France, magic shopping street.

Christmas has just passed, but the holiday is still going on. Students of Beauxbatons are walking up and down the streets, thinking about how to create more happiness with their limited pocket money.

As they hurried past an inconspicuous street corner, they would occasionally mention in their casual conversation a store that seemed to never open.

It was probably before school started. The sign of this store has been hung up for a few months now, but it has never been open.

Not even once.

And in the basement of the shop, which they couldn't see, Fleur Delacour, once the celebrity of Beauxbatons, was counting the potions on the shelves, saying, "Bill has taken all the potions back to England."

"That's good." Kanna looked up from the cauldron.

"He asked me to express his gratitude to you. The batch of potions is very useful." Fleur said, "Bill told me that it is difficult for British Aurors to buy high-quality blood tonics and antidotes even with Galleons now."

"So my decision was right." Kanna smiled.

Although neither Kyle nor Snape wanted her to stay in dangerous Britain, it didn't mean she couldn't do anything.

Logistics is also the most critical part of war... For wizards, potions are logistics.

As it happens, she has a bit of a talent for potions.

"You're right." Furong put the counted potions into a box.

“But there is one thing I must tell you. France has also been affected. Since last week, the prices of some key materials have continued to rise, especially coprolites, which have tripled in price.

"With the same number of Galleons, the materials we can buy are getting less and less."

As she spoke, Furong closed the box irritably, "I went to my father, but he didn't agree to sponsor us."

"This is normal." Connor didn't find it strange. "Dlacour is a French wizard family, and in a sense, it also represents France, so naturally they can't interfere too much in British affairs.

"In fact, it's surprising that he allowed you to continue helping me and let you date Bill."

Fleur raised an eyebrow, "Dlacour is always very forgiving when it comes to love."

"Where's Kyle?" She asked with a hint of sarcasm on her face. "I thought he would stay here last night."

"Professor Dumbledore seems to have something to do with him," Connor said. "The Phoenix took him away last night."

"Phoenix..." Furong thought of the most beautiful bird she had ever seen.

"Connor, do you think Mr. Dumbledore would agree to sell me one if the phoenix lays eggs, considering my help to Britain?"

"Ah?" Kanna blinked, somewhat surprised at Furong's train of thought.

"Probably... maybe." She said uncertainly.

The main reason was that she had never heard of the phoenix laying eggs. It seemed that the creature had always existed and its number had never changed.

But Furong was still very happy.

She used her wand to push the box into the next storeroom.

"I have another question. Why didn't you tell Kyle? Why didn't you let me and Bill know about this? This is a scene from a stage play from the last century."

"I didn't hide anything." Connor shrugged, "You and Bill both knew about it, and he should have told Professor Dumbledore, only Kyle and Uncle Severus didn't know about it.

"It seems that many of them have kept their promise and have not told anyone about this."

"I've been wanting to ask you why you did this." Furong asked in confusion, "He'll know sooner or later, won't he?"

"At first I just wanted to find something to do for myself and give Kyle a surprise, but then he came to France and saw the closed shops but didn't feel anything was wrong, so I found this to be a very interesting thing..."

"interesting?"

Connor thought for a moment and asked, "Let me put it this way, what was Bill's expression when you first gave him those potions?"

"Surprised, excited, unbelievable..." Furong blurted out, "He wasn't even that excited when he kissed me for the first time."

"What if this expression appeared on Kyle's face?" Kanna continued to ask.

Furong thought about it, and the corners of her mouth began to rise slowly and unconsciously.

Kyle had always left a special impression on her, with his strong strength and meticulous mind, and he easily won the Tri-Widget Tournament.

In comparison, she and Viktor Krum were like foils, background fillers playing the roles of tree and straw in two stage plays.

Furong found it hard to believe that the other person was two years younger than her.

It would be interesting to see a person like this show an expression of shock and disbelief... Especially since Kyle came here twice and didn't notice anything.

"I'm a little looking forward to it." Furong said.

"Me too." Kanna narrowed her eyes.

Furong shuddered subconsciously. It might be an illusion. She seemed to see Kyle's shadow in Kanna just now.

I must be dazzled.

She sat down next to Connor.

"However, I feel that Kyle actually thought about letting you go back to England yesterday, and if you hadn't interrupted him, maybe he would have said it.

"If that is the case, would you agree to return to England and live with him?"

"Uncle Severus would have killed him," Connor said. "It would have been the same if he had stayed in the potion shop last night and Uncle Severus knew about it."

"Not really." Furong found it hard to understand. "Are all wizards in Britain so conservative?"

"No." Connor shook her head, "Or rather, Uncle Severus is different."

"He's so nice to you."

"Yeah," Connor said.

There was no doubt that Snape cared about her, even more than he did, and this care often made Connor feel heavy.

Especially the conversation they had in the castle before coming to France.

At that time, Snape told her a lot of things, and each of them was very detailed. He even gave her the key to the vault in a tough manner. He also hinted that she could move the vault to France or somewhere farther away from Britain, as if he was telling her...

