In the woods not far from the Burrow, a figure suddenly appeared and fell to the ground with a thud. The birds that were perched there were immediately frightened and flew away.

Kyle endured the tremendous pain brought by the Cruciatus Curse and lay on the ground gasping for breath.

He now finally knew what the Cruciatus Curse felt like. Although it only lasted for a moment, the pain that emanated from every corner of his body was truly unforgettable.

After a long while, Kyle finally recovered. He stood up by the tree stump next to him and began to look around. He soon recognized that this was the area of ​​St. Catchpole Village.

He didn't have time to think so much just now, and he didn't have any goals. He just wanted to leave there quickly and stay away from Voldemort.

In that situation, he subconsciously thought of the place he was most familiar with, and then he came here.

But it doesn't matter. Anyway, he finally succeeded in getting rid of Voldemort.

Kyle brushed the dirt off his clothes, took out a bottle of blue potion from the box, drank it directly, and then began to analyze the situation.

In fact, this was not the first time he faced Voldemort, but it was the most stressful one. In addition to knowing that Dumbledore would not help this time, another reason was that the speed of the opponent's spell had increased.

Much faster than when he was just resurrected.

It is not known whether it is because Voldemort has become stronger, or it is the effect of the Elder Wand... Kyle guessed that it is most likely the latter.

It was not like this the last time at the Ministry of Magic. He was there and watched the entire duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore. His spells were not like this at that time, at least Kyle could see it clearly.

There was no other way. He couldn't beat him, so he could only run away. In order to avoid being taken away by the Killing Curse, he deliberately angered Voldemort.

There are risks in doing this, as the name "Riddle" is a taboo to Voldemort, and Kell can't guarantee that he won't kill him outright. But if he doesn't do this, Voldemort will most likely kill him with a killing curse to avenge Bellatrix, or... vent his anger.

After all, he is not Harry and cannot get Voldemort's blatant favor. He still has a 50% chance if he tries.

Fortunately, the plan went smoothly. The furious Voldemort chose to torture him with the Cruciatus Curse, and he seized the opportunity and ran away.

Of course, this was also related to the fact that Kyle was in a hurry to take away the basilisk and missed the opportunity to take the initiative. If he had ignored the basilisk at the time and prepared for battle in advance, he could still have fought with Voldemort for a few rounds... Well, I guess.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but after being hit by the Cruciatus Curse, Kyle always felt that Voldemort was a little strong on the outside but weak on the inside. It’s not that he was not strong, but that he was not as scary as imagined. It seemed that it was not without cost that he took the Elder Wand.

But these are just feelings. If Kyle were to choose again, he would definitely run away...

Kyle waited for a while, until the effect of the Cruciatus Curse completely disappeared, and then he walked out of the woods.

He did not choose to go back home or the Burrow, but instead Apparated directly to Grimmauld Place.

As soon as he landed, Kyle felt something land on his shoulder, and then he heard screams, and Mrs. Weasley and Sirius ran out the door in a panic.

However, their steps were a little staggering and their faces were extremely pale.

In just a few steps, Mrs. Weasley even ran off the track and tried twice before she reached Kyle.

"Kyle...thank God you're finally back." As she said this, she glared at Sirius beside her.

Sirius felt so wronged. He never thought of leaving Kyle there alone. It was Fawkes who took him away by force.

However, he knew in his heart that no matter how much he explained, it would be useless, so he wisely chose to keep quiet and stand quietly by the side.

It could also be because he couldn't open his mouth at all right now.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley." Kyle smiled and said, "Let's go in first. It's too dangerous to stay outside."

"Yes!" Mrs. Weasley nodded and pulled Kyle back.

She took a wrong turn again and headed straight for the gate with the number 10 on it.

Kyle pulled her and they returned to the correct house number 12.

There were not many people inside. Apart from Mrs. Weasley and Sirius, there were only Harry and Ginny who were sitting on the ground with dazed looks, and an old man who looked somewhat like Dumbledore.

Aberforth, owner of the Hog's Head pub in Hogsmeade and Dumbledore's brother.

He looked at Kyle expressionlessly, then suddenly frowned.

"Where is that person? Why is his phoenix here with you?"

There was something strange in his voice, and although he didn't mention a name, Kyle knew exactly who he was talking about.

"It's a long story." Kyle was afraid that he might misunderstand something, so he quickly explained, "Professor Dumbledore is fine, but he had to do something very important and forgot to take Fawkes with him, so I'm here to help take care of him for a few days."

