At the entrance of the Great Hall, near the corridor leading to the dungeons, Snape had been standing for quite a while.
He only stepped forward when he saw Sykes approaching.
Sykes noticed him too, but didn't stop. As she passed by, she simply said, "Perfect, no changes at all," then quickly left the castle.
Snape remained where he was, his expression shifting—disappointment, and relief...
If the Magia Vitalis hadn't changed, it meant Kyle and Kanna's relationship was still as stable as ever.
After some time, he seemed to come to terms with it, silently turned around, and returned to the dungeons.
Hogwarts Castle fell quiet once again.
...
Meanwhile, unaware of any of this, Kyle and Kanna had made their way to the Astronomy Tower.
Directly across from them was the Quidditch Pitch, now empty, with only a few owls perched on the goalposts.
"Where's Professor Sykes going?" Kyle asked, looking at the figure below.
"No idea," Kanna shook her head. "Maybe back to St. Mungo's. She said this batch of Magia Vitalis was really important, and it was necessary to record the entire process."
"Even that needs to be recorded?"
"Of course. It's valuable documentation," Kanna replied.
"Alright." Kyle nodded, turning to look at her.
He had received Hagrid's letter after dinner, and it was now quite late.
It was one of those rare clear nights—the moonlight broke through the clouds and cast a silvery glow on Kanna's wine-red hair.
She looked beautiful.
And now that he was standing so close, he could smell a faint herbal scent from her.
Kyle felt his heart start to race. And for some reason, Mrs. Weasley's favorite topic lately popped into his head.
Weddings...
"Kanna," Kyle suddenly said.
"What is it?" Kanna turned toward him.
"Nothing... wait, no." Kyle shook his head. "I just thought of a way to deal with Sirius's idea of making the wedding invitations out of gold."
"How?" Kanna asked, surprised and excited.
"Well, Mrs. Weasley's been talking to me a lot about weddings lately..." Kyle lowered his voice. "She told me Sirius found a goblin to turn the gold into invitations. But as everyone knows, goblins aren't exactly the most efficient. So if we catch him off guard..."
At that, Kanna's gaze suddenly became distant, as if she'd already figured out what Kyle had in mind.
And in the next moment, her expression turned resolute. She looked straight at Kyle, waiting for him to finish what he was going to say.
"Kanna, I think—"
Bang!
A sudden, ill-timed noise interrupted Kyle's words.
He froze for a second, then inhaled sharply, turned around, and drew his wand.
This had to be deliberate—showing up right now to cause trouble!
Kyle had already made up his mind: no matter who it was—even if it was Snape—they were going to pay for this...
"Nicolas..."
Seeing Nicolas Flamel suddenly standing behind them, Kyle blinked.
A second later, he quickly put his wand away.
"Nicolas, how did you...?"
"Looks like I misjudged the timing," Nicolas said, looking at Kyle with a slightly apologetic tone. "According to the plan, I was supposed to appear after you decided to get married. But I was so eager that I may have... pushed a bit too hard, which made me arrive early."
"Sorry, go on." He shuffled away with tiny steps, trying to turn himself around and head deeper down the corridor.
At his feet, Tata the house-elf, dressed in a little tailcoat, stretched his neck and peered curiously in their direction.
"Well," Kyle shrugged, "looks like Nicolas already told you what I had in mind. If we hold the wedding tomorrow, Sirius won't have time to make those gold invitations."
"That's true," Kanna said, letting out a soft laugh. "But Nicolas also told you what my answer was."
The two of them moved closer. Kanna closed her eyes as Kyle leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.
Just a light kiss.
There wasn't much else they could do—not with an old man standing right next to them.
"Alright, Nicolas." Kyle looked helplessly at the alchemist, who had barely made it two feet away. "Mind telling me how you knew? Was it the crystal ball?"
"Not this time. The crystal ball can't predict this sort of thing," Nicolas said as he slowly turned back around and pointed to Kanna's wrist.
