Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Humility is good, and caution is not wrong, but those are things to consider later. You can certainly perform better now."
Professor Oren seemed to genuinely consider this a classroom, speaking earnestly, "After all, given your age, who would really consider an eleven-year-old freshman an opponent?"
Kyle continued walking forward without speaking.
Professor Oren didn't seem to mind, continuing, "I've finished speaking. Now it's your turn. Tell me, when did you discover it?"
Kyle blinked, "Discovered what? I don't understand what you mean, Professor."
"If this is your answer..." Professor Oren suddenly stopped, coldly saying, "Then there's no need for us to move forward any further."
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Even Kanna, who was focused on finding Pochi, vaguely sensed something was amiss and involuntarily moved closer to Kyle.
"As a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with a one-year term, I don't doubt you; you're the one with the problem,"
Kyle shrugged. "Everyone knows it's a cursed position. Most professors who take it end up either injured and sent to St. Mungo's or Azkaban.
Some are even less fortunate and don't go to either.
Even those professors who survive to the end of the term have to resign for various reasons.
Now it's the end of the term, and you haven't had any accidents or resigned, so there must be something wrong with your identity."
"You're not wrong about that, tsk tsk… a cursed position."
Professor Oren sighed. "I used to quite like being a professor, but unfortunately, my identity has been discovered. I just got word that the Ministry of Magic is on their way.
Those good-for-nothings probably never imagined I was hiding in Hogwarts; they've been looking for me for so long."
When he mentioned the Ministry of Magic, Oren's eyes were full of disdain.
"Wait, you mean the Ministry of Magic isn't looking for the Winged Devil, but you!"
"Of course it's me."
Oren mocked, "Think about it, is a magical creature worth all this commotion? What they want is what I have."
"What is it..." Kyle asked instinctively,
"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Oren teased, "If you want to hear it, I can tell you."
"Uh...no." Kyle came to his senses and chuckled dryly, "Actually, I'm not that curious."
For the Ministry of Magic to go to such lengths for half a year, it must involve something extraordinary, and he didn't want to get involved.
Hearing this, even the slow-witted Kanna realized what was going on. She looked at Oren in disbelief and instinctively drew her wand.
"Don't be so nervous, Miss Prince." Oren didn't seem to care about her little action and instead looked towards a tree on his left.
"Oh, look what I've found."
He flicked his wand, and the fallen leaves on the ground began to wriggle, coiling around a gray-furred mouse clinging to a tree root like snakes.
"Pochi!"
Kanna cried out, her wand trembling as she held out her wand. "Let it go…"
"I'll give you one last lesson."
Oren didn't even glance at Kanna, pointing his wand at the mouse. "If you want to determine if the animal in front of you is an Animagus, the Reveal Charm is the best option."
"Homenum Revelio!"
The wand emitted a beam of blue light, and in an instant, the mouse froze in mid-air, its small gray body writhing wildly.
Oren waved his wand again, scattering leaves and the mouse falling to the ground, followed by another dazzling flash...
like a fast-forwarded shot of a tree growing, a head appeared, then limbs, and moments later, a hunchbacked and ugly witch appeared out of thin air.
The witch's hunched posture made her appear very short, and her sparse, dull hair was messy, completely covering her large, ugly hooked nose.
Kanna stared at the old witch before her, stunned once more. She stretched out her hand and stammered, "She... Pochi... Po..."
"So your name is Pochi, nice to meet you," Oren said cheerfully, as if he had just met a new friend at a banquet.
"Damn it! " The witch was furious. She pulled out a thick, short wand and glared fiercely at Oren. "I'll kill you! Kill you!"
Her voice was hoarse, like a rusty lawnmower sawing wood.
As she spoke, a purple beam shot from the witch's wand, heading straight for Oren's chest.
A perfect opportunity…
Taking advantage of the witch's attack, Kyle swiftly pulled two flying brooms from his shapeshifting lizard skin pouch and shoved one into Kanna's hands.
"Let's go find Professor McGonagall!"
After a brief moment of surprise, Kanna understood Kyle's meaning and quickly mounted the broom, flying into the sky.
After she left, Kyle didn't follow, but casually tossed the broken broom aside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the other side, facing the witch's spell, Oren simply turned slightly to dodge it, then chuckled and raised his wand as well.
"Avada Kedavra!" A ghastly green light grazed the witch's ear and struck a small spider passing by behind her.
The unfortunate spider instantly stiffened.
The witch, having narrowly escaped death, was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
After all this, Oren turned around and saw Kyle throwing the broom.
"You always manage to surprise me."
"You said before..." Kyle smiled, "Always keep a flying broom handy, it can save your life."
"Hufflepuff plus fifty points." Oren smiled back, "That's the highest score I can decide."
He ignored Kanna, who had already left, and let her disappear from sight.
"Kyle, you didn't seem surprised at all just now, or did you already know that the rat was an Animagus?"
After Kanna left, Kyle felt much more relaxed. He stretched his stiff shoulders and nodded, "I did guess a little." "
Ever since Kanna mentioned Pochi was sick, he'd had his suspicions.
Then, during the Quidditch match, he used the Marauder's Map to memorize the names of those who were still in the common room.
One of those names wasn't on Hufflepuff's roster.
But at this point, Kyle was still just suspicious; after all, the fact that there were two Animagus rats in the castle was a bit too far-fetched for him to believe.
What if someone had just visited Hufflepuff that day? It wasn't impossible.
So Kyle had been looking through the rosters of the other three houses.
So far, only Slytherin's remained unchecked.
