Because Ginny had opened the Chamber of Secrets under Voldemort's influence, the Weasleys arrived at Hogwarts at noon.
They had come to understand the full sequence of events regarding the Chamber of Secrets incident and to visit Ginny, who was currently staying in the Hospital Wing.
When Ron encountered his parents at the entrance to the infirmary on the second floor of the castle, he was momentarily stunned.
Subsequently, Ron and his companion, Harry, learned from the Weasleys that the one who opened the Chamber was indeed Ginny, who had been bewitched by Voldemort.
"Ginny, do you mean to say you were being controlled by a diary?"
Inside the Hospital Wing, Harry's eyes widened in disbelief. Ginny gave a timid nod.
"Was that diary black and all tattered?"
Harry immediately recalled the time he had accidentally wandered into Knockturn Alley and encountered the Malfoys at Borgin and Burkes, the Dark Arts shop. He remembered that among the pile of Dark Arts items Lucius Malfoy had been trying to get rid of, there was just such a notebook.
Hearing Harry's words, Mr. Weasley's face registered a look of utter shock. "Harry, you've seen it?!"
Harry nodded and proceeded to recount his experiences at Borgin and Burkes to the Weasleys.
Mr. Weasley instantly remembered the dispute he'd had with Lucius at Flourish and Blotts that afternoon. He remembered clearly that Lucius Malfoy had thrown a stack of books back into the cauldron in Ginny's hands.
That was it. Lucius must have used that moment to slip Voldemort's diary inside.
Enraged, Mrs. Weasley slammed her fist onto the nightstand beside the hospital bed, the force causing the vase sitting on top to rattle and nearly fall off.
"Lucius Malfoy! One day, I'm going to make him pay!"
Realizing she might be frightening the children, Mrs. Weasley instantly reined in her anger. However, her expression remained incredibly grim.
As the Savior Trio stepped out of the Hospital Wing, their faces still bore traces of disbelief.
"Now that the diary is missing, could Malfoy have taken it back?" Harry asked.
Hermione walked hurriedly toward the library. "All the more reason for us to uncover the truth of what happened."
Madam Pince, the librarian, was a thin, irritable woman who looked very much like a malnourished vulture. At this moment, she was eyeing the "troublemaker" from the Dumbledore family with a look of extreme wariness.
Kyle was a frequent visitor to the Restricted Section. Even back when he was a first-year student, he often entered and exited the Restricted Section with permission slips signed by Snape.
Madam Pince was vigilant every time Kyle arrived. Many of the books in the Restricted Section were not meant for young wizards of Kyle's age; in every sense, they were quite "unsuitable for children."
However, Kyle's surname left Madam Pince somewhat helpless. She could only choose to report the matter to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore, however, did not stop Kyle's behavior. With Grindelwald around, it was impossible to keep Kyle from coming into contact with forbidden knowledge. Therefore, Dumbledore simply asked Madam Pince to keep an eye on him and record the titles of every book Kyle borrowed from the Restricted Section to report back to him.
As a result, Madam Pince had learned to turn a blind eye to Kyle's actions. But what she hadn't expected was that Kyle would actually bring another student along today.
Madam Pince was furious. Was the Restricted Section a place they could just enter whenever they pleased? Even if your name is Dumbledore...
Well, being a Dumbledore apparently meant you could do whatever you wanted. She reluctantly stepped aside.
After entering the Restricted Section, Kyle and Cedric searched through the rows of bookshelves.
"I remember seeing a book called Magical Bloodlines here," Kyle said, scratching his head. "But I forgot where I put it. It should be around these two rows; the cover is blood-red."
"Blood-red... blood-red..." Cedric muttered, his eyes scanning the densely packed books on the shelves.
Soon, he found his target among a row of books. A book with a blood-red cover was quite hard to miss.
Blowing off the dust, Cedric looked at the four fading gold-leaf characters for "Magical Bloodlines" on the cover and flashed a delighted smile. "Kyle, I found it."
As the two of them headed out of the Restricted Section with the book, they happened to run into Miss Beaver.
"Hermione, what book are you looking for?" Kyle asked.
The Restricted Section was a rather dangerous place for Hermione, as many of the forbidden books kept there carried curses. While they weren't particularly powerful curses, Hermione was not proficient in the Dark Arts; if she wasn't careful, she could easily fall victim to one.
For Hermione's safety, Kyle decided it was best to help her find what she needed.
"Uh, I'm looking for Moste Potente Potions. I want to look up the recipe for the Polyjuice Potion."
Hearing Hermione's words, Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you just ask me for the recipe? Why go through all this trouble?"
Hermione froze, and then her face quickly slumped.
How had she not thought of that?
Among the many advanced potions, the Polyjuice Potion wasn't particularly difficult to brew; it just took a long time to simmer. Given Kyle's learning speed, Snape must have taught him how to brew it long ago.
Asking Kyle directly for the recipe was the simplest and most convenient method, yet she had taken a giant detour to run to the Restricted Section?
Looking at the disgruntled expression on the "Little Beaver's" face, Kyle smiled and turned back into the Restricted Section. When he emerged again, he held a thick, large book that looked somewhat moldy.
"Here."
Hermione took the book dazed.
A moment later, the five of them split into two small groups, gathering in the library's reading area to look over their respective books.
Kyle and Cedric were focused on studying the feasibility of the methods for fusing magical creature bloodlines recorded in Magical Bloodlines, as well as the brewing process for the Bloodline Fusion Potion.
Meanwhile, the Savior Trio was pondering where they could possibly get the ingredients needed for the Polyjuice Potion.
"Horn of a Bicorn, Boomslang skin..." Hermione sighed. "Where on earth are we going to get these things?!"
Kyle, who had been silently reading, looked up.
"I know Snape has a private potion storeroom. You can blow it open with a Blasting Curse."
The smile on Kyle's face was wickedly sharp. "As long as you control the power of the curse, you can open the storeroom door without damaging the potion ingredients."
From Kyle's tone, it sounded as though he was quite experienced in such matters, as if he had done it before.
In truth, Kyle had never done such a thing. As a "filthy rich" individual, he never lacked potion ingredients during his studies. The ingredients Alfred casually stocked in the storeroom at Akina Manor were several times more numerous than what Snape had painstakingly saved up over half his life.
One could only call it the disparity of the capitalist world.
Since he had no interest in the ingredients Snape had stored, there was no need for Kyle to provoke the "Old Bat's" nerves.
But now... he was simply acting on a mischievous whim.
Kyle really wanted to see what kind of expression Snape would make when he discovered that his beloved Harry Potter had blown open his second-most beloved potion storeroom.
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