Busted?

Professor Sprout introduced herself, then got straight to the point without wasting any time.

"Today, we'll be learning how to repot Mandrakes. First, you need to put on the specially made earmuffs in front of you."

Kane looked at the earmuffs before him. They had a bit of an Eternal Continent style to them—put bluntly, they looked so simple they might have been handmade.

He quickly put them over his ears.

The earmuffs were remarkable. Wearing them did not affect his ability to hear any other sounds at all.

According to Professor Sprout, they could only filter out the harmful effects of a Mandrake's scream, but offered no soundproofing whatsoever.

Kane did not know why Mandrakes were harmful, but that was perfect. The bigger the trouble they could cause, the better his chances of succeeding.

Once all the young wizards had put on their earmuffs, Professor Sprout explained the lethality of Mandrakes. When she saw a faint trace of fear on every young wizard's face... well, most of their faces, she finally placed her hands on the Mandrake's leaves.

"Everyone, do as I do."

Kane grabbed hold of the Mandrake's leaves as well. Seeing Professor Sprout's grave expression, he found himself unusually tense.

On the Eternal Continent, Mandrakes were just stupid little radishes that bounced around and liked barking like dogs. What if they were different here? Better stay humble.

"Everyone, listen for my command. Three, two—... one..."

Kane took a deep breath.

Professor Sprout suddenly shouted, "Pull!"

In an instant, the entire greenhouse erupted with Mandrake battle cries, sounds a million times more piercing than nails scraping glass. The greenhouse descended into complete chaos.

Holding the Mandrake by its leafy hair, Kane finally understood. He had wondered why these damn radishes could make Professor Sprout so serious, and had even thought her magical ability might not be particularly outstanding.

But now, it seemed that her ability was not merely outstanding.

It was absurdly outstanding. If some incompetent fool had been put in charge of these damn radishes, they would probably suffer a nervous breakdown or have their sanity wiped out within days and die on the spot.

And if some disobedient young wizard pulled a stunt during class, and the professor could not suppress it quickly enough, there was an eighty percent chance the student would be shaken to death by the Mandrake and promptly expelled from Hogwarts.

In short, Kane acknowledged Professor Sprout's abilities. Absolutely acknowledged them. She was definitely a hidden powerhouse.

Still, admiration aside, his hands never stopped moving.

Shadows slowly spread from his hands. The ugly Mandrake that had been letting out piercing screams gradually calmed down, becoming the familiar adorable ugly radish he knew.

At Professor Sprout's command, he did not hesitate to stuff the Mandrake, whose registration had been transferred to the Eternal Realm, into another flowerpot.

Before long, the entire greenhouse finally fell silent.

"Phew... I survived." Kane let out a breath. Now he just had to wait until class ended, pull up the Mandrake whose registration he had transferred, tuck it into his robes, and replace it with that half-radish. Then this mission would be completely finished.

"Yaaawn."

"Kane, class is almost over." Harry lightly patted Kane, who had fallen asleep while standing there with both hands braced against the table.

"I feel alive again." Kane yawned and slowly opened his eyes.

Just then, the bell rang to signal the end of class.

Without causing the slightest fuss, Neville spoke up. "Professor, c-can I take a pot of Mandrake with me?"

In an instant, every eye in the greenhouse turned toward Neville.

Kane seized the moment. This was it. He suddenly reached out, grabbed the Mandrake by its leafy hair, and yanked it out.

Meanwhile, Neville was being lectured by Professor Sprout about how dangerous Mandrakes were. When he saw Kane pull one out barehanded, without any protective gear or cover, he was completely dumbfounded.

What the hell, man? This isn't the kind of bold move I had in mind. Weren't you supposed to take the whole pot? Why are you just yanking the plant out? What is this supposed to be?

No one in the greenhouse was wearing earmuffs anymore. How was this any different from being a terrorist?

Yet the expected piercing scream and death never came. Kane shook the noticeably better-looking Mandrake as though he had pulled out a dead radish, confirmed that it had already died completely during its transfer of registration, and quickly tucked it into his robes.

Harry was no less decisive. He pulled out half a radish and forcibly stuck it into the flowerpot. At first glance, it looked fairly convincing.

