Dumbledore didn't stay long at the Ministry of Magic; after exchanging a few words with Kael, he left, with Professor McGonagall following close behind.
While in the lift, Mr. Weasley shooed away the paper airplanes overhead and extended Kael an invitation.
"Why don't you come over for a bit?" he said in a lowered voice. "Everyone's here, and to celebrate your safe return, Molly made a huge table of delicious food."
"Alright then," Kael replied.
Diana hadn't let him go anywhere else before—mostly likely because of this inquiry—now that it was all over, he obviously didn't need to stay in Ottery St Catchpole any longer.
Besides, he couldn't very well stay indoors for two months straight, could he?
Seeing Kael accept, Harry also looked delighted—or rather, ever since he found out he wouldn't be expelled from Hogwarts, even the smallest thing could make him smile.
Since Kael decided to go to No. 12 Grimmauld Place, when the lift stopped at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Chris left on his own.
"Have fun," he said cheerfully. "And if you decide to spend the night, don't forget to send me an owl ahead of time."
"Okay, Dad." Kael nodded.
Then they arrived at the main hall. There were far fewer people than that morning—a wizened wizard on duty had his face buried behind the Daily Prophet; it was hard to tell if he was reading or napping.
They walked straight past the golden fountain, when suddenly Harry turned back around.
"Wait a sec…"
He pulled out his money pouch, and without even looking, dumped all the coins inside into the fountain. The shower of coins made a clinking cascade of sound.
"I'd been meaning to," Harry explained as he stuffed the now-empty pouch away. "I promised myself if I managed to get out of this, I'd donate all the money I had on me."
"In that case, does that mean I should donate a bit too?" Kael stepped up to the fountain as well.
He rummaged in his pocket for a while and finally fished out a single Silver Sickle.
All his money was kept in the Niffler's safety vault in his trunk—no way to get to it right now—so this coin was all he had…
Still, it was something at least.
Kael flicked the Silver Sickle into the fountain.
Gotta admit, the splash this made was even bigger than a Galleon's.
Kael looked up at the line of words atop the fountain.
"All proceeds from the Magic Fountain are donated to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."
"That's all for today," Kael muttered under his breath. "If all goes well, I'll make it up next time…"
After that, the three of them travelled by fireplace to the Leaky Cauldron.
Maybe it was a rare opportunity, or maybe it was simply because Kael was with them, but Mr. Weasley didn't use Apparition to go back. Instead, he picked a Muggle mode of transportation…
The entire trip, Mr. Weasley was thrilled—as they passed each stop, he'd let out a little yelp of wonder, prompting nearby people to shoot them all kinds of odd glances, as though they were some backwater hicks who'd never seen the world.
To be fair, Mr. Weasley's appearance right now pretty much fit that image—especially with him dressed in such blatantly mismatched clothes.
As for Kael and Harry, the journey was more of a test of endurance.
Even though Harry had endured it all once already that morning, he still couldn't stop himself from ducking his head and doing his best to avoid talking with Mr. Weasley.
Kael quietly edged further away, turning himself into just another face in the crowd.
When they finally got off, both of them made a break for it—exiting the station first, leaving Mr. Weasley behind, still bellowing in astonishment at the ticket machine.
"I've never wanted to learn Apparition so much," Harry muttered. "Fred and George already know how, and they're basically Apparating everywhere nowadays."
"Kael, you'll be learning that Charm this year too, right?"
"Yeah, you can take it as an elective in sixth year," Kael replied.
In fact, he'd already mastered it—getting the license was just a formality this time.
By the time the three of them arrived at Grimmauld Place, it was already noon.
Maybe because it was a workday, there weren't many people around—but it was still livelier than last time.
"Oh, dears, I knew you'd both be alright!"
Mrs. Weasley bustled over, hugging Harry and Kael each in turn.
"Welcome, Kael!" Hermione ran over too, though she looked a little nervous.
"Harry, what happened, how'd it…"
"Master Kael!"
Before she could finish, a tiny figure shot in from behind and nearly bowled her over.
"Welcome, Master Kael." House-elf Kreacher intoned respectfully, "Would Master like some biscuits? Raspberry biscuits, perhaps? Or maybe some Butter Beer first?"
The others just stared, wide-eyed at the house-elf's behavior.
Especially Ron and Harry—they pinched their own thighs in unison, half-convinced they were dreaming. Otherwise, when had this house-elf ever been this friendly?
They'd been living here for a while, but Kreacher had never even given them a halfway decent look—except for Sirius, whom he was always polite to. For everyone else, he was just plain rude or standoffish.
Harry knew for a fact Kreacher loved to mutter about them behind their backs. Snide remarks, acting like he couldn't care less—it was all par for the course.
But now…
With the house-elf acting so respectful, Harry could almost see a little bit of Dobby in him.
"You sure this place is Sirius's house?" Ron murmured. "Feels like Kael's the real master here."
"I've no idea," Harry said reflexively.
He totally got why Ron would think that—to be honest, it wasn't just them. Even Mrs. Weasley seemed completely baffled.
"Don't be surprised." At that moment, Sirius walked out from inside the house.
"Kael did the Blacks a huge favor, so Kreacher is way more respectful to him than he's ever been to me."
He stepped around the positively thrilled house-elf to join them. "So? Everything sorted, then?"
"Couldn't have gone better!" Harry said happily, "I wasn't expelled—the charges were dropped!"
"Yeah," Kael agreed.
"Ha! Knew it," Ron jumped up on the spot. "Told you you'd be fine!"
"Yeah, you didn't do anything wrong—they couldn't possibly convict you," Hermione let out a sigh, though her hands had been trembling ever since Harry walked in.
Even so, everyone looked honestly relieved. Mrs. Weasley even dabbed her eyes with her apron.
But soon enough, a sudden explosion shattered the atmosphere.
It was Fred and George—they suddenly appeared behind Kael with such an abrupt bang that everyone nearly jumped out of their skins.
"To be honest, we knew you'd be fine ages ago," Fred said, slinging an arm around Kael's shoulder.
"Yeah, we weren't the least bit worried," George chimed in.
"Honestly, I reckon the Ministry should compensate you!"
"Ha, keep dreaming," Kael grinned. "They're not giving me a single Knut."
"Wait—" Hermione suddenly looked at the two of them as though something had just clicked. "Are you saying… Did Kael also go to the Ministry for a hearing?"
"Uh, yeah." Kael shrugged. "Same as Harry—caught using magic outside of school…"
That left Hermione speechless.
With Harry, she could understand—even if it wasn't his fault, this was actually his third time being caught using magic outside school.
But with Kael, it didn't make sense. Didn't he live in a village packed with wizards?