"Kane, where are you going?"
Harry and Ron jogged a few steps to catch up with Kane, then noticed the hat on his head.
"Whoa, is that a cowboy hat? That's so cool!" Ron said, staring at it enviously.
"Want one? I could make you one." Kane raised an eyebrow at him.
Seeing Ron nod eagerly, Kane wasted no time. He pulled some Silk from his pocket, worked it between his hands for a moment, and produced an elegant top hat.
"Mine started out looking like this too. If you want a cowboy hat, just press it into shape."
He turned toward Harry next and reached into his pocket for more Silk.
Harry shook his head quickly.
He actually rather liked his perpetually messy hair.
Besides, someone he wasn't particularly eager to see had just appeared silently behind Kane.
"What is that white material in your hand?"
Snape's voice came from behind them, low and sudden, as if he'd materialized out of thin air.
"Uh... Silk."
Kane spun around, a little awkward.
Guilt flickered through Kane the moment he saw Snape, remembering the spectacle he'd caused during Potions class.
Snape gave a long, knowing, "Ah..."
He seemed to recall the peculiar nature of Kane's magic, the kind that could reshape living creatures.
"From the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest? If I recall, you're on rather good terms with Hagrid."
Kane nodded.
They did get along well.
But why was Snape bringing that up?
What did spiders have to do with Hagrid?
"Er... so?"
"So Hagrid never mentioned that the spiders in the Forbidden Forest, the ones that can crack a human skull like a walnut, are his pets?"
With that, Snape pushed open the door to the Potions classroom and walked inside.
Kane froze.
The revelation that the Acromantulas were Hagrid's pets left him standing there with what felt like a cloud of question marks hovering over his hat.
"Wait, what? Seriously? Those giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest are Hagrid's pets? If he finds out what I did, is he going to cut me off completely?"
"Hmm... hard to say." Harry scratched his head, unwilling to promise anything.
Ron shook his head. "Doubt it. They're spiders. Hagrid would have to have some seriously strange taste to keep spiders as pets. I still think Snape was just messing with you."
Kane looked back and forth between their two very different opinions.
Neither one was much help.
Fortunately, a reliable adult chose that moment to appear with a pop.
"Maxwell, you tell me."
Kane turned to him.
"Professor Snape is a serious man, and not an especially warm one," Maxwell said. "If he wanted nothing from you, he'd have no reason to start a conversation at all. Given your performance in Potions, he should be avoiding you whenever possible."
Kane understood immediately what Maxwell was getting at.
"So there's something he wants from me, but he can't bring himself to ask for it outright. That's why he made a point of telling me the Acromantulas I killed were Hagrid's pets. He was giving me a reason to come to him for help. If he brought it up himself, he must already have a solution in mind, which means we can strike a fair trade."
"So what he wants is..."
Kane glanced down at the Silk still in his hands.
"Don't tell me it's this stuff."
"Kane, what's wrong?" Harry asked, noticing him suddenly go quiet.
Kane snapped out of it and shook his head.
"Nothing. I need to talk to Professor Snape about something. You two go ahead. Save me some food."
With that, he walked straight up to the Potions classroom and knocked.
Harry and Ron's mouths twitched.
After Charms, Transfiguration, and Defence Against the Dark Arts, Kane always stayed behind to ask for extra instruction.
And now the guy who'd somehow turned Potions into a cooking class was finally reaching out to Snape, too?
"I bet Snape gets so mad he keels over."
"I'll go further. I bet Potions gets canceled next week."
Trading remarks, Harry and Ron headed off down the corridor.
The classroom door opened at exactly the right moment, almost as if Snape had been standing just inside, listening the whole time, waiting for Harry and Ron to leave before he opened it.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Heath?" Snape asked darkly from within.
"Professor, help me!"
Kane didn't bother with games. Since honesty was the best opening move, he laid his cards on the table at once and pulled out the Silk.
"I'm not asking for this for free! I brought you a gift. Call it an early Christmas present."
Snape had more or less expected this.
What he hadn't expected was for Kane to skip the usual maneuvering entirely and just come out with it.
It was unfamiliar.
But, surprisingly, it made things easier.
"Very well. Come in."
