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Chapter 708: A Letter
🕑 Added 2025-04-19 13:04:21 +0000 UTC“What did Kanna give you?”
“Open it and see.”
As soon as Dumbledore left the room, Fred and George flanked Kyle, their expressions teasing and full of curiosity.
Kyle didn’t hesitate and opened the box. Inside was a robe, but it was unlike the typical English style. This one was ornate, resembling a tuxedo-style robe.
The fabric was brown with a unique light-colored pattern. At first glance, it seemed like a design, but a closer look revealed the pattern was due to the fabric itself, which was woven with two colors—brown at the edges and light gray in the center—creating a distinctive appearance.
“I saw a scarf in Hogsmeade once made from a material like this,” Fred said thoughtfully.
George nodded, adding, “Yeah, I remember the shopkeeper saying it was made from the neck hair of some rare magical creature. What was it called? Lyk… Leu something…”
“Leucrotta,” Kyle supplied.
“Yes, that’s the name!” Fred exclaimed.
A Leucrotta was a large magical creature resembling a moose, notable for its enormous mouth, capable of swallowing a cow whole. Despite its intimidating size and features, it was a herbivore with a gentle temperament. While not rare globally, Leucrottas were uncommon in the UK.
“Anyway, where’s Kanna?” George asked. “We’ve written her so many letters, but she hasn’t replied to a single one.”
“Kyle, do you know?”
“All I know is that Snape took her to the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers for her exams,” Kyle replied with a shrug. “But I’m not sure where exactly. I haven’t heard back from her, either."
“My guess is Northern Europe,” he added.
This assumption was based on the fact that Leucrottas preferred cold climates. Wizards in countries like Denmark or Norway prized Leucrotta wool for its exceptional warmth, often using it for robes and cloaks.
“I hope she passes,” Fred said earnestly.
“Yeah, we’ll find out when school starts,” George said, then nudged Kyle. “Come on, try it on.”
“It’s August,” Kyle replied incredulously. “You want me to wear this?”
“Just for a moment!” Fred insisted. “You don’t have to keep it on.”
“Fine,” Kyle sighed, giving in to their eager expressions. He took out the robe and slipped it on.
It fit perfectly, as if it had been custom-tailored for him.
“That’s strange,” Kyle said, straightening the robe. “Why don’t I feel hot?”
“Hot?!” Fred shivered, rubbing his arms. “It’s freezing all of a sudden…”
George pulled his sleeves down. “What’s going on? Is it winter already?”
Before they could ponder further, a panicked scream echoed from upstairs.
Kyle’s face changed as realization struck him. He spun around and bolted for the stairs.
“How could I forget something so important!” he muttered, berating himself.
Without wasting time, Kyle Apparated directly to Harry’s room on the third floor and burst through the door.
Sure enough, inside the room, a Dementor floated eerily in midair. In the corner, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled together, trembling and clutching one another.
The Dementor turned its head, sensing Kyle’s presence, and began to float toward him.
“Don’t come in!” Hermione screamed. “There’s a Dementor here!”
But her voice faltered abruptly as she watched Kyle calmly open his suitcase. To her shock, the Dementor floated obediently into the suitcase as if it were a natural action. The entire process was so smooth, it looked routine.
Hermione stood frozen, her mouth slightly open.
That was a Dementor, right?... Not a pet owl.
She was utterly bewildered.
“Sorry,” Kyle said, looking a bit sheepish. “I used this suitcase to temporarily lock the Dementor in, but then things got busy, and I forgot about it.”
“No, it’s okay...” Harry said shakily, pulling himself to his feet.
In truth, Harry wasn’t as scared of Dementors as he once was—Lupin’s lessons had seen to that—but the suddenness of this encounter had caught him off guard. He had opened the suitcase, intending to store something, only for a Dementor to emerge right in front of his face. Seeing its skull-like visage beneath the cloak had been enough to unnerve anyone. Honestly, it was a small miracle he hadn’t fainted.
“But Kyle,” Harry asked, still rattled, “why are you carrying a Dementor around with you?”
“I caught it,” Kyle explained. “I was going to turn it in to the Ministry of Magic, but, as I said, I forgot.”
“What happened?!”
The commotion had drawn the adults upstairs. Sirius was the first to burst into the room, scanning it quickly before asking, “Are you all okay?”
“Ah, no,” Harry said quickly, glancing at Kyle and forcing a calm expression. “We accidentally opened a joke prop earlier, and Ron got scared.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Ron chimed in with a nervous nod.
