That's the one Hagrid raised, and later the Headmaster used it to guard the Philosopher's Stone… But as far as he remembered, back then the three-headed dog was smaller than the one in front of them now.
"Yeah, that's Fluffy," Kael said. "Just in case, I went to the Forbidden Forest recently and borrowed him."
Kael patted Fluffy's chin again, then opened the suitcase.
"Alright, back you go. I'll make you all a big meal tomorrow."
Fluffy immediately started drooling. Norbert cast it a disdainful glance and wriggled into the suitcase first.
This place was way too cramped; it felt really uncomfortable here. The suitcase was so much roomier.
Kingsley stared fixedly at Kael's suitcase, then, after both huge creatures were inside, he suddenly asked, "What's your relationship with Newt Scamander?"
"He's sort of my introduction teacher when it comes to Fantastic Beasts," Kael replied.
"Pretty close?" Kingsley pressed.
"Yeah, not bad." Kael nodded.
Kingsley smacked his lips. No wonder the suitcase always felt oddly familiar—looks like there's another name to add to the Aurors' priority watch list.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Kael—if even Dumbledore trusted him unconditionally, so did he, of course.
But the thing was, this kind of issue wasn't about trust… Let's put it this way: even if it were Dumbledore himself, no Auror would feel comfortable letting him walk around with a fire dragon in tow.
Let alone Kael, whose suitcase didn't just have a fire dragon inside. Whether it was a Wampus Cat or a three-headed dog, they were all extremely dangerous 5X-level Fantastic Beasts. If even one got out, it could cause mass panic.
The fact that he was helping cover this up was already risking his future career.
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Kael cleared his throat and said, "I borrowed all of these. The three-headed dog's from the Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest, the Wampus Cat belongs to Newt—I'll return them all in due time."
"Oh…" Kingsley replied, expressionless.
"Alright, let's get out of here, too," said Mr. Weasley. He glanced around. "Where are all the wounded?"
"Also in here," Kael patted the suitcase. "Relax, it's very safe."
Everyone turned to look, all wearing complicated expressions.
Mr. Weasley's mouth twitched a little—guess he actually did trust Kael's words.
In a way, it was true—inside the suitcase was definitely safe… if you didn't mind having a fire dragon and a three-headed dog as neighbors, that is.
"So what are we going to do with these Death Eaters?" Kael asked. "Should I just toss them in the suitcase as well? Would be pretty convenient."
"Er, no need, leave them to me," Kingsley said hastily.
As if worried the Death Eaters would end up as snacks, he quickly conjured a long rope, tied up all the Death Eaters whose wands had been confiscated,
then gave his wand a wave and easily dragged the Death Eaters away down the hall.
Kael saw this and said nothing more.
They headed for the nearest door—Sirius and Lupin at the front with wands drawn, cautiously pushing the door open.
Thank Merlin, the Death Eaters who escaped earlier weren't waiting outside for them.
They didn't let their guard down though—Sirius and Lupin still took point, and Kael sent the Wampus Cat along with them.
After walking for a while, Mr. Weasley couldn't help asking, "Kael, aren't you supposed to be at Hogwarts? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Fred and George noticed Harry taking a Thestral and bunking off class. They told me, so I went to find Professor Dumbledore… He's the one who brought me here."
"We got found out?" Harry turned around in surprise.
"What's so strange about that? Most people just can't see Thestrals, but they can definitely see the person riding on one, can't they?"
Kael said, "Also, if you'd waited just a bit longer, Dumbledore would've told you that Sirius was safe himself."
Harry hung his head, looking a little ashamed.
Sirius out front seemed like he wanted to say something, but before he could open his mouth Lupin stopped him, shaking his head to tell Sirius to stay quiet.
This time, Harry had really been too reckless.
He'd charged straight into the Ministry of Magic with no plan whatsoever, dragging everyone into a corner, right into the Death Eaters' trap.
Thank goodness Kael arrived just in time, or everyone might have been done for.
But what if Kael hadn't come… Over twenty Death Eaters—it would've been impossible for so few of them to handle. They'd only avoided being wiped out because of timing, nothing else.
Just thinking about it still made Lupin break out in a cold sweat.
This sort of thing could never happen a second time.
"I'm sorry." Harry kept his head down, sincerely saying, "I really won't do anything like this again."
"You'd better remember that today," Lupin said, not looking back.
"Alright, Remus." Sensing things getting tense, Mr. Weasley quickly jumped in to smooth things over. "Sirius is Harry's only family, after all—the one person he's yearned for these past ten years… This was a cunning trap laid by You-Know-Who from the start."
"No one's immune to You-Know-Who's tricks—sometimes even we get caught out, let alone someone as inexperienced as Harry."
Lupin sighed.
He knew that, but some things still had to be said.
"Oh, right." Mr. Weasley changed the topic, "Kael, did you just say Dumbledore brought you here?"
"Yeah, Fawkes took us straight from Hogwarts to the Ministry of Magic by Apparition," Kael said.
"Merlin's beard, bringing students to such a dangerous place… What was Dumbledore thinking…" Mr. Weasley's voice trailed off, and he unconsciously glanced at the suitcase in Kael's hand.