Chapter 965: Chapter 965: Kyle’s Practical Skills
Just as Kyle had expected, Amelia Bones really wasn’t comfortable letting anyone else safeguard the Horcruxes.
And they moved fast—before the holidays were even over, a letter had already arrived at Hogwarts.
Still in the Headmaster’s office, Kyle read the letter, then handed it back to Professor McGonagall.
"What do you think?"
"It’s quite polite," Kyle said.
The letter had been addressed to Professor McGonagall, and the tone was that of two old friends chatting. Though it did mention the Horcruxes, it was only in a few brief lines, tucked at the end. It casually asked if she needed the Ministry’s help in keeping them secure.
Of course, both Kyle and Professor McGonagall knew that this was the real reason for the letter. All the small talk could’ve been skipped entirely.
"Mm, you know what they’re after. I’ll reject her request on behalf of Hogwarts," McGonagall said.
There was no question—it had to be a refusal.
She already knew that the Locket, the Diadem, and the Golden Cup were all in Kyle’s possession, and they were completely intact. Kyle would never hand them over to the Ministry.
The Resurrection Stone ring had vanished after Dumbledore’s death.
As for the Runespoor, it had completely disappeared after the war—presumably turned to ashes.
The only item they could have presented—the diary—had already been brought forward at the last hearing. Now, they had nothing left to show. Of course they had to refuse.
Professor McGonagall pulled over a piece of parchment to draft her reply.
"Why should we refuse? As righteous wizards, we should be cooperating with the Ministry and turning over the Horcruxes."
Her hand froze mid-stroke, nearly poking a hole through the parchment.
"No!" she blurted out.
"Huh?" Kyle was a little surprised. He hadn’t expected Professor McGonagall to object so strongly.
"I mean, the Cup, the Diadem, and the Locket were all left behind by the Founders. Even if they were once Horcruxes, they still belong at Hogwarts—especially Ravenclaw’s Diadem."
She looked at Kyle, her expression serious. "If something like that were to fall into the wrong hands, it’d be a disaster. And the Ministry... frankly, they’ve let us down too many times."
Her meaning was clear—she didn’t trust the Ministry of Magic.
And that wasn’t surprising, given their track record.
First there was Fudge, who had stubbornly refused to believe the reports of Voldemort’s return. He’d gone so far as to sever ties with Dumbledore just to preserve his position.
Then came Umbridge—a cruel, vain, arrogant woman with no professional ethics—somehow appointed Senior Undersecretary.
Professor McGonagall couldn’t even begin to imagine what might happen if someone like that got their hands on Ravenclaw’s Diadem.
Things had certainly improved once Amelia Bones took over. She’d cleaned out a lot of the dead weight. But even so, there had still been that shocking rebellion that had rocked all of Britain.
The Ministry simply wasn’t trustworthy. If they handed over the Diadem, it’d probably be stolen by the very next day.
Or maybe even sooner.
Professor McGonagall tried patiently to reason with Kyle. "Besides, we don’t have the Resurrection Stone ring. But if we say that, they won’t believe us—it’ll only cause more conflict. Better to reject the request from the start."
"Who says we don’t have it? We do." Kyle casually pulled out a diamond-shaped stone and set it on the table.
Professor McGonagall’s eyes went wide.
"The Resurrection Stone?"
"You could say that," Kyle nodded. "I’ve got as many as you need."
He tossed a second, then a third stone onto the table.
Professor McGonagall immediately caught on.
"They’re fake?"
"Who said they’re fake? They’re real!" Kyle gathered up the extras. "Now they’re real."
"But the Resurrection Stone isn’t just some ordinary rock," she said, shaking her head. Kyle’s approach seemed full of holes.
"Oh, right. Almost forgot." He pulled out a five-inch-long fang and drove it straight into the stone.
The diamond-shaped stone split cleanly in half, releasing a puff of white smoke.
"There. Now it’s fine."
Professor McGonagall stared, mouth open, at a loss for words.
From the wall, Phineas let out a series of ambiguous smacking noises.
Kyle ignored him and kept pulling things out.
The Golden Cup,
the Diadem,
the Locket,
the Sword of Gryffindor—oh, wait, not that. That one was something Kyle had made himself for fun.
