Chapter 720: A Few Things About Newt and Snake Girl

"What happened to Professor Snape?"

Kyle, who was almost knocked over, looked at Snape who was leaving in a hurry, and asked in confusion: "Professor, you didn't deduct his salary, did you?"

"Of course not.

Dumbledore adjusted his mood and said with a smile: "In fact, the salary of the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts is ten galleons more than other courses... There is no way, if it is not so, we can't recruit suitable professors at all."

Kyle believed that the high salary was definitely true, but he did not express any opinion on whether those professors were suitable. Dumbledore should have known it in his heart.

"Boy, I feel that you are thinking about something very rude." Phineas Bright in the portrait suddenly said: "Believe me, my intuition is always accurate."

"Good afternoon, sir." Kyle looked up at the portrait, "I admit that I was just thinking about whether to remind Sirius to do a proper cleaning at home and clean up some useless things.

"...For example, the portrait next to the stairs in the living room."

"I guessed right, you are indeed an impolite little brat." Phineas screamed like a cat whose tail was stepped on: "I warn you not to do this, and Sirius will not throw away the portrait of his grandfather."

"Really?" Kyle said lightly: "That's not necessarily..."

Next to the stairs of No. 12 Grimmauld Place, there is a portrait of Phineas hanging. With this advantage, he can move between the headmaster's office and there at will to convey some of Dumbledore's requirements or plans.

But usually, Dumbledore would choose to say it himself instead of letting Phineas convey it on his behalf, so the portrait basically has no effect.

Sirius has thought of throwing that thing away more than once.

"I warn you..." Phineas said fiercely, "That's my house, you can't kick me out."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm just making a suggestion." Kyle shrugged. "It depends on Sirius to decide what to do, but I don't think he would mind changing to a new picture."

"You!" Phineas was so angry that his beard stood up. He ran out of the picture frame with a whoosh. I think he should go to No. 12 Grimmauld Place to find Sirius.

"Hahaha, well done!" A bearded wizard next to him said, "This is really interesting. You are the first student who made him so embarrassed."

"Thank you for your compliment, Principal Dippet." Kyle said with a smile.

Because he has come here many times, he is already familiar with these portraits. The one in front of him is Armando Dippet, who was also the principal before Dumbledore.

He and Phineas Black have always been at odds. Nine out of ten times the other party was beaten by him, and the only remaining time was because he ran too slow and didn't catch up.

"Kyle." Dumbledore said softly, "It is still useful to keep Phineas in Grimmauld Place."

"I know, I'm just trying to scare him." Kyle said, "After all, there is a permanent sticking spell on his portrait, and he can't throw it away even if he wants to."

Dumbledore's mouth twitched. If he hadn't done anything, how would he know that there was a permanent sticking spell on the portrait.

"Don't get me wrong, it was Sirius who found it, and it has nothing to do with me." Kyle explained, and then changed the subject: "Professor, what's the matter with you looking for me?"

"It's a small matter."

"What?" Kyle asked.

"It's about Horcruxes." Dumbledore said.

He took out an ancient stone basin from the cabinet, "But before that, how about we take a look at a memory first? This is what I found after a long time of searching, and it is also the most important memory I found."

Dumbledore said so, Kyle naturally would not object.

Dumbledore took out a small crystal bottle from the inside pocket of his clothes. The memory inside seemed to have become a little condensed and not so smooth because of the long time. Dumbledore took some effort to pour it into the Pensieve.

The Pensieve began to emit a hazy light.

Kyle walked over and felt that his consciousness was constantly falling down and falling into the silver substance. When he opened his eyes again, there was already another person in front of him.

It was Slughorn who was much younger. At this time, he still had thick golden hair.

I don’t know if he is used to the image of Slughorn’s bald head, but Kyle always felt awkward, as if he had a head full of straw.

“Professor Slughorn’s hair loss is quite early.” Hearing the footsteps coming from behind, Kyle turned around and said.

“What?” Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding what Kyle meant.

“Look here.” Kyle pointed to the top of Slughorn’s head, where there was already a small bald spot, about the size of a Galleon.

Dumbledore didn't say anything. Kyle's focus was unexpected.

Did he try so hard to get the memory to determine when Slughorn became bald?

