Chapter 369: Dumbledore’s Punishment
"Damn it, the Fire-Making Charm! He's lying—that was clearly Fiendfyre!"
Snape was practically roaring in the Headmaster's office. "Could a Fire-Making Charm possibly be that powerful? Or does that fool Lupin think we're too ignorant to tell the difference between a Fire-Making Charm and the Fiendfyre Curse?"
"Calm yourself, Severus. I can hear you perfectly well; there's no need to get so worked up." Dumbledore reached for the teapot beside him. "Tea?"
"At a time like this, you have the nerve to ask if I want tea?" Snape glared at Dumbledore as though he were a stranger. "Someone used Fiendfyre to destroy an office at Hogwarts! Not even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would have dared use such dangerous dark magic so openly when he was here."
"Yes, Severus... I'm aware." Dumbledore continued to pour a cup, offering it to Snape.
Snape, visibly bristling, took a sip, only to put the cup down as though scalded. He continued, "You must find out how Kyle learned to cast the Fiendfyre Curse!"
"On that point, I disagree with you." Dumbledore shook his head. "Remus told me he didn't hear an incantation. Perhaps Kyle was simply shaken by seeing his friends' 'bodies,' and it triggered a magical outburst..."
"A magical outburst? Producing Fiendfyre?" Snape's expression grew increasingly sour, as though his intelligence were under assault.
"It's not impossible." Dumbledore mused, stroking his beard. "Kyle did encounter Fiendfyre back in his second year, a terrifying experience he barely escaped. And then there was the Boggart, a creature that preys on a person's deepest fears. Kyle may have subconsciously recalled that encounter, and under stress, reproduced it. Such magical storms can act unpredictably..."
Silence filled the Headmaster's office.
Snape looked at Dumbledore in disbelief, as if forced to drink a foul potion brewed by Neville Longbottom. "Do you take me for an idiot?"