https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-721-Professor-Babbling-s-Warning/12539210/
Chapter 720: A Few Things About Newt and the Snake Lady
Chapter 720: A Few Things About Newt and the Snake Lady
"What's wrong with Professor Snape?"
Kyle, who had almost been knocked over, looked at the hurrying figure of Snape and asked curiously, "Professor, you haven't docked his pay, have you?"
"Of course not," Dumbledore adjusted his mood and said with a smile, "In fact, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor earns ten galleons more than the other teachers... There's no helping it, if we didn't offer more, we wouldn't be able to find a suitable professor."
Kyle believed that the part about the higher salary was true, but he refrained from commenting on whether or not the professors were suitable. Dumbledore probably had his reasons.
"Young man, I sense you're thinking something very rude." The portrait of Phineas Black suddenly spoke up: "Believe me, my instincts are usually spot on."
"Good afternoon, sir," Kyle looked up at the portrait, "I admit, I was just thinking about suggesting to Sirius that he should consider doing a thorough cleaning of his house and get rid of some useless things."
"...Like the portrait next to the staircase in the living room, for example."
"I knew it, you are a rude little brat." Phineas screeched like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "I warn you, don't you dare, and Sirius won't throw away his grandfather's portrait either."
"Is that so?" Kyle said indifferently, "That's not certain..."
The portrait of Phineas hung next to the staircase at 12 Grimmauld Place, and with this advantage, he could move freely between the Headmaster's office and there, conveying some of Dumbledore's requests or plans.
However, most of the time, Dumbledore would choose to go there in person instead of letting Phineas convey the message, so that portrait was basically useless.
Sirius had thought about getting rid of it more than once.
"I warn you..." Phineas said fiercely, "That's my house, you can't kick me out."
"No misunderstanding, I'm just making a suggestion." Kyle shrugged, "What to do specifically will depend on Sirius, but I think he wouldn't mind getting a new portrait."
"You!" Phineas was so angry that his beard stood up, and with a whoosh, he rushed out of the frame, probably off to 12 Grimmauld Place to find Sirius.
"Hahaha, well done!" said a wizard with a big beard next to him, "This is quite amusing, you're the first student to get him so riled up."
"Thank you for your compliment, Headmaster Dippet," Kyle said with a smile.
Having visited quite a few times, he was now quite familiar with these portraits, and the one in front of him was Armando Dippet, the previous headmaster before Dumbledore.
He and Phineas Black had always been at odds. Out of ten times they fought, nine times it was Armando who kicked things off, and the only remaining time was because he had been too slow to catch up.
"Kyle," Dumbledore said softly, "It is quite useful to keep Phineas at Grimmauld Place."
"I know, I was just scaring him." Kyle said, "After all, there's a Permanent Sticking Charm on his portrait, so they can't throw it away even if they wanted to."
Dumbledore's mouth twitched. If he hadn't done it himself, how would he know about the Permanent Sticking Charm on the portrait?
"No misunderstanding, Sirius discovered it, it has nothing to do with me," Kyle explained, then changed the subject, "Professor, why did you call me here? Is there something you need?"
"There is a small matter," Dumbledore said.
"What is it?" Kyle asked.
"It's about Horcruxes," Dumbledore said as he took out an antique stone basin from the cabinet, "But before that, let's take a look at a memory, one that I've been searching for a long time, and the most important one I've found so far."
Since Dumbledore said so, Kyle naturally didn't object.
Dumbledore took out a small crystal bottle from his inner pocket, and the memory inside seemed to have condensed due to the long passage of time, not as smooth as it used to be. Dumbledore spent some effort to pour it into the Pensieve.
The Pensieve began to emit a misty light.
Kyle walked over, feeling his consciousness sinking, falling into the silver substance, and when he opened his eyes again, there was another person in front of him.
It was a much younger Slughorn, with a head full of lush golden hair.
Perhaps because he was used to Slughorn's bald image, Kyle felt a little strange, as if he was wearing a head full of straw.
"Professor Slughorn started balding quite early," Kyle said, hearing footsteps behind him.
"What?" Dumbledore was taken aback, not quite understanding what Kyle meant.
"Look here," Kyle pointed to the top of Slughorn's head, where there was already a small bald spot, about the size of a galleon.
