A massive crowd swarmed into Flourish and Blotts after finishing their shopping for dress robes.
Inside, Kyle ran into the Granger family once again. For a studious "little beaver" like Hermione, eighty percent of her time in Diagon Alley was spent leafing through various magical tomes in the bookstore.
After a brief greeting, Kyle and Konan retreated to the area outside the crowded shop to wait.
Kyle had no intention of buying books; he had already finished reading the textbooks for the next six years of Hogwarts during the summer break after his second year. Nowadays, he didn't even bother bringing books to class. The material taught by the professors wasn't particularly helpful to him anymore; he only attended their lectures out of a sense of obligation to save them some face.
As for Professor Binns, who couldn't remember a name to save his life, Kyle hadn't attended a single History of Magic lesson since the day he officially became a Hogwarts student. In the past, he would leave a puppet there to keep up appearances, but now he didn't even bother to fake it.
If Kyle could master the Shadow Clone Jutsu, his true self would likely never be seen in a classroom again.
Standing at the entrance of Flourish and Blotts, Kyle felt a faint, flickering gaze spying on him. This gaze didn't feel like it belonged to the Acolytes under Grindelwald; their methods of concealment were far too sophisticated to let Kyle notice anything unusual.
Furthermore, Kyle's sharp intuition was more akin to the Nine-Tails' Malice Sensing—it acted as a sort of "scent" for ill intent. Ordinary glances—for instance, someone looking at him a few extra times because he was handsome—wouldn't trigger his malice perception. If it did, Kyle's head would have exploded long ago from the sheer number of girls ogling him at Hogwarts.
Without letting any outward sign of suspicion show, Kyle lightly squeezed Konan's hand.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I sense hostility. Keep an eye on the others for me," Kyle said, gesturing with his chin toward the group inside the bookstore. "I'm going to find the source of that malice."
Konan gave a barely perceptible nod. "I'll look after them."
In a dim side alley, Kyle's figure emerged soundlessly. He feigned a casual stroll while conducting his search.
After searching Diagon Alley for a good while, he finally narrowed down the approximate location of the hostility to this specific alleyway. Climbing onto rooftops was second nature for a ninja. Once he confirmed the gaze was no longer locked onto him, Kyle scaled the roof in a few quick movements, performed a tactical flanking maneuver, and crept up behind his target.
However, when he descended back into the alley, he found nothing there except for a skeletal black dog.
This wasn't right. He had clearly felt it.
In the silence of the alley, the boy and the dog stared at each other for a long moment.
An Animagus!
Kyle suddenly realized. There was, after all, a method in the wizarding world that allowed humans to transform into animals.
The black dog suddenly lunged toward Kyle.
Oh? You're actually approaching me?
Instead of running away, you're charging right at me?
You spent all that time peeping at me like a certain Great Hero from the Hidden Leaf Village looking for "research" material, and yet you still haven't realized who I am? You don't know I'm a recipient of the Order of Merlin, Second Class, and the Third Generation Dark Lord?
Who gave you the courage to charge at me?
In that case, you might as well get a little closer.
Kyle's body erupted with brilliant blue sparks of lightning.
Lightning Release: Heavy Violent Overdrive!
"Ora!"
A flash of lightning streaked through the air, followed by the agonized howl of the black dog echoing through the alley.
"Let's see your true face," Kyle said, drawing his wand from his sleeve. "Revelio!"
The body of the black dog, which had several broken ribs, began to twist and contort on the ground before finally transforming into a man.
A mass of filthy, matted hair hung down to his elbows. Eyes that were sunken deep into dark sockets looked dull and lifeless, and his waxy skin was stretched so tight over his facial structure that he looked like a walking skeleton.
Kyle recognized that face. A wanted poster featuring it was currently plastered on the wall right next to the alley: Sirius Black.
"I was actually planning on looking for you," Kyle said, flicking his wrist to bind Sirius with a Shadow Bind. "I didn't expect you to deliver yourself right to my door."
Ignoring Kyle, Sirius struggled frantically, trying with all his might to break the shadow restraints. He roared deliriously, "I still have things to finish! I have to kill him!"
Kyle directly rewarded him with a Cruciatus Curse to shut him up. One didn't need to be overly gentle when dealing with a criminal of this caliber.
Once the effects of the curse faded, Sirius's tattered prison uniform was soaked with sweat. Even so, he still had the strength to spit venomously toward Kyle. "You despicable brat! You cursed offspring of a Death Eater!"
Kyle was taken aback. A brat?
If Dumbledore and Grindelwald heard that, they would likely skin Sirius alive. And since when had he become the "offspring of a Death Eater"?
After another flash of the Cruciatus Curse, Kyle suddenly realized the problem. What "normal" Hogwarts student would use the Cruciatus Curse to torture someone like he did?
The fact that the three Unforgivable Curses were as easy as breathing for him was one thing, but Kyle had even tamed the notoriously difficult Fiendfyre. After all, that was the traditional "family art" of the Grindelwalds.
But! Not everyone possessed talent comparable to the son of a Dark Lord. Nor were all parents so insane as to let their child immerse themselves in the Dark Arts at the age of twelve or thirteen. Only Dark Wizards whose minds had already been eroded by dark magic would raise their descendants that way.
In the British wizarding world, "Death Eater" was essentially synonymous with "Dark Wizard," which was why Sirius was hurling such insults.
Wait, wasn't Sirius Black a Death Eater himself? Wasn't he just insulting himself too?
Pushing his confusion aside for a moment, Kyle stepped on Sirius's broken ribs, grinding his foot down.
"Don't you dare compare me to those sewer-dwelling cockroaches. My name is Kyle Grindelwald! My fathers are Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald!"
A black beetle perched on the wall nearby began to tremble violently.
The shock Sirius felt far outweighed the pain in his ribs; for a moment, he even forgot to scream.
"How... how can you prove who you are?"
"I don't need to prove my identity to a prisoner like you," Kyle replied, his tone dripping with disdain and contempt. Seeing Sirius struggling to speak, he stepped on him again, pinning him to the ground. "Save your words for the Aurors at the Ministry."
"No! I was framed! The one who caused the Potters' deaths twelve years ago was someone else!"
Kyle pulled his foot back. "Oh?"
Now it was his turn to be skeptical.
"I heard from old man Albus that the Potters chose you as their Secret-Keeper twelve years ago. If it wasn't you who leaked their location to Voldemort..."
"The Secret-Keeper wasn't me!" Sirius shrieked desperately. "I thought I was being clever by switching the Secret-Keeper to Peter Pettigrew! It ended up getting James and Lily killed!"
Tears shimmered in his eyes. "Peter Pettigrew is the traitor who deserves to be struck by lightning!"
Kyle rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. There were many ways to verify whether Sirius was telling the truth—the simplest being Veritaserum, followed by Legilimency. There was no reason for Sirius to lie to him.
If that was the case, was Sirius telling the truth?
In that case... when Sirius said he wanted to kill someone earlier, he wasn't talking about Harry, but someone else?
The most likely candidate was... Peter Pettigrew? But wasn't he blown to pieces by Sirius years ago, leaving nothing but a finger?
The truth was becoming increasingly muddled.
Whatever. Once I pour some Veritaserum down his throat, everything will come to light.
Kyle looked down and began rummaging through his ninja tool pouch for the potion, intent on testing the veracity of Sirius's claims.
Just as his attention flickered, the man on the ground suddenly transformed back into the black dog. He broke free from the Shadow Bind and lunged violently...
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