"Horace has a hobby akin to stamp collecting, which is an obsessive passion for educating and shaping outstanding students."
Hearing this, Kyle suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at Dumbledore right in front of Horace.
So... this was some alternate form of the Sexy Jutsu? Using a model student like him to entice Slughorn into taking up the post of Potions Master at their school?
Kyle really wanted to say that maybe he should find someone better suited for the job; he truly wasn't being humble.
George, Fred, Cedric—which one of them wasn't better...
Alright, the Weasley twins were definitely not suitable; he was afraid those two Huskies might make Horace cough up blood from anger.
But Cedric was without a doubt the ideal candidate.
Cedric was full of reason, talented, and possessed an elegant demeanor; aside from joining the Father-Troublers Alliance—which stood as a massive stain on his life—he was flawless in every other aspect.
More importantly, Cedric was also aware of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Therefore, letting Cedric, the model student, perform the "seduction" on Slughorn was absolutely the best choice.
Whereas if it were Kyle, Horace might just be scared away on the spot by the sheer name of Grindelwald.
"Albus, you know I'm just an old man now, a tired old man," Horace chuckled. "I still prefer enjoying a quiet retirement life."
"You're not even as old as I am, Horace," Dumbledore blinked at him.
An old guy like him was over a hundred and ten years old and still couldn't retire, spending every day worrying and guarding Hogwarts, keeping a close eye on this little Demon King and his gang of bad influences for fear that they might accidentally make Hogwarts disappear.
You're barely past a hundred and already thinking about retirement—how could that be allowed?
Better hurry back to Hogwarts to work and earn your blessings.
Slughorn opened his mouth, initially wanting to persuade his old friend to just retire like him.
However, when his gaze landed on Kyle beside them, he instantly abandoned the thought.
Forget it, you had better continue giving your all in your position.
If Albus were to retire, who would manage the three remaining Dark Lords in the wizarding world?
After exchanging brief pleasantries, Horace politely declined Dumbledore's invitation to step into the tent for a cup of tea and bade them farewell.
He was certainly full of interest in teaching a student like Kyle, but that didn't mean he was equally interested in the little Demon King's parent.
By "parent," he meant Grindelwald, the first-generation Dark Lord.
Even though he had once taught the second-generation Dark Lord and had witnessed the first-generation's glory during Grindelwald's peak, directly facing Gellert Grindelwald was still something Horace found overwhelmingly stressful.
Before making his escape, Horace warmly put his arm around Kyle's shoulder.
"Child, after the match tonight, I plan to host a party with many famous guests attending. Would you like to come?"
"I would be honored, sir," Kyle replied with a polite smile. "May I bring my friends along then?"
Since Horace had extended an invitation to him, Kyle absolutely had to drag Cedric into this pit.
"Friends?" Horace's eyes lit up. "Of course, you may."
If he wasn't mistaken, the friends Kyle mentioned should be the ones who had received the Order of Merlin, Second Class, alongside him.
Through Dumbledore's introduction, Horace knew that these four were very close friends at Hogwarts.
And this happened to hit his celebrity-collecting addiction right on the mark.
After chatting with Kyle for a few more brief moments, Horace vanished from within a five-hundred-meter radius of the Dumbledore tent at practically the speed of light, all to avoid the great Demon King who could appear at any moment.
Watching the figure resembling a giant walrus disappear into the sea of colorful tents, a smile curled at the corners of Kyle's mouth.
Now that he knew about Slughorn's celebrity-collecting habit, tricking this old fellow into coming to Hogwarts would be much simpler.
Teaching four Order of Merlin, Second Class, recipients all at once was a colossal temptation for Slughorn.
Kyle wasn't afraid at all that Horace wouldn't take the bait.
When the new school year began, Kyle would be in his fourth year, while the other three Father-Troublers would be in their sixth year.
In other words, if Slughorn came to Hogwarts two years later, among the four Order of Merlin, Second Class, holders, Kyle would be the only one left.
The other three would have already graduated.
"Dad," Kyle turned to the white-bearded old man beside him, "where did Dad Gellert go?"
Hearing Kyle's question, Dumbledore twitched his lips and glanced toward another tent not far from them. "Over there."
Following Dumbledore's line of sight, Kyle saw that tent, along with the moving magical creature patterns embroidered on it.
Good grief!
If Kyle wasn't mistaken, that had to be...
Crack! Bang!
Clatter, clatter!
A burst of commotion echoed from within that tent, and a massive dark shadow slowly loomed behind it.
Accompanied by an earth-shattering thud of hooves, a magical beast roughly three to four meters tall that resembled a rhinoceros tore through the tent and charged out aggressively.
The gray-haired old master Newt was chasing madly behind it in a total panic, clutching a small briefcase.
"Erumpent! Come back!"
Through the hole torn in the tent, Kyle clearly caught sight of his old man's figure.
At this very moment, he was standing at the edge of the hole, a gloating smile plastered across his face.
Mrs. Scamander was pointing her wand at him in a fit of exasperated rage, but Grindelwald didn't pay her the slightest bit of mind.
The suddenly appearing Erumpent instantly caused total chaos across the entire campsite. If Dumbledore hadn't been unable to watch any longer and stepped in to help Newt subdue the Erumpent—which had been named Dolysek—there was no telling how many tents would have suffered.
Bound tightly with iron chains, the Erumpent was quickly drawn back into the briefcase by old master Newt.
Ten seconds later, Scrimgeour, the Head of the Auror Office who resembled an old lion, appeared with over a dozen Aurors.
After piecing together the cause of the incident, Scrimgeour felt utterly exhausted at heart.
Who could afford to provoke a great Demon King like Grindelwald?
But they couldn't just head back empty-handed either; if they didn't bring back a culprit to settle the score, Fudge would gather them all again later and put on a live performance of The Minister's Rage.
So, they dragged Newt Scamander away, while simultaneously confiscating old master Newt's briefcase.
Looking at his wicked father who was seizing the opportunity to ruthlessly retaliate against Newt, Kyle truly didn't have the face to keep watching, covering his face as he walked away.
He had better go find the other Father-Troublers and have some fun instead.
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