Unsurprisingly, by the time the last Potions class was over on Friday, the potion ended up in Connor's pocket.

The polyjuice potion she had brewed was almost perfect, and even Slughorn couldn't fault it.

Kyle's is similar, but the potions in his cauldron are darker than Connor's.

This was because he had put the African tree snake skin a little late, and it had no effect on the potion itself, and if it weren't for Connor, the first would have been his.

But to be honest, neither Kyle nor Connor was particularly interested in the elixir that Slughorn had rewarded.

Both of them have elixirs, and there are ways to get them.

Needless to say, Snape wouldn't mind getting her a few bottles as long as she spoke.

As for Kyle, he has a good relationship with Dean Sathya of St. Mungo, and with the basilisk materials he sent before, it is naturally not difficult to get some elixir.

So this reward is naturally not so attractive to them, and it doesn't matter if they can get the best or not.

And more importantly, since the last time he wore the Ravenclaw tiara, Kyle had shrugged away from things like elixirs.

The feeling of being in control was a bit intoxicating, and Kyle was afraid that he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation......

If it doesn't have to, it's fine now.

……

On the first weekend of the new school year, it was suddenly drizzling and cold, but it was also the day when the Quidditch team was drafted for their new talents, and there were many people on the pitch.

In addition to those who really want to join the team, more people come to see the excitement, and if they can, maybe they can spy on the enemy situation for their own academy team, killing two birds with one stone.

Since it was Gryffindor's time in the morning, Kyle didn't go to the pitch, but walked across the field with Connor to Hagrid's cabin.

He's been in a bit of a bad mood for the past two days, he's always kept a straight face, and he hasn't even gone to the auditorium to eat lately.

Just in time for the weekend, Kyle wants to see what's going on.

By the time they reached the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid was absentmindedly watering the pumpkin patch at the door.

Inside are pumpkins about the size of a wheel, and by Halloween, they will appear as decorations in every corner of the castle.

But Hagrid seemed to be thinking about something else, and the bucket of water in his hand was all poured on top of the same pumpkin and gathered into a small puddle on the ground.

"Hagrid, if you don't take it seriously, we're going to go out and buy pumpkins for Halloween."

Kyle shouted, and Hagrid came to his senses.

"Oh, it's Kyle, and Connor." He greeted with a bucket of water, "Hello." ”

"Hello." Kyle walked up to him and asked directly, "What's wrong with you lately?" ”

"I'm fine...... Hagrid's eyes wandered, and he took two steps forward, ready to water the other pumpkins.

"Come on, don't you know you're not good at lying?" Kyle said, "Also, if you're not careful, how can you come out and water pumpkins on a rainy day." ”

Rain?

Hagrid noticed that his hair was wet.

"Oh, why didn't you tell me earlier." He hurriedly put the bucket down and tried to scoop the puddle dry with his hands.

"It's raining...... Do you still need to be said by others? Kyle couldn't help but mutter.

However, seeing Hagrid's scrambled appearance, he still took out his wand and helped clean up the excess water in the pumpkin patch.

Although he didn't think it was necessary, Hagrid must have a reason for doing it, just help.

……

"Tell me what's going on."

When they returned to the cabin, Kyle asked again, "What's wrong with you?" ”

"I don't know......," Hagrid whispered, "Maybe it was a mistake for Dumbledore to choose me as the professor of the Conservation of Magical Creatures class." ”

"Why do you think that?" Connor asked.

"Because only five people chose my improvement class this year." Hagrid said with a lot of determination.

"How many, five?" Connor was a little incredible, it was equivalent to saying that only one person from each house chose Hagrid's class, and the number of people was a little too small.

After all, there are more than a dozen people in the divination class.

"Hagrid, are you setting the bar too high?"

"If the 'A' is considered high." Hagrid sighed.

Kyle stopped talking, A is just passed, and it is also the minimum standard for raising the class, there is really no way to lower it,

"Are there any of these five people, Harry?" Kyle asked tentatively.

"Harry, Hermione, Ron, all three of them took my class." Hagrid seemed to find some comfort, but he couldn't laugh.

This means that aside from these three friendship tickets, only two people chose his class, and the thought of this made Hagrid even more sad.

"Dumbledore must have made a mistake by making me a professor!" His voice trembled.

"Uh...... You can't say that......" Kyle said hesitantly.

He didn't know how to comfort Hagrid anymore, and even now he had his help with this outcome.

If it weren't for his insistence that Gang Hagrid give up bringing the fried tail snails into the classroom, I'm afraid that even these five people wouldn't have them, after all, that thing is really unpleasant.

Kyle turned his head and motioned for Connor to help, but Connor spread his hands and silently looked away.

"Okay, uh-huh...... Don't be discouraged, Hagrid. Kyle snapped, "I think it's just because most people don't know about Fantastic Beasts." ”

"But when Professor Kettleburn was there, there were a lot of people who chose his advanced class."