"Do you know what you are saying? Or do you think I am a fool?" Aberforth narrowed his eyes. "That is a phoenix. No matter where that guy is, it can find him. Do you need your help to take care of him?"

Although his expression did not change, his hands tightly grasped the back of the chair, "Tell the truth, there is no need to hide it."

"That's the truth, I promise." Kyle said helplessly: "The place he went to is exactly where Fox can't go."

Aberforth stared at Kyle without blinking, as if observing whether he was lying.

Kyle was very calm and what he said was the truth. No matter how magical the phoenix was, it was impossible for it to teleport back to a hundred years ago.

But Kyle was a little hesitant. If Aberforth insisted on asking for clarification, what should he say?

Tell him the truth? Tell him that Dumbledore went back a hundred years ago to find Ariana? Of course not. Aberforth's feelings for his sister were no less than Dumbledore's. What if he wanted to go there too? Kyle didn't have a second time-turner for him to use.

So it must be kept secret from him.

Kyle was in a dilemma, thinking about what excuse he could come up with to make Aberforth believe it, but after thinking it over, he couldn't find a place that the phoenix couldn't reach.

Or just blame it on Dumbledore and pretend that you know nothing. This is the only excuse you can use to get away with it.

However, what he didn't expect was that Aberforth just snorted coldly and had no intention of asking deeper questions. After confirming that Kyle was not lying, he returned to his previous indifferent attitude.

Aberforth then strode to the door and glanced back at Kyle, "What a waste of time. I'll leave the rest to you."

After saying that, he stepped out of the door and Apparated away.

"Leave it to me?" Kyle scratched his hair, "What does this mean?"

"It's just... ugh..." Sirius wanted to explain, but he almost vomited as soon as he opened his mouth. At the same time, his action affected other people.

Ginny covered her mouth and staggered upstairs.

Harry was better than her, but he was also pale and sat on the ground weakly.

After a long while, Sirius finally recovered. He picked up a bottle of fire whiskey on the table and took a big gulp, barely suppressing his churning stomach.

"Honestly, I've never experienced such an exciting Apparition."

Harry and Mrs. Weasley nodded.

Harry remembered that one Christmas holiday, when they went to St. Mungo's to visit Sirius, Kyle was taken by Fawkes, and he bumped into the cabinet as soon as he appeared.

At the time, Harry found it strange and didn't understand why Kyle behaved so badly when it was just an Apparition.

Now he finally understood.

The Phoenix's Apparition and the wizard's are two completely different magics. When he was first taken away, he couldn't even stand and his consciousness was blurred.

He felt as if he had been stuffed into the nostrils of a giant, plucked out, thrown onto the hoof of a unicorn, and trampled on for ten miles.

For a while, he even thought it would be nice to face the Death Eaters right in Godric's Hollow.

Come to think of it, Kyle's performance of just bumping into the cabinet was incredibly perfect.

"Don't worry about it. They have been like this all along." Sirius took a deep breath and said, "We were sent by the Phoenix to... the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade. A few minutes ago... we were just sent back by the owner there... the man you just saw."

"Oh." Kyle nodded, "Are the others still there? Why don't you come back soon?"

"Because there's no other way. We can barely stand...let alone Apparate back." Sirius clutched the bottle of Firewhisky and took another swig.

"Later, the owner of the Hog's Head recognized Fox and told us the address of this place. Only then did we know that he was one of us."

Mrs. Weasley continued, "For safety reasons, we asked him to help bring some people back."

"Sirius and I were the first group, Harry and Ginny were just sent back, and then you arrived too."

After hearing what she said, Kyle finally understood.

Just as the place most familiar to him subconsciously was St. Catchpole Village, the place Fawkes thought was safe was not the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, but the Hog's Head Inn where another "Dumbledore" was located.

"How's everyone doing?" Kyle asked.

"For now... it's all right." Mrs. Weasley thought for a moment and said, "Promise me, Kyle, that unless it's absolutely necessary, don't let the Phoenix take us away again. If the Death Eaters chase us at that time, I'm afraid we won't even be able to resist."

"Okay." Kyle nodded.

Of course he knew what would happen if the Phoenix Apparated him, but the situation was urgent and this was the best solution. Otherwise, with the number of Death Eaters, there would definitely be a lot of casualties.

Besides, the place that Fawkes thought was safe would definitely not be found by the Death Eaters in a short while.

