweating.
"No wonder," Hermione commented, glancing at the robe once more.
Harry invited Kyle to stay and play Wizard Chess, but Kyle declined.
He had more important matters to attend to and wasn't going to waste any more time.
Harry also invited Fred and George, but they declined as well. Dumbledore's words had given them an excellent idea.
Even Dumbledore remembered it clearly, so they were certain it would be a hit. They decided to recreate the snowflake tree that very night.
...
This chapter is brought to you by Liu Jiu Book Bar.
Sirius had also prepared a room for Kyle on the third floor, right next to Harry's. It was just a few steps away.
Back in his room, Kyle carefully locked the door before approaching the desk with excitement. He took out the parchments he had kept in his pocket, items related to the famous wizard Merlin. No matter who the wizard was, they couldn't remain calm when faced with such things, even Kyle, who had met the Hogwarts Founders and communicated with Rowena Ravenclaw face-to-face.
Although the Founders were great wizards, no wizard would shout 'Gryffindor' in their excitement."
In a way, the name Merlin has become a symbol, irreplaceable by anyone."
Kyle had only glanced at the parchments on the dining table earlier, but now he discovered there were five of them.
However, the top parchment only had the line he had seen before, serving as protection for the real content from others.
The bottom parchment was the same.
After all, Cona had warned him that the content would disappear if a second person saw it.
Kyle set aside the blank parchment and carefully examined the letter related to Merlin.
Of course, the letter in his hands wasn't the original, as the parchments were new, obviously copied using magic. But that didn't matter.
Kyle only needed a glance to confirm that this was Merlin's handwriting.
The parchment was filled with ancient runes, and not just any runes, but the most intricate and unadulterated ancient runes.
This was a bit of a challenge, as the runes taught by Riddle, Professor Babbling, and even the textbooks all used the simplified version introduced by Rowena Ravenclaw during the Middle Ages.
Merlin, though a medieval wizard himself, predated the Hogwarts founders by at least five hundred years, making his runes significantly more complex.
The ancient runes on this parchment were a far cry from what Kyle had learned, and his temples began to throb as he struggled to decipher them.
While he could grasp the general meaning, reading it was a laborious task, with at least half of each sentence incomprehensible, even with his best guesses.
Initially, Kyle considered memorizing the content and deciphering it later, but he soon realized he couldn't retain the information.
The runes seemed to have wings, flying out of his mind as soon as he finished reading them.
He took a new piece of parchment, intending to transcribe the content, but to no avail.
When he finally finished copying, he discovered to his dismay that he had copied every rune incorrectly. Not a single one matched the original.
Kyle was certain this wasn't due to his own error; he had copied meticulously, and even with the complexity, it was unlikely for every rune to be wrong.
The only explanation was that these parchments were enchanted, preventing any form of duplication or record-keeping.
With no other choice, Kyle put the items away and went downstairs to find Sirius.
...
"Runic translation?" Sirius asked, puzzled, as he looked at Kyle. "What do you need that for?"
"I got something, but I can't understand it," Kyle explained.
He wasn't sure if the Black family's private library had such resources, but it was worth a try. As one of the oldest pure-blood families, they should have something.
"Ancient runes?" Dumbledore, sipping his drink nearby, glanced at Kyle and said softly, "It seems you've received quite a remarkable birthday gift."
Kyle trusted the people here and had no intention of hiding anything. He opened his mouth to speak but found himself unable to form words.
"Don't worry," Dumbledore said calmly, "It's common for items in the Department of Mysteries to have some peculiar restrictions. I often encounter the same issue. Sometimes, I know things, but I can't quite express them. Don't worry, this situation won't last long."
Hearing Dumbledore's words, Kyle nodded and decided not to force himself to speak.
At that moment, Sirius also realized the situation and said, "The Black family should have many books related to ancient runes, but I'm not sure if we have what you're looking for."
"Let me ask Kreacher to bring the books," Dumbledore stood up and said, "If it's a translation of the most ancient runes, I do have a book that might help. Just give me a moment."
With that, Dumbledore disappeared, only to reappear five minutes later in the dining room, holding an old book which he handed to Kyle.
"I've been thinking of what gift to give you, but now I don't need to worry about it," Dumbledore said.
Kyle took the book, which was indeed old, likely due to frequent use. Even the pages inside had faded.
However, this was exactly what Kyle needed—a comparison chart of ancient runes and their simplified counterparts.
"Thank you, Professor," Kyle said.
"You're welcome," Dumbledore replied, "Hurry back. If I'm not mistaken, the item you received likely has a time limit."
Kyle nodded and returned to the third floor using the Disillusionment Charm.
With the chart, deciphering the content on the parchment became less daunting.
Although he had to consult the chart for almost every rune, it was enough.
More importantly, Kyle discovered that it was a teaching letter, with Merlin instructing someone on the Iron Armor Charm... In the letter, it was called 'Armor Defense', but the effect should be the same.
【Combine 'Determination' with 'Protection' and 'Wall' to form a magical array at the tip of the wand...】
【'Earth' is the key...】
【No, that's not right,】 Kyle shook his head, whispering, 【Here, it should be 'Continuous Growth', not 'Earth'.】
The same ancient rune could have multiple meanings, and this unadulterated version was even more complex. Even with the translation chart, reading it wasn't easy.
Kyle had to list all possible interpretations and then compare them with the context to make adjustments.
It was a time-consuming task, but Kyle found joy in the process.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
