Dumbledore and the various professors at Hogwarts were not making very rapid progress in their inspection of the drainage pipes.
Due to the extreme complexity of the plumbing system's layout, they had barely managed to inspect less than a third of the area by the time the Christmas holidays ended and the students returned to school.
While dining in the Great Hall, Kyle was surprised to find that Harry, sitting at the next table, actually had a pair of cat ears sprouting from the top of his head.
At the staff table, Snape stared incessantly at this "cat-eared" version of Harry, so engrossed that he didn't even notice the steak on his plate had gone cold.
As Colin Creevey finished his dinner and rose to leave, Kyle reached out and grabbed him.
"Colin, let me borrow your camera for a second."
Although a camera is a photographer's "spouse" and shouldn't be lent out lightly, Colin clearly didn't have that reservation.
"Oh, sure," he said, taking the camera from around his neck.
After using magic to silence the shutter, Kyle aimed the lens at Harry and fired off a rapid series of shots before tossing the camera back to Colin.
"Give me a copy when the photos are developed." As Kyle returned the camera, he stuffed several bottles of Snape-brewed potions into Colin's hands as payment.
Kyle then looked toward the High Table and gave Snape a brilliant smile.
A subtle curve appeared at the corner of Snape's mouth; he was clearly very satisfied with Kyle's actions. The "shady deal" between the two had reached a level of mutual understanding that no longer required words.
After finishing dinner in the Great Hall, Kyle did not follow the Hufflepuff crowd back to their common room. Instead, he ducked into a different corridor.
The Slytherin "little snakes" were already used to seeing Kyle, a Hufflepuff, mingling with their ranks.
Soon, Kyle came to a halt in front of Snape's office. Before he could even raise a hand to knock, the door swung open automatically.
"The item you wanted."
Standing at the doorway, Kyle tossed a small cloth bag to Snape from a distance. His casual, almost disdainful manner made Snape's brow twitch.
He knew that the Resurrection Stone—which he cherished as a priceless treasure—was nothing more than a "broken rock" to Kyle. Even so, Snape really wanted to grab Kyle by the ear and ask him if he could show a bit more respect.
After all, this was one of the Deathly Hallows.
Snape cradled the Resurrection Stone carefully in his hands. After taking a deep breath to soothe his internal tension, he turned the stone three times.
An obscure ripple of energy radiated from the stone, converging in the air to form a translucent, ethereal figure.
Looking at the figure that had haunted his dreams, tears blurred Snape's eyes before he even realized it.
Snape reached out a trembling hand, but hesitated, terrified of disturbing Lily's soul. Ultimately, he extended both arms, gently drawing Lily's soul into a phantom embrace.
But the soul summoned by the Resurrection Stone was ultimately an illusion. Snape's arms passed straight through Lily's body, leaving his heart filled with nothing but an endless void.
Even though he held the Resurrection Stone and had seen the person he loved most, Snape felt not a shred of joy at the reunion.
Falling to his knees, Snape wept silently.
Lily's expression remained wooden and cold; what the Resurrection Stone provided was, in the end, only a false shadow.
Kyle could do nothing to help Snape in his sorrow. He could only quietly close the office door and turn to leave.
Inside, watching the spectral image of Lily's soul, the confusion in Snape's eyes gradually sharpened into a firm resolve.
"I will never accept this result!"
"Lily... I will definitely create a world where you exist!"
After leaving Snape's office, Kyle climbed the exterior wall of the castle until he reached a window on the eighth floor.
Seeing Kyle climb in through the window, Dumbledore sighed and massaged his forehead. When would his son ever learn to use the door like a normal person instead of scaling walls?
"Pops, how's the inspection of the drainage pipes going?"
During the Christmas break, Kyle had frequently exchanged letters with Dumbledore regarding the incidents involving Voldemort's Horcrux diary at Hogwarts.
However, the professors' progress in searching the plumbing system had not been smooth.
Furthermore, Dumbledore had received word that Lucius Malfoy—the culprit who had slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron—was currently rallying the other members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors to impeach Dumbledore and remove him from the school.
"The Ministry of Magic wants to take Hagrid away," Dumbledore sighed. "I have managed to hold them off for now."
Kyle sat down at the desk. "But you can only withstand that pressure for so long. If another attack occurs..."
