Quirrell immediately grabbed the paper with one hand and Kane's wand hand with the other. "If you want this, this paper, you just need to stay, stay!"
In Kane's eyes, Professor Quirrell suddenly became a beast deserving of the smallest possible Avada Kedavra.
"Is that so? Then I don't want it." Kane was remarkably carefree. He immediately gave up on the book list and sharply tried to yank his arm free from Quirrell's grip, but failed.
"Professor, what are you doing?" Kane asked, raising an eyebrow.
"K-Kane, I just want, want you to receive a real education, you..."
Before Professor Quirrell could finish, the menacing swamp nearby suddenly doubled in size. Its tentacles lashed rapidly toward Quirrell, but before they could strike him, two invisible bursts of magic sliced them in half.
Professor Quirrell was startled by the sight, as though he had not expected Kane to truly dare attack. He immediately drew his wand. Red light connected to Kane's wand, and with a single thought, Expelliarmus would knock it from Kane's hand. Only after doing all that did he stare at Kane in shock. "Y-you want to, to attack a professor?"
Kane shrugged. "How could I? Of course not."
As he spoke, the hand holding his wand did not move. Instead, his other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out Panpipes.
"Goodbye, Professor. Sleep well." Kane brought the Panpipes to his lips and played a descending scale.
Almost instantly, Quirrell felt an overwhelming drowsiness descend upon him, and Voldemort inside his head felt it too.
The instant they heard the Panpipes, the same thought appeared in both their minds. They already knew how to get past the Three-Headed Dog guarding the trapdoor without injury. As long as they had the one in Kane's hand...
Thud!
Poor Quirrell fell over.
But unlike Quirrell, who had already fallen asleep, Voldemort was far tougher. He quickly awoke from the groggy sensation. When he took control of Quirrell's body and looked around, Kane had long since vanished.
"A special dark magic that is innate..." Voldemort murmured, while using Crucio to viciously attack Quirrell's soul and force the recently offline Quirrell back online.
"M-Master, what did you say?" Quirrell asked tremblingly.
"I said that this young wizard possesses a brand-new, special dark magic unlike any dark magic previously known to the Wizarding World. And it is innate," Voldemort said with a sigh.
"Y-you mean, like an Obscurus?" Quirrell asked.
"No. An Obscurus is a powerful existence residing within a wizard's body. But this young wizard named Kane Hiss is himself a powerful existence. I need his power. Prepare a magic array for me, will you, my most loyal servant?" Voldemort said eerily.
"O-of course. Such great power is too much for a young, young wizard to control. Naturally, it needs you, you to wield it," Quirrell flattered him reflexively. As for what would happen to Kane after his power was taken, that was outside Quirrell's concern.
Meanwhile, in the Headmaster's Office.
"That Quirrell is kind of disgusting," Kane said quietly, holding a cup of black tea. He was now somewhat regretting not kicking Quirrell hard a few times while he had been hypnotized by the Panpipes.
"Mm." Dumbledore nodded as he watched the scenes unfolding in Quirrell's office through the crystal ball. "It seems they have set their sights on you. Perhaps I should have given this task to a less conspicuous young wizard. This is my fault."
Kane looked at Dumbledore, whose expression had not changed at all, and wondered whether he truly believed it was his fault.
"Forget it. At least this trip wasn't without benefits. The book list Professor Quirrell gave me... umm, I think his knowledge base is pretty solid. Anyway, I'm leaving first." Kane stuffed the list into his pocket and prepared to leave.
"Mm. There is actually no need to pack your schedule so full. Halloween is only a few days away. Perhaps you would prefer to enjoy yourself for a while before studying so hard?" Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow. He truly felt Kane was exhausting himself.
"No need, Professor. This makes me happy." Kane pushed open the Headmaster's Office door and saw Professor Snape, dressed all in black and looking cold and stylish.
"Ah, Mr. Heath, there is good news. The potion you needed has been brewed ahead of schedule." Seeing Kane there as well, Snape raised an eyebrow, took a bottle of gray potion from his pocket, and handed it to Kane.
After all, meeting him here saved trouble. There was no need to wait for a particular time or send it by owl post.
"Thank you, Professor Snape." Kane took the potion and left the office.
"What potion was that? You know, when one gets old, one's eyesight is not so good." Dumbledore asked with his usual curiosity about everything.
"Clearly, Mr. Heath obtained a token from Hagrid for the spider nest, yet failed to realize the possible connection between the spiders and Hagrid. Now, for the sake of so-called friendship, he is attempting to erase the mistakes he made with an even crueler deception."
For once, Snape spoke without a disparaging tone. He merely stated the facts flatly.
"Ah, someone capable of brewing Memory Potion himself certainly speaks with confidence," Dumbledore said with a smile. Ever since Snape had mocked him over the crystal ball last time, he had wanted to return the favor.
Unlike the warm verbal sparring in the Headmaster's Office, Kane curled up inside the Spirit Particle Disintegrator's large hat and read. He only felt that it had boosted his study efficiency to a frightening degree.
At that moment, however, his appearance had reached a level in Harry and Ron's eyes that could get him sent straight to a mental institution.
"Halloween is only two days away. If we pushed Kane out looking like that, we'd definitely get a lot of candy, wouldn't we?" Ron remarked as he watched him.
Harry nodded, then shook his head. Back at the Dursley Household, he had never gone out for candy on Halloween. Dudley went every year, though.
But unlike other children, who played tricks if they were not given candy, Dudley would not stop playing tricks unless he was given candy...
Who knew why someone like that was considered such a good boy by Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia?
Sitting inside the hat, Kane glanced at the two mortals, Harry and Ron, then switched to another book. By the time Harry and Ron were completely bewildered, he had already finished one book.
In short... boring mortals.
Evening...
After dinner in the Great Hall, Harry and Ron carried packed food over and knocked on the Spirit Particle Disintegrator's large hat.
Inside the hat, Kane had finally thoroughly understood the last book on Quirrell's list. It was time to head into the Forbidden Forest and put his new magic to the test.
When Kane crawled out of the hat, he had originally felt like a cold, ruthless wizard. In a moment, he should head into the Forbidden Forest, slaughter some spiders, erase some memories, stockpile some materials, and get some sleep.
But then house-elf cooking was stuffed into his mouth, and it tasted so good that it brought back all the goodness and beauty in his heart. So what else was there to say? The spider-slaughter plan...
Though it was still unfair to Hagrid... it was the same old saying.
He could not act on impulse. During this time, he had learned from the professors that only the spider leader, Aragog, had a deep bond with Hagrid. As for the other little spiders? They were purely contributing to the ecological safety of the Forbidden Forest.
Harry and Ron watched Kane's expression change more than ten times over the course of one meal... This time, they did not even exchange glances. They were used to it.
Late at night, the spider nest in the Forbidden Forest welcomed its sternest father.
Kane quickly recalled the route he had taken behind the little spider last time and found his way before Aragog once more.
Unfortunately, this time, before Aragog could make a sound and before its offspring could attack Kane, they only saw Kane wave his wand. One by one, the little spiders fell into an infant-like sleep.
First, he poured the bottle of Memory Potion brewed by Snape into Aragog's mouth. According to Snape, it could erase all memories from the past month. Then came the familiar process of gathering materials.
Huge amounts of spider silk, spider glands, Monster Meat, followed by ordinary materials such as wood, grass, stones, and reeds. By the time he had gathered nearly everything and was about to leave the Forbidden Forest for the castle...
"Oh... t-today really is, is lucky."
Kane wore the same bitter smile.
"Who's to say otherwise, Professor Quirrell?"
Before you continue