The wheels skimmed across a soft sea of clouds as they flew. Under the reflection of the dazzling daylight, the sky was a brilliant, boundless azure.
"Now we just have to watch out for Muggle anti-aircraft guns," Ron said.
Back when Kyle was staying at the Burrow, Ron had heard him describe these Muggle anti-defense weapons at the dinner table.
Harry leaned excitedly against the car window, staring down at the white clouds below.
"If you're worried about getting shot down, maybe you could turn it into a tank?"
"Great idea."
Hearing this, Ron reached out and slammed a red button on the center console. The Ford sedan immediately began to clatter and transform.
In an instant, the civilian car morphed in mid-air into a fierce, domineering armored heavy tank.
The transparent window glass in front of Harry vanished, replaced by a thick armor plate that blocked his view of the outside scenery.
However, after Ron fiddled with the controls on the console for a moment, Harry could see outside again.
This was a simple bit of magic that projected the outside view into the completely sealed tank cabin, using a principle similar to the enchanted ceiling of the Hogwarts Great Hall.
Harry and Ron looked at each other and began to laugh, unable to stop for a long time.
The cabin was filled with the scent of "calcium" (brotherly bonding).
"If Malfoy saw us driving a magical flying tank, he'd definitely be jealous!" Ron said.
Draco Malfoy would certainly be jealous, though what he'd be jealous of might not be exactly what Ron had in mind.
Even though they had gone through the ordeal of raising Norbert the dragon together last semester, the friction between the Weasleys and the Malfoys had not eased.
Harry, for his part, didn't bicker with Draco quite as much anymore.
In the beginning, Draco had indeed wanted to be friends with him.
But because Ron had stepped in as the "third party" and snatched Harry away, Draco's love turned to...
Well, it wasn't exactly love, but it wasn't far off.
Having turned bitter, Draco could only find alternative, bizarre ways to express his affection...
Again, not exactly affection, but it carried roughly the same meaning.
It was just like the clumsy methods used by adolescent boys and girls to attract the attention of someone they like.
So, what Draco would likely be jealous of was why the person accompanying Harry on this roller-coaster ride was Ron and not him.
Clearly, he had been there first.
When Harry first stepped into the wizarding world, the first peer he met was clearly Draco. So why did Ron end up being Harry's best bud in the end?
It wasn't fair!
It had to be a cruel joke of fate!
This was why Draco always found Ron eyesore.
Moreover, the grudge between them went deeper than that.
It could be traced back to the "love-hate" relationship between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley.
The grievances of the previous generation made it even less likely for Draco and Ron to turn their swords into plowshares.
Harry and Ron continued to fly north in the tank, descending from the clouds every so often to check the direction of the train tracks.
Each time they descended, they saw a different landscape.
First, flat green fields, then vast purple moors, and scattered villages...
When Harry and the others lowered their altitude once more, students on the Hogwarts Express finally spotted them.
"Ron, look! It's George and Fred!"
Ron glanced out the window at the two red-headed heads. "Let's pull the car closer! Say hello to them! George and Fred must be dying of envy right now!"
In reality, by the window:
"What on earth is that idiot thinking? Instead of taking the train, he stole the family car just to show off?"
George fumbled angrily in his bag. Right now, he just wanted to smash the window open and fire a "Prudential" (Ex-Wife) missile at the tank flying alongside the train.
Having painfully reflected and brushed up on his knowledge of thermal weapons, George would never let his "Ex-Wife" missile suffer an embarrassing dud like last time.
He guaranteed a single shot would send Ron to the heavens.
He believed that even if he did, his mother wouldn't show a single trace of sadness upon hearing the news.
Because given what Ron was doing right now, their mother would only regret giving birth to him.
Fred hurriedly grabbed his brother, who was so enraged he was already prying at the window.
"Calm down, George! Mom will handle him once he gets home!"
He pulled George toward the corridor. "Right now, we need to find Kyle and have him tell Headmaster Dumbledore about this."
