Chapter 983: A Special Bond
Chapter 983: A Special Bond
Conna seemed genuinely delighted, chatting away with Kyle on the train about her travel experiences. She shared stories of her adventures with Professor Sylva, climbing snow-covered peaks to gather plants hidden beneath the snow and traveling to over a dozen countries, including deserts, forests, and even underwater.
Professor Sylva, over a hundred years old, had quite the adventurous spirit, exploring various terrains.
Seeking out unique and exotic herbs around the world was a common pursuit for most potion masters, much like Newt's endeavors in his younger days.
However, none possessed the formidable destructive power of Newt, nor did they face rejection from various Ministries of Magic.
The "more important matter" Snape had mentioned earlier was, in fact, referring to Professor Sylva's invitation to Conna to accompany her on her travels.
No potion master could refuse the opportunity to travel with Professor Sylva, and even the renowned Snape couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.
As Conna and Kyle conversed, Professor Sylva sat nearby, listening with a smile, occasionally taking a sip of the butterbeer Kyle had brought her.
She had tasted this popular beverage numerous times, but this time, Kyle's offering was different. It had a familiar taste—slightly sour, with a lingering bitterness after each sip, reminiscent of the beer she drank in her youth.
It was odd that butterbeer had undergone several improvements, yet Kyle managed to find this less palatable...limited classic edition.
The shop selling it must not be doing well.
Professor Sylva took another sip.
Conna, sitting beside her, excitedly shared her experiences on the snowy mountains, including the incident when the two-way mirror was interrupted.
In return, Kyle recounted Bill's wedding, mentioning the number of Weasley family members present and the lively atmosphere that lasted through the night, with Fred and George's attentiveness and the enchanting Veela cousins.
"You didn't do anything, did you...?" Conna's smile faded at this point, and she looked at Kyle with concern.
Professor Sylva set down her butterbeer and rolled her eyes in exasperation.
She had always thought Kyle was quite smart, but she couldn't believe...
Even the most absent-minded healer she had met wouldn't talk about how beautiful Veela girls were in front of the girl he liked.
"Kyle, you..."
Professor Sylva wanted to change the subject, but before she could finish, Kyle naturally replied:
"Don't worry, I stayed far away from them."
"Besides, I'm not the type to be immobilized by magical creatures. And they're just quarter-blood Veela hybrids, mostly witches. I wouldn't dare challenge a witch's magic."
"That's good," Conna sighed in relief.
She had genuinely been worried that Kyle might cause a scene at the wedding.
However, both of them failed to notice Professor Sylva's gaze shifting back and forth between them, her eyes filled with confusion.
Magical creatures?
She seemed to have guessed something but couldn't quite believe it.
Could it be that someone would consider quarter-blood Veela as magical creatures? Moreover, Conna shared this belief... Did neither of them find anything odd about what was just said?
"By the way, Professor Sylva, what were you about to say earlier?" At this moment, Kyle noticed her previous action and turned to ask.
"Nothing," Professor Sylva shook her head.
She gave Kyle a peculiar look, scanning him up and down, her gaze settling on the box he held in his hand. She asked abruptly:
"I recall someone mentioning that you and Newt Scamander were close. Is that true?"
"If you're referring to Newt Scamander, then yes, that's correct," Kyle replied.
He wasn't sure of Professor Sylva's exact age, but from the level of respect Dumbledore showed her, it was evident that she was significantly older than Dumbledore, and by quite a margin.
Given this, Professor Sylva addressing Newt as a child seemed perfectly reasonable.
"Newt Scamander was also my teacher. He taught me a lot about magical creatures," Kyle explained.
"I see," Professor Sylva nodded, enlightened.
Knowing Newt made their connection less surprising.
The train continued its slow journey, lulling passengers into a sleepy state.
Kyle couldn't remember the last time he had ridden the Hogwarts Express. The last time was probably when he impersonated Dumbledore.
However, that time, preoccupied with his thoughts, the journey had felt exceptionally quick.
But now, it felt like he had truly returned to his school days, and the train's rumble and clatter sounded particularly grating.
For Kyle, who was accustomed to Apparition, this journey was nothing short of torture.
Fortunately, Conna was by his side, adding a touch of brightness to an otherwise dull trip.
Otherwise, he would rather fly to Hogwarts on a Phoenix than endure the train ride again.
Speaking of Phoenixes, where had Fox gone?
And Dumbledore.
After their separation at Nurmengard, Kyle hadn't seen Dumbledore since, and he didn't know if he was truly dead or not.
Of course, Kyle wasn't concerned about Dumbledore, nor did he care whether he was dead or alive.
Aberforth, Ariana, Grindelwald... There were so many people that Kyle couldn't possibly worry about Dumbledore.
What he cared about was Fox. After Grindelwald had disappeared from Hogwarts, Fox, who had been living in Kyle's trunk, had also vanished and hadn't been seen since.
Kyle suspected that Fox might have been summoned by Dumbledore, but he hadn't heard of any unusual events happening recently.
Could it be that Dumbledore's current state prevented him from Apparating, and he needed Fox's help? Kyle wondered.
At noon, the snack trolley arrived at the compartment door as scheduled.
Kyle bought a few cauldron cakes for lunch and also got two bottles of pumpkin soda for himself and Conna.
From the time they boarded the train, Kyle felt a bit thirsty, let alone Conna.
The lunch was a bit meager, but Sylva liked it. According to her, since they were experiencing what it was like to be students on a train, they should eat the train's lunch.
However, Kyle had a hard time understanding her reasoning, which might be related to the fact that he had only recently graduated.
If it were a hundred years later, he might want to reminisce about the experience of taking the train to Hogwarts, but at the moment, he didn't want to at all.
In the afternoon, Kyle's conversation partner changed from Conna to Sylva, and the topic shifted from travel and weddings to Horcruxes.