"Then I'll go get them back now." Kyle walked out of the house again.

He originally wanted to ask Sirius to go with him, as the two of them would definitely be faster, but after seeing him chugging Firewhisky one sip after another, he gave up the idea.

Forget it. If he uses Apparition in this state, there is a high chance that something will go wrong, which will be even more troublesome.

Without wasting any more time, Kyle Apparated directly to Hogsmeade.

Due to time constraints, all the shops here were closed, and only the windows of the Pig's Head Bar were still flashing with lights.

Kyle pushed the door open and walked in, but he didn't see anyone else. He only saw an old witch lying in the corner, as if she was asleep.

Aberforth, who had just left, stood behind the counter, wiping an equally dirty cup with a dirty rag.

No wonder people say that it’s best to prepare your own tableware when you come to the Hog’s Head Bar. There’s nothing wrong with that.

At the same time, Aberforth also saw Kyle. The vigilance in his eyes quickly turned into disgust, and he pointed to the side with his chin.

"They're upstairs."

"Thank you." Kyle immediately ran upstairs and saw Fred and George. They were standing at the stairs holding the wall. They should be responsible for vigilance.

Lupin and Hermione were taking care of the unconscious Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, and the others were further inside.

As for Nymphadora Tonks, if Kyle guessed correctly, she should be the old witch sleeping downstairs.

After seeing Kyle, Fred and George had complicated looks.

"Prove your identity," said Fred. "What was the first thing we sold at Hogwarts?"

“Map,” Kyle said.

"No problem." Fred nodded to everyone and relaxed.

"I have a question." George walked up to Kyle, "I heard from Sirius that you asked the Phoenix to take us away?"

"It's not me, it's Dumbledore." Kyle said calmly, "That's his phoenix."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." George took a deep breath and shook his head. "It wasn't a pleasant trip, even though it saved us."

"Ah, that's normal." Kyle said calmly, "You'll get used to it after a few more times."

"Goodbye, I'd rather face the Death Eaters." Fred said, holding his stomach.

"Let's talk about this later. We have to leave here quickly." Kyle said, "You guys get ready. I'll go call Tonks."

When he went back downstairs, the old witch who was lying on the table stood up. Her face had changed back to Tonks's, but her hair was still messy.

Kyle motioned for her to go upstairs, then turned to look at Aberforth.

"Thanks."

"No need for that," said Aberforth. "Just pay me. You've delayed my business for a whole night. Plus the price of the portkey, it's a hundred Galleons in total."

As he said that, he threw the dirty glass in his hand over. There was a layer of shiny blue light on the glass, which was obviously a newly made door key.

"Or you don't need this, and just pay fifty Galleons."

"No, one hundred Galleons is no problem," Kyle said. "But I'm a little curious, why didn't you use the portkey to send them back just now?"

"Two deaths is better than both." Aberforth raised his eyelids, "Hurry up, you only have three minutes."

"Ah... okay!" Kyle walked over, took out a heavy bag and put it on the counter.

Aberforth opened it and took a look. "It's too much. There are at least two hundred Galleons here."

"The extra money is just a token of my appreciation." Kyle smiled, "But can you do me a little more favor?"

"A small favor of one hundred Galleons?" Aberforth sneered. "Tell me about it."

"It's like this... Can you promise to give me Fawkes as Dumbledore's brother?" Kyle whispered, "If you can, I will pay you another thousand Galleons."

Aberforth raised an eyebrow and without hesitation pushed the bag back to Kyle.

"Don't be so quick to refuse. Two thousand... no, five thousand Galleons, or ten thousand is negotiable."

"Don't waste your time. It only listens to that person. Nothing I say will help." said Aberforth.

"I see..." Kyle thought for a moment and pushed the bag back. "It's okay. Just think of it as giving it to a friend."

"Forget it, I dare not accept it." Aberforth looked at Kyle warily, waved his hand and threw the bag into his pocket, "You are just like that man, neither of you is a good person, take your people and get out of here quickly.

"By the way, just a reminder, the Portkey is three minutes away."

"Okay..." Kyle was about to go upstairs with the cup, but immediately turned back.

"Well, give me ten bottles of fire whiskey and ten bottles of brandy. I think they will need these."

“Not for sale.”

"I'll pay five times more and put it on Dumbledore's account." Kyle said casually, "He'll pay you when he comes back."

This time Aberforth didn't even hesitate, and quickly packed everything Kyle needed in just ten seconds.

(End of this chapter)