At this time, Kyle had also noticed the tank in the sky due to the clamor from other compartments.
Good heavens! A Type 59 tank is in the sky!
"They'll be expelled!" Hermione said in disbelief. "They've broken at least fifty school rules!"
Kyle casually pulled a Two-Way Mirror from his pocket and spoke nonchalantly:
"I've broken almost every Hogwarts rule at least once, and I haven't seen myself get expelled yet."
His tone was even laced with pride.
Hannah rolled her eyes at him. "That's because you rarely get caught. They're doing this right out in the open."
"Besides, you're the most 'connected' person at Hogwarts. They could expel anyone, but they won't expel you."
Ignoring Hannah's remark, Kyle comforted the anxious Hermione:
"Don't worry. As long as Harry is in that car, Dumbledore will absolutely not expel them."
Dumbledore was still tirelessly pushing his "Savior Training Program," after all.
However, Kyle didn't quite understand Dumbledore's methods.
If he wanted Harry, the fated enemy of Voldemort, to defeat the Dark Lord, he should at least ensure Harry had sufficient strength.
Yet, Dumbledore's approach to Harry's education could be described as completely hands-off; he only arranged various trials to temper his character.
Kyle was very confused.
At this rate, how could Harry possibly win against Voldemort?
What would he fight Voldemort with?
Talk No Jutsu?
Even though Harry was the Boy Who Lived, did his Talk No Jutsu have even a tenth of Naruto's power?
Soon, Kyle contacted Dumbledore through the Two-Way Mirror.
When his "old man" heard the news, his face instantly turned even grimmer than when he had caught the four "Father's Sorrow" members binge drinking.
This was the first time Kyle had seen Dumbledore this angry.
It looked like the fun was about to get serious.
Dumbledore was indeed very angry.
When he saw the flying tank through Kyle's mirror, Dumbledore almost couldn't resist the urge to charge over with his phoenix and give Harry and Ron an Avada Kedavra each.
His own son often caused trouble and made him angry, but at the very least, Kyle never left any loose ends whenever he did something.
Even when he killed people in Knockturn Alley, Kyle handled the aftermath so cleanly that not even a handful of ashes remained for the opposition.
But Harry, the Savior he held such high hopes for, was simply beyond help in his stupidity.
He did things without considering the consequences at all.
Dumbledore suddenly felt exhausted. Maybe he should just expel Harry.
Looking at the current situation, his son Kyle had the "makings of an Emperor"...
No, the "makings of a Savior."
Given Kyle's talent, as long as he maintained his current growth rate, Voldemort would definitely be crushed by him in about ten years.
During those ten years, with him and Grindelwald protecting Kyle, Kyle would just need to stay low and develop safely.
Although they were both over a hundred years old, with the Sorcerer's Stone capable of producing the Elixir of Life, living another twenty or thirty years wouldn't be a problem.
That's right—the Sorcerer's Stone still existed.
After Voldemort's plot to steal the Stone last year, Dumbledore claimed it had been destroyed.
But who could verify a unilateral claim like that?
The Sorcerer's Stone was still safely in Nicolas Flamel's hands.
So, there was absolutely no problem with him and Grindelwald holding the line until the day Kyle truly came into his own.
In that case, Dumbledore wouldn't need to rely on Harry to defeat Voldemort.
So, was there still a need to push his Savior Training Program?
It seemed there wasn't.
Moreover, Harry's magical talent was far inferior to Kyle's.
If Voldemort hadn't attached a fragment of his soul to Harry when he tried to kill him—thereby granting him part of his talent—Harry's magical aptitude could only be described as quite mediocre.
The talent he inherited from his parents was mostly focused on being a Quidditch Seeker like his father, James.
As for James's talent in Transfiguration or Lily's talent in Potions, Harry hadn't inherited a lick of it.
Wait, he did inherit some of Lily's Potions talent.
But if other young wizards received the same meticulous cultivation from Snape as "little Harriett" did, their Potions grades wouldn't be bad either.
Dumbledore pondered.
Should he just expel them after all?
————
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