The only advantage of being an ancient rune professor is probably that he has more time than other professors.

After the first day of school, Kyle followed the tradition of the class and disappeared into the Hogwarts castle.

Except, of course, when eating.

The office assigned to him by Professor McGonagall was just a decoration. There wasn't even a chair inside. It was so empty that Hermione, who came to ask questions, thought she had taken the wrong path.

But this is also an old tradition. After all, when Professor Barbling was here, her office looked like this too.

It was snowing heavily outside, and from time to time there were banging sounds coming from the Black Lake... That was the sound of the giant squid hitting the ice. It did this every day to scare the students playing on the ice, and it never got tired of it.

In a wooden house not far away, Kyle poured two cups of tea and handed them to two identical people opposite.

"So, your memory has been restored?" Kyle looked at the two Draco Malfoys in front of him. "I'm sorry to ask, but which of you two is the real one?"

Kyle had been in the garden the whole time, and only found out that Malfoy had returned from St. Mungo's after receiving a letter from Dumbledore.

Moreover, when Dumbledore delivered the letter, he was thoughtful enough to bring two people along as well.

"It's him!" Malfoy, who was sitting on the left, immediately pointed at himself on the right. "I just drank Polyjuice Potion before coming here. It will probably take more than an hour for me to recover."

Malfoy didn't say anything, but just looked at Kyle with a complicated expression.

"Does our previous deal in Knockturn Alley still count?"

"It looks like you've really recovered," Kyle said.

"Yes, I remember everything now," Malfoy said. "And I also know that you did not fulfill your promise."

"What do you mean..." Kyle raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you already in Hogwarts?"

"But this wasn't you who did it. It was the Dark Lord..." Malfoy said, "He was the one who found a way to get me back to Hogwarts."

"Do you think that someone who has been confirmed as a Death Eater can return to school just by turning over a new leaf?" Kyle laughed.

“Don’t forget, the current headmaster is Minerva McGonagall, who values ​​the safety of students the most and is not as easy to talk to as Dumbledore.

"If I hadn't found Professor Dumbledore to help you intercede, she would never have allowed a former Death Eater to enter the school even if it was the Minister of Magic's request."

Malfoy stared at Kyle without blinking, as if trying to confirm the truth of what he said.

Kyle looked calm.

Malfoy's return to Hogwarts was a decision made after he and Dumbledore discussed it, and Dumbledore later persuaded Professor McGonagall. No matter how you look at it, he has a share of credit in this.

Kyle didn't say anything, nor did Malfoy, and the scene fell into silence for a while.

"I can tell you the mission the Dark Lord gave me." After an unknown amount of time, Malfoy finally spoke, "But you must promise me... No, Dumbledore must promise to rescue..."

"You don't have a choice." Kyle interrupted Malfoy, not letting him continue.

"Ever since Madam Narcissa Malfoy took you to see Snape, you can no longer stand on the side of the Death Eaters."

"You should be thankful that the You-Know-Who doesn't know what you have done yet, otherwise his drama at the entrance of the Ministry of Magic would have been much more realistic."

Kyle naturally knew what Malfoy wanted to say, which was to rescue Lucius and Narcissa, but he couldn't agree to it, not even Dumbledore.

He was certain that Lucius and Narcissa must be kept under close watch by Voldemort, and that this was also a means of threatening Malfoy.

Rescuing them would basically be equivalent to declaring war on Voldemort outright.

Even with Voldemort's character, if he finds out something is wrong, he will most likely kill them directly.

"I beg you, Kyle," Malfoy said. "Just because I passed the message to you, please help me."

"As long as you agree to help, I will tell you whatever you want to know. I will also ask my father to donate money to the school, even if it is all the property of the Malfoy family..."

Of course he knew that his request was a bit excessive, but now he had no other choice.

The Malfoy family has failed too many times, which has long aroused Voldemort's dissatisfaction. If he fails to complete the task this time, Lucius and Narcissa will surely die.

But that task was not something he could accomplish... In other words, Voldemort didn't want them to live at all.

To be honest, Kyle was a little hesitant.

But at this moment, Dumbledore's voice came from outside.

"I can promise you that."

He opened the door and walked in, sat next to Kyle, and asked:

"You want to save Lucius and Narcissa, right?"

"Yes, Professor." Malfoy said. The moment he saw Dumbledore, he decisively abandoned Kyle, and all eyes were focused on the greatest white wizard.

"Please, Professor."

"I can promise you that," Dumbledore said, "but can you share some news with us? We have been waiting for this."

"The Dark Lord sent me to kill you," Malfoy said without hesitation.

Dumbledore looked calm and not too surprised, as if he had guessed the result a long time ago.

Coming again?

