Given the size of the stone basin, the poison contained inside was nothing more than a single tongue-lapping for a fire dragon nearly twenty meters in length.
As a barrier chosen by Voldemort to guard his Horcrux, the potency of this poison was beyond doubt.
However, talking about toxicity while ignoring dosage was pure foolishness.
For a massive fire dragon, this minuscule dose of magical potion would at most give it a bout of diarrhea.
For a wizard, however, the volume of this basin of poison was quite substantial.
If one drank it all, a weaker wizard would die without a doubt, while someone as powerful as Dumbledore would suffer excruciating agony, his overall strength plummeting to the absolute rock bottom.
Voldemort could never have imagined that the barrier he painstakingly set up would be cracked so easily.
What the hell kind of normal wizard brings a fire dragon along to raid his security checkpoint?!
When Kyle recalled the fire dragon, the two walked forward and peered down into the basin.
In an instant, both of their expressions turned remarkably colorful.
"Is this the Slytherin locket that Regulus switched out?"
Lying before them was precisely a golden locket they recognized quite well, bearing the Slytherin insignia upon it.
Kyle spread his hands in helplessness. "Well, that settles it. Everything we did tonight was a waste of effort."
When he had acquired the genuine locket back at Grimmauld Place, out of excitement over finding a Horcrux, he had temporarily forgotten to ask Kreacher which location Voldemort had originally taken it to for concealment.
That oversight was what led to tonight's wild goose chase.
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, what we did tonight was not meaningless; at least we have ruled out one location where Voldemort might have hidden a Horcrux."
Hearing Dumbledore's words of comfort, Kyle curled his lip and said nothing.
Tucking the locket casually into his pocket, Dumbledore pressed his hand onto Kyle's shoulder. "I searched for a long time, ruling out many places where Voldemort could have hidden a Horcrux."
"This was the last place I could think of."
Dumbledore sighed. "I have a premonition that the Horcruxes we have found so far are already the entirety of Voldemort's soul fragments."
"Still... perhaps I should go find Horace and verify my suspicion."
Kyle let out a massive yawn, then waved dismissively toward his adoptive father.
"Voldemort has already returned to Britain from the forests of Albania. Professor Snape and I plan to have him resurrected during the final task of the Triwizard Tournament."
Regarding Zoffy's plan to eliminate Ultraman...
Pfft! No, wait.
Dumbledore was well aware of Kyle's intention to turn the Triwizard Tournament into the Joint Chunin Selection Exams.
It was just that Dumbledore had previously failed to make up his mind about whether or not to let Voldemort muddy the waters through this opportunity and regain a physical body by obtaining Harry's blood.
His Horcruxes. They still hadn't managed to confirm whether they had truly gathered all of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
When it concerned Voldemort's Horcruxes, Dumbledore couldn't afford to be anything less than cautious.
Regarding Dumbledore's worries, Kyle didn't actually agree with them in his heart.
In his view, if their side—consisting of two major and one minor Demon Lord—still couldn't crush Voldemort to dust, it would be far too shameful.
The best course of action right now should be to let Voldemort return.
Through the experiment conducted with Harry at Grimmauld Place, Kyle discovered that some unknown connection existed among the Horcruxes.
Presently, they still didn't know whether this connection was limited by distance, but the soul inhabiting the body walking about in the outside world served as the master soul among all soul fragments; he ought to be able to sense his own Horcruxes.
Moreover, this perception should definitely be far stronger than Harry's.
The reason Voldemort wasn't making any moves right now was perhaps because his current weakness had dulled this perceptive ability.
Under such circumstances, letting Voldemort return at peak strength, only for him to panic and expose a fatal flaw upon sensing the true state of his Horcruxes, would give them the opportunity to completely obliterate Voldemort once and for all.
Kyle refused to believe that Voldemort could split his soul into seventy or eighty pieces.
Ten pieces would already be pushing the absolute limit, wouldn't it?
"I want to arrange for Harry to enter the tournament so that Professor Snape can have room to maneuver."
A hesitant expression flickered across Dumbledore's face. "The danger of this match for Harry..."
Before he could finish, Kyle interrupted him.
"You've been far too negligent in your cultivation of Harry. He is still no different from a giant baby, wallowing in self-pity over the slightest emotional setback. Do you expect someone like him to face Voldemort with equanimity at the very end and march generously to his death?"
Rattled by Kyle's blunt reprimand, Dumbledore showed no anger, instead beginning to reflect earnestly upon his guidance of Harry.
Come to think of it, Dumbledore truly had been somewhat neglectful of Harry.
What Harry lacked was magical instruction.
In fact, given the magical talent Harry inherited from the Potters, his performance in Defense Against the Dark Arts was quite remarkable.
By just his third year, he had already mastered the Patronus Charm—something many adult wizards failed to learn—and such talent even surpassed James's back in the day.
Yet it all depended on who one was comparing him to.
Compared to Kyle, who received private tutoring from Dumbledore and Grindelwald every single day, Harry's strength fell far too short.
That couldn't be helped, though; how could an ordinary player ever compare to a god-tier old immortal running hacks?
If Dumbledore had guided Harry the way he guided Kyle—or more precisely, if Harry had been able to focus all his attention on magic rather than goofing off with Ron—then Harry's strength would undoubtedly be vastly greater than it was now; of that there was no doubt.
Harry had no idea that, in truth, as long as his skin was thick enough, he could run to Dumbledore's office every single day to consult him about magic.
Dumbledore would certainly have cared for him just as if he were his own biological son.
Not only was there a deficit in Harry's education, but Dumbledore's education of Kyle also had its flaws.
What Harry lacked was strength; what Kyle lacked was moral and emotional cultivation.
Ever since Dumbledore picked Kyle up from New York, he found himself somewhat at a loss when it came to educating his child.
After all, Kyle could be considered an adult of sorts, whose personality had grown somewhat lawless after roaming wild in New York for five years.
Coupled with having a Dark Lord father and a Light Lord mother backing him up, he was even more unruly.
This left Dumbledore—a veteran educator—instantly at a loss as his usual parenting playbooks failed completely when applied to this child.
Left with no other choice, Dumbledore could only take a laissez-faire approach toward Kyle.
Fortunately, wild as Kyle might be, he still drew a clear line between what could be done and what could not.
Though this frequently caused Dumbledore to bounce back and forth between peace of mind and gratification, helplessness and absolute rage.
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