Fortunately, Kyle didn't dwell on this question too much, but looked at the other people who were talking around him.

It seemed that this should be Slughorn's office, with six or seven boys surrounding him.

The one sitting closest to Slughorn was Voldemort when he was young. At that time, he should still be called Tom Riddle.

He gave Slughorn a bag of pineapple preserves. Then they talked about a professor's retirement.

Kyle had no impression of the name they mentioned, so he probably wasn't an important person.

"Oh, it's Galadia, Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, my old colleague." Dumbledore said next to him: "He is about to retire, and Riddle probably wants to take over his position at this time. "

"But you turned him down," Kyle said.

"Yes." Dumbledore said, "I persuaded Armando to reject his application to stay in school, even though many professors at the time, including Galadia, also believed that Riddle was capable enough to take over the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. "

Dumbledore's expression was very calm.

He was very sure that Riddle's purpose was not to be a professor in the school, but to have other plans, so he rejected the other party's application to stay in the school twice.

"So is he now asking Professor Slughorn to confirm the authenticity of the news?" Kyle asked.

"No." Dumbledore shook his head and said, "He is showing his ability to Professor Slughorn. Sometimes pleading for information is also a kind of ability."

It was exactly as Dumbledore said.

Slughorn looked a little surprised, "Where do you get your information from? Boy, you know more than most professors."

Riddle smiled and said nothing.

"You are such a ghost, you always know things you shouldn't know, and you are careful to please important people..." Slughorn seemed to want to blame Riddle, but his tone was more like ridicule, "Thank you by the way. Your pineapple, you guessed it, is my favorite..."

There was a burst of laughter all around.

But at this moment, the surroundings were suddenly shrouded in thick white fog, blocking Kyle's sight.

"This memory has been tampered with!" Kyle blurted out.

This fog of memory is like a mosaic, added later, obviously because someone didn't want them to hear or see something.

The white mist covered everything, and Kyle only heard an unnaturally high-pitched voice saying: "...You will make mistakes, kid, remember my words."

The corners of his mouth twitched and he asked, "Whose memory is this?"

"Professor Slughorn's," said Dumbledore.

"So..." Kyle turned to look at Dumbledore, "Professor Slughorn is not very good at things other than potions. The fake voice is too rough."

That high-pitched voice was completely different from the natural speaking voice before. It was too deliberate and was obviously trying to cover up.

It felt like someone's broomstick suddenly turned into a fire dragon during a Quidditch match. It was hard not to notice.

"Well, he was really not very good at memory spells at this time," Dumbledore said, "but later he made up for this shortcoming.

"As for the reason, you will know as you continue reading. It should be here soon."

After Dumbledore finished speaking, the white fog in Kyle's eyes dissipated.

At this time, Slughorn had finished eating the pineapple preserves, and the golden clock on his table had jumped from nine-thirty to eleven.

It was already curfew time and everyone else had left the office, except Riddle, who lingered at the back.

After everyone left, he said, "Sir, I want to ask you something..."

"Then ask, kid," urged Slughorn.

"Sir, I would like to ask you if you know...horcruxes."

Thick fog appeared in the office again, followed by a voice that was too fake.

"I know nothing about Horcruxes. Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. Get out immediately and don't let me hear you mention this again!"

But by now, Kyle had already guessed Dumbledore's purpose in letting him see this memory.

The next second, the two left the memory.

"Professor." Kyle looked at the pensieve in front of him, "Do you think Riddle knew the secret of the Horcrux at that time?"

"It is undeniable that Professor Slughorn must have told him some secrets, otherwise he would not be so ashamed as to tamper with his memory."

Dumbledore said softly: "This is also his weakness. It is always difficult for him to reject those children who are valued by him, and Tom was once his most promising student. For a long time afterwards, he always believed that Tom Achievements can be achieved.”

"He guessed right, didn't he," Kyle said. "In a way, Riddle did achieve something."

"But this is obviously not what Professor Slughorn wants to see, so he wants to hide the mistakes he has made." Dumbledore took out the memory from the pensieve and put it back in the bottle inside.

"His method was clumsy, but that's also good news." Dumbledore continued: "It shows that he did not have the heart to completely forget these memories, but chose to cover them up."

"I was hoping you could help find it."