Hagrid took out a dirty handkerchief and wiped his eyes, "Thank you Kyle, thank you for being able to comfort me at this time, but no, I understand." ”

"Nope." Kyle shook his head. Another thing suddenly occurred to him. "Hagrid, do you know what's different about this year?"

"Different? What do you mean. Hagrid was confused.

"Mystery Man." Kyle said, "This year, the Ministry of Magic announced the resurgence of the Mysteries, so most students will subconsciously favor subjects that can improve their abilities when choosing courses, so they will ignore the protection of magical creatures class. ”

"Is that so?" Hagrid looked up.

Thankfully, there was no crying in his voice, Kyle wasn't good at comforting a half-blood giant.

"Of course." Kyle said with a serious face: "Think about it, there were a lot of people who chose you last year, how could it be that you are not capable?" ”

"But......" Hagrid was still a little puzzled, "obviously magical beasts are very useful, and Dumbledore used Lowe to guard the Philosopher's Stone in the first place, how could he not help them?" ”

"Because you can't bring a three-headed dog into class." Kyle said, "If you think about what they've learned, the Tree Guard, the Fairy, the Sniff, and the slightly better ones are the Unicorn and the Salamander, they can't expect to ride the Unicorn against the Death Eaters." ”

Hagrid was a little moved, and even Kyle and Connor believed it, because there were really a lot of people who chose Hagrid's class last year, and there were about twenty of them.

The only change during this period was the public announcement by the Ministry of Magic that Voldemort had been resurrected, which may be the real reason.

The divination class can also predict the future, although it may not be accurate, but at least it is a consolation, except for the protection of magical creatures.

Before the fifth grade, only Fantastic Beasts at level XXX or below are allowed to be studied, and it is normal for them to despise them.

What's more, most wizards don't carry magical animals with them either, and rely more on wands.

"It's their loss, Hagrid." Connor spoke.

"That's right." Kyle nodded, "Someday they'll regret that decision." ”

"yes."

Hagrid was persuaded and picked himself up again, "Give up the Conservation of Magical Creatures class? They would never know what they were missing, and I decided to show the five of them something different. ”

"Something different?" Kyle pondered, "Wait Hagrid, you don't mean to bring Lowe to class, do you?" ”

Not to mention, with Hagrid's character, he could really do such a thing.

What's even more troublesome is that Kyle has secretly brought Lowe out, and he hasn't had time to return it back to the Forbidden Forest yet.

If Hagrid found out, it would be a bit difficult to explain.

"No, of course not."

Fortunately, Hagrid didn't intend to do this, he shook his head and said, "It's been a long time since I've seen it since Lowe became familiar with the environment of the Forbidden Forest, and Dumbledore wouldn't agree to students dealing with magical beasts that were too dangerous.

"So I'm going to show them Thestrals in the first class."

"Thestrals?"

Kyle was stunned for a moment, if he remembered correctly, it seemed that they were learning Thestrals at this time last year, and Umbridge was still in class at the time...... Does it make any difference?

As if recognizing Kyle's confusion, Hagrid explained, "This year is no longer about watching from afar, I've decided to let them get up close and personal with Thestrals, and I'll teach the five students how to navigate them."

"In this way, when they encounter danger in the school, they can come to the Forbidden Forest for help as soon as possible!" Hagrid clenched his fists with a confident look.

……

"Kyle, do you think Hagrid will succeed?" On the way back to the castle, Connor couldn't help but ask.

"It's hard to say." Kyle shrugged, "Seriously, Hagrid has a good idea, but he doesn't seem to be good at using his brain. ”

Connor couldn't hold back her laughter, "Hagrid would be angry if he heard that." ”

"That's why I didn't say that." Kyle glanced behind him, "This is Hogwarts, and if the students need to come to the Forbidden Forest for help, it proves that the Death Eaters have taken the school to good will."

"Instead of running across the field to the Forbidden Forest, you should hurry up and grab a flying broom between the brooms."

"And one more thing, not everyone can see Thestrals."

Connor thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case, and Hagrid's decision could only be said to be better than nothing.

"Forget it, as long as we can get Hagrid back on his feet." Kyle waved his hand, not paying attention.

He hadn't planned to make the Conservation of Magical Creatures class any more meaningful, it wasn't realistic, as long as Hagrid had something to do, and he didn't keep thinking that there were only five people in his improvement class.

……

By the time they reached the castle gates, the Gryffindor Quidditch team had just returned from the pitch.

"Hey, Kyle." Harry waved his hand and walked over to Kyle. "By the way, I haven't thanked you yet."

"Thank me for what?" Kyle wondered.

"Of course you made us buy the Potions Book." "Professor Slughorn insisted on me going to his class, and I didn't know what to do without books."

"By the way, didn't you already know that Slughorn would teach Potions?"

