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Chapter 650: The Brave Montague
🕑 Added 2025-03-22 13:41:19 +0000 UTCAs soon as they heard they could catch Gryffindors breaking school rules, Montague was immediately excited.
As for why it wasn’t someone from another house, Montague had his own reasoning. Teaching others to use dangerous magic was just so Gryffindor—it had to be their idea.
With this in mind, Montague promptly said, “I'm fine with it, Professor.”
“I’m sure I can find them too,” Millicent added eagerly.
Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle exchanged glances, their attention drifting to Malfoy. To their surprise, Malfoy was unusually quiet today. He hadn’t spoken a word since earlier.
This wasn’t like him.
“Draco, aren’t you happy?” Pansy finally asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.
Of course Malfoy wasn’t happy. He would have gladly left the room and returned to the safety of the Slytherin common room if he could. But he couldn’t say anything now, so he merely pretended that nothing was wrong.
Subconsciously, he glanced at Kyle again.
The others noticed Malfoy’s odd behavior and followed his gaze to Kyle. It was then that they remembered there was someone in the room who wasn’t a Slytherin.
“I almost forgot,” said Montague, clearly misinterpreting Malfoy’s silence. He took a couple of steps forward and approached Kyle. “Professor, shall we get rid of this insignificant person first? That way, he won’t be able to warn those rule-breakers.”
“From what I’ve heard, they’re on very good terms.”
“Oh, no need,” Umbridge began.
“Oh, I see. You want to interrogate him here, do you?” Montague interrupted eagerly.
Before Umbridge could respond, Millicent squealed, “As a friend of the Weasley brothers, he must know a lot!”
“I advise you to speak quickly,” Montague sneered at Kyle, “or you can stay silent... but then we might have to use a little persuasion.”
Watching Montague threaten Kyle, Malfoy shivered. For the first time, he realized someone could be even stupider than Crabbe and Goyle.
Taking two steps back, Malfoy distanced himself as much as possible from Montague.
“What are you doing? Hurry back,” Umbridge snapped. “Kyle is not someone to be trifled with, and you will follow his lead on this mission.”
Millicent’s laughter cut off abruptly, and she stared at Umbridge, wide-eyed, as though she had been physically struck.
“What?” Montague frowned. “Professor, I may have misheard. Are you saying a Hufflepuff will be leading us?”
“That’s correct,” Umbridge replied impatiently. “If you don’t like it, you can leave now.”
Montague’s expression darkened, but ultimately, he said nothing more.
“Since there are no objections, it’s settled then,” Umbridge said with satisfaction. “Kyle will lead your operation, and Argus Filch will also provide assistance."
“In addition, each of you will hold authority above that of the Prefects during this mission. You may enter and leave the castle at will. You answer only to me. Even if other professors try to interfere, you are to ignore them.”
To be honest, this was an extraordinary level of authority. Even Prefects couldn’t leave their common rooms without authorization after curfew, except under specific circumstances—like assisting Filch on a patrol. Even then, their movements were restricted to a single floor.
The privileges Umbridge granted went far beyond that.
And then there was the last condition.
Kyle touched his chin thoughtfully. It occurred to him that, if he dared, he might use the pretense of searching for clues to break into Snape’s private collection room openly. Of course, whether Snape would retaliate later was another matter entirely.
Unlike Kyle, the Slytherins didn’t seem thrilled about being given such extensive privileges.
But Umbridge didn’t seem to care.
"Alright, what are you waiting for?"
At Umbridge’s prompt, Malfoy, who had clearly been itching to leave, was the first to walk out of the room. Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle followed closely behind him.
“By the way, if you need anything, you can always come and talk to me,” Umbridge added with a sweet smile, her eyes settling on Kyle, who was the last to leave. “I don’t think you’ll let me down.”
“Of course, Professor,” Kyle replied smoothly, his expression unchanged, before stepping out and quietly shutting the door behind him.
Outside, the Slytherins hadn’t dispersed yet. Instead, they lingered in the corridor, each stationed in different spots. Montague and Millicent stood near a pair of imposing suits of armor, while Malfoy loitered further down by the stairs.
Kyle barely spared them a glance as he prepared to leave, but before he could take a step, Montague suddenly moved to block his path.
“I don’t know what tricks you pulled to get Professor Umbridge to trust you,” Montague began coldly, his face twisted in irritation, “but don’t think for a second you can boss me around.”
“Oh?” Kyle raised an eyebrow, his tone mild. “If that’s how you feel, why didn’t you say so earlier? Or are you just now deciding to defy Professor Umbridge’s orders?”
“Of course not,” Montague sneered, silently mocking Kyle for what he considered a weak attempt to corner him.
“I’ll find those people myself,” Montague declared confidently, “and I won’t need your help.”
“Really? This is still a task assigned to me by Professor Umbridge.”
“Well, I don’t take orders from a Hufflepuff,” Montague snapped, his voice dripping with disdain. He looked down at Kyle with unmistakable arrogance. “You’re not worthy of leading us.”
“Exactly,” Millicent chimed in, emerging from her corner to side with Montague. “A Hufflepuff in charge? Ridiculous.”
Kyle watched their synchronized performance silently, his expression unreadable. To Montague, however, this silence seemed like fear or even submission.
“You can come along if you want,” Montague continued, stepping closer. “But I’m in charge. I’ll decide what we do and when we act. Got it?”
“Well… is this a threat?” Kyle asked dryly.
“You can think of it that way,” Montague said, clenching his fists, a cocky grin spreading across his face. “If you don’t want to get hurt, you’d better do as I say. And don’t even think about running to Professor Umbridge to tattle, or you’ll regret it.”
Kyle sighed, his voice tinged with exaggerated pity. “Gee, I just don’t understand… Have you always been this brave, or are you just high on the Elixir to Induce Euphoria?”
“What did you say?” Montague growled, his eyes narrowing.
“Nothing,” Kyle said with a shrug, pulling out his wand. “I just don’t think this is something I can leave to you. Watch your head.”
“You—” Montague started to retort, but his words were cut short.
The suit of armor beside him suddenly sprang to life. The metal groaned as it raised its massive two-handed sword high in the air before swinging it down toward Montague.
CLANG!
The deafening sound echoed through the corridor, startling the portraits awake. Dust and fragments of stone rained down, scattering across the floor and landing on Montague’s nose.
He stood frozen, too terrified to move. The blade had stopped less than an inch from his head, so close he could feel the icy chill emanating from the metal.
