"What did she mean by what she said just now?"
After Umbridge left, Hagrid looked at Kael in confusion and asked, "And why did you say earlier that I should trust the Ministry of Magic, when we should obviously trust Dumbledore? You know that."
"Yeah, I know," Kael nodded, "but to avoid trouble, we have to say that now."
"Just a witch from the Ministry of Magic, what's the trouble she can cause?" Hagrid looked completely unconcerned.
"Umbridge has the authority to dismiss professors," Kael reminded him, "If she thinks any professor is incompetent, she can fire them."
"You must be joking, Kael, that's impossible..." Hagrid said indifferently, "No one can randomly fire Hogwarts professors, not even Fudge, except for Dumbledore."
"Also, no matter what you say, I will never betray Dumbledore, not even just pretending, and if she wants to cause trouble for me because of this... then let her come."
Kael wasn't surprised; he had already guessed Hagrid would say that.
As Dumbledore's biggest fan, Hagrid never shied away from this, even if it brought him a lot of trouble.
Just as he was thinking, footsteps were heard outside again, and this time the sound was chaotic, clearly more than one person.
"Bang bang bang!" The door was heavily knocked on.
"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry shouted excitedly from outside.
Hagrid looked equally pleased; it felt really nice to have so many people come to visit him right after he returned.
He got up and opened the door.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione's heads peeked through the crack in the door.
"Hagrid, when did you get back?"
"Just half an hour ago." Hagrid said with a smile, "Alright, come in and warm up a bit."
The three squeezed in from outside.
"We just saw Umbridge," Hermione whispered, "She didn't say anything excessive... Oh, Hagrid, you're hurt?"
She also noticed Hagrid's eye, swollen to a slit.
"Could it be that Umbridge, that toad, did this?" Ron said angrily, "She dares to attack professors now?"
"No, it has nothing to do with her; I injured myself accidentally." Hagrid covered his eye again with his hand, "In short, she just looked around and left, without saying anything else."
Hermione frowned suspiciously.
According to their earlier speculation, Umbridge would definitely show off her authority and Senior Investigator position in front of Hagrid... How could she just look around and leave?
But Harry didn't think much about this; upon hearing that Umbridge hadn't troubled Hagrid, he didn't continue the topic, but spoke in an annoyed tone: "Had I known you'd return today, I wouldn't have sent Hedwig to Professor Grubbly-Plank for treatment."
"Hedwig? What's wrong with her?"
"She was injured; someone attacked her, and we think that person wanted to intercept the letter Hedwig was carrying."
"It's Filch."
The sudden voice startled the three of them, and upon realizing, they noticed there was another person in the room.
"Sorry, Kael." Hermione quickly said, "I didn't notice you were here just now."
"It's alright." Kael shook his head, showing he didn't mind.
"Wait a minute, you said Filch..." Harry recalled Kael's words, and asked in confusion, "Did he attack Hedwig?"
"That's right." Kael said, "Right in the Owl Shed, he tried to snatch the letter from Hedwig."
"I knew it!" Harry looked extremely angry, "Besides him and Umbridge, who else would be interested in my letters?"
"This is against the rules!" Hermione was also furious, "And privately intercepting owls is already a violation of the 'Wizard Law', I must report this to Professor McGonagall!"
The three were chattering noisily, but Kael didn't join the conversation, instead rummaged through his suitcase on his own.
Soon, he found a bottle of Dittany Essence and a large bunch of fresh Dittany Leaves.
"You should find these useful." Kael handed over the items to Hagrid,
"Apply the Dittany Essence on the wound and use the leaves on your eye. It should heal in about two days. If you want it to heal faster, you can visit the Hospital Wing; Madam Pomfrey is much more professional than I am."
"Thank you, this will do." Hagrid said, "I don't want too many people to know I'm hurt."
"By the way, Hagrid, what happened to you exactly?" Harry asked again.
"I told you, it's nothing." Hagrid glanced at Kael and stubbornly said, "Have a seat and drink some water."
"Nothing? Come on." Ron said, "Look at yourself."
They obviously didn't believe Hagrid and kept questioning him.
Hagrid looked to Kael for help, but only received a helpless look.
Harry and the others were famously curious; even if Kael helped him cover it up this time, they would definitely find a way to get information from Hagrid later.
So Kael had no intention to help but left after handing the Healing Potion to Hagrid.
The weather was getting colder, and everyone preferred to stay in the warm common room, even though it was the weekend, the grounds were very quiet, and no one was around.
Of course, if it snowed, it would be different, as having a snowball fight with friends was still fun.
Kael braced against the cold wind and headed back to the Hufflepuff common room.
As the wooden door was pushed open, those sitting at the entrance shivered instinctively, but fortunately, the warm fireplace quickly dispelled the cold air brought in.
Cedric was playing Wizard chess with Mikel; upon seeing Kael, he immediately waved and asked:
"Where did you go just now?"
"Forbidden Forest," Kael said, "Hagrid's back."
"Hagrid's back?" Cedric said with delight.
"Yeah, about an hour ago." Kael said, "If you go there now, you can have lunch with him."
"Better not," Cedric shook his head repeatedly, laughing, "Generally, people can't handle Hagrid's taste; I think it's better to go after lunch."
"That works too."
"Want to play a game?" Cedric pointed to the Wizard Chess in front of him.
"Sure..." Kael said, "But I have a little something to attend to; I'll probably come later."
"Alright."
"See you later." Kael said and then returned to the dormitory.
Mikel and Ryan were also in the common room, the dormitory was empty at the moment.
Just perfect.
Kael sat at the desk by the window, picked up his quill, and quickly wrote a letter.
"Ladon..." Kael called out the window.
A minute later, Ladon reluctantly landed on the windowsill, facing outside with only its tail towards the dormitory, evidently still angry at Kael.
"Don't be mad." Kael waved the envelope in his hand, "This is much more important than the previous letter, and only you can deliver it."
Ladon shook the feathers on its wings, and finally turned its head around.
"This is for Newt, other owls can't find the place." Kael stroked the fluffy feathers on Ladon's head and said in a low voice, "Quick there and back, remember to bring the reply along."
Ladon let out a proud call, then grabbed the envelope in its mouth and spread its wings to fly away.
…