"...What on earth was it that earned you his favor?"
Listening to Grindelwald, Kyle felt as though something had fallen from the sky and landed squarely on him.
Looking closely, it was a huge barrel filled with vinegar.
It felt like a Hufflepuff trying to return to the common room, getting the password wrong, and being drenched in vinegar.
The entire case... an area nearly half the size of the Forbidden Forest was filled with a heavy vinegar smell.
It was too sour...
Kyle instinctively took a step back, putting as much distance between himself and Grindelwald as possible.
"Maybe because I'm a student..." Kyle's gaze wandered as he tried to look less guilty.
"A student of good character and excellent grades will always earn the headmaster's favor, won't he?"
"Excellent grades may be true..." Grindelwald moved with elegant steps, circling Kyle once.
"From the gentleman who gave me my wand, I saw some very interesting memories... Do you want to know what they were?"
"Sir, it's wrong to peek into someone else's memories," Kyle said cautiously.
Grindelwald paused. Even his breathing grew noticeably heavier for an instant, though it quickly returned to normal.
Grindelwald continued circling Kyle and said softly, "Many people believe I was an evil Dark wizard, guilty of starting the wizarding war. But do you know when I first used the Killing Curse on an enemy?"
"I don't..."
"Seventeen." Without waiting for Kyle to finish, Grindelwald continued, "When I was still attending Durmstrang, although I was obsessed with studying Dark magic and tested my results on my classmates, I never once thought of killing them.
"Later, they expelled me, and I had even less chance to do so."
Grindelwald seemed to have sunk into his memories, recounting these experiences that nobody cared about as though telling