The four "Father-Vexers" huddled around the Hufflepuff table, whispering for a long time.
When they finally looked up, a mischievous, almost villainous glint shimmered in each of their eyes.
No matter how grueling the military training exercises became, the hardship would never fall upon the heads of the four instructors. Consequently, when it came to designing the curriculum, the four of them were utterly remorseless.
After leaving the Great Hall, Kyle turned onto the grand staircase leading to the second floor of the castle, intending to visit the "Old Bat" in the Hospital Wing.
When he had visited the infirmary the previous night, Snape had already drifted off due to sheer exhaustion. Thus, Kyle hadn't been able to discuss a "treatment plan" regarding the professor's injuries. Now, Kyle was ready to find the Old Bat and break the good news: his arm was going to be chopped off.
The night before in the Headmaster's office, Kyle had already discussed the possibility of attaching a new arm to Snape with Dumbledore.
Dumbledore didn't have much experience with Muggle medicine, but as a Master Alchemist, he was able to provide plenty of sound advice from an alchemical perspective. Ultimately, the two concluded that Kyle's treatment plan was feasible.
They simply needed to harvest some cells from Snape, cultivate them using magic, and clone a replacement arm. Dumbledore had even indicated that if Snape proved uncooperative during the treatment, he would step in to help keep him restrained.
As Kyle walked, his thoughts began to wander uncontrollably. His mind quickly leapt from magical cloning to the creation of magical portraits.
It was common knowledge that the wizarding world was home to many wondrous magical portraits—for instance, the wall in Dumbledore's office covered in the likenesses of Hogwarts' past Headmasters. A portrait carried the lifelong knowledge and experiences of a wizard, and every person residing within a frame retained their own distinct personality. Even many years after their passing, they could still offer wise counsel whenever Dumbledore encountered a dilemma.
Initially, these portraits were brought to life through charms and potions to develop the image. However, to make them as "real" as their original subjects, one crucial step remained: Personality Endowment.
A wizard could imbue a portrait with their own personality, facilitating its growth. Of course, a portrait didn't immediately gain the creator's insight and experience the moment it was endowed; it required a significant period of instruction from the subject themselves.
Kyle's focus wasn't on how portraits were made, but rather on the magic of Personality Endowment.
Magical cloning plus Personality Endowment—would these two seemingly unrelated branches of magic produce some spectacular sparks when brought together?
Kyle's idea was to harvest his own cells to clone six mindless, empty shells, and then use Personality Endowment to allow them to act independently. As long as he could control them through certain methods and issue commands, they would essentially be—
The Six Paths of Pain!
When endowing them with personality, Kyle could selectively transfer portions of his memory, granting each of the six paths different magical specializations:
The Deva Path: After deep research into the Levitation Charm, Kyle had mastered the control of gravitational and repulsive forces based on its principles. He simply hadn't used these abilities much because they were usually quite niche.
The Asura Path: By undergoing "Human Puppet" modification and being outfitted with alchemical weaponry produced by Weasley Industries, it could become a relentless, mobile arsenal.
The Human Path: Mastering Legilimency and the Imperius Curse, along with other spells targeting the soul and memory.
The Animal Path: Mastering a "Summoning Technique" improved upon the foundations of the Summoning Charm (Accio) and the Buffalo-Conjuring Gallop.
The Preta Path: While the wizarding world lacked magic that could directly absorb an opponent's spells—the closest being techniques to deflect them—the combination of the Shield Charm (Protego) and the General Counter-Spell (Finite Incantatem) could serve the same defensive purpose.
The Hell Path: Mastering healing magic to act as the "healer" for the other four paths (excluding the Asura Path) and the "mechanic" for the Asura Path puppet.
With that, the primary abilities of the Six Paths of Pain would be complete.
Furthermore, while cloning the bodies, Kyle could use Dark Arts Transfiguration to modify those empty shells. Since they weren't his own body and possessed no consciousness of their own, he could experiment on them however he pleased.
In this way, beyond their magical capabilities, the physical prowess of these six bodies would far surpass that of an average wizard. They might even be able to go toe-to-toe with Hagrid after he opened the third gate.
Most importantly, Kyle could use Permanent Transfiguration to give each Pain a pair of purple, ringed eyes.
That's right—everything mentioned before was secondary. Those Rinnegan eyes were the real priority.
As for how to prevent the Six Paths from betraying him after being endowed with personality, that was also easily solved. In the wizarding world, while some spells were hard to find, contract magic and enslavement charms were a dime a dozen. Otherwise, how else would the four or five hundred house-elves at New Nurmengard and Hogwarts come to be?
Standing outside the Hospital Wing, Kyle didn't enter immediately. Instead, he paused and pulled a notebook from his pocket. He needed to quickly record the brilliant ideas currently flooding his mind before he forgot them.
If all these assumptions could be realized, the combat effectiveness of the Six Paths of Pain working in tandem would be—at the very least—equivalent to one or two Hogwarts Heads of House.
Only after recording everything did Kyle push open the doors to the infirmary.
Inside, Snape was still alone, lying there like a corpse with vacant eyes. As for the only other non-petrified patient, Ginny Weasley—since she had only suffered mental trauma and hadn't had much of her life force drained—she hadn't sustained any serious physical damage and had been discharged early that morning.
The only company left for Snape were the poor souls waiting for the Mandrakes to mature so they could be de-petrified.
Kyle executed a smooth slide-tackle right up to the side of Snape's bed.
"Professor, I have some good news for you," Kyle said, pulling a massive, black battle-axe—the Black Cleaver—from the ninja tool pouch at his waist. "Your arm can be restored to its former state."
Snape fell into a heavy silence as he stared at the giant axe, which was nearly as tall as Kyle himself.
If you want to discuss a treatment plan, then discuss it. But what is the meaning of pulling out a giant axe?
Is this also a part of the 'treatment'?
Noticing Snape's gaze, Kyle felt a bit sheepish and tucked the Black Cleaver away. It was still too early; he didn't need that thing just yet.
Then, while Snape watched with a look of mounting horror, Kyle detailed the plan he and Dumbledore had devised.
Snape's face instantly darkened. His lips trembled slightly as he muttered, "I refuse."
He would rather remain a cripple than take a single hit from that brat's axe.
Kyle pressed Snape, who was struggling to sit up, back down onto the bed. "Professor, I'm only here to inform you, not to negotiate. You don't have a choice."
Having finished, Kyle—feeling in excellent spirits—sauntered out of the Hospital Wing with an arrogant, defiant swagger.
He left behind a completely bewildered Snape, who began to seriously contemplate a plan to flee Hogwarts. Snape threw back the covers, intending to make a run for it.
However, before he could even get out of bed, Madam Pomfrey walked in, carrying a bottle of suspicious, bubbling potion.
"Severus, it's time for your medicine."
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