Since it was not yet curfew, there were still quite a few students in the castle corridors.
They all cast strange looks at Snape and Kyle.
However, intimidated by the "Old Bat's" presence, no onlookers dared to gather around to watch the show.
Under the low-pressure aura radiating from Snape, they sensibly scattered of their own accord.
Soon, only Kyle and Snape remained in the corridor.
Snape braced his hands on his knees to support his body, panting heavily.
How can this brat run so fast?
Kyle sauntered over and stopped in front of Snape.
"Professor, your physical fitness is lacking. Without a strong body, how can you pour your heart and soul into the sacred duty of teaching and nurturing students?"
Snape looked up and glared at Kyle, lunging forward to grab him by the collar.
However, Kyle simply spun around, dodging Snape's feral lunge.
Seeing Snape stumble and nearly fall flat on his face after missing his target, Kyle beamed brilliantly.
With a face fluctuating between gloom and uncertainty, Snape took a vial of potion from his robes. Its color resembled molten gold.
"I will trade you this vial of Felix Felicis."
Felix Felicis was a most peculiar potion; it was also known as "Liquid Luck" and would bring good fortune to the drinker.
In reality, the so-called "good luck" brought by Felix Felicis was primarily a maximization of the drinker's various capabilities—such as social skills, magical ability, reaction speed, and so on.
That was why Felix Felicis made one feel that everything was going their way.
Its brewing process was extremely complex, requiring six months and countless rare potion ingredients.
Generally speaking, Felix Felicis was a rarity in the potion market—hard to buy even if one had the money.
The small vial in Snape's hand, though only containing a mouthful, would fetch at least several thousand Galleons if it flowed into the black market.
"No thanks," Kyle said, showing not a hint of temptation. "I have plenty of that stuff. I could drink it like mineral water if I wanted to."
Snape's cheek twitched violently. He remembered Kyle's background—the son of Grindelwald.
Ever since Kyle had been taken from Hogsmeade and Dumbledore had returned to Hogwarts with a dark expression, the few professors in the know had formed a vague guess regarding Grindelwald's escape from Nurmengard.
A while back during Christmas, the large box of potion ingredients Kyle had sent him was worth at least a thousand, perhaps nearly two thousand Galleons.
For an ordinary wizard, that was roughly equivalent to two years' salary.
Not to mention that some of the ingredients were rare items that were extremely difficult to purchase on the market.
Yet Kyle, that filthy rich brat, didn't even bat an eye when giving such gifts.
"What exactly do you want?" Snape frowned deeply.
"Didn't I say I wanted to learn Potions?" Kyle picked at his ear.
"I can agr..."
Kyle interrupted him. "But now I don't want to learn anymore."
Snape's face twitched violently. How can such an infuriating brat exist?
Seeing that Snape was on the verge of exploding with rage, Kyle decided not to tease this pathetic, lifelong lovesick fool any longer.
"In addition to learning Potions, add one more condition, and I'll make the deal with you."
"What condition?" Snape's gaze looked as if he wanted to eat someone alive.
Kyle rubbed his chin. "For any advanced potions I need, you have to brew them for me until I can brew them myself."
"Limited to five times."
Kyle turned and walked away.
"Ten times!"
Kyle didn't stop.
"Fine! I agree!"
Kyle turned around, beaming with joy. "Deal."
On the surface, he was expressionless, but internally, Snape was roaring: Can't you haggle properly when I make an offer?! What is with you flipping the table at the slightest disagreement?!
Fifteen minutes later, inside Snape's office.
Snape signed his name on a roll of ancient-looking parchment.
Feeling the magical validity of the contract, Snape stared at Kyle with a gloomy expression. "Now you can speak."
As Kyle tucked the parchment contract away, he spoke unhurriedly, "Old Snape, have you heard of the Tale of the Three Brothers?"
Snape sneered, "You're not referring to the Resurrection Stone from the Deathly Hallows, are you? That is just a story."
"It's more than just a story," Kyle waged his index finger. "The Elder Wand, one of the three Hallows, is currently in my old man's hands."
The mocking smile on Snape's face vanished instantly.
"I heard this personally from Old Dad Albus," Kyle spread his hands. "As a Master of Occlumency, you should be able to judge whether I am lying."
Snape hesitated.
Occlumency and Legilimency, the shield and the spear, had always complemented each other.
Being proficient in Occlumency, his attainments in Legilimency would not be low, even without deliberate study.
Therefore, even without actively prying into Kyle's mind, he could determine that Kyle was telling the truth.
In that case, the Resurrection Stone truly exists?
"Do you know where the Resurrection Stone is?"
"Sorry, I don't know."
Snape's face instantly went black. He grabbed Kyle's collar ferociously. "Are you toying with me?"
Kyle slapped Snape's hand away. "But I can roughly guess where it is."
"Where?" The flame of hope that had just been extinguished in Snape reignited.
"The original owner of the Resurrection Stone was the second of the Peverell brothers, Cadmus..."
Snape interrupted Kyle impatiently. "I already know all this! Get to the point!"
Kyle didn't get angry and continued, "If you check magical history, you will discover that the bloodlines of several families in the magical world can be traced back to Cadmus."
"Which families?"
"Malfoy, Black, Lestrange, Potter, and..." Kyle paused, then slowly spat out the last name: "Gaunt."
Snape's pupils shrank abruptly.
Damn it! He should have thought of that earlier!
The Gaunt family had once produced a very famous wizard named Marvolo Gaunt.
His daughter, Merope Gaunt, united with a Muggle named Riddle and gave birth to a child named Tom Riddle.
If one took the letters that make up the name Tom Marvolo Riddle apart and rearranged them in a certain order, they could spell out a sentence:
"I am Lord Voldemort."
As a former Death Eater, Snape had seen a ring set with a black, diamond-shaped stone on Voldemort's hand more than once.
Only now did he realize that the stone set in the ring Voldemort wore was the Resurrection Stone Kyle spoke of.
Snape stood up without a word and walked toward the office door.
"Professor Snape, where are you going?"
"To find the Resurrection Stone." Snape didn't look back.
"But do you know where to look?"
Snape's footsteps stopped abruptly. He indeed did not know where to look; he had been momentarily blinded by the news of the Resurrection Stone.
He carefully searched his memories, hoping to find some clues regarding the Resurrection Stone.
Some dust-laden memories were dug up. Snape frowned tightly, focusing all his attention on minor details he had previously ignored.
But he couldn't recall which day the ring had disappeared from Voldemort's hand, nor where Voldemort had gone before the ring vanished.
Snape's mind cooled down slightly. He took a deep breath, turned around, and returned to his desk.
"Professor, when do we start studying Potions?" Kyle asked, sitting in the chair with his legs crossed, looking up at Snape.
Seeing Kyle's slouching, nonchalant posture, Snape's face was as dark as a dirty rag. "Tomorrow night at eight o'clock. Come to my office."
"Alrighty then. See you, Professor."
Having traded the location of a Resurrection Stone he didn't actually know the specifics of for what he wanted, Kyle stood up with satisfaction, turned, and left the gloomy office.
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