"I've never seen fans this clingy. This level of obsessive stalking, if I could, I'd call the cops on you."
Kane gave a helpless smile as he delivered this not-so-harsh retort.
Kingsley awkwardly rubbed his nose. He'd just remembered that he was, in fact, an Auror.
"In any case, please trust us. We mean you no harm whatsoever. It's simply that your special status as a young wizard requires you to receive an education."
Dumbledore said warmly.
"Or possibly be sent to Azkaban." Kingsley's Auror occupational habits kicked in.
To make Kane behave, he instinctively deployed the good-cop-bad-cop routine from the interrogation room, naturally playing the bad cop villain role.
Dumbledore glanced back somewhat helplessly, and Kingsley suddenly found he couldn't open his mouth anymore. Dumbledore turned back to Kane.
"Please ignore him. In any case, I'm from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a place specifically designed to teach young wizards magic. I'm the Headmaster. You can call me Professor Dumbledore."
"All right, no harm intended... I can see that. So this is just a home visit? You should have sent a letter in advance." Kane readily believed what Dumbledore said.
After all, not believing wouldn't help. Given the current situation, he probably couldn't run away anyway.
"The owls delivering the mail might have gotten stuck in traffic. Don't worry about it. Um... where are your parents?" Dumbledore asked.
"Don't have any."
"I'm very sorry. Would you mind telling me how you came to master this extraordinary magic?"
Dumbledore showed an apologetic expression and changed the subject.
"Is that part of the home visit too?"
"Of course." Dumbledore nodded.
"Well... an adventure that wasn't particularly pleasant." Kane said ambiguously.
Dumbledore, being perceptive, heard that Kane didn't really want to talk about it and switched topics again.
"Since you now know you're a wizard, you should also know the rules of the magical world. Kingsley, you're the expert in this area."
As Dumbledore spoke, he discreetly allowed Kingsley to speak again.
As Dumbledore finished, Kane was forced to listen to Kingsley deliver a lengthy speech.
The main point was that magical exposure would be catastrophic for both the Muggle and wizarding worlds, so Kane should never use magic in front of Muggles going forward.
Especially since Kane's magic was extremely pure dark magic, which was absolutely forbidden.
"But I still need to eat." Kane leaned helplessly against the wall, asking a question that was simple yet impossible to ignore.
Dumbledore and Kingsley both froze. Kane was making a living by using magic to perform street tricks.
If they forbade him from using magic, did they expect him to starve?
Unless the Ministry of Magic or Hogwarts was willing to provide for all of Kane's food, clothing, and shelter, they couldn't rightly make that demand.
"Perhaps… you could come to Hogwarts a bit earlier," Dumbledore said at last, taking responsibility for the decision.
After all, given the style of those parasites at the Ministry, if Kane lived there for a month, by the time he graduated from Hogwarts, he'd definitely become another Voldemort 2.0.
Those people at the Ministry had a real talent for making their own people miserable.
Kane glanced at Dumbledore, whose face was written all over with sincerity, then looked at the massive Hogwarts castle before him.
He didn't regret following Dumbledore back here anymore.
Dumbledore first brought Kane to his office.
"Since you haven't gone through the Sorting Ceremony yet, you can't stay in the student dormitories.
Fortunately, there are two options. Option A: you can choose to stay with me."
"I'll take the second one," Kane said quietly.
He wasn't used to sharing a room with anyone. And he was a restless sleeper.
Harry had almost been kicked out of the cupboard once. What if he accidentally ended up breaking Dumbledore's old bones?
Dumbledore smiled slightly.
"Congratulations, you'll like your new roommate. I'll call Severus over right now. He's Hogwarts' Potions professor.
This year his house on Spinner's End is being renovated, so he's staying at Hogwarts for the holiday.
"In any case, I think you'll like this new roommate."
Dumbledore summoned a silvery-white phantom bird, which fluttered out of the office.
Soon it returned, carrying a message from Professor Severus: if he dared let Kane move in, don't blame him if Kane ended up in a cauldron.
"Um… can't you just find me an empty classroom to crash in for a while?" Kane asked, staring at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore always answered with a simple shake of his head.
If he didn't live under the same roof as Kane, how could he keep an eye on those low-level dark magic experiments that had been running nonstop since midnight?
It was all part of the plan.
"Lunch and dinner are at noon and seven p.m. respectively, served in the Great Hall.
Curfew is at ten p.m. Remember to come back. The rest of the time, you're free to explore Hogwarts however you like."
Dumbledore made sure that Kane, who wasn't yet a Hogwarts student, felt no discomfort whatsoever. Maximum freedom.
"Oh right, your office does have a second bed, doesn't it?" Kane suddenly asked as he was leaving.
"Um... you'll have to forgive me. These old bones can't climb up to a top bunk anymore." Dumbledore said apologetically.
"Bunk beds sound great."
With that, Kane walked right out of Dumbledore's Headmaster's office.
"This castle's not bad, huh? The Constant never gave you a quiet place to study magic.
You shouldn't have bolted so quickly just now. You should've made that old wizard teach you a few tricks first, otherwise, what if you don't make it through the night?"
Maxwell suddenly appeared beside Kane, his voice carrying a sharp edge.
"Don't need you to remind me. I already have an idea. As long as I infuse shadows into real-world materials, I might be able to... make a little campfire." Kane replied.
"And after that? You're not still planning to build a Science Machine, are you?" Maxwell asked.
"Once I figure out how to get some gold. Right now, my plan is to get some firewood first."
As Kane spoke, he sat directly on the stair railing and slid from the eighth floor all the way down to the sixth in one go, then looked for the next staircase.
Soon he left the castle and headed toward the Forbidden Forest. He first snapped off a few branches, picked up some stones and grass, then sat down on the ground with his hands flying.
Finally, an basic axe was complete.
Just as he was carrying the axe into the Forbidden Forest, he suddenly remembered some not-so-pleasant memories.
"A magic school's forest shouldn't have tree monsters, right?"
...
Never mind. Chopping some small trees on the outskirts should be enough.
Some time later, Hagrid emerged from the depths of the Forbidden Forest with Fang, and saw Kane swaying toward Hogwarts, carrying a bundle of firewood with his pockets stuffed full of grass.
???