"So, you've succeeded?" Sylva raised her eyebrows slightly as she looked at the stone covered in a 'veil'.
"I guess so, but not completely," Kyle replied after some thought. "I always feel like there's a step that went wrong, preventing the soul shard from truly merging with the stone."
"But I've repeated it countless times and still can't find the mistake."
"So, do you want to take a risk and try it?" Sylva looked at Kyle and continued, "If I were the Head of St. Mungo's, I definitely wouldn't allow you to use this immature ability.
"But I'm retired now, and the new Head hasn't been fully decided yet. You just need to convince Madam Pomfrey."
"No, that's not what I mean." Kyle said, "I want to find someone else to ask, maybe she knows..."
"Minerva?" Sylva thought for a moment and shook her head. "If it's related to Dark Magic, I don't think Minerva can provide much help.
"Maybe you can ask this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. You might be surprised." Sylva joked.
Everyone knew that Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts professors were not very fond of following the Wizarding Law.
When it came to Dark Magic, they were the experts.
Conna also caught on and couldn't help but laugh, but quickly composed herself.
"This method might not work." She whispered, "This year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is still Uncle Snape."
"Hasn't he been fired yet?" Kyle blurted out.
A fist descended from above, landing lightly on Kyle's shoulder.
"Sorry..." Kyle grabbed Conna's hand and smiled, "I mean, Snape has been the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor since our sixth year, and he's the first professor to last this long."
"It's probably because Voldemort is dead," Conna thought for a moment. "Isn't he the one who cursed the position in the legend?
Now that he's dead, the curse no longer exists."
"That doesn't seem to be a problem either," Kyle said, "But in that case, asking him is probably not feasible."
"Snape knows nothing about Horcruxes. He knows nothing." Kyle still had some survival instincts, and he muttered this to himself without saying it out loud.
"So, who do you want to ask?" Sylva continued after the joke.
She thought of many names, but the only one who could truly help Kyle seemed to be one person.
"Professor Babbling?" Saxia asked, puzzled.
Only she met all the conditions, but it seemed unlikely.
The Babbling she knew was no longer at Hogwarts, and Kyle now held her position as the Ancient Runes professor.
"No, it's Ravenclaw," Kyle said.
Saxia looked at him quietly, and neither of them spoke.
After a long while, Saxia finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Who is it, then?"
"Ravenclaw," Kyle replied.
"I know, but I'm asking which Ravenclaw. A house has dozens of graduates every year, I can't possibly guess them all."
"Oh?"
Kyle paused, then quickly added, "Maybe I didn't explain it clearly. I meant Rowena Ravenclaw."
As soon as he finished speaking, Saxia suddenly laughed.
"I've already agreed to take up the position of Potions professor at Hogwarts, and you're still using this trick."
"What?" Kyle blinked, not understanding what she meant.
"Albus..." Saxia said, "He once said the same thing, thinking he could trick me into becoming a professor at Hogwarts."
Kyle opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped.
Could it be true... or rather, it was true.
But on second thought, it was normal for Saxia not to believe it, as she didn't know about the Crown and Ravenclaw's memories.
And there was no way to explain such a thing; no one would believe it, no matter what. It had to be seen to be believed.
So, Kyle wisely skipped the topic and continued chatting with Conna, who was standing nearby.
"Why did you suddenly want to be an assistant professor? This job doesn't pay much."
"Because you're at Hogwarts," Conna tilted her head and smiled, "I happened to have this opportunity, so I came."
"So, you came to Hogwarts for me?"
"Of course," Conna said matter-of-factly, "I can't leave you alone with Professor Snape. What if you suddenly start fighting?"
"Hogwarts strictly forbids conflicts between professors in front of students," Conna continued, "I don't want to receive a letter from the Ministry of Magic one day, asking me to pick you up from Azkaban."
Kyle chuckled, "I have connections in the Ministry and Azkaban, so there's no need to worry."
"That's why I'm more worried," Conna said.
Saxia's mouth twitched at the side, once again witnessing the unnecessary rapport between the two.
But in a sense, this was a match made in heaven, a perfect pair made by fate, as no one else might be able to have this conversation.
It was just that they weren't very friendly to the person next to them, and her over a hundred years of life experience seemed to have vanished in the short half-day they had just spent together.
She also noticed that Kyle had mentioned having connections in the Ministry and Azkaban, implying that he didn't deny the possibility of fighting with Snape.
Somehow, she suddenly regretted writing that letter to McGonagall. She should have investigated more.
"By the way," Kyle continued, "Do you need to teach as an assistant professor?"
"I'm not sure, but maybe. After all, Tonks taught as an assistant professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I assume I'd have to do the same."
"What about Professor Slughorn?" Kyle asked, "With him, there would be three Potions professors."
"I'm not sure about that. Professor McGonagall's reply didn't mention it. I only know that Professor Saxia will be in charge of fifth and seventh years."
"I hope it's like that," Saxia added from the side, "But I think Professor McGonagall will agree. The board of directors at Hogwarts can't possibly expect a nearly two-hundred-year-old wizard to teach seven grades."
"Even Gringotts wouldn't be so demanding of elderly goblins."
"It's hard to say," Kyle muttered, "They don't even spare dead professors."
"What dead professor?"
"Oh, nothing," Kyle waved his hands, quickly changing the subject.
It seemed that Saxia had only heard of the famous curses of Defense Against the Dark Arts and wasn't aware of the dedicated 'Ghost Professor' in the History of Magic.
Given this, Kyle wouldn't bring it up.
Regardless, the first priority was to get Saxia to Hogwarts...
If she got scared and ran away halfway, Professor McGonagall might turn him into a stoat, or even a caterpillar.
...
(End of Chapter)
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