It was quiet in the Headmaster's Office. Dumbledore was staring at the Time Turner on the desk, lost in thought, wondering about something.
Kael looked up and inadvertently saw a pair of unfinished wool socks on the shelf behind Dumbledore. The socks were white, each with an exquisite blue "A" on it.
"Headmaster, do you like blue?" Kael suddenly asked.
"I prefer purple a bit more," Dumbledore came back to himself and said, "Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
"Nothing, just curious." Kael shook his head. "Professor Dumbledore, I'll leave the Time Turner to you then, and hope you can fix it soon."
"Thank you for your trust, Kael." Light flashed in Dumbledore's eyes, and he seemed much more spirited.
"I think..."
"Bang!"
At that moment, there was a sudden, heavy knocking at the door outside, so loud it could be described as banging.
Kael glanced at Dumbledore and was about to open the door when Lucius Malfoy walked in, followed by a cringing House-elf wrapped entirely in bandages.
Forcing one's way into the Hogwarts Headmaster's Office, he was the first to do so in many years.
But Dumbledore was not the least bit angry, moving up his glasses on his nose, he greeted cheerfully.
"Good evening, Lucius."
"Sorry, I didn't expect the door here to be so flimsy." Lucius Malfoy's face showed not a hint of apology, but rather unabashed smugness.
He took out a long roll of parchment. "You should still remember what we talked about before, right? If you can't stop the attacks, you have to go.
Well then... this is a temporary suspension order, and you'll see twelve board members have signed it. We think you haven't utilized your talents; poor Weasley probably always believed you would protect him..."
"Speaking of that, I haven't forgotten."
Dumbledore smiled calmly, "But the strange thing is, I just received letters from the other eleven board members. After hearing it was Arthur Weasley's son who was attacked, they changed their minds and wanted to retract their signatures from the suspension order."
Eleven letters were laid out on the table, and Lucius Malfoy's face became paler than usual, but he still wasn't ready to give up.
"But you promised that if the attacks could not be resolved, you would resign voluntarily..." he said playfully, "Are you saying that the great Mr. Dumbledore is prepared to go back on his word?
Of course, if you do think so, it's fine; it's just that some unpleasant rhetoric might appear in the Daily Prophet tomorrow. I hope you won't mind."
Dumbledore's expression looked a bit strange.
He didn't say a word in the board meeting, so how did he agree to resign voluntarily?
But he didn't mind.
"So, have you caught the culprit?" Lucius asked pointedly.
"Caught him, I think." Dumbledore smiled.
"Oh? Who is it!"
"The same person as last time, Lucius." Dumbledore pointed to the diary on the desk, "Only this time, Voldemort used another method to operate."
Lucius was silent, his face as stiff as if masked.
"Very fortunate." Dumbledore stared into Malfoy's eyes and said in a calm tone, "Just ten minutes ago, Kael... oh, this child, he resolved the incident singlehandedly. I was just about to present him with a Special Award for Services to the School."
"I have to say..." he patted Kael on the shoulder, "With this one, you've received three Special Awards for Services to the School, one each year... You might be the most outstanding student in Hogwarts history."
"Thank you for the compliment, Professor," Kael said modestly, "I'm still far behind you,"
"When I was in school, I never got that many awards for services to the school."
...
The two exchanged a smile, starting a mutual admiration society, complimenting each other, creating a harmonious scene.
But there are always those who want to spoil the mood.
Malfoy cast a venomous glance over.
Kael, bothered by his look, frowned and put his hand on the box, "What are you staring at."
"Ha!" Lucius Malfoy let out a sinister laugh from his throat, "I've seen many geniuses, but they disappeared in the end, leaving nothing behind. I hope you won't be like them."
Kael raised his eyebrows... There was a hidden meaning in those words.
If that's the case, then don't blame him for being impolite.
"Mr. Malfoy, do you know what this is?" Kael picked up the diary and handed it over.
"Just a shoddy Muggle notebook."
Malfoy didn't take it, "I won't touch something so dirty."
Though he said so, seeing the diary's damaged state, a flash of anger still crossed his face.
"I was negligent."
Kael took a glove from the shelf beside him and put it over the diary, then unceremoniously stuffed it to Lucius.
"I found this in Ginny's old book, and if I'm not mistaken, you slipped it in during the chaos at Flourish and Blotts."
Malfoy's pale hands clenched into fists, then loosened again.
"Do you have proof?" he croaked.
"No, but that's not important." Kael waved his hand, "What matters is that to Tom Riddle, this diary was as important as life, because his soul was contained within it.
Of course, now that piece of soul no longer exists; it's vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind."
For a moment, that diary seemed to turn into a red-hot iron in Lucius Malfoy's eyes, and he instinctively threw it away.
Luckily, his accompanying house-elf was quick-eyed and quickly reached out to catch it.
"Mr. Malfoy, it seems you know who Tom Riddle is."
Kael laughed, "In any case, we should thank the person who took out the diary; he helped us a great deal."
"That's true." Dumbledore nodded with a smile, "And he also revealed Voldemort's biggest secret; we should really thank him properly."
Lucius Malfoy's face was now completely bloodless. His right hand twitched as if reaching for his wand.
But in the end, he controlled himself, turned around, and dejectedly opened the door and walked out.
Throughout the whole process, he didn't say a word.
"Looks like someone is going to have sleepless nights recently."
Dumbledore stood up, "But Kael... can you tell me, how did you know about 'Horcrux'?
This ancient and evil Dark Magic is something that even most professors have never heard of."
His tone was very calm, as if casually asking what was for lunch today.
"During the holidays, I saw it once in an article published by Mr. Nicolas Flamel." Kael said casually, "The content was him rejecting the idea that horcruxes belong to alchemy."
"The article from 1689?" Dumbledore pondered for a moment, asking.
He remembered Nicolas indeed wrote such an article.
"Yes, and the supplementary note from 1691," Kael said, "Very coincidentally, that diary perfectly fits all the characteristics of a Horcrux..."
"I see." Dumbledore chuckled, "I thought perhaps it was when you were in the Chamber of Secrets, the four founders told you... Would you like some tea? Or lemonade?"
"Lemonade."
Kael turned his head to the window, seemingly interested in the gloomy sky outside, while he muttered inwardly, "If I hadn't seen that article... it would have been what they said."
Dumbledore didn't continue the topic. He walked over to Fawkes and gently caressed the phoenix's feathers, "You were a bit impulsive earlier."
"Impulsive?" Kael asked, "You mean I shouldn't have told Lucius about the Horcrux?"
"No, it has nothing to do with that."
Dumbledore sighed suddenly, "It took me two days to knit that pair of gloves, and I was planning to give them as a gift."
"Uh..." Kael was momentarily speechless, "How about I catch up to them and get them back?"
Dumbledore thought for a moment, then shook his head, "Never mind, I'll knit another pair. After today, I should have plenty of free time."