A Weak Wizard

It was said that under extreme rage, a person's potential could be stimulated to its utmost limits, allowing them to punch through a thirty-metre-thick steel plate.

Whether Tom Hiddleston, fuelled by the fires of revenge, could punch through a thirty-metre-thick steel plate was something they had no way of knowing.

But anger had enabled him to endure some extreme pain. That was an undeniable fact unfolding right before them.

Faced with Kyle's Thousand Years of Death, specially enhanced with lightning, Tom Hiddleston had not leapt away several metres like Malfoy had. Instead, he forcibly endured it, turned around, and hit Kyle with a Cruciatus Curse.

The instant he turned around, Snape seized the moment of distraction and charged forward, landing a powerful punch squarely on Tom's face.

That heavy blow successfully knocked Tom's wand from his hand.

The two of them grappled like thugs in a street brawl.

Having unexpectedly taken a Cruciatus Curse, Kyle felt as though every bone in his body was burning. He writhed painfully on the ground, wanting to scream, but only hoarse growls came from his throat.

"Kyle! Kyle! Are you all right?" The Weasley Twins rushed over.

Kyle used every ounce of strength he had to force out a sentence. "Go help Professor Snape!"

A flicker of hesitation appeared on their faces, but they still charged towards the two men grappling nearby.

They knew which matter was more urgent.

The Cruciatus Curse did not last long, and its torment of Kyle soon ended.

Kyle struggled to roll over and get to his feet. He was drenched in sweat, as if he had just been pulled from the water.

The fight in the distance was already nearing its conclusion.

Kyle's eyes burned with fury. Tom's Cruciatus Curse had truly enraged him.

Perhaps because he spent all day brewing potions in a sunless dungeon, Snape was as frail as a shut-in who never exercised and masturbated every day. In a raw, fist-to-fist fight, he was no match for Tom at all.

After kicking Snape away, Tom broke free and scrambled towards the wand that had fallen nearby.

George and Fred were ultimately one step too slow.

After successfully retrieving his wand, the first thing Tom did was hit each of them with an Obstacle Curse. Only after knocking them back did he turn over and stand up.

He no longer had his earlier calm and composure. His exquisite wizard's robes were covered in dirt and fallen leaves from the fight.

Tom roared in exasperation, "Enough! I'm a wizard! Without wands, you lot can't possibly—"

A soft water whip coiled around his ankle. Tom looked down. "What the fu—"

Before he could finish the last syllable, his whole body was yanked into the air.

Boil Release: Monstrous Strength!

A vast amount of magic gathered in Kyle's arms, allowing him to unleash the monstrous strength he had accidentally used during Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

With his legs bound by the water whip, Tom was dragged back and forth by berserk Kyle and violently slammed around like a rag doll.

Snape stared at Kyle in stunned disbelief, his terrified expression making it seem as if he were looking at a humanoid troll.

Was Dumbledore trying to murder him?

He wanted him to teach a troll?

Dumbledore, if you wanted to replace the Potions Professor, you could have just said so!

After the fifth slam, Tom Hiddleston was embedded in the dirt with a vacant expression, meaningless groans escaping his mouth.

Ptooey!

Kyle disdainfully spat into the pit. "What a weak wizard."

It was over.

A ball of fire suddenly appeared in the air. The moment Kyle saw it, he immediately let out a sigh of relief.

It was Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes.

Sure enough, in the next second, Dumbledore and Fawkes appeared amid the flames.

After sweeping his gaze across the surroundings, Dumbledore pressed his lips tightly together. His eyes were filled with intense anger and lingering fear.

He had never imagined that such an attack would happen at Hogwarts, right under his nose.

More than ninety years ago, he had lost a family member. This time, no matter what, he could not lose Kyle as well.

Dumbledore quickly stepped forward and examined Kyle's injuries.

"It hurt badly, didn't it?" Dumbledore's voice was full of concern.

Kyle shook his head. "It's nothing, Professor. You should check on Professor Snape and Hagrid first."

The unconscious Hagrid was still lying there, occasionally letting out a few unconscious grunts. Snape, meanwhile, was bruised and swollen all over his face. It seemed he had taken quite a beating.

As for George and Fred, they had been the best protected of the lot. Other than a few bruises from crashing into Tom's Obstacle Curses, neither had any other injuries.

Half an hour later, only Kyle and Dumbledore remained in the Hogwarts hospital wing.

Snape had only suffered superficial injuries from being punched, while Hagrid was tough-skinned and recovered quickly. Madam Pomfrey gave them both simple treatment before sending them away.

George and Fred had not been badly hurt either, and had already returned to their common room.

As for Professor Tom, who had been violently slammed around five times by Kyle's monstrous strength and nearly had every bone in his body shattered, Madam Pomfrey gave him only rough treatment. Once she had made sure he would not die, he was locked up.

The Aurors from the Ministry of Magic would arrive later to take Tom Hiddleston away.

Kyle was the only one who needed to spend the night in the hospital wing. Dumbledore had stayed behind to keep him company.

Dumbledore had never expected that the Dark Arts Defence Professor he had hired and Snape would have such a grudge between them, and that this grudge would even involve Kyle.

Fortunately, Tom's targets from beginning to end had only been Snape and Bellatrix. He had not yet gone so mad as to try to kill a group of young wizards.

Seeing that Kyle was still lively and well, the old man's grave expression eased slightly.

But when his gaze fell upon Kyle's bandaged hands, Dumbledore let out a pained sigh, and his expression became complicated once more.

He had just heard from Hagrid and Snape about everything that had happened that night.

Earlier that day, when he had seen Kyle fiddling with strange magic by the Black Lake, he had thought that this child, who had inherited Grindelwald's excellent genes, was merely far more gifted in magic than ordinary wizards.

But after seeing the combat experience Kyle had displayed that night, Dumbledore suddenly realised that the things Kyle had experienced during his five years wandering the streets of New York might have far exceeded his imagination.

Using flashbangs to turn a werewolf's keen five senses into its weakness...

Turning the ground into spikes—honestly, it was not particularly advanced Transfiguration, but when used at the right moment, it could precisely defeat a werewolf...

Using lightning to stimulate his body and erupt with unimaginable speed, killing the werewolf that had ambushed George in a single strike...

Suffering severe burns to his arms yet continuing to fight without changing expression, and in the midst of such a desperate battle, instantly thinking of surrounding himself with flames to keep the werewolves at bay until reinforcements arrived...

Enduring the torture of the Cruciatus Curse, yet still rising to counterattack and unleashing enormous strength to slam his opponent half to death...

Only after learning of Kyle's astonishing performance that night from Snape and Hagrid did Dumbledore realise that Kyle's battle with those Muggles at the docks that night might not have been as simple as he had imagined.

Dumbledore knew very well that Muggles were absolutely not as weak before wizards as most wizards believed.

Even an adult wizard could easily come to grief when facing Muggles armed with guns, let alone an eleven-year-old child like Kyle.

It was difficult to imagine just how hard Kyle's situation must have been when he left the orphanage at six, with his magic only just awakening.

How much suffering had Kyle endured over those five years of growing up...

Dumbledore truly did not dare to think any further.