Dumbledore had barely finished speaking when Gilderoy Lockhart pushed the door open and strolled in.
"Oh, Dumbledore! Aha, and Kane, and... this lovely young witch. We've t before—you're the one who smashed my front door with a hamr."
Lockhart greeted the three of them before spotting Harry and Ron sleeping soundly in the corner. "And these two are...?"
"Irrelevant." Kane casually used magic to nudge the floating Harry and Ron toward the direction of Dumbledore's bedroom.
Hiss...
Lockhart looked at Kane, then at Dumbledore, with a look of dawning suspicion. Is this why Kane is such a favorite? No way... Dumbledore wouldn't be that kind of person, would he? How strange. Let look again...
Lockhart continued to eye Dumbledore speculatively until the Headmaster sighed. "It's not what you think, Gilderoy."
Dumbledore turned back to Kane. "We'll talk in detail tonight, Kane. For now, I have matters to discuss with Professor Lockhart. Please take Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley with you."
Kane nodded. He and Hermione each levitated one of the unconscious boys and prepared to leave. Just as they reached the door, Lockhart called out.
"Kane, wait for in my office, would you? Here's the key; there are snacks in the cupboard." Lockhart handed over an ancient-looking key and added pointedly, "Just you."
Hermione shrugged. There was no need to be so dramatic about it; she wasn't the type to barge in where she wasn't invited.
After leaving the Headmaster's tower, Kane and Hermione dropped their two "unfortunate brothers" off at the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey looked at the duo—who had managed to get admitted before the term even officially started—and shook her head in resignation.
There was a bit of a superstition in the hospital wing: the later the first patient arrived, the quieter the sester would be.
Given this start... Madam Pomfrey ntally prepared herself for a very long year of overti.
Kane, anwhile, headed to Lockhart's office. The decor was an exact replica of Lockhart's ho in Diagon Alley, right down to the flamboyant self-portraits hanging opposite the desk.
Maybe that's why he lives like a celebrity, Kane thought. People like confidence, even if, in Lockhart's case, it's dialed up to an delusional degree.
He didn't have to wait long. Lockhart burst in, clutching a class schedule. "Kane, save ! My second class tomorrow is Defense Against the Dark Arts for the first years!"
"You should really be asking Dumbledore for help," Kane noted, pulling one of Lockhart's books from a shelf.
He flipped to a passage where Lockhart claid to have hard-countered a Banshee with a Dancing Feet Spell before making his escape.
"Teach them this Dancing Feet Spell tomorrow... do you actually know it?" Kane asked.
Lockhart's eyes were wide with "pure and innocent" stupidity. He shook his head, his golden curls bouncing.
"rlin's beard, how many lies did you tell? I'm starting to wonder if the spell even exists." Kane sighed.
"I swear on my honor that one is real!" Lockhart promised.
"Fine. Here's the strategy: use basic charms to annoy the enemy. Whether it's a Dancing Feet Spell, a Sneezing Hex, or just a Lumos to blind them—it doesn't matter. What spells do you actually know?"
"...I'm exceptionally good at mory Charms."
"Save that for the older years; they'll love it. But your first class is eleven-year-olds. Think of sothing else."
"Erm... the Levitation Charm? How about that?"
"Excellent. Professor Snape taught us that last year. Let demonstrate." Kane stood up and pointed his wand. Lockhart flinched away, so Kane pointed it at a vase instead.
"Professor Flitwick is very flexible with his curriculum, so I suggest you coordinate with him. Ask him to teach the first years the basics of the Levitation Charm early on. If he won't help you, then it's your responsibility to teach it yourself."
Kane flicked his wand. As the vase rose, he gave his wand a sharp little twist. The floating vase imdiately began to spin like a top.
"Theoretically, this twist should be enough to scramble soone's brains if you used it on a person," Kane said. "Got it?"
"I'll try." Lockhart pointed at another vase. The levitation worked, but when he tried the twist, the vase lost balance, flew across the room, and shattered against the wall.
Kane repaired the vase with a nod. "Exactly. The vase is your enemy, and now your enemy is smashed to bits. Just practice."
"Phew... is it really that simple?" Lockhart asked, buoyed by the encouragent.
"For first years, yes." Kane prepared to leave; he wanted to check if the boys had woken up.
"Wait, Kane! You'll be my class representative, won't you?"
