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Chapter 805: Animagus
Chapter 805: Animagus
"Pretend to be Dumbledore?"
"No way!" Kyle exclaimed as he quickly tossed the envelope to Professor McGonagall inside the compartment, his mind racing with thoughts of who could have come up with such a ridiculous idea.
To impersonate Dumbledore—what a bold thought! But what if the Death Eaters suddenly attacked Hogwarts? The probability might be small, but it wasn't non-existent.
After all, Voldemort already possessed the Elder Wand. What if he became overconfident and decided to initiate the final battle? Dumbledore would undoubtedly be his primary target, and Kyle would be in deep trouble.
Furthermore, even if the Death Eaters weren't at Hogwarts, what if he was exposed during the impersonation? That would be utterly humiliating.
At this thought, Kyle even considered opening the window and jumping out to make a run for it.
"Don't be so quick to refuse," Professor McGonagall said, placing the letter back on the table.
"This task was specifically assigned to you by Dumbledore himself, indicating that he believes you are the most suitable person for the job."
"No, no, I think you, Professor McGonagall, could also do it," Kyle rejected the idea again.
"I can't," Professor McGonagall shook her head, "I have classes to teach, and I also need to attend the opening feast. I simply don't have the time."
"What about Professor Flitwick then..."
"They're all the same," Professor McGonagall interrupted Kyle, "including all the professors at Hogwarts. None of them are suitable for this task."
"What about Sirius, then?" Kyle immediately thought of someone outside the school, "He seems to have plenty of free time, always lecturing Harry about his Animagus transformation, yet there's been no progress so far."
"No," Professor McGonagall continued shaking her head, "Dumbledore doesn't want too many people to know that he's not at the school, and that includes members of the Order of the Phoenix."
"But..."
"Dumbledore mentioned a satisfying reward for you."
"..."
"What kind of reward?"
"I don't know," Professor McGonagall shook her head, "In fact, the sentence I just said was his exact words from the letter. If you can convince everyone that he's still at the school, he will provide a reward that will definitely satisfy you... You'll know once you read it yourself."
Kyle fell silent.
Well, Dumbledore's words were always reliable... A reward that would satisfy him...
Unconsciously, Kyle picked up the envelope from the table.
"So, you agree?" Professor McGonagall chuckled softly.
"Let me take a look first," Kyle opened the envelope, "Just so you know, even if I agree, it's not for the reward. I mainly don't want to see everyone worrying."
"No need to explain."
"I believe in you."
"Absolutely."
The three Heads of Houses nodded in agreement, pursing their lips.
They had to purse their lips; the task was not yet accomplished, and it wouldn't be good if they laughed prematurely.
Meanwhile, Kyle also took out the letter Dumbledore had sent him. The content was similar to what Professor McGonagall had described, asking him to impersonate Dumbledore and appear at the school without getting exposed, promising a satisfying reward afterward.
Beneath the envelope was a small bag containing a potion and a lock of hair. It wasn't a large amount, but it wasn't insignificant either. Kyle roughly counted around fifty strands.
To be honest, it wasn't easy for someone of Dumbledore's age to have so much hair left to cut.
There was also a small note inside:
"Use for transformation, remember to keep it in the box Nicolas gave you.
P.S.: Obtaining Polyjuice Potion shouldn't be difficult for you, so I've only prepared one bottle. (Don't go to Severus; he doesn't know what I'm up to.)"
"Good luck."
"Haha, he certainly trusts me," Kyle said as he examined the bottle.
The amount was probably enough for about two hours, just enough to get through the evening's feast.
How stingy, he thought. Didn't Dumbledore consider that brewing Polyjuice Potion required a month, and African Tree Snake Skin wasn't easy to obtain? What if someone came looking for him during this period?
Kyle shook his head and casually placed the bag aside.
There was another concern on his mind—Dumbledore didn't seem to have informed Snape about this matter, and Snape was the only Head of House who didn't accompany the students today.
Was there a separate arrangement? Or was he worried that Snape might reveal the secret... No, that didn't make sense. With Snape's level of Occlumency, Voldemort shouldn't be able to see through him.
Kyle furrowed, unable to guess what Dumbledore was thinking.
However, this situation made things a bit tricky for him.
Initially, Kyle had planned to ask Snape for Polyjuice Potion, but now that he was supposed to keep it a secret, that idea was no longer feasible.
Perhaps he could visit Professor Slughorn; Kyle recalled that last year, during the opening feast, Professor Slughorn had brewed a large cauldron of Polyjuice Potion to demonstrate his exceptional potion skills to the students.
Maybe this year would follow a similar process.
