As lunch approached, Kyle and Hannah, who had been busy all morning, finally left the hospital wing.
Inside the Great Hall, although some of the injured had recovered their usual boisterous energy, the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables were still missing quite a few people. The Slytherin table, in particular, was far emptier than usual.
At the staff table, Snape repeatedly shot murderous glares toward Kyle.
Kyle, however, wasn't the least bit intimidated by being targeted by the "Old Bat." Snape still had to beg Kyle's father for help in breaking the curse on the Resurrection Stone ring; where would he get the nerve to act up in front of him?
Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, had no such reservations when it came to Kyle.
"Kyle, your detention tonight is to assist Professor Snape in processing potion ingredients. Professor Snape requested you personally."
"No problem, Professor McGonagall," Kyle agreed with a nonchalant shrug.
Go? As if. I'm definitely not going to process ingredients tonight. Whoever wants that job can have it.
The twins had also been given detention by Professor McGonagall. As Gryffindors, their punishment was even more severe than Kyle's. They had to scrub every single toilet in Hogwarts Castle—by hand, with magic strictly forbidden.
Then, with a stern face, Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, the detention from when you crashed into the Whomping Willow will also be served tonight."
Ron sucked in a breath, his face a mask of terror. Surely he wasn't going to help Snape process potion ingredients too?
"You will be helping Mr. Filch polish the silver in the Trophy Room," McGonagall added. "No magic. You'll be scrubbing them all by hand."
Ron's expression shifted from terror to pure despair. Filch wasn't much better than Snape. He'd almost rather help Snape process ingredients; at least he'd have Kyle for company. Little did he know, if he actually went to Snape's office, he would likely end up alone with the Old Bat.
"As for you, Potter, you will be assisting Professor Lockhart in answering his fan mail."
Harry felt the world go dark. He pleaded desperately with Professor McGonagall, "Professor, can I please go help Professor Snape with the potion ingredients? Or even scrub toilets or the Trophy Room! Anything but that!"
Given his relationship with the Old Bat, as long as he put on his makeup...
That was right—after over a year of Potions classes, Harry had finally mastered the skill of "cross-dressing." He no longer had to rely on Kyle to help him with his makeup every time he became "Harriet"; he could handle it himself. It was hard to say how much Potion-making knowledge Harry had actually retained, but his cross-dressing skills were undoubtedly becoming more polished by the day.
Under Kyle's tutelage, "Harriet" had also mastered the methods of Transfiguration and color-changing for her hair. This meant she no longer needed a wig when dressing as a girl. Furthermore, since Harry hadn't yet hit his growth spurt or voice change, he had even taught himself the advanced technique of using a falsetto—a skill even Kyle hadn't mastered. Until his Adam's apple fully developed, no one would be able to determine Harriet's true gender based on appearance or voice alone.
When night fell, a fuming Snape stormed into the Hufflepuff common room, heading straight for the "Little Dark Lord's" dormitory.
Ever since Kyle failed to show up in the Great Hall for dinner, Snape had predicted that the boy wouldn't submissively accept his detention. Therefore, he intended to personally drag the Little Dark Lord out of his room.
What he hadn't predicted, however, was that Kyle had already predicted his prediction.
Kyle had skipped dinner in the Great Hall specifically to avoid Snape, opting instead to hide away in the kitchens. There was no way he was going back to the Hufflepuff common room to let Snape catch him like a rat in a trap.
After leaving the kitchens, Kyle slipped back into Dumbledore's office and even snuck into the Headmaster's bedroom. He planned to sleep here for the next few nights. He didn't believe for a second that Snape would barge in here and haul him away.
Seeing Kyle's shameless behavior, Dumbledore shook his head helplessly. He turned and left the office to visit the injured students in the hospital wing. After all, the vast majority of those injuries had been caused by his own son; as the father, he had to offer some form of apology.
Once Dumbledore was gone, and since it was still early before curfew, Kyle turned his attention to the bookshelves in the Headmaster's office.
