Dumbledore's Surprise

The Dementor drifted away unsteadily and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Kyle turned around and found that everyone else was looking at him with strange expressions.

"What's wrong?"

"Kyle, weren't you scared at all?" Harry exclaimed.

Because of the distance, and with the Patronus blocking his way, Harry didn't hear the conversation, but he vaguely saw that Kyle seemed to have made some kind of agreement with the Dementor.

But that was Dementor! Just getting close to it sent chills down his spine, and Kyle dared to stand in front of it, and for so long...

"Why be afraid? This is Hogwarts," Kyle said.

"Are you alright now?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"It's alright," Kyle said. "I told those Dementor Sirius wasn't here, and they left."

Hermione nodded, relieved.

First Werewolf, then hundreds of Dementor. Now her legs felt weak, and all she wanted was to get back to her dorm and get some sleep.

But no, they had to go find Headmaster Dumbledore first.

Hermione turned to look at the Werewolf entangled in the Devil's Snare. "How are we going to get it away? We can't just leave it here."

"Don't worry, we don't need to worry about that." Kyle turned and glanced in the direction of the castle.

Perhaps the Dementor were making too much noise, because a large, fiery red bird was Accio rapidly towards them from mid-air.

It's Fawkes.

It folded its wings, landed on Kyle's shoulder, and tilted its head slightly, as if asking what had happened.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore." Kyle pointed to the Werewolf wrapped up like a mummy and said softly, "Could you please take it with you?"

Fawkes nodded, flew over, grabbed the Werewolf's head with his claws, and flew back to the castle.

"Oh my god, was that a phoenix just now?"

As soon as Fawkes left, Hermione immediately covered her mouth in surprise and said, "I've seen it in a book, and the phoenix in it looks exactly like this."

"It's a phoenix," Harry said. "I saw it in the Headmaster's Office, I think it was called... Fawkes?"

"I'm more concerned about Professor Lupin ..." Ron said, his mouth agape. "Did you guys notice that he was grabbed by the head and thrown away? Is that really okay?"

"If they're in Werewolf form, it'll be fine; their bodies are much sturdier than wizards'," Kyle said. "Alright, let's hurry back; Professor Dumbledore should be waiting."

The group hurried towards the castle.

Sirius, however, remained in his large dog form and didn't dare to change back.

Upon returning to the castle, the group encountered neither Filch nor the patrolling professor, and smoothly reached the Seventh Floor.

Having probably been instructed beforehand, the stone beast with the dripping spout that was guarding the gate jumped to the side upon seeing them, revealing the passage behind it.

Harry quickened his pace and went in first, with Sirius following closely behind. However, you could see that its hind legs were shaking incessantly, probably because it was very nervous.

The oak door at the end of the stairs was also open, Professor Dumbledore, dressed in a pink strawberry velvet nightgown, stood behind the table.

"I bet a lot of interesting things happened tonight that led so many of you to break the school rules."

He asked with a smile, "Would you like some Pumpkin Juice before you tell these stories?"

"No need, Professor." The three people walking in front all shook their heads.

Harry shook his head instinctively because he wasn't in the mood, and Ron and Hermione because they were nervous.

"Can I have a glass of lemonade?" Kyle asked.

"Would you like some sugar?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

No sugar added at all.

As soon as Kyle finished speaking, a glass of fresh lemonade appeared on the table next to him.

Kyle picked it up and took a sip; the sour taste made him feel much more awake.

Before Kyle could even finish his drink, Harry couldn't help but speak up, "Professor, Sirius Black is innocent! Peter Pettigrew is the real informant!"

"Oh!"

Professor Dumbledore looked at him with some surprise.

"Although I expected tonight's story to be interesting, I didn't expect your first words to be so unexpected."

"So, how did you find out?" he asked. "As far as I know, Peter Pettigrew has been dead for twelve years and was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class."

"That's fake, it's alive!" Harry held up the cage he was clutching tightly. "This is Peter!"

"It turned into a mouse and hid in my house for twelve years," Ron added from the side, his face grim, as if Scabbers ' true identity was an insult to his character.

Dumbledore's blue eyes looked at Scabbers.

Kyle then produced the Marauder's Map... which clearly displayed Peter Pettigrew's name in the Headmaster's Office.

"Oh, how nostalgic." Dumbledore's eyes flickered. "I remember the last time I saw this map was fifteen years ago... Strange, shouldn't it be in Filch's office? Or am I mistaken?"

Kyle took another sip of lemonade without saying a word.

Fortunately, Dumbledore didn't dwell on the matter and instead gestured for Harry to continue.

"So how did you find Peter, because of this magical map?"

"Not entirely..." Harry shook his head, then recounted the events, starting with Professor Lupin's visit to the Gryffindor Common Room.

During this time, Dumbledore didn't ask any questions and just listened quietly.

Harry spoke very quickly, finishing in about ten minutes.

"So, it is Sirius Black?" Dumbledore looked at the large black dog sitting on the floor. "Animagus ... I see. No wonder no one has been able to find you."

The black dog barked once and sat up straight.

"He was forced into it, Professor," Harry said quickly. "We all saw it, Scabbers ... Peter was constantly banging his head against his wand. That can't be a normal pet, right?"

Dumbledore didn't answer his question, but instead asked meaningfully, "Harry, you seem to believe Sirius quite a bit. Have you ever considered that perhaps he's lying to you?"

"I don't think he's lying to me," Harry said without hesitation. "I can sense that what he's saying is true... and if he were lying, he wouldn't have dared to come here with us, would he?"

"First of all, I must thank you for your trust in me, Harry."

Dumbledore said calmly, "But it's very late now, and after all that excitement, I suggest you go back to your dorms, have a cup of hot cocoa, and get a good night's sleep."

"Professor, Sirius Black, he..."

"Leave it to me, Harry," Dumbledore a smile. "If he is innocent, I promise I will give you a satisfactory answer."

"Oh well..."

In fact, Harry had a lot more to say, which concerned whether he could leave the Dursley family and go somewhere where he wouldn't have to hide his spellbooks under the floorboards.

But since Dumbledore had already said so, he could only nod and walk towards the door with Ron and Hermione.

"Goodnight, Professor..."

The three left the Headmaster's Office one after another.

Kyle had been with them, but as soon as he turned around, Dumbledore said, "Kyle, could you wait a moment?"