Alternatively, he could also seek out Fred and George, as their shop previously had Polyjuice Potion, although it had been destroyed by the Death Eaters. However, they should still have some in stock... After all, brewing such a potion was tedious and time-consuming, so potion merchants typically used the largest cauldrons to brew large quantities and sell them gradually.
Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was relatively small with a wide variety of items, making it impossible to display everything at once.
In reality, he could also find Headmaster Saxia... of course, this couldn't be done under his own name.
Kyle was completely unaware that as he thought about this, he had already implicitly agreed to help.
The three Headmasters exchanged a smile, all tacitly agreeing not to mention this matter again.
The train continued towards Hogwarts, and it was soon midday.
The snack trolley squeaked to a stop at the compartment door.
"Kids, would you like to buy some snacks?"
Professor McGonagall opened the compartment door.
"Oh, Miller." The old witch pushing the trolley looked a bit surprised, "It seems the rumors are true, you're also taking the train today."
"Yes, to protect the students." Professor McGonagall said.
"That's great, would you like to buy something? I guarantee the licorice wands taste exactly the same as they did sixty years ago."
"That's indeed one of my favorites." Professor McGonagall didn't intend to buy anything, but hearing this, she couldn't resist buying a few licorice wands.
After that, the trolley squeaked again and stopped in front of the next compartment.
Professor McGonagall closed the compartment door and distributed the licorice wands to everyone.
"Thank you, Professor." Kyle said, then casually placed it aside.
He also noticed that Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout made the same gesture, apparently they weren't too fond of these snacks either.
"She's right, the taste is indeed the same as sixty years ago." Professor McGonagall took a small bite of the licorice wand and said with a smile.
"Sixty years ago?" Kyle asked curiously, "Was she on the train back then?"
"Even earlier." Professor McGonagall explained, "In fact, when I was in school, she had already been working for a long time, and there was almost no difference between her then and now."
"Then she must be over a hundred years old." Kyle was surprised and glanced out the compartment window.
"At least one hundred and seventy." Professor McGonagall said, "Because when Dumbledore was in school, the sales witch on the train was her."
"Then she's in great shape." Kyle muttered.
Her appearance hasn't changed in sixty years, so she must be taking good care of herself.
"Kyle, it'll be a long time before we reach Hogwarts, would you like to buy some snacks?" Professor Sprout took out a few pasties, "Caraway beef pasties, if you like, I can share one with you."
Not only her, but Professor Flitwick also prepared lunch, an apple pie, but only one, though he generously offered to share half if Kyle liked it.
"No, no, I have my own too." Kyle smiled and declined their kindness.
Although he was suddenly pulled onto the train this time, he hadn't prepared in advance, but he did have his trunk.
In the professors' astonished gaze, Kyle dragged out an entire cured ham, and the compartment's small table was almost full.
"You... carry this with you?" Professor Flitwick held his apple pie and couldn't help but ask.
"Ah, just some small snacks." Kyle replied casually.
There was more, after the cured ham came flour and clear water, which were originally prepared for the moon-struck. Although they can eat the herbs grown in their boxes, they occasionally need special additions. The function of the flour is to roll those foods into balls for easy drying... He learned this from Newt.
But now, these things came in handy.
Under Kyle's command, the flour and clear water mixed together, stirring comfortably, and soon divided into small dough balls, then turned into round flatbreads.
Suddenly, a small flame appeared in the air, and the flatbreads slowly rotated above the flame.
"Goblin Fire!" Professor McGonagall, with her extensive knowledge, quickly recognized the origin of the flame.
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Her voice rose slightly, "Are you using this precious magical item to bake flatbread?"
"Yes, magic is meant to make life more convenient." Kyle nodded and said naturally, "Moreover, this thing is highly efficient."
As he said, within a few minutes, the surface of the flatbread turned into a beautiful golden brown.
Then, several slices of ham lined up and jumped over the flames, then into the flatbreads that automatically split from the middle.
Since it was cured ham, there was no need for additional seasoning.
"Professor, would you like to try some?" Kyle handed a meat pie to Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall subconsciously took it and took a bite.
To be honest, the taste wasn't particularly delicious, but it was still acceptable, and because of the Goblin Fire, this flatbread earned some extra points.
Even for her, it was the first time she had tasted flatbread baked with Goblin Fire, and it felt quite wonderful, with a strange sense of luxury.
At this moment, Professor McGonagall somewhat understood why Dumbledore wanted Kyle to replace him.
In a sense, the two of them were quite similar, always able to do things that left others scratching their heads... or to put it bluntly, they were a bit crazy.
In the entire magical world, the number of wizards with Goblin Fire could be counted on one hand, and these people treasured it like a precious gem, carefully preserving it. The fact that Kyle used it to bake flatbread was probably something no one else would do.