Kyle raised an eyebrow.

This was not the first time Malfoy tried to assassinate Dumbledore, but he failed last time. Why did Voldemort think he could do it this time?

It looked like he really just wanted an excuse to kill the Malfoys.

As the three of them looked at each other, Cedric felt very uncomfortable.

He found that he had just heard a great piece of news.

The mysterious man used Malfoy's parents to threaten him to assassinate Dumbledore, but he turned around and told the news, defected to Hogwarts, and asked Dumbledore to rescue his parents.

And from what Malfoy said, this was not the first time he had done this, and he had also passed the message to Kyle before.

Undercover... or double undercover? But can I listen to such confidential information? What if he accidentally exposes it?

Cedric kept squirming. He didn't want to listen anymore, but he was also worried that it would be impolite to leave at this time.

"It's okay, Mr. Diggory." Dumbledore seemed to see what he was thinking and said with a smile, "I trust you completely, just like I trust Kyle."

"That's true." Cedric sighed, "But some secrets can't be hidden from others if you keep your mouth shut."

Legilimency was not a very complex spell, and Veritaserum was even simpler. He worked in the Ministry of Magic and could not guarantee that he could keep the secret.

"It doesn't matter. Only a few people know your identity as a member of the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore continued: "The Death Eaters will not care about an ordinary employee who just graduated from the Ministry of Magic."

"Well... okay." After hesitating for a moment, Cedric sat down with peace of mind.

And he was really curious about what would happen next.

"Go on, Mr. Malfoy," said Dumbledore. "You are going to kill me. Tom should know that it is difficult."

"Right," Malfoy nodded, "So he gave me this."

He took out his wand tremblingly, his eyes full of fear, as if it was a bundle of explosives that could be ignited at any time.

"Um?"

The moment he saw the wand, Dumbledore's face turned serious.

He bent down and looked carefully at the wand that lay on the table.

"What a terrible dark magic."

Cedric moved closer in confusion. To him, it was just an ordinary wand.

"This is... my wand." Malfoy said tremblingly, "but it has been modified by the Dark Lord... it can cast the Avada Kedavra curse once..."

"That's it?" Kyle wanted to laugh.

It's just a wand that can use the Killing Curse. It doesn't seem like a big deal.

Many Death Eaters know the Killing Curse, but no one of them can kill Dumbledore.

The little help Voldemort gave was a bit too casual.

"It's different." Dumbledore pushed his glasses up on his nose. "If I'm not mistaken, this killing curse will rebound, right?"

"Yes... yes," said Malfoy.

"Bounce?" Kyle asked. "What does that mean?"

"It's very simple." Dumbledore explained: "You can think of it as a combination of the Killing Curse and the Shield Curse. If the spell does not kill the opponent, it will automatically rebound to the caster."

Kyle suddenly realized.

"So, if Malfoy didn't use this spell to kill you, he would die himself?"

"Besides, he did it on purpose to make it obvious, so I'm sure I can see it." Although Dumbledore was laughing, his voice was colder than the snow outside.

Kyle smacked his lips.

I have to say that Voldemort's move was quite cruel. No wonder Dumbledore was so angry.

Malfoy is a Death Eater, but as long as he returns to school, he is still a student. Given Dumbledore's character, it is impossible for him to watch his students being killed in front of him.

So even if he knew it was a trap, he would most likely take the curse himself.

but……

"Did the mysterious man forget about the Phoenix?" Kyle muttered.

Even though Fawkes had just experienced nirvana once, this magical animal could not die at all, and it would be fine even if it ate the Killing Curse as food.

At most, the growth cycle will be extended and the bird will remain a fledgling for another one or two years.

Dumbledore, who was originally furious, was stunned and his whole body stiffened for a moment.

"Professor, you haven't forgotten it either." Kyle looked at him suspiciously.

"Of course not." Dumbledore's voice was a little stiff. "I just... don't want Fawkes to be reborn for me. It's not fair to him."

"Oh, then Fox is so lucky." Kyle curled his lips and said with a forced smile.

He was now certain that Dumbledore had simply forgotten about Fawkes.

When he was plucking Fox's tail feathers to knit woolen socks, he was not polite at all. But now he is being polite. Is this reasonable?

"That's right, Tom did forget the phoenix." Dumbledore changed the subject abruptly.

"He is the most staunch pure-blood wizard. He even looks down on all half-bloods and Muggle wizards, not to mention magical creatures.

"In Tom's eyes, except for snakes, whether it's a phoenix, a dragon, or a caterpillar, they are all classified as beasts."

"Yeah," Kyle said perfunctorily, and didn't say anything else.

