The members of the League of Father-Grievers parted ways at the entrance to the Headmaster's office.
Walking back to the Hufflepuff common room, both Cedric and Kyle remained silent.
Kyle suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. "Ced, there's a path to power laid out before you. Do you dare to take it?"
"What?" Cedric turned his head to look at Kyle.
"Merging with the bloodline of the Basilisk."
Kyle held out his hand, and a cluster of ghostly blue flames flickered into existence on his palm, gradually condensing into the shape of a lotus flower.
Seeing Cedric's bewildered expression, Kyle explained softly: "The blood of the Dumbledore family flows through my veins. One of my ancestors once fused with the bloodline of a Phoenix."
"The Phoenix bloodline granted me a talent for fire magic that far surpasses that of ordinary people."
With a flick of his finger, a single petal detached from the seemingly scorching blue fire lotus and landed on Cedric.
The slight distortion of the surrounding air was proof that the temperature of this spark was easily several hundred degrees Celsius. Yet, to Cedric's amazement, he didn't feel even a hint of heat. Even the clothes the flame clung to showed no signs of being singed.
This method of fire control was something Kyle had learned from his Dark Lord father just a short while ago. It was an extremely advanced control technique—one that even world-renowned elite Aurors might not necessarily master. It had taken Grindelwald years to learn, yet Kyle had achieved it in just a few months.
"Fusing with the bloodline of a magical creature is one of the simplest and most convenient ways to enhance one's own strength." Kyle withdrew the dancing blue spark from Cedric. "Of course, it also comes with great danger. The decision to use it is entirely up to you."
Cedric stopped in his tracks, looking down in deep thought for a long time. Finally, he lifted his head. He stared fixedly at Kyle, his eyes shimmering with a burning intensity.
"You'll help me, won't you?"
Seeing Cedric's firm and resolute gaze, Kyle's smile brightened. "Of course."
The two hands gripped each other tightly.
The attack from the previous night had successfully caused panic to spread through Hogwarts once again. However, this wave of fear did not extend to Slytherin.
Every "little snake" was brimming with confidence, believing that as students of Slytherin House, they would not be attacked even if they weren't the Heir of Slytherin. This was because the pair of Ravenclaw lovers attacked the previous night were both Muggle-born wizards.
To some extent, this corroborated the theory that the opener of the Chamber of Secrets would only order the monster to attack those "unworthy of learning magic."
"Do you think the Heir of Slytherin might be one of the students in their house?"
The next morning at breakfast in the Great Hall, Ron jerked his chin toward the Slytherin table as he watched the "little snakes" acting all high and mighty. He didn't know yet that Ginny was the Heir, as that was something that had only just come to light the previous night. Moreover, Ron had a bit of a "big mouth" tendency; even though they knew Ron wouldn't blab about something that was effectively a family scandal, George and Fred had no intention of telling him.
"I think it's very likely, too." Harry also cast his gaze toward the Slytherins. "If only we could sneak into the Slytherin common room to investigate. We might find some useful clues."
Hearing Hermione's words, both Ron and Harry's eyes lit up. But then Ron's expression soured. "But that's impossible."
Hermione shot him a look. "Who says it's impossible? Did you forget the Human Transfiguration Kyle used on the Quidditch pitch that day?"
Harry nearly choked on his pumpkin juice. "You mean, dress up as Professor Snape like Kyle did and sneak in? But how could we ever learn Human Transfiguration like that?"
The young witch glared at the two "useless lumps" in front of her with a look of disappointed frustration.
"Human Transfiguration is an incredibly advanced branch of Transfiguration! You probably won't be able to do what he does until graduation. But can't you think of another way!?"
"What way?" Ron asked blankly.
"Polyjuice Potion!" Hermione said impatiently. "Professor Snape just mentioned it in Potions class a few days ago!"
Potions class? Well, that explained it. Ron basically never paid attention in Snape's class.
Harrie, on the other hand, had been listening quite intently. This was because Harry had discovered that as long as he cross-dressed as "Harrie," Snape would be exceptionally kind to him. Because of this, Harrie's Potions grades were significantly better than everyone else's in their year—though still not quite on the level of "monstrous" overachievers like Kyle and Hermione.
"I remember now. Professor Snape said it can make a person completely transform into the appearance of someone else."
Hearing Harrie's words, Hermione nodded with satisfaction. It seemed there was hope for Harrie yet. "Although the effect only lasts for a while, it's enough for us to sneak into the Slytherin common room."
Hermione sighed. "But the recipe is hard to get. Snape said it's in a book called Most Potente Potions, which is definitely in the Restricted Section of the library."
Harry's eyes drifted toward the Hufflepuff table. "Why not ask Kyle? Doesn't he often study Potions with Snape?"
Hermione's eyes lit up. A teachable student at last.
At that moment, Kyle was discussing some minor improvements for the "V2 Fat Boy" with Cedric when Hermione's voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"Kyle, could I ask a favor of you?"
He turned around. "Of course. Name it, and if I can do it, I will."
"Well..." Hermione stammered. "Could I trouble you to get me a permission slip for the Restricted Section?"
The Restricted Section... a permission slip?
Kyle frowned. Since when did one need a slip to enter the Restricted Section? Couldn't you just walk right in if you knew the Disillusionment Charm?
"Wait a second." Kyle reached into his shinobi tool pouch, rummaged around, and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment. He then produced a quill and began writing in a flamboyant hand.
A moment later, he handed the parchment to Hermione.
"Here, a Restricted Section permission slip. Don't worry, I forged Professor Dumbledore's signature. No one will be able to tell the difference."
Hermione: "???"
That works too?
Hermione looked down at the parchment. It read:
I, Albus Dumbledore, hereby grant Miss Hermione Granger permission to borrow books from the Restricted Section of the library, with unlimited visits.
At the bottom was Dumbledore's full signature.
Hermione pulled out the slip Dumbledore had given their "Top Student Trio" last year, which allowed them to practice magic in the Headmaster's office at night. She carefully compared Dumbledore's actual signature with the one Kyle had just written; they were identical.
She suspected that unless Dumbledore himself saw it, no one would ever know it was a forgery.
Hermione's mouth twitched. Why did she feel like Kyle acted more like a Gryffindor than she did?
Forget it. Hermione gave up the struggle. She silently tucked away Kyle's forged slip. Regardless, if anyone asked, she would just say it was a slip from Dumbledore.
Technically, that wasn't a lie. It was a slip from a Dumbledore.
As for which Dumbledore... she would leave that for the librarian, Madam Pince, to figure out for herself.
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