On the eighth floor of Hogwarts, a hoarse and deep voice came from a remote empty classroom, like the whisper of a ghost, which was chilling.
"Don't worry, yours won't be left out." Kyle directly pulled out a suitcase from the deformed lizard skin bag, opened it on the table, turned it around and pushed it forward.
"Two hundred enhanced crackling explosive balloons, not one less."
Zonko's Joke Shop was closed, and Kyle bought these from Weasleys' Hocus Pocus, and Fred and George put them in a hollowed-out book to avoid Filch's inspection.
Kyle had a better idea, such as just making a small box with a traceless stretching spell, but the Weasley brothers disagreed. They thought it was too boring and not exciting enough.
Looking at the box in front of him, Peeves immediately flew over excitedly and clicked on it.
The number was indeed quite large, even thirty more. But he did not seem very happy, instead he frowned and said:
"That's not right. There are still 100 dung balls as promised. Why aren't they here?"
"Don't worry. It's not as easy to transport feces as balloons. We have to wait a few more days." Kyle explained, "And they have made some improvements to some of them this time."
"Improved..." Peeves' eyes lit up. "It's gotten bigger?"
“No.” Kyle shook his head. “They put some real stuff in it.”
Peeves' expression suddenly became strange, and his eyes revealed a hint of undisguised disgust and genuine admiration.
These two very different emotions came together perfectly.
Although Peeves is a ghost, he is not ignorant.
'Fecal egg' is just a name, and the special taste is simply blended from various herbs.
If you mix the real stuff in it...the students of Hogwarts will go crazy. With such devilish ideas, you are the real Dark Lord.
Peeves silently raised a thumb, then asked doubtfully: "Kyle boy... no, Mr. Kyle, do you have any grudge against Hogwarts?"
"Of course not," Kyle said. "Don't get me wrong. I was just about to explain that those specially made dung eggs were not counted in the number we agreed on. They were extra gifts."
"Gift? What does that mean?" Peeves was a little confused.
"It's hard to say now." Kyle thought for a moment, "Anyway, just put them away when the time comes. When the time comes to use them, you will naturally understand."
Peeves scratched his hair in annoyance. To be honest, he didn't like Kyle's behavior of not explaining himself clearly. If it were someone else, he would definitely get to the bottom of it and throw a dozen vinegar balloons on the other person's head.
But now... out of respect for his colleagues, Peeves held back.
He put away the box of balloons and asked curiously, "I really don't understand why you put that cabinet on the second floor and asked me to lead the Slytherin brat there.
"Just for a cabinet, can't you just give it to him?"
"If I had given it directly, he wouldn't have wanted it," Kyle said. "Well, they took it."
"Of course, nothing is impossible when I'm helping," said Peeves. "They just took the cabinet away and laughed so hard that I could hear them from upstairs."
"That's good." Kyle nodded and prepared to leave the room immediately.
"Wait a minute..." Peeves asked from behind, "You haven't told me why you do this."
"You'll know when the time comes." Kyle waved his hand, with no intention of stopping.
Peeves was so angry that he scratched his head in mid-air, but he couldn't do anything to Kyle.
Kyle was his biggest weapons supplier, especially now that Zuko's business was closed, the prank products on the little wizard were becoming less and less, and at the Halloween ball, he had simply thrown away all the stock.
The only one who can get a large number of balloons now is Kyle, so he cannot be offended easily.
Peeves angrily grabbed a handful of balloons from the box, broke open the door and flew downstairs.
He had to stand guard at the door of the Hufflepuff common room, and only if the little wizard entered the wrong password could he take the opportunity to fill the balloon with vinegar.
But the Hufflepuff password is really not that difficult. Generally, you won’t make a mistake after typing it twice.
So in order to speed up the process, Peeves would usually deliberately make some noise to distract the little wizards when they were typing the commands.
For first-year students, this trick works every time.
…
On the other hand, Kyle did not return to the dormitory after leaving the classroom. Instead, he walked around the eighth floor and came to the door of the principal's office.
“Sour Pops,” Kyle said, and the gargoyle jumped aside, revealing a moving spiral staircase behind it.
Kyle walked up to the oak door with ease and knocked, but there was no response from inside.
It looks like Dumbledore has gone out again.
However, Kyle did not leave. Instead, he took out his wand and pointed it at the brass knocker on the door.