Kyle didn't finish the sentence, but Dumbledore understood his meaning.
"You're still too soft-hearted," Kyle said, making a throat-slitting gesture. "If you just 'took care' of Lucius, there wouldn't be all this trouble."
Seeing Kyle's style of doing things drifting so close to Gellert Grindelwald's, Dumbledore's face darkened instantly.
"You are not permitted to take Lucius's life without my permission."
I can't take his life, but he didn't say I couldn't find someone to give him a beating, Kyle interpreted.
Eh, looks like I'll have to find time to write a letter to Grindelwald and have him send a few Acolytes to break Lucius's 'three legs.'
Actually, breaking three legs might be too merciful. I've heard Lucius's wife is quite beautiful; having someone NTR him right in front of his face might be a better option.
Kyle rolled his eyes. "During the time you're ousted from Hogwarts, I'm not going to just sit around and wait for death."
Dumbledore knew he couldn't change Kyle's mind, so he gave up trying to argue the point.
"Lucius is still lobbying the Governors. They'll make their move soon. While I'm away from Hogwarts, I'll have to trouble you to look after Harry more."
"I refuse. I'm not Harry's nanny. We're the same age—why should I have to look after him like his father?" Kyle blurted out without a second thought.
Lines of irritation appeared on Dumbledore's forehead. He really wanted to point out that if they went by actual birth dates, Kyle was more than old enough to be Harry's father.
"Besides," Kyle continued, "since he's the Savior of the British Wizarding World, he should learn to face hardships and solve problems on his own, rather than seeking adult help like a whimpering infant."
Dumbledore's irritation grew, but he had to admit his son had a point. They were in the same year; if Kyle could handle so much independently, there was no reason Harry couldn't—even if Harry's capabilities were a bit lacking compared to Kyle's.
"Fine, you have a point." Dumbledore nodded, interlacing his fingers beneath his chin. "As for the location of the Chamber, I might have a lead."
"What is it?"
Dumbledore stood up, walked to a cabinet, and opened it. Inside was a shallow stone basin with strange carvings around the rim. Kyle recognized them as Ancient Runes, though he didn't understand their specific meaning.
A silvery light, somewhere between a liquid and a gas, swirled within the basin. It looked like bright silver, but it moved constantly—rippling like water in a breeze, then drifting and swirling softly like clouds.
It was a Pensieve, a tool for storing and organizing thoughts and memories for later review.
Kyle knew Dumbledore wanted to show him something, so he leaned down and plunged his head into the Pensieve.
He felt himself falling through a cold, pitch-black substance, as if being sucked into a dark vortex. By the time Kyle regained his bearings, he was standing in a corridor on the second floor of Hogwarts.
He knew this was Dumbledore's memory.
A large puddle of water was seeping out from under the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, spreading across half the corridor. Several people were carrying a stretcher out of the bathroom.
Tap, tap, tap...
Footsteps echoed behind Kyle. A phantom passed through Kyle's body and walked straight toward the stretcher. Kyle recognized it as Dumbledore, though he looked much younger—this was how he had appeared decades ago.
"This is what happened fifty years ago when the Chamber of Secrets was opened," Dumbledore's voice rang out beside Kyle.
Kyle didn't speak. He stepped forward and stood by the stretcher. The Dumbledore of fifty years ago lifted the white sheet covering the stretcher, revealing the face of the deceased student.
"Moaning Myrtle?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Correct. It was her. Her ghost remained here at Hogwarts."
The surrounding scene dissolved like smoke, and everything faded away. Both Kyle and Dumbledore withdrew from the Pensieve.
"The Basilisk moves through the castle via the drainage pipes. When I encountered the Basilisk in the castle earlier, it mysteriously vanished in that corridor where the second-floor bathroom is located..."
Dumbledore nodded. "Fifty years ago, Myrtle died in that bathroom. The entrance to the Chamber is right there."
"It's by a faucet with a snake carved on it. As long as one says 'Open' in Parseltongue, the entrance to the Chamber will be revealed."
"Have you gone to investigate?" Kyle asked.
"I have, but the Basilisk wasn't there. Aside from a single shed skin, I didn't see anything related to the creature."
Dumbledore added, "Furthermore, he used some method to block my tracking. Even with magic, I haven't been able to sense the Basilisk's specific location."
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