Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard

Although his expression didn’t change, his hand was gripping the back of the chair tightly. "Just tell the truth. No need to beat around the bush."

"This is the truth, I swear." Kael said helplessly. "The place he went to just happens to be somewhere Fawkes can’t reach."

Abeforth stared unblinkingly at Kael, as if trying to see whether he was lying.

Kael was very calm; everything he said was true. No matter how magical a Phoenix might be, it couldn’t possibly Apparate back to a hundred years ago.

Kael was just a bit hesitant inside: if Abeforth insisted on getting a clear explanation, how was he supposed to answer?

Just tell the truth?

Tell him that Dumbledore went back a hundred years to look for Arianna?

Definitely not. Abeforth’s feelings for his sister were no less than Dumbledore’s. What if he wanted to go as well? Kael didn’t have a second Time Turner for him to use.

So he absolutely had to keep it from him.

Kael felt a bit stuck. He was pondering what excuse he could use later to convince Abeforth, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a place a Phoenix couldn’t reach.

Or he could just shove everything onto Dumbledore, pretend he knew nothing. That was the only excuse that might get them through this.

What he didn’t expect was that Abeforth only snorted coldly and didn’t press the issue. After making sure Kael wasn’t lying, he returned to his previous indifferent attitude.

Then Abeforth strode to the door, glanced back at Kael, and said, "What a waste of time. The rest of them are yours."

With that, he stepped out the door and Apparated away.

"They’re mine?" Kael scratched his hair. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"It means... urgh..." Sirius tried to explain, but the moment he opened his mouth he nearly threw up. At the same time, his reaction set off the others.

Ginny clapped a hand over her mouth and staggered toward the stairs.

Harry was a bit better than her, but his face was still pale; he slumped to the floor, weak all over.

It was a good while before Sirius finally recovered. He grabbed a bottle of Flaming Whiskey on the table and took a huge swig, barely managing to suppress his churning stomach.

"Honestly, I’ve never experienced such a thrilling Apparition in my life."

Harry and Mrs. Weasley both nodded beside him.

Harry still remembered that Christmas holiday when they went to St Mungo’s Hospital to visit Sirius. Kael had been taken there by Fawkes, and he’d crashed straight into a cabinet the moment he arrived.

Back then Harry had found it strange, not understanding why Kael was in such bad shape from just an Apparition.

Now he finally understood.

The Phoenix’s Apparition and a Wizard’s were two completely different kinds of Magic. When he’d just been taken away, he’d been in no state to stand; even his consciousness had been fuzzy.

He felt like he’d been stuffed into a Giant’s nostril, then picked out and flung onto a Unicorn’s hoof, and trampled for ten miles.

For a while, he even felt that facing Death Eaters in Godric’s Hollow wasn’t so bad after all.

Thinking about it that way, Kael’s performance back then—only crashing into a cabinet—was almost unbelievably outstanding.

Remembering what had just happened, Harry finally couldn’t hold it in either. Like Ginny, he clamped a hand over his mouth and ran upstairs.

"Don’t mind them, they’ve been like this the whole time." Sirius drew a deep breath. "We were brought by the Phoenix to... the Hog’s Head Pub in Hogsmeade. Just a few minutes ago... the owner there sent us back... that was the man you just saw."

"Oh." Kael nodded. "Are the others still there? Why aren’t they hurrying back?"

"Because we can’t. We could barely stand... let alone Apparate back." Sirius gripped the bottle of Flaming Whiskey and took another swig.

"Then the owner of the Hog’s Head recognized Fawkes and even told us this address. That’s how we found out he was on our side too."

Mrs. Weasley continued, "For safety’s sake, we asked him to help send some people back."

"Sirius and I were in the first group, Harry and Ginny were just sent back, and then you arrived."

Hearing this, Kael finally understood.

Just like the place that felt most familiar to him in his subconscious was Ottery St Catchpole, the place Fawkes considered safe wasn’t the Headquarter of Order of Phoenix, but the Hog’s Head Pub where the other "Dumbledore" was.

"How is everyone doing?" Kael asked.

"You could say... they’re more or less fine." Mrs. Weasley thought for a moment and said, "Promise me, Kael—unless it’s absolutely necessary, don’t let the Phoenix take us away again. If the Death Eaters chase us then, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to resist."

"All right." Kael nodded.

He certainly knew what it was like to be Apparated by a Phoenix, but the situation back then had been urgent; it was the best option. Otherwise, with that many Death Eaters, there would definitely have been serious casualties.

And wherever Fawkes considered safe, the Death Eaters wouldn’t be able to find it anytime soon.

"I’ll go bring them back now." Kael stepped out of the house again.

He had originally wanted Sirius to come with him—two people would definitely be faster—but seeing him downing Flaming Whiskey one mouthful after another, he dropped the idea.

Forget it. In that state, if Sirius tried Apparition, something was almost bound to go wrong, and that would just cause more trouble.