With great gains, Kael finally left the Forbidden Forest, satisfied.
A total of nineteen pints of Acromantula Venom, which translates to one thousand nine hundred Galleons. The little bit of Tebo leg he gave Fluffy was returned multiple times over.
Of course, initially there wasn't that much, but the old spider realized how shameless it was to renegade on a deal and voluntarily offered to increase the payment.
It's not that it didn't want to give more; it's just that the production capacity of the Eight-eyed Giant Spiders is so limited. Throughout the entire nest, from Aragog himself to the tiny spiders the size of fingernails, all were completely drained, barely scraping together nineteen pints of venom.
When Kael was leaving, those spiders couldn't even stand up, lying fumbled on the ground as if they were drunk on fake wine.
The thought of it was quite touching for Kael, and he decided, once back, to quickly make a batch of spider tonic and send it to Hagrid, asking him to give it to the Eight-eyed Giant Spiders.
Hopefully these supplements will help them recover soon... After all, under normal circumstances, the process for Eight-eyed Giant Spiders to replenish their venom is quite slow.
Kael walked into the castle in an upbeat mood, completely unaware that a pair of eyes was staring at him from the shadows.
"Aha!"
Filch jumped out from a corner, sinisterly saying, "Caught you not returning after curfew!"
"Sorry, Mr. Filch, I don't understand what you're saying."
Though startled, Kael remained composed and said, "I just got up early and took a stroll outside, that's all."
"Do you think I would believe your nonsense?" Filch said with a sneer, "It's only five o'clock, no young wizard would wake up this early."
"Maybe I slept early last night." Kael replied, "If you don't believe me, you can ask the Hufflepuff Common Room, everyone knows I returned to the dormitory at ten o'clock and didn't come out all night.
"Or you could ask the portraits in the corridor."
Seeing Kael's calm demeanor, Filch began to waver.
"I will, follow me."
He led Kael to a portrait in the kitchen corridor and said, "You still have a chance to admit, or else..."
"No need, Mr. Filch."
Kael looked at the portrait and asked, "Hello, did you see any Hufflepuffs out after curfew last night?"
"Out after curfew? No!" the wizard in the portrait said firmly.
"Are you sure?" Filch asked with a grim face.
"Of course." the wizard said, "Last night, I was having a staring contest with the lady opposite since nine o'clock. If any young wizard passed by here, I would have seen it."
Filch's face looked disgruntled.
"The truth is out, Mr. Filch." Kael said with a smile, "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now... As an aside, I noticed Mrs Norris has been looking a bit thin lately; is Hogwarts not paying salaries recently? You must be withholding its food."
Filch's face became even more unpleasant, as if he had just been told the school was going to replace the caretaker's position with a Dementor.
"I have not been withholding Mrs Norris's food!" he yelled, "Never!"
"Is that so..." Kael shrugged, unconvinced, "But it's indeed gotten thinner. Maybe you should buy it some good fish snacks to improve its diet."
"Don't worry about it..."
These days, Filch hadn't caught a single rule-breaker, which was already frustrating enough, and now to be accused of withholding food from Mrs Norris just got him even more furious.
"Of course... you're right."
Kael didn't look at him but instead tapped a barrel with his wand.
"Well then, Mr. Filch, I'll be heading off now. See you next time..."
Kael waved, turning into the passageway.
As the passage door closed, Filch's voice also disappeared.
The common room was empty... but then again, it was only five o'clock, and no Hufflepuff would rise this early; generally, such students appear in Ravenclaw...
There's no point in going back to sleep now, so Kael simply drank a bottle of Stimulant Potion, sitting in the armchair closest to the fireplace, and started reading.
Until seven o'clock, when people began entering the common room one after another.
...
The first period was Divination Class.
Although most students and professors view Professor Trelawney as a sham living off the school, there are also those who believe she is a powerful Prophet.
"I also thought she was a fraud until her prophecies about me started coming true..."
In the dim and stuffy top-floor room, Mikel said excitedly, "She said I would leave everyone for a while, and sure enough, over the weekend I ended up in the Hospital Wing... That counts as leaving everyone, right!"
Mikel was referring to the Quidditch match incident; he got hit on the head by a Bludger, and Madam Pomfrey insisted he stay in the Hospital Wing for two days.
"She told me the same thing." Kael said, "It's just a coincidence."
In fact, it wasn't just them; even Cedric received bad news from her.
While consciously aware, Professor Trelawney is indeed a bona fide fraud, but she has rich experience in knowing how to make her casually drawn 'prophecies' come true.
Quidditch players were an obvious choice.
With Quidditch, whether it's training or competition, injuries are inevitable.
So, in the first Divination Class after the school year began, almost all Quidditch players were already on her prophecy list.
Professor Trelawney didn't need to do anything; just wait, and as soon as the players got injured, her prophecy would naturally come true.
Through this method, she really gathered quite a following, like Mikel.
He joined the team relatively late, and when Professor Trelawney received this news, she temporarily added his name to her prophecy list.
Interestingly, the prophecy was spoken on a Friday, and by Saturday's match, it came true.
Therefore, Mikel firmly believed in her, becoming one of her loyal followers.
Today, Professor Trelawney maintained her usual approach; perhaps because the Quidditch competition was drawing near, she again focused on the team members.
As she passed Kael, she walked straight past without stopping.
Having watched past matches, she knew Kael had never been injured during a match, making the chance of a successful prophecy too low to consider him... another candidate would be better suited.
She went over, stopping unconsciously at Mikel's desk, watching him adjust the Astrological Instrument.
"There's something here..." Professor Trelawney said softly, leaning closer, "Something is moving... what is it... oh!"
She suddenly shook her head, sighing, "Dear, if I were you, I'd be wary of someone with messy hair... that's right, the first person that comes to your mind; you should stay away from them before Easter."
Mikel immediately became tense, looking around to find out who Professor Trelawney was referring to.
...