"Modesty is good, and caution is wise, but those are skills for later in life. Right now, you could certainly afford to be a bit more daring," Professor Oren said with an air of amusement, as though continuing a lecture. "At your age, no one would take an eleven-year-old as a serious threat."
Kyle kept walking, his expression blank.
Unfazed, Professor Oren pressed on, "Well, now it's your turn. Tell me, Kyle—when did you realize?"
Kyle blinked, feigning innocence. "Realize what? I'm not sure what you mean, Professor."
"If that's your answer…" Professor Oren stopped abruptly, his tone turning icy, "then we have no reason to go any further."
The air grew tense, and even Kanna, focused on finding Pocky, sensed something was wrong, moving instinctively closer to Kyle.
"As a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, of course you'd be suspect," Kyle shrugged, keeping his voice steady. "Everyone knows the position is cursed. Professors end up in St. Mungo's or Azkaban—or worse. The ones who make it through a term unscathed have to resign for one reason or another. But here you are, near term's end, without so much as a scratch. If that doesn't look suspicious, what does?"
"Well observed," Professor Oren sighed, as though disappointed in the 'curse' himself. "I enjoyed being a professor, but unfortunately, my true identity was uncovered. I just received word that the Ministry of Magic is on its way to Hogwarts. Fools—they never imagined I'd hide in plain sight here. Took them long enough to figure it out."
Kyle's eyes widened. "Wait… the Ministry isn't after the Swooping Evil—they're after you?"
"Of course it's me." Oren scoffed. "Do you think the Ministry would be interested in a mere magical creature? No, they're after something far more valuable—something I have."
Kyle couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"
"Are you sure you want to know?" Oren raised an eyebrow, smirking. "I'd be happy to tell you."
"On second thought… no." Kyle quickly caught himself, forcing a dry laugh. "I'm actually not that curious."
Oren's smirk deepened. He glanced at Kanna, whose face now showed a mixture of confusion and horror as she finally grasped the situation. She drew her wand, her hand trembling.
"Oh, no need to be anxious, Miss Prince," Professor Oren said calmly, not at all phased by her wand. Instead, he looked off to the side, under a tree. "Oh, what have we here?"
With a flick of his wand, the fallen leaves began writhing, forming coils that twisted around a gray mouse nestled in the roots.
"Pocky!" Kanna gasped, extending her wand shakily. "Let her go!"
Oren, ignoring her, continued in his cool, professorial tone, "Allow me to teach you something useful. If you want to determine whether the animal in front of you is an Animagus, the Animagus Reversal Spell is your best option."
He pointed his wand at the mouse and muttered, "Reveal!"
A blue light shot from his wand, and the mouse froze midair, writhing in distress. With another flick, the leaves uncoiled, and the mouse fell to the ground. A bright flash of magic followed, and before their eyes, the mouse's form distorted and expanded as though sped up through time. In seconds, the mouse had become a hunchbacked, unsightly witch.
The witch was hunched over, her sparse, stringy hair partially covering her sharp, hooked nose. Kanna stared at her in horror, stammering, "She… Pocky… P…"
"Ah, so your name is Pocky?" Oren said brightly, as though delighted by the discovery. "Lovely to meet you."
"Curse you!" the witch rasped, her voice as harsh as metal scraping against stone. She pulled out a short, thick wand and aimed it at Oren, her eyes filled with venom. "I'll kill you for this—I'll kill you!"
A blast of purple light erupted from her wand, hurtling toward Oren's chest.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Kyle swiftly pulled two broomsticks from his Mokeskin pouch and thrust one into Kanna's hands. "Go! Find Professor McGonagall!"
Realizing the urgency, Kanna hesitated only for a second before mounting the broom and taking off into the sky.
As she rose above the treetops, Kyle didn't follow. He tossed his own broken broom aside, its snapped shaft useless in his hands.
...
On the other side, as the witch's curse flew toward him, Professor Oren sidestepped it with ease. With a small, almost mocking snort, he raised his own wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A sickly green light shot past the witch's ear, narrowly missing her and striking a small spider on the ground behind her. The unfortunate creature froze instantly, dead on the spot.
The witch, terrified, collapsed to the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably. Oren, meanwhile, turned his gaze toward Kyle just in time to see him toss the broken broom aside.
"You never cease to amaze me," Oren said, an amused smile flickering across his face.
"You were the one who said it…" Kyle replied with a grin, "Always have a broomstick handy—it might just save your life."
"Fifty points to Hufflepuff," Oren laughed, his tone dripping with irony. "That's the highest mark I can give."
He made no attempt to stop Kanna, letting her vanish into the sky without a second glance.
"Kyle, you didn't seem surprised at all just now. Did you already know the rat was an Animagus?"
With Kanna safely gone, Kyle relaxed a little, rolling his stiff shoulders. "I'd had my suspicions."
He explained how he'd become suspicious ever since Kanna mentioned that Pocky had been "sick." Then, during a Quidditch match, he'd used the Marauder's Map to take note of who was still in the Hufflepuff common room. Among the names, one didn't belong to any known Hufflepuff.
But even with that clue, Kyle had hesitated. The idea of two rat Animagi at Hogwarts seemed a bit too far-fetched. So he'd been quietly comparing rosters from the other houses, only missing Slytherin's list.
"But… I guess I don't need it anymore," Kyle finished.
"If you knew, why didn't you report it?" Oren raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you worried about that little girl's safety?"
"And why did you bring us to the Forbidden Forest?" Kyle shrugged. "This is Hogwarts; I didn't think she'd actually dare do anything."
Oren chuckled lightly. "You're even sharper than I expected."
His expression quickly hardened as he turned to the witch slumped on the ground. "Kill the boy, and you're free to go."
