Without wandering around the campsite for too long, Kyle soon tracked down the other three Father-Troublers.
Specifically, he mainly located George and Fred.
Finding those two was remarkably simple: just look for whichever spot in the campsite was the liveliest—and where the occasional explosion echoed—and those two demolition maniacs were guaranteed to be right there.
When Kyle caught up with the brothers near the small woods on the outer edge of the campsite, Fred was exchanging thoughts on the art of explosions with Harry's roommate, Seamus Finnigan.
Judging by the sleazy—er, excited—expressions on their faces, the conversation between the two was yielding rich rewards.
George, on the other hand, was lurking in the shadow of a tree, hawking some of the small alchemical gadgets he had made to Hogwarts students.
Though it was a completely legal and fair trade, their overall appearance from afar made them look like a gang of mobsters conducting covert, illegal transactions.
Kyle paid no mind to the brothers, who had completely cut loose upon arriving at the World Cup campsite, and walked straight over to Cedric instead.
At that moment, Cedric and Cho Chang were lying side by side on the soft lawn, chatting happily, with the surrounding air oozing a thick, sour stench of romance.
As they chatted, Cedric suddenly noticed that the sky had gone dark.
Shifting his gaze back slightly, he saw that it was Kyle's body blocking the sun.
Both of them sat up.
"I need you for something," Kyle offered Cho Chang a polite smile before turning to Cedric. "We might be getting a new Potions teacher next term."
"Oh?" Cedric raised an eyebrow, a flicker of interest surfacing on his face.
Originally, their Hufflepuff House had no grievances with Snape; even though Hufflepuff shared a great relationship with Gryffindor, Snape had no reason to extend his hatred to them.
Furthermore, Hufflepuff's Potions classes were taken together with Ravenclaw. With two peaceful, uncompetitive houses paired up, Snape had even less cause to target them.
Thus, in the past, the Potions classes between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff enjoyed a very harmonious relationship between teacher and students.
However, that was strictly in the past.
Ever since a certain little Demon King arrived at Hogwarts and led their Father-Troublers to sever one of Snape's arms, Hufflepuff had landed straight onto Snape's inner grudge ledger.
Consequently, during Potions class, Hufflepuff was doomed.
The treatment the little Badgers suffered was second only to their Gryffindor rivals across the way.
If they could swap for a new Potions professor, that would be wonderful news for Hufflepuff.
Seeing Cedric's interest, Kyle continued his explanation: "At present, our prospective Potions professor hasn't accepted Dumbledore's invitation yet."
"If he agrees, Snape will take up the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"He plans to host a party after the World Cup final tonight and invited me to attend. I intend to bring you guys along."
Cedric didn't agree immediately. Instead, he tilted his head, a trace of curiosity in his eyes. "If he were just a Potions professor, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't need you to personally step in, would he?"
Kyle spread his hands. "He has clues regarding the Horcruxes."
After a moment's thought, Kyle added, "Plus, he has a celebrity-collecting habit and is exceptionally obsessed with teaching outstanding students."
With that explanation, Cedric instantly understood.
No wonder Professor Dumbledore wanted Kyle to step in personally, but...
"Why don't you just kidnap him, then use Veritaserum or Legilimency on him?"
Hearing Cedric's completely unvarnished bandit approach, Cho Chang beside him nearly burst out laughing, though she managed to hold it in.
Kyle's face darkened, and lunging forward, he put Cedric in a headlock, viciously gripping the throat of Cedric's destiny. "Am I the kind of person who resorts to violence at the slightest disagreement? I've always persuaded people through reason!"
"Pfft!" This time, Cho Chang couldn't hold her laughter in at all.
Persuading people through reason?
If anyone else said that, she might have believed it.
But coming out of Kyle's mouth, it lacked even an ounce of credibility.
Unless the "reason" Kyle spoke of meant "might makes right."
Cedric tapped crossly on the arm tightly wrapped around his neck, signaling Kyle to let go.
"There must be a reason behind it for you not to make a direct move, right?"
He knew this guy all too well.
Kyle let out a helpless sigh. "Horace Slughorn is a longtime friend and former colleague of my old man. Besides, he modified his own memory; even with Veritaserum, we wouldn't be able to get any clues out of him."
Cedric coughed softly; he knew it.
The first half of what this guy said was total rubbish—forget a former friend and colleague, even if it were Albus's own younger brother Aberforth, who was Kyle's actual uncle, this guy wouldn't hesitate to play dirty.
So the real reason Kyle didn't use force was ultimately because force wouldn't yield results.
"A celebrity-collecting habit, huh? Looks like I'll have to step up after all."
Cedric's expression turned serious, and looking at Kyle, he wagged his index finger back and forth. "You won't cut it."
Having spent so much time hanging around Kyle, even model student Cedric had begun to lose his sense of shame.
How could Kyle possibly humor him? Reaching out, he delivered a swift shoulder throw, knocking Cedric senseless in an instant.
"After the match tonight, I'll take you over to Slughorn's," Kyle pulled Cedric up from the ground. "You can bring Cho along then."
After passing along Slughorn's invitation to the twin brothers as well, Kyle turned and departed.
Meanwhile, in Wiltshire, at Malfoy Manor.
Because all three members of the Malfoy family had gone to watch the Quidditch World Cup, the vast estate held nobody besides a few house-elves and the remaining Death Eaters who had been rescued from Azkaban by Snape.
Even the flock of plump, well-fed peacocks in the garden had been brought along to the World Cup campsite by Lucius to serve as decorations for their tent.
At this moment, Bellatrix sat idly in the manor garden, plucking away at the various flowers and plants Narcissa had painstakingly tended.
Due to their status as fugitives, they could not show their faces outside at all until the Dark Lord was truly resurrected.
Even personally making the trip to Albania to welcome back Voldemort was out of the question.
Because of Grindelwald's return, every country was guarding its borders with a level of strictness comparable to the Wizarding War.
Thus, these fugitives had nothing else to do besides rotting away inside Malfoy Manor.
Suddenly, as if a thought had struck her, Bellatrix's eyes lit up in an instant.
The operatives Snape had dispatched to retrieve the Dark Lord had already sent back good news from Albania—they had bypassed the defense lines of the so-called Akatsuki organization and located the Dark Lord they longed for.
Given just a little more time, they would be able to bring the Dark Lord back from Albania.
When that time came, with the manpower and resources they currently possessed, restoring the Dark Lord to full strength would pose no difficulty whatsoever.
Once the Dark Lord was resurrected, they would no longer have anything to fear.
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