Professor McGonagall looked at Kyle, who had already given the remaining two meat pies to Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout, and they began to work again.
"But this time, he's not using Goblet Fire," Professor McGonagall wondered aloud, "and is instead using a regular Fire Charm, with a few flames dancing around the pasty, evenly radiating heat."
"Why the change?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously.
"Oh, I just remembered," Kyle said, "I used Goblet Fire to burn a Boggart before. If I use it to heat food again, it might be a bit off-putting."
The compartment fell silent.
Professor Flitwick looked at the half-eaten pasty in his hand, then at Kyle, his face falling, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I just remembered," Kyle said, "It's fine, this flame is clean. Go ahead and eat."
"Hmm... I'll just stick to my apple pie." Professor Flitwick said.
Kyle hadn't mentioned it, but now that he did, he felt a bit off-put himself.
The other two professors also placed their food on the table.
"Let's not waste this," Professor McGonagall suggested, "take it back to Hogwarts for Dobby. He won't be picky."
...
As Kyle busied himself, Professor McGonagall watched him and suddenly asked, "By the way, you mentioned earlier that Sirius was teaching Harry Animagus?"
"Yes," Kyle replied, "It's to give him an extra ability to protect himself." He controlled the flames, evenly rotating under the ham.
"It's only been a month, and there's been no progress... Of course, this has little to do with Sirius. It's mainly because Harry treats Mandrake leaves as snacks.
"I estimate he's eaten at least half a pound of Mandrake leaves."
Learning Animagus requires holding a Mandrake leaf in the mouth for a month. But Harry couldn't even last a day.
The longest he managed was eight hours, and even then, he had to carefully make it through the day, drinking only for meals, and swallowing the leaf while sleeping.
Sirius' wealth allowed Harry to treat the expensive Mandrake leaves as snacks.
"Speaking of this..." Professor McGonagall asked, "Are you interested in learning this magic? I believe your foundational abilities are more than sufficient. If you want to learn, I can teach you this term."
"Animagus?" Kyle was slightly taken aback, then shook his head, "Never mind, I'm not interested."
"Not interested?"
"It's mainly because it's not very useful." Kyle said, looking up.
If Animagus could turn him into magical creatures, Kyle would definitely want to learn it.
Not to mention Fire Dragons, Nundu Panthers, and other top-tier creatures. Even if he turned into a Snidget, he would gain the ability to easily pass through small spaces.
But for ordinary animals, the appeal wasn't as great.
Previously, Kyle thought the greatest advantage of Animagus was its stealth, allowing him to transform into animals to gather information, or escape when outmatched.
But he didn't need either of these scenarios.
A Snidget or a House-Elf could also help him gather information, and more safely.
As for escape, it might have been useful five years ago, but now... Honestly, there weren't many wizards who could force him to flee. And if he couldn't escape with his ring, turning into an animal wouldn't help either.
So, at this stage, Animagus was a bit of a mixed blessing for him.
Moreover, this magic had a significant limitation: turning into ordinary animals would subject him to various restrictions, unable to transform back immediately.
For example, Rita Skeeter, when she turned into a beetle, could be trapped in a regular bottle.
Professor McGonagall's Tabby Cat, if caught, couldn't transform back, and the captor could easily crush her.
This limitation meant creating a weakness for oneself. This was the main reason Kyle had been hesitating about learning this magic.
Oh, and Animagus is currently the only known method to escape from Azkaban.
But Kyle didn't need that either. He had acquaintances there... or maybe not anymore, but he could always make another one.
In any case, it was much better than trying to escape as an animal.
Kyle explained briefly, and after listening, Professor McGonagall thought for a moment and didn't say anything more.
Indeed, Animagus offered little benefit to Kyle. Although this magic could test a wizard's Transfiguration level, his exceptional Transfiguration skills displayed at Lupin's wedding didn't require Animagus to prove anything.
Seeing that Professor McGonagall didn't bring it up again, Kyle breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, aside from these reasons, he had another not-quite-a-reason...
Although not officially confirmed, in most cases, a wizard's Patronus and Animagus forms corresponded.
If a wizard's Patronus was a cat, their Animagus form would likely also be a cat... just like Professor McGonagall.
And Sirius, his Patronus was a dog, while James Potter's was a stag, corresponding to his nickname 'Prongs'.
One could say it was a coincidence, but with so many instances, it became harder to dismiss.
Actually, there wasn't much to it, but Kyle's Patronus was a jellyfish, an aquatic animal. If his Animagus form also turned out to be a jellyfish, what then?
He'd transform, and with a plop, he'd fall to the ground, how embarrassing.
...
(End of Chapter)
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