"All right, quiet down." Professor McGonagall glared at them. "I assure you there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Secret Detector, is that clear?"
"Since Professor McGonagall says so, of course we believe it," George said with a grin.
"Then keep your comments to a minimum," Professor McGonagall said. "Now please take this thing to Professor Snape."
She glanced again at Kael, Harry and the others. "You lot, come with me…"
Professor McGonagall led Kael, Harry and the others into the castle, up the stairs to her office. Rain and snow rattled against the windows, but the fire in the grate was roaring, and it felt much warmer as soon as they went in.
"Talk." Professor McGonagall strode quickly around to the far side of the desk and said sternly, "What happened?"
Lini began to stammer out an account. Although, shaken as she was, her words weren't very coherent, it was still possible to understand her.
But she didn't know much. All she could say was that during the time she left the Three Broomsticks for Honeydukes, Katie had received that package. As for who had given it to her, and who had used Imperio on her, Lini knew nothing at all.
After that Professor McGonagall sent her off to the Hospital Wing as well.
Lini was in quite a bad state and needed some calming Magic Potion to soothe her nerves.
"So, what happened afterwards?" She turned to the others again.
Hermione immediately recounted how Katie had shot up into the air and then been rescued. She was very detailed, and Professor McGonagall soon had a clear picture of the whole affair.
"Very good, five points to Gryffindor," Professor McGonagall said with a nod. "You may go as well. Remember to keep this to yourselves and don't tell anyone else—no matter who asks."
Harry, Ron and Hermione then left the office, leaving only Kael and Conna behind.
By this time, Professor McGonagall's expression was no longer as tense as before.
"Because you kept your head in a crisis…" She looked at Kael and said gently, "I'm awarding fifty points to Hufflepuff. Well done."
"Thank you, Professor," Kael said.
"You've earned them." Professor McGonagall rubbed her forehead. She hardly dared imagine how bad things might have got if Kael hadn't been there… at the very least, that girl Katie Bell would have suffered far more.
Even with Auror Tonks present, she might not have handled it better than Kael had.
"Do you know anything else?" Professor McGonagall went on. "Who do you think is trying to get at you, to the point of using Imperio on a Hogwarts student?"
"I really don't know," Kael said calmly. "Maybe some deranged Death Eaters. After all, I ruined quite a few of their plans over the holidays; it's only natural they'd want revenge."
"Death Eaters?" Professor McGonagall said in astonishment. She found it hard to believe that Death Eaters would dare target a Hogwarts student, but aside from that, there didn't seem to be any other explanation.
"If that's the case…" She paced back and forth. "Kael, I must tell you, for your own safety, you mustn't leave the castle in the near future, and you're not to go to Hogsmeade either."
"All right, I understand." Kael had already guessed Professor McGonagall would say this, and he nodded his agreement.
In any case, he only ever went to Hogsmeade to have a Butter Beer at the Three Broomsticks.
And after something this serious, the school probably wouldn't be organizing any more Hogsmeade visits. Whether he agreed or not came to the same thing.
"You should both head back now." Professor McGonagall waved a hand, looking slightly tired. "The school will get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."
"One more small matter, Professor." Kael wasn't in a hurry to leave.
"Go on."
"It's about Mr. Malfoy." Kael paused briefly before he went on. "Whatever else you say, he did indirectly save me, so could I give him twenty-five of my points?"
Professor McGonagall seemed not to have expected this from Kael. She looked up. "But it was because of Mr. Malfoy that the package was smashed open in the first place."
"That's a separate issue. I can't just pretend nothing happened," Kael said calmly. "That's why I'm saying I'll give him half of the points I received, instead of asking you to award extra."
"Very well, if you insist…"
Professor McGonagall fixed her eyes on Kael, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "Twenty points from Hufflepuff, twenty points to Slytherin."