Kael's steps paused as he turned back to look at Dumbledore.
But Dumbledore just stood there calmly, and only after Harry and the others had all left, did he speak: "Don't worry, Blake, there won't be any Dementors here, and you don't have to stay in your Animagus form all the time."
"Sorry, Headmaster." The transformed Blake stood there like a student who had done something wrong, and said quietly: "I just haven't figured out how to face you yet."
Seeing his tattered clothes and deep-set eyes, Dumbledore felt a wave of dizziness.
But in the end, he still said nothing, just waved his hand.
A table immediately appeared in front of Blake, filled with steaks, bread, and roasted potatoes.
"I think you might need this now... Feel free to eat."
Blake's throat moved as he reached for a piece of bread.
He seemed to want to maintain some semblance of etiquette, but whether because he was too hungry or hadn't eaten decent food in a long time, his eating speed increased rapidly, and within minutes he was devouring like a wolf.
Dumbledore wasn't bothered by this, and just added some more bread and pumpkin juice, then walked over to Peter in the cage, bent down, and looked at it closely.
Peter was already awake, curled up in the cage, trembling.
"Another Animagus disguised as a pet," Dumbledore said quietly. "It seems we need to conduct a thorough inspection of students' pets... I'm curious, Kael, what do you think his purpose was."
"Probably to keep an eye on the Magic Realm's dynamics." Kael thought for a second and said, "Being in a Wizard Family, he could always get Tom's news first-hand."
"It's been a long time since I heard that name, I almost thought you were talking about the owner of the Leaky Cauldron," Dumbledore chuckled.
He continued, "But Peter probably didn't expect that someone would brew a pet potion using Mandrake Leaves, right... Honestly, even I was surprised by your generosity when I heard the news."
"For a friend..." Kael said, "a few leaves are something I can still afford."
"Don't worry... I'll compensate... you!" Blake muttered, his mouth full, "Whatever the cost of those potions... it's on me."
Blake spoke with confidence.
If nothing else, he had plenty of gold; he could eat Mandrake Leaves like a meal if he wanted.
Kael raised an eyebrow, someone covering the expense was naturally good, but now wasn't the time to talk about it.
He looked at Dumbledore and asked, "Professor, what do you plan to do?"
"No rush, before that, I need to confirm something."
While saying this, Dumbledore kept looking at Peter, and after a moment of thought, he took out his wand.
As the blue light from the Elder Wand shone on Peter, the rat's body visibly grew a size... but reverted back shortly after.
Seeing that Dumbledore also couldn't turn him back, Peter lay dazed in the cage, seemingly in complete despair.
"Oh!" Dumbledore was a bit surprised, but said nothing, just turned his wand around, the tip resting on Peter's head, and gave it a gentle flick...
A wisp of silver came out with the wand.
Dumbledore quickly walked over to a stone basin in the corner and placed the memory from the wand into it.
Silvery light swirled in the Pensieve as Dumbledore rested his fingers on it and squinted slightly.
Not long after, Dumbledore's previously calm face gradually turned grim.
Simultaneously, the atmosphere in the room grew more oppressive, as if hundreds of Dementors were surrounding Sirius, causing him to put down the bone he had already gnawed clean, not daring to breathe heavily.
Fawkes jumped onto Kael's shoulder and chirped softly.
"Thank you... I'm okay."
Kael scratched the feathers on Fawkes's neck and pulled out some herbs to feed it.
Time passed bit by bit.
About ten minutes later, Dumbledore opened his eyes after examining the memory.
His face was expressionless as he glanced in the direction of the cage, and with just one look, Peter let out a sharp scream and kept banging his head against the cage, as if trying to escape.
Until he knocked himself unconscious, the cage remained intact... which was expected, as to prevent his escape, Kael had reinforced an iron cage, only covering it with wood on the outside.
Dumbledore took a deep breath and said softly, "I saw it all... including how he betrayed and framed you... you've waited a long time for this day, haven't you..."
Sirius clenched his fists tightly, his chest heaving violently, rubbing his reddened eyes, making low sobs... the sound growing larger until he couldn't suppress it anymore, and he began to wail.
But such loud cries still didn't wake the portraits in the Headmaster's Office, they kept their eyes closed as if asleep.
Do portraits need to sleep?
Kael stared at them and quickly noticed one portrait sneakily opening its eyes, it was Phineas Black, the most unpopular headmaster in history.
Noticing Kael's gaze, he simply stopped pretending and opened his eyes, shouting loudly.
"I said it before, no one from the Blake family would do such despicable things!"
"Bullshit!" A Bearded Wizard said unapologetically, "You always considered Sirius to be the family's disgrace, even wanted to disown him!"
"I, I never said that!" Phineas stuck out his neck, "You're slandering me, you're slandering me!"
"Oh, I can testify, you did say such things." A fat wizard, enjoying the spectacle, said, "You even said there would never be a place for Blake in the family..."
"I can testify too..."
"I heard it too, tsk tsk..."
Seeing his dark past unearthed one by one, Phineas roared in exasperation, "Nonsense, you're all talking nonsense, I didn't say that."
Yet his defense seemed pale in the face of so many headmasters.
"It's all that damn Peter Pettigrew's fault, that vile, shameless guy..."
Finally, Phineas simply shifted the topic, looking at Dumbledore and saying, "Albus, you can't sit idly by on this matter, you must find a way to clear Sirius's name! If you don't do anything, I'll make noise every day so you can't work..."
"Phineas, when did I say I was going to stand by idly?" Dumbledore's smile returned to his face.
Sirius also raised his head, "You really are willing to help me."
"Of course, I will help you, without question." Dumbledore said, "But the question is how we do it."
He tapped his fingers on the table, "Though it's a bit troubling to say, the wrong judgment against you was the Ministry of Magic's mistake back then, and Peter was awarded Sir Merlin's First Class Medal for twelve years, suddenly discovering the mistake would shatter the Ministry's image.
They will likely have a hard time accepting this fact."
The excitement on Sirius's face gradually faded.
He had only thought about sending Peter out to expose the truth but had not considered the Ministry of Magic's involvement.
Indeed, those people cherished their reputations the most, would they really care if he was innocent?
Sirius's heart began to grow uneasy...
"Professor, I think you're all overthinking this."
Just then, Kael suddenly smiled, "The current Minister of Magic, Mr. Fudge, is capable and just, I believe he is willing to clear Sirius's name."
...