Science and magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 221
Both Lucius and Kyle's minds were spinning rapidly, thinking about the next countermeasures.

Thinking about whether to eat alone, or the two teamed up to rob Dumbledore.

But this is not something that can be determined simply by thinking.

This requires constant collisions and compromises in subsequent exchanges to arrive at the final result.

So under the cover of useless communication, Kyle kept adjusting the bottom line and expectations in his heart.

The same is true for Lucius on the side.

Such negotiations concerning the interests of multiple parties are destined to be difficult and lengthy.

But the current special situation is destined to complete the negotiations in a short period of time.

Therefore, no matter which one of the three parties is negotiating, they need to make a decision as soon as possible.

After a tacit nonsense, Lucius took the lead in entering the topic:
"Professor Dumbledore, speaking of which, I recently heard a...um...not so wonderful rumor."

Still speaking that aria, he deliberately paused while speaking.

It looked like he was thinking of a suitable word, but Kyle could see that he was secretly eyeing Dumbledore's expression.

This kind of trick, of course, won't produce any useful information, and Lucius didn't expect it to be effective.

He was just using this to put pressure on Dumbledore.

And the development of the matter is also as Lucius expected.

Dumbledore behind the desk always had a kind smile on his face, and looked at Lucius with squinted eyes, nothing unusual.

There was even a trace of curiosity on his face, and he looked at Lucius expectantly, waiting for him to continue talking.

Lucius twitched the corner of his mouth indifferently, showing a smile to Dumbledore, and continued:

"Many wizards are spreading the word now that it was that big fool named Hagrid who raised those acromantulas."

Speaking of Hagrid, Lucius made a very obvious look of disgust.

Kyle could see that it wasn't a deliberate act, or an attempt to put pressure on Dumbledore.

It was this platinum noble who looked down upon Hagrid's half-giant from the bottom of his heart.

Think about it too, Lucius and Hagrid are almost two extreme existences.

One is cautious, one is reckless; one is clean, one is dirty; one is elegant, smooth, and loyal to himself, and the other is rude, straightforward, and trusts others.

It is certainly not an accident that two people who are completely different from each other look down on each other.

The old man behind the desk didn't care about Lucius' rudeness, and didn't follow Lucius' words. Instead, he leaned halfway on the chair and asked calmly:
"Really? This is really an interesting rumor. So, Mr. Malfoy, what do you think of this matter?"

"You ask me what do you think?" Lucius also leaned on the back of the sofa, raised one leg, put his right hand on the armrest, and continued to play with the wand with his left:

"Maybe he did it, maybe he didn't, who knows? Nobody cares what a little guy does."

As he said that, Lucius smiled all over his face, but looked at Dumbledore with cold eyes: "It's really strange to say that such a large group of acromantulas are hidden in the Forbidden Forest. As the former headmaster of Hogwarts, don't you know at all?"

Lucius' words pointed directly at Dumbledore's weakness, but old Deng was not stupid, he didn't take the trick at all:
"As you said, Mr. Malfoy, who knows."

"The Forbidden Forest is so big, maybe they ran in from outside the school."

Before Lucius answered, Kyle spoke:

"It's incredible that such a large group of giant eight-eyed spiders migrated into the Forbidden Forest without causing any disturbance to the creatures in the Forbidden Forest."

Now that Lucius has launched an attack, Kyle doesn't mind playing and cooperating:

"Speaking of which, I also heard an interesting rumor."

"Mr. Malfoy, Professor Dumbledore, I believe you will be interested."

"What kind of rumors?"

It was Lucius who answered.

Although there is a competitive relationship between the two, it is not impossible to cooperate.

The benefits of two people working together to blackmail Dumbledore are definitely not as good as eating alone, but the risk is also much smaller.

Moreover, if the two can take this opportunity to carry out more cooperation, the benefits will not be much smaller than eating alone, and may even be more.

So Lucius looked at Kyle in a friendly way, and he also took the initiative to cooperate with him.

