"What three-headed dog? I've never had a Fluffy!"
Hagrid looked as if he had stepped on a live wire, so agitated that even the roots of his beard trembled. He pointed at Kael and stomped his feet, "How can you falsely accuse someone out of thin air!"
"Oh~~" Kael suddenly realized, "So it's called Fluffy, huh? That's actually a pretty good name."
Hagrid's expression froze, and he quickly denied, "I'm not... I never said anything, you heard wrong."
He dared not admit it.
In all of Hogwarts, he was most worried about Kael discovering Fluffy's existence, even more than Dumbledore.
Because Kael's dad, Chris, is the Vice-Minister of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and he oversees creatures like Fluffy which have uncertain origins.
If Kael told his family about this, Fluffy would definitely be taken away, and at that time, its fate would be unknown.
He even feared he himself might get sent to Azkaban.
Just thinking about Fluffy potentially being killed, and the ghastly place that is Azkaban, cold sweat started pouring from Hagrid.
"No way, I absolutely can't admit this."
Hagrid put on a stern face, trying to look fierce to scare Kael away.
With a fierce expression paired with his over-three-meter tall burly figure, to be honest, he really did look the part.
If it weren't for Hagrid's dodgy eyes and the sweat on his forehead, Kael might have believed him.
"Alright, alright, I misheard, you don't have a three-headed dog." Kael waved his hand dismissively, "Consider it a fun fact, bye."
"By the way." Kael took a couple of steps, then suddenly turned around, "If the puppy you're raising is showing signs of appetite loss, irritability or depression, don't worry, just let it go into the Forbidden Forest."
Since Hagrid didn't want him to see Fluffy, he wouldn't go looking for it, there would be plenty of chances next year anyway.
Besides, what's the fun in seeing the small ones when you can see the big ones?
Once Fluffy is locked in that room on the fourth floor, he could look all he wants anyway. Maybe he'd even pull off some of its fur to knit a sock.
Leaving the Forbidden Forest, Kael leisurely strolled across the lawn, and as he reached the castle entrance, he inadvertently saw a familiar figure flash by.
Curious, Kael walked over and discovered a small figure crouched in the bushes at the castle entrance, peeking around as if looking for something.
"Conna? What are you doing here?" Kael asked, intrigued.
"Who!"
The sudden voice startled Conna, and it took her a moment to regain composure.
"I, I'm looking for something." Conna glanced up at Kael, then continued rummaging through the bushes.
Seeing this, Kael took out his wand and said, "How long will it take to find it this way? Let me help you."
Conna seemed to guess his intention, and immediately shook her head, "It's no use, I lost a Galleon, the Summoning Charm won't work."
Any magical currency, whether it's a Galleon, Sickle, or Knut, bears an Anti-Summoning Charm like a watermark, it's one of the most basic theft-prevention measures.
Upon hearing this, Kael could only put away his wand and then joined in on the other side to help search.
Conna really didn't want to trouble Kael, otherwise, she wouldn't have come here alone to look without telling anyone.
But thinking about her current situation, she hesitated for a moment and then said softly, "Th-thank you."
"It's nothing, we're friends after all." Kael waved his hand nonchalantly, "By the way, how many Galleons did you lose?"
"Twenty."
Kael thought he heard wrong, and reflexively said, "How many?!"
"Twenty." Conna said softly, "Maybe more, I've been losing Galleons since the start of the school year, and these are the last of them."
"Uh..."
Kael clicked his tongue and silently bent down to continue rummaging through the bushes.
Good gracious, losing over twenty Galleons at once, if it were him, Kael reckoned he'd be driven to murder.
...
The bushes at the castle entrance weren't small, and it took the two of them more than an hour to finish searching.
But the results were disappointing.
Not a single Galleon, let alone a Knut, was found.
Kael stood up, massaging his back, and asked, "Are you sure you lost them here?"
"I, I'm not sure."
Conna paused for a moment and said, "They were there before Herbology class yesterday, but suddenly gone this morning."
"Could they have fallen off during Flying Class?" Kael thought for a moment and asked, "Did you check around the Quidditch Pitch?"
"Looked there in the morning." Conna said, "Neither the Quidditch Pitch nor the castle had them, if they're not here, then only the greenhouse is left."
"Greenhouse. They're not there." Kael said resolutely.
He couldn't vouch for other places, but the greenhouse... Kael was 100% sure that no one lost anything there, the floor was spotless.
He had looked very carefully at the time.
"Why don't we search once more?" Kael suggested, "In case we missed anything earlier."
"No need." Conna shook her head.
The Galleons she lost before were never found, and this time would probably be the same. It's evident enough that no one loses Galleons and gets them back.
"Alright then." Kael didn't insist, as he saw it, for a pure-blood family like Conna's, who could afford Twilfitt and Tattings robes, they wouldn't really lack for Galleons.
Two or three dozen Galleons, they probably wouldn't even care much about.
He dusted off his clothes and said offhandedly, "Before your family's owl arrives, do you need me to lend you some?"
Conna's eyes glazed over for a moment, and after a pause, she said, "It's fine, at Hogwarts, there's not much need for Galleons anyway. I'll get more from Gringotts during the holidays. It's just... about the rat tonic… could I pay you after Christmas?"
Kael paused slightly in the middle of patting his robe, then looked at Conna, "You don't have to worry about that, you can pay even next year if needed."
Once Kael finished dusting off his robe, the two of them started heading towards the castle together.
While walking, Kael curiously asked, "By the way, where's your rat? Haven't seen you with it."
"Poke?" At the mention of her pet, Conna unexpectedly smiled, "It's playing with Dalen's hamster in the dormitory."
"What's a rat doing playing with a hamster?" Kael scoffed, "I have a friend, Percy Weasley from Gryffindor, he has a rat too, I could introduce them sometime.
So, is your Poke male or female?"
Conna's face blushed slightly, but she answered softly, "F-female."
"Perfect then." Kael's eyes lit up, "Percy's Scabbers is male, why not pair them up, and you could have a whole litter of little rats by next year."