Harry Let Out a Roar and Pounced on Kane

"This is Charing Cross Road, London. For the first time, we won't be using the fireplace or Apparition. Instead, I'll show you how to find Diagon Alley starting from the Muggle World."

Hagrid led Kane out of an alley and pointed at a very shabby, conspicuous pub not far away.

"There's the Leaky Cauldron, the gateway to the entire London magical world. The entrance to Diagon Alley is in there." Hagrid led Kane into the Leaky Cauldron.

He had arranged to meet the Weasley family here beforehand, but perhaps Hagrid had taken a little too long packing up. In any case, it looked as though the Weasley family had been waiting for a while.

"I like that family's red hair. Seeing it at Hogwarts is like seeing the sun."

As Hagrid spoke, he waved to the family seated neatly along the bar.

Kane also looked toward the red-haired family. They were quite a thriving bunch, if not for that one black-haired genetic mutation...

Hm? Black hair?

Something felt off to Kane. He took another look. "Harry? What are you doing here?"

Unlike the slow-to-react Kane, Harry had noticed him the instant he entered the Leaky Cauldron. The only reason he had not immediately pounced was because, like a qualified hunter, he had been waiting for his prey to enter his attack range.

And now, the time had come.

Harry let out a roar and pounced on Kane.

"I'm here to buy supplies for Hogwarts first-years! What are you doing?!" Kane cried as he used shadows to block Harry, still finding time to shout in shock.

"Let me go! I'm going to knock your teeth out!" Harry said, clawing wildly at him.

"Come on, you know perfectly well you can't beat me." Kane looked at Harry struggling ever more fiercely. After a moment of silence, he used even more shadowy tentacles to tie Harry up tightly.

Fortunately, there were not many people in the Leaky Cauldron that morning. Most of them were people who had gotten drunk there the night before, along with the family gathered around Kane and the bartender, Mr. Tom.

Otherwise, Kane would have been reported to the Aurors for that little display of shadows.

Of course, the Weasley family not reporting him to the Aurors did not mean they were not shocked.

"Mom, is that Dark magic? It's so cool! I want to learn it!" Ron, the youngest boy in the sea of red hair, said in utter amazement as he watched Kane tie up the savior of the Wizarding World in just a few moves.

Fortunately, Ron's three brothers and mother were all very strict about such matters. In an instant, four fists came down together on top of Ron's head.

"Learn what?!"

Hagrid also heard the Weasley family whispering. To keep Kane's reputation from being ruined, he hurriedly explained in a low voice, "It's an inborn kind of Dark magic, not something he learned. Kane doesn't want it to be this way either. Dumbledore certified it."

That four-part explanation successfully salvaged Kane's nearly ruined reputation.

As for Harry, Kane's shadow slowly formed into a long, powerful claw. He had already untied Harry, but he still held him high in the air by the back of his neck with the shadow.

"Put me down," Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Swear that once I put you down, you won't go crazy."

Harry took a deep breath. "Fine. I promise."

Kane slowly lowered Harry with the shadow. Who knew that he had no sense of fair play? The first thing he did after regaining his freedom was pounce at Kane.

Fortunately, Kane had trained in the Eternal Realm as well. With two solid punches, he knocked Harry to the floor and left him there yelping.

"I want... lemonade." Kane sat in the seat Harry had just occupied and said to Tom, the bartender.

"Oh, all right. Harry... are you two friends?" Tom asked hesitantly after pouring Kane a glass of lemonade.

"Is it that hard to tell? Or do we not get along well enough?" Kane said after taking a sip of lemonade.

"Mm... not well enough," Ron said. He finally went over to help Harry up, looking at the two bruised black eyes on his face...

"You two really do look a bit like brothers now. You both have black eyes." Ron laughed so hard he could barely stop.

"Oh, thanks for the compliment." Kane asked Tom for two more glasses of lemonade. "Put it on Hogwarts' tab."

Hearing that, Hagrid hurriedly took several Galleons and Sickles out of his bag and handed them to Kane.

"Ahem, thank you, Hagrid." Kane unceremoniously pocketed the money. Meanwhile, Hagrid finished speaking with the Weasleys, walked over, and patted Harry and Ron on the head.

"Now, you three first-years are under my care."

Ron was thrilled by this. Buying school supplies with Harry, the savior, and a first-year who was cool as hell at magic was definitely more interesting than being watched over by his parents.

Harry, however, hesitated somewhat. The warmth of the Weasley family was what Harry wanted, and Kane's friendship was also what Harry wanted. If he could not have both, he would forsake family affection and choose friendship.

After all, he had properly spent a whole month with Kane, while the Weasleys... counting from their first meeting, he had known them for about forty-five minutes.

Besides, he really wanted to ask Kane how he had lived during the time he ran away from home. What kind of scraps had he picked out of rubbish bins to eat every day? And how had Hogwarts found him and pulled him out of that sea of misery?

Wow, that kind of question would be far too cruel for Kane. Maybe he should not ask after all. Wouldn't that be reopening an old wound? It definitely would not feel good.

Kane watched Harry's expression constantly change, having no idea what nonsense he was thinking about again. Should he tell him that Kane had been living comfortably at Hogwarts while Harry was suffering at the Dursleys' house?

Before he could finish thinking, however, he heard a pair of red-haired twins. According to what their mother had said, they seemed to be George and Fred.

The two began whining in perfect alternation. "Why do we have to send little Ronny and little Harry off?"

"We can totally bring this young gentleman into our big family too."

"I think the one who should really be kicked out is Hagrid."

Hagrid angrily flicked George and Fred on the forehead once each.

Molly Weasley also irritably tapped their foreheads with her finger. "If it weren't for you two, I would be more than happy to take Harry and Kane along."

"I understand now."

"Other people's children are always better."

Listening to the twins dance endlessly on her nerves, Molly Weasley instinctively felt her hands itching. However, with Hagrid still standing across from her, she awkwardly pulled Molly Weasley and the three children away. "We'll be going on ahead. Harry and Ron are in your care, Hagrid."

"My pleasure. All right, shall we get going too? Follow the Weasleys?" Hagrid said, looking at Kane and the other two.

"Mm, honestly, I wouldn't recommend that," Ron suddenly raised his hand and said.

"Why?"

"Because the reason they left in such a hurry was probably to find somewhere private to discipline their children. If we go over now, we'll interrupt my two brothers' enjoyment." Ron gave a deliberately wicked chuckle, afraid no one would realize he was up to no good.

"All right, then we'll wait a little longer."

During this rare bit of free time, Harry finally asked Kane the question he had wanted to ask for a long time.

"Why did you run away from home?"