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Chapter 770: Kyle's Herbology Magic (Second Update, Hehe!)
Chapter 770: Kyle's Herbology Magic (Second Update, Hehe!)
At Number 12, Grimmauld Place, a group of people were gathered around a table, deep in discussion.
"Achoo!"
Chris suddenly sneezed, almost knocking over the cup in front of him.
Everyone turned to look, and Mr. Weasley asked with concern, "Are you catching a cold?"
"No, I don't think so," Chris shook his head. "I probably just didn't get enough rest last night. Never mind me, what were we talking about?"
"Moving Harry," Mr. Weasley said solemnly. "We must bring him here from his aunt's place on his seventeenth birthday."
"I really don't understand why we need to go through all this trouble!" Sirius said, looking a bit agitated. "Why did Dumbledore insist on sending Harry back to the Dursleys in the first place when we brought him here?
"Dumbledore must have his reasons," Mrs. Weasley said. "Sirius, we should trust him."
"Yes, I know, you've said that many times," Sirius said, his tone a bit sharp. "If I didn't trust Dumbledore, I wouldn't have let Harry go in the first place."
The room fell silent for a moment as no one spoke. They all wondered about Dumbledore's reasoning for doing so, especially since he had personally delivered Harry back to Little Whinging on the very night his vacation started.
"Sorry, don't mind me," Sirius tried to break the silence. "So, what's the plan to bring Harry back here safely?"
"Why don't we just have Dumbledore bring him here, just like he took him there?" Mundungus said casually, his eyes fixed on the gleaming silver cutlery on the table, showing no interest in discussing the matter further. In his opinion, this was all unnecessary.
With Dumbledore around, who could possibly take Potter away?
"Did you leave your ears somewhere else the last time we had this discussion?" Mrs. Weasley snapped at Mundungus. "Dumbledore made it clear that Voldemort would not sit idly by, so we must be prepared and keep him out of our plans."
Under Mrs. Weasley's sharp gaze, Mundungus became flustered and stammered, "I... I forgot... you know, I have a lot of things on my mind..."
"You mean smuggling cauldrons?" Mrs. Weasley said coldly. "Or those dirty, ill-gotten goods of unknown origin?"
"Th-those are all obtained through legal means!" Mundungus retorted, stiffening his neck.
"Hmph..." Mrs. Weasley huffed, not bothering to respond further.
If they were truly obtained legally, would Mundungus be hiding out here for a week? Obviously, someone was after him.
To be honest, Mrs. Weasley really didn't want Ginny and Ron to have any contact with the likes of him, but she had no choice. Dumbledore trusted him, and as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Mundungus had every right to stay here.
The atmosphere in the room became even more awkward.
"Well, weren't we discussing how to safely move Harry?" Kingsley tried to ease the tension. "Molly, what are your thoughts?"
"It would be best if Dumbledore could be involved, but we also need to prepare for the possibility of doing this without him and ensure Harry's safety regardless," she said, turning her attention back to the matter at hand and ignoring Mundungus.
"How about an Invisibility Spell?" she suggested, remembering the car that Ron had once driven to Hogwarts.
Although she had always complained about Mr. Weasley's unauthorized modification of the car, she knew that it had an invisibility feature. If Ron had realized this in time, they might not have been discovered.
With another car modified in the same way, they should be able to safely bring Harry out of Little Whinging.
And they already had all the necessary components.
Sirius had a car, and Mr. Weasley, who was technically proficient, was also present. If they only needed to add flight and invisibility capabilities, three days would be more than enough time.
However, Moody shook his head after a moment's thought.
"That won't work," he said. "Death Eaters aren't Muggles. There are too many ways for them to detect invisible targets, such as using a Sneakoscope or a Revealing Spell."
"Then let's all go together and fight them!" Sirius said.
No one responded to him; they merely paused for a moment before continuing their discussion as if nothing had been said. It was as if a dog had barked in the middle of their meeting.
Directly engaging in a fight... When Sirius suggested such a thing, it meant that his intelligence had reached the same level as Mundungus'.
If it were that simple, why would they be sitting here discussing it?
Their goal was to bring Harry away safely, not deliver him straight into Voldemort's hands.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Sirius closed his mouth, looking somewhat aggrieved.
"How about connecting the house in Little Whinging to the Floo Network?" Mr. Weasley suggested. "That house has Lily's protective magic, so it's very safe. Voldemort and his Death Eaters won't be able to get in.
