The Dementor floated away shakily and soon disappeared into the darkness.
Kael turned around and found the others looking at him with a strange expression.
"What's wrong?"
"Kael, weren't you scared at all just now?" Harry exclaimed.
Due to the distance and the Guardian God being in the front, Harry did not hear the conversation earlier, only vaguely seeing that Kael seemed to have reached some sort of agreement with the Dementor.
But that was a Dementor; just getting close to it would send a chill down his spine. Yet, Kael dared to stand in front of it and stayed there for such a long time...
"Why be afraid? This is Hogwarts," Kael said.
"Is it okay now?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.
"It's fine," Kael said, "I told those Dementors that Sirius isn't here, and they left."
Hermione nodded and sighed with relief.
First, a werewolf, then hundreds of Dementors; now her legs felt weak, and she just wanted to return to her dormitory and get a good night's sleep.
But that was impossible; they had to find Headmaster Dumbledore first.
Hermione turned to look at the werewolf entangled by the Devil's Snare, "How are we going to take it? We can't just leave it here."
"Don't worry, we don't need to worry about that," Kael turned his gaze towards the direction of the castle.
Perhaps the commotion by the Dementors was too much, as a fiery red bird was swiftly flying towards them.
It was Fawkes.
He folded his wings, landed on Kael's shoulder, and tilted his head slightly as if asking what had happened.
"We have something to discuss with Professor Dumbledore," Kael gestured towards the werewolf wrapped like a mummy, and whispered, "Could you please take it over there first?"
Fawkes nodded, flew over to grab the werewolf's head with his claws, and flew back to the castle.
"Oh, my gosh, was that a phoenix just now?"
As soon as Fawkes left, Hermione immediately covered her mouth in surprise, "I read about it in a book, and the phoenix there looked exactly like it."
"It's a phoenix," Harry said, "I saw it in the Headmaster's Office, I think it's called... Fawkes?"
"I'm more concerned about Professor Lupin..." Ron gaped, "I don't know if you noticed, but he was flown away by his head. Is that really okay?"
"It's fine if he's in werewolf form; their bodies are much sturdier than a wizard's," Kael said, "Alright, let's go back quickly; Professor Dumbledore should be waiting for us."
The group hurried back to the castle.
And Sirius continued to maintain the form of a large dog, not daring to transform back.
Returning to the castle, they didn't encounter Filch or any patrolling professors, arriving smoothly on the eighth floor.
Perhaps they had been instructed beforehand, as the Gargoyle guarding the door jumped aside upon seeing them, revealing the passage behind.
Harry couldn't help but quicken his pace, entering first, with Sirius closely following, though it was noticeable that his hind legs were trembling non-stop, presumably from nerves.
The oak door at the end of the stairs was also open, with Professor Dumbledore standing behind the table in a pink velvet strawberry nightgown.
"I imagine many interesting things happened tonight, causing so many of you to collectively break school rules."
He asked with a smile, "Would you like some pumpkin juice before you tell your stories?"
"No, thank you, Professor." The three walking in front all shook their heads.
Harry had no appetite, and Ron and Hermione were too nervous, shaking their heads instinctively.
"Could I have a glass of lemonade?" Kael asked.
"With sugar?" Professor Dumbledore inquired.
"No sugar, please."
As soon as Kael spoke, a glass of fresh lemonade appeared on the table beside him.
Kael took a sip, and the sour taste cleared his head a little.
Before Kael had even finished drinking, Harry couldn't help but speak up, "Professor, Sirius Black is innocent, Peter Pettigrew is the real traitor!"
"Oh!"
Professor Dumbledore looked at him in surprise.
"Although I anticipated tonight's stories would be exciting, I didn't expect your first sentence to be so surprising."
"So, how did you discover this," he asked, "As far as I know, Peter Pettigrew has been dead for twelve years, and was even awarded the Merlin Knight Order First Class Medal."
"That's a lie; he's still alive!" Harry raised the cage he was clinging to, "This is Peter!"
"It turned into a rat and hid at my house for twelve years," Ron added, his face dark, as if Scabbers' true identity was an insult to his character.
Dumbledore's blue eyes looked at Scabbers.
Kael also timely presented the Marauder's Map... inside the Headmaster's Office, Peter Pettigrew's name was clearly displayed.
"Oh, such nostalgia," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "I remember the last time I saw this map was fifteen years ago... How strange, wasn't it supposed to be in Filch's office? Or am I mistaken?"
Kael took another sip of lemonade without saying a word.
Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't dwell on this matter, motioning for Harry to continue speaking.
"So how did you discover Peter, because of this magical map?"
"Not entirely..." Harry shook his head and then recounted the events starting from Professor Lupin's visit to the Gryffindor Common Room.
During this, Dumbledore didn't ask any questions, just quietly listened.
Harry spoke quickly, finishing in about ten minutes.
"So, was it Sirius Black?" Dumbledore looked at the large black dog sitting on the floor, "Animagus... I see, no wonder no one could ever find you."
The black dog barked once, sitting upright.
"He was left with no choice, Professor," Harry hurriedly said, "We all saw it, Scabbers... I mean, Peter kept banging his head on wands, there's no way a normal pet could do that, right?"
Dumbledore didn't answer his question but instead asked profoundly, "Harry, you seem to trust Sirius's words a lot, have you ever thought that maybe he's lying to you?"
"I don't think he's lying to me." Harry stated without hesitation, "I can feel that everything he said is true... plus, if he were lying, he wouldn't dare come here with us, right?"
"First, I must thank you for your trust in me, Harry."
Dumbledore calmly said, "But it's already very late, and after experiencing so many thrilling events, I suggest you go back to your dormitory, have a cup of hot cocoa, and then get a good night's sleep."
"But Professor, Sirius Black he..."
"Leave it to me, Harry." Dumbledore smiled, "If he is innocent, I promise to give you a satisfactory answer."
"Well... alright..."
In fact, Harry had many more things to say, concerning whether he could leave the Dursley's and go to a place where he wouldn't need to hide magic books under the floorboards.
But since Dumbledore said so, he could only nod and leave with Ron and Hermione towards the door.
"Well then, good night, Professor..."
The three gradually exited the Headmaster's Office.
Kael was about to leave with them, but just as he turned around, Dumbledore said, "Kael, could you wait a moment?"