The next day, Filch still didn't appear in the castle.
During dinner, Kael specifically sought out Harry to inquire about what happened in Lockhart's office the day before.
"Don't tell anyone else, Professor Dumbledore doesn't want too many people to know about this."
Harry looked around, lowered his voice, and said, "Filch was turned to stone by a deep form of Dark Magic."
"Can't Madam Pomfrey heal him?" Kael asked.
"No." Harry shook his head, "Madam Pomfrey used several bottles of potion on him and even soaked him in a tub full of Magic Potion, but it had no effect, although..."
Harry hesitated for a moment before continuing, "But Lockhart says he has a way and mentioned a place called Vaga... something, I can't quite remember the name.
Anyway, he encountered a similar situation there and used various Protective Talismans to help those people solve the problem."
"But I think he's bluffing."
Ron, beside them, said confidently, "Remember? He said the same thing on the third floor, but the names of the places were completely different."
"Just because the names are different, you can't say that," Hermione argued. "What if he encountered it twice?"
"Hermione, do you still believe what he says?" Ron frowned in displeasure, "He can't even handle a Little Elf."
"By the way, Ron..." Seeing the two of them about to argue, Kael quickly changed the subject.
"Did you find your pet?"
"Oh, you mean Scabbers, yes, we found him." Ron took the fat Rat out of his pocket.
"Guess what, he didn't actually run outside, he was hiding under the cupboard in the common room, but maybe he hasn't eaten in a long time, so he's a bit sluggish."
"It's okay, I have some Rat Revitalizing Potion here."
Kael took out a small bottle filled with red potion and handed it to Ron.
"Thanks, Kael."
Ron happily accepted it.
Kael had given him a bottle of this Rat Revitalizing Potion last year, which was very effective. Every time Scabbers drank it, he was full of energy... just that the quantity was a bit small, and the previous bottle had long been used up. He hadn't dared to ask Kael for more.
"You're welcome, I should be thanking you for satisfying my curiosity."
Kael waved his hand, "It's just a bottle of Rat Revitalizing Potion, no big deal. Once you use it up, just come to me for more."
Then he turned to look at Harry again.
"Potter..."
"Just call me Harry."
"Alright then, Harry," Kael asked, "Have you been hearing any strange sounds lately?"
"Strange sounds? What do you mean..."
Kael explained, "The kind of whispering that only you can hear but others can't."
Harry scratched his head, thought seriously for a while...
"No."
"I only heard the letters talking when I was helping Lockhart reply to them.
But Lockhart heard it too and said it was a special way to reply, saving time on reading. Many of his admirers use it."
"That's obviously not some kind of special whispering... right."
Kael nodded.
It seemed that Harry hadn't heard the Basilisk's voice.
However, the petrification problem that even Dumbledore couldn't solve was likely related to the Basilisk.
Plus, the mysteriously missing Diary... all these problems combined made Kael feel overwhelmed.
He still couldn't figure out how the Diary went missing.
Kael had considered Ron's Rat Scabbers, or Peter Pettigrew... but that possibility seemed unlikely.
Peter was just a Rat disguised as a pet, and not even Ron knew he had a Soul Artifact, the Diary, so naturally, Peter wouldn't know either.
Even if Peter somehow knew... but Kael had always carried the Transfiguration Lizard Skin Bag with the box inside with him, almost never losing sight of it, even having Ladon guard at night while he slept.
A Rat sneaking in unnoticed and stealing something without leaving any trace?
It's not that Kael underestimated Peter, but if he were really that capable, he wouldn't have had to hide as a pet Rat in the Weasley family for over ten years.
Another possibility he considered was a Time Turner... but the Department of Mysteries had already twice rejected his application, making it hard even for Dumbledore to borrow one, let alone himself.
And why would he deliberately go back in time to steal his own thing... and who let out the Basilisk that petrified Filch, was it him or Riddle?
Kael was filled with questions.
On the other side, in the eyes of Harry and the others, Kael suddenly became silent, sitting there motionless, lost in thought.
If not for his constantly changing expression and the occasional unconscious slicing of the steak with his utensils, Harry would have thought Kael was also petrified.
Ron wanted to reach out to push Kael, but Hermione stopped him.
"Ron, Kael is thinking, don't disturb him," Hermione said.
"Alright."
Ron didn't mind, instead shifting his hand back to the dining table and grabbing a couple of drumsticks.
About ten minutes later, Kael finally snapped back to reality, exhaled deeply, and rubbed his forehead.
He decided to give up.
"What were you thinking about just now?" Harry asked curiously.
"Thinking about what Dark Magic could do that to Filch," Kael said casually.
Harry was intrigued, "Did you figure it out?"
"I don't know much about Dark Magic," Kael shrugged, "The Petrification Spell is possible, but that clearly doesn't stump Dumbledore."
"I see..." Harry looked somewhat disappointed.
"By the way, why did you head to the third floor then?"
As Kael ate a steak slice that he had nearly minced, he suddenly asked, "Were you planning to go straight back to Gryffindor Tower? I thought you might stop by the Auditorium to grab some food first."
"We were following Moaning Myrtle when we got there," Harry sighed, "In the underground classroom, we accidentally said something she overheard, so we wanted to catch up and explain."
"Then we came across Filch who had been petrified, and that wretched cat."
Ron touched a faint scar on his face, seething, "Ever since we left the underground classroom, that cat has been following us, and when we got to the third floor, it thought we were the culprits who petrified Filch. The scratch even left a scar on my face.
If you ask me, I should have just used my Wand at that moment..."
"Ron, we shouldn't do that," Harry said seriously. "Encountering a petrified Filch is trouble enough; injuring Mrs Norris would make it even harder to explain."
"I know..." Ron muttered softly, "But why do these things keep happening to us? That cat's scratch really hurt!"
"You're right." Harry rubbed his arm, where there were similarly faint scratches.
Fortunately, his and Hermione's injuries weren't too bad, only getting scratched on the arm.
At Lockhart's office, Madam Pomfrey applied some ointment, which immediately stopped the bleeding.
By the time they woke up this morning, the wounds had almost healed, and they would probably be fully recovered by tomorrow.
...