Chapter 436: Dumbledore’s Surprise
The Dementor floated away unsteadily, fading into the darkness until it was completely gone. Kyle turned back and found everyone staring at him with a mixture of surprise and awe.
"What's wrong?" he asked, bemused.
"Kyle, weren't you scared at all just now?" Harry blurted out.
Harry hadn't caught most of Kyle's exchange with the Dementor, but he'd seen Kyle standing directly in front of it, seemingly calm, for an unnervingly long time. The mere presence of Dementors chilled Harry to his core, and Kyle had stood there talking to it as if it were nothing.
"Why be afraid?" Kyle shrugged. "This is Hogwarts, after all."
"Are you... are you all right?" Hermione asked, her voice a little shaky.
"Of course," Kyle replied. "I told the Dementors that Sirius wasn't here, and they left."
Hermione nodded, visibly relieved. First they'd had to deal with a werewolf, and then a horde of Dementors. Her legs felt weak, and she wanted nothing more than to return to the dormitories and collapse into bed. But they still had to get to Professor Dumbledore first.
She glanced back at the still-bound werewolf wrapped in Devil's Snare. "What about... Professor Lupin? We can't just leave him here."
"Not to worry," Kyle said, looking back toward the castle. As if on cue, a fiery red bird was flying rapidly toward them, its wings glowing against the dark sky.
It was Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix.