When Kael arrived at the auditorium, dinner had already begun. The hall was full of people, all chatting with each other, and no one noticed him.
Kael glanced in the direction of the teachers' table, and as expected, Dumbledore was not there.
"Where have you been?" After Kael sat down in his place, Conna couldn't help but ask, "I heard from Hermione that you encountered Dumbledore's Phoenix."
"Did that news spread so quickly?" Kael ate a piece of jam pie, "I thought they would keep it a secret."
"Hermione only told me," Conna said. "She seems curious about what Dumbledore wanted you for."
"It was Ms. Bones from the Law Enforcement Department who was attacked by the Death Eaters," Kael whispered, "Dumbledore needed the Basilisk's special petrifying ability to stabilize her injuries."
"Bones..." Conna pondered for a moment, "Does Susan know?"
"She probably doesn't know yet," Kael said, "but she'll likely find out tomorrow."
Susan Bones, a sixth-year witch from Hufflepuff, was Amelia Bones' niece.
On the train back to school, Slughorn also invited her, but she stayed in a corner and didn't say much.
Conna sighed, "First it was Hannah, now even Susan... I really wonder if she'll leave Hogwarts too."
A few days ago, Hannah was taken home by her family and hasn't returned since.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Kael comforted her, taking out a newly bought cherry soda, "This is for you."
"Did you go to the Three Broomsticks?"
"Yeah, I passed by on the way back."
...
Half an hour later, dinner was over, and everyone began to return to their respective common rooms.
Kael found Harry and Hermione, who were about to go upstairs, at the auditorium entrance.
"You're back so soon?" Harry was surprised to see Kael there. Both he and Hermione thought that something big must have happened with the Order of Phoenix, and that Kael wouldn't be back until at least tomorrow.
"I came back once things were done." Kael didn't explain much and just handed over the notebook he had.
"Is this the Potion Class notes you mentioned?"
"Yeah," Kael said. "You can take a look if you have time. I think it's quite useful."
Harry, curious, opened the notebook, and Hermione couldn't help but peek too.
"Look, it's the Draught of Living Death. We learned about this in our first class," Harry said quietly while looking at the notes, "So detailed... I wish I'd talked to you about this earlier."
"Wait, Harry, there's something wrong with this notebook," Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's hand just as he was about to turn the page.
"Look here..." she pointed to a line, "It says to use the flat side of a silver short knife to crush the Sopophorous Bean for juice... I remember it's supposed to be sliced."
"Is it?" Harry blinked in confusion.
To be honest, he didn't remember whether the book said to slice or crush, but since Hermione said so, it must be right; after all, she had almost memorized the entire book.
This was also typical of Hermione. At the start of every school year, she made sure to memorize her new textbooks, something Harry and Ron were used to.
"And here..." Hermione pointed to several other places.
"The textbook says to stir counter-clockwise, but this says to stir counter-clockwise seven times before stirring clockwise."
"The roots should be cut into evenly sized pieces, not strips, and don't need pre-roasting..."
Hermione frowned. The more she looked, the more she felt the notebook was absurdly wrong, even completely different from the book.
It was as if someone had slept in class and scribbled nonsense in the last minute before the bell as a halfhearted effort.
If the notes hadn't been brought by Kael, she wouldn't have given them a second glance.
"Like I said before," Kael waved his hand, "the contents here differ from the book, but you don't have to mind that.
"And I can assure you, following the steps in the notes works perfectly fine, and is even simpler and more convenient."
"But that's not what the book says," Hermione insisted.
"The last revision of 'Advanced Potion Making' was thirty years ago," Kael glanced at Hermione, "You can't expect everyone to rigidly follow thirty-year-old steps without any innovation, can you? That's impossible.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask Professor Slughorn. I guarantee, he doesn't make potions strictly by the book either."
"Yeah, Hermione," Harry said quietly, "Remember, last class you pointed out two errors Professor Slughorn made in his lecture, but how could a Potion Master like him even forget the number of times to stir?"
"But he gave me extra points," Hermione said, "You know, a whole ten points."
"Ah, yes," Harry thought for a moment and said carefully, "Do you think it's possible he just... um, rewarded you for preparing ahead?"
But Hermione just turned to glare at Harry, and he immediately went silent, knowing he still needed her to finish his assignments on time, so he dared not offend her.
But Kael had no such concerns.
"Hermione, believe that the contents of the book are correct, but they are just a reference."
"Knowing the contents of the book might help you get an 'O' in exams, but if you want to go further, you'll need to have your own understanding."
Hermione said nothing.
"Look here, the method of handling the roots... Conna discovered it," Kael pointed to a section of the notes.