"We can then easily transport Harry to a secure location using the Floo Network or a Portkey."
"Those methods are all controlled by the Ministry," Sirius frowned. "I don't trust them, and doing so might expose the location of Grimmauld Place. We can't just connect this place to the Floo Network as well.
As he spoke, he glanced unconsciously at Sirius.
It was Bartemius Crouch's mistake that led to Sirius being imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years... Although anyone in that situation would have made the same judgment, it just so happened that Crouch was the one in that position.
As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Moody still felt the need to be considerate of Sirius' feelings.
"Why are you looking at me?" Sirius' expression was calm, "As long as we can bring Harry back safely, I won't oppose any method."
"That's good, then." Moody said.
"But just to be safe, we should also have a backup plan. I propose using Polyjuice Potion, just like the Death Eaters did when they tricked Harry into leaving Hogwarts."
"As long as we have enough 'Harry Potters' and they all leave together, it will be difficult for them to figure out which one is the real Harry in a short period of time."
"Great idea." Kingsley agreed first, "But we must be careful about one thing. Whoever becomes Harry must be prepared to face the Death Eaters at any time."
"Do we even need to say that?" The group exchanged glances and smiled, without a moment's hesitation.
Oh, except for Mundungus, whose eyes darted around, mouth agape, but no sound came out.
"Then I'll go prepare the Polyjuice Potion." Kingsley stood up, "The Ministry should still have some in stock."
"No need." Fred stopped him, "If someone finds out you took the potion from the Ministry, they might guess something, especially that Dolohov. He's known for his unstable loyalties."
"But we don't have time to brew it now." Kingsley frowned, "We can't just go out and buy it, can we?"
"Aren't you forgetting something." George raised an eyebrow, "Our Weasley Wizard Wheezes has a potions business..."
"...and we just so happen to have Polyjuice Potion in stock." Fred added with a smile.
"That's perfect." The group all showed expressions of delight.
Fred was right, whether it was taking the potion from the Ministry or buying it, there was a risk of raising suspicions. But if Fred and George had prepared it in advance, there wouldn't be any problems.
"Now, there's also the issue of secrecy." Mrs. Weasley continued, "With so many of us working together, it's impossible to not attract any attention. But we can create some diversions."
"How about we move the date forward?" Fred suggested tentatively.
"Or push it back..." George added.
"We can also prepare a decoy transportation method." Mr. Weasley proposed, "We can modify a car and let those with ulterior motives see it, making them think that the car is the way we're going to move Harry."
"I think your old habit is acting up again, wanting to tinker with that car." Mrs. Weasley eyed him suspiciously.
"How could you think that, Molly? I'm only thinking of Harry's safety." Mr. Weasley said earnestly.
"I think Dad's idea is good..."
Everyone chimed in with their thoughts, analyzing the various potential issues that could arise. From morning to evening, the discussion continued until everyone was famished, and the meeting had to be temporarily adjourned.
Mrs. Weasley went to the kitchen and quickly prepared some salted meat sandwiches and boiled potatoes to fill everyone's stomachs.
Kingsley and Moody continued their discussion as they ate.
Fred bit into a boiled potato with no seasoning and said, "I really wish Kyle would come back soon, preferably in the next five minutes or maybe tomorrow."
"Yeah, Kyle always has good ideas." George said, "With his help, we should be able to finalize all our plans much faster."
"Don't even think about it." Fred sighed, "He's probably still in the Forbidden Forest."
"Those werewolves are really out of luck, about to run into Kyle." As if remembering something, George suddenly laughed.
"Shouldn't it be Mr. Scamander?" a member of the Order of the Phoenix asked in confusion.
Dedalo Diggle, when he joined the Order of the Phoenix twenty years ago, was already quite old, so compared to Kyle, he was more familiar with Newt, the troublemaker.
"Your intelligence is a bit outdated, Mr. Diggle." Fred said with a smile.
"Have you heard about what Kyle did two months ago at Hogwarts? He impaled a werewolf with a spear and set the tower on fire with the Blazing Spell."
"What? The Blazing Spell?" Dedalo Diggle was stunned, his eyes filled with disbelief, "Does Dumbledore not care about that?"
"In fact, Dumbledore was right there." George said, "And he didn't even deduct any house points."
Dedalo Diggle unconsciously looked at Kingsley, and upon receiving his confirmation, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
Has Dumbledore become so lenient now? Allowing students to use the Blazing Curse, a Dark spell, so openly at Hogwarts?
