"Kyle, are you really confident about this?"

On a street in London, Minerva McGonagall looked at Kyle with deep concern. "I'm not against you treating Frank and Alice. In fact, I truly hope they can wake up again."

"But Kyle, I must remind you—the Ministry of Magic has strictly forbidden any discussion related to Horcruxes. If they catch wind of this, they’ll likely come after you."

"Don’t worry, Headmistress. They won’t find out," Kyle replied with a smile, then walked straight through the window display of what appeared to be a department store.

McGonagall hesitated for a moment, but since Kyle had already gone in, she said nothing more and quickened her pace to follow.

The waiting room was crowded. Neville and Mrs. Longbottom stood at the front, and Professor Sykes was there too.

Even Amelia Bones, the Minister for Magic, and Kingsley Shacklebolt, head of the Auror Office, were present.

They all seemed to be waiting for Kyle.

"Kyle, is it true?" Amelia Bones was the first to approach, nearly bumping into a witch who had a Golden Snitch stuffed in her left nostril.

"I heard you found a counter-curse for the Cruciatus Curse."

Kyle didn’t hear what Bones said.

His attention was entirely on the witch—and on the Snitch wings fluttering near her mouth.

Catching a Snitch with her nostril?

How did she manage that?

Kyle had always thought Harry catching one with his mouth was already niche enough.

He had to admit—St. Mungo's never failed to amaze him.

It wasn't until someone tapped him on the back that Kyle snapped out of it.

"Minister Bones, I don’t know if this is actually a counter-curse to the Cruciatus," said Headmistress McGonagall clearly. "To be honest, I only heard about it last night and haven’t had time to verify anything."

"Ah, it’s not exactly a counter-curse," Kyle added quickly. "It just has a certain restraining effect on the Cruciatus Curse. It helps repair fractured souls."

"That's still remarkable," Bones said, though her tone remained skeptical.

Mrs. Longbottom stepped forward and expressed her gratitude to Kyle once more, and then the group headed upstairs together.

...

Fifth floor, Spell Damage Ward.

The Longbottoms were in one of the patient rooms.

When the door opened, both of them turned their heads at the same time. This content belongs to novelꞁire.net

Kyle had visited before, but compared to last time, they looked even more worn down—faces gaunt, eyes sunken and overly large, hair white, tangled, and brittle.

The number of people entering seemed to unsettle them. Neville’s mother shrank into a corner, glancing timidly at Neville among the crowd.

She was clutching something in her hand.

As Kyle got closer, he saw it was a wrapper from Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum.

"As you can see," Mrs. Longbottom said wearily. "They’ve been like this for a long time. Most of the time, they aren’t lucid."

"But sometimes she is," Neville said suddenly. "A lot of the time she recognizes me—she just can’t speak... I can feel it."

"She’ll recognize you from now on," Kyle said, patting him on the shoulder.

Neville’s face turned visibly red—whether from nervousness or excitement, it was hard to say.

Maybe both.

"All unrelated personnel, please leave," Sykes said sternly.

No one moved. Amelia Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt stood firm, showing no intention of leaving—not that they could.

Minerva McGonagall didn’t move either. Meanwhile, the Healers who had originally been in the room had somehow been pushed out.

The Aurors who had accompanied them stepped outside as well, standing guard at the door.

"Are we starting now?" Kingsley asked quietly.

"Yes," Kyle nodded. "Just in time to make it back for dinner."

He took out his wand, and everyone around him instantly held their breath, visibly tense.

"Alright then. Time for a nap." Kyle waved his wand, and the two, who had looked slightly frightened, instantly closed their eyes and collapsed onto the bed.

A red light emerged from the tip of Kyle's wand.

"Imperio!"

The red light entered Frank Longbottom’s forehead and vanished without a trace.

At the same moment, Kyle also fell completely still.

The scene before his eyes had changed entirely.

He seemed to be inside a vast, shattered space—colorless, without any edges or boundaries.

