In the days that followed, the only topic discussed throughout the school was Sirius Black, and the theories about how he broke into the castle became increasingly bizarre.
Seamus Finnigan from Gryffindor insisted that Black had disguised himself as a Dementor... and sneaked into the castle with the guards.
Luna, on the other hand, believed he was a Painting Goblin that could freely move through the castle's paintings.
The torn Fat Lady's portrait was taken down from the wall and replaced with Sir Cadogan.
However, Gryffindor students didn't seem pleased with him.
In the corridors, Kael could always hear the complaints from the Gryffindor students.
"That Sir Cadogan, he spends half his time every day provoking others to duel him..."
"Every time I enter the common room, I have to waste five minutes responding to his duel challenge... because if you don't say anything, he'll keep provoking you."
"He also comes up with passwords that are ridiculously complicated, and he changes them at least twice a day."
"I think he was probably stuck on the eighth floor for too long."
Someone said, "The hallway where Sir Cadogan was before is usually deserted, and the owners of the other portraits weren't that keen on inviting him over."
"That's obvious because he always talks nonsense, of course, no one welcomes him."
...
In just a few days, Sir Cadogan had replaced Black as the new hot topic among Gryffindor students.
"At least he's brave."
During lunch, Fred said with a smile, "No other portraits were willing to take the job, only Sir Cadogan volunteered."
"And I heard he volunteered for it," added George from the side.
They didn't particularly dislike Sir Cadogan and even sometimes actively provoked him, making him jump up and down in the painting in anger.
To be honest, Kael was quite curious about Sir Cadogan too, but since he only guarded the Gryffindor common room, he couldn't switch to work for Hufflepuff.
At this moment, Harry also walked into the auditorium, but his expression looked somewhat unhappy.
Percy followed behind him, occasionally glancing around as if a Fire Dragon might jump out from the corner at any moment and swallow Harry whole.
This strange behavior naturally drew the attention of others.
"Here comes the big head again."
Fred glanced at him, then quickly turned his head back around.
"What's going on?" Cedric curiously asked, "It seems like Percy is very tense."
"It's because of Harry."
George explained, "A few days ago, Mum wrote us a letter saying we should help look after Harry, and then Percy became like this."
"You all know about Black and Harry's situation, right?" Fred leaned over, "Mum... or rather, most people think the last time Black came to the castle, it was to kill Harry, to avenge his master."
Everyone nodded.
"That's why I've been seeing professors around Harry a lot lately..." Cho realized.
"Not just that," Cedric said, "Even during Quidditch team practice, Ms. Hooch is there overseeing it."
"Percy probably thinks of himself as a professor too," Fred snorted, "And this is the auditorium, Black can't possibly be hiding under the table."
Saying this, he bent down, theatrically poking his head under the table, and asked, "Mr. Black, are you here? Would you like some steak?"
His ridiculous performance made quite a few people burst into laughter.
Harry probably felt the same way.
Kael saw Harry turn his head and say something, and only then did Percy stop following so closely, but he still maintained a not-too-far, not-too-close distance.
The first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts.
After lunch, Kael and Conna went to the classroom together.
Today, Professor Lupin seemed a bit odd, as if something was on his mind. During the class, he appeared distracted and even called students by the wrong names several times.
Eventually, he simply stopped teaching and instead had the students pair up to practice the Repelling Spell against Little Demons.
Until the end of the class...
"Kael, can you stay after class?" he said, "There are some things I want to ask you."
After everyone else left the classroom, Kael looked around... to be honest, he felt a bit uneasy about being asked to stay by Professor Lupin.
Fortunately, there were no wardrobes or chests around this time, so there shouldn't be a Boggart or anything else like that.
However, Professor Lupin did not notice Kael's unease. He closed the door and hesitated for a long time before asking, "Did you see him that day?"
"Who?"
"Sirius Black."
"Yes, I saw him," Kael nodded.
"What did he... look like..." Professor Lupin asked softly, "I mean... did he look the same as in the pictures in the newspapers?"
In just one sentence, his expression changed several times: nervousness... disappointment... hatred... and there seemed to be a hint of concern that flickered briefly.
"You could tell it was the same person, but there were differences."
Kael thought for a moment and said, "He was very thin, just skin and bones, unkempt, dirty all over, with sunken eyes... it looked like he went through a lot to escape the Dementors."
"He deserves it!" Professor Lupin suddenly slammed his fist on the desk, saying excitedly, "Thirteen years ago, he should have..."
Realizing he had said too much, Professor Lupin quickly shut his mouth and took a few deep breaths.
"Sorry, Kael, just disregard what I just said." He forced a smile, "One last question, where did you lose track of Black during the chase?"
"The place where Professor Dumbledore found us." Kael replied.
"Later, we discovered a secret passageway behind that tapestry leading to the fourth floor. I think he must have escaped through there."
Kael shrugged, "But we thought Filch must have known about that passageway too, so we didn't specifically report it to the professors."
"Yes, Filch does know about that passageway... but we searched the fourth floor for several hours and found nothing."
Professor Lupin's eyes flickered briefly, then he looked up and said:
"Alright, Kael, thank you. I've taken enough of your time, go on to your next class.
Oh, by the way, don't worry about being late, I'll explain it to the professor... what class do you have next?"
"Potion Class..." Kael said, "Are you sure you can make Professor Snape not deduct points?"
"Uh..." Professor Lupin was silent.
"I can help you earn back the points I took away during the next class."