"Professor Snape, what's wrong?"

Kyle, who was almost knocked over, looked at Snape, who was leaving in a hurry, and asked suspiciously, "Professor, you won't be deducting his salary, will you?" ”

"Of course not."

Dumbledore adjusted his mood and said with a smile, "Actually, the salary of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor is ten more than the other classes...... No way, if it weren't for that, we wouldn't be able to recruit the right professors. ”

Kyle believed that the salary was high, but he didn't say anything about whether the professors were suitable or not, and Dumbledore should have a good idea.

"Boy, I feel like you're thinking about something very rude." Phineas Bright, in the portrait, suddenly said, "Believe me, my instincts have always been accurate. ”

"Good afternoon, sir." Kyle glanced up at the portrait, "I'll admit, I was wondering if I should remind Sirius to properly clean up the house and clean up some of the things that didn't work.

“…… For example, the portrait next to the stairs in the living room. ”

"I guessed right, you're a rude little devil." Like a cat with its tail trampled, Phineas screamed, "I warn you that it's best not to do this, and Sirius won't throw away his grandfather's portrait." ”

"Really?" Kyle said lightly, "That's not necessarily ......"

Next to the twelfth staircase in Grimmauld Place, there is a portrait of Phineas, which he can use to move between the Headmaster's office and there at will, conveying some of Dumbledore's requests or plans.

However, usually, Dumbledore would choose to speak in person rather than let Phineas convey it on his behalf, so the portrait was basically useless.

Sirius had thought of throwing it away more than once.

"I warn you......" said Phineas, "it's my house, and you can't kick me out." ”

"Don't get me wrong, I'm just giving you a suggestion." Kyle shrugged. "It's up to Sirius to do that, but I don't think he would mind a new painting."

"You!" Phineas was so angry that his beard stood on end, and he ran out of the frame with a whoosh, thinking that he must have gone to Grimmauld Place Twelve to find Sirius.

"Hahaha, well done!" A bearded wizard next to him said, "That's funny, you're the first student to make him so deflated." ”

"Thank you for the compliment, Principal Dippet." Kyle said with a smile.

Because he had been here a lot, he was already familiar with these portraits, and this one in front of him was Armando Dupet, who was also Dumbledore's former headmaster.

He and Phineas Black had never dealt each other, and nine of the ten times the opponent was beaten, he kicked first, and the only remaining time was because he was slow and didn't catch up.

"Kyle." Dumbledore whispered, "It's useful to keep Phineas in Grimmauld Place. ”

"I know, I'm just scaring him." Kyle said, "After all, he has a permanent paste spell on his portrait, and he can't throw it away if he wants to." ”

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched, how could he have known that there was a permanent paste spell on the portrait if he hadn't moved his hand.

"Don't get me wrong, Sirius found out, and it has nothing to do with me." Kyle explained, then changed the subject, "Professor, is there anything you want to do with me?" ”

"It's a little thing."

"What?" Kyle asked.

"It's about Horcruxes." Dumbledore said.

He took out a quaint stone basin from the cupboard, "But before that, let's take a look at a memory, this is what I have been looking for for a long time to find, and it is also the most important one of the memories I have found." ”

Dumbledore said so, and Kyle naturally wouldn't object.

Dumbledore pulled out a small crystal bottle from the inside pocket of his clothes, the memories inside seemed to have become a little congealed and less silky because of the time, and it took Dumbledore some effort to pour it into the meditation basin.

The meditation basin began to emit a misty light.

Kyle walked over, and he felt his consciousness continue to fall, falling into the silver substance, and by the time he opened his eyes again, there was already one more person in front of him.

It was a much younger Slughorn, and he still had thick blond hair.

I don't know if I'm used to the bald image of Slughorn, Kyle always feels awkward, it feels like a straw on his head.

"Professor Slughorn lost his hair early." Listening to the sound of footsteps behind him, Kyle looked back and said.

"What?" Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, a little unsure of what Kyle meant.

"Look here." Kyle pointed to the top of Slughorn's head, where there was already a small bald patch, about the size of Gareon.

Dumbledore didn't speak, and Kyle's focus was a bit unexpected.

Was it to find out when Slughorn had become bald?

Luckily, Kyle didn't dwell too much on the issue, and instead looked at the other people around him who were talking.

