The sudden appearance of Kael shocked everyone, even Professor Lupin's fist, which was about to land on Blake's face, instinctively paused.
Only Blake was unaffected, still lunging towards the Scabbers in Ron's hand without turning his head.
But without a wand, he was soon repelled by Harry and Hermione working together, his body flying backward, crashing into a table with a bang.
"Kai, Kael?" Professor Lupin regained his senses and said incredulously, "What are you doing here?"
"Hello, Professor." Kael said with a smile, then pointed to the corner he had been in, "I've been here for a while, just over there... it's just that none of you noticed."
"What? You've been here all along?" Professor Lupin frowned.
Though he had been focused on Blake earlier and not paying much attention to the surroundings, he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed an extra person.
And that wasn't even what he wanted to ask...
"What I mean is, how did you find this place?" Professor Lupin continued to ask.
"Followed the map."
Kael took out a large piece of parchment, "I was in the dormitory looking at this earlier, and then I saw you five leaving the castle before curfew. I was curious, so I followed."
"The Marauder's Map!"
After all, it was something he had helped make and used for years, Professor Lupin recognized the parchment at a glance.
"Did you take it from Filch's office?"
"No, I've never been to Filch's office." Kael shook his head and said, "I borrowed it."
"Wait, Kael!"
At this moment, Harry suddenly realized something was wrong and quickly said, "You just said five people left the castle?"
"Yes." Kael nodded.
Harry thought it over carefully, "But there are only three of us, plus Professor Lupin, it should be four in total. Did Blake enter the castle again?"
"No." Kael said, "The map shows that next to Professor Lupin, there's also someone named Peter Pettigrew."
"That's impossible!" Ron was a bit agitated, "Why Peter again, it's clearly Scabbers!"
"Indeed." This time Professor Lupin sided with him, "We've just confirmed it wasn't an Animagus, I think the map must be wrong... I mean, it's been around a long time."
"The map can't be wrong!"
Before Kael could speak, Blake crawled up from the ground and loudly refuted.
At that moment, he looked unusually excited and eagerly ran towards Kael, but after just two steps, his body floated uncontrollably like a balloon.
"Wandless Spellcasting..." Hermione covered her mouth, surprised.
"No!" Professor Lupin shook his head, staring at a blue, fist-sized bug next to Blake, "It's the Billywig... Anyone stung by it floats uncontrollably."
"Sorry, Blake is too agitated now; I thought this might calm him down." Kael shrugged.
He then extended his hand to catch the returning Billywig.
Ron looked on enviously; had his Scabbers been as skilled, it might not have been taken away.
Blake was still struggling, but Professor Lupin had already found a rope and securely tied him up.
He now looked even more like a balloon.
"Let's go." he said, "It's very late now; we need to hand Blake over to Profes... Dumbledore."
Professor Lupin hesitated for a moment, ultimately deciding not to mention directly handing him to the Dementor.
However, just as he was about to leave, he noticed Kael observing the rat in Ron's hand.
Scabbers was no longer struggling, comfortably nestled in Ron's hand, seemingly smiling.
"Why can you still laugh, Peter?"
Kael kindly reminded, "Have you not realized yet? You can't revert to human form.
Or do you think Professor Lupin and Blake are fools who miscast the charm?"
Visibly, the joy in the rat's eyes quickly vanished, replaced by terror.
Were Lupin and Blake fools?
Certainly not, quite the opposite; they were top graduates.
Scabbers seemed to realize something, its eyes filled with increasing panic, and started struggling again, even biting Ron's finger.
"Ouch." Ron yelped in pain, loosening his grip.
But instead of running, Scabbers just repeatedly spun on the spot, letting out a sharp cry.
"Scabbers, what's wrong?" Ron asked anxiously.
"Nothing, it's just confirming something." Kael watched him, "Could you lend me your wand?"
Ron gripped his wand tightly and didn't let go.
"Use mine." Harry handed over his wand, looking at the rat on the floor with a complex expression.
His mind was filled with too many questions, unwilling to miss any possibility of the truth.
"Thank you."
Kael took Harry's wand and placed it on the ground, smiling at Scabbers, "You can try yourself to see if you can reverse the Animagus transformation."
Scabbers didn't move... He wasn't that foolish to expose himself.
Kael seemed to guess his thoughts and said, "Don't worry, if you manage to transform back, I'll let you leave."
As he spoke, he unexpectedly pointed his wand at Hermione, "Expelliarmus!"
Kael caught Hermione's wand, along with Professor Lupin's and his own, putting them all into his pocket.
"You see, now no one can threaten you." Kael spread his hands, "As long as you can transform back and get Harry's wand, you can escape anytime."
"Kael. You don't..."
Professor Lupin wanted to say something, but before he could finish, Scabbers moved.
In Ron's incredulous gaze, it collided with the tip of Harry's wand.
Unlike the previous blue light, this time the wand emitted a white light.
Under everyone's gaze, Scabbers' body trembled... but nothing happened.
This time, even Ron noticed Scabbers acting strangely, like it had gone mad, incessantly striking the wand.
The small room flickered with white light, resembling a faulty light bulb.
Witnessing the scene, Ron's belief gradually crumbled... Scabbers was using the wand, and repeatedly casting the same charm.
But could an ordinary rat use a wand?
Scabbers accelerated, hitting harder and harder, even breaking the fur on its head.
A few drops of blood stained the wand, disgusting Harry.
He seemed to understand why Kael asked to borrow Ron's wand earlier.
"Haha... Peter... hahaha..." Blake's exuberant laughter filled the room, a single tear dripping onto the dusty floor.
...