After leaving the underground classroom, Kael didn't stop and went straight to the entrance hall.
Quite a few people had already returned from Hogsmeade; everyone was gathered here exchanging candies and joke items, making it much more lively than when they arrived.
Kael also saw two people standing next to the stairs.
Professor Lupin was holding a map in his hands, studying it carefully in front of him.
"Very creative design..." he said with a smile, "Back in my school days, I also... saw an interesting map, like this one, that could show the secret passages within the castle."
"Professor, there was already such a map when you were in school?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Even better than this one..." Professor Lupin murmured, his face showing a hint of nostalgia.
But soon, that nostalgia turned serious...
He looked at Harry and asked earnestly, "Are there many maps like this in the castle?"
"Probably only this one," Harry said after thinking for a moment.
He remembered Fred and George had told him this map was something they made out of interest and didn't plan to sell it as a product, and there was only this one.
Upon hearing Harry's words, Professor Lupin's expression eased a bit.
"Professor, I... found it..." Harry didn't want to sell out Fred and George, so he scraped his mind for a reasonable excuse to explain the origin of the map.
"I'm not interested in how you got this thing, but I'm shocked you didn't turn it in, especially after a student carelessly scattered castle information last time."
"I..." Harry wanted to explain but didn't know how to start.
Fred and George had clearly told him that after recording the secret passage locations, the map should be destroyed immediately, but he forgot about it.
So far, he only remembered the secret passage at the hunchback witch statue that day.
"I can't return it to you, Harry," Professor Lupin said as he took the map, "I have to..."
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, he twitched his nose, seemingly smelling a scent he was very familiar with.
Professor Lupin scanned around and just then saw Kael who had just walked into the entrance hall.
"Nice to see you, Professor Lupin." Kael waved with a smile.
"Hello... Kael." Professor Lupin asked in confusion, "Why are you here, not at Hogsmeade?"
"I've been put in detention, Professor." Kael shrugged, "No time to go to Hogsmeade."
"Detention?!"
Professor Lupin was taken aback, he couldn't believe that Kael, who had been at the top of the grade for four consecutive times, would also get detention.
However, Harry seemed calm, he had already known about this when he encountered Kael and Snape on the fourth floor this morning.
Snape, well, nothing surprising.
"He definitely put you in detention because today is Hogsmeade visit day," Harry said decisively.
"What did he make you do, deal with those caterpillar fluids?"
"No," Kael shook his head, "Not that bad, just helped him brew magic potions for a few hours."
"Oh, that's fine," Harry said with lingering fear, "Last time Snape put me in detention, I couldn't eat properly for several days... By the way, what were you brewing that took so long?"
"A very rare magic potion..." Kael said, "The Wolfsbane Potion."
Professor Lupin's eyes flashed with a hint of panic but quickly vanished, although he tried to appear normal, his hand was tightly clenched, afraid Kael would call out his name the next second.
This semester, he had been taking leave every full moon, coupled with the Wolfsbane Potion... He couldn't guarantee Kael hadn't noticed anything.
Fortunately, at this moment, a group of people entered the entrance hall from outside.
Those who had gone to Hogsmeade were all back now.
Fred and George walked over, flanking Kael.
"You definitely don't know what you missed..."
"The Shrieking Shack wasn't as bad as we thought..." George said with a smile, "Malfoy seemed to have seen something in there, and got scared running back to the castle."
"We heard him screaming all the way from Zonko's..." Fred said regretfully, "But why is it that when we went last time, we didn't see anything..."
Harry lowered his head, without saying a word.
In fact, Malfoy was scared away by him; he had been wearing the Invisibility Cloak, threw a lump of sludge at Malfoy's face.
But he used too much force, causing part of the Invisibility Cloak to slip off, exposing his head, making it look like a floating head, which scared Malfoy away.
This was also why he was called to Snape's office.
Then Conna, Cho, and Cedric returned as well.
Kael took the opportunity to end the topic of detention and followed them outside.
He estimated that if he stayed any longer, Professor Lupin might crush the map.
Honestly, his tense expression was just shy of writing "I am a werewolf" on his face.
Luckily, Harry and Ron were beside him. If it were Hermione, she would definitely have sensed something amiss.
Speaking of Hermione, it seemed like he hadn't seen much of her lately, especially after the Christmas holiday; the trio turned into a duo.
It was only during meals that he would see Hermione with a bulky bag, hurriedly eating in the auditorium.
Thinking about this, Kael followed Conna to the outside ground.
Next to him, Cho handed over a bottle of Butter Beer; Kael didn't think too much, and took it casually.
In the next second, the Butter Beer turned into a ferocious black rubber haddock, biting his arm.
The rubber haddock didn't hurt, but it was very secure; no matter how Kael shook, he couldn't shake it off. Pulling hard only made it longer.
Fred and George laughed holding their stomachs; it was certainly their idea.
...
Watching the group laughing as they walked out of the castle gates, Professor Lupin loosened his tightly clenched hands, a trace of color returning to his face.
Kael didn't seem to have discovered anything; maybe he was just too nervous.
He thought to himself...
Indeed, who would suspect the great Professor Dumbledore would hire a werewolf as a professor, just like he agreed to let him come here to study.
This kind of thing is impossible anywhere... except Dumbledore...
Professor Lupin took a deep breath, gave Harry a few brief remarks, and quickly left.
This was not the time to think about these things; there was a more important task.
He needed to go to Filch to find something.
...