Kyle's heterochromic eyes, one shade deep and the other light, underwent a sudden change, transforming into the crimson Sharingan in the blink of an eye.
Two black tomoe spun slowly within each eye.
A silver Susanoo emerged from Kyle's body, enveloping both him and Hermione completely.
Kyle wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist, rushing toward the tower at extreme speed.
Before even reaching the tower, Kyle saw a burst of silver light from a Patronus expanding in the air.
Looking from a distance, that Patronus seemed to take the shape of a dog.
By the light of the Patronus, Professor Flitwick could see Sirius Black standing at the entrance of the tower from afar, with two students lying at his feet, their fates unknown.
"Sirius!" Professor Flitwick roared, his voice full of rage.
However, this anger was not directed at Sirius, but rather at the Dementors swarming across the sky.
As one of the school's four Heads of House, Professor Flitwick was privy to the facts of the situation; he knew it was impossible for Sirius to hurt those students, which meant the culprits could only be the Dementors.
Since these Dementors had witnessed Sirius's presence, there was no way he could let them return to tip off the Ministry of Magic.
A look of ruthless resolve flashed across Professor Flitwick's eyes.
A ball of silver-white light emerged between his palms and suddenly expanded, forming a massive, cubic prison of light that enveloped the entire tower.
"Patronus Charm: Modified — Detached Dungeon Technique!"
Within the confines of the light prison, the bodies of all the trapped Dementors began to disintegrate.
These hideous, cloaked monsters shrieked miserably, quickly turning to ash under the brilliant light.
However, outside the light prison, even more Dementors were fleeing in all directions.
The tomoe in Kyle's eyes spun faster and faster as a pair of massive wings sprouted from the back of the Susanoo.
The flapping wings stirred up a violent tempest, propelling the massive Susanoo into the sky.
Standing side by side with Kyle inside the diamond-shaped gem atop the Susanoo's head, Hermione pointed her wand straight toward the sky.
A sphere of light shot from the tip of her wand, exploding in midair before expanding outward to form a soft curtain that blocked the Dementors' path of escape.
This was a specialized application of the Maxima Shield Charm.
With Hermione's current magical reserves, she wouldn't be able to maintain it for long.
But it was enough.
Seizing this opportunity, the Susanoo swung its blade of light fiercely. A brilliant sword-light bloomed across the deep night sky, reducing seven or eight Dementors to ash with a single slash.
Only now did Professor McGonagall arrive in a hurry, riding a Nimbus broomstick, as a silver cat Patronus leaped from the tip of her wand.
The Patronus rampaged through the sky, relentlessly herding the Dementors under the blade of the Susanoo.
Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall herself rushed toward the two unconscious students on the ground.
After confirming that both of them were still breathing, Professor McGonagall finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Sirius.
"Sirius, what on earth happened here?"
Sirius glanced at the pair lying on the ground, a look of utter exasperation on his face.
"The two of them snuck over here midway through the feast to fool around in the wild, and ended up getting attacked by Dementors."
Sirius explained briefly, but there was a tremendous amount of information packed into his words.
Hearing Sirius's explanation, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick both wore equally exasperated expressions.
Dementors had never been gentle creatures.
A feast was currently underway in the Great Hall, and the joy radiating from it was the most delicious food in the world to the Dementors.
However, intimidated by Kyle's presence, they hadn't dared to step foot near the Great Hall.
Furthermore, their days on guard duty at Hogwarts weren't like their time in Azkaban, where they could just take a few drafts from the prisoners whenever they felt hungry.
It had been nearly two months since the start of the term, and these Dementors hadn't had a single hot meal.
So, when they stumbled upon a lone young couple, it would be a miracle if these starved, crazed Dementors didn't attack them.
If Sirius hadn't discovered the couple in time, they would likely have been sucked dry by the Dementors by now.
Faced with the choice between exposing himself and staying safe, Sirius had chosen the former.
The result was plain to see: the moment he acted to save them, he exposed his presence, leading to the subsequent siege of the tower by hundreds of Dementors.
After listening to Sirius's tale, Professor McGonagall pushed up the spectacles on the bridge of her nose with a helpless sigh.
Through her square lenses, she spotted the house badges pinned to the two students' chests—both were gold and red...
These two idiots actually belonged to her own Gryffindor?
And the reason they got caught by Dementors was actually because they bloody well snuck out for a midnight tryst?
As a conservative, middle-aged-to-elderly homebody, the behavior of this couple was undoubtedly a flagrant provocation to Professor McGonagall, so much so that her lips trembled with rage.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor—"
Before the aging cat-lady could finish her sentence, Kyle, having completely slaughtered the remaining Dementors in the sky, descended from above with Hermione and landed right in front of her.
The moment Professor McGonagall saw her favorite Miss Granger, more than half of her anger instantly vanished.
Thank goodness. Gryffindor still had model students who excelled across the board.
Where else could one find a student as sensible, well-behaved, and phenomenally skilled in magic as Hermione?
If nothing else, even Professor McGonagall couldn't help but marvel at Hermione's talent upon witnessing that defensive magic just now.
It required at least the caliber of an elite Auror to cast a Protego Maxima like that.
However, when her eyes fell upon Kyle and Hermione's tightly clasped hands, the aging cat-lady's brow furrowed once more.
This little Dark Lord of the Dumbledore family! He actually! Had the sheer audacity to run off with Gryffindor's prize cabbage!
With this little Dark Lord's lawless disposition...
Oh no, could Hermione be led astray?
Professor McGonagall suddenly began to fret over Hermione's future.
She could even envision a future where the wizarding world, in addition to a third-generation Dark Lord named Grindelwald, would gain a first-generation Dark Witch named Granger.
Noticing Professor McGonagall's gaze, the two silently released their grip on each other's hands.
It was best not to flaunt their affection in front of this aging cat-lady; after all, Professor McGonagall had a rather tragic romantic history.
That was precisely why she had resolved to spend her entire life at Hogwarts, pouring her heart and soul into teaching and nurturing students.
Shaking her head, Professor McGonagall cleared the stray thoughts from her mind and cast a look of utter disdain at the disheveled boy and girl lying like corpses on the ground.
Her tone was ice-cold. "Fifty points from Gryffindor."
Hearing Professor McGonagall's words, Hermione's face instantly fell as a fellow Gryffindor.
But Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow and shifted gears. "However, for the heroic actions of you two, sixty points each to Hufflepuff and Gryffindor."
Hearing that her house would gain points, the little beaver's eyes lit up, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
Thank goodness. Though it only amounted to a net gain of ten points after the math, it was still better than losing points, wasn't it?
Having dealt with the matters of her own house, everyone's gaze shifted toward Sirius.
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