"He asked me to bring him fifteen Mandrakes every month. Roast a Mandrake and he gets a good night's sleep. Eat a Mandrake and he gets a good night's sleep. Add it all together, and I basically gave him a whole month of wonderful sleep," Kane said smugly.
"Mandrakes can do that?" Ron looked up at the ceiling. Sure enough, there were still plenty of things in this world he knew nothing about.
Maybe he should secretly cut off a piece during their next class and give it a try?
Meanwhile, Kane had already sat down and was listening to Harry tell him what had happened during Flying class that afternoon and at dinner.
In short, Neville had lost control of his broomstick and ended up being sent to the hospital wing.
Then Malfoy and Paul from Slytherin had smugly picked up the Remembrall Neville had dropped and decided to indulge in some good old-fashioned British bullying, only for Harry to heroically put a stop to it.
Afterward, Professor McGonagall had called Harry into her office. He had expected a stern reprimand, but instead, the whole thing turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Harry had become the new Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Then, during dinner, Malfoy had formally issued another challenge, inviting them to a wizard's duel in the Trophy Room at midnight.
"I get it. So this is our plan for tonight, right?" Kane had slept soundly all afternoon after eating the Mandrake and had just been wondering what he was supposed to do when he inevitably couldn't fall asleep tonight.
Well, speak of the devil. The perfect way to kill time had just fallen into his lap.
Harry and Ron nodded.
"That's right. They've got Malfoy and Annesley, plus Malfoy's two lackeys. But I reckon the three of us should be enough to deal with those four useless idiots, right?"
"Relax, guys. More than enough," Kane said.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
He had forgotten about today's main objective.
His original plan had been to ask Hagrid where the spiders in the Forbidden Forest mainly lived.
But because of the Mandrake incident, he had been summoned to the Headmaster's office before he ever got the chance. Then, because he needed to demonstrate how Mandrakes worked according to the rules of the Constant, he had spent the entire afternoon asleep.
He had already wasted the whole afternoon. If he hurried into the Forbidden Forest now, he might still get lucky.
As for going back to the dormitory?
They were already planning to sneak out and get into a fight tonight anyway. At worst, he would just spend a little while outside the castle.
Harry and Ron noticed Kane's expression beginning to change. They exchanged a glance, then asked at the same time, "What are you planning now?"
Kane smiled at the two of them.
What wonderful guys.
Having two people willing to fool around with him really was a beautiful thing.
Half an hour later, Ron stared at the Forbidden Forest ahead, where not even the faintest glimmer of light could be seen, and swallowed nervously.
Of course, it wasn't because he was afraid of the Forbidden Forest or anything like that.
After all, as a purebred, competition-grade Gryffindor, Ron feared absolutely nothing. Forget the Forbidden Forest. You could tell him to go die and he wouldn't even blink.
It was just that his two older guys had once told him there were a lot of spiders in the forest.
And Kane's entire reason for coming here happened to be finding those spiders.
Hmm...
Maybe Ron should come up with some pathetic excuse to leave?
No. That was obviously not something a Gryffindor should do.
Kane pulled out his wand and cast Lumos. Thanks to the peculiar nature of his wand, along with the fact that the true source of his magic was his own shadow power, Lumos could also help drive back the darkness and keep Miss Charlie far, far away from him.
The three of them swaggered straight into the Forbidden Forest.
As for the magical creatures inside?
"I'm telling you, they're all a bunch of pushovers."
Kane could say that with complete confidence. After all, no one understood better than he did how to survive in the wilderness while fighting off wild beasts attacking from every direction.
As the sky gradually darkened, the canopy overhead grew denser as well. Not even the faintest trace of starlight could penetrate it. Only the light from their Lumos spells gave the three of them some much-needed sense of security.
Harry and Ron fooled around behind Kane, chatting and joking as they walked. After coming this far, all they had seen were trees and grass, so naturally they were beginning to think the Forbidden Forest was nothing special and not particularly dangerous at all.
Kane didn't share that opinion.
Should a forest this enormous really be this quiet?
So quiet that there wasn't even the sound of an insect?
Even the bizarre, desolate Constant would occasionally cough up some prey or a wild beast.
Yet the Forbidden Forest in the real world was completely silent.
Unless something went wrong, something was definitely about to go wrong.
Harry and Ron, walking behind him, knew none of this.
Of course, Kane didn't tell them either. He didn't exactly believe his two friends had stronger nerves than he did. If he told them something was wrong, there was no telling what kind of trouble they might cause.
So the moment he noticed the problem, he quietly led them in two circles, subtly changing their course from deeper into the Forbidden Forest toward the way back out.
If they were lucky enough, he might even be able to lead Harry and Ron out of the forest before either they or whatever was hiding in the darkness realized what he was actually doing.
Unfortunately, when it came to luck, Kane had never been particularly gifted.
He suddenly stopped, extinguished his Lumos, grabbed Harry with his left hand and Ron with his right, and left only the faintest trace of shadowy light glowing inside his pocket to protect himself from Miss Charlie's kiss.
"What is it?" Harry noticed something was wrong with Kane and quickly calmed himself, asking in a low voice.
"Shh."
Kane shushed Harry and Ron, signaling them not to speak. Then he called upon his external pair of eyes.
"Maxwell, what is that?"
"I can't see much more than you can, but judging by the magical fluctuations, it's some strange Dark wizard. And he's very clearly already noticed you."
Maxwell shrugged as he appeared in front of Kane and pointed toward the bushes behind him.
That information was already enough for Kane.
The Dark wizard had discovered them but had still chosen not to attack first. That alone said quite a lot.
It was like running into another player in a battle royale who didn't immediately open fire. Nine times out of ten, it meant they weren't sure they could win and didn't want to expose themselves either.
In that case, as long as neither side bothered the other, they should be able to pass each other without incident.
Of course, for the remaining ninety-two times out of ten, Kane still needed a backup plan if he wanted to get out safely.
"Don't talk. Follow me."
Kane pulled Harry along, Harry pulled Ron, and the three of them formed a line as they slowly skirted around the Dark wizard's position.
At the same time, Kane frantically combined the Summoning Charm with his shadow power, creating bee after bee from the Constant.
The bees were small and highly maneuverable. More importantly, they could fly.
If a spell came flying at them from behind, the bees could at least serve as interference, throwing themselves into its path to block it.
Kane pulled Harry and Ron along, step by step, toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
As long as they kept their nerve...
Buzz!
An unsettling hum tore through the darkness.
A flash of green light illuminated the enormous tree in front of Kane and the others.
"That's Avada Kedavra," Ron said stiffly, staring at the green light his parents had drilled into him to stay far away from.
"What do we do now?" Harry asked, already reaching for his wand.
"What do we do? Run!"
Kane no longer bothered keeping his voice down. He spun around and violently flicked his wand.
An astonishing number of killer bees were summoned in an instant, roaring through the air toward the Dark wizard hidden in the shadows.
The moment he finished, Kane abandoned all other concerns, grabbed Harry and Ron, and sprinted away at top speed.