"I saw it with my own eyes."
Kyle instinctively looked down—
And there it was: the phoenix bracelet on Kanna's wrist had come to life, its long tail extending outward, connecting her wrist to Kyle's.
"What is this...?"
"Perenelle reminded me I should do something ahead of time—so even if you didn't invite us to the wedding, we'd still know about it."
"And I have to say, she made a very good point."
Nicolas smiled as he continued shuffling toward them.
Kyle stood there silently.
Truthfully, he hadn't really thought about inviting Nicolas Flamel to his and Kanna's wedding.
The reason was simple.
From the beginning, Nicolas hadn't even moved more than two feet from them—and with bones that seemed more brittle than a cornflake, Kyle really didn't dare bring him into a crowd.
If someone accidentally bumped into him and he hit the ground, the world's greatest alchemist might end up as a scattered pile of broken pieces.
Still, Kyle hadn't expected Nicolas to go so far as to set up a "wedding alarm" and show up on his own.
Did he really have that much free time?
Then again, in all these centuries, Kyle had never heard of anyone who could actually invite Nicolas Flamel.
Kyle was full of questions.
"That's wonderful." Nicolas didn't seem concerned with what Kyle was thinking. "It'll be such a lively event—I haven't been to anything like that in ages."
"Kyle, you're not planning to turn down the request of a hundred-year-old man, are you?"
"I'd never..." Kyle wanted to say.
True, Nicolas often left the manor for a bit of travel or to catch an opera, but those were places he knew well—safe, predictable.
Unlike, say, a wedding where you might find a half-giant or a pair of twins who thought fireworks were appropriate for any occasion.
Still, now that Nicolas was here, they couldn't very well send him away.
And that line about being a "hundred-year-old man"—well, technically it wasn't wrong. Six hundred still fit under the "hundreds" category... just with a few extra centuries tacked on.
"You two are serious about this, right?" Nicolas suddenly asked, breaking the silence.
"Of course," Kyle said, nodding with a solemn expression.
"I actually had this idea the day I proposed," he continued, "but back then, we still had a few other things to take care of. Now feels like the right time."
Kanna walked over and gently slipped her arm through his. She didn't say anything, but the gesture spoke for itself.
"How lovely," Nicolas said warmly, gazing at the two of them. He couldn't help thinking back to the first time he'd met Perenelle.
...It had been so long ago. The memory was a bit hazy now, but he clearly remembered how happy he'd been—happier even than the day he created the Philosopher's Stone.
"Oh, right—Perenelle wants to make a new outfit. She probably won't arrive until tomorrow," Nicolas added.
"Ah..." Kyle tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He'd nearly forgotten—besides Nicolas, there was another "centenarian" on the way.
If it were up to him, he'd have liked to marry Kanna right now.
Of course, it was just a passing thought. Even if Kanna agreed, Nicolas probably wouldn't.
"Alright," Kyle said with a sigh. "I'll head to the owlery."
Even if he wanted to catch Sirius off guard, there were still people who needed to be invited.
Owls were the best option.
But he'd only taken two steps before a House-elf in a tailcoat blocked his path.
"There's no need—you don't have to do a thing," Nicolas said, waving a hand. "Just give me the guest list, and I'll handle the rest... Consider it compensation for interrupting you earlier."
"I promise you won't be disappointed."
For some reason, Kyle suddenly felt a strong urge not to let Nicolas help.
"You should head home and tell your family about this. They'll need a bit of time to prepare."
Hearing that, Kyle hesitated.
This decision had been made on a whim—rushed, unplanned. He really did need to notify Chris and Diana as soon as possible.
Especially Diana—she was still working in the Department of Mysteries, and meeting her wasn't easy. If delivering a message got delayed, someone would definitely blow up over it.
"Well... alright then." After a brief pause, Kyle reluctantly agreed to let Nicolas help.
The man had lived over six centuries—surely he was more reliable than Sirius... right?