It looked like it was supposed to be Slughorn's office, and six or seven boys were gathered around him.

The closest to Slughorn was the young Voldemort, who was supposed to be Tom Riddle at this time.

He gave a bag of candied pineapple to Slughorn. Then we talked about the retirement of a professor.

Kyle didn't remember the name they were talking about, and he didn't think it was an important person.

"Oh, it's Galadia, Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, my old colleague." Dumbledore said, "He's about to retire, and Riddle will probably want to take his place at this point." ”

"But you rejected him." Kyle said.

"Yes." Dumbledore said, "I persuaded Armando to reject his application to stay at the University, even though many professors at the time, including Galadia, thought that Riddle was capable enough to take over as Defence Against the Dark Arts professorship. ”

Dumbledore's expression was indifferent.

He was sure that Riddle's goal was not to be a professor at the school, but to have other plans, which is why he rejected his application to stay in school twice.

"So he's asking Professor Slughorn to verify the truth of the news now?" Kyle asked.

"Nope." Dumbledore shook his head and said, "He's showing Professor Slughorn what he can do, and sometimes asking for information is also a type of ability." ”

It was exactly as Dumbledore had said.

Slughorn looked a little surprised, "Where did you get your news, kid, you know more than most professors." ”

Riddle smiled and didn't speak.

"You goblin, you always know things you shouldn't know, and you're careful to please important people......" Slughorn seemed to want to reproach Riddle, but his tone was more like a joke, "By the way, thank you Pineapple, you guessed it, this is my favorite ......"

There was a burst of laughter all around.

But at this moment, the surroundings were suddenly covered in a thick white fog, obscuring Kyle's vision.

"This memory has been tampered with!" Kyle blurts out.

This fog of memory is like a mosaic, something that was added later, apparently because someone didn't want them to hear or see something.

The white fog obscured everything, and Kyle heard only a high-pitched and unnatural voice say, "...... You will make mistakes, child, remember my words. ”

The corners of his mouth twitched and asked, "Whose memory is this?" ”

"Professor Slughorn's." Dumbledore said.

"So......" Kyle turned to look at Dumbledore, "Professor Slughorn isn't very good at things other than potions, and this voice is too rough." ”

That kind of high-pitched voice, and the natural voice before are completely different states, too deliberate, obviously trying to cover up.

It's like a Quidditch match where someone's broomstick suddenly turns into a dragon, and it's hard not to notice.

"Well, he's really not very good at memory charms at this time." Dumbledore said, "But then he made up for it."

"As for the reason, you can keep looking down, it should be almost there."

After Dumbledore finished speaking, the white fog in front of Kyle's eyes also dissipated.

By this time Slughorn had finished his pineapple preserves, and the little golden clock on his desk had jumped from half past nine to eleven.

By this time it was curfew time, and everyone else had already left the office, except Riddle, who was struggling to stay at the back.

When everyone was gone, he said, "Sir, I want to ask you something......

"Then ask quickly, kid." Slughorn urged.

"Sir, I would like to ask if you know...... Horcruxes. ”

There was a thick fog again in the office, followed by an excessively false sound.

"I don't know anything about Horcruxes, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you, get out right now, and don't let me hear you mention this again!"

By this point, however, Kyle had already guessed what Dumbledore had asked him to see the memory.

In the next second, the two left the memory.

"Professor." Kyle looked at the meditation basin in front of him, "You think that's when Riddle learned the secrets of the Horcrux?" ”

"Admittedly, Professor Slughorn must have told him some secrets, or he wouldn't have been ashamed to tamper with his own memories."

Dumbledore whispered, "This is also his weakness, he always has a hard time rejecting those children he values, and Tom, who was once his most favored student, has always believed that Tom can achieve something for a long time after that." ”

"He guessed right, didn't he." Kyle said, "In a way, Riddle has really accomplished. ”

"But that's clearly not what Professor Slughorn wanted to see, so he wanted to hide the mistakes he had made." Dumbledore retrieved the memories from the meditation basin and put them back in the bottle.

"He's clumsy, but that's good news." Dumbledore continued, "It shows that he didn't go out of his way to forget these memories completely, but chose to cover them up. ”

"I hope you can help find it out."

"Huh? Let me go? Kyle blinked, not quite in agreement.