"Separate left and right!"
The door knocker turned into two fire dragons and flew to different sides.
Then Kyle pushed the door open and walked in, as if he was back home.
As expected, Dumbledore was not here.
The portraits on the wall opened their eyes upon hearing the noise.
"You again..." Phineas was the first to speak: "This is the principal's office, how can a student like you just barge in like this!"
"Correction, Principal Black," Kyle said, "I didn't break in. I walked in, just like using a key to open a door."
"Even if you say so, you can't... Ouch!" Phineas suddenly flew out of his own picture frame and landed on the grass next door.
"He must have something to ask Dumbledore, don't make trouble!" Principal Dippet said as he kicked Phineas away.
But Kyle doubted whether he did it on purpose, just wanting to kick the other person.
"That's right," Kyle nodded and said, "Then do you know where Professor Dumbledore is?"
"Well, I don't know," said Principal Dippet.
"Ha, of course you don't know, you bastard." Phineas pounced in front of Dippet and swung his arm to avenge the kick.
But Dippet had already guessed that he would do this, so he turned around and started to wrestle with him, not caring at all that Kyle was still watching.
Perhaps because this was not the first time, the other principals also looked as if they were used to it.
"So, do you have something urgent to discuss with Dumbledore?" A witch with gray hair came to the frame closest to Kyle and asked, using her body to block the two headmasters who were pulling each other's hair.
"It's not particularly important," Kyle said, "It just occurred to me how Voldemort might attack Hogwarts. I'll talk about it next time."
The headmistress was silent for a moment.
"Wait a moment..."
She turned and walked to Dippet and Phineas, who were fighting anxiously, took a deep breath, and raised her fist sharply.
The next scene was blocked by a knight, and only a clanging sound could be heard.
But two minutes later, Kyle saw Phineas again, and there was a clear fist mark on his face.
…
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a faint sound coming from the surroundings.
Dumbledore came back, with some bread crumbs hanging from his beard.
"Mrs. Weasley was so welcoming...she insisted on letting me try some of the freshly baked bread, but it was really good."
Dumbledore sat behind the desk and asked, "I heard from Phineas that you have something important to talk to me about?"
"I guess so." Kyle said, "I kind of know how Draco Malfoy wants to help Voldemort get into Hogwarts."
"What?" Dumbledore was slightly startled, then he coughed lightly, "This is a very serious accusation. If there is no evidence..."
"Okay, then remove the name." Kyle shrugged indifferently, not paying attention to Dumbledore's thoughts, and said directly:
"It's the Vanishing Cabinet."
"Vanishing Cabinet?" Dumbledore pushed his glasses. As a master of alchemy, he naturally knew the function of the display cabinet.
That thing was like a materialized Apparition. There were two of them. You just had to enter one of the cabinets, close the door, and then come out of the other cabinet.
Although it is fixed, unlike Apparition, the Vanishing Cabinet is not affected by any restrictions. He used it many times when he was young and it was very convenient.
The only drawback is that this thing is extremely rare, even more precious than the Mirror of Erised. Among all the alchemists now, probably only Nicolas Flamel can make it.
"You mean to say that Voldemort got two precious Vanishing Cabinets and brought one of them into the school?" Dumbledore's expression gradually became serious.
"It's not Voldemort, it's Mal... well, it's someone else," Kyle said. "And there's no need to bring it here, it's already in the school."
"You mean... the Vanishing Cabinet that was broken by Peeves?" Dumbledore quickly thought of something and frowned.
"But there is only one cabinet. I once tried to enter the Vanishing Cabinet, but there was no response. Perhaps the other cabinet no longer exists."
Of course Dumbledore knew that there was a vanishing cabinet in the school, but it would take two of these things together; one alone would be useless.
"It could just be broken," Kyle said. "It's hard to make a Vanishing Cabinet, but it's much easier to just fix it. Even I can do it.
"I was the one who repaired the cabinet that Peeves broke before."
Dumbledore's eye twitched.
He had deliberately ignored it before.
As an alchemist, Dumbledore would certainly not be willing to destroy such a precious magic item even if he knew there were hidden dangers. Peeves's breaking of it could be considered as an indirect help.
But he didn't expect that this thing would be discovered by Kyle and even repaired.
