Wipe Out the Giant Spiders? Have Hagrid Take You There!

The next day, Kane slept until noon. As for Harry and Ron, the two of them were still sound asleep in bed.

After sitting up, he first went over what had happened yesterday... emmm, he had eaten a Mandrake during the day, slept until dusk, then gone face-to-face with a Dark wizard in the Forbidden Forest. After running away, he had been messed with by Malfoy and the others, then lost another ten points to Professor McGonagall.

Kane moved to the little sofa in the dormitory, feeling that everything he had experienced yesterday was still far too surreal. After thinking it over, he ultimately decided not to think about it. He should go see Dumbledore first and find out whether the Dark wizard lurking in the Forbidden Forest had been caught.

The moment he left the dormitory and entered the common room, he sensed an extremely strange atmosphere.

Nearly every Gryffindor in the common room, young and old, seemed faintly uncomfortable. None of the usual laughter and cheer could be heard.

When the other students in the common room saw Kane, one of the people involved, they all wanted to talk to him. They wanted to see his expression when he learned that Hermione had supposedly betrayed them. But before anyone could say anything, Kane made the first move.

He spotted Neville playing Wizard's Chess in the corner, strode over, and patted him on the shoulder. "What's going on? I thought we only lost thirty points yesterday. Gryffindor shouldn't be falling apart over that, right?"

"It's not about the points. It's about the traitor," Neville said as he moved a chess piece. "You lost points yesterday, and Hermione came back to the tower around the same time as you did, so everyone suspects she was the one who sold you out. But that can't be true. Anyway, I believe Hermione."

"That's it?" Kane rolled his eyes. He was about to stand on the coffee table and shout, I have an announcement!, but then he realized that would be a little too showy. He should use a more dignified approach.

"Didn't Harry, Ron, and I go to the Trophy Room yesterday?" Kane began, drawing the attention of most of the students. "When we got there, Malfoy and the others weren't there. Filch was waiting for us instead."

"So Malfoy and the others got swept up before us? Then we didn't come out too badly," Finnigan, who was playing chess with Neville, said with raised brows.

"No, Malfoy played us. Then he sold our whereabouts out to Filch. And judging from what happened afterward, he sold us out to Professor McGonagall too. So what does any of this have to do with Hermione?"

"The Malfoy family may be an old family, but I never thought Draco Malfoy would have absolutely no bottom line. He even dared to undermine the unwritten rules of a wizard's duel," said two older girls sitting nearby and listening to the gossip, both frowning.

The Malfoy family might not have behaved honorably, but this was dishonorable on an entirely different level. It was bad enough to make Draco's father pull out a belt.

"By the way, where's Hermione? You all misunderstood her. She didn't go off somewhere and cry, did she?" Kane asked. He had spent so much effort explaining because he did not want innocent Hermione taking the blame. Now that things were clear, he naturally had to ask how she was doing.

"I don't think she'd be crying," Finnigan said with a shudder. "When we accused Hermione, she knocked out Dean Thomas's front teeth with a book, then sent Sophie Roper to the hospital wing with magic. And now you're telling me Hermione would secretly cry?"

Don't make Hermione laugh.

"So? Where is she now?" Kane asked.

"I don't know." Neville shook his head. "I checked the Great Hall, the study rooms, and the library. I couldn't find even a trace of her."

"You misunderstood her, so of course she doesn't want to see you. Apologize to her at dinner. I need to head out first," Kane said after figuring out the situation. He was about to leave the common room and see how things were going on Dumbledore's end.

Thinking about how he had solved the Mandrake theft in less than half an hour, and how the Ministry of Magic could monitor him by the minute when he used shadows to perform magic tricks in the Muggle world, Kane felt that if Dumbledore could not catch one insignificant Dark wizard in the Forbidden Forest, that would be truly ridiculous.

"Emmmm."

"So what do you mean, you didn't set up any contingencies in the Forbidden Forest at all, and now who knew how many Dark creatures and Dark wizards had made it their nest? Couldn't you put a little more effort into your scare tactics?"

Kane sat on the sofa in Dumbledore's Office, staring at him with narrowed eyes as he spoke in a low voice.

"After all, any normal headmaster who learned that a young wizard had taken two classmates into the Forbidden Forest for an adventure in the middle of the night would try his best to exaggerate how terrifying the forest was, so that the young wizard would abandon such dangerous thoughts from the bottom of his heart. Or you could ask Hagrid for help. With him there, your trip into the Forbidden Forest would be much safer," Dumbledore explained.

"I asked about that Dark wizard, not whether it was dangerous for a young wizard to enter the Forbidden Forest." Kane scratched his head. He felt that Dumbledore was changing the subject, but he had no proof.

"Mm." Dumbledore glanced at Kane and decided to tell the truth. It was not good for a young wizard to know about such things, but if he did not tell Kane the truth, Kane might actually continue venturing deeper into the Forbidden Forest and get himself killed sooner or later.

"No, that Dark wizard is still active, and he will remain active for a long time."

"Ah, all right. Let me guess. You're watching the show?" Kane asked, tossing a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"Though I very much wish to refute that description of my behavior, if we disregard my original intentions and judge only by what I have done, then yes, I am indeed putting on a large stage play."

Kane leaned back on the sofa, gave a couple of smug hums, and summoned Maxwell.

"Look, Old Max. Here's a headmaster who deliberately let a dangerous person into the school just to put on a stage play. Isn't that tasteless?"

Maxwell gave an awkward smile and could not help nodding. "It is."

Dumbledore had no idea that Kane was secretly trash-talking him with Maxwell. He continued trying to make Kane abandon the idea of going to the Forbidden Forest from the bottom of his heart.

As for forcibly forbidding him from entering the Forbidden Forest, Dumbledore had never even considered it. These young wizards were stubborn enough as it was, especially the talented ones. They practically wanted to solo Voldemort in their first year as Christmas homework. They could only be coaxed along.

In the end, the two went back and forth for another two or three rounds, ending with Dumbledore conceding defeat. He simply could not out-stubborn Kane.

Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly. "You may go, but you can choose to have Hagrid take you into the Forbidden Forest. With him there, I'll be at ease."

Kane nodded. As the keeper of the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid knew its terrain well. There could be no one more suitable to take him to find those giant spiders. Humming a tune, Kane swiped another two handfuls of chocolate from Dumbledore's desk and left Dumbledore's Office.

Only then did Dumbledore remember that he had forgotten something.

He had forgotten to ask what Kane wanted in the Forbidden Forest... but it was not important. Whatever the problem was, Hagrid could handle it well in the Forbidden Forest. As long as Kane was not going to attack those precious creatures Hagrid kept in the forest, nothing should go wrong...

Right.