Death Has Its Hooks in You

Before Kane and the others could react, Snape's glaring white light shone over them. "Ah, Kane Hiss, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Tell me, what exactly are the four of you doing here?"

Snape drawled slowly.

Harry and Ron both sighed helplessly as they watched Snape approach. Their points were gone, and they were in for a scolding too.

Hermione felt even worse. To her, losing points was no different from the sky falling—especially with Snape. Even a blind man could see that Snape had it in for Gryffindor. Now that the four of them had fallen into his hands, nothing good could come of it.

Unlike the other three, whose minds were overflowing with drama, Kane was simply honest. Whatever Snape asked, he answered. "We just came back from the Forbidden Forest, with Professor Quirrell."

Almost instantly, Snape's expression stiffened.

At that moment, he had only one thought: Dumbledore really deserved to die. He kept cramming every unusual person he found into his little deck of talent cards.

Harry was now Dumbledore's pawn, and so was he. Ron and Hermione had become Harry's personal support crew. Now even Kane had been dragged onto this chessboard by methods unknown.

Who knew what Dumbledore was thinking? The young wizard before him was nothing like an ordinary child—or someone as easy to control as himself. Even Snape wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from someone like Kane as possible, to have as little to do with him for the rest of his life as he could.

But Dumbledore was doing the opposite, actively pulling him close. Would he only learn his lesson once someone like Kane pulled off something truly outrageous right under his nose?

After a moment of silence, Snape slowly said, "Mr. Heath, come with