With Dark Cloud's situation temporarily resolved, everyone finally relaxed. They settled down and chatted for a while, until the conversation drifted to the question of where Dark Cloud had come from.
"Teacher Newt told me Dark Cloud was a premature hatchling brought back by dragon hunters. Those hunters were apprehended by the Aurors not long ago."
Kate took a sip of tea to clear her throat. "So I'm guessing the reason the Headmaster and Teacher Newt were both absent earlier was because they were helping deal with all of that."
She turned to Hagrid. "The person you were drinking and playing cards with almost certainly bought that dragon egg directly from the hunters. So you'd better walk us through every single detail of how you came to meet that person."
"Kate's right," Harry agreed, nodding. "We need to know more about who that person was — that way, if the Ministry of Magic starts an investigation, we can keep you clear of it."
With that reason on the table, even Hagrid, reluctant as he was, had no choice but to talk.
"The fellow was probably some sort of fire-dragon trader. He had a hood up — I never got a proper look at his face." Hagrid rubbed his nose, carefully dredging up the memory.
"He asked me what I did, and I told him I was gamekeeper here. Then he asked a bit about which animals I looked after, and I told him that too."
"Then I mentioned how I'd always wanted a dragon more than anything. After that... I can't quite remember the details. He kept buying me drinks, pouring them into me until I was in a right daze."
"Eventually he said he happened to have a dragon egg on him, and if I wanted it, we could play cards for it — but first he'd have to satisfy himself that I could actually handle a dragon."
"So I told him," Hagrid continued, puffing up a little, "that I could keep even a three-headed dog like Fluffy perfectly in line, so one dragon wasn't going to be any trouble at all."
Three-headed dog.
The moment those words landed, all three little first-years snapped to attention. Harry in particular — his eyes lit up instantly.
"He was interested in Fluffy?"
"That's right. I mean, how many ordinary people ever come across a dog with three heads? — Oh, present company excepted, Kate. Your Teacher is Mr. Scamander, after all."
Kate, having been called out, looked perfectly innocent. "I've encountered plenty of magical creatures, but a three-headed dog was never one of them."
"Heh heh." Hagrid cheered up immediately. "Right, so I said — a three-headed dog like Fluffy is rare, but at the same time he's actually pretty easy to handle. All you need to do is—"
He never finished the sentence. Kate cut him off without hesitation. "That's enough, Hagrid. We have no interest in learning how to subdue a three-headed dog, and I'd suggest you shouldn't be saying it out loud either."
Harry, who had been leaning forward with bright, curious eyes ready to drink in every word, froze.
He really wanted to hear that.
The only way to find out whether the Philosopher's Stone had been taken was to get past the three-headed dog's room. And the method for subduing it certainly wasn't going to be spelled out in any standard magical-creatures textbook.
Hagrid came back to himself as well, pressing a hand to his chest with a look of profound relief. "Right — Dumbledore did say this secret wasn't to be told to anyone."
"And yet you told the dragon trader anyway," Kate pointed out precisely.
She watched the colour drain from Hagrid's face until it was chalk-white.
"Oh, Merlin's beard...." It was only now that the full weight of it was hitting him.
Half-blood giant or not, the man might be enormous, but his head really didn't work all that well.
Dumbledore had known perfectly well that Hagrid was prone to letting things slip — and yet he had assigned him this task anyway. That was clearly intentional: let him leak the information, and thereby set the entire test for Harry in motion.
Setting aside the god's-eye view for a moment — Dumbledore's ability to construct a situation was so extraordinary that not a single person caught inside it had the faintest sense of being guided. What was, in truth, a carefully arranged path leading Harry toward a predetermined revelation felt, from Harry's own perspective, like a genuine, self-discovered adventure in mystery-solving.
Kate watched Harry spring to his feet, already about to bolt for the door, and called after him. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To tell the Headmaster, obviously — that Hagrid told some stranger how to get past Fluffy, and that the person in the cloak was definitely Quirrell!"
Harry stopped, staring back at her with something close to disbelief at the fact that she was still sitting calmly. "Don't you think we should do the same?"
"I thought about it," Kate answered honestly. "But it won't work."
"Why—"
"Because we have no evidence." She cut off his well-meaning question before it could finish. "We have no evidence that Quirrell is suspicious, and even less evidence that the cloaked figure was Quirrell."
"If I were Dumbledore, would I truly take the word of a first-year student making baseless accusations against a Hogwarts professor — even if that student happened to be the world-famous Chosen One?"
Of course, the world didn't always run on evidence alone.
But within the adventure Dumbledore had so carefully constructed around Harry, evidence was non-negotiable.
"I told Hermione this before — even if every one of your suspicions turns out to be right, what possible motive would Professor Quirrell have for going after the Philosopher's Stone? He's young. His whole future is ahead of him. Would he really find it necessary — for the sake of something that might be decades away — to break into Gringotts, and then take the risk of breaking the law by slipping a dragon egg to Hagrid, all just to find out how to get past a three-headed dog?"
Harry's face cycled through several shades. "Then... there must be someone else behind him..."
"And again — evidence," Kate said simply.