“A joke prop?” Sirius looked around skeptically. “That’s odd... it’s so cold, it feels like... a Dementor's Chill…”
“I guess it must be something like a Snowfall Spell,” Kyle said, hoping to steer the conversation elsewhere.
Sirius looked thoughtful. “Snowfall Spell... yeah, those were popular ten years ago. They could cover a tree in snow in seconds.”
Dumbledore chose that moment to step into the room, his expression calm and nostalgic. “Ah, yes, a wonderful little charm. Quite the rage a decade ago. But I must warn you, Mr. Weasley—Professor McGonagall would never approve of bringing such things into Hogwarts.”
“Ah, really?” Fred said, utterly lost but quick to reply. “Then we won’t sell them.”
“Absolutely not,” George added, playing along. “We’ll definitely make sure they’re off the shelves.”
“That would be wise,” Dumbledore said with a small smile before turning to Sirius. “Sirius, if I may, I’d like a glass of Firewhiskey to warm me up.”
“No problem, Professor,” Sirius said. “I think we’ve got a few bottles of aged Firewhiskey in the cellar.”
The adults left the room again, and Harry let out a deep breath.
“Do you think Professor Dumbledore knows?” he asked nervously.
“Of course he knows,” Hermione said firmly. “Nothing gets past Dumbledore.”
“Then why didn’t he say anything?” Ron asked, confused.
“I think he didn’t want to cause a panic,” Kyle said thoughtfully. “After all, Sirius still has nightmares about Dementors. Anyway, thanks for covering for me.”
“It’s no big deal—we’re friends,” Harry said casually, though his gaze flicked back to the suitcase. “There’s nothing else in there, is there?”
“Don’t worry,” Kyle assured him. “There’s definitely nothing else in there. But if you’re worried, I can exchange it for another suitcase.”
“No, no,” Harry said quickly, waving his hands. “As long as there’s nothing else in there, I quite like it.”
Still, Harry couldn’t help but add, “But Kyle, how can you sleep at night with a Dementor nearby?”
“It’s just for one night,” Kyle said with a shrug. “I’ll hand it over to the Ministry tomorrow.”
“Okay, if you say so,” Harry relented, though he still looked uneasy.
Hermione, meanwhile, was eyeing Kyle’s robe. “That’s a really nice robe. Did you get it from Madam Malkin’s? I didn’t see anything like it when I was there the other day.”
“Oh, it was a gift from Kanna while she was abroad,” Kyle explained, taking off the robe as he spoke.
With the Dementor gone, the chill in the air had vanished, and the warming properties of the Leucrotta wool were kicking in. Within minutes, Kyle was sweating.
“No wonder,” Hermione said, giving the robe an admiring glance before turning her attention back to Harry.
Harry invited Kyle to stay and play wizard chess, but Kyle declined. He had more pressing matters to attend to and didn’t want to waste time.
Harry then turned to Fred and George, but they too refused. Dumbledore’s mention of the Snowfall Spell had sparked an idea, and the twins were already plotting how to recreate the charm.
“Anything Dumbledore remembers fondly has to be a hit,” Fred said as they left the room, determination in their eyes.
“Exactly,” George agreed. “We’ll figure it out tonight.”
And with that, they disappeared into their workshop, ready to bring another brilliant Weasley product to life.
...
Sirius had prepared a room for Kyle on the third floor, conveniently located next to Harry's—just a short walk away.
Once Kyle returned to his room, he carefully closed the door and sat down at the table. Feeling a touch of excitement, he retrieved the parchments he had been keeping in his pocket.
Anything associated with the legendary wizard Merlin would unsettle even the calmest wizard. And though Kyle had previously met the Founders of Hogwarts and engaged in a face-to-face conversation with Rowena Ravenclaw, he was no exception.
The Founders were undeniably great wizards, but no one would exclaim, "By Gryffindor's Mustache!" in a moment of awe. In a way, Merlin's name had become an irreplaceable symbol of unparalleled magic and greatness.
At the dinner table earlier, Kyle had only skimmed the parchments before tucking them away. Now, as he unfolded them, he counted five in total.
The top parchment, however, bore only the single line of text he had noticed earlier—likely a protective measure to obscure the actual content from prying eyes. The bottom parchment was similarly blank.
After all, Diana had warned him that if a second person viewed the parchments, their contents would instantly vanish.
Setting aside the blank pieces, Kyle focused on the one containing the letter about Merlin.
