The Truth

"How could they say that about Sirius?"

After lunch, as Kyle was passing by the stairs, he suddenly heard Harry angrily shouting at Professor McGonagall.

"Intentionally harming students, suspected Death Eaters? How is that possible? He's Phoenix..."

"Harry Potter!" Professor McGonagall snapped, interrupting him. "This is a decision made by the Ministry of Magic, and we must cooperate."

"But..." Harry knew he had said the wrong thing, but he was too anxious.

Sirius was inexplicably taken away and then became involved with the Death Eaters; he really couldn't accept it.

"But professor, wasn't he already acquitted?"

Professor McGonagall's lips twitched, and after a moment of silence, she said, "I can only tell you that things aren't as you think... Anyway, Headmaster Dumbledore will handle this. You just need to prepare well and complete this year's OWL exams."

Harry wanted to ask something more, but Professor McGonagall simply walked away.

Unable to get an answer, Harry slammed his fist on the stair railing, while Ron and Hermione watched him with concern.

Kyle's expression changed; it seemed there was more to the story behind Sirius's abduction...

Driven by curiosity, he decided to go and ask Dumbledore.

So that afternoon, after the last session of History of Magic, Kyle went to the Seventh Floor, to the gargoyle stone beast.

"Toothflossing Stringmints..."

"Pepper Imps..."

"Syrup cherries!"

On the third attempt, the statue finally moved, rising and jumping to the side, revealing a passageway behind it.

The password from the Headmaster's Office isn't hard to guess; you just need to read it from the Honeydukes's product list. Usually, it's a list of best-selling products or new arrivals.

When Kyle pushed open the oak door behind the corridor and entered the Headmaster's Office, Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk writing a letter.

He looked up after hearing the noise. "I thought you would come to find me around noon."

Dumbledore put down his quill. "Is it about Sirius?"

"I suppose so," Kyle said, walking up to Fawkes and rubbing the feathers on its neck.

"What exactly happened? It couldn't possibly be because a student got injured during his Duelling Club, could it?"

"That's part of the reason," Dumbledore said. "Some parents wrote to me last year, criticizing his teaching methods as being somewhat extreme."

"But there's another reason too..." Dumbledore paused before continuing, "I received news that Peter Pettigrew dead, and that someone saw a large black dog near Azkaban."

"Peter Pettigrew dead?" Kyle said incredulously. "Could it be fake news?"

"No." Dumbledore shook his head. "I've already confirmed it; it is indeed Peter."

"When."

"A week ago," Dumbledore said.

"That couldn't possibly be Sirius," Kyle said with certainty. "School had already started, and he was still at school."

Although he was indeed the one who most wanted to kill Peter Pettigrew, with Harry around, he wouldn't risk doing so.

"That's what I think too, but the Ministry of Magic doesn't believe me. They insist that I'm helping Sirius cover it up."

Dumbledore folded the parchment in his hand twice and put it into an envelope.

"And what about the Death Eaters?" Kyle continued, "I heard that Sirius's abduction was also related to the Death Eaters."

"I don't know, maybe Peter Pettigrew said something that caused him to misunderstand," Dumbledore said.

He placed the letter he had written on the table, Fawkes nudged Kyle with his head, then grabbed the letter and flew out the window.

Kyle was somewhat surprised; in the Wizarding World, there weren't many people who could get Dumbledore to use Fawkes to deliver messages.

Is it for Nicolas? he wondered to himself.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Dumbledore suddenly spoke up, "While your actions in the Great Hall were certainly gratifying, I must remind you that this new Professor Umbridge is not as magnanimous as the other professors."

"Professor McGonagall shares the same thought as me; she believes you'd better be careful and avoid giving anyone a handle to use against you."

"It's alright, I have a way to deal with her."

Kyle didn't seem to care much about Dumbledore's reminder.

"Speaking of which..." He glanced at Dumbledore, "Professor, you haven't forgotten what we discussed at the Hog's Head Inn ... have you?"

"Yes... I haven't forgotten."

Dumbledore's fingers twitched, and his tone became somewhat helpless. "Actually, I recently met with Amelia Bones, as well as Barty, Arthur, your father Chris, and had a drink with Doge at the Leaky Cauldron two days ago."

"Then there's no need to worry," Kyle said.

Just as he was about to go back to the Great Hall for dinner, he suddenly remembered something else and turned back to ask:

"Professor, can you tell me about your plans?"

"What?" Dumbledore seemed not to understand.

"It was your plan to get you fired from Wizengamot and mislead Fudge and the You-Know-Who," Kyle said. "I noticed the vote count was significantly different."

"Of course, if it's inconvenient, then forget it."

"This..."

"There are some things you may not know..." Dumbledore suddenly became hesitant, his tone revealing a hint of inexplicable embarrassment.

"It's impossible for everyone to attend a meeting, whether it's Wizengamot or the International Confederation of Wizards."

"For example, a Potions Master will never leave the room when brewing certain precious potions, and the same goes for certain magical experiments."

"So you really got fired?"

"Ahem, you can't say that." Dumbledore fiddled with the silverware on the table. "There are advantages... those positions took up a lot of my time, and now that I'm free from those burdens, I can focus on what's most important right now."

"Okay, I understand." Kyle turned and opened the oak door. "Well then, goodbye, Professor."

"Next week's password is Sherbet Lemon. You won't need to guess then," Dumbledore said. "Good luck."

"You too, Professor."

After leaving the Headmaster's Office, Kyle went straight to the Great Hall.

Dinner was about to begin, and the Great Hall was full of people.

Kanna had saved him a seat, and after Kyle sat down, he overheard Cedric discussing player recruitment with Mikel.

The team was short one position last year, and two more players graduated this year, so they need to recruit a total of three people.

A goalkeeper, a Chaser, and a Beater.

"The time is Saturday morning at nine o'clock," Cedric said. "Because there are quite a few new people joining this time, I hope you can all come and see if the newcomers can cooperate better with everyone."

"I'm fine with that," Mikel said. "It would be best if we got an older Beater; the second-year freshmen are too young and don't have enough strength."

Kyle shrugged indifferently. He didn't have high expectations for his teammates, as long as they didn't drag the team down.

"There won't be any problems," Cedric said expectantly. "I really hope the Quidditch Match starts soon. We have Kyle's Firebolt this year. Even with more newcomers, the other houses won't be a match for us."