Even the Aurors don't seem to care?
All because he's a Level Two Merlyn Medal recipient?
He suddenly became curious about this Kyle.
"Well, to speak of it...
"No! Impossible!" Dedalo Diggle exclaimed firmly. "Newt won't let him do that."
...
Meanwhile, in the Dark Forest.
"It's just a simple Blazing Spell, it should be fine, right?" Kyle looked at Newt beside him, feeling somewhat perplexed.
He had been about to cast a spell at the cave to take out the werewolves in one fell swoop, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Newt.
The nascent flames dissipated in an instant.
"Did you forget that this is the Dark Forest, the only place in Britain besides the Forbidden Forest that's suitable for most magical creatures to live?" Newt glared at Kyle. "Do you want to destroy it?"
"It's just a cave, it's not that serious." Kyle muttered. "And I could extinguish them..."
Newt's expression grew more solemn, and Kyle's voice trailed off.
"Fine, I won't then."
Hearing Kyle's concession, Newt's expression softened a little.
"And the Venomous Leopard is also out of the question." He continued: "Its poison will spread through the forest, and the first victim will be the Bowtruckle guiding you."
As he spoke, a piercing howl rang out from not far away.
It was unclear if it was due to the unfinished spell or the loud conversation, but they had been discovered.
A dirty, disheveled man suddenly leaped down from a tree, brandishing his wand at Kyle and Newt without hesitation.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The hoarse voice sounded like the growl of some wild beast, and Kyle and Newt had to retreat quickly to dodge the Killing Curse.
In the brief few seconds that followed, more werewolves emerged from different directions, except for the cave, which remained eerily silent.
This seemed to be a trap, or a deliberately staged entrance.
"As expected, werewolves, very cautious." Kyle muttered to himself.
But there was no time to think about that now.
The werewolves had surrounded Kyle and Newt as soon as they appeared.
They were initially tense, but upon seeing that there were only two of them, their expressions turned brazen.
"Haha, you scared me! I thought it was those pesky pests from the Order of the Phoenix, but it's just an old geezer and a tender young'un..."
A werewolf with long limbs strode forward, his brown hair and beard tangled together, and his body emitting a putrid, pungent odor.
"Tell me, how did you find this place?"
He bared his teeth, revealing two rows of dirty fangs. "If your answer satisfies me, I might consider..."
"Letting us go?" Kyle interjected.
"Let you go? Ha...hahaha!" The werewolf laughed loudly, joined by the others, as if mocking the wizard's cowardice and absurd suggestion.
"Since you've found this place, you can forget about leaving alive." The lead werewolf brandished his wand, and Kyle could clearly see the yellow, elongated fingernails on his fingers, similar to Fenrir Greyback's.
"But if your answer pleases me, I might let you die quickly."
"Hmm, okay." Kyle stroked his chin as if contemplating. "Will you keep your word?"
"Of course, I never lie." The werewolf grinned again.
But the next second, he heard another piercing howl.
Not far away, a vine seemed to come to life and lunged at a wizard's chest.
Because they hadn't transformed into their werewolf forms, their bodies were as fragile as any other wizard's, and the sharp vine easily pierced through the man's body, pinning him to the tree behind him.
"Damn wizard, you dare to trick me!" The lead werewolf roared and pointed his wand at Kyle.
"Ava-"
"Expelliarmus!"
The Killing Curse was interrupted as the werewolf's wand flew out of his hand, spinning through the air and landing neatly in Kyle's grasp.
"What did you just say?" Kyle asked innocently, toying with the wand.
Without waiting for a reply, he waved the wand, and several faint, glowing runes flashed in the air.
"Wild Growth!"
The surrounding trees seemed to come alive, their twisting roots bursting from the ground like fifty-foot-long giant snakes, coiling and writhing to entangle everything in their path.
At the same time, more and more trees broke through the earth, adding to the chaotic battle.
Some of the werewolves had never encountered this kind of magic before and hesitated for a moment. But in that brief pause, their feet were ensnared, then their legs, and soon their entire bodies were wrapped up and immobilized.
"Quick, use the Fire Spell!" someone shouted, reminding his companions.
But before he could even draw his wand, he found himself face to face with a pair of bright, deep purple eyes.
Then he rolled his eyes and fell asleep right there on the battlefield, his loud snores mixing with the screams, sounding somewhat out of place.
(End of Chapter)
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