She stood up and straightened her wizard robes. "Harry, right now we don't have a single piece of evidence. No professor is going to take our word on the strength of pure speculation."
"And I'd think you of all people wouldn't want someone to be maliciously accused of something they can't disprove — even if the person making the accusation genuinely believes they're acting out of justice. Wouldn't you?"
Harry fell silent.
He was, at his core, a child with a very decent moral compass. If that weren't the case, years of being mistreated at his aunt and uncle's home would have been more than enough to awaken an Obscurus.
Watching his friend get thoroughly stumped, Ron couldn't help but ask, "So we just sit here and do nothing? Wait until Quirrell actually steals the Philosopher's Stone before we have any proof?"
"Exactly," Kate murmured, apparently lost in thought. "If the professors won't believe us... then what do we do about it..."
She tilted her head up and gave Ron a small smile. "Oh, right — when I was looking for you all earlier today, I passed Professor McGonagall's study. She said your punishment is a patrol of the Forbidden Forest. You'd best be prepared."
Every face in the room shifted.
Hermione's most of all. "That's impossible — the school rules explicitly state that students are forbidden from entering the Forbidden Forest!"
"Which is precisely why it's the punishment," Kate said, shrugging as she turned toward the door. "We should feed Dark Cloud her second round of brandy."
Hagrid, jolted back to the present, carefully ladled a measure of wine and held it out toward Dark Cloud's muzzle. He watched her sniff at his hand, and then open her mouth and swallow it down in great gulping mouthfuls.
"She drank it! She drank it!" Whatever concerns had been on his mind a moment ago had completely evaporated — his entire world was now his little dragon.
Kate watched him finish the feeding, then herded the three gloom-faced children out the door.
"How can it possibly be the Forbidden Forest?" Hermione was still muttering under her breath.
Harry looked equally tormented. "Evidence — where on earth are we supposed to find evidence?"
And then there was Ron, who kept glancing between Hermione and Harry before finally just hanging his head and pressing a hand to his stomach. "I didn't eat enough at lunch..."
Kate nearly lost the battle to keep a straight face. She fell into step beside Hermione and murmured a few quiet words in her ear.
"Really?" Hermione's eyes lit up in an instant — but then a flicker of worry crossed her face. "But if you come with us into the Forbidden Forest, won't that mean you're breaking school rules too?"
"Only if you and Hagrid tell someone," Kate said, raising an eyebrow. "Who else is going to report it? Even Filch doesn't go into the Forbidden Forest."
Her Mana still hadn't recovered, which made the Forbidden Forest genuinely dangerous for her.
But there was nothing to be done about it. The idea of lying peacefully in bed while those three went and had their encounter with Voldemort and then came back — that simply wasn't something she was capable of.
Fortunately, she had her one free daily use of Dragon Breath. That should be more than enough. And even if it wasn't, Harry's protagonist's halo would draw the centaurs to them eventually.
"Wait," Hermione suddenly frowned. "Besides us, Malfoy was also punished."
Ah — that was what had been nagging at her. She'd forgotten that Malfoy hadn't been around today.
Kate nodded in understanding. "You're right to worry about that. But don't worry — I have a way to keep her quiet."
All she had to do was ask Malfoy again whether there were any girls in the family, and suggest she might like to meet one someday. Malfoy wasn't stupid — she would understand the implication.
Kate winked at Hermione, then looked over at the other two, who were both wrapped up in their own private brooding. "Then it's settled — eleven o'clock tomorrow night, everyone meets at the gamekeeper's hut!"
·····
The next morning, Harry, Hermione, and Ron each found a note waiting for them at the breakfast table. All three notes were identical, and read:
Your detention begins tonight at eleven o'clock. Please meet Mr. Filch in the Entrance Hall.
Exactly as Kate had predicted, word for word.
Similarly, Malfoy received her note at the Slytherin table. The dark circles beneath her eyes made it obvious she hadn't slept a wink the night before.
Kate hadn't seen her at all yesterday either. She had no idea where the girl had spent the entire day, presumably crying somewhere in private.
On a rare impulse, Kate spoke up first. "Where were you yesterday?"
Malfoy shot her a sharp glare, but managed — barely — to keep her chin held high. "None of your business!"
The students nearby, catching the charged atmosphere, quietly shuffled their chairs away from both of them.
These two, they thought collectively. One has terrifying power, the other has terrifying family connections. Either way, not our problem.
Only once the space around them had emptied out did Kate lower her voice. "Just be careful tonight."
Malfoy's expression flickered. Her fingers tightened around the fork in her hand.
If it weren't for this person, would she have ended up in this mess?
"I was in the Hospital Wing recovering at the time, so I have no idea what actually happened," Kate said unhurriedly, tearing off a piece of bread. "But you're still my classmate."
The white-knuckled grip on the fork suddenly loosened. Malfoy's gaze drifted for a moment.
Right. Kate had been hospitalized. She genuinely had no idea what had gone on.
Pride made it impossible to show any gratitude — but Malfoy gritted her teeth, pushed to her feet, and declared, "I haven't sunk so low that I need a sickly thing like you worrying about me. Mind your own business!"
