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Chapter 759: The Big Bad Wolf and the Little Lamb
Chapter 759: The Big Bad Wolf and the Little Lamb
Hermione had always believed that every decision she made was well-thought-out, so she rarely regretted her choices.
For example, in her third year, despite being busy to the point of exhaustion, she never regretted taking on all her courses.
But today, she regretted it, and it was the kind of regret that made her want to bang her head against the wall.
"You really saw Hogwarts a thousand years ago?" She stared at Harry. "And attended a class?"
"Yeah," Harry replied casually as he spoke to Ron. "To be precise, I only attended the class for ten minutes because I couldn't understand what was being taught."
Then he continued his conversation with Ron. "You know, the Fat Lady wasn't there from the beginning. There used to be a portrait of a knight hanging there instead."
"Was it Sir Cadogan?" Ron asked.
"No, it was someone else," said Harry. "He looked tall and imposing, but I've never seen him in the castle before."
As the two boys chatted enthusiastically about the painting, Hermione's heart sank with even greater frustration.
A thousand-year-old wizard teaching a class was such a precious opportunity, and Harry had missed it... all because of a painting?
Hermione couldn't understand why, and she truly regretted not agreeing to go in Harry's place last night.
If she had agreed, she would not only have heard those invaluable lessons but also witnessed what the original library looked like.
What a wonderful opportunity, and it had slipped through her fingers!
At this moment, Harry had finished talking about the painting and had started describing Helga Hufflepuff of the Four Founders, completely oblivious to the fact that Hermione, sitting on his other side, had tears welling up in her eyes.
There were four founders? Hermione had never wanted a Time-Turner more desperately. She longed to go back to the previous night and slap herself hard for refusing Harry's request.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ron finally noticed her unusual behavior and asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Hermione took a deep breath and then gulped down a large glass of chilled pumpkin juice.
Perhaps it was the effect of the cool drink, but Hermione suddenly thought of something.
"Harry," she asked urgently. "Didn't you say that Kyle took you to the Room of Requirement?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "He has something like a key that has to be placed on the wall to open the door to the Room of Requirement. Why?"
"It's nothing," Hermione shook her head and fell silent, staring at the plate in front of her, deep in thought.
Meanwhile, on the eighth floor.
Kyle encountered an embarrassing situation—he couldn't get out.
It was as if the door to the Room of Requirement was being blocked from the outside, for no matter how hard Kyle tried, he couldn't turn the doorknob, not even with the bronze door knocker.
He shouted Lavender's name several times, but there was no response.
Kyle couldn't understand why he had suddenly been locked in, and to make matters worse, he was starting to feel hungry.
There was no food in the Room of Requirement, and not even Rowena Ravenclaw could violate the Gammer Gambol laws.
In this situation, Kyle... well, he could last for quite a while.
After all, he had plenty of prepared hog legs, as well as herds of regular and Tebo warts, and other livestock in his trunk. There were also fish in the lake... all of which he had asked Hagrid to help him with during his free time recently.
He had done this to make things easier, as feeding the magical creatures in his trunk had become a challenge. With these provisions, Norbert and the others could hunt and feed themselves without him having to constantly worry about them.
So, for the time being, Kyle didn't have to worry about food. Although there were no condiments, the food would certainly fill his stomach, even if it didn't taste great.
As for water, he could always use the golden goblet or the Aqua Eructo spell.
"This won't do," Kyle frowned. "I need to find a way out."
Lavender wouldn't have made such a mistake, so something must have gone wrong.
Kyle couldn't help but think of Dumbledore and Harry. It was too much of a coincidence that the Room of Requirement had developed problems right after those two arrived.
If he had known, he wouldn't have invited them.
Kyle grumbled to himself, but as he turned to look for another way out, he noticed something very conspicuous—a golden plate had appeared in the Great Hall.
Among the surrounding silver cutlery, the golden plate stood out. Moreover, Kyle felt that he had seen it somewhere before. From its shape and color, he thought it looked like the kind of plate the students often used nowadays.
Kyle walked towards it subconsciously.
On the plate were two ham sandwiches, a fried sausage, and a roasted potato... If there was also a cup of pumpkin juice, it would be a standard Hogwarts dinner.
Kyle tentatively reached out and touched the sandwich.
His fingers felt the distinctive texture of bread.
Kyle paused, finding it hard to believe.
Could this be real?
But how could there be real food in Rowena Ravenclaw's memory? He picked up the sandwich and took a bite.
Now he was sure—this dinner was indeed real and not a product of the memory.
He had eaten this food for seven years, so he was very familiar with the taste—it was the handiwork of the house-elves.
However, Kyle was even more perplexed now. He had kept the key with him the whole time, so how had the house-elves delivered the food here?
