Chapter 969: The Place He Once Stood
Chapter 969: The Place He Once Stood
Grindelwald assumed that Kyle had done something to make Dumbledore's portrait coldly disdainful towards him.
Kyle, however, did not offer an explanation.
He struggled to control his facial expression, trying not to laugh...
Grindelwald would never have guessed that the ugly woolen glove he had mentioned was actually Dumbledore's creation.
After all, when he was imprisoned in Nurmengard, Dumbledore had not yet shown this peculiar hobby.
It made sense, as a powerful wizard with a growing reputation in the magical world, no one would believe that he enjoyed knitting woolen socks.
People would rather believe that he loved reading and would happily receive various magical books as gifts during Christmas.
Dumbledore might have explained, but at the time, probably no one believed him, so he didn't continue, tacitly accepting the situation.
During this time, Grindelwald was unaware, locked up in Nurmengard, so when he saw the woolen gloves, he subconsciously thought of Professor McGonagall.
In fact, Professor McGonagall didn't know how to knit, she was more accustomed to using efficient Transfiguration Charms to solve problems.
Thinking of this, Kyle could only try harder to keep a straight face, he was sure that if he laughed at this moment, Grindelwald would surely be annoyed.
Besides, he had come all the way to help, and it would be a bit impolite to mock him.
"Maybe... you did something that made him unhappy." Kyle tried to make his voice sound the same as before.
"What did I do?"
"Well, you think about it." Kyle couldn't come up with any excuses, so he let Grindelwald figure it out himself.
And Grindelwald, indeed, frowned and seriously pondered.
He turned his gaze to the mirror not far behind him.
If he had done something to upset Dumbledore, it was probably restoring the Erised Mirror to its original state.
But that was his intention, and the reason he sent the mirror in the first place. Dumbledore was in the wrong for altering this gift, and he hadn't even complained...
Thinking of this, Grindelwald's expression gradually became determined, and he even nodded at Dumbledore's portrait.
He, he had done nothing wrong!
Kyle, who had been watching him the whole time, pursed his lips tighter.
"Pfft..."
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing, just thinking about something happy." Kyle said, "My Alchemy class is about to start preparing for this vacation."
"What's so happy about that?"
"You wouldn't understand, but I'm quite happy about it."
"Nonsense." Grindelwald gave Kyle a suspicious look and said impatiently, "Fine, tell me your plan."
"Tell me, what do I need to do." He walked to the chair in front of Dumbledore's portrait and lightly ran his fingers along the armrest, as if feeling Dumbledore's traces.
"That..." Kyle looked at him and said cautiously, "This chair is new, with Slytherin-style furniture, installed by Professor Snape after he became the headmaster.
"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, "Snape becoming the headmaster was the Death Eaters' idea, and they took the initiative, almost decorating the Headmaster's Office in Slytherin style.
"Although Professor McGonagall later cleared out most of the things, there were still some insignificant items that were kept... like that chair."
In an instant, Grindelwald suddenly 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 that doesn't mean I'll unconditionally accommodate you like Albus, so don't push your luck.
"Or, don't make me feel bothered."
"Rest assured, I won't."
When it came to business, Kyle became much more serious.
"In my preliminary plan, you don't need to do anything, just wait until someone appears in Nurmengard, and then you can kill them."
"Oh, remember to leave two of them and send them to the bottom of the Nurmengard Tower."
"Nurmengard is built on a cliff, there's no space underground." Grindelwald reminded him.
"Then dig one."
Kyle waved his hand dismissively, "I'll take care of this, you don't need to worry about it."
"Alright, I'll help you with this favor." Grindelwald paused briefly, then nodded, "So, what's your payment to me?"
"Payment..." Kyle froze for a moment, "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 a chance to meet me. What you do in return is the price you have to pay."
Kyle was stunned.
No wonder, he wasn't Dumbledore, why would Grindelwald come all this way to help him?
It's all a conspiracy!
"Two exclusive photos of Professor Dumbledore." At this thought, Kyle didn't hesitate and held out two fingers.
"No, no, no." Grindelwald shook his head and extended a hand, "Five, that's my price for helping you."
"Impossible." Kyle shook his head as well, "At most three, that's my bottom line... But I can guarantee these are exclusive photos, and you won't be disappointed."
"Alright." Grindelwald nodded, "But among these three, I want the one you showed me last time."
"That's not possible, the value difference is too great."
"I can just have that one."
"That's not enough." Kyle said, "To be honest, this is just borrowing your name, if you don't agree, I have other options."
"Who else can you find?"
"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 may make the plan more complicated, it will save me a lot of money, and I think it's still a good deal."