"Like I just said." Dumbledore glanced at him, "Professor Slughorn had a hard time turning down the children he valued.

"And he's coming to Hogwarts again because of you and Harry, so it's only fitting that you'll do it."

"Harry?" Kyle looked left and right.

"He's not here, I haven't figured out how to tell him about it, after all, he's different from you, and I need to explain a lot of things in advance."

Dumbledore looked at Kyle, as if waiting for him to say something.

"Oh." As if he hadn't seen it, Kyle nodded and said, "Then Professor, think slowly, don't worry, Harry is easy to deceive...... Well, it's easy to talk to. ”

Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged, except for a glance in the direction of the doorway.

"Didn't you ask Professor Snape why he was angry?" He continued, "That's why, he thinks the Horcrux is Tom's deepest secret, and anyone who knows about it is in danger, and he doesn't want you to risk it. ”

"Who wouldn't want me to take the risk? Professor Snape? ”

Kyle's face changed, and he said seriously, "Professor, I think it is necessary for you to conduct a big investigation in the school, I suspect that some professors are pretending to be Death Eaters using Polyjuice Decoction, this kind of thing has to be prevented, it is better to solve it as soon as possible." ”

"Don't say that."

Dumbledore laughed, "Actually, Professor Snape isn't as strict as you think, and ......"

He looked at Kyle and said in a teasing tone, "You're all going to be a family sooner or later, and it's reasonable for him to care about you." ”

"That's for later." Kyle rubbed his forehead, he also had a bit of a headache for this.

"So what about your decision?"

Dumbledore said, "Do me a favor or not, I must say that it is important for us to have real memories, but if you have concerns...... I can understand that too. ”

"Professor, do you think I can stay out of the Horcrux matter?" Kyle couldn't help but say.

How many Horcruxes did he destroy Voldemort, and did he care about knowing more news?

And Harry did the same......

Snape's fears were completely unnecessary, and whether they knew Slughorn's memories or not, Voldemort couldn't let them go.

At this moment, an owl suddenly flew in through the window and handed Dumbledore a letter from its talons.

Dumbledore glanced at the letter, his face becoming more and more serious.

"I'm sorry Kyle, I might be going to do something else." He stood up, and then apparitioned out of the room.

Fawkes chirped softly, and disappeared into a cloud of firelight.

Almost in the blink of an eye, Kyle was left alone in the office, and he looked at the empty offices around him, and at the portraits who were pretending to sleep again with their eyes closed, and he was ready to leave.

After leaving the Headmaster's office, Kyle was still thinking about what Dumbledore had just said, but he suddenly realized that Slughorn's memories didn't seem to be of much use.

That's just a memory related to Horcruxes, but if you think about it, how many more Horcreats does Voldemort have?

The diary and the resurrection stone ring have been destroyed, as well as the tiara, gold cup, and locket box he found, all of which are also in Nicolame's.

That's five Horcruxes.

Oh, and that big snake called Nagini.

During the Triwizard Tournament, Kyle was teleported to the top of the hill where Voldemort was holding his resurrection ceremony disguised as a trophy portkey, and took advantage of Voldemort's battle with Dumbledore to capture the snake.

However, somewhat to Kyle's surprise, the snake was not a Horcrux...... But it's not an ordinary animal, it's a blood-cursed orc.

To put it simply, it is a snake turned into a sorcerer.

This situation is a bit like Animagus, but the difference is that the Bloodcursed Orcs are permanent, unable to switch freely between animals and wizards like Animagus, and can only remain in animal form forever.

Moreover, their own consciousness will be slowly worn away until they become a real animal.

That's what Newt told him during the holidays.

Newt also knew the snake and was going to get Kyle to keep Nagini with him anyway.

Kyle naturally had no reason to disagree, he was not Voldemort, he didn't have the habit of carrying a snake with him, and even if he did, he had a more suitable basilisk, so he happily gave Nagini to Newt.

This is also the reason why Newt has never asked the cat and leopard back, and the two sides can be said to be tacit.

However, there is one thing Kyle is quite troubled about, Nagini is a female snake, which means that she was a witch before she became a blood-cursed orc.

Newt always had a 'snake girl' by his side...... He hadn't decided whether to tell Tina about it.

(End of chapter)