More importantly, how did they know to bring him dinner?
After all, just ten minutes ago, Kyle himself had not known that he would be locked in and unable to get out. So, how did the house-elves know?
Kyle ate his sandwich as he pondered, but he couldn't come up with an answer.
Unlikely. He only spent half an hour eating each day anyway, so what use would a little extra time be?
So engrossed in his thoughts, Kyle didn't even realize he had finished the food on the plate, leaving only a few crumbs.
The next second, the crumbs disappeared, and the golden plate was once again spotlessly clean, as if it had never been used.
"Could this plate be the reason?" Kyle wondered, picking up the plate and examining it thoughtfully.
Previously, he had specifically tested and found that house-elves couldn't deliver food into the Room of Requirement, but now they could. The only change in between was the appearance of this plate.
The Hogwarts plates, through which house-elves transported food from the kitchen to the corresponding plates in the Great Hall.
Now, it had appeared in the Great Hall of another Hogwarts, and what's more, Kyle couldn't remember how it had gotten there.
Who could have done this? The key to the Room of Requirement had always been with him, so who could have brought the plate in? ...Rowena Ravenclaw?
Kyle's fingers tapped lightly on the table as he pondered her motive for doing so.
Was it to save him time on his meals? Or was there some other reason?
At that moment, Kyle suddenly thought of something and looked up sharply at the other students in the Great Hall.
They were still eating and chatting as before, but Kyle noticed that their bodies seemed a little less substantial, as if they had faded slightly.
He had first noticed this phenomenon a few days ago in Professor Ragor's Charms classroom, when he observed that the professor's bald head didn't shine quite as brightly as usual.
However, he had been so focused on experimenting with magic that he had subconsciously ignored it.
Now, he wondered if the Room of Requirement was somehow returning to its original state.
That seemed to be the only plausible explanation.
If that were the case, then saving time would indeed be crucial.
With that in mind, Kyle left the Great Hall and returned to the common room, intending to get a good night's rest.
He also took out the two-way mirror to update Connor on the situation... It turned out that the gift he had prepared was indeed useful.
"You're trapped inside the Room of Requirement and can't get out?" Connor sounded surprised after hearing the news, and quickly said, "I'll go ask Professor McGonagall for help."
"No need," Kyle quickly stopped her. "Professor McGonagall didn't even know about the existence of this place before, so she probably won't be of much help. And I don't need help for the time being."
"What do you mean?" Connor asked. "How are you getting your meals?"
"Someone brought this." Kyle held up the golden plate in front of the two-way mirror and said, "It seems to have been modified somehow, as food from the kitchen can now be delivered directly here."
Seeing Connor's lingering skepticism, Kyle added, "You had sandwiches, fried ham, and roasted potatoes for dinner, and there were pickles in the sandwiches."
This time, Connor believed him.
"I was so worried earlier," she said, furrowing her brows slightly. "If even Professor McGonagall can't help, then I doubt any other professor could get you out of there!"
"What about Dumbledore?" Kyle asked.
"He left the school an hour ago," Connor blurted out.
"How do you know that? And so accurately, too."
"Of course I do." Connor said, "During dinner, he suddenly received a letter and rushed off in a hurry. Almost everyone saw it... Well, except you, of course."
"No need to rub it in," Kyle said irritably.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but after learning that food wasn't an issue, Kyle felt that Connor seemed a little too pleased about his predicament.
Of course, Connor would never admit to such a thing.
...
The two chatted for an hour before Kyle put down the two-way mirror.
After that, he remained in the Room of Requirement.
During this time, the people around him became increasingly translucent, and Kyle gave up on the idea of a balanced schedule, choosing instead to devote all his time to attending classes in different classrooms.
He was taking classes for almost sixteen hours a day, and even during his breaks, he spent half the time in the library.
When he really couldn't stay awake any longer, he resorted to Stimulating Potions or Reviving Draughts that Connor had given him.
The golden plate remained, always providing Kyle with his meals on time, never a minute late.
And it wasn't fixed in the Great Hall; Kyle could take it anywhere he liked, thus saving even more time.
This went on until one day.
When Kyle looked up from his notes, he found that everyone in the classroom had disappeared.
He went outside, but just like the library and the Great Hall, there wasn't a soul in sight, and the surroundings were eerily quiet.
Then, before he could react, the castle itself began to disappear bit by bit.
It was as if someone was erasing it with a rubber eraser.
The second-floor classroom where he had been taking classes just five minutes ago was now a blank, white expanse, with nothing left behind.
Next, the library, the stairs, the Great Hall...
In the blink of an eye, everything around him vanished, leaving Kyle standing in a vast, empty space.
Just as he was considering whether to hide in his trunk, he felt a sudden tug, and the scene before him changed once more.
