Dumbledore sighed. "You really can't judge a person by their appearance."
Kingsley nodded in full agreement. "Albus, those dark magic fluctuations couldn't really have been caused by some child, could they?"
Dumbledore glanced at Kingsley. "Barring any surprises, they were. Is there a problem?"
Kingsley suddenly turned serious. "A huge one. If he were an adult wizard, he'd be sent to Azkaban. If he enrolled at Hogwarts, his wand would be snapped. But even you don't know that child, which means he hasn't enrolled at Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic has no suitable measures to punish or control him."
"You've forgotten one place, Kingsley. Hogwarts exists to handle precisely this sort of thing. I suspect this child's acceptance letter is already sitting on Minerva's desk, waiting for her signature," Dumbledore said. "For now, our task is merely to investigate that young gentleman's astonishing dark magic."
As he spoke, Dumbledore led Kingsley leisurely toward Kane.
"I think a good child who used dark magic to perform tricks for wealthy ladies in exchange for Pound Sterling wouldn't refuse to perform a trick for an old man, would he?" Dumbledore said with a smile.
If Kane could have heard Dumbledore, he might have performed for him. But he hadn't heard Dumbledore. Instead, he heard Maxwell.
"Two wizards have their eyes on you."
Kane jolted upright and looked up, just in time to see Dumbledore and Kingsley, dressed in bizarre clothes and holding little wooden sticks, practically screaming that they were wizards from head to toe.
Fortunately, he had been far more efficient today than yesterday. The two wealthy ladies had generously tipped him a full hundred Pound Sterling. With a hundred pounds in hand, it was naturally time to pack up and head home!
Kane quickly strode away, leaving the two ladies somewhat puzzled. But before long, they saw the two strangely dressed menacing figures chasing after him.
The two ladies, who had just been thoroughly charmed by Kane, were overflowing with righteous indignation and moved to stop Dumbledore and Kingsley.
However, Kingsley merely gave his wand a subtle little flick, and the poor ladies returned to their car in a daze.
"Maxwell? See if they're still there?" This time, Kane hid in a narrow alley with an exit. Yesterday, Harry had merely been an untrained young wizard; Kane could have dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
But today, one of these wizards was middle-aged, while the other was white-haired and ancient. They looked terrifyingly powerful. He absolutely had to avoid confronting them head-on.
But he soon relaxed. There was no point in having Maxwell watch behind him, because Dumbledore and Kingsley were now standing directly in front of him.
"Young gentleman, would you be interested in performing a magic trick for us? I saw you at the intersection just now," Dumbledore asked gently.
Kane sighed inwardly and removed the hat from his head. "Of course. Please hold this hat with both hands."
Dumbledore obligingly accepted the hat, and in that instant, he sensed its true nature: bone-chilling, incomparably sinister dark magic.
Even the dark magic energy wielded by grand wizards in their seventies or eighties might not have been as pure as this. This young wizard was only eleven... Could he be a natural-born wielder of dark magic?
Unlike Dumbledore, who was deep in thought, Kane was tirelessly working on his escape plan.
The two men before him had practically laid their identities as wizards bare, so there was no need for him to hide anything anymore.
He simply made his own shadow beneath his feet produce a second black top hat. It slowly crawled up to his hand, and he handed the second hat to Kingsley.
"Sir, you as well." Kingsley glanced at Dumbledore. After receiving an approving look, he took the hat in both hands.
"Now, please press the openings of the hats together. Then comes the moment to witness a miracle," Kane said mysteriously.
Dumbledore and Kingsley cooperatively pressed the two hats together. When they looked back at Kane, all they saw was his rapidly retreating figure as he ran away.
The hats in their hands had already turned into a tangled mass of Shadow Chains, locking their hands together. One chain even lay on the ground, preventing either of them from moving freely.
"Hmm. An instinctive application. You could say it's carved into his bones," Dumbledore remarked.
"So some unknown dark wizard had disguised himself as a child..." Kingsley murmured.
"What I mean is that this dark magic may be innate to the child. He uses dark magic as naturally as breathing... I certainly can't use Transfiguration as naturally as breathing."
After saying that, Dumbledore began working on freeing himself from the Shadow Chains around his hands. Overall, it was not difficult. Kane's shadows, powered by an eleven-year-old's magic, simply could not withstand Dumbledore's century-plus of magical power.
"Where do we go next?" Kingsley had also broken free of the chains.
"He's merely a young gentleman who isn't evil. He probably won't play the game of a cunning rabbit with three burrows. Go to his motel," Dumbledore calmly ordered.
While Dumbledore and Kingsley waited for their prey, Kane stood beside Maxwell, eating a hot dog.
"We've known each other for so long, and you still won't lend me a hand."
Maxwell raised an eyebrow. "Without me, you handled it very well on your own. Besides, this isn't the Eternal Realm. I can't use my Authority here. I'm not like you. Somehow, you managed to openly... steal the Shadow Authority."
"Maybe it was talent. Who knew that after I escaped the Eternal Realm, this shadow would latch onto me?" Kane sighed and took two more fierce bites from his hot dog.
And the Shadow Authority was not as useful as ordinary people imagined. The one in the Eternal Realm had definitely suffered after part of its Authority was stolen. That was why it had sent Shadow Monsters after Kane last night, intending to take both the Authority and his life back.
Maxwell seemed to understand Kane's troubles and offered a word of comfort. "You're in the real world. The shadows of the Eternal Realm will be weakened when they extend here, but your shadows won't be. This is your opportunity. If you prepare tonight, you may be able to steal a little more shadow from its grasp."
"I understand what you mean. I won't be so pathetic tonight," Kane said. By then, he had already reached the somewhat run-down motel.
As he took out his key and walked toward his room, Kane suddenly frowned.
He decisively left the key on the ground and turned to leave, only to run into Dumbledore and Kingsley once again.
"Young gentleman, you haven't finished performing your magic trick yet," Dumbledore said gently.
Before you continue