The fourth-year little Lions and Badgers were naturally quite satisfied with their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
As the interim teaching assistant, Kyle was also quite satisfied with Moody's teaching quality.
Under Dumbledore's tacit approval and the little Demon Lord's egging on, Moody's teaching content could be described as utterly daring.
It could be foreseen that as long as Moody could steadily remain at Hogwarts for a full school year and properly conduct his lessons according to the syllabus he helped him formulate, the students of Hogwarts would undoubtedly achieve a remarkably high degree of improvement.
It would be even better if Moody could overcome the "one-replacement-a-year" curse Voldemort had placed on the position.
Otherwise, the moment Moody left, if Dumbledore turned around and recruited some useless fool to fill the spot, Hogwarts' standard of Defense Against the Dark Arts education would instantly drop right back to its original state.
At that rate, it would be better to simply have Kyle step up and take over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
However, Kyle had already prepared a contingency plan.
As the graduation season approached this year, he would extend olive branches to those graduates who were about to leave Hogwarts.
When that time came, should Moody have to leave Hogwarts due to irresistible forces, Kyle would hire him in Dumbledore's name to continue serving as a professor for this group of Hogwarts graduates he had recruited.
In Kyle's view, the educational standards of the wizarding world remained far too backward.
A school like Hogwarts admitted young wizards at eleven or twelve and graduated them around eighteen.
If matched against the Muggle world, this was roughly a combination of middle school and high school.
Beyond that, wizards graduating from magic schools were completely set loose upon the world, and what kind of state they ended up in relied entirely on their own wild growth.
Under such circumstances, it would be a miracle if they turned out well.
Based on Kyle's rough understanding of the British wizarding world, a considerable number of wizards couldn't even cast a Shield Charm, and within a few years of stepping into society, they returned all the magic they had learned right back to their alma mater.
With the wizarding world's combat strength being so pathetic, it was no wonder Voldemort could lord over Britain for eleven whole years relying on a bunch of shabby Death Eaters.
In Kyle's view, it was time to make some changes to this situation.
This year happened to coincide with the Triwizard Tournament, and the headmasters of the other two European magical schools would be coming to Hogwarts for this grand event.
Among them, Madame Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, was Hagrid's wife and could be counted among their own people.
As for the headmaster of Durmstrang, whoever it was didn't matter; when they returned to Germany later, Grindelwald would quietly replace their headmaster using Human Transfiguration.
This was a plan Kyle and Grindelwald had drawn up long ago—a plan kept hidden from Dumbledore.
By then, the three major magical schools of Europe would essentially all belong to their own camp and remain under Kyle's control.
He would extend olive branches to graduates from these three magical schools.
Naturally, it would be in the name of the August family, rather than directly using the name of the Acolytes.
Otherwise, the European and American wizarding worlds would blow up in chaos.
It wasn't as though these graduates could be put to immediate use just by accepting recruitment—what use could a bunch of high schoolers be?
According to Kyle's plan, he would dispatch elite forces from the Saints to provide further education to these magical high schoolers, which could also be termed—attending university.
Kyle had already mapped out their future paths for them.
First, they would complete four years of magical university, after which the cream of the crop could attempt to apply for postgraduate studies at Azkaban Higher Magic Institution.
Once these students finished their postgraduate studies at Azkaban, they would find that a Nurmengard doctoral degree was still waiting for them to conquer.
A complete, one-stop service, arranged for them down to the finest detail.
While upgrading their education, they could also join the Acolytes, abbreviated as... ahem.
Well, perhaps Kyle would have to build a small faction later on, much like his current Akatsuki organization, recruiting outstanding students currently attending magical middle and high schools to join.
When the final bell for the last class on Friday afternoon rang, students scattered across every corner of Hogwarts Castle cheered and celebrated the arrival of the weekend.
Following a brief burst of joy, all the students hurriedly packed their bags and rushed hungrily toward the Great Hall.
At the entrance of the Great Hall, Kyle was intercepted by his adoptive father.
"Dad, is something the matter?"
"I believe I have found a new clue regarding his..."
Horcrux.
With students all around, Dumbledore did not speak the word aloud, merely indicating it through lip movements.
Even though Kyle couldn't read lips, he caught Dumbledore's meaning.
His eyes lit up instantly.
"We set off now?"
"No rush, we have ample time," Dumbledore's withered hand pressed down on Kyle's shoulder, his gaze shifting toward the Great Hall. "It won't be late to head over after we finish dinner."
Kyle didn't move his feet toward the Great Hall. "Do you know the exact location?"
"It is hidden in a cave by a distant seaside—a cave I spent a long time searching for."
A trace of reminiscence surfaced in Dumbledore's eyes.
"Back when he was still at the orphanage, he would take a trip once every year. He once terrified other orphans inside that cave."
"Bullying orphans?" Kyle curled his lip in disdain. "So the mighty Second Dark Lord amounts to nothing more than that—picking on orphans."
Hearing Kyle's remark, Dumbledore—whose mood had been exceptionally bright upon finding the lead on a Horcrux—saw the faint smile on his lips freeze instantly.
He suddenly recalled the childhood of this unruly kid standing before him.
Both Kyle and Tom had spent their childhoods in an orphanage.
And both had embarked on the path of dark forces.
Yet while Tom Riddle was still bullying other children in the orphanage, this scoundrel Kyle was already engaging in life-or-death gang warfare in the dark alleys of New York.
Comparing the two, Voldemort's presence seemed far too petty next to Kyle's.
Let alone after adulthood, where the Second Dark Lord and the First Dark Lord—whom Kyle took as his role model—were worlds apart.
One ruled over the majority of Europe at his peak, commanding countless followers across the global wizarding world.
While the other was a bona fide village-level terrorist.
No wonder Kyle looked down on Voldemort, this measly Second Dark Lord.
The question, however, was whether Dumbledore had been talking to Kyle about Voldemort bullying orphans back at the orphanage.
Playing the dog-eat-dog game in New York's underworld had actually given you a sense of moral superiority, huh?
With an unkind expression, Dumbledore reached his hand toward his waist.
Around his waist was tied a leather belt—a Christmas gift Kyle had given him the previous year, bearing the brand Nine Wolves.
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