"He is right not to contact you," Lupin said, shaking his head. "Even using a fireplace connected to the Floo Network for long-distance communication carries the risk of exposure."
He stared intently at Harry. "We cannot afford to let our guard down just because the Dementors stationed at Hogwarts have been eliminated."
Hearing Lupin's words, Harry nodded.
Speaking of Dementors, he suddenly remembered the search they conducted on the Hogwarts Express on the first day of term.
Due to the experience of his parents being murdered right before his eyes all those years ago, Harry's resistance to Dementors was practically zero.
In this regard, he deeply envied Kyle.
To be able to use magic to construct such a towering giant... the Dementors, who seemed utterly terrifying to Harry, were nothing more than meat on a chopping block in Kyle's hands.
Regrettably, he had passed out that day and hadn't been able to witness Kyle displaying his awesome might atop the Hogwarts Express.
He had heard from Hermione that the giant-creating magic Kyle used was constructed through the dual-casting of the Patronus Charm and the Shield Charm, reshaping their forms simultaneously.
The Shield Charm wasn't particularly difficult. Even Harry, back in his second year when he studied alongside the straight-A trio led by Kyle, had been able to master it after a bit of practice.
The biggest problem was the Patronus Charm. It was a highly advanced piece of defensive light magic, one that many adult wizards failed to master.
Yet Kyle had not only mastered it, but had also managed to modify and upgrade it.
The outside world treated Harry as the Savior of the British wizarding world, but in Harry's eyes, Kyle was the one far better suited for the title.
Putting everything else aside, just looking at sheer strength, a hundred Harrys wouldn't stand a chance against Kyle alone.
They were peers of the same age, both receiving a compulsory Hogwarts education, so why was Kyle so exceptionally outstanding?
Remembering Kyle's surname, Harry felt he had found part of the answer.
Professor Dumbledore must have given him private lessons during the holidays.
Harry suddenly wished he had someone to give him private lessons, too.
Harry didn't dare to dream that mastering the Patronus Charm would allow him to pilot a Gundam like Kyle and slaughter Dementors like pigs; he would be satisfied as long as he was no longer utterly defenseless against them.
Originally, the most suitable candidate to give him private lessons would have been his godfather, Sirius Black.
But right now, Sirius had a mountain of his own problems to deal with, so how could he possibly give Harry private lessons?
Fortunately, Harry had another option right in front of him.
He sat up a little straighter and looked at Lupin with a determined gaze.
"Professor Lupin, the Patronus Charm can deal with Dementors, right? The magic you and Hermione cast on the Hogwarts Express to drive them away."
Lupin nodded. "Mm, yes."
"Could you teach me?" Harry knew his request was a bit presumptuous, but he couldn't think of anyone better suited than Lupin.
He could hardly go to Hermione or Kyle and beg one of them to teach him magic, could he?
Seeing the determined look on Harry's face, Lupin hesitated for a moment before nodding and agreeing.
Meanwhile, in a mysterious room, Kyle was staring intently at an old, faded diadem resting on the head of a wizard's bust in front of him.
"Is this thing really one of Voldemort's Horcruxes?" Cedric asked curiously, standing beside him.
Kyle didn't answer immediately. Instead, he slipped his wand out of his sleeve and poked the diadem.
The moment the wand tip, gleaming with magical light, touched the diadem inset with its massive gemstone, a surge of thick, oily black mist erupted from it.
The mist faintly coalesced into a noseless face, shrieking piercingly as it lunged toward the four Dads' Nightmares.
Upon seeing this face, the suspicion in Kyle's heart solidified into absolute certainty.
Twenty-four ribs made of pure, ethereal blue energy materialized from the void, blocking the suddenly approaching ugly face.
Then, as if a meteorite had slammed into the earth from the heavens, a shockwave of transparent air erupted within the room, and the dense black mist was instantly scattered by the gale.
A fist descended from above, smashing the wizard's bust wearing the diadem, along with the massive pile of junk around it, directly into fine dust.
The Susanoo slowly withdrew its fist.
Once the dust cleared, the pile of junk before the four Dads' Nightmares had been forcefully and physically flattened into two dimensions.
Yet, in the middle of the crater, the old, faded diadem remained completely unscathed.
"Barring any surprises, it definitely is," Kyle said.
Horcruxes were not so easily destroyed. Anything that could take a direct punch from his Susanoo and remain undamaged was without a doubt a Horcrux.
Talk about hardcore quality assurance!
"Let's take this thing to Professor Dumbledore," George said. With a twitch of his fingers, he flicked out several threads condensed from pure magic, accurately wrapping them around the diadem in the center of the crater.
He didn't dare touch it directly with his hands; God only knew what kind of nasty curses Voldemort might have placed on it.
With a dual barrier composed of the Patronus Charm and the Shield Charm enveloping his hands, Kyle took the diadem George passed to him.
A flash of Scourgify cleared away the dust on the diadem, but it still looked old and worn.
Kyle turned the crown over in his hands. Engraved along the bottom edge was Ravenclaw's famous motto: "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."
"This must be Ravenclaw's diadem. I can't believe Voldemort actually turned it into a Horcrux," Fred said in surprise.
Every single second, the diadem in his hands emitted a mind-boggling, alluring power, enticing Kyle to place it upon his own head.
Kyle blinked, his eyes transforming into the one-tomoe Sharingan, instantly breaking the hypnotic charm.
Only then did he look up and survey his surroundings.
The place they currently stood in looked to be the size of a cathedral.
The landscape around them resembled a city, with towering walls built from the hidden belongings of thousands of long-departed students.
This room had been discovered just that morning. George and Fred had been pulling a prank in the castle when they ran right into the old bat, Snape. In their panic to find a hiding spot, they stumbled upon it.
After multiple tests, they discovered the magical functions of the Room of Requirement, and figured this could become a secret base for the Dads' Nightmares in the future.
So, the two of them had brought Kyle and Cedric over.
As it turned out, the moment Cedric stepped into the room, he detected a faint, fleeting fluctuation of Dark Magic.
Ever since fusing with the bloodline of the Hydra, Cedric's perception of Dark Magic fluctuations had reached an unprecedented level of sensitivity.
It was even more powerful than the sensory abilities Kyle had honed during his five years in New York.
After all, Kyle's perception was developed through training, which couldn't compare to Cedric's, which was a natural instinct born from physical modification.
Although the fluctuation was very weak, it was undeniably evil.
Following the ripples in the air, Cedric quickly found the source of the aura—the old, tarnished diadem.
Kyle thrust the diadem right under Cedric's dog nose... no, snake nose.
Cedric's snake nose was actually sharper than a dog's now.
"Ced, can you smell any other traces of Dark Magic?"
Veins popped on Cedric's temples. Was this bastard treating him like a hound?
"Screw off! I'm not a hunting dog!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."
Despite his words, Kyle relentlessly kept shoving the diadem toward Cedric's nostrils.
Two venomous snakes slithered out from Cedric's sleeves, biting viciously toward Kyle's arm.
The sound of shattering teeth echoed in the room.
In order to safely hold Voldemort's Horcrux, Kyle's hands were currently protected by several defensive spells.
Even if it were the Basilisk, Shinga, coming at him...
Well, that would probably bite right through.
Seeing signs that Cedric was about to fly into a rage, Kyle reluctantly withdrew his hand.
"Are you sure there's no other Dark Magic aura left?"
"Positive!" Cedric said crossly.
"Alright then, let's go find Dumbledore."
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