But… it wasn't necessary.
"Since you know, why don't you say so?" Oren raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you worried about that little girl's safety?"
"Then why did you bring us to the Forbidden Forest?" Kyle shrugged. "This is Hogwarts, do you think she'd dare?"
Oren chuckled. "Looks like you're smarter than I thought."
His expression quickly turned cold as he said to the witch slumped on the ground, "Kill that boy, and you'll live."
So the fight's starting?
Kyle smiled slightly, touching the ring on his hand.
But the next second, Oren's voice came again.
"You probably have some escape methods, but I advise you to wait. Remember my winged devil? Guess where it is right now."
Kyle's pupils contracted. "You..."
In that brief moment of hesitation, the rat witch's spell had already arrived.
Kyle quickly leaned back, a rather unseemly movement, but thankfully he dodged it.
The deep purple spell struck a tree behind him, instantly corroding a large section of the trunk.
"Ten minutes,"
Oren placed an hourglass on a nearby stone, muttering to himself, "The winged devil will be back in ten minutes. Good luck."
Ten minutes, huh? Fine!
Kyle gritted his teeth, looking at the large fireball hurtling towards him, and turned to run deeper into the Forbidden Forest, hoping to use the dense undergrowth to avoid the witch's spell.
This isn't fair .
Kyle cursed inwardly as he ran wildly through the woods.
Why did Harry Potter always encounter Quirrell, his natural enemy, or Lockhart, who was a bit dim-witted, but with him, it was Oren, a man more cunning than a honeycomb briquette?
Why?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, seeing several of her spells miss, the Rat Witch grew anxious, her chanting speed noticeably increasing.
Oren's earlier words were also directed at her; if Kyle was still alive in ten minutes, she would be dead.
"Petricus totalus!"
"Stupefy!"
"Confringo!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyle ran ahead, the witch desperately chasing.
But as she ran, her legs suddenly gave way, as if she were walking on water, and she lost her balance, falling uncontrollably.
At that moment, Kyle stopped, quickly turning around and pointing his wand at a large tree beside the witch.
"Spongify!"
The treetop trembled, and the once straight tree instantly softened. The supple trunk, under the force of gravity, plied like noodles, crashing down upon the witch.
The softening charm only made the object soft, but its weight remained unchanged.
Seeing a tree as thick as a millstone crashing down on her, the witch turned pale with fright and scrambled to escape.
Kyle waved his wand, and several branches floated up from the ground. Then, the branches twisted and turned into sharp stone spikes that flew towards the witch.
The witch saw Kyle's actions and screamed in fury, "Protego..."
"Boom!"
But just then, with a deafening roar, the tree finally crashed down.
Countless birds scattered in terror at the loud noise.
When the dust settled, a large crater remained in the ground.
The witch lay in the crater, howling in agony.
One of her arms was pinned under the tree, and a stone spike was still embedded in her leg; she was completely incapacitated.
The battle started quickly and ended even faster, leaving even Oren somewhat incredulous.
That witch was useless, but she was still an adult wizard who had mastered Animagus magic, right? It was over just like that?
If Kyle had used a whole bunch of advanced spells, Oren could accept it.
But the problem was, Kyle only used five spells from beginning to end, and all of them were the simplest kind.
Two softening spells, a levitation spell, a basic transfiguration, and a banishing charm—almost any junior wizard could do that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyle wasn't particularly surprised; after all, he had spent two weeks reading that biography of a dueling master; he couldn't have learned nothing.
Setting traps, using the terrain, using simple spells—these were just basic dueling techniques.
Besides, that witch was really weak; look at the spells she used…
aside from the Blasting spell, Stupefication and Petrification were all below the third year level. The only slightly difficult one was the fifth-year Explosion spell.
Besides, she wasn't very bright; she fell for his act easily. Kyle was even starting to suspect that her Animagus was bought.
Of course, if there was a place to buy it.
"Expelliarmus."
Kyle walked over and put the short wand into his robe pocket.
"Clap clap clap... Hufflepuff, another fifty points." Oren clapped his hands, pointed the wand at Kyle, and said, "So, do you need me to give you time to escape?"
"Professor Oren..." Kyle stood still, puzzled, "Why are you targeting me? Even if I took one of your Billiwig bugs, it's not a crime... I can just return ten to you."
"..."
Oren's hand holding the wand trembled slightly.
"It has nothing to do with that." He gritted his teeth and said, "Who told you to be Chris' son? If it weren't for his meddling back then, I wouldn't be where I am today… Wait, you're stalling for time?
Tsk tsk, do you really expect those idiots in the Ministry of Magic to save you?"
"I am indeed stalling for time, but not waiting for someone to come and save me." Kyle looked directly at Oren and said, "I have another question. Why do you think I let Kanna leave?"
"Your so-called friendship?"
"One aspect." Kyle shrugged. "Also, there are some things on me that are not suitable for her to see."
"What… Ah!"
Oren suddenly screamed. He felt as if something had bitten his leg, and then he instantly lost all feeling in it.
"Expelliarmus!"
A red light shot out from Kyle's wand.
Oren endured the excruciating pain and rolled forward to dodge Kyle's disarming spell. At the same time, he saw clearly what had bitten him.
Two round cabbages.
"Damn it!" Oren gritted his teeth and said, "How could there be Biting Cabbages in the Forbidden Forest!"
"Of course I brought them," Kyle said, casting another disarming spell. "Hogwarts is too dangerous. Even Hagrid was ambushed. It's reasonable for a defenseless little wizard like me to carry something for self-defense."
[End of the chapter]