Kane shook his head and hurried out of the office.
"Ah, what a shy boy," Lockhart said to himself, hands on his hips. "Wants the job but won't admit it. Lucky for him he t , or he might have missed his chance."
He reached under his desk and pulled out a brass naplate, quickly engraving Kane Heath onto it.
Back at the hospital wing, Harry and Ron had regained consciousness and were trying to make a break for it. Hermione was there too, and the three of them looked at Kane as if he were a ssiah. They were starving.
The main difference between a broom and the train, they realized, was the lady with the snack trolley.
"Kane... hungry... food... atballs!"
Kane's mouth twitched. "Let's go see Hagrid. We can take so of the bacon hanging from his rafters... or would you prefer a Monster at Lasagna?"
Without waiting for an answer, he led them toward the Forbidden Forest to gather so sticks.
"Dietary fiber," he muttered.
They split up: Hermione and Ron were tasked with gathering branches while Kane and Harry went to Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was busy giving "Walnut" a bath.
Once the cow's long fur was blown dry, she didn't look like a cow at all—she looked like a giant, long-haired kiwi fruit.
"Kane! Harry! Why are you back so early?" Hagrid asked, surprised.
"Broom flight," Kane said. Little Pumpkin spat out half the broom. "I'll let you try it if you want. It's got enough power to carry even you."
"Aha, sounds tempting, but no. Brooms are always a bit... tight for , if you catch my drift." Hagrid went inside and brought out two massive slabs of cured bacon.
"I figured the house-elves wouldn't have dinner ready yet. This was just finished drying."
"Thanks, Hagrid. Join us."
Soon, Ron and Hermione returned with the wood. Ron was confused—he'd seen Kane cook without fire before, so why the sticks? They can't be ingredients, can they? Hahaha!
His laughter died as he watched Kane throw three branches directly into the cooking pot along with a slab of at.
Almost instantly, the "ingredients" began to shift, transforming into the atballs Harry and Ron loved so much.
"That's not right, is it?" Hermione stared. She'd been shocked when he made frog-leg sandwiches in Potions class, but at least those materials were vaguely food-related. This pot of "Magic and Hard Work" atballs was another level.
She watched Kane start devouring them. Between the four of them, he—the pilot—was the most exhausted.
"Why aren't you eating? Don't you like them?" Kane asked, mid-chew.
"We... we'll wait for the feast tonight." "Yeah, good things co to those who wait."
The three of them made a silent pact: they would continue to eat Kane's food—because it really was delicious—but they would never watch him cook it again. If they didn't see the sticks go in, they could pretend they weren't there.
Growl...
Their stomachs betrayed them.
"At least it's not... you know, sothing worse," Ron muttered, reaching for a atball. "Who knows if the house-elves dance on the steaks anyway?"
By evening, Hagrid put on his overcoat and climbed onto Walnut's back to go et the first years. He looked at the four students sitting bored in his yard.
"Want to co with to fetch the new ones?"
It was a team invitation: 1=4. The bored trio (and Kane) accepted instantly. Hogwarts was a ghost town right now—even the library was closed.
Hermione was particularly restless since her 3,500-page "casual reading" book was still on the train.
They climbed onto Walnut's back, and Hagrid grabbed a lamp-post, slotting it into a bracket on the saddle. They trotted toward Hogsade Station, bells jingling through the forest.
Kane lay on the cow's back, watching the sky through the branches, feeling a rare sense of leisure. When the whistle blew and the scarlet train pulled in, Kane placed a flickering shadow-fire into the lamp-post.
"First years! Over here!" Hagrid roared.
As the crowd gathered, Ginny and Luna spotted the four on the cow's back.
"Next ti, I'm definitely going to the platform last," Ginny said enviously. "Maybe then I can fly a broom to school early too."
"Mum would kill , I guarantee it," Ron muttered.
Kane waved to Ginny and then noticed Luna, wearing her cow-horn hat, staring intensely at Walnut.
"Does she think I'm a friend?" Luna asked suddenly.
"Or a calf," Kane explained. "Your hat is made from the horns she shed."
"Mmm... I am quite cute," Luna said softly.
Kane and the others burst into laughter. Even the surrounding first years couldn't help but grin at the surreal, self-assured comnt.
"Alright, young wizards! Into the boats! Four to a boat, no more!" Hagrid called out, finally settling into his duties as the guide.
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