He casually tossed the sword aside.
Professor McGonagall, meanwhile, picked up the nearest Diadem and held it close, inspecting it carefully.
No need to ask—they were obviously fakes. But they looked so real. Even after examining it for a long time, she couldn’t spot a single flaw.
"How is it?" Kyle asked.
Professor McGonagall nodded. "It’s very convincing—really convincing."
To put it plainly, aside from lacking the unique properties of the originals, these replicas were nearly identical in every other aspect. Even she couldn’t spot any flaws.
"Of course," Kyle said. "I modeled them exactly after the real ones—every detail matches down to the last seam."
Now came the most critical step. Kyle picked up the locket in front of him.
Since they were in the Headmaster’s office at Hogwarts, Kyle didn’t want to be too reckless by using Fiendfyre in front of Professor McGonagall and the portraits of past headmasters.
So instead, he pulled out a jar of Gubraithian Fire he had gotten from Sirius.
It was also a magical flame, and its effects closely resembled Fiendfyre. Combined with a few extras Kyle had specially prepared, the result looked all the more convincing.
Under the fire’s searing heat, the surface of the locket began to change rapidly, dark cracks with an eerie shimmer spreading across it.
From those cracks came faint, distant screams.
Professor McGonagall watched, a puzzled look on her face.
She had never seen what it looked like when a real Horcrux was destroyed, but this certainly felt like it. The soul fragment inside shrieking in protest as the Horcrux was undone—it all made sense.
But wasn’t this a fake? Why could she hear the screaming? And what was going on with those cracks...?
As if sensing what she was thinking, Kyle took out a bottle and set it on the table.
"I stumbled across this while I was working on them."
Professor McGonagall looked over.
The bottle contained a grayish powder. It was freezing cold—cold enough that even through the glass, a layer of white frost spread quickly across the tabletop.
"What is this?" she asked, confused.
She considered herself fairly well-versed in magical substances, but she had never seen anything like this—no clue what it was, and not even a vague memory of anything with those characteristics.
"It’s what’s left behind after killing a Dementor."
"Killing what?"
"Dementors," Kyle clarified. "Right after the rebellion broke out at Azkaban, Cedric and I spent a while clearing them out. When they’re destroyed, this stuff is left behind—along with a cloak."
That explained it. Professor McGonagall relaxed a little. No wonder she didn’t know about it—probably hardly anyone did.
"What’s it used for?"
"Still not sure," Kyle admitted. "But I did notice it’s great for crafting dark magic items. So I took a different approach and made three of them."
"Then that scream I heard earlier..."
"Was a Howling Charm," Kyle said. "If someone opens the locket, they’ll hear a scream similar to a Mandrake’s. It’s a spell that targets the soul."
Professor McGonagall glanced at Kyle, then at the diadem in her hands, and instinctively tossed it back onto the table.
"That one causes confusion and disorientation. Just don’t try it on."
Kyle set down the now-warped locket and picked up the diadem, holding it over the magical flame.
In no time, a thick layer of rust spread across its gleaming surface, and the large sapphire at its center dimmed into a lifeless gray.
Kyle had crafted it exactly to match its condition when it was first found—every detail precise to the letter.
It was all about accuracy.
Professor McGonagall stood by, watching as Kyle personally destroyed all three items.
"Hand these over to the Ministry," Kyle said, pushing everything toward her.
"But... what if they realize they’re fake?" she asked, still a bit uneasy.
"I have confidence in my alchemy."
Kyle smiled. "If this were Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France, I’d have to come up with another plan."
"Alchemy is widely practiced there. With alchemy masters like Professor Viktor around, he’d spot a fake immediately."
"But this is Britain. Most people here can’t even craft a simple waterproof badge."
"That’s outrageous!" Phineas couldn’t help but cut in.
"What?" Kyle turned to him. "Tell me I’m wrong."
"It’s because you’re right that it’s outrageous," Phineas muttered before shutting his eyes and pretending to nap again.
Professor McGonagall didn’t hesitate for long. She gathered the items and put them away.
At least it was a plan. One way or another, the artifacts left behind by the Founders simply couldn’t be entrusted to the Ministry of Magic.
