Sirius and Lupin moved quickly—by the very next day, they'd already started cleaning up the Shrieking Shack.
Just like Kael had said, trying to renovate a house that had been abandoned for so many years was definitely not an easy task.
It was swarming with Doxies, earth turtles, and other pests; Lupin even found two Boggarts up in the attic.
Sirius suggested just tearing down the whole place and rebuilding it—maybe that would be faster—but Lupin disagreed.
He thought the Shrieking Shack was still quite sturdy, and tearing it all down would be a terrible waste. The two argued for half the day, and finally decided to settle on a compromise.
They'd keep the house, but nothing inside was staying—not a single item.
After that, the cleanup went much quicker.
Kael came over once, using the secret passage beneath the Whomping Willow.
Lupin and Sirius were working up a storm, and the shopkeepers of Hogsmeade, having heard the commotion, all gathered around wanting to see what was going on.
Some warm-hearted folks—like Ambrosius Flume and his wife from Honeyduke's Sweet Shop—even helped clear weeds and flesh-eating slugs from the yard.
Other than that, all the other shopkeepers were friendly with them, too.
Hogsmeade wasn't a huge place; just the same handful of shops back and forth. They were all glad to welcome some new neighbors.
Besides, the Shrieking Shack… well, honestly, although its reputation preceded it, the old stories about it were long out of date. Plus, its overgrown, abandoned look wasn't exactly helping Hogsmeade's image.
Kael didn't stay long—probably just half an hour before Lupin shooed him away.
According to him, cleaning up wasn't the kind of thing you needed so many people for. And today wasn't a Hogsmeade visiting day—if Kael was seen by a professor popping into the Three Broomsticks for a drink, he'd definitely lose points, maybe even get detention.
Kael didn't argue, just nodded and headed back.
After leaving the Whomping Willow passage, Kael ran into Harry, Hermione, and Ron… or, at least, it should have been them.
Probably they didn't want to be noticed; the three of them had Harry's Invisibility Cloak pulled over themselves, but hadn't realized all their feet were sticking out, which actually made for a pretty odd scene.
But by then, they were already close to the Whomping Willow, so Kael just played dumb and walked right on by.
...
On Monday morning, Dumbledore returned to the castle as well.
At the same time, there was one very brief line in the day's paper.
[The bill restricting Aurors did not pass]
The print was so tiny, squeezed between two articles—if you didn't look closely, you'd miss it entirely.
But even so, Professor Moody was still fuming—in the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class that afternoon, he openly complained the Ministry of Magic folks were useless, only good at making speeches, and had no clue what Aurors actually went through each day.
"I think the professor's right," Cho nodded solemnly from her seat below, "If the Ministry really did pass that restriction bill, then there's no way I'd ever consider becoming an Auror."
"Don't worry," said Kael. "If they really did pass it… we'd be seeing news of a mass Auror resignation tomorrow."
As he spoke, Kael slipped the Marauder's Map back into his pocket.
After all, with Professor Moody having been gone for a month, Kael had taken the Map with him before this very class, just in case.
The good news: Moody's name still wasn't on it, just like before.
Still, to be safe, when class ended, Kael dashed out of the classroom to catch up with Professor Moody, who hadn't gone far yet.
"Professor…" Kael said calmly, "Weren't you going to check how well we've mastered the Iron Armor Spell?
I noticed you didn't mention it today—is it for next lesson?"
"Iron Armor Spell?"
Professor Moody's normal eye and the blue Magic Eye both turned to look at him.
"I think you must be mistaken."
He said, very firmly, "The Iron Armor Spell was covered in the first lesson. I spent a long time teaching you all—whether you learned it or not, I'm not going to waste any more time on that charm, it's pointless."
"Maybe I really did misremember," Kael said. "Or maybe it was Professor Black—he filled in last month, after all."
"If that's the case, then you can forget about it entirely." Professor Moody shot a glance at a passing group of students. "At least while I'm teaching, there'll be no time wasted testing your Iron Armor Spell."
"Understood, Professor." Kael finished and was about to leave.
Professor Moody's blue Magic Eye rotated to follow Kael. His scarred face twisted into a grin that was a little unnerving.
"I have to say, you're pretty sharp, kid."
He rasped, "The buffoons in the Ministry are even worse than children. Not a single one questioned whether I might be an impostor—not the slightest bit of suspicion."
"I don't know what you mean, Professor." Kael looked at him, confused.
Even though he was probing, it would be rude to bring it up openly.
But Professor Moody acted as if he hadn't heard Kael's answer, and kept going:
"Verifying my identity is very important." He patted the flask in his pocket. "Everyone knows I only ever drink what I bring myself. If someone wants to pretend to be me, all they need is to fill a flask with Polyjuice Potion and take a swig every hour—simple as that."
Kael didn't reply—mainly because he didn't know what to say. After all, someone really had done exactly that.
"Ever thought of becoming an Auror?" Professor Moody suddenly asked.
"An Auror?" Kael shook his head, "Not at the moment, but maybe I'll consider it in the future."
"Well, you really should give it some thought." Moody pointed at his Magic Eye. "I trust my instincts. You're clever, and more alert than most—that's incredibly important. Like I always say: constant vigilance is an Auror's greatest weapon.
And you—you've got it. I dare say, you'll be a legendary Auror someday, just like your mother."
"My mum?" Kael, who'd only wanted to be rid of Moody as quickly as possible, for the first time wore a look of surprise and doubt. "But, Professor, you must be mistaken—my mum isn't an Auror."
"Mistaken? No, I'm not." Professor Moody laughed again. "Diana didn't join the Department of Mysteries right out of school. She was one of the most outstanding—most promising—Aurors I ever met, right from the day she joined.
When I was still active, I thought for a while she'd someday run the Auror Office. Pity she chose not to stay."
"But looking back, I think she made the right call—the Ministry these days is rotten to the core… and that Fudge—he only cares about getting more power, not about being a real Minister."
Moody started fuming again. He said nothing else to Kael, just limped off toward his office.
Even after he'd gone a good way, Kael could still hear him muttering angrily to himself.
...