Grindelwald stared at him intently, and Kyle calmly returned his 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 told you the specific plan yet." Kyle stopped him.
"Rozier will come to you later." Grindelwald paused and said, "Three photos, that's all I can do for you.
"Of course, if you're willing to pay more, I don't mind listening a bit longer."
"Forget it." Kyle decisively stepped aside.
"But..." He reached into his bag and took out a camera, "It's rare for me to come here, 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 came about; which wizard would carry a camera with them?
"You misunderstood." Kyle waved his hands repeatedly, "If I really had an idea, I wouldn't dare to bring it out in the open. I really want to help you keep a memento."
"Think about it, this is the place where Professor Dumbledore has stayed the longest. He wrote letters here, watched Quidditch matches from this window... Don't you want to stand where he stood?"
Grindelwald hesitated.
"You said earlier that many things here have changed."
"But they wouldn't have removed the windows, would they?" Kyle smiled, "Just stand by the window, Professor Dumbledore used to enjoy watching students play Quidditch from here."
"I..." Dumbledore's portrait 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 watched the matches from the Quidditch pitch.
But his voice was quickly covered by Kyle.
"Just stand there, and I'll take a photo for you... Rest assured, you know everything, and there's nothing more I can do. I genuinely just want to help."
In this situation, Kyle's statement that Dumbledore enjoyed standing by the window, and that's what he wanted, even if he denied it himself.
"I hope you're not lying." Grindelwald said, and walked to the window, apparently accepting Kyle's suggestion.
In truth, as a Prophet, his instincts as a seer were resisting, but Grindelwald was genuinely moved by Kyle's suggestion.
Standing at the same window as Dumbledore, gazing at the same sky, had always been what he most wanted to do.
And with Kyle's exaggerated description, this idea became even stronger.
As for instincts... Grindelwald was confident. He wasn't Dumbledore, and with enough caution, Kyle wouldn't have a chance.
"Just stand there."
Kyle raised his camera and took a normal photo of Grindelwald.
"Since you're here, let's take another one," Kyle casually suggested. "Professor Dumbledore's way of delivering letters is quite stylish too. He just throws them out the window, and an owl or a phoenix will catch them willingly."
"But there's no letter now, so you can use this instead." Kyle intentionally or unintentionally handed Grindelwald a wool gloves.
"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 gloves out the window.
"Click!"
Kyle's camera flashed at the same time.
"What did you do?" Grindelwald suddenly frowned.
Although there was no evidence, he felt that Kyle must have done something he didn't know about.
"Me? I didn't do anything." Kyle blinked innocently, spread his hands, and even proactively handed the camera over.
"You can check it if you want."
"Or you can just take the photos and leave me with one. I mainly want to make an album about 'arch-nemesis' and plan to put you and Professor Dumbledore on the first page, so I need a photo of you."
Grindelwald stared at Kyle and didn't take the camera.
"No one else is allowed!"
"What?"
"No one else is allowed in your album!" Grindelwald said firmly: "Later, I'll have Roach come to get it... Don't let me down."
After saying this, Grindelwald turned around 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 just 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.
First were the Headmasters.
"What's happening..."
"Who, who is it..."
As soon as they recovered, Armando Dippet and Phineas started shouting.
They didn't know exactly what had happened, but they could clearly sense the change that occurred in that moment.
So someone must have tampered with the portraits, but what happened in between wasn't clear.
And this, perhaps, could only be known by one person.
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, and upon hearing his words, 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; he couldn't guess at all.
"What about me?"
Kyle nodded after putting the camera and film back into the transforming lizard hide bag.
"You should know him."
"Do I know him and Phineas?"
Armando Dippet lowered his head and fell into deep thought.
"And that voice, I have to say, sounds very familiar..."
Soon, he seemed to have thought of something and subconsciously looked up at Dumbledore's portrait.
Dumbledore saw his action but didn't say anything.
This almost implicit behavior nearly made Dippet jump.
"Merlin's beard, you must be joking!"
"What do you mean?" Phineas asked, "Do you know who that person is?"
Dippet didn't pay attention to him but looked at Kyle and asked anxiously, "But, but isn't he locked up? In that tower!"
"He's out." Kyle shrugged, "The one who could lock him up was always a person, not that tower."
"Oh, Merlin's beard..." Dippet said again, "No, we must tell Minerva right away... and the Ministry of Magic."
"As for the Headmaster, I was just 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 Lord Voldemort has just been defeated, everyone needs to relax their tense spirits."
Kyle didn't intend to seek the agreement of all the Headmasters with these words; he was speaking to Dumbledore.
It wasn't until he nodded that Kyle left the Headmaster's Office.
...
(End of Chapter)
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