"Since when did Lockhart become so powerful?"
Watching Lockhart actually hold his own in a dead heat against Snape, Cedric was filled with doubt.
Kyle pulled him and the Weasley twins into a corner of the Great Hall. After erecting a silencing barrier, Kyle whispered his suspicions to them.
"The three of you, go find Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout right now. Tell them about this theory."
Kyle kept his eyes fixed on Lockhart on the dueling stage. "I'll keep a personal eye on him."
The other three nodded silently and turned to slip out of the Great Hall.
On the stage, Lockhart and Snape were evenly matched; neither could gain the upper hand. After parrying a Sectumsempra from Snape, Lockhart took a proactive step back and raised both hands in a "French military salute."
"Professor Snape, I believe that is quite enough for a demonstration. Let us move on to supervised practice for the students."
Lockhart didn't let the students descend into a chaotic free-for-all. Instead, he called out four students to form two pairs. After all, with only two professors present to provide guidance, the situation could easily spiral out of control if too many duels happened at once.
Harry and Malfoy were selected as a pair.
Hermione was also called up; her opponent was Pansy Parkinson, who had already been thoroughly humiliated at the Quidditch pitch not long ago.
When Lockhart announced the start of the duel, Hermione disarmed Pansy in a flash and followed up with a Bat-Bogey Hex while Pansy was still hitting the floor. If Snape hadn't stepped in to stop her in time, the young witch might have moved on to "desecrating the corpse."
Meanwhile, trouble arose on Harry and Malfoy's side.
Draco summoned a snake, intending to command it to attack Harry. To everyone's shock, a strange hissing sound escaped Harry's mouth. The summoned snake immediately lost control.
Snape's expression shifted slightly. He hurried forward, flicked his wand, and the snake vanished into a wisp of black smoke.
Leaning against the wall, Kyle also showed a flicker of surprise. Snape had previously speculated that Harry was a Parselmouth, but he hadn't expected Harry's identity as one to be exposed so publicly.
Had no one ever told Harry what it meant to be a Parselmouth?
Because of Harry's unintentional revelation, the Dueling Club activities were brought to a premature end. As the students filtered out of the Great Hall, they were all buzzing with talk—comparing the new, formidable Lockhart to his previous self, and debating Harry's Parselmouth status.
Kyle didn't care much for any of that; he had more urgent matters to attend to.
Leaving the Great Hall, Lockhart headed straight back to his office. Once the door clicked shut, Kyle's figure emerged silently from the shadows.
Kyle stared at the closed door, silently reaching for his Two-way Mirror, prepared to cast the "strongest summoning spell" in Hogwarts: calling for Dumbledore.
Inside the office, Lockhart had no sooner returned than he impatiently unlocked his desk drawer and pulled out an old, weathered diary. He dipped a quill into an inkpot and began writing on the blank pages.
"Though there was a slight mishap at the Dueling Club tonight, those young wizards are looking at me with admiration once again."
The ink flashed vividly on the paper for a second before being absorbed, vanishing without a trace. Then, a series of messy, scrawled words surfaced in response.
"You fool! I warned you not to act rashly for the time being. Do you think those two Dumbledores are idiots? That they won't notice the change in you?"
Lockhart scribbled back frantically, nearly knocking over his inkpot.
"I've restrained myself for long enough! Helping me regain the students' respect and fame—wasn't that the condition you promised me from the start?"
Another line surfaced on the blank page: "I did promise, but acting like this now will only make Dumbledore suspect you and throw you into Azkaban."
Lockhart turned pale, clearly realizing the gravity of the situation. "Then what should I do?"
"Our plan must be moved up. Follow my orders this time—stop taking the initiative!"
"What are we going to do?"
Three minutes later, Kyle and Dumbledore raided Lockhart's office. Kyle used a Blasting Curse to blow the door into splinters.
However, as he charged into the dust-filled room, he found it already deserted. Only an open window remained, offering a silent, mocking breeze.
Kyle's expression was grim. "I should have just teamed up with Professor Snape and finished him off in the Great Hall."
Dumbledore's face was equally somber, though half of that was due to exasperation with Kyle. Ever since his son had killed several reckless Dark Wizards in Knockturn Alley over the summer, Kyle's "vibe" had been accelerating toward becoming the Third Dark Lord. Hearing Kyle talk about "finishing off" people every other sentence was truly exhausting for the old headmaster.
Hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor as Cedric and the other professors arrived. Seeing that Lockhart was not in his office, Professor McGonagall's face turned incredibly pale.
This was the closest they had ever been to the culprit!
Professor Flitwick walked to the window. A puff of yellowish smoke, shimmering with starlike sparks, erupted from his wand, roughly reconstructing the scene from a few minutes prior. The smoke condensed into a phantom image of Lockhart, one foot already planted on the windowsill.
"Regrettably, Lockhart has escaped."
Dumbledore sighed, intending to lead everyone away, but then another set of hurried footsteps rang out from the hall. Snape had arrived.
"Severus? What happened?" Professor McGonagall noticed Snape's expression was exceptionally dark.
"Another attack. There is a secret passage in the Slytherin Common Room leading to the Chamber of Secrets. The Basilisk crawled in through there."
Dumbledore froze. "What is the status of the students?"
Snape's face was so grim it looked as if it might drip venom. "One student is dead. He was attacked in the dormitory."
The color drained from the faces of every professor present. The office fell into a dead silence, the atmosphere plummeting to freezing point in an instant.
On Dumbledore's aged face, every wrinkle etched a line of cold fury.
"Gather all the students in the Great Hall. The common rooms are no longer safe."
After saying this, Dumbledore sat down in a nearby chair, looking utterly exhausted. The four Heads of Houses kept their heads bowed and silently left what had once been Lockhart's office.
Kyle waved Cedric and the others away, then stayed quietly by the old man's side.
"The student who died this time was a pure-blood. The impact will be vastly different from the previous attacks. The Ministry will take action."
"They will arrive by tomorrow morning at the latest to take Hagrid away."
"If another pure-blood student dies, Hogwarts will be closed."
Kyle listened quietly, offering no interruptions.
"If I'm not mistaken, Lockhart must have coordinated with Lucius. This is their best opportunity to drive me out of Hogwarts."
Dumbledore looked up, his bright blue eyes gazing earnestly at Kyle.
"I do not understand what Tom's ultimate goal is, but I know that only when I leave Hogwarts will he step out into the open..."
"I will grant part of the Headmaster's authority to you and Minerva. You will no longer be restricted by the Anti-Apparition wards, and you will be able to harness Hogwarts' own defensive power to combat Tom."
Looking at the old man before him, Kyle remained silent. He knew that Hogwarts Castle was Dumbledore's life's work. Dumbledore had sacrificed far too much for this magical school; he could not stand by and watch Hogwarts be destroyed by Tom Riddle.
Kyle took the old man's hand. "During the time you are away from Hogwarts, I will do everything in my power to stall Tom and Lockhart."
Dumbledore smiled faintly. "With you here, I am at peace."
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