It was like facing a dozen screens of various sizes, each playing a different scene.

This was the Soul-Extraction Charm... The "screens" he saw were fragments of Frank Longbottom’s soul.

Kyle knew he was within Mr. Longbottom’s consciousness—yet he hadn’t separated from his own body.

It was a strange, incredible feeling.

"Now I just need to separate them..."

Kyle moved his wand slightly.

"...Permuto!"

He whispered the incantations so softly that even Minister Bones, who stood right beside him, only caught the last two words.

Frank Longbottom suddenly convulsed, his body jerking as if something were moving through him.

Bones frowned but ultimately said nothing.

...

The process took longer than expected—and was rather dull.

The two patients lay motionless, and Kyle stood before them without speaking, barely moving except to adjust his wand from time to time.

Fortunately, everyone in the room had the patience for it. By noon, no one showed the slightest hint of restlessness.

Bones and Kingsley remained composed, while Sykes wasn’t bored in the least. As a Healer, she could clearly sense the subtle changes occurring in the Longbottoms.

Each time Kyle moved his wand, she followed with her eyes, which grew brighter with every shift.

...

Outside the door, Neville stood in the hallway, staring at the tightly shut entrance, clutching a crumpled candy wrapper in his hand.

He’d been kicked out too—dismissed by Mrs. Longbottom as an irrelevant bystander.

He’d been like this all morning, standing motionless against the wall with his head down. Nervous, afraid, hopeful… a whirlwind of emotions churned within him, making it impossible to calm down.

But he had no idea what was happening inside. All he could do was wait anxiously, absentmindedly fiddling with the candy wrapper in his hand.

Click—

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but finally, the door opened.

Kyle stepped out, followed by the voice of Amelia Bones.

“If your method really works, I dare say the entire wizarding world will go mad over it… Order of Merlin, First Class—I can guarantee it.”

“I didn’t do this for a medal, Minister,” Kyle replied. “Besides, their bodies are still too weak. It’ll take some time before they wake up, so let’s talk about it then.”

Neville peeked into the room.

His parents lay quietly in bed, fast asleep.

His heart skipped a beat.

Kyle had done it!

They hadn’t woken yet, but Neville could instantly sense something had changed.

There was a serenity in them he’d never seen before. Sleep had always been torment for them—they’d be jolted awake by nightmares in no time.

But now they looked like… like Harry after Quidditch practice.

Exhausted, lying down and falling asleep the moment they hit the bed—sleeping soundly until morning.

It might not be the most precise comparison, but the meaning was clear. He was certain this time, his parents wouldn’t be waking up in terror.

Just as Neville turned, overjoyed, wanting to thank Kyle, the corridor in front of him was already empty.

While he’d been leaning into the doorway to check on them, Kyle had already left St. Mungo’s and returned to Hogwarts.

If he headed back now, he’d make it just in time for lunch.

After a whole morning of effort, he really was starting to feel hungry.

...

Whoosh!

With a faint sound, two figures appeared out of thin air on the Hogsmeade platform.

“Aren’t we waiting for the Headmistress?”

“No need. She probably went to speak with Minister Bones.”

Kyle tossed aside the empty glass vial and walked toward the castle gates, with Kanna following close behind.

To be honest, Kanna still hadn’t fully recovered from the experience.

“They’re… really okay now?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“No reason. It’s just… not how I imagined it.”

“That’s because you were watching. I was the one doing all the work.” Kyle rubbed his wrist, which was still trembling slightly.

He’d cast over twenty Horcrux spells in succession… His wrist felt like it had been jabbed with needles, and he could barely hold his wand.

Even this return trip with Kanna had been done using a Portkey arranged by Headmistress McGonagall—Apparition was out of the question.

The last time he’d felt this drained was when he’d encountered Voldemort in the Hebrides.

Kyle couldn’t help rubbing his throbbing head. He hadn’t expected Frank Longbottom’s soul to be that fragmented.