A large portion of Dark Arts books were missing from the Restricted Section of the library because they were deemed too dangerous, so Dumbledore had moved them to his office. Of course, that danger only applied to ordinary students. To a future "Third-generation Dark Lord" like him, these books weren't dangerous at all—the knowledge inside was simply a bit malevolent.
The library back in New Nurmengard Castle contained books a hundred times more dangerous than these, so Kyle had never paid much attention to them. Now, however, they made for decent bedtime reading.
He unceremoniously took up residence in his father's Headmaster's chair, propped his feet up on the desk, leaned back, and scanned the shelves behind him.
"Accio book."
With a flick of his finger, a book flew into his hand. He looked at the cover: Principles of Cellular Structure Transformation Based on Animagus Transfiguration.
He recognized every letter and every word, but when put together, he had no idea what it meant. Kyle tossed it back onto the shelf.
After pulling a few more books at random, Kyle realized that the top shelves were filled entirely with his father's research on Transfiguration. The next shelf down was dedicated to Alchemy. None of these were what Kyle wanted to see.
Knowing his father's habits, the dangerous, restricted books were likely tucked away in the corners of the bottom shelf. So, Kyle shifted his focus there.
This time, the book that landed in Kyle's hand was titled Secrets of the Darkest Art.
Upon seeing the title, a smile spread across Kyle's face. This was exactly what he was looking for.
Kyle flipped open the grotesque cover. A plume of black mist billowed out, which he promptly dispersed with a punch wrapped in Shadow Magic.
The magic described in the book was even more sinister and vicious than Kyle had imagined. The very first page revealed a dark spell almost as vile as the Cruciatus Curse. Its effect was to subject the victim's psyche to long, agonizing torture. While hours might pass within the mental realm, only a few seconds would have elapsed in the real world.
Kyle's expression turned strange. Isn't this just Tsukuyomi?
He flipped through the pages, hoping to find an advanced version called Infinite Tsukuyomi, but unfortunately, he found nothing of the sort.
As he continued reading, Kyle encountered several more interesting pieces of Dark Arts, such as—
Transforming a wizard into an Inferius while allowing them to retain the spellcasting abilities they had in life.
A Dark Contract Mark capable of forcibly enslaving magical creatures.
Beyond that, Kyle saw a life-preserving magic extremely similar to Orochimaru's Cursed Seal—the Horcrux.
By committing an act of evil, such as murder, a wizard could split their soul and seal the fragment into an object. This vessel for the soul fragment was called a Horcrux.
The effect of a Horcrux was remarkably similar to Orochimaru's Cursed Seal. As long as someone marked with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven remained in the world, Orochimaru could be resurrected by seizing a body through the seal, even if he was killed. Similarly, as long as a Horcrux remained intact, the master of the Horcrux could be resurrected through the soul fragment within, even if they faced death.
Both had similar effects, and both came with side effects. Orochimaru's soul would be eroded through constant reincarnation, making his resistance to Genjutsu extremely low. For a wizard, the process of creating a Horcrux required splitting the soul, which was equally damaging. A soul becomes incredibly unstable after being split, which inevitably leads to a deeply twisted personality.
In any case, Kyle would never use such a method to pursue immortality. He lost interest in the Horcruxes described in the book after a mere glance and moved on.
But then, a thought struck him.
According to Dumbledore, when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the Killing Curse he cast was reflected by the protective magic Lily Potter had cast at the cost of her life. After being hit by the Killing Curse, Voldemort hadn't died; instead, he remained in the world as a remnant soul, slowly regaining his strength while waiting for the chance to return.
The way Voldemort was now strongly suggested he had used a Horcrux to tether his life to the world.
Kyle's mind raced as he quickly flipped Secrets of the Darkest Art back to the section on Horcruxes, scrutinizing the text. The more carefully he examined the information, the more certain he became of his theory: Voldemort had created a Horcrux.
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)