Vault Key

Kyle was quite surprised to hear Dumbledore's words.

Only students who make significant contributions to Hogwarts can receive the Special Award for Services to the School, which is the highest personal honor a young wizard can receive during their studies.

Fifty years ago, a famous noseless wizard, the originator of the Defence Against the Dark Arts Curse, and the Soul Splitter, Mr. Tom, received this award when he was in fifth grade.

However, Kyle is only a freshman now, a full four years ahead of him.

From this perspective alone, Kyle could easily point at the other person's nose... jawbone and say very frankly, "You're terrible."

As for what happens after that, that's another story.

"Thank you for your assessment, Principal," Kyle said with a smile.

He wasn't thanking any special award, but rather Dumbledore's words.

Especially the phrase "noble spirit"...

That's why Dumbledore was able to become the principal; he saw through his inner qualities at a glance.

You have to admit it.

"This is what you deserve, it's well-deserved." Dumbledore blinked and said, "Few people have the courage to face two adult wizards alone in their first year, let alone defeat one."

The School Governor members unanimously agreed that awarding Special Award for Services to the School was the best decision they had made this year.

"They're probably just trying to avoid trouble," Kyle thought to himself, not believing the Board of Governors would think that much about it.

Unlike Dumbledore, who was completely focused on the school, they were more concerned with their own interests.

If Kyle really dies in the Forbidden Forest, it won't be long before the entire Wizarding World knows that the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts kills his students.

Even if Hogwarts doesn't close down, it will still face a lot of trouble, and the School Governor naturally don't want that to happen.

Thankfully, Kyle is alright.

They probably wanted to use this special contribution award to appease Chris and Diana.

However, Kyle didn't care what they thought; at least he was satisfied with the current outcome.

"Principal, there's something else."

"Go ahead and ask."

"Hagrid? I noticed he wasn't in the house."

"In fact, Hagrid was the first person attacked yesterday," Dumbledore said. "Oren tricked him into drinking undiluted Swooping Evil venom, and then hid him in the Forbidden Forest after Hagrid fell unconscious."

"So Hagrid is now...?"

"Don't worry, Kyle, Hagrid is in better physical condition than the average wizard, so he won't be in any life-threatening danger."

Dumbledore reassured him, "Besides, I also got the method to eliminate the venom of the Swooping Evil from Newt, so he'll be back from St Mungo's's soon."

Kyle breathed a slight sigh of relief; he had almost forgotten that Hagrid was Half-giant with high health and defense.

Moreover, the venom of the Swooping Evil is somewhat unique; drinking it is actually less harmful than sprinkling it on the body.

"Principal, I have one last question."

Tell me about it.

"That witch..." Kyle said, "Why is she hiding next to Kanna?"

"Ah, I've been wondering when you would ask about this."

Dumbledore said, "I'm sorry, Kyle, but because this involves the Prince family, I can't tell you much. I can only tell you that the witch is indeed up to no good, and that her goal is a key."

"Key?"

"That's right, the key to Gringotts," Dumbledore said quietly. "Her identity is very special. As long as we can get the key to the vault, we can openly take all the inheritance left by the Kanna family."

Kyle frowned; the word "inheritance" instantly brought something to mind.

He looked at Dumbledore, but received no response.

Dumbledore didn't seem to intend to continue the topic. He placed the box of Bertie Bott's Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans on the bedside table and said with a smile, "Alright, enough questions. I suggest you start enjoying these candies. I just noticed Cockroach Cluster in there... these are limited edition candies."

"If you like, I can give it to you," Kyle said sincerely.

That's no exaggeration; he genuinely wanted to get rid of those Cockroach Cluster.

However, Dumbledore refused.

He stood up and said, "Finally, I must ask for your forgiveness. Due to some circumstances, I was not at the castle yesterday, and thus failed to appear in time when you were in the most danger. This is my dereliction of duty as the headmaster."

"It's alright, you don't need to worry about it."

Kyle did not stay in the Hospital Wing for long; shortly after Dumbledore left, Madam Pomfrey granted his request to be discharged.

Thanks to his usual good relationships, Kyle was surrounded by a group of people as soon as he returned to Hufflepuff's common room, and he had to respond to their concern one by one.

An hour later, it was still that familiar abandoned classroom.

"Kyle, I heard you killed a grown wizard?!"

Upon meeting, Fred couldn't wait to ask, "Is this true?!"

"Don't try to deny it," George said. "Someone overheard their conversation when the Hit Wizard left the Forbidden Forest. The witch Professor McGonagall brought back was the one you beat up like that."

"..."

Are the Hit Wizard really that bad at keeping secrets? Why didn't they send Auror on such an important mission?

Kyle rubbed his forehead; thankfully, he hadn't intended to hide it.

"She was just lucky; her opponent was too weak," Kyle said. "I bet she never went to Hogwarts."

"Please, that's a fully-fledged wizard who knows Dark Magic. Don't make it sound so easy."

Cedric joked, "That would make us look useless."

"Alright," Kyle readily agreed, "I actually went through a near-death experience before finally being rescued and surviving the dark wizard."

George nodded, feigning seriousness. "That sounds much better."

"But I didn't realize at all that Professor Oren was also a dark wizard."

Cedric remarked, "And his classes are really interesting, much better than last year."

"Watch out, Cedric," Fred warned, "Oren is no longer the professor; he nearly killed Kyle."

"Sorry, I'm just used to it," Cedric quickly apologized.

"Nobody expected this," Qiu said from the side. "Even Davis couldn't believe it was real. He thought it was someone else impersonating Oren with Polyjuice Potion."

By the way, Davis is the guy who wanted to complain about Oren before; he almost got into a fight with you Gryffindor."

"I know him," Fred sighed. "He's right. We all misjudged him."

When Oren was mentioned, the group fell silent; even Fred and George, usually the most cheerful, became quiet.

They used to like Oren a lot, and they even hoped he could break the curse and stay at Hogwarts next year.

But now everything has changed; Oren is actually a dark wizard!

They'll probably never again encounter a Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts's humorous in class and doesn't check homework.

For a moment, the classroom suddenly fell silent, and none of the five people spoke.

That's right, there were only five people here this time, the missing one being Kanna.

The matter of Pochi... or rather, the witch, had a huge impact on her. She had been locking herself in her dorm room for the past few days, only coming out to see Kyle when he was discharged from the Kyle and returned to the common room.

However, the others didn't know this. Cedric and the others thought that Kanna was frightened, which was why she had been hiding in the dormitory.