Kael's words plunged the entire Headmaster's Office into silence.
Dumbledore had witnessed many great events, but now he found himself at a loss for words.
The portraits on the walls were no different.
In the portrait, a thin wizard looked at Kael, wanting to speak but hesitating, with his expression constantly changing.
He also had a portrait at the Ministry of Magic, and he often went there to glimpse the latest happenings in the Magic Realm.
Therefore, he had some understanding of Cornelius Fudge... but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't connect that person, who was keen on power plays and expanding his network, with what Kael had just said.
As for Phineas, he was more direct.
"Albus..." He spoke to Dumbledore, unabashedly in front of Kael, "You'd better check, I think this boy must be under someone's Imperio curse."
Phineas also knew Fudge, and in his own words... "Milliphutt was bad enough, but he's even worse."
Milliphutt was the Minister of Magic one hundred and fifty years ago, and during her term, she passed many unnecessary acts... like the angle at which a Wizard Hat should be worn.
At that time, wizards had to spend twenty minutes checking their attire every time they went out.
But after witnessing Fudge, Phineas suddenly felt that Milliphutt wasn't so bad; at least she passed several useful acts every year.
And Fudge? After several years in office, his only notable achievement was last year's Muggle Protection Law.
"Phineas... I believe no one in the school can use the Imperio curse on a student," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Then why is he talking nonsense?" Phineas said.
"I can have someone check him," another witch also spoke up.
Dilys Derwent, Hogwarts' headmistress two hundred years ago and a renowned Healer, her portrait still hangs at St Mungo's Hospital.
Dumbledore shook his head, ignoring their words, and instead looked at Kael with interest.
"I knew you always bring me surprises... Would you mind sharing your thoughts with me?"
"If the Minister of Magic were someone else, like Barty Crouch, it would indeed be difficult to overturn Sirius's case, but with Fudge... this matter will be much easier.
"But before that..."
He looked at Sirius, "Do you know of any confirmed Death Eaters who have not yet been caught?"
Sirius shook his head in bewilderment.
Most of the people he knew had been his neighbors for twelve years, and the rest had all been cleared... as for any that escaped, he hadn't had the time to investigate.
"I do have some news on this." Dumbledore suddenly said, "There are two Death Eaters who have changed their identities and have been operating in the shadows, but they aren't significant figures."
"That's enough," Kael said, "as long as we can confirm they are Death Eaters."
"Why are you asking?" Sirius asked curiously.
"To give a gift," Kael said as if it was obvious, "They helped you with such a big favor, you ought to bring something, right?"
Dumbledore pondered for a moment, then seemed to understand something, his eyes growing brighter.
"I knew it, you always bring me surprises!" he said again.
...
The next day, Dumbledore had left the school, and Sirius was also nowhere to be seen.
Harry came several times to inquire, but couldn't find them, making him so anxious he couldn't eat.
But Kael was eating heartily, even his appetite had grown.
When Harry came to ask, he just shook his head, indicating he didn't know where Sirius and Dumbledore had gone either.
Kael truly didn't know.
He wanted to go along, but Dumbledore didn't take him.
But that's fine too...
Two days later, they still hadn't returned.
That day, Kael got up early, and after breakfast, he made an excuse to leave through the statue of the Hunchback Witch on the fourth floor and went to Hogsmeade.
Today was the agreed day; he went to find the Dementors to retrieve something.
Hogsmeade was peaceful.
Kael searched for a long time before he finally spotted a familiar black robe between Hogsmeade and the school...
It was a Dementor, but he wasn't sure if it was the same one from that night, since to him, all Dementors looked the same.
Kael was about to ask, but just as he approached the Dementor, it fled quickly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Kael was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly pursued. There was only this one Dementor nearby, and he couldn't let it escape.
Though Dementors can fly, it seemed it couldn't leave this area and was soon caught up by Kael...
Kael found it odd; this Dementor was smaller than the one he had seen before, and its robe was more tattered, making the hooded cloak look more like a jacket.
"Why are you running..." Kael said, "I wanted to ask you something..."
The Dementor didn't speak, just tightened the few remaining pieces of its tattered robe.
"Where's your leader..." Kael thought for a moment, then added, "Not the ones from the Ministry of Magic."
The Dementor extended its hand, pointing towards the direction of the castle. Due to a missing sleeve, its arm appeared unusually discolored in the sunlight, patches of black and white, looking like it had been sunburned.
"Over by the castle?" Kael asked again.
The Dementor nodded.
With the answer, Kael immediately headed towards the castle, but before leaving, he tossed a piece of dark blue cloth to the Dementor, telling it to patch its sleeve as a token of thanks for guiding him.
Kael had prepared this for making Quidditch World Cup mementos; he only had dark blue since there was no black.
Anyway, the Dementor probably wouldn't mind such a trivial matter.
...
Hogsmeade was not far from the castle, and in a few minutes, Kael could already see the castle gates.
Two Dementors were stationed there.
But this time, there was no need to ask. Upon noticing Kael, one of the Dementors immediately floated over.
"You must have seen, Dumbledore didn't cause you any trouble... So what did she say?" Kael asked straightforwardly.
The Dementor was also straightforward, "Old house underground storage room... portrait... behind the third wall brick..."
"Which old house?"
"Don't know... she didn't say..."
"Alright." Kael nodded and extended his hand, "What about the items I gave you before?"
The Dementor extended its hand, taking out an envelope and an empty small bottle.
In exchange, Kael gave it a few pieces of chocolate.
"These are items that bring happiness, consider them the payment for the information, you can take them back to her... maybe you could all have a feast," Kael said with a smile.
The Dementor didn't quite understand but got the part about the feast... so it collected the chocolates.
After doing all this, Kael then walked into the school gate.
However, he didn't directly return to the castle but found a secluded place and used his wand to set the envelope on fire.
During this process, a faint, whisper-like voice emerged from inside the envelope.
"Gringotts... Vault..."
Afterwards, Kael took out the small, now-empty bottle.
"Reducto!"
The bottle shattered into a pile of shards, mingling with the ashes of the envelope.
"Aguamenti!"
"Scourgify!"
With two consecutive charms, the ground became clean as new, leaving no traces behind.