"That's why Mandrakes are such dangerous magical plants. Do you understand now, Mr. Longbottom?"

Professor Sprout finally finished her lecture, and Neville nodded blankly.

Your Mandrake and my Mandrake seem to be different.

After class, Kane gave Neville an especially big hug. This guy really had not caused the slightest trouble. What a genuine fellow.

"Neville, my good brother, from now on, your business is my business! If you ever have a problem, come find me as long as I can help!"

Kane shook Neville so excitedly that the strength required to nearly make the chubby boy throw up did not match Kane's complexion, which made him look as if he would not survive the winter.

"I-I will, but that one of yours..." Neville struggled for quite a while before breaking free from Kane's hands. He looked around suspiciously, then said, "What happened to your plant? Why did it look dead?"

Kane pressed his lips together and ultimately decided to tell the truth. He had already used shadows to temporarily transfer Neville's Toad's registration to the Eternal Realm before. There was no point hiding the fact that his magic could alter living creatures' forms. Dumbledore and the others already knew, anyway.

After hearing the explanation, Neville nodded blankly. He only felt that Kane was making excuses, while the truth was that the poor Mandrake had most likely been killed by Kane.

"Forget it. Oh, right, I saw Hagrid outside the castle just now. He asked me to tell you that you should visit his hut when you have time. He said he wanted to ask what you thought of studying at Hogwarts." Neville quickly forgot about the poor murdered Mandrake and dutifully became a messenger.

"We'll go after lunch. See you in flying class this afternoon." Kane spoke as he headed toward the Great Hall with Harry and Ron.

He was in an excellent mood the whole way. The corners of his mouth had not come down once, as though he could play cards with the sun. Since they were going to see Hagrid soon, he could ask where the spiders in the Forbidden Forest were. He was still waiting to use spiderwebs to make tents and a Spirit Particle Disintegrator. Wasn't this like being handed a pillow right when he got sleepy?

Perhaps Merlin was watching over him, because today's lunch drink was coffee. It practically saved Kane's life.

As for the other food, he only sampled a little. Watching Harry and Ron wolf down their meals, he wore a smile of superior intelligence.

They were about to visit Hagrid's Hut. Obviously, he had to save room for Hagrid's snacks.

Not long afterward...

"Mm, they'll definitely like these Rock Cakes." Hagrid took a tray of glowing red Rock Cakes from the furnace and set them on an empty tray to cool naturally. This step was called tempering; it could reduce a metal's hardness and increase its toughness.

Even though the molecular structure of Rock Cakes was probably not iron.

Knock, knock, knock...

"Oh, they're here!" Hagrid hurried to open the door.

After the door opened, Kane, Harry, and Ron entered, each carrying a gift.

Hagrid was delighted to see the three gifts on the table. What wonderful children. With that, he immediately started opening them.

Hmm, Harry's was an exquisite little box, probably enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm. Ron's was a brand-new axe. Kane's was a pale yellow pouch, also enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm. In short, they all looked expensive.

If Kane could hear Hagrid's thoughts, he would surely give an awkward yet polite smile. In truth, he had made all three gifts himself. At most, he had only caused a little damage to the ecosystem around Hogwarts.

"Thank you so much. I love all of these gifts."

Hagrid hurriedly led the three of them to sit by the fireplace. Just as he was about to say something, a letter suddenly flew in through the window.

Hagrid picked up the letter and glanced at it. His expression suddenly changed.

Kane picked up a particularly weighty Rock Cake and was considering whether he could swallow it in one bite when he noticed Hagrid's strange expression. "What's wrong?"

Hagrid swallowed. "Professor Dumbledore sent word that a Mandrake was stolen from the greenhouse. Hogwarts Castle is like a ticking bomb right now. No one knows when it might..."

Kane continued examining the Rock Cake in his hand, his expression unchanged. "Then why did he write to you? Do you have some special way of finding Mandrakes?"

Hagrid shook his head. "Oh, not that. Mainly, Dumbledore told me he already knows you stole the Mandrake and wants you to turn yourself in immediately."

Clang...

As the Rock Cake fell back onto the plate and smashed it to pieces, Kane looked up with a completely bewildered expression.

???