With that, she reached over and helped herself to a serving of mashed potatoes before walking away.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a textbook case of "sharp words, soft heart" — a little snake if there ever was one.
Kate unhurriedly spread butter across her bread and took a casual sweep of the eyes watching her from around the room.
Right — she still needed to borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak later. With her Mana still depleted, she had no way of casting a Disillusionment Charm.
·····
That night at eleven o'clock, wrapped in the Invisibility Cloak, Kate had already arrived at the gamekeeper's hut ahead of everyone else — and had taken the opportunity to help Hagrid feed Dark Cloud her evening round.
"I don't understand it," Hagrid said, mixing the drink. "Harry and the others got reported by Malfoy — so how come nobody's come round here to search the place?"
If Malfoy had gone and exposed the dragon, then even with Dumbledore running interference, they would at least have had to put on a show and send someone to inspect the hut. And yet Hagrid had spent the entire day on edge, waiting — and not a single person had turned up. It was a little puzzling.
"Is that so?" Kate said calmly, feeding the brandy to the little dragon. "Then Malfoy probably didn't mention Dark Cloud to the professors."
Sure, the girl ran her mouth constantly about making Kate pay — but on that particular night, the only thing she actually could have reported was Harry and the others sneaking around the castle.
"How can that be?" Hagrid asked, eyebrows knitting suspiciously. "A Slytherin like that..."
"Hagrid," Kate straightened up and said quietly, cutting him off, "she may be Slytherin, but she's also just a first-year student."
At this point in time, Malfoy hadn't yet done anything truly unforgivable. And most of her haughtiness and cruelty was, in the end, the unconscious result of how she'd been raised — not some inborn malice.
Even setting aside the question of her gender, Kate had always felt that the Malfoy of this era still had a chance to be steered in a better direction.
That chance had simply been continually eroded in the original books, worn down by circumstance after circumstance, until it was only after surviving a genuine catastrophe much later that she finally came to her senses.
"They seem to be here," Kate said, settling Dark Cloud safely aside and pulling the Invisibility Cloak over herself. "Go out and meet them first."
Hagrid nodded and picked up his lantern, stepping out and calling loudly, "Is that you, Filch? Get a move on — I'm ready to go!"
Kate waited quietly inside until Filch had finished the handover and left. Then she slipped out beneath the Invisibility Cloak — and no one noticed that she had silently materialized among them.
"I — I am not going into that Forbidden Forest!" Malfoy's voice was tight with poorly suppressed terror.
"If you want to stay at Hogwarts, you don't have a choice," Hagrid said without sympathy. "You did wrong, and now you have to pay the price."
"Work like this is for servants, not students! I thought at most we'd have to write lines—"
Her furious speech cut off abruptly as her hand made contact with something invisible standing right beside her.
Then she flung herself backwards like a startled animal. "A ghost! There's a ghost!"
"Not a ghost — it's me." Kate emerged from the Invisibility Cloak and looked at her with complete composure. "I'm here to do the detention with you. After all, you lot were wandering the castle because of me in the first place."
The tension in Hermione's chest dissolved the instant she saw her. She immediately crossed over and linked arms with her. "I knew you'd be here waiting for us!"
"You two planned this?" Malfoy's face twisted for half a second. "Shafiq, you're out past curfew and coming into the Forbidden Forest on top of it — I will tell the professors!"
Kate spread her hands amicably. "That's your prerogative. But consider — having one more person with you means one extra degree of safety, doesn't it?"
Malfoy's gaze lingered for a moment on Kate and Hermione's interlinked hands before she finally dropped her eyes and said nothing more.
Hagrid clapped his hands together. "Right then, little ones. What we're doing tonight isn't as dangerous as it sounds — it's just a patrol loop around the Forbidden Forest."
"Excuse me," Kate raised her hand. "The creatures in the forest won't hurt us... or, conversely, we won't accidentally provoke them?"
Hagrid gave a small laugh. "Under my watch, there hasn't been a single injured animal in that forest so far. As long as you don't go too deep and don't go picking fights with anything, you'll be fine."
Understood. At this point in the timeline, Voldemort hadn't yet started hunting unicorns for their blood.
Though, when she worked out the rough timing... it probably wasn't far off.
Kate turned it over quietly in her mind. There's a fair chance we're going to witness Voldemort killing a unicorn tonight.
"System — has my Mana recovered yet?"
[47 minutes remaining until Mana restoration.]
Nearly there. Once her Mana was back, pushing away a Voldemort weakened to that degree shouldn't be a problem.
"Right then, children — we'll split into two groups. Kate, Hermione, and Malfoy — you three will go with Fang. With Fang along, nothing in the forest will touch you."
The other group would naturally be Hagrid, Harry, and Ron.
Malfoy rushed forward to grab Fang's lead. "I want Fang."
Then she hesitated and cast a sideways glance at Kate.
"Hermione and I aren't particularly frightened," Kate said obligingly. "You can hold onto Fang."
Though, judging by the flash of irritation that crossed Malfoy's face, she didn't seem to appreciate the gesture at all.
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