Kyle did not notice the change in Dumbledore's expression and continued, "I noticed someone was looking for something, so I tentatively placed the Vanishing Cabinet there. I didn't expect him to actually take it away, and he looked so happy about it."
"Forget it, just tell me the name." Dumbledore rubbed his forehead, "When did you discover Draco Malfoy? Not many people should know about this."
"It was after we went to Hogsmeade last time." Kyle said, "But Professor Snape insisted on protecting him, and Connor thought he might have some plan, so I didn't care anymore."
"Mr. Malfoy got that dark magic necklace to deal with you." Dumbledore stared at Kyle with his blue eyes without blinking. "Just because Miss Prince begged for mercy, you let him go?"
"Isn't this reason enough?" Kyle spread his hands, "Connor trusts Professor Snape, just like I trust Connor, and I don't want to embarrass her.
"Besides, didn't Malfoy give up his plan later? He has come to the right path. I have no reason to insist on it."
Dumbledore suddenly laughed, and laughed very happily, as if Voldemort's plan suddenly became less important.
He waved his hand, and immediately a teapot, an exquisite silver teapot, and two cups appeared on the table.
"Would you like something to drink? We can talk about other things later."
"If possible." Kyle thought for a moment, "Can I have a glass of Phoenix Tears specially blended with Golden Honey? I've always wanted to taste what it tastes like."
Dumbledore's hand paused for a moment, then, as if he had heard nothing, he picked up the teapot and carefully pinched out a few leaves of tea.
"Try this, it's no worse than the Three Broomsticks' golden honey." He put the tea leaves into the cup and poured boiling water over it. "This was given to me by an old friend when I was 100 years old, and I've never been willing to drink it.
"In my opinion, this is the best gift I have ever received, more precious than Felicis."
Kyle took a sip doubtfully, and it tasted really good, much better than the black tea he had drunk in the principal's office before.
But he couldn't tell what was good about it, perhaps due to his limited experience.
Kyle moved his fingers, letting the tea cool quickly before drinking it in one gulp.
This set of actions made Dumbledore's mouth twitch.
What a waste... He shouldn't have given Kyle such a good thing.
Dumbledore tried to calm himself down and asked, "Tell me what you think."
"That's simple." Kyle poured more water into the teacup, "Malfoy took the Vanishing Cabinet because he must have found another one and was sure he could fix it.
"By then, the Death Eaters will be able to enter Hogwarts from other places through the two cabinets."
"Then what should we do?" Dumbledore asked, "I guess you should have other ideas, otherwise, there is no need for you to give him the cabinet you repaired with great difficulty."
"I have an immature suggestion..." Kyle picked up the teapot on the table and was about to take a closer look when Dumbledore quickly snatched it back.
"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't touch anything."
"Okay." Kyle didn't care. "I think so. Instead of asking him to think of other ways, it's better to just give him a ready-made answer.
"Although the Vanishing Cabinet is convenient, it has a big limitation. If the Death Eaters choose to enter the school in this way, they will definitely come out of the cabinet.
"Then we just need to put the basilisk right in front of the cabinet. We don't need to do anything else and we can catch all the Death Eaters in one fell swoop."
The principals in the portraits all looked at Kyle...
Put the Basilisk in front of the Vanishing Cabinet? They could already picture it.
When the Death Eater ambitiously opened the Vanishing Cabinet and prepared to do something big, he was greeted by a pair of yellow eyes.
This was simply a large Death Eater processor. They couldn't even imagine that this was something a teenage wizard could say so casually.
But Dumbledore didn't seem to react at all, and even thought carefully for a while.
"Not appropriate." He shook his head. "The basilisk is too big a target. If there is only one Death Eater, this method is fine, but if there are too many, it is difficult to guarantee that someone will not pass the message back.
"Moreover, many of the Death Eaters are afraid of Voldemort and have no choice but to work for him. Some of them are even controlled by the Imperius Curse. We cannot use the Basilisk to deal with them."
"Then find a few people to guard it." Kyle continued, "The vanishing cabinet is so small that only one person can come out at a time. As long as we cooperate well, it won't be difficult to subdue them in the first place."
"That's a good idea." Dumbledore nodded, "But I think it's also a good idea to set up some magic traps in advance. At least it can save some manpower and we don't have to guard them all the time."
…
(End of this chapter)