Chapter 964: The Missing Horcrux
Chapter 964: The Missing Horcrux
"When did this change occur...?" Snape's voice was soft, almost a whisper to himself.
"There's no one else here," he said, looking at Kyle. "And don't let me think you're a fool."
"I guess," Kyle took a deep breath, "it must have been the night Voldemort was defeated."
"Yes, it started that day." Snape spun around abruptly, and the hem of his cloak nearly hit Kyle's head.
Fortunately, Kyle reacted quickly and sidestepped just in time.
Snape seemed to have a real fondness for cloaks, probably due to spending so much time in the underground classroom; without one, the cold could be truly biting.
Kyle touched a badge on his collar, and a warm breeze blew by, dispelling the chilly atmosphere unique to the underground classroom.
"It seems you're not a fool after all. Take a look at this; it can prove your guess is correct."
Snape walked behind the desk and pulled out a thick stack of booklets from the drawer.
Kyle took two steps forward and realized they were all copies of the Daily Prophet, stacked almost as thick as two books.
Upon closer inspection, Kyle noticed that these newspapers had one thing in common: they all contained articles about Dumbledore, and the words were not flattering.
Old fool, idiot, madman, dictator, nemesis of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, sole sustainer of the Auror Office...
Wait, there seemed to be some strange titles mixed in.
Kyle flipped through the newspapers but couldn't find the article he had seen by accident.
He then realized that there were quite a few of these newspapers.
This thick stack had to be at least eighty copies, if not a hundred, indicating that Dumbledore had been insulted in the newspaper over a hundred times.
Most of them were written by Rita Skeeter, but there were also names that Kyle didn't recognize and had no impression of.
They were probably some attention-seekers who lacked Rita Skeeter's talent.
Additionally, the timing of these newspaper publications was intriguing; there wasn't a single one published before Voldemort's death in 1981, and none in recent years either.
Oh, and none from the past few years as well.
The last one praised Fudge and mocked Dumbledore as an old fool, and Kyle remembered that on the afternoon the newspaper was published, Fudge had changed his mind and declared Voldemort's return, putting the Ministry into a state of wartime readiness.
After that, the newspapers' evaluations of Dumbledore became much more polite.
"It seems Voldemort had another ability," Kyle muttered. "He could teach those arrogant people how to respect others."
"You should know why, right?" Snape gave a cold laugh. "That's why you'd rather have the Dark Lord 'alive' than tell the truth to everyone."
Kyle didn't respond but looked at Snape with a peculiar gaze.
"Speaking of which, I'm curious why you collected these newspapers."
"What?" Snape was momentarily caught off guard, then frowned. "That's not my focus; the newspapers are not the point."
"On the contrary, I think this is very important," Kyle said seriously, shaking his head.
Snape fell silent, and after a long while, he spoke softly, "Swear you won't tell anyone."
Seeing his hesitation, Kyle's eyes widened, and he felt a strange tension.
He licked his dry lips and nodded repeatedly.
"Rest assured, I never reveal any secrets. If you're still worried, we can sign a magical contract."
"We don't need a magical contract," Snape hesitated for a long time before saying, "I was worried that Lily Evans might also become a laughingstock in the Daily Prophet, so I wanted Dumbledore to stop this behavior.
"But he seems completely unconcerned, never getting angry no matter how harsh the words are."
"Just that..." Kyle blurted out, a little disappointed.
"Hmm..." Snape narrowed his eyes. "So what do you think?"
A faint hint of killing intent suddenly filled the air, and Kyle quickly shook his head.
"No, I think so too."
But he also heaved a sigh of relief.
Snape's act of collecting newspapers was indeed puzzling. If it weren't for knowing his feelings for Lily Evans, Kyle might have suspected he wanted to compete with Grindelwald.
If that were the case, he would have to consider leaving with Conna as soon as possible.
Anywhere would do, as long as it was far enough away from Snape to avoid being splattered with blood when Grindelwald came looking for him.
Despite his Occlumency, Kyle continued to peruse the newspaper as if nothing had happened.
Snape stared into Kyle's eyes, his instincts telling him that Kyle was thinking something impolite, even though he couldn't see anything due to Kyle's adept mental defenses.
"You better stop those foolish thoughts," Snape said.
"I don't understand what you're talking about," Kyle replied with a standard smile.
"Good," Snape said coldly, his gaze lingering on Kyle before he continued their previous conversation. "Remember, you can tell others that the Dark Lord is dead, but never mention anything related to the Horcruxes."
"Is that still necessary?" Kyle shrugged. "Didn't the Ministry of Magic already learn this from you?"
"They only saw a portion of my memories," Snape explained. "I'm quite confident in my Occlumency, but compared to the Dark Lord's Legilimency, Shacklebolt's abilities were lacking. He saw what I wanted him to see, and most of it was true, except for the part about Potter being the final Horcrux, which was Dumbledore's intention."
"I know," Kyle said. "That part was missing from the memories he provided as well."
"It was to protect Potter. He promised me he wouldn't tell a third person about this..." Snape's gaze shifted to Kyle as he spoke, "...but unfortunately, he didn't keep his promise."
"Hey, I dealt with the soul fragment of Lord Voldemort inside Harry's body, and I didn't even need him to willingly endure the Killing Curse," Kyle said irritably. "You and Dumbledore couldn't do it, but I did."
"Do you expect me to thank you?" Snape scoffed.
"I think Lily Evans would thank me," Kyle said.
A crisp cracking sound echoed, like the friction of bones.
"You," Snape said slowly, his eyes becoming increasingly dangerous, "better not continue provoking me..."
Damn it, if it weren't for Conna, he would have kicked Kyle out already.
"I'm just stating the facts," Kyle said, no longer provoking Snape.
