"Ginsonte! East, east! That's your nine o'clock direction!"
"Alia, don't let that Dementor get away!"
"Harry, how many times have I told you—take out the big ones and the small ones first! Funny how I never see you so respectful of the elderly and children any other time!"
The four of them looked like they were set to spend the entire morning clearing out every last Dementor around Hogwarts. Though realistically, that wasn't going to happen.
Well—not because they couldn't, but because there was no need.
Leaving one or two Dementors around could still help motivate the younger students to learn the Patronus Charm… or to make their own Wither Talismans.
Before long, the Wither Talismans in Harry and the others' hands had all been fed nice and full by the Dementors, and Professor McGonagall came walking over from a distance.
"Kasenhis, is everything taken care of?" McGonagall asked.
"Heh~ Heh~ All good. It's been a while since I've seen skies like this—whenever Dementors are around, it's always so gloomy," Kasenhis replied.
"Then it's settled..." McGonagall glanced past Kasenhis at the three students behind him—though truthfully, she could only see one: the dazed-looking Harry.
The other two, Ginsonte and Alia, had long since ducked behind Kasenhis. While he'd mentioned casually keeping them outside, he never said Professor McGonagall had agreed to it, so they very sensibly stayed hidden behind him.
This way, maybe—just maybe—she'd be willing to turn a blind eye.
Harry, on the other hand, had absolutely no such awareness. He just stood there, openly and boldly waving at Professor McGonagall.
Ginsonte and Alia kept frantically signaling at Harry—not necessarily telling him to hide, but at least to turn his back or something, give Professor McGonagall some excuse to play dumb.
But Harry remained as consistent as ever.
"Hi there!"
Professor McGonagall was covered in metaphorical black lines. She wasn't sure if she should pretend not to see Harry or just drag him off on the spot.
But thinking about how these poor students had been working hard since early morning…
"…Mm, good work, everyone. As long as everything's fine."
McGonagall nodded quickly and hurried back to the castle, afraid that if she stayed another minute, she wouldn't be able to resist hauling Harry and the others away.
"In a bit, Professor McGonagall will be bringing the students out—so go grab spots at the meeting points you agreed on with your friends. This is a rare opportunity," Kasenhis said, waving his hand to send the three students scattering out of sight—and more importantly, out of McGonagall's sight when she returned.
As for himself, he had already reserved a seat at the Three Broomsticks. Since his little helpers were busy, the professor figured he'd take the opportunity for a quiet drink or two.
Soon, he pushed open the door to the Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosmerta was, as always, standing behind the bar, wiping an already-clean glass with an equally-clean cloth.
Far superior to that dump of a Hog's Head next door.
"What'll it be, Professor Kasenhis?" Madam Rosmerta flashed a smile like a true Gryffindor. Originally, as a fair and professional bartender, she shouldn't be doing things like tampering with a customer's drink—clearly against industry ethics.
But hey… she was doing it on someone's request.
"I'll have a brandy," Kasenhis said.
Soon, a glass of brandy was placed in front of him.
Before he even had a chance to take a sip, the four Heads of House, along with Hagrid and Lupin, came walking over toward the table Kasenhis had snagged early.
"I can't remember the last time I saw skies this clear. Fudge and the current Ministry are just useless," Hagrid's big-sis counterpart said as she sat down beside him.
"Mm-hmm, I once heard Dumbledore say the previous Ministry wasn't much better. It's not about who the Minister is," Kasenhis casually threw out a comment.
"True enough. The progress of the magical world nowadays mostly comes from Hogwarts and the freelance great wizards. In all my years, I've never seen the Ministry accomplish anything truly noteworthy…" Professor Flitwick chimed in.
"Well, there are some differences. At least since Fudge took office, the Ministry has broken quite a few records. Like the first Minister to lose an arm inside his own office, or the first to let prisoners escape from Azkaban," Professor McGonagall added, not letting the Ministry off the hook.
"Pfft~!"
"Ehm.. Lupin, you know Sirius Black better than anyone. Where do you think he'd be right now?" After two glasses of grain extract, Hagrid turned to Lupin with a flushed face and asked.
Lupin simply shook his head helplessly. What could he say—that Sirius was currently in the Alchemy office serving as a diligent little gardener?
"If I ever find that guy? I won't let him off—I'll tear him in half with my own hands," Hagrid growled, cheeks flushed red.
Kasenhis looked at Hagrid in mild surprise. By all accounts, this really shouldn't be the topic of conversation today—and with Hagrid's tolerance, he definitely shouldn't be drunk this fast.
He glanced down instinctively. His own brandy glass had somehow ended up completely empty. Same with the whiskey glass beside Hagrid—already bone dry.
But brandy and whiskey shouldn't hit this fast, especially not for someone like Hagrid. The man was half-giant—alcohol in his system was more like chocolate liqueur than liquor.
Meanwhile, Harry—who had thrown on his Invisibility Cloak just to sneak into the Three Broomsticks for a bite to eat—was now stuck, unsure what to do about the professors' impromptu gathering.
He didn't know whether he should wait for an opportunity to secretly place an order, or just leave and have someone else come buy food instead.
But before he could make up his mind, he heard Snape's voice.
"Fate really does enjoy its little twists. Sirius Black and James Potter were once as close as brothers, and in the end, he betrayed the entire Potter family—led the Dark Lord straight to them. If I recall, Sirius Black is Harry Potter's godfather, isn't he? Heh… With a godfather like that, I'm very curious to see what happens when they finally meet."
Snape's gaze was fixed intently on a completely empty spot not far behind Kasenhis. If Harry hadn't been frozen in shock by what Snape had just said, he might have noticed the glint of mockery in Snape's eyes—staring straight through his Invisibility Cloak.
Unfortunately, Harry didn't see it… or rather, didn't notice it.
Meanwhile, Kasenhis and Lupin paid no mind to what Snape had said.
After all, at this table, the only ones who actually knew the truth about Sirius were them. Snape was the one who gave him the potion after all. That meant Snape's ranting was just an angry rant.. totally understandable—even expected.
And besides, it was Snape doing the ranting. That made everything perfectly normal. No matter how harsh his words, no one at the table would object—everyone here knew exactly how deep the grudge between him and Sirius went.
_________
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
Patreon: Dragonel