Before the curfew bells could ring, the four friends slipped out of Gryffindor Tower. Hermione, ever the perfectionist, made sure to bring Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
While the other three seed emboldened and fearless, she was genuinely terrified of getting caught and facing imdiate expulsion.
The group split up once they left the tower, each heading toward various locations where Neville had been seen before, planning to search outward from those points.
Of course, if they couldn't find him within Hogwarts, they wouldn't dare look outside—not out of fear for themselves, but for Neville.
If it ca to that, they'd have to call Dumbledore imdiately; they couldn't risk Neville being carried off by a giant wolf in the Forbidden Forest.
Fortune favored Kane. He found poor Neville at the top of the Astronomy Tower, bound by a jinx and looking like a miserable mummy. Kane waved his wand and cast Finite Incantatem.
"Poor Neville. Get so sleep and go see Professor McGonagall tomorrow; this has gone way too far," Kane said.
He pulled a Thermal Stone from Little Pumpkin's mouth to warm the shivering boy before preparing to lead him back to the tower.
"Maybe not... if Professor McGonagall finds out, she'll definitely contact my family," Neville said, shrinking into his robes as he clutched the warm stone.
"Isn't that a good thing? They should deal with this strictly," Kane said, raising an eyebrow as he walked ahead.
"Not really. My grandmother would definitely co, and she'd give a terrible scolding," Neville said timidly.
"Are you sure? It's not your fault. Besides, she's always sending you sweets and gifts—she clearly cares about you."
"Caring is one thing, but the sha is another. It's different," Neville explained awkwardly.
"Eh... suddenly my 'lone wolf' status feels pretty good," Kane sighed helplessly. "So what's your plan? Just take it? Or get revenge yourself? You aren't expecting us to get revenge for you, are you?"
He glanced back at Neville, who shook his head vigorously. "Of course not. This is my own business. If I can't do it myself... I'll just have to act like it never happened."
"Tsk, tsk... Poor Neville."
Kane shook his head and tossed a ring toward him. He expected Neville to catch it, but it inevitably bounced off the boy's forehead and clattered onto the floor.
"Ah, sorry. I was trying to give you a gift." Kane walked over, picked it up, and handed it to him.
"What is this?" Neville asked, rubbing his forehead.
"The dusa's Eye. A dusa ring. You wear it, and it can appear or vanish at your will. Anyone who stares at it for five seconds will be temporarily petrified."
"The wind-up ti is long, but it's a great deterrent. Next ti, if the enemy doesn't want to be turned to stone, they'll have to look away or close their eyes.
That's your opening to counter-attack... or, you know, run away. If they don't know what it is, even better—let them freeze, and then you can carry them up to the Astronomy Tower to enjoy the breeze."
Kane continued walking, and Neville scrambled to catch up, stamring a thank you.
The two might have made it back to Gryffindor Tower in peace to wait for the others, but fate had other plans.
As they rounded a corner, they were brought to a dead stop by a ssage scrawled on the wall in a dark, blood-red hue.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware... What does that an?" Kane nudged Neville, but the boy didn't answer; he was trembling violently.
Kane looked at him in surprise. Neville wasn't just shaking—his face had turned deathly pale and his lips were tinged blue. He looked absolutely petrified.
"Alright, take your ti to process that. I'm going to investigate." Kane raised his wand and moved closer to the graffiti.
Suddenly, his foot hit sothing. With a dull thud, he looked down.
"Hmm... a familiar cat." Kane knelt down, recognizing Mrs. Norris, Filch's pet. But now... was it rigor mortis? Or petrification?
He guessed petrification; even the stiffest body wouldn't make a "clinking" sound like stone when it hit the floor. He looked back at the bloody ssage. Was Mrs. Norris a victim of this so-called "Heir"?
Kane looked back at Neville, who had regained a bit of color. "Neville, do you know what this 'Heir' thing is?" he asked, picking up the stone-like cat.
Neville's lips quivered as he began to recount a legendary Hogwarts ghost story.
Legend had it that during the era of the Four Founders, wizards and Muggles were at each other's throats.
Muggles would sotis raid wizarding hos, and while powerful adult wizards could easily escape, the weaker ones and children were often caught and executed.
Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders, distrusted any student of Muggle parentage, fearing they would lead armies to the school.
The other three founders disagreed. In a fit of rage, Slytherin left the school, but a rumor persisted: he had hidden a secret chamber that only his true heir could open.
Inside was his legacy, and whoever found it would carry out his mission—to purge the school of those Slytherin deed unworthy. Like Kane and Hermione.
"Why are you so scared, then?" Kane asked, looking at the still-rattled Neville. "Aren't you a pure-blood?"
"I'm basically a Squib; how could I not be in danger? Besides, there's a murderer in the castle! He's turning people into stone!" Neville gritted out.
"It's probably not that serious. Mrs. Norris can be changed back. I can tell she isn't dead—it's just a powerful binding jinx." Kane shifted the petrified cat to show Neville the terrifying sight.
"Ahem..." A familiar voice, one Kane hadn't heard in a while, sounded behind him. He turned around. "Ah, Old Max. How long has it been?"
"Difficult to say. Ti in the Nightmare Realm flows differently than in the real world. I only ca out because I was curious—why aren't you running?" Maxwell asked, his hands behind his back as he circled Kane.
"Erm... why should I run?" Kane raised an eyebrow.
"Mrs. Norris and Filch are inseparable. If you don't leave now, he'll be here any second, and you'll have to prove your innocence." Maxwell was like a jinx himself; no sooner had he spoken than the light of a flickering oil lamp appeared in the distance.
"Wow, you were right." Kane looked at the figure sprinting toward them—a man covering a hundred ters with barely three footsteps touching the ground.
Filch skidded to a halt and practically snatched Mrs. Norris from Kane's arms. His aged face twisted in agony as he looked at Kane and Neville. "You murderers! You killed Mrs. Norris!"
Kane raised his hands. "We didn't do this. Even if you call Dumbledore, you can't just pin a cri on us with no evidence."
This seed to give Filch an idea. He bolted toward a sleeping portrait, waking it with a frantic bang. "Go! Get Headmaster Dumbledore! Tell him there are murderers here!"
The confused portrait, thinking soone had actually been killed, rushed off to the Headmaster's office.
Filch remained, cradling his stone cat, staring at Kane and Neville with eyes full of terror and hatred. Since he didn't know which of them was the culprit, he chose to hate them both.
Kane watched him, truly baffled by why the old man wouldn't just listen to an explanation. Being at a cri scene doesn't make you the criminal; you could just be a bystander.
He understood why Filch was keeping his distance, though—in Filch's eyes, they were cat-killers. If he got too close, he might be next.
Soon, a flash of phoenix fire signaled the arrival of Dumbledore, followed by Snape and Professor McGonagall. They were in a hurry; Filch's ssage had been terrifying.
When they arrived and Filch held up the stone statue of Mrs. Norris, the three professors were montarily stunned. Snape looked like he wanted to draw his wand.
Dumbledore was the first to calm down—seeing it wasn't a "murder" was a relief. Furthermore, he could tell the dark magic was reversible; even if Kane had done it, it wasn't an act of true malice.
"So, Kane," Dumbledore said, looking at him. "Was it you?"
Kane's hand moved toward his wand. Filch's eyes flared with hate, and Snape's expression took on an "I knew it" look. McGonagall and Dumbledore were rely confused; the Kane they knew wasn't capable of this.
Sure enough, Kane rely used his wand to cast a light, illuminating the writing on the wall behind him. At that mont, they confird the good news: Kane was innocent.
But the bad news... the Heir of Slytherin had returned.
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