Kanna's hand trembled, and the wand that was stirring the crucible drew an arc, and the originally light blue potion quickly turned purple.

"Ah!" Furong screamed.

Kanna came to her senses and immediately reduced the flame, changed from clockwise to counterclockwise, and continued stirring.

After a while, the potion turned back to its previous light blue color.

"What were you thinking about just now?" Furong asked.

"Nothing, I'm just a little sleepy." Connor said.

No, that's not right. She must be overthinking it.

Snape was a professor at Hogwarts, and with Professor Dumbledore around, he was safe.

Connor tried to convince herself.

But she also knew that Snape was doing something big. Although she didn't know what it was, she was sure that it was dangerous.

Another reason why she stayed in France was that she didn't want to distract Snape.

Potions can be brewed anywhere anyway, there's no difference between England and France.

When Connor took out her wand and transferred the brewed potion into the bottle, Kyle, who was far away in England, poured himself a glass of butterbeer.

The rich butter beer from a hundred years ago had an average taste, but the flavors of beer and butter were more pronounced, giving it a unique flavor.

At this moment, he was sitting in the cabin with Dumbledore, discussing the matter of Draco Malfoy.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Magic sent a letter overnight, hoping that Minerva McGonagall could allow Draco to readmit to school.

As mentioned before, they want more Death Eaters to see that turning from darkness to light is a wise choice.

"I guess the Death Eaters also contributed to this." Kyle took a sip of butterbeer. "Voluntary, or under the Imperius Curse, there must be someone from them in the Ministry of Magic."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said, "A month ago, there were traces of Death Eaters where Bardock, the head of the Disaster Department, lived, but they seemed to have just passed by and left without doing anything."

"Huh?" Kyle looked up at Dumbledore.

"That's the advantage of being an old wizard, you have a lot of friends." Dumbledore smiled and said, "I happen to have an old friend who lives near Bardock, and we have always kept in touch through letters.

"During one of the small talk, he mentioned that Baddock hadn't been to the corner dessert shop for a week. Before that, the disaster secretary had a cup of hot cocoa before work every day."

"The Imperius Curse?" Kyle asked.

"That should be correct." Dumbledore nodded, "Bardock was once Barty Crouch's subordinate and the one who was most opposed to the dark arts.

"But this time, he was uncharacteristically trying to help Draco."

"You are amazing, Professor Dumbledore," Kyle laughed.

"It's just a coincidence." Dumbledore also smiled, "Sometimes having many friends does have some benefits."

"So what do you think?" he asked. "I remember you told me before that you wanted Mr. Malfoy to come back to school."

"That's right." Kyle nodded. "We had a deal, and this was part of the deal."

Kyle recounted the scene in Knockturn Alley.

"I deleted his memory, but left a hint, a hint to go to my store and make some purchases, and then I will use Legilimency to check for information about the Death Eaters."

"It seems that you have really learned something from Lockhart," said Dumbledore, and then his expression became serious.

"But Kyle, I don't want to use Legilimency on other people too often. When you pry into the secrets of others' hearts unscrupulously, it's easy to magnify some of your own desires, which is not a good thing."

"I know, so this is a deal." Kyle said, "I got the consent of Draco Malfoy himself, and he allowed me to use this method to pass on information.

"Plus, it's the safest for him."

Hearing that Malfoy himself agreed, Dumbledore said nothing more.

"So, did you get any news?"

"The wandering wizard in Cornwall, that's what Malfoy told me about," Kyle said. "And the Hehidri Islands, that's also somewhat related to him."

"It seems that Mr. Malfoy has helped us a lot." Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, "Then in return, you must fulfill your promise to him."

"Aren't you afraid that he has other intentions?" Kyle asked.

"Don't be afraid." Dumbledore said in a calm tone, as natural as if he was discussing what to eat for lunch.

"Then I have no objection. Let him go back to Hogwarts." Kyle said, "However, I always feel that this is not a plan that the You-Know-Who could come up with. It should be someone else who is giving him advice."

"Why do you say that?"

"Directing and acting in his own drama, and using a self-torture tactic, this is a bit too much for the mysterious man." Kyle took another sip of butterbeer.

“Although there is no necessary connection between soul and wisdom, it is an important factor in maintaining emotions and thoughts, and people are only suitable for thinking when their emotions are stable.”

"The mysterious man's soul is almost broken into pieces, and it is difficult for him to come up with such a complicated plan. In this regard, he is not even as good as his own diary.

"The mysterious man nowadays is more suitable to use the simple and quick method of the Killing Curse to solve all problems."

"This is the first time I've heard someone say this about Tom," Dumbledore couldn't help laughing. "Everyone who knows Tom says that he is a thoughtful and calculating boy."

"He hadn't made any Horcruxes at that time."

"If he can make even fewer Horcruxes, I will take back what I just said without hesitation. Of course, if I meet him, I will still run away."

Voldemort is not good at thinking, but he is very strong. He can use all kinds of dark magic to his advantage.

Dumbledore took out a piece of parchment, probably preparing to write a reply to the Ministry of Magic.

"And who do you think gave Tom the idea?"

