"What... what are you doing with all that wood?"
Kane scratched his head, looking a bit sheepish. "Didn't I tell you I'm afraid of the dark? It's for the fire, obviously."
"......"
Dumbledore, having pondered the matter all day, had finally pieced together why Kane insisted on a campfire instead of a simple magical light.
It was likely the sa reason as that evening by the Black Lake—the shadows that attacked him. Just as only magic can defeat magic, perhaps only light imbued with shadow could truly keep the darkness at bay.
"Kingsley told that the night you stayed at that motel, there was a surge of Dark Magic that lasted until dawn. That was this campfire, wasn't it?" Dumbledore didn't play guessing gas like most people; he asked directly.
"You've got that one wrong. That was sothing else," Kane replied. He was thinking of Charlie, who had been hunting him from the Constant.
Burning his own shadows only ensured Charlie couldn't reach him, but if she wanted to, she could still watch him from the periphery of the light.
A campfire, however, was much more effective.
"I look forward to the day you return to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, watching Kane leave the office.
Leaving the castle, Kane first stopped by the Forbidden Forest to chop a stack of wood, then visited the Black Lake to dig up so stones. Finally, he t Hagrid at his hut, and together they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron.
"Tom, the bartender, is a good man. If you need anything, ask him. If he can't help, write to Dumbledore—he'll sort it," Hagrid advised, before pulling a cake out from behind him like a magic trick.
"It's Harry's birthday today. I figured, with that family of his, he's probably never had a real birthday cake. I took the liberty... would you mind giving it to him for ?" Hagrid's face was beet red.
"I'll do it." Kane raised an eyebrow. Well, that's dinner sorted.
Kane found the room Harry had booked and tapped the door with the toe of his shoe. Harry opened it quickly, his eyes landing on the cake first.
"Whoa! Is this for ? Why is my na spelled wrong?" Harry asked, pleasantly surprised.
"Ask Hagrid later. Maybe Hogwarts doesn't teach spelling," Kane said, setting the cake on the table. He found his bed and imdiately began dumping stones and wood out of his pockets.
With a flick of his wand, his shadows swept the materials together, and—whoosh—a blazing fire roared to life in the middle of the floor.
"This... this is what you ant? A campfire?" Harry stared in shock. Even the cake couldn't distract him from this.
"What else would it be?" Kane looked at Harry, puzzled. What kind of weird stuff is this kid imagining now?
"I thought your 'lighting' would be, I don't know, a burning oil drum or sothing. Living off campfires and scavenging... you've had it really rough since you left the Dursleys, haven't you?" Harry hesitated, but decided to speak bluntly.
He knew he couldn't stay at the Leaky Cauldron forever; eventually, he'd have to go back to Privet Drive. And he didn't want Kane sleeping under bridges.
He figured if he spoke so hard truths now, he could convince Kane to co back to the Dursleys with him during the holidays. Sure, the ntal abuse was there, but at least there was a roof.
Poor Kane, Harry thought. He's been sleeping rough for so long he's developed PTSD. He can't even sleep without a campfire.
Kane, oblivious to Harry's internal "pity party," was busy throwing things onto the floor.
Wood. "Move that away from the fire, Harry. If we burn the logs early, we'll have to pay for the room."
Stones. "Cracking the floorboards costs extra too."
Two gold nuggets. "This is enough to cover the damage, but honestly, it's not worth it."
Kane sighed at Harry's bewildered face. "Just eat your cake."
He flicked his wand. Shadows erupted from the tip, swirling the materials into a vortex. In the blink of an eye, a crude, clanking device with leather straps and a lever appeared: a Science Machine.
"Huh?" Harry's eyes nearly popped out. "Wait, mate! When did you learn Transfiguration?"
Kane smirked. "This isn't Transfiguration. This is 'hand-crafted' from raw materials."
Harry opened his mouth, then closed it. Should he say "brilliant"? Or "you're full of it"? Eventually, he decided that a mature person must tolerate a friend's strange little hobbies.
With Harry pacified, another voice checked in. Maxwell, watching through the shadows, stroked his chin. "What is the point of making that thing here?"
"Hmm... To build an Alchemical Engine, obviously," Kane replied in his mind.
"I see. And I suppose you'll build that just so you can build a Prestigitator, right?" Maxwell said, sounding weary.
"Smart man, Max. No wonder you were the King of the Constant." Kane dismissed Maxwell, ate a slice of cake, brushed his teeth, and got into bed.
"Wait." Harry sat up. "Will the smoke give us carbon monoxide poisoning?"
"Poisoning is a minor risk. But if I don't have this fire, the odds of you waking up next to a skeleton tomorrow are much higher," Kane said, pulling the covers over his head.
The next morning...
"Ugh, my Sanity is dipping again. Probably the wand," Kane muttered, looking at his shadow-bladed wand. He needed a fix.
Restoring Sanity was simple: either eat a massive amount of "good" food, or...
"I wonder if Diagon Alley sells flower garlands," Kane muttered. He nudged a sleeping Harry. "Where's your money?"
Harry groggily reached into his bedside drawer and pulled out sothing shiny. "Vault key. Go help yourself."
Kane took the key and nodded at Harry with deep respect. "Now that is a true brother."
Gringotts seed to operate 24/7. Kane was back within half an hour, five Galleons lighter. After all, he just needed so flowers—he wasn't a monster who'd empty his friend's vault.
But as Kane sat at the bar downstairs, wearing a garland of flowers infused with his own shadows to soothe his frayed mind, a serious thought struck him.
A grown man sitting in a pub with a flower crown... it looked a bit... delicate.
"Does this look weird to you?" Kane asked Tom, who was, as always, wiping a glass.
"You're young. When you're young, nothing you do is a mistake," Tom comforted him.
"Good point." Kane hopped off the stool, only to turn around and see a stunned Harry Potter staring at him.
"Listen, Harry! I can explain! I'm a man's man! It's for... for science!"
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