"Then let's continue with the previous topic." He looked at Malfoy again, "The task that the mysterious man gave you is to use the Killing Curse on Dumbledore when you face him alone, right?"

Malfoy nodded.

The reason why he thought this task was impossible was that he felt Dumbledore would not sacrifice himself to save him.

Because it's human nature.

Given the choice between Dumbledore, Voldemort's only rival, and Malfoy, an expelled Death Eater, everyone would know what to choose.

Even Malfoy's own answer was not so firm.

In his mind, this was Voldemort trying to kill him.

"Let me ask you a question off topic," Kyle said, "Is this really a plan that the mysterious person came up with?"

"I, I don't know." Malfoy shook his head, and then said: "But when he found me, there was another person next to him."

"Who is it?"

"Auron," said Malfoy.

It was indeed him...

Kyle rubbed his forehead.

Ever since he learned what happened to Malfoy, he knew that Oren must be involved.

Look at those people.

Voldemort's soul was chopped into pieces, Barty Crouch Jr. was imprisoned under the Imperius Curse for a long time, and most of the rest were tortured in Azkaban for more than ten years.

No one has a normal brain, except Oren.

But... Oren should know that there is a phoenix with Dumbledore.

Kyle rubbed his forehead.

At this time, Malfoy, who wanted to provide more clues, added: "He is a new Death Eater who has just joined, but he is highly regarded by the Dark Lord. His status among the Death Eaters has even surpassed that of my father."

"He's a well-known Death Eater now, and his status is higher than Lucius." Kyle whispered.

Malfoy opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

It seems to be true, but why do I always feel like something is wrong?

"It seems that the only thing Malfoy can do now is to provide funds to Voldemort." Kyle continued: "When your underground vault is empty, Malfoy will be completely useless."

"No, it's not, my dad just...had to..." said Malfoy.

"You were forced to give Ginny the You-Know-Who's diary?" Kyle sneered. "And the attack during the Quidditch World Cup, was that also forced by someone else?"

Malfoy was fine, but Lucius Kyle really didn't want to care. If Dumbledore hadn't suddenly appeared just now, he would never have agreed to Malfoy's request.

As he said just now, Malfoy had no choice at all. Having betrayed Voldemort, he only had one choice, especially after recovering his memory.

Restoring his memory means being seen by Voldemort. Even if he succeeds in the assassination mission by chance, Voldemort will never let go of someone who betrayed him.

So Malfoy couldn't hide it, he could only tell the mission, there was no second option.

What a pity... Dumbledore came at a really bad time.

The scene fell silent again.

Fortunately, at this time, Cedric's body began to gradually return to its original state, breaking the deadlock.

Because Cedric was taller, Malfoy's robes were tight on him and looked quite funny.

Dumbledore took the opportunity to make his robes a little bigger.

"Well, that's all for today." He sighed softly, "I'm glad you can tell us this, Mr. Malfoy..."

"Wait, Crabbe and Goyle should know this too, and..."

He paused, his eyes struggling.

"what else?"

"No, nothing." Malfoy seemed to have made a decision and took a deep breath. "You'd better keep an eye on Crabbe. He has changed a lot. He seems a little strange to me. He is exactly the same as those crazy Death Eaters."

"We will. Thank you for your reminder, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore smiled and said, "If I need you, I will find you again, but now, you should go back to the castle to prepare for the afternoon class. Remember not to be late.

"Oh, by the way, before that you need to talk to Mr. Diggory. He will tell you what has happened recently."

"I see, Professor," said Malfoy.

He stood up and left the cabin, and Cedric quickly followed him.

"I've been pretending to be you lately."

"There aren't many things to pay attention to. There's only one little girl who always greets you, but I don't know her, so I just pretend not to see her."

"And Crabbe and Goyle, they fainted in the Slytherin common room before I came here. You'd better come up with a decent excuse first... They are really difficult to deal with."

…

The two people's voices gradually disappeared.

Kyle looked at Dumbledore, "Professor, are you sure you agree to Malfoy's request?"

"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore. "His request was reasonable, wasn't it? And the news he brought was important enough that, in a sense, it saved my life."

"No, I mean, it's hard to do." Kyle shook his head, not paying attention to what Dumbledore meant.

It was Dumbledore who promised to save people. It had nothing to do with him and he was too lazy to care.

“You-Know-Who won’t let Lucius and Narcissa show up again, and we don’t even know where they are.

"Since you promised Malfoy, it would be embarrassing if you fail to fulfill it."

"I had not thought of that..." said Dumbledore, "But I have another idea that should save their lives."

"What is the solution?"

"Mr. Malfoy has completed his mission." Dumbledore blinked. "By that time, Tom will be in great need of manpower and will naturally let Lucius and Narcissa go."

…

(End of this chapter)