So this is it, then, Kyle thought, a faint smile touching his lips as he reached for the ring on his finger.
But Oren's voice cut in. "You might have some tricks up your sleeve, but I'd advise against using them. Remember, I have a Swooping Evil—want to guess where it is right now?"
Kyle's eyes narrowed as realization struck him. "You…"
In that split-second of hesitation, the witch's curse was already upon him. Kyle dropped backward, managing to dodge the spell, albeit with little grace. The deep purple Charm struck a tree behind him, instantly corroding a large section of the trunk.
Oren set down an hourglass on a nearby stone, its sand beginning to trickle downward. "Ten minutes," he said, almost to himself. "After that, the Swooping Evil will be back. Good luck."
Ten minutes, Kyle thought, gritting his teeth. He saw a massive fireball hurtling toward him and bolted deeper into the Forbidden Forest, hoping the thick underbrush would help shield him from the witch's attacks.
As he dodged through the trees, frustration boiled inside him. This isn't fair, he thought bitterly. Why did Harry Potter get villains like the forgetful Lockhart or bumbling Quirrell, while he had to face someone like Oren, whose mind was sharper than a bag of enchanted needles?
Why?
...
On the other side, the witch grew frantic as her spells continued to miss Kyle. Oren's ultimatum hung over her head—if Kyle was still standing in ten minutes, her life would be forfeit.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Levicorpus!"
"Corrosus!"
Her spells flew wildly as she chased after Kyle, who weaved through the forest with quick, unpredictable turns. Suddenly, her steps faltered; the ground beneath her feet felt soft and strange, like stepping into mud. She lost her balance and tumbled forward, landing with a painful thud.
Kyle had stopped a short distance away, and he quickly turned, aiming his wand at a nearby tree.
"Spongify!" he incanted, and the towering tree beside the witch began to sway. Its trunk, softened by the spell, drooped under its own weight and toppled toward her like a thick rope of spaghetti.
Though softened, the tree's mass hadn't changed, and its thick canopy, as wide as a millstone, plummeted straight for the witch. Her face blanched, and she scrambled to get out of the way.
Without missing a beat, Kyle levitated several sturdy branches from the forest floor. With a flick of his wand, he transfigured the branches into sharp, stone-tipped stakes and launched them at the witch.
Seeing the incoming spikes, the witch screamed, "Prote-!" Desperation tinged her voice, but her Shield Charm was only half-formed when—
BOOM!
The massive tree finally crashed to the ground, the impact so thunderous it sent flocks of birds scattering from the trees.
When the dust settled, a large crater lay where the tree had landed. Inside, the witch lay trapped, groaning in agony. Her arm was pinned beneath the tree's trunk, and a stone stake protruded from her leg, rendering her completely immobile.
The skirmish had unfolded quickly and ended even more swiftly, leaving Oren standing there, momentarily stunned. He'd expected Kyle to rely on higher-level spells to subdue her, but the boy had used only the simplest of charms—a pair of Softening Charms, a Levitation Charm, a Basic Transformation, and a Locomotion Charm.
Spells any young wizard could cast. Yet with creativity, Kyle had turned them into a devastating attack.
...
Kyle wasn't surprised at how quickly the witch went down. After all, he'd spent two weeks studying the biography of a Duel Master—he had to have gained something from it. Using traps, leveraging the terrain, and finishing off an opponent already disadvantaged were dueling basics. Besides, the witch was a terrible fighter. Her spell choices spoke for themselves: aside from the Corrosion Curse, her repertoire consisted of Levicorpus, Petrificus Totalus, and the Blasting Curse. Most of those were standard spells for third-years, with the Blasting Curse being only slightly more advanced.
And she had fallen for a simple bait tactic. Kyle couldn't help but wonder if she'd somehow bought her Animagus ability—if such a thing was even possible.
"Expelliarmus."
Kyle walked up to the witch and confiscated her short wand, tucking it into his robe pocket.
"Well done, fifty points to Hufflepuff," Oren applauded, though his voice was laced with sarcasm as he pointed his own wand at Kyle. "So, do I need to give you a head start?"
Kyle didn't budge. "Professor Oren…" he asked, genuinely puzzled, "why are you targeting me? Even if I took one of your Billywigs last month, it's hardly worth all this—I could give you ten in return if you like."
Oren's expression darkened, and his hand trembled slightly, grip tightening on his wand.
"This isn't about that," he replied through clenched teeth. "You're Chris's son. If he hadn't interfered with my affairs all those years ago, I wouldn't be in this mess." His eyes narrowed suddenly, suspicion dawning. "Wait… you're stalling for time, aren't you? You don't really expect those Ministry fools to rescue you, do you?"
"I am stalling, but not waiting for a rescue," Kyle said, holding Oren's gaze. "I wanted Kanna to leave, but not just for her safety."
"Oh? So-called friendship, then?" Oren scoffed.
"Partially," Kyle replied with a shrug, "but mainly because there are things on me she shouldn't see."
Before Oren could retort, he screamed, his face contorting as he looked down to see two green, spherical cabbages biting into his leg. A sudden wave of numbness washed over him, momentarily robbing him of his senses.
"Expelliarmus!"
A jet of red light flew from Kyle's wand, but Oren managed to roll out of the way, though his leg throbbed painfully where the cabbages had bitten him. Glancing down, he cursed.
"Chinese Chomping Cabbages?! In the Forbidden Forest?!" he snarled through gritted teeth.
"I brought them," Kyle replied coolly, sending another Disarming Charm his way. "Hogwarts is dangerous. Even Hagrid's been attacked, so it's only reasonable for an 'unarmed' young wizard to carry a little protection."