Hearing Dumbledore's suggestion, Kyle refused without a second thought.
If he simply revealed the surname "Grindelwald," he could immediately gather a large following in Slytherin.
But what would be the point?
A crowd of fence-sitters, much like Lucius Malfoy, was far less useful than a single die-hard loyalist.
Besides, he had just led a group of Gryffindors to beat half of Slytherin into the dirt—all while wearing Snape's appearance.
If he wasn't mistaken, the "Old Bat" was likely fuming right now.
Kyle had no desire to wander in front of a Snape in a state of blind rage. If he did, there was no telling how many strange potions might find their way into his dinner tonight.
As for transferring to Slytherin House under the Old Bat's management? That was even more impossible. Kyle knew exactly who was the better Head of House between Professor Snape and Professor Sprout.
Seeing that Kyle wasn't taking the bait, Dumbledore dropped the subject.
He didn't dare push the topic any further. If Kyle actually did transfer, Dumbledore would be the one losing sleep over it.
Dumbledore didn't linger in the Headmaster's office; he left quickly, as there was a mountain of trouble waiting to be dealt with.
Once Dumbledore went to handle the fallout of the school brawl, Kyle had no intention of staying in the office either.
The Hogwarts Hospital Wing had likely never experienced so many casualties arriving all at once. Consequently, the infirmary was currently a scene of utter chaos.
The most severely injured students occupied the few available beds, moaning and wailing incessantly. These were the ones Kyle had been the first to knock unconscious with his bat during the fight.
In the ensuing melee, they had lain unconscious on the floor, and God knows how many feet had trampled over them. They had eventually been jolted awake by the excruciating pain of their bones snapping underfoot.
Then there were the even unluckier ones—those Kyle had grabbed and used as human shields to block incoming spells.
Although Kyle had his Demon Skin active, and the spells from these students couldn't actually harm him, he simply enjoyed doing it.
As a result, these poor souls were in bad shape, having been hit by at least twenty different hexes. They were vomiting slugs while giant black bats continuously flew out of their nostrils. Their bodies and faces were covered in all sorts of bizarre, misshapen growths.
Madam Pomfrey had to prioritize these severe cases. However, because they had been hit by so many spells—including a few rare and eccentric low-level Dark Magic hexes—even with her decades of medical experience, she couldn't clear the curses quickly.
She had been working for an hour since the first casualty arrived and still hadn't finished treating the heavy-hitters. The others with minor injuries were left to "wait for death" in the corridor outside.
Even Gilderoy Lockhart, who had been "playing dead" in the infirmary earlier, had been kicked out and sent back to his office by Madam Pomfrey.
While Madam Pomfrey was busy to the point of exhaustion, a small blonde head appeared at the door of the Hospital Wing.
"Madam Pomfrey, do you need help?"
"Hannah! Oh, it's wonderful that you're here. I can't keep up on my own," Madam Pomfrey said softly, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she looked at Hannah at the door.
Another blonde head popped up next to Hannah. "I can help, too."
It was Kyle. He had bumped into Hannah right after being kicked out of the Headmaster's office by Dumbledore.
The only reason he was here was that Hannah had dragged him along. According to her, if Kyle could atone for his crimes, Dumbledore might just give back the 150 points he had docked from Hufflepuff.
When Madam Pomfrey saw Kyle, the expression on her face shifted instantly from delight to pure disgust.
"You! Get out!"
As the culprit who had caused mass casualties and increased her workload tenfold, how could Madam Pomfrey possibly speak to him kindly? It was a miracle she didn't pick up a broom and chase him out.
Kyle looked at Hannah and shrugged helplessly. "You saw that."
Must... not... laugh.
Hannah covered her mouth tightly, stifling a gloating smile.
"Laugh if you want," Kyle said irritably, pushing Hannah into the Hospital Wing. "Help me call the Gryffindors out here. Forget the Slytherins."
Setting aside whether he was willing to heal the Slytherins, Kyle was worried that if he encountered one who remained arrogant and "nose-in-the-air" even after losing, their injuries might suddenly "worsen" several times over.
Soon, a shimmering emerald-green light glowed in the corridor.
Avada—
No, Mystical Palm Technique.
Because the Shield Charms of the older students in the front rows had protected them well, the average number of hexes on the Gryffindors was significantly lower than that of the Slytherins. Only a few particularly unlucky ones had been hit by three or more overlapping curses.
Kyle, who was well-versed in Dark Magic, quickly helped those hit by single spells to break their hexes. For the more complex cases, he could only alleviate their symptoms and wait for Madam Pomfrey to take over.
With Kyle and Hannah's help, the chaos in the Hospital Wing was quickly brought under control. Madam Pomfrey's attitude toward Kyle shifted away from her initial disgust. Of course, it was still a far cry from "liking" him.
While Kyle and Hannah were helping the wounded, the scene was very different in the Slytherin Common Room.
"It wasn't enough that you started the conflict! You had to lose so pathetically!"
Snape, his face exceptionally pale and grim, was roaring in the middle of the common room.
As the Head of Slytherin, if there was anything that made him angrier than his house starting an unprecedented inter-house brawl, it was the fact that "noble" Slytherin had been beaten into the floor by their rivals, Gryffindor.
According to Draco Malfoy's account, the vast majority of the fallen Slytherins had been taken down by Kyle, George, and Fred.
And Kyle had even dared to impersonate him!
"Kyle Dumbledore!"
Snape's teeth were nearly grinding to dust.
He wanted nothing more than to storm into the Hufflepuff Common Room right now, drag Kyle out, hit him with a Levicorpus, and then follow up with a round of Sectumsempra to give the "Little Dark Lord" a proper shave.
Watching the furious Snape, the "Little Snakes" who had survived the brawl silently bowed their heads.
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Professor McGonagall's face was dark. There was no trace of joy in her expression despite their victory.
No matter how glorious Gryffindor's combat record was, a brawl was still a brawl. This was a serious incident of public disorder within the school. George and Fred, who had led the charge, were being scolded mercilessly by McGonagall.
Just a moment ago, Dumbledore had announced the punishments for the two houses involved.
Slytherin and Gryffindor were each docked 200 points.
Because of that brat Kyle, Hufflepuff was also docked 200 points by Dumbledore.
However, because Hannah had bravely stood up for her friends when they were insulted and had assisted in treating the wounded afterward, Dumbledore awarded her 20 points.
This meant Hufflepuff was technically only down 180 points.
Realistically, it didn't make much of a difference.
In the end, Ravenclaw was the biggest winner of this inter-house war; their house points had suddenly shot up to first place.
Professor Flitwick was secretly grinning so hard his mouth was practically crooked.
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