"I don't know, it could be anyone." Kyle thought for a moment and said, "But no matter who it is, he has done us a favor, letting us know that the mysterious man is definitely going to do something. We just need to keep an eye on Malfoy."

…

The Ministry of Magic acted quickly.

Not long after Dumbledore's letter was sent, Draco Malfoy appeared at the school gate, and it was Scrimgeour who delivered it personally.

The head of the Auror Office personally served as his bodyguard... He didn't even have this treatment when Lucius was throwing gold coins into the Ministry of Magic.

After arriving at Hogwarts, Scrimgeour was taken to the headmaster's office by Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore.

The task of receiving Malfoy naturally fell to Kyle, who was most familiar with him.

Although he had lost his memory of what happened in Knockturn Alley, Malfoy still remembered what happened in Godric's Hollow. After seeing Kyle, he instinctively wanted to step back.

"Don't worry, it will be fine when we get to school!"

Kyle was quite enthusiastic and pulled him towards his cabin.

"I have good news for you. After the holiday, I will be a professor at the school. We can meet often. Aren't you happy?"

Malfoy's face turned pale. He never dreamed that he would not only meet Kyle in school, but also have to get along with him forever.

He suddenly didn't want to go to school anymore.

But Kyle didn't give him the chance and dragged him to the cabin.

When I walked to the door, I was careless and used a little force with my hands.

Malfoy stumbled and knocked over the wooden barrel next to him. The contents splashed all over him, and an indescribable smell almost made him vomit.

"Oh, how could you be so careless?" Kyle said loudly, "This is the fertilizer I prepared for Professor Sprout. What a waste."

Professor Sprout... fertilizer? Malfoy, who had taken the Herbology class, immediately knew what was in the bucket, and then he screamed and ran to the side to vomit... He wanted to vomit out his breakfast.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'll help you clean it up." Kyle said.

Without waiting for Malfoy to refuse, he raised his wand.

"Clear water like a spring!"

It was like a waterfall of clear water falling from the sky, pouring down on Malfoy's head.

The waterfall lasted for nearly a minute, and Draco finally stopped when he could hardly hold it anymore.

By this time he was soaked through.

It was just after Christmas, and it was the coldest time of the year. When the wind blew, Malfoy felt as if his whole body was being scraped by a knife, and he couldn't stop shivering.

"Don't stand there, come in and warm up." Kyle tried to drag Malfoy into the house again.

But this time he was smarter, or maybe he was frozen, and he stood there motionless, using all his strength to resist Kyle.

"Draco!"

Fortunately, Snape also arrived at this time. He was probably worried about Malfoy falling into Kyle's hands, and was walking quickly towards this side from the direction of the castle.

And when Draco saw his savior, he became even more uncooperative.

"Spoiler." Kyle curled his lips, turned sideways, and pointed the wand in his hand at Malfoy when he wasn't paying attention.

"Legendary!"

Although he didn't know what Voldemort's conspiracy was, it didn't matter, he could watch.

Dumbledore might have had concerns, but he didn't, and he was so tough after getting the person's consent.

Kyle looked into Malfoy's eyes as if he was flipping through a book, but the content of the book made him frown.

The content is very rich. Kyle saw Malfoy fighting a desperate battle with the Death Eaters on the Hogwarts Express, with magic flying everywhere.

We also saw that although he was hesitant, he still sent the letter of denunciation to the Ministry of Magic via owl.

But going further ahead, it's just the trivialities of life.

He didn't find what he wanted to see most, because Malfoy didn't have it in his memory at all. The last time he saw Voldemort was through the window of the Ministry of Magic.

Some of the scenes in the middle seemed to be blocked by something, just like when Slughorn modified his memory. Kyle could only see a fog and blank pages.

"Draco, are you okay?"

Snape's hand reached out, pulled Malfoy away, and severed the line of sight connection with Legilimency.

Malfoy's eyes were still a little dazed.

"Professor Snape!" Kyle said quickly, attracting his attention.

"Professor Dumbledore has left me in charge of Mr. Malfoy, and I am doing my part."

"You call this... taking care?" Snape looked at him, then at Malfoy, who was soaking wet and shivering, and his tone was colder than the wind blowing through the Forbidden Forest.

"It was just a little incident." Kyle said, "Mr. Malfoy was a little too careless. I was just about to take him to the house to warm up."

"No need." Snape pulled Malfoy to his side. "Leave him to me. You have nothing to do here."

Kyle looked at Snape.

…Since she cares so much about Malfoy, maybe he knows something.

I can only say it is very likely.

But Snape was a master of Occlumency, and even if Kyle wanted to do something, he couldn't get an answer from him.

But there is no need for that.

Thinking of Snape's identity, Kyle immediately took a step back.

"Since Professor Snape has said so, I'll leave Mr. Malfoy to you.

"But Professor, you'd better take him back to the castle quickly, otherwise he might need to take a leave on the first day back to school."

"You don't need to remind me!"

Snape glared at Kyle fiercely, then turned and left with Malfoy.

…

(End of this chapter)