Dumbledore remained silent, as Kyle's focus was quite unexpected.
Was the memory he had worked so hard to obtain meant to confirm when Slughorn started going bald?
Fortunately, Kyle didn't dwell on this question and instead turned his attention to the other people talking around him.
He presented a bag of candied pineapple to Slughorn, and they soon chatted about a professor's retirement.
Kyle had no recollection of the name they mentioned, assuming it wasn't someone of great importance.
"Oh, it's Galardia, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, an old colleague of mine," Dumbledore said. "He's about to retire, and Riddle here is likely angling to succeed him."
"But you refused him," Kyle stated.
"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed. "I advised Armando to reject his request to stay at Hogwarts, even though many professors, including Galardia, believed Riddle was more than capable of taking on the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
Dumbledore's expression remained neutral.
He was certain that Riddle's intentions went beyond simply teaching at the school, which was why he had denied his request to stay twice.
"So, he's seeking confirmation of this information from Professor Slughorn?" Kyle inquired.
"No," Dumbledore shook his head. "He's showcasing his abilities to Professor Slughorn. Sometimes, gathering information is a form of ability in itself."
Indeed, things unfolded as Dumbledore had suggested.
Slughorn looked slightly bewildered. "How do you come by such information, child? You seem to know more than most professors."
Riddle smiled but remained silent.
"You little scamp, always knowing things you shouldn't and managing to ingratiate yourself with the right people..." Slughorn seemed to want to reprimand Riddle, but his tone was more playful than stern. "And thank you for the pineapple; you guessed right, it's my favorite..."
A burst of laughter filled the room.
But just then, a thick white fog enveloped the surroundings, obscuring Kyle's vision.
"This memory has been tampered with!" Kyle exclaimed.
The mist within the memory resembled a mosaic, added later on to conceal something the tamperer didn't want others to see or hear.
The fog hid everything, and Kyle could only hear a voice, unnaturally high-pitched, saying, "...You will make mistakes, child. Mark my words."
His mouth twitched, and he asked, "Whose memory is this?"
"Professor Slughorn's," Dumbledore replied.
"So..." Kyle turned to Dumbledore, "Professor Slughorn wasn't very adept at anything other than potions, was he? This fake voice is too crude."
That high-pitched voice was in stark contrast to the natural tone from before, clearly an attempt to cover something up.
It was like a broomstick suddenly turning into a fire-breathing dragon in the middle of a Quidditch match—impossible to ignore.
"Yes, he wasn't skilled in memory charms at the time," Dumbledore acknowledged. "But he later made up for that shortcoming.
"As for the reason, you'll understand if you continue watching. It should be coming up soon."
As Dumbledore finished speaking, the white mist before Kyle's eyes dissipated.
Slughorn had finished the candied pineapple, and the small golden clock on his desk had jumped from half-past nine to eleven.
It was now curfew time, and everyone except Riddle had left the office, with Riddle lingering as the last one to leave.
Once they were alone, he said, "Sir, I wanted to ask you something..."
"Then ask, child," Slughorn urged.
"Sir, do you know anything about... Horcruxes?"
The office was once again filled with fog, followed by another overly fabricated voice.
"I know nothing of Horcruxes, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Get out, and don't let me hear you mention this again!"
However, Kyle had already guessed why Dumbledore wanted him to view this particular memory.
The next second, the two of them left the memory.
"Professor," Kyle said, looking at the Pensieve, "do you think that was when Riddle learned the secret of Horcruxes?"
"Undeniably, Professor Slughorn must have revealed some secrets to him, or he wouldn't have been ashamed enough to alter his own memory," Dumbledore said softly. "This is his weakness. He always finds it difficult to refuse those he favors, and Tom, at that time, was his most promising student. For a long while afterward, he firmly believed that Tom would achieve greatness."
"And he was right, wasn't he?" Kyle said. "In a way, Riddle did achieve a certain level of greatness."
"But this was clearly not what Professor Slughorn wanted to see, which is why he wanted to hide his past mistakes," Dumbledore said as he retrieved the memory from the Pensieve and returned it to the bottle.
"His technique is rather crude, but that's also good news," Dumbledore continued. "It shows that he couldn't bring himself to completely forget these memories; instead, he chose to cover them up.
