Chapter 1229: Rumors Arise, A Rift Between Brothers

Walking out of the Ministry of Magic, Kael lifted his head and looked up at the bright, blinding sunlight.

He wondered whether the Department of Mysteries could see this kind of view—after all, this was what Arianna had always longed for.

It should be possible…

The Department of Mysteries might be down in the underground levels of the Ministry of Magic, but with an Unspeakable’s capabilities, using Magic to make a window connected to the outside wasn’t exactly hard.

And this was already the best arrangement.

There was no way he could try to bring someone who existed in the past into the future; it just wasn’t realistic. Before he used the Time Turner himself, he’d had to drink “Raspberry Beverage” for a full month.

And there was one more crucial point… Kael stretched out his hand and stared blankly at his Wand.

Ever since last night, he’d vaguely felt a kind of faint rejection, and the most direct sign was that his use of Charms was no longer as smooth as before.

It wasn’t very obvious, but it was undeniably there.

The reason was simple: he didn’t belong here. Even though he had come back using a Time Turner, he was out of joint with everything around him.

Nicolas’s “Raspberry Beverage” could help him temporarily deal with this problem, but as time went on, its effect was weakening.

Since that was happening to him, Arianna, brought a hundred years into the future, wouldn’t be an exception.

So, taking her to the Department of Mysteries was the best choice.

At least Arianna wouldn’t feel bored there. Unspeakables’ work was very busy—he could tell just from how rarely his mother came home.

And once people get busy, they don’t have time to be sad. Maybe this job could help Arianna adapt more quickly to a life away from her brother.

Besides, Unspeakables’ salaries weren’t low; they were even higher than Hogwarts professors’, just a bit below the Head’s—solid high-paying, secure positions.

Sometimes even Kael felt tempted. Unfortunately, they recruited based on prophecy, not grades.

Kael shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

After leaving the Ministry of Magic, he went to a deserted spot and Apparated back to Godric’s Hollow.

His most urgent task now was to find out how Dumbledore was.

Kael returned to the road where he had left with Arianna and walked back into the silent Valley.

Though it was nearly noon, the Valley was oppressively heavy; almost everyone was gathered near a church to the south.

A funeral was being held there… Arianna’s funeral.

Kael stood quietly at the very edge of the crowd. Through the people, he could clearly see Abeforth flung across the newly carved gravestone, sobbing his heart out.

The young Dumbledore’s face was also streaked with tears, his eyes filled with endless remorse.

“What right do you have to cry!”

Abeforth suddenly exploded, swinging around and smashing a heavy punch straight into Dumbledore’s face.

Blood streamed from his mouth and nose; Dumbledore’s nasal bridge snapped on the spot. But he didn’t even try to wipe it away—he just stared blankly at the gravestone, letting the blood smear all over his face.

“You hypocritical bastard!” Abeforth lunged to hit him again, but was grabbed and held back by the people who finally came to their senses.

“That’s enough, Abeforth, that’s enough.” A middle-aged Wizard held him tightly. “Albus is hurting just like you are. He’s suffering enough already.”

“Let go of me, what do you lot know!” Abeforth struggled desperately. “That cold-blooded piece of trash only feels relieved to be rid of a burden—secretly gloating. How could he possibly be sad… Let me go, I’m going to kill him!”

But no one around believed him; they just thought Abeforth was heartbroken and looking for someone to vent his grief on.

So they clung to Abeforth, refusing to let him take another swing at Dumbledore, and the scene grew chaotic for a while.

Kael, however, noticed that only a small portion had stepped forward to intervene; more people chose to stand silently where they were.

It wasn’t that they were cold-blooded, nor that they had no ties to the Dumbledore family. Godric’s Hollow was only so big; people saw each other all the time and were basically neighbors, so relations naturally weren’t bad. Most of them simply hadn’t worked out what was going on yet.

Or rather, until today, they hadn’t even known the Dumbledores had a girl in the family, a teenage girl who had never once been seen.

“When did you get here?” someone suddenly came up beside Kael and asked.

“Oh, Kode.” Kael turned his head and greeted him. “What happened here?”

“It’s Albus’s family…” Kode broke off for a moment before continuing, “To be honest, I still find it unbelievable. They actually had a girl at home.

“And it’s not just me—look over there. Bathilda doesn’t seem to know about it either. I always thought their families were very close; back when Kendra was still alive, the two of them often had afternoon tea together.”

Kael followed the direction of his pointing finger and indeed saw Bathilda Bagshot’s utterly bewildered face.

“None of you knew the Dumbledores had a girl?” Kael asked.

“No.” Kode shook his head firmly. “And most people didn’t know. Kendra never once mentioned her.”

At this point, Kode suddenly lowered his voice.

“This isn’t a good place to talk. Let’s go to the pub…”

“Is that appropriate?”

“It’s fine. The ceremony’s already over.”

Kael nodded and followed Kode out of the church to the Valley Bar, and it happened to suit him—he hadn’t wanted to stay there any longer anyway.