"Fine, let's continue our previous conversation... Aside from Legilimency, didn't Kingsley use Veritaserum on you?"
"Do you think I wouldn't consider the possibility of them using Veritaserum on me?"
Snape struggled to contain himself. "As a former Potions professor, I know at least three ways to make Veritaserum ineffective."
"So they thought they had the whole truth, but they were missing the most crucial part."
"You mean... the number of Horcruxes," Kyle raised an eyebrow.
Dumbledore's memories were quite comprehensive, even though they lacked the part about Slughorn and Harry. However, they did mention the number of Horcruxes.
This meant that the people at the Ministry of Magic only knew that the Dark Lord had created seven Horcruxes, and six of them had already been destroyed.
The diary, Hufflepuff's Cup, Slytherin's Locket, Ravenclaw's Diadem, the Resurrection Stone Ring, and Nagini.
To protect Harry, Dumbledore intentionally omitted him from the memories, but this decision also concealed the whereabouts of the seventh Horcrux.
"You're finally not being so foolish," Snape said, his speech accelerating.
"In the eyes of the Ministry, Voldemort destroyed six Horcruxes before he was killed, and one remains unaccounted for. This is actually good news for you."
"Do you know why?"
Kyle guessed a bit, but seeing Snape's slightly upturned lips, he shook his head. "I don't know."
Snape walked behind Kyle and laughed.
"You think no one knows about what you did during the previous Hogwarts war, right?"
"What did I do?"
"Fiendfyre, and those Death Eaters who surrendered," Snape said.
"They didn't surrender."
"In some people's eyes, they did," Snape said sarcastically. "Many Aurors and Amelia Bones realized that you intentionally let the Fiendfyre go out of control, killing hundreds of Death Eaters."
For a moment, Kyle did feel a bit nervous, but that was all.
Fiendfyre was inherently difficult to control, and without evidence, the Ministry couldn't do anything to him. If necessary, he could even reveal some truths.
He actually didn't believe that the Ministry of Magic would go against him just for a few Death Eaters and his actions.
If they were really that foolish... just as Snape said, by virtue of killing Voldemort himself, he could expel anyone from the Ministry, including Amelia Bones.
Besides...
Kyle looked at Snape, and from his expression, it was clear that he had more to say.
"Hmm... then why didn't they come after me?" Kyle asked cooperatively.
"That's because I showed them the scene of you killing the Dark Lord," Snape replied.
"Now that Dumbledore is dead, if the Dark Lord is destined to return, then only you, the new savior, can stop him."
Snape walked past Kyle, then turned around again, staring into Kyle's eyes.
"So they gave up, pretending to know nothing, and as long as that Horcrux is not destroyed, they will maintain their respect for you."
"Then I really have to thank you, Mr. Snape," Kyle said excitedly.
"Don't be so fake..." Snape took a step back.
"And it seems you misunderstood something. I'm not doing this to help you; I just don't want Conna to be sad."
"Then I'll thank you on Conna's behalf." Kyle didn't mind and said casually.
"You..." Snape paused, turning around angrily. "Get out! Get out now!"
Before Kyle could react and understand what was happening, he was forcefully pushed out.
The door slammed shut in front of him.
Huh?
Why is he angry again?
Kyle blinked, a little confused. This time, he didn't mention Lily Evans.
But the door was already closed, and even if he knocked, Snape probably wouldn't open it for him.
Geez, his temper is as unpredictable as a Bombtail, changing in an instant.
Kyle shook his head and decided to head towards the stairs, pondering Snape's words.
The fact that the Ministry didn't know Harry was a Horcrux was indeed good news for him.
Kyle couldn't help but laugh.
Snape was right; he admitted that he preferred to keep Voldemort "alive," which was why he didn't reveal the truth to everyone immediately.
Although Kyle wasn't afraid of the Ministry causing trouble for him, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble, and he didn't want to end up like Dumbledore, confining himself to Hogwarts and nowhere else.
So, he had been thinking of ways these past few days.
One of his "preparations" was Saxia, the St. Mungo's Hospital Director, but Snape had brought him even better news.
It had already been proven that Voldemort could be resurrected after death, so in the Ministry's eyes, the current situation was probably similar to what it was a decade ago.
Voldemort was dead, but only temporarily gone; he might return after a decade or several decades.
And after this hearing, the Ministry's focus should be on finding the last Horcrux.
Oh, right, and the other Horcruxes.
Kyle was certain that Amelia Bones would not feel at ease with such an item in someone else's possession, even if it had been destroyed.
Thinking of this, Kyle couldn't help but quicken his pace.
Of course, he wouldn't hand over the items in his possession, so he had to create some fakes before the Ministry's investigation reached him.
Kyle wasn't worried about being found out; after all, those items had been destroyed, and even if they were rolled in a blazing fire, they would become fake.
The only thing to be cautious about was the unique residual magic on the Horcruxes.
This wasn't a big issue either; Kyle had studied Horcruxes for a period of time and, although he hadn't personally made one, he wasn't unfamiliar with them.
He was confident that the Aurors wouldn't see through them, and if necessary, he could ask Nicolette for help to provide a certificate; no one would doubt it.
Kyle climbed the stairs and left the dimly lit underground classroom.
As he reached the entrance hall, he saw Hermione walking ahead, with Harry and Ron following behind, pestering her for notes.
"Please, Hermione, just lend us your notes."
"You don't want us to fail our exams, do you?"
Seeing Harry's pitiful expression, Kyle couldn't help but laugh.
The thought of Ministry officials searching for Horcruxes everywhere made him want to laugh.
Amelia Bones probably never imagined that Voldemort's last Horcrux would be the savior, Harry Potter.
...
(End of Chapter)
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