After hearing Dumbledore's words, Kyle was quite surprised.
The Award for Special Services to the School was Hogwarts' highest student honor, reserved only for those who made significant contributions to the school.
Fifty years ago, Tom Riddle — now the infamous noseless wizard, creator of the Defense Against Dark Arts curse, and notorious soul-splitter — had received this award in his fifth year.
Kyle, however, was merely in his first year — four years earlier than Riddle had been. From this perspective alone, he could point at his nose (or rather, maxilla) and quite calmly say, "You're so lame."
As for the consequences of such a statement… well, that's another story.
"Thank you for your assessment, Headmaster." Kyle said with a smile.
He wasn't thanking Dumbledore for the Special Services Award, but for his earlier words.
Especially that comment about his "noble spirit"... No wonder this old man was headmaster — he could spot inner qualities at a glance. Can't argue with that.
"You deserve it, it's well-earned." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye, "Very few people would have the courage to face two adult wizards alone in their first year, let alone defeat one of them.
The school governors unanimously agreed that awarding you the Special Services to the School Award was the most correct decision I've made this year."
They're probably just afraid of trouble, Kyle thought to himself. He doubted the governors had considered things that deeply. Unlike Dumbledore, who was devoted to the school, they cared more about their own interests.
If Kyle had died in the Forbidden Forest, the entire wizarding world would have soon learned that a Hogwarts Defense Against Dark Arts professor was killing students.
Even if Hogwarts remained open, there would be serious consequences — something the governors desperately wanted to avoid.
Fortunately, he had survived. The Special Services Award was likely their attempt to placate Chris and Diana.
Kyle didn't mind their motivations; he was content with how things had turned out.
"Headmaster, there's another matter."
"Go ahead and ask."
"What about Hagrid? I noticed he wasn't in his hut at the time."
"Actually, Hagrid was the first person attacked yesterday." Dumbledore said, "Oren tricked him into drinking undiluted Swooping Evil venom, then hid him in the Forbidden Forest after he lost consciousness."
"Then Hagrid now..."
"Don't worry, Kyle. Hagrid's constitution is stronger than ordinary wizards — his life isn't in danger." Dumbledore reassured him, "Besides, Newt has provided me with the method to neutralize Swooping Evil venom. Hagrid will be back from St. Mungo's soon."
Kyle breathed a slight sigh of relief. He'd almost forgotten that Hagrid was a half-giant with high HP and defense.
Besides, Swooping Evil venom was peculiar — drinking it was actually less severe than having it splashed on you.
"Headmaster, I have one last question."
"Let's hear it."
"That witch..." Kyle said, "Why was she hiding near Kanna?"
"Ah, I've been wondering when you'd ask about this." Dumbledore said, "I'm sorry Kyle, but since this involves the Prince family, I can't tell you much. I can only say that the witch had ill intentions, and her goal was a key."
"A key?"
"Yes, a Gringotts vault key." Dumbledore said mysteriously, "Her identity is special—if she could get the vault key, she could legally take all the inheritance left by Kanna's family."
Kyle frowned; the word "inheritance" made him suddenly realize something. He looked at Dumbledore, but the headmaster offered no response.
The old wizard seemed unwilling to continue the topic. He placed the box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans by the bed and said with a smile, "Well, that's enough questions. I suggest you start enjoying these sweets. I noticed there are mint cockroach clusters — those are limited edition."
"If you like them, I'd be happy to give them to you." Kyle said sincerely.
There was no pretense in these words — he genuinely wanted to get rid of those cockroach clusters.
But Dumbledore declined. He stood up and said, "Finally, I must ask for your forgiveness. I wasn't in the castle yesterday due to certain matters, which meant I couldn't be there in your moment of greatest danger. This was a failure of my duties as headmaster."
"It's alright, please don't worry about it."
✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
Kyle didn't stay in the hospital wing for long. Shortly after Dumbledore left, Madam Pomfrey agreed to discharge him.
When he returned to the Hufflepuff common room, his good relationships proved valuable — he was immediately surrounded by people and had to address each of their concerns.
An hour later, in the familiar abandoned classroom.
"Kyle, I heard you took down an adult wizard?!" Fred asked eagerly as soon as they met, "Is that true?!"
"Don't try to deny it." George said, "When the Hit Wizards were leaving the Forbidden Forest, someone overheard their conversation. That witch Professor McGonagall brought back was the one you defeated."
"..."
How could the Hit Wizards' security awareness be so poor? Why hadn't they sent Aurors for such an important mission?!
Kyle rubbed his forehead, though he hadn't planned to hide it anyway.
"Just got lucky — the opponent was too weak." He said, "I bet she never studied at Hogwarts."
"Come on, that was an adult witch who could use dark magic. Don't make it sound so easy." Cedric joked, "It makes the rest of us look useless."
"Alright." Kyle conceded, "Actually, I barely survived, desperately waiting for rescue before escaping from the dark wizard."
George nodded solemnly, "That sounds much better."
"But I never noticed Professor Oren was a dark wizard." Cedric sighed, "And his classes were interesting too, much better than last year."
"Watch it, Cedric." Fred reminded him, "Oren isn't a professor anymore — he nearly killed Kyle."
"Sorry, I'm just used to it." Cedric quickly apologized.
"No one saw it coming." Cho said nearby, "Even Roger couldn't believe it was true. He thought someone must have used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Oren. By the way, he was the student who wanted to file a complaint against Oren before — he almost got into a fight with you Gryffindors."
"I know him." Fred sighed, "He was right. We all misjudged that person."
When Oren was mentioned, everyone grew quieter, even the usually cheerful twins became subdued. They had liked that man too, hoping he might break the curse and stay at Hogwarts next year.
But now everything had changed — Oren turned out to be a dark wizard!
They probably wouldn't find another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who was both humorous in class and didn't check homework.
For a while, the classroom fell silent, with all five of them at a loss for words.
That's right, only five people came this time — Kanna was missing.
The incident with Porgy — or rather, that witch — had hit her hard. She'd been keeping to herself in the dormitory these past few days, only coming out briefly when Kyle returned to the common room after being discharged.
But the others didn't know this. Cedric and the rest simply thought she was scared, which was why she was staying in her dormitory.
✭✭✭
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