After making their decision, the group set off at once, planning to head for Hogwarts under cover of darkness.
Harry even pulled out the Invisibility Cloak, ready to throw it over Black as soon as they returned to the castle.
Even though it was curfew and there probably wouldn't be any students around, it was still best to be careful until Black could clear his name.
Not to mention, Filch was still lurking somewhere in the castle.
The group re-entered the tunnel.
But unlike the tense journey here, the return was much more relaxed.
Professor Lupin led the way, followed by Harry, Hermione, and Ron, glancing back from time to time. Then came Black, clutching Peter's cage tightly.
Kai brought up the rear, ready in case Peter managed to break out of his cage… though that was pretty much impossible.
If a rat could escape so easily from one of his transformed cages, Kai might as well send back his Second-Class Merlin Order medal, just to save face.
The way back was smooth overall; everyone was organized and methodical.
"Hand over Peter Pettigrew." As they walked slowly through the tunnel, Black suddenly said to Harry, "Do you know what that means?"
"You're free." Harry looked back at him.
"Yeah…" Black replied. "But I also… I don't know if anyone told you… I'm your godfather."
"Yeah, I know," said Harry.
He'd overheard Fudge mention it back at the Three Broomsticks, though at the time, it just felt like a disgrace—it made him feel sick.
But now, hearing it, he felt an unexplainable sense of joy.
At last, his family wouldn't just be the Dursleys.
"That's right… Your parents made me your guardian." Black seemed a little awkward. "Um… you can think about it… if I get my name cleared… if you want a different home…"
Harry's heart skipped two beats—it felt like getting a second acceptance letter to Hogwarts.
"You mean… live with you?" he asked, and in his excitement, he accidentally banged his head on a stone protruding from the tunnel ceiling.
"Of course, if you'd rather stay with your aunt and uncle… I'd understand that too," Black added quickly, a little flustered. "I just thought…"
"Are you kidding?" Harry beamed, "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Do you have a house? When can I move in?"
"You want to?" Black asked. "Really?"
"Yeah, I really do," said Harry.
Kai noticed a genuine smile spread across Black's haggard face, as if he'd suddenly stepped out of his withered mask, looking at least ten years younger.
By now, they'd reached the tunnel exit.
Professor Lupin jumped up first, pressing a knothole on the tree trunk.
This knot was a bit like the Whomping Willow's switch—press it and the tree stayed quiet.
Soon, the others made their way out of the tunnel as well.
Black stood in the moonlight, arms wide, greedily soaking in the night breeze.
"Let's keep moving, there'll be plenty of chances later…" said Harry, already almost unable to wait to see Dumbledore.
They hurried across the grounds, the castle lights coming on in the distance…
But suddenly, at the front, Professor Lupin stopped hard, and Ron and Harry plowed right into him.
"What's wrong, Professor Lu—"
Harry didn't even finish the sentence before he was roughly pulled backward—so was Ron.
Only then did they notice Professor Lupin's body was shaking uncontrollably.
"Oh no… It's a full moon tonight!" Hermione screamed, "I forgot to tell you, Professor Lupin's a werewolf!"
"You what?" Ron suddenly felt ice spread all over his body.
No need to check—because right then, Professor Lupin's head was already stretching longer, and brown fur was sprouting on his exposed arms.
"This is kind of important, don't you think you could've mentioned it sooner?" Ron's teeth were chattering.
"Run!" Black hissed, "Run, now!"
The three of them sprinted back, but when Black turned to look behind him, he was horrified to see Kai still standing there… rummaging through a trunk, half his body practically inside it.
"You—"
He was just about to say something when Kai waved him off.
"It's fine, it's fine! Maybe Harry never told you, but I got my Second-Class Merlin Order for taking down a werewolf."
There was still a little time before Professor Lupin fully transformed. Kai calmly rummaged through his trunk.
Norbert… not an option. If he let Norbert out, it'd be way too noisy, and Professor Lupin probably wouldn't survive that anyway.
Mandrake… with a werewolf's resistance, it probably wouldn't kill him, but Harry and the others were still around, so forget it.
Chomping Cabbage… also not ideal.
After looking through everything, Kai finally found what he'd been searching for.
He hauled out a huge bundle of vines from the trunk, just as Professor Lupin completed his transformation into a werewolf.
The werewolf rose onto its hind legs, its long jaws gaping open, unleashing a terrifying roar.
A large black dog shot past Kai, clamping onto the werewolf's neck and trying to drag it back. Dog and wolf tangled, biting and clawing each other…
Kai was so stunned he almost forgot himself. When he snapped out of it, he quickly flung the whole mess of vines toward them with his wand.
"Summoning Charm!"
The vines slammed into them, and as soon as they sensed the attack, the thick tendrils went wild, twisting and wrapping around them.
It was like bugs caught in a spiderweb—within seconds, both werewolf and dog were completely tangled up, unable to move.
The scene was a bit awkward for a second.
Especially for Sirius, who suddenly realized he might've just gotten in the way.
"That's Devil's Snare. You should be able to break free, right?" Kai asked.
The dog nodded, immediately relaxing and wriggling free from the vines.
The werewolf kept struggling, the vines tightening more and more around him.
"Where'd you even get that thing?" Black, back in Animagus form, asked, amazed. "Your trunk isn't even that big."
"Well… it's a little bigger on the inside than it looks," Kai replied, making a tiny gesture with his pinky.
Black looked at the house-sized Devil's Snare, then at Kai's pinky, and was briefly speechless.
"A little bigger?"
But Kai had no intention of explaining. He looked at the werewolf, now trussed up like a dumpling, wondering how he was going to move him.
Maybe he should use a Mandrake?
A werewolf almost certainly wouldn't die from hearing a Mandrake's cry—at worst he'd just faint, like those Eight-eyed Giant Spiders before.
Even if its resistance was higher than the Eight-eyed Giant Spider's, the trunk held a dozen Mandrakes. If one didn't work, try two together. Still no? Add more. Sooner or later, he'd find the right dose for a werewolf.
And once the werewolf was unconscious, it'd be easy—just a simple Levitating Spell would be enough to float him all the way to Dumbledore's office.
The more Kai thought about it, the better it sounded.
But just as he was conjuring several pairs of thick earmuffs to hand to Harry and the others, a sudden chill filled the air. The moonlight had dimmed sharply too.
Kai snapped his head up—and there, in the distance, a cluster of "storm clouds" was rolling quickly along the lakeshore, spreading rapidly in their direction.