"Ah? Let me go?" Kyle blinked, not wanting to agree.

"As I said just now." Dumbledore glanced at him, "It's hard for Professor Slughorn to refuse children who he values.

"And the reason why he came to Hogwarts again is because of you and Harry, so it's perfect for you to do this."

"Harry?" Kyle looked around.

"He's not here. I haven't figured out how to tell him about this yet. After all, he is different from you. I need to explain a lot of things in advance."

Dumbledore looked at Kyle, as if waiting for him to say something.

"Oh." Kyle nodded as if he didn't see it and said, "Professor, think about it slowly. Don't worry, Harry is easy to deceive...well, easy to talk to."

Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged and he just glanced in the direction of the door.

"Didn't you ask Professor Snape before why he was angry?" He continued: "This is the reason. He believes that the Horcrux is Tom's deepest secret. Everyone who knows about it will be in danger. He doesn't want to let anyone know about it." You take risks."

"Who wouldn't want me to take risks? Professor Snape?"

Kyle's face changed and he said seriously: "Professor, I think you need to conduct a large-scale investigation in the school. I suspect that some professors are Death Eaters using polyjuice potion to disguise themselves. This kind of thing must be guarded against, or It’s better to resolve it as soon as possible.”

"Don't say that."

Dumbledore laughed, "Actually, Professor Snape is not as strict as you think, and..."

He looked at Kyle and said in a teasing tone: "Sooner or later you will become a family, and it is reasonable for him to care about you."

"That will happen in the future." Kyle rubbed his forehead. He also had a headache about this.

"So what's your decision?"

Dumbledore said, "Would you like to do me this favor? I must say that it is important for us to get the real memories, but if you have concerns... I can understand it."

"Professor, do you think I can stay out of the Horcrux thing?" Kyle couldn't help but said.

He had already destroyed so many Horcruxes from Voldemort, why did he still care about getting one more piece of news?

And Harry is still the same...

Snape's worries were completely unnecessary. Regardless of whether they knew Slughorn's memory or not, Voldemort would never let them go.

At this moment, an owl suddenly flew in from the window and handed a letter in its talon to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore glanced at the letter and his expression became more and more serious.

"Sorry Kyle, I might have to do something else." He stood up and then apparated out of the room.

Fox chirped softly and disappeared into the flames.

Almost in the blink of an eye, Kyle was the only one left in the office. He looked at the empty office around him and at the portraits who were pretending to sleep again with their eyes closed, and then he was ready to leave.

After leaving the principal's office, Kyle was still thinking about what Dumbledore said just now, but he suddenly realized that Slughorn's memory didn't seem to be of much use.

That was just a memory related to Horcruxes, but if you think about it carefully, how many more Horcruxes did Voldemort have?

The diary and the Resurrection Stone ring have been destroyed, as well as the crown, gold cup, and locket he found, which are all in Nicoléme's place. Counting the time, they should have almost been solved by now.

These are the five Horcruxes.

Oh, and there’s that big snake called Nagini.

During the Triwizard Tournament, Kyle was transported by a portkey disguised as a trophy to the top of the mountain where Voldemort held his resurrection ceremony, and while Voldemort and Dumbledore were fighting, he kidnapped the snake.

But what was a bit beyond Kyle's expectation was that the snake was not a Horcrux...but it was not an ordinary animal either, but a blood-cursed orc.

Simply put, it is a wizard turned into a snake.

This situation is a bit like Animagus, but the difference is that the blood-cursed orc is permanent and cannot switch freely between animals and wizards like Animagus, and can only maintain the form of an animal forever.

Moreover, their own consciousness will be slowly erased until they become a real animal.

That's what Newt told him over the holidays.

In addition, Newt also knows the snake and must let Kyle leave Nagini at his place no matter what.

Kyle naturally had no reason to disagree. He was not Voldemort and had no habit of carrying a snake with him. Even if he did, he would have a more suitable basilisk, so he happily gave Nagini to Newt.

This is also the reason why Newt has never asked Leopard back. It can be said that both parties have a tacit understanding.

But there was one thing Kyle was confused about. Nagini was a female snake, which meant that she was a witch before she became a blood-cursed orc.

Newt has always had a 'snake' with him... He has never thought about whether to tell Tina about this.