Hogwarts: The Exemplary Wizard I Am Chapter 969: The Place He Once Stood - Novel Cool

Chapter 969: The Place He Once Stood

Chapter 969: The Place He Once Stood

Grindelwald assumed that Kyle had done something to cause the portrait of Dumbledore to look at him coldly.

Kyle, however, offered no explanation.

He struggled to control his expression, trying not to laugh...

Grindelwald would never have guessed in his wildest dreams that the ugly woolen gloves he had mentioned were actually Dumbledore's creation.

After all, when he was imprisoned in Nurmengard, Dumbledore had not yet shown this peculiar fondness.

It made sense; a powerful wizard with an increasingly high reputation in the magical world would never be believed to have a liking for woolen socks.

People would much rather believe that he enjoyed reading and would tirelessly send him various magical books during Christmas.

Dumbledore might have explained, but no one probably believed him at the time, so he didn't continue explaining later, tacitly accepting the situation.

During this time, Grindelwald was locked up in Nurmengard and knew nothing about it, so when he saw those woolen gloves, he subconsciously thought of Professor McGonagall.

In fact, Professor McGonagall didn't know the primitive art of knitting wool, and she preferred to use efficient Transfiguration spells to solve problems.

Thinking of this, Kyle could only try harder to keep a straight face, certain that if he laughed now, Grindelwald would be infuriated.

Besides, he had come a long way to help; it would be somewhat impolite for him to ridicule him.

"Maybe... you did something that made him unhappy," Kyle tried to make his voice sound as normal as before.

"What did I do?"

"Well, you could think about it yourself." Kyle couldn't come up with any more excuses, so he let Grindelwald figure it out.

Grindelwald furrowed his brows and seriously began to ponder.

He turned his gaze to the mirror not far behind him.

If he had done something to upset Dumbledore, it was probably because he had restored the Erised Mirror to its original state.

But that was his intention, and it was the reason he had sent the mirror in the first place. Dumbledore was in the wrong for altering this gift privately, and he hadn't even complained about it...

Grindelwald's expression gradually became determined, and he even nodded at the portrait of Dumbledore.

He hadn't done anything wrong!

Kyle, who had been observing the whole time, pursed his lips even tighter.

"Pfft..."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing, just thinking about something happy." Kyle said, "During this vacation, I'll start preparing for my alchemy studies."

"What's so happy about that?"

"You wouldn't understand, but I'm quite happy about it."

"Nonsense." Grindelwald looked at Kyle suspiciously and said impatiently, "Fine, tell me about your plan."

"Go ahead, I'm listening." He sat down in the chair in front of Dumbledore's portrait, his fingers lightly tracing the armrest as if sensing Dumbledore's presence.

"That..." Kyle said cautiously, "This chair was replaced by Professor Snape after he became the Headmaster; it's a piece of Slytherin-themed furniture.

"Dumbledore used a different chair when he was the Headmaster."

"Boom!"

The armrest that Grindelwald was touching suddenly exploded, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Grindelwald stood up with a sullen face, "Tell me, what else is new here?"

"Quite a lot," Kyle thought for a moment, "When Snape became the Headmaster, the Death Eaters took the initiative and almost decorated the Headmaster's office in Slytherin style.

"Although Professor McGonagall later cleared out most of the items, some less important ones were kept... like that chair."

In an instant, Grindelwald lost interest in the Headmaster's office.

"Forget it, just tell me your plan." His tone became increasingly impatient.

"But there's one thing... I promised to help you, but I won't unconditionally accommodate you like Albus did, so don't push your luck.

"Or, don't make it a hassle for me."

"Rest assured, I won't."

When it came to serious matters, Kyle also became much more focused.

"In my initial plan, you don't need to do anything. Just wait until someone appears at Nurmengard, and then you can kill them.

"Oh, and remember to leave a couple of them and chase them to the bottom of the Nurmengard Tower."