Snape pulled the door open and let him inside.
"Tea?" he asked once they were seated, his tone half courteous, half mocking.
He made no move to prepare any.
His eyes stayed fixed on the Silk Kane had set down on a tray on the desk.
"Green tea would be great, thanks."
Snape said nothing for a moment. Then, with a flick of his wand, he conjured Kane a pot of green tea anyway.
"Professor, I killed a bunch of Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest. I didn't know they were Hagrid's spider friends. What do you think I should do?"
Kane took a sip from his cup, looking genuinely troubled.
"How did you find those spiders in the first place?" Snape asked.
"Hagrid gave me a ball of spider silk."
"And it never once occurred to you to wonder where Hagrid got that ball of spider silk?"
Snape openly rolled his eyes at him.
A true Gryffindor, through and through.
"I figured it was just some kind of tracking tool." Kane scratched his cheek, sheepish. "So, Professor, do you have a solution?"
"Ahem."
Snape's gaze settled pointedly on the pile of Silk on the tray.
His meaning couldn't have been clearer.
Kane didn't hesitate. He dug into his pockets and pulled out more than half of what he had, piling it onto the tray until it formed a small mound.
Satisfied, Snape drew the tray toward himself.
"The properties of this material are remarkably similar to those of Flobberworm mucus. Your talent for brewing potions may be painful to witness, but that peculiar ability of yours does seem to have real value when applied to potion ingredients and alchemical materials."
"So what should I do, Professor?"
"Is Aragog still alive? The largest of them?"
Snape asked deliberately.
Kane was a young wizard practically steeped in innate Dark magic. If he hadn't stayed at the edge of the colony and had instead forced his way through the swarm to go straight for Aragog, there would have been a real chance he could have succeeded.
Snape needed to know whether Aragog had survived.
If he had, the solution was simple: feed him a dose of Forgetfulness Potion. Aragog was the one Hagrid actually spoke to and trusted, so wiping his memory would be enough.
It was, in fact, more or less how the professors usually handled things whenever they needed spider parts or venom.
And if Aragog was dead...
Well. Snape already had the Silk, didn't he?
Kane made a rough gesture with his hands.
"You mean the giant one that looks old enough to fall apart any minute? Yeah, that's him. Still alive."
Snape looked satisfied with that answer.
"Hagrid visits his friends in the Forbidden Forest at the end of every month. He went not long ago, so you have until the end of next month to get a Forgetfulness Potion into Aragog."
Kane scratched his head. "That's it?"
Then, almost without thinking, he held out his hand.
"Come back in two weeks. I recently used up my supply of Acromantula venom," Snape said.
"Sure. Plenty of time."
Kane nodded. As for how exactly he was supposed to get the potion into Aragog's mouth, that didn't worry him in the least.
He just needed four more rabbits to finish the Prestihatitator. Once that was done, he could use Mandrakes to make a Pan Flute that could put a creature to sleep.
One little tune, and this whole "difficult" problem would solve itself.
Which meant it was time to move on to the next task.
Kane smiled at Snape again.
"Professor, don't you keep a few rabbits around here for testing potions?"
"They're in the corner. Help yourself."
Snape picked up the tray and carried it off into his office at the back of the room, eager to begin studying the Silk.
Kane walked, step by step, toward the unsuspecting rabbits.
Before long, he had five of them stuffed into his pockets.
Just as he was about to leave, he turned back.
"Professor, one more thing. Do you know what Hagrid likes?"
"Why do you ask?"
Kane held both hands over his two violently squirming pockets and gave an embarrassed smile.
"I feel a little guilty. Figured I'd get him a present."
"Any living creature an ordinary person would find frightening or hideous," Snape said. "If it moves, Hagrid likes it."
"Thanks!"
Gryffindor Tower.
Harry and Ron pushed open the door and spotted Kane's back.
They were just about to hold up the food they'd brought him with a flourish when they froze.
Both of them stared at the enormous contraption standing in the corner of the dormitory, a giant hat forming its centerpiece.
They scratched their heads.
"What is that thing now?"
Kane turned around, mid-bite of a roasted rabbit.
"That?"
He paused.
"I call it... the Prestihatitator!"