Beware Your Shadow

Kane turned around and saw that it really was Professor McGonagall. He hurriedly withdrew his hand. Bole Anrera had fallen to the ground, yet showed no signs of suffocation. He merely clutched his head and cried out in pain without stopping.

"Mr. Kane Hiss, I need you to explain what happened here!" Professor McGonagall looked at Kane sternly.

Kane glanced at Bole Anrera. "Perhaps... Professor McGonagall, you should ask the other instigator of this incident, Mr. Bole Anrera. He surely knows the whole story better than I do."

Professor McGonagall strode over to Bole Anrera and first checked his physical condition. Finding that he was indeed unharmed, aside from traces of Dark magic...

Well, after learning about Kane from Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall naturally did not dwell too much on such matters. She merely cast a healing spell, returning the excess blood above Bole Anrera's neck to the rest of his body.

"Now," Professor McGonagall said slowly, "I am standing between you and Kane Hiss. You may tell me what happened, but I will not be questioning only you. So I need you to answer truthfully. Even if Mr. Kane Hiss attacked you, that is no reason for you to place all the blame on him."

Kane raised an eyebrow. Though Professor McGonagall had said she would not take only one person's word for it, he still felt it necessary to settle things in one stroke and make Mr. Bole Anrera tell the truth, saving everyone some breath.

With that thought, his mind stirred. The shadow Professor McGonagall cast over Bole Anrera by blocking the distant light seemed to come alive, tearing itself apart with claws and fangs and forming several English words.

"Watch your... shadow. Tell... the truth!"

At the sight, Bole instinctively felt that the shadow beneath his feet was like an abstract bear trap. If that hunter called Kane Hiss wished it, it could snap off any part of him in an instant, anytime and anywhere.

In the end, Bole Anrera, who still wanted to live, decided to tell the truth.

Professor McGonagall listened as he recounted how Lucky the Toad had jumped onto his head, how Hermione had stood up for Neville, and how he had called her a Mudblood...

His pre-school self-study had been fairly solid. Let alone a useless little thing like Neville and an obviously inexperienced young witch like Hermione, even if two more random young wizards had been thrown into the mix, he might not have lost.

Then Kane had suddenly stepped in. After he had merely said a few pieces of trash talk, Kane's shadow had grabbed him in its hand and begun caressing him.

The more Professor McGonagall listened to Bole Anrera's explanation, the darker her expression became. She looked at the others, mainly Kane. "Is that how it happened?"

"He was fairly honest," Kane said, raising an eyebrow.

"Mr. Anrera, for insulting a fellow student, five points will be deducted from your House after the Sorting Ceremony. Miss Granger, for bravely helping Mr. Longbottom, five points will be awarded to your House after the Sorting Ceremony."

"Mr. Longbottom, please keep an eye on your toad. Lastly, Mr. Hiss."

Professor McGonagall looked at Kane and sighed helplessly. "I admire that you acted to protect a fellow student, but your methods were far too harsh. Please apologize to Mr. Anrera."

Kane shrugged. "No problem."

With that, he looked at Bole Anrera. Standing a short distance away, Kane slowly bent at the waist, though he did not lower his head even a fraction.

"Mr. Bole Anrera, I apologize to you for my earlier impulsiveness."

As Kane's calm words settled over the entrance hall, Bole Anrera directly collapsed onto the floor. He could no longer feel his legs, but fortunately, he could still feel his throat and mouth.

"I accept! I accept your apology! At the same time, I am also terribly sorry. I... I should not have spoken so rudely. Mr. Kane Hiss, please accept my... my apology as well..." Bole Anrera said in a panic.

"Mm... I accept your apology." Kane slowly straightened up and looked down at Bole Anrera, who sat on the floor.

Anyone who had only just arrived and witnessed this scene would never have thought Kane was apologizing to Bole. On the contrary, it looked more like Bole was begging Kane for forgiveness.

"C-can I stand up now?" Bole Anrera asked tremulously.

"You're the one too frightened to stand. That is not my doing." Kane stopped looking at Bole Anrera and walked into the crowd, finding Harry and Ron.

"Kane, you're this." Ron held out a fist toward Kane. Then, with a pop, a thumb sprang out from it.

"Keep it low-key, keep it low-key." As Kane spoke, he noticed that Professor McGonagall had led the crowd out of the entrance hall. At last, the young wizards came to a stop in the center of the Great Hall.

Professor McGonagall walked to a small stool at the front. A filthy linen hat sat atop it. Kane recognized that hat; it had always been kept on top of a cabinet in Dumbledore's office.

"You've got to be kidding," Kane muttered soundlessly. Could it be that it wasn't some magical little experiment in the entrance hall, but just a hat? Kane looked toward Maxwell, who stood at the front studying the hat.

Because of a few words from that man in the distance, he had spent half the day being the center of attention in the entrance hall...

Suddenly, the hat began to speak.

After a burst of grating, ear-splitting singing, Kane was certain. It really did depend on that hat.

Professor McGonagall slowly pulled out a piece of parchment. "The Sorting Ceremony begins now."

She lifted her gaze from the parchment and called loudly to the cluster of young wizards, "Hannah Abbott!"

A young witch with two braided pigtails walked forward. The instant she put on the hat...

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Applause rang throughout the Great Hall. Kane clapped along, though even as he did, he looked at Maxwell beside him. "What a brilliant idea you had."

Maxwell folded his arms. "You were pretty smart not to tell your two friends about the Sorting Ceremony we thought it would be. Otherwise, you would have made a complete fool of yourself."

"Even so, I should be the proud one, not you," Kane said speechlessly.

"Mm-hm."

"What do you mean, 'mm-hm'? Is Eternal Realm so free these days?" Kane said helplessly.

"As you wish."

With an explosive sound that only Kane could hear, Maxwell vanished.

After sending Maxwell away, Kane could finally watch the Sorting Ceremony properly. Meanwhile, two sneaky figures behind him slowly crept closer.

When a hand lightly patted Kane's shoulder, he instinctively turned around and saw a lazy-looking, ugly toad.

Kane's voice trembled as he cursed, "Holy shit!"