The Spider Nest Welcomed Its Sternest Father

Quirrell immediately grabbed the paper with one hand and Kane's wand hand with the other. "If you want this, this list, 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 casually gave up on the book list, then yanked his arm out of Quirrell's grasp. It did not budge.

"Professor, what are you doing?" Kane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"K-Kane, I just wanted, wanted you to receive a real education, you..."

Before Professor Quirrell could finish, the flailing swamp in the distance suddenly doubled in size. Its tentacles whipped 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 actually dare attack. He immediately drew his wand. Red light tugged at Kane's wand, and with a thought, Expelliarmus would make Kane's wand fly from his 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 slipped into his pocket and pulled out the Panpipes.

"Goodbye, Professor. Sleep well." Kane lifted the Panpipes to his lips and played a descending scale.

Almost instantly, Quirrell was hit by an inescapable wave of drowsiness, as was Voldemort inside his head.

The moment they heard the Panpipes, the two of them had the same thought: they now knew how to get past the three-headed dog guarding the trapdoor without getting hurt. As long as they had the one in Kane's hand...

Thud!

Poor Quirrell collapsed.

But unlike Quirrell, who had already fallen asleep, Voldemort was far tougher. He quickly shook off 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 as he used Crucio to savagely attack Quirrell's soul, bringing Quirrell, who had just gone offline, back online.

"M-Master, what did you say?" Quirrell asked tremblingly.

"I said that this young wizard possesses a new and unusual form of Dark magic, completely unlike any Dark magic ever seen in 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 entity dwelling within a wizard's body. But this young wizard called Kane Hiss is himself a powerful entity. I need his power. Prepare a magic circle for me, will you? My most loyal servant?" Voldemort said softly.

"O-Of course. Such immense power is too much for a young, young wizard to control. Naturally, it requires you, you to wield it," Quirrell flattered instinctively. As for what would happen to Kane after his power was taken, that was not something he needed to consider.

Meanwhile, in the headmaster's office.

"That Quirrell is kind of disgusting," Kane said quietly, holding a cup of black tea. He was now a little regretful that he had not kicked Quirrell a few times while the Panpipes had him hypnotized.

"Mm." Dumbledore watched the scenes unfolding in Quirrell's office through the crystal ball and nodded. "It seems they have their eyes on you. Perhaps I should have assigned this task to a less conspicuous young wizard. This was my mistake."

Kane looked at Dumbledore, whose expression had not changed at all, and wondered whether he really thought it was his own fault.

"Forget it. At least this trip wasn't without benefits. Professor Quirrell's book list... emmm, I think his knowledge base is pretty solid. Anyway, I'm heading out first." Kane stuffed the list into his pocket and prepared to leave.

"Mm. There is really no need to pack your schedule so full. Halloween is only a few days away. Perhaps you would like to enjoy yourself for a while before studying so hard?" Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow. He genuinely thought Kane was exhausting himself.

"No need, Professor. I'm happy like this." Kane pushed open the door to the headmaster's office and saw Professor Snape, dressed all in black and looking cold, elegant, and stylish.

"Ah, Mr. Heath. There is good news. The potion you needed has been brewed ahead of schedule." Seeing Kane there, Snape raised an eyebrow, pulled a bottle of gray potion from his pocket, and handed it to him.

Seeing him here saved Snape the trouble of waiting for a specific time or sending 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 older, one's eyesight is not as good." Dumbledore asked with his usual curiosity about everything.

"Clearly, Mr. Heath obtained the token to the spider nest from Hagrid, yet failed to realize the connection the spiders might have with Hagrid. Now, for the sake of so-called friendship, he is attempting to erase his own wrongdoing with an even crueler deception."

For once, Snape's tone contained no mockery. He merely stated the facts flatly.

"Ah, someone capable of brewing their own memory-erasing potion certainly speaks with confidence," Dumbledore said with a smile. Ever since Snape had dissed him over the crystal ball last time, he had been waiting to return the favor.

Unlike the warm verbal sparring in the headmaster's office, Kane curled up inside the Spirit Particle Disintegrator's giant hat and read, feeling his study efficiency rise to a terrifying level.

At that moment, however, his appearance had reached a level that made Harry and Ron think he ought to be sent to a mental institution.

"Halloween is in two days. If we put Kane out like that, we could probably get loads of candy," Ron remarked as he watched.

Harry nodded, then shook his head. Back at the Dursley Household, he had never gone out trick-or-treating on Halloween. Dudley, on the other hand, went every year.

But unlike other children, who played tricks if they were not given candy, Dudley would not stop causing trouble unless he got candy...

Who knew why his aunt and uncle considered someone like that a good boy?

Sitting in the hat, Kane glanced at the two mortals, Harry and Ron, then switched to another book. By the time Harry and Ron were utterly baffled, he had already finished one book.

In short... boring mortals.

Evening...

After dinner in the Great Hall, Harry carried some packed food over with Ron and knocked on the Spirit Particle Disintegrator's giant hat.

Inside the hat, Kane had finally fully understood the last book on Quirrell's list. It was time to head to the Forbidden Forest and test out some new magic.

When Kane crawled out of the hat, he had originally thought that, as a cold and ruthless wizard, he should head into the Forbidden Forest to slaughter some spiders, erase some memories, stockpile some materials, and get some sleep.

But then the house-elves' cooking was stuffed into his mouth, and it instantly made him blissfully happy. All the goodness and beauty in his heart returned. So what else was there to say? That spider-slaughtering plan...

Though it was still unfair to Hagrid... the same old rule applied.

He could not act on impulse. During this time, he had learned from the professors that only Aragog, the spider leader, had a deep bond with Hagrid. As for the other little spiders? They were simply contributing to the ecological safety of the Forbidden Forest.

Harry and Ron watched Kane's expression change more than ten times over a single meal... This time, they did not even exchange glances. They were used to it already.

Late at night, the spider nest in the Forbidden Forest welcomed its sternest father.

Kane quickly followed the route he had taken last time while tracking the little spider responsible for everything, and once again found Aragog.

Unfortunately, before Aragog could speak and before its offspring could attack Kane, Kane merely waved his wand, and every little spider fell into an infant-like sleep.

First, he poured the memory-erasing potion Snape had prepared into Aragog's mouth. According to Snape, the stuff could erase all memories from the past month. Then came the familiar process of gathering materials.

Masses of spiderwebs, spider glands, monster meat, followed by ordinary materials such as wood, grass, stones, reeds, and the like. Once he had gathered almost everything and was about to leave the Forbidden Forest for the castle—

"O-Oh... t-today really is, is l-lucky."

Kane likewise showed a bitter smile.

"Who's to say otherwise, Professor Quirrell."