I've Got You Now!

"Honestly, I really should make myself a Walking Cane!" Kane dragged Harry and Ron swiftly through the Forbidden Forest, while darkness as black as ink slowly spread behind the three of them, blocking the dark wizard's line of sight.

"Master, I don't know what kind of magic those little wizards used. I can't see them anymore." Quirrell had just unleashed a burst of flames that burned all the attacking Killer Bees to charcoal, but when he tried to track them again, he could see nothing but darkness—not even the distant trees.

"Watch the magic, Quirinus. As long as you can see its essence, you'll find that the shadows blinding you all come from that glowing little wizard." Voldemort, attached to the back of Professor Quirrell's head, spoke slowly.

"Glowing?" Quirrell wore a completely baffled expression as he looked toward the shadows receding into the distance.

???

Voldemort:...

"Forget it. He can't see you. Continue with the plan. There's no need to worry about Dumbledore for now. As for that little wizard... Quirinus, I think you'll need to show some real skill in the next first-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Kane and the other two hurriedly rushed out of the Forbidden Forest and ran straight for Hogwarts Castle.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked between gasps after they reached the castle's side entrance.

"Tell Dumbledore, obviously. What, do you think this is some Japanese anime where elementary school kids save the world?" Kane said, pushing the side door.

...???

At that very moment, the side door was locked tight, showing them absolutely no mercy.

"Oh, looks like I won't be the only one sleeping outside tonight." Hermione's gloomy voice came from nearby. Not long ago, after being provoked by Kane in the Gryffindor common room, she had gone out to clear her head.

But when she tried to return, some damnable person had locked every door of Hogwarts Castle, large and small. One look at her pocket watch told her that, without realizing it, she had already missed curfew.

She had thought she would be sleeping outside alone tonight, lonely and miserable. Who would have expected her to run into three old acquaintances?

Looking at Kane, who was also locked outside, Hermione felt a strange, unhealthy sense of comfort.

No matter how distinguished your family was, no matter how even the Headmaster of Hogwarts avoided crossing you, when the school doors were locked and no one noticed—when no connections could help you—you still had to stand outside in the cold with commoners like me, didn't you?

"Alohomora." Kane tapped the lock on the side door with his wand. With a click... nothing happened.

"I already tried that. It seems Hogwarts's exterior doors can't be opened with magic," Hermione explained.

Bang!

"This door's as flimsy as the gate to Aunt Susan's vegetable garden... so it never occurred to you to kick it? Well, maybe you were trying to be ladylike. Want to go in together?"

Kane felt that he had been very kind in saying that. His refined way with words gave Hermione not the slightest reason to feel embarrassed.

"Thanks. I'm definitely buying a hammer later!" Hermione first thanked him loudly, then began muttering nonstop in a voice everyone could hear.

"Are we heading back to Gryffindor Tower together?" After breathing in Hogwarts's warm indoor air again, Hermione looked at Kane and the other two.

"No, we need to find Dumbledore and report something. Want to come along?" Kane swore that he had only meant the last question as a polite gesture. Who could have guessed...

"Of course, let's go together!" Hermione agreed decisively. As always, when a rich friend wanted to share any kind of resource with you—including, but not limited to, taking you to meet people you otherwise couldn't—you should say yes without hesitation.

After all, you couldn't give up a warm future for the sake of cold pride.

"Mm, let's go." Kane scratched his head. Running into a dark wizard in the Forbidden Forest, tricking him into wasting a basic attack, and getting away unscathed wasn't exactly a secret. One more person wouldn't hurt.

Soon, the three of them arrived before the stone statues guarding Dumbledore's Headmaster's Office.

The two statues were surprisingly considerate. The moment they saw Kane, they moved aside without a word. The four of them entered Dumbledore's Headmaster's Office without any obstruction, only to find it empty and unlit.

"Where's Headmaster Dumbledore?" Harry frowned.

"He's an old man. Of course he's asleep," Kane said as he pushed open the hidden door of the Headmaster's Office and walked into Dumbledore's bedroom.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not act rashly. Dragging Dumbledore out of bed in the middle of the night was just too absurd.

But Kane didn't care about any of that. The situation was so urgent that he naturally had to resort to extraordinary measures.

But apparently, Dumbledore had probably used some extraordinary measure as well. No matter how Kane shook him, he wouldn't wake up. In the end, Kane could only helplessly write down what had happened in the Forbidden Forest on a piece of parchment and place it on Dumbledore's slippers.

"He'll know all about it tomorrow morning. We can go now," Kane said as he walked out of the bedroom.

"Um... Kane, are you really that familiar with Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Not bad. We were roommates for a few days, that's all." Kane shrugged and left the Headmaster's Office with the other three.

Before leaving, he also grabbed a few pieces of unfinished chocolate from Dumbledore's desk and handed them out. Being attacked by a dark wizard in the Forbidden Forest must have scared them badly. A piece of chocolate would help calm them down.

"So, are we going back to the tower now? Or do you have something else planned?"

After finishing her chocolate, Hermione looked at Kane and the others. She had wanted to remind them that they should return to their dormitories as soon as possible, or Gryffindor would lose points and Professor McGonagall would be disgraced. If something like that went on their records, they might not be able to get a Ministry of Magic job in the future, and their lives would be ruined.

But then she remembered that she herself had nearly ended up wandering the castle all night through no fault of her own, so she decided not to say something so ungrateful.

"Um..." The three of them pursed their lips and fell silent.

Seeing their reactions, Hermione naturally remembered the farce in the Great Hall at dinner.

"You're not really planning to go find Malfoy and Anrela for a wizard duel, are you?"

"The wizard duel is three against four right now. We're still one person short," Harry said, turning into a master strategist as he tried to drag Hermione into it.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Kane's fighting ability. It was just that, if things really went wrong, having one more person would help share the punishment.

For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this.

Forget it, he must have been overthinking things. Once they won the wizard duel later, he would head back and... Strange. Why had that ominous feeling gotten even stronger?

"Uh, no. You can go to the wizard duel yourselves. Anyway, I believe you can beat Malfoy and Anrela. I'll head back to Gryffindor Tower first." Hermione declined Harry's invitation. Breaking school rules once by accident was enough.

Doing it on purpose?

Hermione looked at the three boys before her: one Celestial Dragon of the Wizarding World, one savior of the Wizarding World, and one old-blood pure-blood from the Wizarding World. What right did she have to break school rules with them? Wouldn't she just be waiting to take the blame?

And so, they parted ways on the fifth floor. Hermione headed toward Gryffindor Tower, while Kane and the others continued toward their agreed meeting place, the Trophy Room.

"I really think we've got some nerve," Ron suddenly said.

"Hm?" Kane and Harry both looked at him.

"Think about it. We just ran into a dark wizard in the Forbidden Forest, and after barely escaping, we're immediately rushing off to PK Malfoy and the others. No normal person would do that," Ron explained.

"What else were we supposed to do? Hide under our blankets every day because we saw a dark wizard once?" Kane raised an eyebrow.

"Honestly, I'm really sleepy now." Harry yawned. If not for his pride and the chance to beat up Malfoy legally, he would have loved to dive into bed as fast as possible.

"Hurry up. We still need to sleep after the duel." Harry quickened his pace as he spoke, and before long, the three of them arrived at the agreed-upon Trophy Room.

Unfortunately, the person inside the Trophy Room was not Malfoy or Anrela, but Filch, sitting alone on a chair and waiting for them like a rabbit by a tree stump.

Filch split his dry lips into a grin, revealing his uneven yellow teeth, and said, "I've got you now!"