Kyle reached into his pocket, but his hand found nothing... The key given to him by Ravenclaw was gone.
As Kyle pondered this conundrum, a piercing racket snapped him back to reality.
It wasn't the sound of students frolicking, but rather, the sound of shouts and exploding spells!
"Oh no!" Kyle's heart skipped a beat.
He had no idea how long he had been trapped in the Room of Requirement.
A week? Two weeks? Or even longer?
Could it be that during this time, the Death Eaters had entered through the Vanishing Cabinet?
But didn't Dumbledore know about the Vanishing Cabinet? Didn't he instruct the portraits of the headmasters to keep watch? Why would he let the Death Eaters into the school!
Too many questions swarmed into Kyle's head.
But now was obviously not the time to ponder them, and without hesitation, Kyle turned and sprinted towards the direction of the noise.
Fortunately, along the way, he didn't encounter any students; it seemed like everyone was staying in their common rooms.
That was a relief.
"You think you can get away?" Kyle suddenly heard a beast-like, hoarse growl.
He quickened his pace, turned a corner, and found himself in another corridor.
Then, he saw a man covered in brown fur, leaping high into the air, his claw-like fingernails aimed at someone lying on the ground.
Without a moment's hesitation, Kyle brandished his wand and swished it through the air.
An invisible rope pulled the person on the ground to safety, also helping them dodge the attack.
The claws scraped across the floor, emitting an ear-piercing sound.
"Thanks!" The person said, turning to face Kyle. "Kyle? Is that you?"
"Cedric?" Kyle was also taken aback, he had just felt that the person looked familiar, but he didn't expect it to be Cedric.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came with Mr. Weasley." Cedric replied hastily, "He told me that Death Eaters might attack Hogwarts tonight."
"You..."
"Look who it is, a little lamb..." Kyle's words were interrupted by a menacing snarl.
The beast-like man didn't seem angry that his prey had been saved; instead, his voice carried a hint of excitement.
"Be careful!" Cedric quickly warned, "He's Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf. He's incredibly strong, and spells don't affect him much."
"Not running away? Or do you know you can't escape?" Greyback took a step forward, his eyes fixed on his prey.
"I thought I wouldn't come across such tender little lambs today, but here you are, delivering yourself to me. What a pity, it's not a full moon today."
His pupils were tiny, and when he spoke, he revealed sharp, wolf-like fangs.
Indeed, he was a werewolf.
"Wait a minute." Kyle extended his hand, pointing at himself with a puzzled expression, "Are you saying that little lamb is me?"
"That's right." Greyback licked his lips, his gaze falling on Kyle's school uniform, "Only students who haven't graduated are tender little lambs. I miss the feeling of sinking my teeth into their flesh."
He was getting closer, and Kyle's expression grew increasingly strange.
"Is this guy crazy?" He turned to Cedric and asked.
"Greyback loves to bite underage wizards. He turns them into werewolves." Cedric said anxiously, "Be careful, Kyle, don't be careless. Greyback isn't that easy to deal with; the Ministry of Magic has tried to capture him many times, but he always escapes."
"Those useless fools can't catch me!" Greyback roared, lunging at the duo.
But in the next second, he was sent flying back even faster, crashing into the wall with a loud thud.
"Tsk tsk, looks like the big bad wolf has been gored by the little lamb." Kyle smiled, his wand twirling in his hand.
A bean from the ground, most likely dropped by someone, floated into the air and transformed into a five-foot-long spear.
With another wave of his wand, Kyle sent the spear flying towards Greyback, impaling his shoulder, despite his attempts to dodge.
Greyback let out an angry howl, feeling the intense pain in his shoulder and the sensation of his bones almost shattering from the impact. He suddenly realized that the student he had encountered was not one to be trifled with.
Or perhaps, he was the lamb.
A beast's intuition is often the most accurate, and Greyback, who had escaped death multiple times, strongly believed in this.
He wanted to run away.
But Kyle didn't give him the chance.
In fact, as the spear flew, he had already prepared his next spell.
A huge force struck the end of the spear, like a nail being hammered, driving it even deeper into Greyback's body, pinning him to the wall. No matter how much Greyback struggled, the spear didn't budge.
"I do have some experience dealing with werewolves." Kyle smiled.
He opened his trunk, and a black shadow darted out, moving swiftly. Cedric couldn't even see what it was.
Before Kyle could make his next move, Professor McGonagall rushed over from the other end of the corridor.
She held her wand tightly, her lips pressed together, and strode towards them with purpose.
Upon seeing Professor McGonagall, Kyle could only wave his hand discreetly, and Cedric heard a rustling noise behind him, but it quickly faded away.
(End of Chapter)
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