"It's nothing." Kyle said as a matter of course, "Slughorn is one of the few famous Potions masters, and he is the best at protecting himself, and he can't be a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor anyway." ”

"You should have told me sooner." Harry muttered, "I didn't take Defence Against the Dark Arts if I knew I wouldn't have taken it. ”

Kyle smiled and didn't speak.

The two returned to the castle.

"Kyle, hey, Kyle!"

Kyle turned his head to see that it was Susan Bones, hurrying towards him, with a roll of parchment in his hand.

"For you." She shoves the parchment to Kyle and asks breathlessly, "Have you heard, Hannah?" ”

"Well, I heard that." Kyle nodded.

On the third day of school, the Death Eaters launched several attacks that killed many people, including Hannah's family, who had not been seen for many days.

"Hopefully she'll hold up." Susan said worriedly, "And I don't think it's the right thing for her to go home, and at this time, there's no safer place than Hogwarts." ”

"yes." Kyle nodded.

When Susan was gone, he opened the parchment, revealing a line of long, slightly skewed letters.

Dear Kyle,

Please come to my office after lunch, and I hope you have a smooth start to school.

You are faithful

Albus Dumbledore

In addition, the password is sour popping candy.

……

"Headmaster Dumbledore looking for you?" Connor read the letter over Kyle's shoulder, "It can't be dangerous." ”

"Who knows." Kyle said, walking towards the auditorium.

The letter said that it was after lunch, so there was no hurry.

……

At the same time, the rector's office on the eighth floor.

Something was wrong with the atmosphere, Dumbledore was sitting there, and Snape was standing right in front of him, his face gloomy as water.

"So that's what you're for, right?" He said in a nonchalant voice, "Let Harry or Kyle, go and find out the secrets in Slughorn's head." ”

"We have to know how many Horcruxes Tom makes." Dumbledore tapped on the table, "You know, Severus, it's not really dangerous. ”

"Not dangerous?" Snape raised his voice unconsciously, "How many years has Slughorn been hiding for this secret?"

As far as I know, since the Dark Lord's resurrection, he has not dared to stay in one place for more than three months, and can only live in an empty Muggle house...... Is this what you are talking about, not dangerous? ”

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, "I can't believe you, Severus, would care about Kyle. ”

"Don't say stupid things." Snape glared at him, "You know who I'm talking about. ”

"yes, I know." Dumbledore whispered, "This guilt has tormented you for sixteen years, since Lily ......"

"Don't mention the name!" Snape roared, loud enough to wake Fawkes, flapping its wings hard to express its displeasure.

In the portrait, Phineas Black also opens his eyes a slit, and then continues to pretend to sleep.

However, Dumbledore didn't seem to care, he rubbed the ring on his hand and asked softly:

"Would you like to see her again? Maybe you can get her forgiveness. ”

"Are you making fun of me?" Snape looked at Dumbledore indifferently, trying to suppress his anger, "She's dead, how can I see her again...... Wait......"

At this moment, he suddenly noticed the ring on Dumbledore's hand.

"That's ......"

"That's right, the one we found from Gaunt's old house." Dumbledore held out his hand and unveiled the ring in front of Snape.

"But...... Isn't there a curse on it......"

"It's been lifted," Dumbledore said, as he took off the ring and placed it on the table, "maybe you didn't pay attention, I wore it at the opening party." ”

Resurrection Stone ......

There was only one thought left in Snape's head.

The Resurrection Stone that brought back the souls of the dead, right in front of him, was able to see Lily again through this thing, and talk to her, and ...... with her Apologize......

Subconsciously, Snape walked over quickly.

But somehow, the closer he got to the Resurrection Stone, the heavier his steps became.

When he finally came to Dumbledore and could reach out to touch the Resurrection Stone, he couldn't lift a finger anyway.

He was afraid.

He was afraid to see Lily, afraid that the other party would be disappointed...... Even hateful eyes look at him.

What if she doesn't forgive herself.

It was because he snitched and told Voldemort half of the prophecy he heard at the Pig's Head Bar that led to the murder of the Potters, and it was normal for Lily not to forgive herself.

Snape never wanted to remember this again, and for more than ten years, he had been thinking about how to atone for his sins.

If the Resurrection Stone is used, it means that he must uncover the scar again.

Looking at the nearby Resurrection Stone, Snape's face shifted, and finally struggled to take two steps back.

He slammed into a table and knocked over a lot of silverware.

"Take it away!" Snape shouted hysterically, "Get him away." ”

Dumbledore wasn't too surprised by this scene, or rather, it was something he had already thought of.

"Severus ......," Dumbledore picked up the ring and put it back on his hand, "Sometimes we all need a little extra courage, and while it hurts to reopen the scar, it also means that it can heal." ”

"Shut up, Dumbledore, shut up!" Snape gasped for air, unable to listen to what he had said.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"I'm sorry, I still have something to do." Snape walked in the direction of the gate, and he walked so fast that he didn't even glance at Kyle, who had just entered.

(End of chapter)