No wonder Neville had only ever mentioned his mother coming around—never his father. With a soul shattered into over a dozen pieces, it was a miracle if he could regain consciousness at all.

“But Minister Bones said she’d nominate you for the Order of Merlin, First Class,” Kanna said quietly. “You might become the youngest recipient ever.”

“That? Just let it be talk,” Kyle said offhandedly, clearly unfazed by the prestigious honor.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kanna frowned. “If you’ve found a way to undo the three Unforgivables, then of course you deserve the First Class.”

“Only if the method can be made widely available—like Wolfsbane Potion,” Kyle explained. “But the truth is, I absolutely can’t teach it to anyone else.”

“Because of the Horcruxes?”

“Exactly,” Kyle nodded. “At its core, the spell is a Horcrux. If anyone figured that out and made even a small adjustment, they could easily learn how to create one.”

“There’s never been a shortage of genius wizards in the magical world.” Kyle glanced up at Hogwarts Castle. “And I’m not arrogant enough to think no one could decipher the spell. That’s just not realistic.”

Kanna let out a soft sigh, feeling a pang of pity for him.

He could’ve had the Order of Merlin, First Class…

"Nothing." Kyle seemed to catch her thoughts and smiled. "That thing isn’t even made of gold—it’s worthless. I got something better."

"What is it?"

"Bragging rights." Kyle raised an eyebrow. "If I hadn’t graduated yet, I might have gotten another Special Award for Services to the School… That one, at least, goes in the Trophy Room, and it’s actually made of gold. Though I’m not sure professors are even eligible to receive it."

"Definitely not," Kanna laughed. "Don’t forget, anyone who gets the Special Award also earns two hundred House Points. If they gave one to you, who would get the points?"

"Hufflepuff, of course."

"The other three Houses would never agree to that."

Chatting as they walked, the two soon arrived in front of the castle.

"Right." As they reached the entrance to the Great Hall, Kanna suddenly remembered something and stopped.

"You basically made a Horcrux for Longbottom this time. If it stays like that too long, won’t someone find out?" she asked in a low voice. "Also, what did you use as the container for their souls? I was watching you the entire time—you never left their side."

"You finally asked," Kyle said with a grin. "They’re the containers themselves. I got the idea from Harry."

"Potter?"

"Yeah. He was Voldemort’s Horcrux," Kyle nodded, then explained. "I figured, if a wizard can become someone else’s Horcrux, why can’t they become their own?”

"So I tried making Mr. Longbottom into his own Horcrux. If it didn’t work, I would’ve gone with the original plan—break a few bones and hide the fragments there."

"But I pulled it off!"

Kanna frowned, still puzzled.

"But he’s just one person. You made over a dozen Horcruxes, didn’t you?"

"Just spread them out," Kyle said simply.

The colorless space he had seen earlier was Mr. Longbottom’s consciousness—or more accurately, his soul.

Since he didn’t need to worry about safety risks, he just gathered the fragments, stuffed one into the head, one into the arm, another into the leg—crammed them in wherever they’d fit. Messy, but it worked.

The benefit was obvious: because all the soul fragments were in one container, there was no chance of the personality-splitting effect Voldemort had suffered.

They were still the same Longbottoms, unchanged.

As for the downside… well, it wasn’t exactly a downside.

The main advantage of a Horcrux is that the soul fragment endures with the container. In theory, if the container is a rock, it can last forever—so can the soul fragment inside.

But if the container is a person, that advantage disappears.

Then again, it depends on the situation.

Kyle’s goal was simply to bring the Longbottoms back to their senses—not to create two immortal wizards.

His original plan had been to insert the separated soul fragments directly into their bones—hidden inside the body where no one would notice.

Once the Ministry officials left, he would extract those bones and either destroy them or ask Headmistress McGonagall to help seal them away.

But that method might have caused some harm to the Longbottoms.

Thankfully, he found a perfect workaround.