The Dementor swayed and drifted away, soon vanishing into the darkness.
Kael turned around and found the others were looking at him with very strange expressions.
"What's wrong?"
"Kael, weren't you afraid at all just now?" Harry exclaimed in amazement.
Because of the distance—and with the Guardian God blocking his view—Harry hadn't heard the conversation earlier; he only vaguely saw that Kael seemed to have reached some sort of agreement with the Dementor.
But that was a Dementor! He felt a bone-chilling cold just being close, and yet Kael dared to stand right in front of one, and for so long…
"Why should I be afraid? This is Hogwarts." Kael said.
"So, is everything all right now?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.
"It's all right now," Kael said, "I told those Dementors that Sirius isn't here, so they left."
Hermione nodded, breathing a sigh of relief.
First the Werewolf, then hundreds of Dementors; now her legs felt weak, and all she wanted was to hurry back to the dorm and get a good night's sleep.
But they couldn't—not yet. They had to go find Headmaster Dumbledore first.
Hermione turned to look at the Werewolf tangled up by the Devil's Snare. "How do we take him with us? We can't just leave him here."
"Don't worry, that's not our problem to solve." Kael glanced toward the castle.
Maybe the Dementors caused too much commotion, because there, in midair, a large crimson bird was flying rapidly towards them.
It was Fawkes.
He folded his wings and landed atop Kael's shoulder, tilting his head slightly, as if asking what had happened.
"We need to see Professor Dumbledore," Kael said softly, pointing at the Werewolf bound up like a mummy. "Could I trouble you to take him there first?"
Fawkes nodded, flew over, grasped the Werewolf's head in his claws, and then soared back toward the castle.
"Oh my god, was that a Phoenix just now?"
Once Fawkes departed, Hermione gasped in surprise, covering her mouth. "I read about Phoenixes in books—this one looks exactly the same."
"That was a Phoenix," Harry said, "I saw it in the Headmaster's Office. I think its name is… Fawkes?"
"I'm more concerned about Professor Lupin…" Ron gaped. "Didn't you notice? He was carried off by his head. Is that really… safe?"
"If he's still in Werewolf form, it's fine. Their bodies are much tougher than a wizard's," Kael said. "All right, let's get going; Professor Dumbledore is probably expecting us."
The group hurried toward the castle.
Sirius, meanwhile, remained in the form of a big black dog, not daring to change back.
Once inside, they didn't run into Filch, nor any patrolling professors; they made it to the eighth floor without trouble.
Apparently, someone had been informed in advance; when the Gargoyle saw them, it immediately hopped aside, revealing the passageway behind.
Harry couldn't help but quicken his pace and entered first. Sirius followed close behind, but his hind legs were noticeably trembling—he was probably very nervous.
The oaken door at the top of the stairs was open too. Professor Dumbledore stood behind the desk, dressed in pink, strawberry-velvet pajamas.
"I imagine a lot of interesting things must have happened tonight, for so many of you to break school rules all together."
He smiled and asked, "Would you care for some pumpkin juice before you tell your stories?"
"No, thank you, Professor." The three at the front all shook their heads.
Harry just wasn't in the mood, while Ron and Hermione shook their heads automatically from nerves.
"Could I have a glass of lemonade?" Kael said.
"With sugar?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
"No sugar."
The moment Kael finished speaking, a fresh glass of lemonade appeared on the table beside him.
Kael took a sip; the sourness sobered him right up.
He'd barely swallowed before Harry blurted out, "Professor, Sirius Black is innocent! Peter Pettigrew is the real traitor!"
"Oh!"
Professor Dumbledore looked at him in surprise.
"I expected tonight's story would be exciting, but I didn't realize your first sentence would surprise me so."
"So, how did you find this out?" he asked. "As far as I know, Peter Pettigrew has been dead for twelve years—and was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class."
"That's fake—he's still alive!" Harry raised the cage he was hugging tightly. "This is Peter!"
"He turned into a rat and hid in my house for twelve years," Ron added, looking grim, as if Scabbers' true identity was a personal affront.
Dumbledore's blue eyes turned to Scabbers.
At the same time, Kael took out the Marauder's Map… which, inside the Headmaster's Office, clearly showed the name Peter Pettigrew.
"Oh, how nostalgic." Dumbledore's eyes flickered. "The last time I saw that map must've been… fifteen years ago… Strange, wasn't it supposed to be in Filch's office? Perhaps I'm remembering wrong?"
Kael took another sip of lemonade and said nothing.
Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't press the matter and instead signaled to Harry to continue.
"So how did you find Peter—because of that magic map?"
"Not just that…" Harry shook his head, then started recounting the events, beginning with Professor Lupin going to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Throughout, Dumbledore didn't ask a single question, just listened quietly.
Harry talked fast and finished in about ten minutes.
"So, this is Sirius Black?" Dumbledore looked at the big black dog sitting on the floor. "An Animagus… I see. No wonder no one could ever find you."
The black dog barked once, sitting upright.
"He had no choice, Professor," Harry quickly said. "We all saw it. Scabbers—Peter—kept banging his head against wands. No normal pet would do that, right?"
Dumbledore didn't answer the question, but rather asked meaningfully, "Harry, you seem to trust Sirius a lot. Have you considered that perhaps he might be lying?"
"I don't think he's lied to me," Harry replied without hesitation. "I can just tell he's telling the truth… And if he were lying, he wouldn't have dared come here with us, would he?"
"First, let me thank you for your trust, Harry."
Dumbledore said calmly, "But it's already very late, and after all the thrills tonight, I suggest you return to your dorm and have some hot cocoa, then get a good night's sleep."
"But Professor, Sirius Black—"
"Leave it to me, Harry." Dumbledore smiled. "If he's innocent, I promise you'll get a satisfactory answer."
"Well… all right…"
In fact, Harry still had many things to say. This was about whether he could leave the Dursleys and go somewhere he didn't have to hide his magic books under the floorboards.
But since Dumbledore had said so, he could only nod and head with Ron and Hermione toward the door.
"Good night then, Professor…"
The three of them left the Headmaster's Office one after another.
Kael was about to leave too, but just as he turned around, he heard Dumbledore say, "Kael, would you mind waiting a moment?"