"Just as I said before," Dumbledore glanced at him, "Professor Slughorn finds it hard to refuse those he favors. And the reason he returned to Hogwarts was because of you and Harry, so it's only fitting that you two take on this task."
"Harry?" Kyle looked around.
"He's not here. I haven't figured out how to broach the subject with him yet. After all, he's different from you; I need to explain a lot of things to him in advance."
Dumbledore looked at Kyle, as if waiting for him to say something.
"Oh." Kyle acted as if he hadn't heard and nodded. "Then take your time, Professor. Rest assured, Harry is easily persuaded... well, he's easy to talk to."
Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged, but he glanced towards the door.
"You were wondering why Professor Snape was angry earlier, weren't you?" he continued. "Well, that's the reason. He believes that Horcruxes are Tom's most closely guarded secret, and anyone who knows about them will be in danger. He doesn't want you to take such a risk."
"Who doesn't want me to take risks? Professor Snape?"
Kyle's expression turned serious as he said, "Professor, I think it's necessary to conduct a thorough investigation within the school. I suspect that some of the professors might be Death Eaters in disguise, using Polyjuice Potion. We can't afford to be careless about this, and it's better to resolve it sooner rather than later."
"Don't say that."
Dumbledore laughed softly, "Actually, Professor Snape isn't as stern as you think, and..."
He looked at Kyle and said in a teasing tone, "The two of you will be family sooner or later, so it's understandable that he cares about you."
"That's something for the future." Kyle rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit troubled by this as well.
"So, what's your decision?"
Dumbledore said, "Will you help me with this favor? I must say that obtaining the true memory is crucial for us, but if you have any concerns, I will understand."
"Professor, do you think I can stay out of Horcrux matters?" Kyle blurted out.
He had already destroyed so many of Voldemort's Horcruxes; did it matter if he knew about one more?
And there was also Harry...
Snape's worries were completely unnecessary. Whether they knew about Professor Slughorn's memory or not, Voldemort wouldn't let them off the hook.
At that moment, an owl flew into the room through the window and delivered a letter to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore glanced at the letter, his face becoming more solemn.
"I'm sorry, Kyle, but I have to attend to something else." He stood up and then Disapparated from the room.
Fawkes gave a soft cry and disappeared in a burst of firelight.
In the blink of an eye, Kyle was left alone in the office. He looked around at the empty room and the dozing portraits, and then prepared to leave.
After leaving the Headmaster's office, Kyle continued to think about what Dumbledore had said earlier. However, he suddenly realized that Professor Slughorn's memory didn't seem to be of much use after all.
It was just a memory related to Horcruxes, but when he thought about it carefully, how many Horcruxes of Voldemort's were left?
The diary and the resurrection stone ring had already been destroyed, and the crown, goblet, and locket were all with Nicolas Flamel. By now, they should have been taken care of as well.
That made five Horcruxes.
Oh, and there was also the giant snake, Nagini.
During the Triwizard Tournament, Kyle had been transported to the mountain where Voldemort was performing the resurrection ritual by the cup-shaped portkey. He had taken the opportunity to kidnap the snake while Voldemort and Dumbledore were fighting.
However, to Kyle's surprise, the snake wasn't a Horcrux... but it wasn't an ordinary animal either; it was a Maledictum.
In simple terms, it was a witch who had been transformed into a snake by a blood curse.
This situation was similar to an Animagus, but the difference was that a Maledictum was permanent. They couldn't switch back and forth between their human and animal forms like an Animagus; they were stuck in their animal form forever.
Moreover, their consciousness would gradually fade away until they became a true animal.
Newt had explained this to him during the holidays.
Additionally, Newt knew that snake, and he had asked Kyle to leave Nagini with him no matter what.
Kyle had no reason to refuse, as he wasn't Voldemort and didn't have a habit of carrying a snake with him. Even if he did, he had more suitable snake-like magical beasts, so he readily agreed to let Newt take care of Nagini.
This was also why Newt hadn't taken the leopard cat back; it was an unspoken agreement between them.
However, there was one thing that Kyle felt conflicted about. Nagini was a female snake, which meant that before she became a Maledictum, she had been a witch.
Newt had been keeping a 'snake-woman' by his side... Kyle hadn't decided whether to tell Tina about this yet.
(End of Chapter)
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