Kyle first smiled and nodded at Lucius.Then replied:

"Mr. Malfoy, do you still remember the opening of the Chamber of Secrets 50 years ago?"

"Of course I remember. Speaking of which, it seems that Hagrid was involved when it was opened."

"That's right, Hagrid back then was expelled from the school for opening the Chamber of Secrets, and even had his magic barrier broken."

"But as far as I know, that big man didn't open the secret room, he just happened to have a monster as well."

Also sitting on the sofa, in the same willful posture, two foxes, one big and one small, chatted on their own, leaving Dumbledore aside.

This made Dumbledore's face a little ugly.

If dealing with one person alone, Dumbledore would not feel so strenuous.

But when the two Slytherin snakes cooperated, Dumbledore found that he couldn't get in the way, and could only let the situation slide in a bad direction.

Seemingly aware of Dumbledore's embarrassment, Kyle took the initiative to turn the topic to him in order to take care of the elderly:

"Oh, look at my brain. If I remember correctly, Professor Dumbledore was already teaching at Hogwarts. You must remember what Brother Hai raised at that time, right?"

Unfortunately, such care was not what Dumbledore hoped for.

"Kyle, your question is really embarrassing for an old man. Who can remember the memory of 50 years ago?"

"Really?" Kyle looked at Dumbledore with a smile: "In this case, why don't I remind the professor. As far as I know, Hagrid back then raised an acromantula."

Dumbledore behind the desk did not speak.

And Lucius, who was sitting aside, just smiled mockingly, then lowered his head and played with his wand, also saying nothing more.

Both Kyle and Lucius knew that it was okay to force Dumbledore, but only with a degree.

Once they were too urgent and Lao Dengtou chose to flip the table, all three parties would suffer heavy losses.

Although what he and Lucius are doing together now has a sense of sight of two young and middle-aged men working together to bully the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled.

But Dumbledore is no ordinary old Luo sick and disabled.

Thinking about his brilliant record of defeating the two Dark Lords and his followers in the wizarding world, he knew that this was not a good target to be bullied.

When old Dengtou is willing to abide by the rules, Kyle and Lucius can of course blackmail them unscrupulously.

But once Old Deng is unwilling to abide by the rules, Kyle and Lucius will gain nothing.

So at this time, he and Lucius tacitly stopped talking, waiting for Dumbledore to give a reply.

At this time, Dumbledore also slightly put away the kindness on his face.

Rubbing the teacup carelessly, he looked at Kyle and Lucius with coldness in his eyes:

"Gentlemen, why bother to keep an eye on Hagrid? You know, he's just a simple big boy."

Dumbledore's statement made Lucius snort:

"That's a big boy, not much shorter than a giant."

At this point in the conversation, it seemed that both Dumbledore and Lucius had lost their patience, and the atmosphere seemed a little tense.

After a while of silence, Dumbledore finally stopped pretending to be stupid, and asked Lucius directly:
"Mr. Malfoy, tell me what you want. I believe you didn't come to my office tonight to chat about Hagrid."

"Of course not." Lucius finally put away the fake smile on his face, leaving only indifference and arrogance:

"Old guy, I warned you not to make mistakes, but you just didn't listen. Well now, your indulgence of Gryffindor has finally caused you big trouble. Dumbledore, what price are you going to pay to get through this?"

Both of them didn't want to offer a price, and they were waiting for the other to reveal their inner expectations first.

However, Lucius' question finally completely tore through Dumbledore's hypocrisy, and indifference climbed onto his face:

"Malfoy, is greed blinding your reason, or pride has finally lost you, what qualifications do you have to question me?"

At this time, Dumbledore fully demonstrated the majesty of the leader of the White Wizard.

Without yelling or cursing, Lucius sat on the chair with an ugly expression on his own aura, not daring to speak easily.

But Kyle on the side doesn't follow the old guy's tricks.

