He almost forgot that Fire Dragons were illegal to keep, and Kingsley just so happened to be an Auror.
"Not just that." Kael shook his head. "There are a few smaller ones in there that are even faster, and they're very territorial. They don't really know you either. Without me around, there's a good chance they'd treat you as an enemy."
Hearing Kael say that, perhaps out of some instinct, Harry suddenly didn't want to get into that trunk anymore.
Actually, Side-Along Apparition sounded just fine. Worst case, he'd put on his Invisibility Cloak, which would also keep him from being exposed.
But before Harry could speak, someone gave him a shove from behind.
"Hurry up, Harry. Whatever you're wondering about, we'll explain once we're safe." Hermione said.
She knew Harry far too well, and of course she knew exactly what he was thinking. To avoid wasting time, she simply stepped up and pushed Harry forward.
Harry stumbled; one foot landed right on the trunk, and then he lost control and tumbled down.
"Thud!"
A dull crash and the sound of things being knocked over came from inside the trunk.
"Remember, the room in there is very safe. And no matter what you hear, don't you dare open the door."
Kael reminded him again, then stuffed the luggage and the owl inside as well before finally closing the trunk.
Messy footsteps sounded from outside the door: the office workers who had left earlier and that oddly dressed fellow, all hurrying this way.
"Operation starts now, move!" Moody said. Hermione was the first to close her eyes and vanished with a crack.
Then Bill, Fred, and George all Apparated out of the room at nearly the same moment.
Kael had been assigned to go in the middle. He picked up the trunk on the ground, glanced at the others, and said, "See you at Grimmauld Place."
Then he disappeared from where he stood.
By the time he reappeared, the neat little room had become a dusty, cobweb-filled garage.
"You finally made it. You didn't run into any trouble, did you?"
Charlie ran over and shoved a broom into Kael's hands. "Here's your Firebolt. Move fast, I'll bring up the rear."
"Got it." Kael didn't waste words. After making himself invisible, he mounted the broom and shot out of the abandoned garage.
The Firebolt was very fast; in hardly a minute he caught sight of the familiar Grimmauld Place.
The door of Number Twelve had already been opened in advance. Kael didn't slow down and flew straight inside.
When she saw Kael, Mrs. Weasley, who had been extremely tense, instantly became emotional.
As one of the people involved in drawing up the plan, she knew Kael was the one in charge of bringing Harry. Now that Kael was here, it meant Harry was here too.
"Where's Harry?" Hagrid asked urgently.
"Right here." Kael took out the trunk and opened it.
Harry immediately poked his head out and instinctively took a look around.
"Mrs. Weasley?"
"Oh, that's wonderful." Mrs. Weasley stepped forward and wrapped Harry in a hug, so emotional she nearly burst into tears. "Thank heaven you're safe."
A minute later, Charlie came back as well. He looked perfectly fine, not even a smudge on his clothes.
"How was it?"
"Perfectly safe, not a single Death Eater behind us." Charlie said with a grin. "This time the plan worked like a charm."
"Yeah, the plan worked really well." Kael smiled.
Another five minutes passed, and Sirius returned by Portkey.
Although Portkeys had to be used at set times and weren't as convenient as Apparition in an emergency, they made up for it in safety. As long as you didn't register them with the Ministry of Magic, they were very hard to trace, making them ideal for the return trip.
Sirius came spinning down and thumped onto the floor. As soon as he stepped through the door he began glancing around, only relaxing when he saw Harry chatting with Hagrid.
"How did it go on your side?" Kael asked.
"Not bad." Sirius said, casually tossing an empty can aside. "The Death Eaters must've figured Harry wouldn't go to Diagon Alley, so they didn't follow us."
"Is that so?" Kael gave a slightly awkward smile and didn't say anything more.
After that, the others trickled back in one after another.
Strangely enough, no one seemed to have run into any enemies; everyone came back in one piece.
Fred and George were cheerfully celebrating the success of the plan, and Harry was in high spirits too, greeting everyone.
But Kael frowned.
Just now he'd already felt that something was off… the plan had gone a little too smoothly, so smoothly it made all their careful preparations look like a joke.
No matter what, the Death Eaters couldn't possibly make no move at all, could they? That was far too odd.
Kael even had the illusion that they could have just swaggered along bringing Harry with them and still gotten away with it.
But at the moment everyone else was happily celebrating Harry's arrival. Kael thought it over and decided not to say anything.
...