Of course, the letter in his hands wasn’t the original. The parchment was clearly new and bore the telltale signs of magical reproduction. But that detail was irrelevant.
Kyle could tell at a glance that this was a genuine copy of an original letter from Merlin.
The text on the parchment was entirely in ancient Runes—the most intricate and unsimplified form of the script. These were not the modified Runes popularized by Rowena Ravenclaw in the Middle Ages but the complex originals.
This presented a significant challenge. While Kyle had studied Runes with the help of Riddle, Professor Babbling, and textbooks, all of those sources used simplified versions.
Merlin, though also a medieval wizard, predated the Founders of Hogwarts by at least 500 years. His use of this primordial Runic script created a considerable barrier for Kyle.
As he attempted to read, his temples began to throb. The sentences were riddled with words he didn’t recognize—words so unfamiliar he couldn’t even make educated guesses about their meanings.
Initially, Kyle planned to memorize the text for later study. But he quickly discovered that wasn’t possible.
The words seemed to slip from his memory as soon as he read them, as if they had sprouted wings and flown away.
Frustrated but determined, Kyle grabbed a fresh piece of parchment and tried to copy the text. Yet, when he examined his work, he realized it was completely incorrect. None of the Runes on his copy matched the original.
Kyle was confident the error wasn’t his fault. He had meticulously copied the text, rune by rune, so there was no way he could have made such glaring mistakes.
The only plausible explanation was that the parchments were enchanted—imbued with magic that prevented any form of duplication or transcription.
Resigned, Kyle carefully put the parchments away and headed downstairs to find Sirius.
...
“Runes translation?” Sirius asked, eyeing Kyle suspiciously. “What do you need something like that for?”
“I’ve got something, but I can’t read it,” Kyle explained.
He wasn’t entirely sure if the Black family’s private library held anything that might help, but there was no harm in trying. Being one of the oldest pure-blood families, it seemed likely they would.
“Primitive Runes?” Dumbledore, sipping wine nearby, glanced at Kyle thoughtfully. “It seems you’ve received quite an extraordinary birthday present,” he said softly.
Since everyone present was trustworthy, Kyle saw no need to hide the truth.
“Yes, but—” he began, only to realize he couldn’t speak the words.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dumbledore said, unfazed. “Everything connected to the Department of Mysteries has peculiar restrictions like this. Even I occasionally find myself unable to share certain things I know. But these limitations don’t last forever.”
Hearing this, Kyle nodded and refrained from trying to explain further.
Sirius, who had been considering Kyle’s request, finally chimed in. “The Blacks should have quite a few books related to Runes, though I’m not sure if any of them are what you need. I’ll have Kreacher bring all the relevant ones here, and you can sort through them yourself.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Dumbledore said, standing. “If it’s the oldest Runes translation you’re after, I happen to have one. Just give me a moment.”
With that, Dumbledore vanished.
Five minutes later, he reappeared in the dining room, holding a worn, ancient book.
“I’ve been trying to think of a gift for you, but now I don’t have to,” he said, handing it to Kyle.
Kyle accepted the book, feeling its age in his hands. The pages inside were faded and well-thumbed, proof that it had been heavily used. But it was exactly what he needed: a comparative chart of original and simplified Runes.
“Thank you, Professor,” Kyle said earnestly.
“You’re welcome,” Dumbledore replied. “Now, return quickly. If I’m not mistaken, what you’ve obtained likely has a time limit.”
Kyle nodded, then used Apparition to return to his room on the third floor.
With the reference book in hand, deciphering the parchment’s content became more manageable. Though he had to look up nearly every other word, it was enough to make progress.
More importantly, Kyle discovered that the letter was instructional—Merlin was teaching someone how to use the Shield Charm. It referred to the spell as the “Defensive Charm,” though Kyle wasn’t sure if that was a translation issue. Based on the description, its effects seemed similar.
Melt ‘Determination’ into ‘Guardian’ and combine it with ‘City Wall’ to form a magical array atop the staff…
“Earth is the key…”
“No,” Kyle murmured, shaking his head. “It doesn’t mean ‘earth’ here; it means ‘continuous growth.’”
The same rune could have multiple meanings, and because this script hadn’t been simplified, interpreting it remained challenging—even with the translation guide.
Kyle painstakingly listed all possible interpretations of each phrase, adjusting them little by little based on the context.
The process was time-consuming and meticulous, but Kyle found himself thoroughly enjoying the challenge.
