Kane didn't notice Hagrid appearing behind him.
He just kept hugging the firewood he'd worked so hard to chop, shuffling step by step toward the castle.
Suddenly, he felt his load lighten.
Looking up, he saw a nearly ten-foot-tall fellow who looked remarkably kind and honest, easily lifting the firewood from his arms.
"Hogwarts hasn't started yet. How did you end up here?" Hagrid asked as he took the wood from Kane's embrace.
"Professor Dumbledore brought me back. He won't let me use magic outside, but I can't survive without using magic, so I got brought here." Kane was happy to chat.
The wizards he'd encountered in this world, Dumbledore, Kingsley, and now this giant of a man, all seemed pretty kind.
They felt different from the stereotypical wizards he'd imagined. Could it be that after escaping the Constant, everything looked like a starter village to him?
Hagrid thought for a moment, scratching his head. "Yer… I mean, yeh don' got parents… no, I meant yer guardian… jus' know I don' mean no harm. Me mouth's a bit clumsy, it is. I'm Hagrid, Keeper o' Keys an' Grounds at Hogwarts."
"Kane Heath. I'm an orphan, nothing to tiptoe around." Kane looked up at Hagrid, who'd nearly talked himself into oxygen deprivation, and quickly reassured him.
After all, if this huge guy actually passed out from lack of oxygen, even with Shadow's help, he might not be able to drag him back to the castle.
"Anyway, sorry, Kane... What are you doing with all this firewood?" Hagrid changed the subject.
"Making a bonfire. Too bad I couldn't find the right stones."
Kane looked at Hagrid with his somewhat listless eyes and prominent dark circles.
His instinct told him this man definitely knew how to help.
Sure enough, Hagrid patted his chest.
"That's easy! I'll take you to the Black Lake later.
Plenty of stones there. You can make your bonfire by my hut.
I used to love making bonfires when I was at school, roasting a couple of potatoes or some sausages."
Hagrid beckoned Kane toward his cabin.
Though it was called a cabin, it had to fit Hagrid's ten-foot frame, so at first glance it was pretty imposing, even if the whole style looked like... a rural warehouse.
"Professor Dumbledore's benefits for Hogwarts staff are a bit... stingy." Kane offered a restrained assessment.
"Technically speaking, Dumbledore rescued me from Azkaban and brought me here.
I'm plenty satisfied with a place like this, and it's not like I'm suffering.
If I straightened up even a little in the castle office rooms, I'd hit my head on the ceiling."
Hagrid set down the firewood in the yard, defending Dumbledore.
This was the second time today Kane had heard of this place called Azkaban.
"So what exactly is this place, this Azkaban?"
Hagrid's face turned serious instantly. "It's the wizards' prison. Inside..."
"Okay, no need to say more." Kane waved his hand.
"Looks like we're in the same boat. I was also rescued from Azkaban by Dumbledore."
Thinking of that bad cop, Kingsley made Kane recall how magically he'd repeated those three syllables, "Azkaban."
Though he figured it was probably just to scare a little kid like him, it didn't stop him from using it to get closer to Hagrid.
Sure enough, when Hagrid heard this, his face filled with surprise and indignation.
"Azkaban? How could someone your age get sent to Azkaban? Those vermin at the Ministry are getting more outrageous by the day!"
"You're telling me. So, Hagrid, are we still collecting stones?"
Hagrid grunted and quickly stuffed Fang into his doghouse before leading Kane toward the nearby Black Lake.
Besides rocks suitable for making bonfires, the lakeshore had plenty of pebbles, agates, plant fossils, and various jade-like stones.
But he didn't need any of that right now, so he just picked up a few rocks before heading back to Hagrid's hut.
Of course, Hagrid helped too, and he was incredibly... earnest.
He used his leather coat to carry back enough stones to crush Kane under their weight.
When piled up outside Hagrid's yard, they looked like a small burial mound.
Soon, Kane set to work making the bonfire.
He injected Shadow into the firewood in advance.
Igniting the wood to dispel the Shadow would certainly be more comfortable than burning his own Shadow essence.
If this worked, he wouldn't just get a good night's sleep.
He might even be able to take out a few shadow creatures and strengthen himself, finally getting rid of these dark circles.
Watching Kane eagerly build his bonfire, Hagrid pulled a brand-new flint and steel from his hut.
He felt that using flint to start a fire had more ritual to it than using magic.
But the moment he brought out the flint, he saw a mass of shadow materialize in Kane's hand, then attach itself directly to the assembled bonfire.
In an instant, the previously ordinary bonfire, which should have radiated warmth, somehow looked deeply unsettling and absurd to Hagrid's eyes, even though its appearance hadn't changed at all.
"Kane? What... what kind of magic is that?"
Hagrid swallowed. He really wasn't particularly skilled with magic, but he could still tell that weird shadow definitely wasn't any kind of proper magic.
"Shadow. Born with it. That's why Hogwarts found me, and why I almost got thrown into that Azkaban."
Kane said casually, then waved his hand gently. The bonfire instantly burst into flame.
A feeling even warmer than warmth enveloped him. This rare warm anchor point from the Constant let his long-tensed nerves relax just a little.
Hagrid had been momentarily alarmed when he realized Kane was naturally skilled in dark magic.
But then he saw Kane use it only to make a strange, almost otherworldly bonfire, and afterward just sit quietly, lost in thought.
Suddenly, Hagrid felt like his ability to judge people by their magic had improved a lot.
In short, he really ought to be ashamed of himself.
Seeing this, Hagrid slowly sat on the ground.
When he noticed the flames in the bonfire getting a bit smaller, he picked up a piece of wood and tossed it in.
But strangely, when the wood went into the fire, nothing happened at all.
It was as if what he'd thrown in wasn't wood but asbestos tiles that couldn't possibly burn.
"This is..." Hagrid looked at the piece of wood in the fire with some surprise, as if it didn't belong to this texture map.
"It needs a bit of magic."
Kane let a strand of Shadow attach to that piece of wood, and soon the flames in the bonfire grew more vigorous.
Hagrid looked eagerly at Kane, pointing at the pile of firewood nearby.
"No way. Use too much and you'll lose sanity." Kane immediately refused.
"Lose sanity?" Hagrid heard another new term.
"You can understand it as your brain getting fried. Some monsters will try to kill you." Kane explained offhandedly.
Hagrid scratched his head... well, young wizards' imaginations were always so rich.
Kane saw Hagrid's awkward expression and knew he didn't believe him, but he had no interest in explaining further.
Soon, bells rang from Hogwarts Castle. Hagrid stood up and pulled Kane to his feet.
"Looks like it's lunchtime.
Let's get going.
If you arrive at Hogwarts early and can get familiar with Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape ahead of time, I guarantee your first year will go brilliantly..."
After saying this, Hagrid's expression turned somewhat strange.
"Actually, not getting familiar with Professor Snape is fine too."