"Is this reason not enough?" Kael shrugged. "Conna trusts Professor Snape, just like I trust Conna. I don't want to make things difficult for her.
"Besides, didn't Malfoy voluntarily give up his plan later on? You could say he found his way back, so I have no reason to insist."
Dumbledore suddenly laughed, a happy laughter, as if Voldemort's plan suddenly seemed less important.
He waved his hand, and immediately there appeared a teapot, a delicate silver tea caddy, and two cups on the table.
"Would you like something to drink? We can talk about other matters slowly."
"If possible," Kael thought for a moment, "could I have a special Felix Felici Phoenix Tears Golden Honey Wine? I've always wanted to taste what that's like."
Dumbledore's hand paused, then as if he hadn't heard anything, he picked up the tea caddy and carefully pinched out a few tea leaves.
"Try this; it's no worse than the Golden Honey Wine at Three Broomsticks." He put the tea leaves into the cup and poured in steaming hot water. "This was a gift from an old friend when I turned one hundred. I've always been reluctant to drink it.
"To me, it's the best gift I've ever received, more precious than Felix Felici."
Kael skeptically took a sip. It was indeed quite good, much better than the red tea he'd had in the Headmaster's Office before.
But as to exactly why it was better, perhaps due to limited experience, he couldn't tell.
Kael moved his fingers, quickly cooled the tea, and downed it in one gulp.
This set of actions made Dumbledore's mouth twitch.
Truly a waste... he shouldn't have given such a good thing to Kael.
Dumbledore took a moment to calm himself and asked, "Tell me your thoughts."
"It's simple." Kael poured some more water into the cup. "Malfoy took the Vanishing Cabinet because he must have discovered another one and is confident he can repair it.
"By that time, the Death Eaters will be able to enter Hogwarts from elsewhere through the two cabinets."
"What should we do then?" Dumbledore asked. "I guess you must have other ideas, otherwise, there would be no reason for you to give him the cabinet you worked so hard to repair."
"I have an immature suggestion..." Kael casually picked up the tea caddy on the table, but just as he was about to examine it closely, Dumbledore quickly snatched it back.
"Speak directly, don't touch."
"Alright." Kael didn't mind, "Here's what I think: instead of letting him come up with another plan, it's better to give him a ready-made answer.
"Though convenient, the Vanishing Cabinet has a major limitation. If the Death Eaters choose to enter the school this way, they will definitely come out of the cabinet.
"At that time, all we need to do is place the Basilisk right in front of the cabinet, and without doing anything else, we'll be able to catch all the Death Eaters."
The headmasters in the paintings all turned to look at Kael...
Placing the Basilisk in front of the Vanishing Cabinet? They could already imagine the scene.
The Death Eaters, ambitious and ready to wreak havoc, open the Vanishing Cabinet only to be met with a pair of yellow eyes.
This is practically a large-scale Death Eater processor. They simply couldn't imagine this was nonchalantly suggested by a teenage young wizard.
But Dumbledore seemed unfazed, even mulling it over for a while.
"Not suitable." He shook his head. "The Basilisk is too conspicuous. If there's only one Death Eater, this might work, but once there are many, it's hard to ensure no one will get the message back.
"And many Death Eaters are people who fear Voldemort and have no choice but to work for him, or even some who are controlled by the Imperio. We can't use the Basilisk against them."
"Then we find a few people to guard it." Kael continued, "The Vanishing Cabinet is only so big, only one person can come out at a time. As long as we coordinate well, it's not hard to subdue them immediately."
"That's a good idea." Dumbledore nodded, "But I think setting up some magic traps in advance is also good, at least to save some manpower, so we don't have to guard it all the time."
...