Kael felt that something was starting to go wrong.
"Professor…" he laughed dryly, "I remember The Mirror of Erised shouldn't have a replay function… isn't it just like an ordinary mirror?!"
"The Mirror of Erised was indeed like that before," Dumbledore said, "but I made some small modifications to it… Are you familiar with the Pensieve?"
Kael nodded and said, "It's an alchemical device that can view memories."
"That's right, it seems you have some understanding of Alchemy as well."
Dumbledore's tone became much lighter and even carried a hint of pride.
"I tried adding a magic passage between them, so that the images that appear on The Mirror of Erised would appear in the Pensieve in the form of memories.
Honestly, it was much more troublesome than I imagined… but in the end, it worked."
"So, you can see everything in the mirror?" Kael said dryly.
"Everything!" Dumbledore gave Kael a sly glance, seeming very satisfied with his expression at the moment.
"It's so strange, how is there a Niffler in the castle… and it easily unlocked what I thought was a foolproof barrier."
"I won't disturb your rest then, that Niffler shouldn't have gone far, I'd better go ask Newt if he knows it."
With that, Dumbledore stood up and walked towards the door.
"Wait, Professor..."
Kael suddenly called out to him.
"What is it, is there something else?"
"Well, about the Niffler... I just happen to have one."
Dumbledore turned around, just in time to see Kael holding a palm-sized Niffler.
He looked somewhat surprised, "So this Niffler is with you..."
Kael tugged his mouth and decided to selectively ignore the comment.
If Dumbledore didn't really know, he should have gone to Hagrid or Professor Kettelburn earlier, instead of going a long way to find Newt.
What does a Hogwarts Niffler have to do with Newt… it's obviously a threat.
So shameless!
"I just remembered, Professor."
Kael said, "I did let it out to play for a while before, maybe that was when it went to see the mirror."
The Niffler stared at Kael, seemingly understanding something, and quickly covered its pocket with its hand.
But it was doomed to be futile.
Under Kael's skillful fingers, soon, a pile of shiny things fell out.
Christmas decoration sequins, metal buckles, a dozen Galleons, Sickles, and a bright red gemstone…
"It's really here," Kael said in surprise, "Sorry Professor, I didn't know…"
"It's okay, as long as it's found."
Seeing Dumbledore pick up the Philosopher's Stone, the Niffler started to panic.
It struggled hard while wailing, the sound was extremely aggrieved.
"It seems I took its things…" Dumbledore lightly squeezed the air with his right hand.
When he opened it again, his palm was filled with several gemstones similar in size to the Philosopher's Stone, but in different colors.
"How about I trade these with you," Dumbledore extended his hand to the Niffler, saying with a smile, "These can be your reward for unlocking my barrier."
Almost the moment he opened his hand, the Niffler stopped fussing.
It looked at those gems, tears of greed spilling from the corners of its mouth, then it uttered a couple of cries and reached out to grab them.
But Kael picked it up again.
"Professor, it says it doesn't want these."
Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, "It doesn't want them?"
"Yes," Kael nodded seriously, "You know, I can understand Niffler speak… it wants a different reward."
The Niffler stared at him with round eyes, as if it couldn't believe what it was hearing, it began to struggle again, and its cries grew louder.
But Kael acted as if he didn't see it and casually covered the Niffler's eyes.
Dumbledore's expression turned a bit peculiar, "Then, what reward does it want…"
"It feels its home is a little small and wants you to help expand it."
Kael took the suitcase from the side and said, "That is… ahem, it wants you to expand the space inside to the size of the Forbidden Forest during the holidays."
Dumbledore obviously already knew about the Newt-style suitcase he had, so Kael naturally didn't need to hide it anymore.
Now, Dumbledore's expression grew even more peculiar, he looked at Kael's earnest demeanor, then at the Niffler, who was writhing constantly.
"Kael, is that really what it said?" he looked like he wanted to laugh but held it back.
"Yes!" Kael nodded firmly, "I can guarantee it with Potter's grades."
The Niffler had given up struggling by then, limply hanging from Kael's hand, like a soulless husk.
"Well, alright then, since I promised it."
Dumbledore thought for a moment and said, "But making it as big as the Forbidden Forest is impractical, you know, I still have to find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor during the holidays, I may not have that much time.
How about half the Forbidden Forest… I think that should be enough for a Niffler."
"No problem, Professor."
Kael laughed, "I'll thank you on the Niffler's behalf… Oh, Potter, when did you wake up."
Harry, lying on the opposite bed, had woken up at some point, sitting there, staring blankly at Kael and Dumbledore.
"I think I heard someone mention grades… then I woke up." Harry instinctively rubbed his face and asked, "How long did I sleep? The exam results are already out!"
"Don't worry, you only slept for a day, and the exam results haven't come out yet."
Dumbledore walked up to Harry with a smile and said, "If you recover quickly enough, you might still catch tomorrow's Quidditch match."
"That's good…" Harry first breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly remembered, "Sir! The Philosopher's Stone, it fell into the flames, quick…"
"Don't be agitated, dear boy, what you said is a bit outdated," Dumbledore said, "The Philosopher's Stone is fine, look."
He took out the bright red stone and handed it to Harry.
"Phew…" Harry patted his chest, "I didn't ruin the Philosopher's Stone, that's great, really great."
"No need to be so tense, even if you had destroyed the Philosopher's Stone, it wouldn't have mattered, we weren't planning to keep it anyway."
"You said what?" Harry asked puzzled, "But your friend… Nicolas Flamel…"
"Oh, you actually know Nicolas?" Dumbledore said, his tone seemed very pleased.
In fact, he was indeed very pleased.
Compared to Kael, Harry seemed more normal, and wouldn't bring him too many "surprises".
This was the kind of conversation he enjoyed.
…