"Erm—Kane, exactly what kind of ntal state were you in when you made these things?" Harry asked, looking at the sickening tentacles with a stomach-churning sense of nausea.
These tentacles were entirely different from the ones that had killed the mountain troll in the girls' bathroom.
It was like seeing Voldemort standing right in front of you—you'd know he was dangerous. But if you were to turn that Voldemort inside out, you'd realize the thing wasn't even human.
As for the person who created this thing...
"Kane, are you actually still human?" Hermione asked, retreating several steps with a look of pure dread.
"What else would I be? If I told you I was an escapee from Area 51, would you believe ?"
"Honestly, I'm starting to believe it," Harry and Hermione replied bitterly, while Ron simply shook his head in a daze.
If he couldn't understand it, he wasn't going to try.
Just as the three of them were about to press forward, Hermione let out a cough.
"Wait, are we really going further? Our original goal was just for Kane to tell Professor Dumbledore that soone might be after the Stone."
"We're already here." Kane shrugged. It was sound logic; since they had made the trip down, he might as well "Constant-ify" all the trials and give them a little overhaul.
That way, if he ever had a "close encounter" with Voldemort here, he'd essentially have ho-field advantage. Maybe he'd even get a world-tier buff.
"But—" Hermione started to protest, but a vicious, rumbling snore echoed from the trapdoor above.
"The dog's awake?" Ron realized suddenly, sounding strangely excited. "Well, we really can't get out now. Might as well keep exploring."
Just as Hermione was about to concede, Kane's brow furrowed. He had a very bad feeling. Sure enough, the familiar sound of a Pan Flute drifted down. He imdiately signaled Harry to pull out the Invisibility Cloak.
Unfortunately, Harry had only just pulled out a corner of the cloak before the Pan Flute "forced a shutdown" on him—and everyone else.
"Ridiculous. Does Quirrell have to co today?" Kane resignedly used a Levitation Charm to stack the three of them together. Finally, he draped the Invisibility Cloak over himself and sprawled directly on top of them.
Thankfully, the cloak seed capable of stretching remarkably wide, covering all four of them perfectly.
"M-Master, it was a success. This ti that Snape fellow didn't suddenly interfere," Quirrell's voice echoed hollowly from above the trapdoor.
Soon, Quirrell muttered a few more responses to himself; Kane knew he was talking to Voldemort.
Suddenly, the trapdoor opened. Quirrell leaned halfway in, holding his wand aloft. The light illuminated the writhing, grotesque tentacles in the chamber below.
For a mont, the air seed to freeze. Quirrell remained motionless. The only sound in the room was the wet, sickening slurp and gurgle of the tentacles coiling around one another.
After about two seconds, Quirrell pulled back and slamd the trapdoor shut. Then, as if unable to believe what he had just seen, he yanked it open again and stared down once more.
The expression remained one of pure disbelief. The disgusting rumbling sounds remained the sa.
With a click, a resigned Quirrell closed the trapdoor for good. Kane threw off the cloak, allowing himself and the pile of people beneath him to breathe.
"Good thing Quirrell wasn't there at the bathroom incident, or this would be another ss," Kane sighed. He sat on Harry's backside for about ten minutes, waiting until he was sure Quirrell was long gone, before using the Levitation Charm to bring Harry, Ron, and Hermione along.
The once-vicious tentacles were now perfectly obedient. With a series of wet gurgles, they ford a soft set of stairs leading directly from the lower platform to the trapdoor above.
The plan to speed-run Dumbledore's gauntlet in one night and "Constant-ify" the whole thing was basically dead. The priority now was getting these three back to their dorms. After all, if he left them here...
What if the tentacles got hungry?
The Next Day
"I've never slept so well in my life," Harry and Ron muttered, swaying as they sat up in bed. Then it hit them: weren't they supposed to be under a trapdoor on the fourth floor?
Why were they here?
anwhile, the culprit was standing in Professor McGonagall's office, confessing that after a failed attempt to "storm the girls' dormitory" yesterday, he had used his tentacles to deliver Hermione to her room—accidentally terrifying three young witches who had been planning a midnight stroll until they fainted.
"Is there anything else you'd like to confess?" McGonagall asked primly.
"To be honest, Professor, I still don't think I did anything wrong. Hermione was sleeping like a corpse; I couldn't exactly take her to the boys' dorm or leave her in the common room all night, could I?"
McGonagall adjusted her spectacles. "In that regard, you were not wrong. I am rely confirming there is nothing else you are hiding.
However, if such a thing happens again, I suggest you take the unconscious person to the hospital wing."
Kane nodded like a chicken pecking at grain. "I will, Professor."
"I am rely telling you the correct way to handle such matters... I hope there won't be a next ti."
With that, McGonagall dismissed him, heading off to the hospital wing to check on the three traumatized witches.
"What a sin," Kane sighed, heading toward the Headmaster's office.
He needed to find out what kind of brand Harry's cloak was. If it was too expensive...
Surely the Wizarding World had a branch of Gringotts that offered loans... right?
Knock, knock, knock...
Dumbledore rubbed his eyes as he opened the door, letting out a yawn. "Honestly, Kane, you visit my office more often than you visit the Great Hall for als."
"Mhm. Shouldn't you be happy about that?"
Dumbledore: "..."
"...Perhaps if you chose a different ti. What is it?"
"Do you know which brand of Invisibility Cloak is the best?" As soon as the words left Kane's mouth, Dumbledore knew exactly what he was after.
"You've taken a liking to Harry's cloak, I assu? I'm afraid that is a Potter family heirloom—a unique piece, for all intents and purposes. There isn't a second one. If you wish to be invisible, I can teach you the Disillusionnt Charm," Dumbledore offered.
"Disillusionnt, invisibility... no, I don't think that's it. I can feel it. Harry's cloak is... special," Kane said. Dumbledore took a mont to ponder.
"Harry's cloak is one of the legendary Deathly Hallows from the Tale of the Three Brothers. If it has any special property, it is the ability to hide from the gaze of Death itself.
Kane, what exactly did you do with that Philosopher's Stone...
To make Death itself lurk in the shadows, watching you?" Dumbledore's eyes were grave as he looked at Kane, speaking slowly.
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