"Hey, kid, why are you back again!"
On the second floor of the Hog's Head Pub, Aberforth's portrait looked at Kael standing before him and said grumpily, "You should remember, occupying space here requires payment."
"Of course, fifty Galleons, tenfold, to be covered by Professor Dumbledore later." Kael sighed lightly.
He was driven out by Professor McGonagall.
If he hadn't pointed out Professor McGonagall's purpose, he might have continued to play dumb and stay in the school. But the problem is, he pointed it out, and Professor McGonagall admitted herself that she didn't want Kael to stay in the school any longer.
As the true authority of the school, if Professor McGonagall didn't want him there, Kael had no chance of staying despite finding many excuses.
Professor McGonagall even used a secret passage in the school to let him leave Hogwarts without alerting anyone... Which is why he found himself at the Hog's Head Pub.
Because the exit of that passage is here, and the entrance is in the Room of Requirement.
It must have been Dumbledore who told her... allowing her to use this passage during crises at Hogwarts to send students away.
Professor McGonagall's meaning was also clear; she wanted to use the Time Turner to save Dumbledore herself, instead of letting Kael do it.
To ensure this goes off without a hitch, the best way is to first obtain the crucial thing... that Time Turner.
Actually, what Professor McGonagall previously said to Kael was all true.
She had indeed visited Nicolas Flamel's estate once when she was young.
At that time, Dumbledore had just become the headmaster of Hogwarts. Maybe he was happy, so he took several professors he favored to Devon during Madam Perenelle's six-hundredth birthday celebration to broaden their horizons.
Apart from Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout also went along.
The facts prove Dumbledore's judgment was quite right, as both became heads of houses later on.
And Professor Flitwick... He was supposed to have a spot too, but he had to forego it due to schedule conflicts with a dueling competition.
As for the Slytherin head, Professor Slughorn... He was drunk and missed the departure time after a dinner party the night before.
Every time he thinks of this, Slughorn still smacks his leg in regret. This, however, doesn't stop him from having more dinner parties and continuing to get completely sloshed at them.
Of course, Kael didn't know these things.
The portrait on the second floor of Aberforth was still chattering on about something. Kael glanced at him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me before that there's a secret passageway here leading to Hogwarts? If I knew it was this simple, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble to turn myself into an owl."
"Wouldn't have mattered, even if I told you." Footsteps sounded from behind, along with Aberforth's actual voice.
Sometime earlier, he had reached the second floor and was staring at Kael.
"The passage you used just now is one-way. In other words, it can only be opened from Hogwarts; here is just the exit, you can't enter."
"Is that so? Then I misunderstood." Kael scratched his head, ready to walk out.
"Wait up." Behind him, Aberforth suddenly called out to him.
"What's up?" Kael turned back and asked.
"Your headmaster Dumbledore, he..." Aberforth opened his mouth hesitantly but then shook his head, "Never mind, off you go."
Aberforth turned back and descended the stairs.
"Utterly baffling," said Kael.
He approached the window and glanced towards the Shrieking Shack.
A new shop had opened there, an ice cream shop. A somewhat bald middle-aged man was sitting beside it, showing no interest in attracting customers. Even when people came in, he casually scooped a large spoon and slapped it haphazardly onto the ice cream cone.
Aside from the large portions, in every other aspect, it was completely inferior to the ice cream shop in Diagon Alley, especially in appearance; it was neither round nor square, looking like a dog's chew toy.
This person should be Sirius.
I must say, his hiding skills are terrible; even if Kael knew nothing about him, he could instantly tell something was off.
If you're going to work in a trade, at least act somewhat professional, right? Who would be so half-hearted when trying to make a living? Making a proper ice cream isn't hard either...
Moreover, watching the customer hand over a Silver Coin, Kael's mouth twitched again.
One Sickle, for a heap of ice cream bigger than a fist. No wonder there's still business despite the terrible service.
Can that shop even turn a profit?
Kael could barely bear to watch, leaving the window and using Apparition to depart from the Hog's Head Pub.
…
He definitely couldn't stay at Hogwarts now; he had to find something to do. Kael first returned to Ottery St Catchpole.
Chris had already gone to work at the Ministry of Magic and wasn't home.
Kael sat on the sofa, poured himself a cup of tea, and started pondering recent events.
For some unknown reason, he didn't worry about the Time Turner being taken by Professor McGonagall first, even though she'd prepared thoroughly.
Kael felt the whole situation was a little too coincidental, and Nicolas seemed to know something too. What was the significance of the 'juice' he drank...?