"Nurmengard is built on a cliff, and there's nothing underneath it." Grindelwald reminded him.

"Then dig one."

Kyle waved his hand dismissively, "Leave this matter to me; you don't need to worry about it at all."

"Alright, I'll take care of this favor for you." Grindelwald paused briefly in thought before nodding, "Then, what's your offer? What will you give me in return?"

"Offer..." Kyle was taken aback, "Wait, you agreed to help Professor Dumbledore..."

"Yes, I did agree with Albus." Grindelwald leaned closer to Kyle, "But I only promised him to give you the opportunity to meet me. What we do is the price you have to pay."

Kyle was stunned.

No wonder, he wasn't Dumbledore, and Grindelwald wouldn't have come all this way to help him.

It was all a conspiracy!

"Two exclusive photos of Professor Dumbledore." At this thought, Kyle didn't hesitate and promptly extended two fingers.

"No, no, no." Grindelwald shook his head and held out one hand, "Five photos, and I'll help you."

"Impossible." Kyle shook his head as well, "Three at most, that's my bottom line... But I can assure you they are exclusive photos, and you won't be disappointed."

"Agreed." Grindelwald nodded, "But among those three, I also want the one you showed me last time."

"That's not possible; the value difference is too great."

"I can settle for just that one."

"That's not enough either." Kyle said, "This matter is simply about borrowing your name for a while. If you don't agree, I have other options."

"Who else can you ask?"

"Many." Kyle counted on his fingers, "Newt Scamander, Savior Harry Potter, legendary alchemist Nicolas Flamel, and even Professor Dumbledore would be more than willing to help me with this small favor."

"Although this might complicate the plan, it would save me a significant amount of money. I think it's still a good deal."

Grindelwald stared at him intently, and Kyle maintained a calm gaze.

A few minutes later...

"Alright, then, three photos." Grindelwald stood up and walked towards the door of the Headmaster's Office.

"Wait, I haven't explained the specific plan yet." Kyle stopped him.

"Vandarozier will come to you later." Grindelwald paused and said, "Three photos are all I can offer.

"Of course, if you're willing to pay more, I don't mind listening for a while longer."

"Never mind then." Kyle promptly stepped aside.

"But..." He reached into his leather bag and took out a camera, "It's rare for me to come here, so why not leave a memento?"

"Put away your little schemes." Grindelwald glanced at Kyle, his gaze lingering on the camera.

Now he understood how Dumbledore's exclusive photos were taken; no wonder the great wizard carried a camera with him.

"You misunderstood." Kyle waved his hands repeatedly, "If I had any ulterior motives, I wouldn't dare to bring it out in the open like this. I genuinely want to help you keep a memento."

"Think about it. This is the place where Professor Dumbledore spent the most time. He wrote letters at this desk and watched Quidditch matches from this window... Don't you want to stand in the same place as him?"

Grindelwald hesitated.

"You said earlier that many things here have changed."

"But they wouldn't have removed the windows, would they?" Kyle said with a smile, "Just stand by the window. Professor Dumbledore used to love standing there to watch the students play Quidditch."

"I..." The portrait of Dumbledore spoke softly.

He wanted to say that he actually didn't like standing by the window; it was high up, and the wind was strong. He usually went to the Quidditch pitch to watch the matches.

But his voice was quickly drowned out by Kyle.

"Just stand there, and I'll take a photo of you... Don't worry, you already know everything. What more can I do? I genuinely just want to help."

In this situation, Kyle's words about Dumbledore liking to stand by the window were taken as fact, even if Dumbledore himself denied it.

"I hope you're not lying." Grindelwald said, and then he walked towards the window, evidently accepting Kyle's suggestion.

As a seer, or a prophet, his instincts were telling him otherwise, but Grindelwald was genuinely tempted by Kyle's suggestion.

Standing at the same window as Dumbledore, gazing at the same sky, had always been something he longed to do.

And with Kyle's embellished description, this desire only grew stronger.