Seeing that Lucius faltered, he followed his words and spoke:

"Professor Dumbledore, why use force to suppress others? Mr. Malfoy is right. The trouble Hagrid caused this time can no longer be suppressed by you alone, or by the power of Holland Fondo alone."

"In that case, why don't we have an open and honest talk? Mr. Malfoy, do you think I'm right? After all, we don't have much time left."

Lucius on the side didn't speak, but nodded with an ugly face.

Dumbledore also acquiesced to Kyle's words, first glanced at Lucius contemptuously, and then said:

"In that case, Mr. Malfoy. Tell me what you want. You know me as much as I know you, so don't waste this rare opportunity."

In the end, Dumbledore's words were tinged with threats.

Obviously warning Lucius not to open the lion's mouth.

But at this moment, Lucius had suppressed the ugly look on his face.

Not frightened by Dumbledore, but looking at him greedily:
"Dumbledore, you are old. The several accidents in the past year are enough to show that you are no longer suitable for the position of headmaster."

"Even if the principal is replaced by McGonagall, she is still not qualified for this position. The recent accident has fully proved this point."

"So?" Dumbledore asked coldly.

"Handing over the position of principal is the request of all Slytherins." Having said that, Lucius stared at Dumbledore indifferently, his eyes full of determination: "The position of principal has been occupied by Gryffindor for decades. Now, it is time to return it to Slytherin."

"It's impossible!" Without even thinking about it, Dumbledore directly rejected the request: "I will not hand over the position of headmaster to Slytherin, don't even think about it."

Dumbledore refused decisively.

This is not because he is greedy for the position of headmaster, nor is it to keep this position in the hands of Gryffindor.

He just simply didn't want a Slytherin to succeed him as Headmaster.

At least not in his lifetime, or until Voldemort was completely defeated, he wouldn't let this happen.

Because that would allow Voldemort's forces to take the opportunity to enter the school again.

Once again, this thousand-year-old castle will become the cradle for him to train his subordinates.

This is something that Dumbledore firmly does not allow.

Thinking of this, Dumbledore couldn't help but sarcastically said:

"What, you can't wait anymore, you just want me to call you Principal Malfoy?"

Dumbledore's ridicule was not taken seriously by Lucius, but he replied seriously:

"I don't mind who is Headmaster as long as it belongs to Slytherin."

Having said that, Lucius looked at Old Deng with a gloomy expression:
"No one has ever turned the headmaster of Hogwarts into a puppet who obeys his orders. Dumbledore, you are the first to do this. You have crossed the line!"

"Pineas Black passed the headmastership to Armando Dippet, and Dippet passed the headmastership to you."

"Every principal before this, no matter what they did during their reign, when they chose a successor, they didn't have their own selfishness."

"Slytherin passed the Headmaster to Ravenclaw, and Ravenclaw passed it to you, Gryffindor."

Having said that, Lucius' face is full of contempt:
"Only you, Dumbledore, you passed the headmaster's position to your own puppet, from Gryffindor to another Gryffindor. It's been 1000 years, and you are the first! This is why the Slytherins and even the entire wizarding world started to oppose you."

"What do you want to do, do you want to be the uncrowned king of the magic world?"

Lucius' question made Dumbledore speechless, and he could only utter this weak rebuttal.

"McGonagall is an excellent principal, she is not my puppet."

This sentence is so weak that even ghosts cannot be fooled.

Because all the ghosts of Hogwarts know that Dumbledore is still the person in charge of the school.

Kyle on the side was also a little silent.

After society enters the era of democracy, it will no longer agree to have multiple emperors on its head.

The rule that every five years and a maximum of one re-election guarantees that no matter how badly the incumbent does, he will toss the country for at most ten years.

But if this restriction is abolished, it means that there may be an emperor who corrects to death, no matter whether he is good or bad.

This is never a good thing.

However, in the conservative magic world, there is still an indefinite re-election system.

So although this is not what Kyle wants to ask for, he doesn't mind showing support to Lucius.

(End of this chapter)