"Only the Runespoor is left. What are you planning to do?" Professor McGonagall casually placed the items on the shelf behind her. "I suggest we do nothing. What do you think?"
"After all, when you killed the Runespoor, plenty of people were present. They might not have seen it with their own eyes, but they learned the truth from Voldemort himself. I’m sure both Bones and the Aurors are well aware of that."
"I thought the same," Kyle said.
Among the Horcruxes, the Runespoor was the least significant. Kyle didn’t even give it another look before heading out.
If the Ministry insisted, maybe there were still a few traces left in Sirius’s Screaming Ice Cream Shop.
"All right, leave the rest to me." With the decision made, Professor McGonagall picked up her quill and swiftly wrote a reply before stepping to the window.
An owl swooped down, caught the envelope, and flew off.
...
It had to be said—the Ministry of Magic was taking the Horcrux matter very seriously.
Barely half a day after the letter had been sent, Amelia Bones, the Minister for Magic, arrived at Hogwarts with Kingsley, the newly appointed Head of the Auror Office.
Just as the students were sitting down to dinner, the two of them entered from outside and walked directly toward the staff table.
"Amelia..." Professor McGonagall stood up, visibly surprised.
And genuinely so.
Judging by the timing, the Ministry must have come here immediately after receiving the owl’s reply.
Wasn’t that a little too efficient? Wasn’t the Ministry supposed to be incredibly busy these days?
Still, Professor McGonagall didn’t let it show. She warmly introduced Amelia Bones and Kingsley to the students in the middle of their meal.
"No need for that, Minerva," Bones said, adjusting the glasses on her nose. "I just happened to be thinking of stopping by the Three Broomsticks for a little break when your reply arrived."
"Really? What a coincidence," McGonagall said with a smile, though her voice was slightly stiff.
It was clear she wasn’t quite used to this kind of polite pretense.
Dumbledore had always been a master at it. Every time he met with Fudge, he came across as utterly sincere. Anyone watching might have thought they were old friends.
So Bones came for a drink at the Three Broomsticks—did Kingsley Shacklebolt come along just to tag along for a pint as well?
That excuse was more than a little flimsy.
And from the moment they entered the Great Hall, Kingsley hadn’t dared meet McGonagall’s gaze. Even from across the room, his discomfort was obvious.
Kyle, however, didn’t think much of it.
Sure, he’d once been part of the Order of the Phoenix, but that had been disbanded by Dumbledore.
Besides, it made perfect sense for Aurors to want to oversee the Horcruxes. If he were Head of the Auror Office, he’d probably have come too.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the Head of the Auror Office—and there was no way he’d be handing those items over to the Ministry.
"Minerva—"
"Amelia, why don’t you join us for dinner?" McGonagall quickly cut her off, warmly inviting the two to the staff table.
"Of course, I’d love to." Bones nodded. "To be honest, I’ve missed Hogwarts dinners. I think the last time I had toast here was thirty years ago."
"Thirty-five years ago," McGonagall corrected with a smile. "I had just started teaching at Hogwarts back then—still remember it vividly."
"Yes, you’re right."
As they took their seats, Professor McGonagall casually turned her head and gave Kyle a meaningful look.
Kyle instantly caught on. He quickly finished the toast on his plate, stood up at a natural pace, and left the Great Hall with a group of students.
Once he reached the Entrance Hall, he picked up speed and made his way straight to the Headmaster’s Office on the eighth floor.
The first thing he looked at was the shelf behind the desk.
Just as he’d suspected, the item he’d given Professor McGonagall was still sitting there.
A Horcrux that important, left lying around like junk... If Bones saw it, she’d definitely get suspicious.
McGonagall probably hadn’t expected her to show up so quickly, and simply hadn’t had time to put it away.
Luckily, she had picked up on it now.
Kyle glanced around the office until his eyes settled on the battered Sorting Hat.
A thought struck him—if the Sorting Hat had once hidden the Sword of Gryffindor, it probably wouldn’t mind storing a few more items.
They were all relics of the Founders, after all.
Whether they were real or fake... didn’t matter.
As long as it looked like they were taking proper care of the Horcruxes, that was enough.