Umbridge's search mission started on that very day.
At eight-thirty in the evening, Kael dispatched Malfoy and Crabbe and headed to the eighth floor.
He had just left the stairs when a sneaky head emerged from behind a tapestry on the eighth floor.
"How's it going..." Fred asked quietly.
"Relax, I'm the only one on the eighth floor." Kael made a gesture.
Only then did Fred come out assured, "Tell us what's going on now."
"Malfoy and Crabbe are on the sixth floor, Montague is on the fifth, someone is on the third and second floors..." Kael said, "I suggest you best not take the stairs, or wait a while."
"No way, it's almost curfew, it'll be more troublesome if we get caught then." George thought for a while, then asked, "How about taking the direction of the tower, I remember there's a passage directly to the first floor there."
"Sure." Kael said, "They won't check places that far away in such a short time... remember to take the Marauder's Map."
"Relax." Fred nodded, retreating behind the tapestry, Kael thought about it, used the Disillusionment Charm on himself, and retreated to the staircase corner.
Before long, a door suddenly appeared on the opposite wall, and a large group of people gradually came out, these were students who had just finished a D.A. meeting.
Under Fred's command, they skillfully split into three teams.
Fred led the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students towards the direction of the tower, they needed to pass through there to return to their respective common rooms.
The Gryffindor students didn't have this issue since their common room was right on the eighth floor, a turn away.
After everyone left, Kael came to that door, walked straight in.
The few inside heard movement, turned nervously until they saw it was Kael, then they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Kael, are what they said true?" Hermione immediately asked, "Did Umbridge really find out we're self-studying Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"Yes." Kael nodded.
"But that's impossible." Hermione furrowed her brows, "We've added some magic to the list, anyone who writes their name couldn't possibly reveal what's happening here, how did she know?"
"Other than the Unbreakable Vow, other Magic Contracts aren't foolproof." Kael said calmly, "For example, the magic constraint among D.A. members isn't that strict, if they're not careful when chatting, they might leak some secrets.
"Or someone lost that fake gold coin, if someone finds it and sees the changing numbers on it... they can also guess a general situation."
"It must be Neville..." Ron blurted out, "He always loses things."
"No, Ron." Hermione shook her head, "Neville's never missed a meeting, if he lost his coin, how could he know the time?"
"Maybe... someone told him." Ron muttered, still thinking Neville was more likely.
"By the way." Just then, Harry thought of something, and asked, "Kael, how did you know someone was going to catch us in the castle today?"
Hermione and Ron also looked over, only Cedric and Cho were calm.
"It's simple." Kael said calmly, "Because the person responsible for catching you guys is me."
The room fell into a bizarre silence.
Harry's eyes widened, as if hundreds of trolls riding broomsticks were galloping past him, then did a tap dance with Ron on the broom.
At the moment, Ron's expression matched this scenario... dazed, shocked, disbelief, it felt like his brain wasn't functioning well.
Among the three, Hermione's reaction was slightly better, but she was also so shocked she couldn't speak.
"See, I said it wasn't just me." Cedric suddenly laughed, "You mocked my poor resilience, now you see, everyone's the same."
Upon first hearing this news, Cedric wasn't doing much better than the three before him, he even knocked over some ink and had to rewrite his Potion Class homework.
Cedric's laughter snapped everyone back.
"You... you came to catch us?" Ron yelled while taking two steps back, "Harry, Hermione, run..."
Honestly, Ron was quite chivalrous, he hadn't forgotten his two friends, though his brain wasn't quite helpful.
Hermione looked at Kael and Cedric's amused expressions, then at the still yelling Ron, couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth, her face started to turn slightly red.
Too embarrassing, she shouldn't have let Ron stay... Oh, and Harry over there too.
They were better suited sitting by the warm fireplace, debating which homework to write first.
"Ron, can you use your brain!" Hermione couldn't help but shout, "If Kael wanted to catch us, there's no need for all this trouble, he could just bring Umbridge here could he not?"
"Huh?" Ron paused slightly, then his face quickly turned bright red.
"Right." Harry waved his arms, "And how could Kael catch us, Cedric is here too."
Hermione really didn't want to deal with them, turned to say excitedly, "So, is this your plan, earning Umbridge's trust by fighting the Weasley brothers?"
"Sort of." Kael said with a smile.
He glanced at the time, "Alright, it's almost curfew, I can't stay here too long, you should also hurry back... also, there's someone supervising each floor now, make sure not to get caught."
"Don't worry." Cedric and Cho exchanged looks, said, "We can use the Disillusionment Charm."
"I also brought the Invisibility Cloak, absolutely won't be discovered." Harry said.
Though now he, Ron, Hermione had all grown taller, fitting entirely under the Invisibility Cloak was a bit difficult, but since the Gryffindor common room was nearby, they didn't need to travel far.
Besides, it's Kael responsible here, using the Invisibility Cloak is just to be safe.
"Alright then." Kael nodded, turned and left the Room of Requirement, before stepping out the door, he turned back and said, "Remember to tell me the meeting time in advance next time."
"No problem." Cedric said.
Watching the door close again, Harry blinked a few times, he felt as if he just dreamt, everything felt a bit unreal.
"Umbridge definitely won't expect Kael is on our side." Harry, snapped out of it, rubbed his face, "I want to see her expression when she finds out the truth, that must be quite something."
He laughed first after speaking.
Following him, Ron, Hermione, Cedric and Cho also laughed.
It's just like a Quidditch match.
There are many ways to win, good players, persistent daily training, reasonable strategies are all key.
But the only surefire way to win is if the referee is on your side...
Now Kael was that referee.
As long as Kael was on the field, they didn't have to worry about being discovered by Umbridge at all.
Have to admit, this feeling was simply wonderful.
...