Just like Kael said, ever since he found out Hagrid had been betrayed, he went to the Room of Requirement and stuffed those two Chomping Cabbages into his Transfiguration Lizard Skin Bag.
That bag was a Christmas gift from Newt last year—an upgraded model, like his suitcase, where you can keep Fantastic Beasts. Plants were no problem, either.
The only issue was, space was just a tiny bit lacking.
When they made their escape earlier, Kael had sneakily dropped them in a nearby bush. He'd planned to set a trap for that witch, but ended up using them on Oren instead.
You could call it an unexpected bonus.
On the other side, Oren was rolling around the ground in an utterly sorry state. His legs were already paralyzed, so tumbling was the only way he could dodge those two rabid Chomping Cabbages.
At the same time, he had to deal with Kael's barrage of Disarming Spells and Stunning Spells.
"Damn it!"
Oren deflected another Disarming Spell, but took a bite from a Chomping Cabbage before finally firing off his own first charm.
"Incendio!"
Even though casting a Fiendfyre Curse would give away his location, Oren couldn't afford to care anymore.
Crimson flames erupted from the tip of his wand, scorching the cabbages until their surfaces blackened and, soon enough, stopped moving entirely.
"I admit, I underestimated you."
Oren sat atop a high platform made from compressed leaves, his eyes empty of emotion. Raising his hand, he transformed piles of leaves into sharp blades, whistling as they flew at Kael.
"Confringo!" Kael pointed his wand at the ground.
A violent explosion turned the air thick with smoke and dust.
"Trying to block my line of sight?" Oren sneered. "Not a bad idea, but where exactly can you hide?"
Razor-sharp leaves rained into the smoke. With such a dense area attack, Oren didn't need to know exactly where Kael was.
A smirk tugged at Oren's lips: "It's over..."
"Stupefy!"
A voice rang out unexpectedly from behind. Oren's heart seized—he recognized Kael's voice instantly.
But how? How could Kael possibly get behind him?
Oren screamed inwardly, but by now he had no time to turn around.
"Bang!"
With a deep thud—
A green creature, opening like an umbrella, popped up behind Oren, blocking the Stunning Spell that should've hit him dead-on.
Kael felt a sharp pain in his chest. Forcing himself to stay upright, he gritted out, "Swooping Evil... it didn't chase Conna!"
"Heh, who told you it actually went after that little girl?" Oren turned, his tone full of amusement. "I only let you guess where it was."
"First Chomping Cabbages, now Apparition during battle... I have to say, you've brought me a lot of surprises today, Kael!"
"Compared to you, I wasted my whole first year! As your reward, I'll let you go. You can leave..."
"Let me go..." Kael laughed. "You think you can kill me?"
Oren said nothing. Earlier it wasn't so certain, but now, Kael was definitely not easy to kill.
Sure, if he kept pressing, he might still have a shot, but the Ministry of Magic was almost here—time was running out.
But Oren didn't want to just walk away.
If word got out that he'd failed to kill an eleven-year-old Young Wizard and was forced to retreat, his reputation would be ruined for good.
"You really aren't leaving?"
"Can't." Kael shrugged, playing with a Billywig that had just landed on his shoulder.
If this were five minutes ago, he'd have turned and run without a second thought—but not anymore. He couldn't just swallow this humiliation.
Threatened, tricked, and mocked... he'd never suffered a setback this big in his life. If he didn't get payback, he'd never let it go.
Plus, he wasn't the one who needed to worry now. They were in the Forbidden Forest...
"You've got a death wish!" Oren's mouth twitched madly—that Billywig was the very same one he'd tossed before!
Oren lifted his wand as a sickly green light built at its tip, "Avada..."
"Whoosh!"
An arrow sliced through the air. Oren was forced to pull back his wand, unless he wanted an arm full of holes.
"Da-da-da..."
A rapid thunder of hooves sounded from afar. A group of Centaurs burst out of the trees, longbows drawn, training their razor-sharp arrows on both Kael and Oren.
Mostly Oren, since some of the Centaurs recognized Kael.
Firenze stepped forward, vigilant. "You're a student from that castle. Why are you here? And who is he?"
"A Dark Wizard!"
Kael blurted out, "He's the one who stole the unicorn foal—and he used an Unforgivable Curse!"
In the next second, every Centaur's bow was aimed directly at Oren.
At the same time, crackling explosions began to sound all around them.
The Ministry of Magic had arrived.
"You've got some luck!" Oren suddenly laughed. "Alright, I admit defeat."
He tossed a cloth bag to Kael. Inside was the unicorn foal.
The little golden unicorn curled up quietly inside, apparently fast asleep.
"It's you!" A Beater stepped forward, gritting his teeth. "Oren Morris!"
This was the same Beater who had tried to arrest Hagrid before.
"We meet again, brave and noble Mr. Beater."
Oren smiled, "Last time, you had a shot at catching me but didn't. I really appreciate you letting me go... Oh, wait, I forgot—you Ministry idiots only knew about Swooping Evil, you never figured out who I was."
So, never mind the thanks, brave Mr. Beater."
"You're not escaping this time!"
Hard aimed his wand at Oren, his voice cold. "I'll personally send you to Azkaban. Let's see if you can still smile in front of Dementors."
"Sorry, Dementors aren't my thing. Could I pass?"
Oren sighed, "If possible, I'd much rather stay at Hogwarts. Being the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was quite interesting."
"You don't get to choose!"
Hard waved his hand, and every Beater raised their wand together.
"Stupefy!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Incarcerous!"
...
A dozen charms flew at Oren from every direction.
"A real shame, I haven't graded those essays yet..."
Oren heaved another sigh. The leafy platform beneath him collapsed in an instant.
With the support gone, Oren's body dropped straight down, dodging every single curse.
The next moment...
"Pop!"
The familiar crack of Apparition echoed through the Forbidden Forest, and Oren was gone.
...
...