As for his instincts... Grindelwald was confident. He wasn't Dumbledore, and with enough vigilance, he wouldn't give Kyle any opportunity.

"Alright, stand there." Kyle raised the camera and took a very normal photo of Grindelwald.

"Since you're here, let's take another one." Kyle casually suggested, "Professor Dumbledore's gesture of sending the letter was quite stylish too. Throwing the letter out the window, an owl or a phoenix would come to retrieve it."

"But the letter is gone. You can use this instead." Kyle casually handed a woolen glove to Grindelwald.

"Imagine you're Professor Dumbledore now, throwing the letter out..."

For a moment, Grindelwald didn't feel like responding to Kyle.

But the words "imagine you're Dumbledore" subconsciously made him throw the glove out the window.

"Click!"

Kyle's camera flashed at the same moment.

"What did you just do?" Grindelwald suddenly frowned.

Although he had no evidence, he felt certain that Kyle had done something he didn't know about.

"Me? I didn't do anything." Kyle blinked innocently, spreading his hands in a gesture of innocence and even offering the camera to Grindelwald.

"You can check it if you want."

"Or you can just take the photo and leave me a copy. I'm making a photo album about 'arch-nemeses,' and I plan to put you and Professor Dumbledore on the first page, so I need a photo of you."

Grindelwald stared at Kyle without taking the camera.

"No one else is allowed!"

"What?"

"No one else is allowed in your album!" Grindelwald emphasized each word, "I'll have Roach come for it later... Don't disappoint me."

After saying this, Grindelwald turned around gracefully and walked straight towards the door.

It wasn't until he opened the door that Kyle reacted.

"The portraits of the Headmasters..."

Grindelwald didn't speak, but he extended his finger and twirled it above his head.

As if someone had pressed the play button, the portraits on the wall immediately came to life.

The first to move were the Headmasters.

"What's happening..."

"Who, who is it..."

As soon as they recovered, Armando Dippet and Finneas started shouting.

They didn't know exactly what had happened, but they could clearly sense the change that occurred in that moment.

So they knew someone had tampered with the portraits, but what happened in between was unclear.

And only one person might know the details.

Armando Dippet couldn't help but look at Kyle, who was still there, and asked,

"Who did you bring to Hogwarts?"

Kyle had just used his wand to retrieve the film from the camera. Hearing the question, he slightly raised his head, thought for a moment, and said,

"Consider him an old friend of yours. At least, Headmaster Dippet, you must know him."

"I know him?" Armando Dippet felt even more confused.

He knew many people, and there were quite a few still alive; it was impossible to guess.

"What about me?" Finneas asked, "Do I know him?"

Kyle nodded after putting the camera and film back into the Transfigured Lizard Leather Bag.

"You should know him."

"Do both I and Finneas know him?"

Armando Dippet lowered his head in deep thought.

"And that voice, I have to say, it's very familiar..."

Soon, he seemed to have figured something out and instinctively looked up at Dumbledore's portrait.

Dumbledore saw his action but didn't say anything.

This almost implicit acknowledgment nearly made Dippet jump.

"Merlin's beard, you must be joking!"

"What do you mean?" Finneas asked, "Do you know who he is?"

Dippet ignored him and looked at Kyle, asking anxiously, "But, but isn't he imprisoned? In that tower!"

"He's out." Kyle shrugged, "What kept him imprisoned was always people, not that tower."

"Oh, Merlin's beard..." Dippet said again, "No, we must inform Minerva... and the Ministry of Magic immediately."

"Regarding the Headmaster, I was about to do that." Kyle said, "But so far, he hasn't shown any hostility towards us, so I think it's better to keep this matter confidential for now.

And now that Voldemort has just been defeated, everyone needs to relax their tense minds."

Kyle wasn't seeking the agreement of all the Headmasters; he was speaking to Dumbledore.

After seeing Dumbledore's nod, Kyle left the Headmaster's Office.

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end

Report