Thud!
With Gilderoy Lockhart hitting the ground—unshielded and defenseless—a dull thud echoed through the shop. Kane stood frozen for exactly 0.01 seconds. Wait, did Lockhart actually use magic just now?
To be honest, the offensive power of that spell felt weaker than a Lumos; at least Lumos actually had the potential to flash-blind soone.
Whatever, no use overthinking it.
With a ntal command, Kane shattered his own Shadow Armor and let out a dramatic, stage-worthy, "Aaargh!"
He threw himself backward—not toward the cushions, but into the thicket of waiting hands and arms.
The taller mbers of the Weasley family, apparently not trusting the padding, scrambled to catch him. They set him down steadily on the floor and imdiately began checking him for injuries.
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine... Lockhart held back."
Kane didn't feel too guilty saying that. Perhaps Lockhart did hold back; otherwise, how could the spell have been weaker than a wand-lighting charm?
While Kane's side of the stage was safe and sound, Lockhart had truly fallen nearly eighty centiters off the desk without a single defensive asure, leaving him utterly dazed.
Finally, spurred by the anxious cries of his fans and the sight of a sixty-year-old witch looking ready to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he woke up.
"Aha! What happened just now?" Lockhart scrambled back onto the desks, smoothing his robes and looking around.
"Your magic knocked that young wizard right off the platform!" a blonde, blue-eyed little witch squealed. She clasped her hands to her chest like a classic "bimbo" archetype, looking at Lockhart as if he were a statue made of solid gold.
"Aha, then I really must offer that young man a proper apology."
Lockhart adjusted his hair and strode toward Kane. "My boy, are you alright?"
"Er..."
Kane felt awkward. Should he say he was fine, or should he play along? If he said he was fine, wouldn't that be telling the audience that Lockhart's magic was rubbish?
Better pretend to be hurt.
"I think..." Kane slowly clutched his chest.
The crowd didn't react much, but it scared the living daylights out of Lockhart.
No, mate! Are you a glass cannon? I've never seen anyone with such high attack and such low defense!
Lockhart panicked. This was bad—very bad. He needed to get the boy to St. Mungo's imdiately! Just as he started shouting for a healer, the sheer volu of his screeching startled Kane.
Give the man an inch and he takes a mile, eh? Does he really think he managed to hurt ?
In the end, it was Harry and Ron—who knew Kane best—who stepped in. They flanked Lockhart, blocking the crowd's view while whispering explanations to the author, narrowly avoiding a massive public misunderstanding.
"Honestly, boy, you gave quite a fright," Lockhart said, giving Kane one final hug. He then stood up and announced to his fans that he had to depart.
The reason? He had been "scouted" by the keen-eyed Albus Dumbledore to beco the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.
Unlike the starstruck crowd, Kane grabbed a stack of Lockhart's books from a corner to use as a stool and sat down. He pulled out a small slip of paper Lockhart had surreptitiously shoved into his hand during the hug.
The gist was simple: Follow once I leave. Co to my house. Matters of great importance. Extrely important.
"What kind of nonsense is he up to now?" Kane flicked the note with his finger, looking curiously at the others. "You don't think he felt I embarrassed him and is planning a secret assassination, do you?"
"If you're scared, we can co with you as backup," Ron said with a mischievous grin.
"I was joking. Lockhart probably doesn't have the guts," Kane's mouth twitched. "But if you want to visit his place, I'm happy to take you. We can all sample whatever snacks a 'famous author' keeps in his pantry."
"Won't it interfere with your talk? What if it's sothing private?" Harry asked.
"I'll go in first to see what's what. Once I confirm it's nothing too personal, I'll co back for you. In the anti, finish your shopping... Oh, and don't buy the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks yet. I'll see if I can 'solicit' a few free sets for us."
"Fantastic! Noble 'white-piggybacking'! The Weasley family is saved!" Ron was ecstatic. He didn't like freeloading off friends, but freeloading off Lockhart felt morally righteous. Lockhart's books were notoriously expensive and held no resale value at Flourish and Blotts once the school year ended.
Eventually, Lockhart finished his goodbyes and left the bookstore. Kane followed shortly after, strolling leisurely down the street.
Suddenly, an unpleasant voice rang in his ear. "How dare you treat Lockhart like that? Do you have any idea who he is?"
The shout was accompanied by the whistle of a spell. A red Disarming Charm flew from the wand of a blonde witch who looked like a recent Hogwarts graduate.
But before the spell could travel halfway, a shadow claw erupted from the ground. It crushed the red light mid-air, lunged forward, and grabbed the witch by the scruff of her neck, hoisting her up to the ceiling.
"And do you have any idea who I am? Huh? You're quite the brave one, aren't you? Didn't notice I could use magic?" Kane was genuinely amused by this sudden "ambush." Leaving the witch dangling from the ceiling, he chuckled coldly and headed straight for Lockhart's residence.
After finishing their shopping, the rest of the group decided to grab a seat at a juice shop across from Lockhart's house. There, they spotted a familiar face.
"Oh, you're here! I looked all over the bookstore for you; I thought you'd decided to co another day," Ron greeted Hermione.
"I got to the bookstore late," Hermione explained. "You were all at the back, and I couldn't squeeze through the crowd. Where's Kane?"
Harry pointed to a small door across the street. "Inside. That's Lockhart's place."
The mont the words left Harry's mouth, Hermione let out a sharp, panicked squeak.
"Good heavens! How could you let him? Kane just embarrassed Lockhart in front of everyone, and Lockhart is such a powerful wizard—we can't even tell what kind of man he is just from his books yet!"
"You just let Kane go in there alone?!"
"What if Lockhart ans him harm?"
Hermione decided she couldn't wait another second. Every mont they delayed, Kane's life was in more danger. She pulled a small hamr from her robes and brought it down hard on the lock.
As the door swung open, a strange voice drifted into their ears:
"Kane, my boy... There were too many people outside just now, so I'm apologizing to you now~"
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