Kane glanced down at the wizard robes he was wearing, ignoring Harry's embarrassment.
After the three of them stepped off the train, they spotted Hagrid holding up a lantern and calling out to the first-year students.
"Hey, Kane, Harry, and Ron! Get on over to those boats and have a seat. We'll be setting off soon!"
Hagrid waved the three of them toward a boat before turning to call out to the other young wizards.
On the small boat, Kane watched as Harry and Ron stared at the brightly lit Hogwarts castle in the distance, their surprise inevitable.
Then they looked at Kane, who sat there calm as could be. "How are you not even a little surprised?"
"I was surprised once already."
Kane offered a simple explanation. What was he supposed to say? That he'd already taken a day trip to Hogwarts before school even started?
When he'd been enjoying himself at Hogwarts, Harry had still been stuck at his aunt's house.
If Harry found out about that, it wouldn't exactly lead to a falling out, but Kane could probably forget about ever getting Harry to spend a penny on him again.
Soon another young wizard climbed into their boat. Overall, he gave off a wooden, slightly dazed impression, someone without a mean bone in his body.
The person who'd arranged for him to be on this boat was someone they knew.
"I think Neville gets picked on way too easily. I need to head over to the girls' boat, so I'm putting him with you guys."
Hermione rattled off her explanation at breakneck speed. "You won't bully him, will you?"
Kane shrugged. "What kind of monsters do you take us for?"
"Great. Neville, get along with your new friends." With that, Hermione headed off into the distance.
Ron, being a pureblood, naturally recognized Neville. He looked at him teasingly. "How come I didn't know you had a sister in the Muggle world?"
Neville's face turned bright red. "Hermione's not my sister, just a friend. She's really nice."
"Yeah, Neville... I remember you now. We heard she helped you look for your toad. Did you ever find it?" Harry asked.
"No." Neville looked dejected.
"Mm... I get how you feel. It's like how I have my new owl now, but I still keep my old rat Scabbers. Hope you find your little toad soon."
Before long, Hagrid came walking over from nearby. He'd finished getting all the new students onto boats.
Like the four founders of Hogwarts before them, they crossed the Black Lake by boat and arrived at Hogwarts.
In the entrance hall, Kane casually tapped his toe against a gap in the wall. Soon enough, seats emerged from the stone surface.
"Whoa? How did you know Hogwarts could do that?" Ron stared at Kane's relaxed demeanor. He definitely didn't look like someone visiting Hogwarts for the first time.
"Read more books. Every wall at Hogwarts works like this." Kane made up a lie on the spot.
The three of them sat on small stone stools in the corner, all equally anxious about what was coming. How exactly would the Sorting Ceremony work?
Compared to Harry and Ron, Kane felt an extra pang of regret.
He'd spent all that time bunking with Dumbledore, and somehow he'd never thought to ask about this?
Having a treasure trove right in front of him and not even realizing it... What a waste!
Suddenly, a commotion in the distance jolted them all to attention.
"What's going on?" Harry stood up to look, quickly understanding the situation.
"I think it's Neville's toad. Somehow it ended up on some strange kid's head, and now that kid is making Neville choose between killing his toad or getting beaten up himself."
"Hey, that's definitely a tough choice for him. Though not that tough, really. Neville's definitely going to protect his toad."
Ron knew Neville well, and sure enough, Neville's choice matched exactly what Ron had predicted.
Kane caught wind of the excitement brewing. No matter when or where, this kind of human-on-human scuffle was always captivating.
He immediately grabbed Harry and Ron, planning to go watch the show.
"Kane, can you be serious for once? We've at least met Neville before." Harry reminded him.
"I know. That's why I'm going to protect Neville.
If it's just a couple symbolic punches to blow off steam, fine. But what if the guy goes too far?" Kane pulled Harry and Ron to a prime spectator position.
From what they could see, Neville must have been bullied by other kids pretty regularly.
Hearing he could take a beating in exchange for his toad's life, he naturally curled up on the ground and protected his head.
Meanwhile, a chestnut-haired young wizard whose face had been jumped by the toad crouched beside Neville, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks.
"That chestnut-haired kid is Pol Anrela, from a promising pureblood family." Ron explained to Kane and Harry.
The situation wasn't out of control.
After all, an eleven-year-old kid's punches couldn't have much force behind them, especially with Neville maintaining that professional defensive position.
At most, his robes got a bit dirty.
However, Hermione, who'd just pushed her way through the crowd, couldn't stand to watch this scene.
She quickly drew her wand and pointed it at Pol Anrela. "Stop it, or you'll regret it!"
Anrela slowly stopped and looked at Hermione. "Who are you?"
"Hermione Granger, Neville's friend!" Hermione's face was seriously stern.
"Granger?"
Pol Anrela's eyes rolled upward, clearly trying to remember.
Soon enough, he succeeded in his recollection. There was no such surname among Britain's pureblood or half-blood families.
"Miss Mudblood, you can turn around and leave now. Otherwise, I might just have to give you a beating too."
The instant the word "Mudblood" left his mouth, the entire entrance hall split into three factions: the lawful good side's shock and anger, the lawful evil side's cheers and flattery, and people like Kane and Harry who had absolutely no idea what was going on.
The two of them quickly grabbed Ron, who'd rolled up his sleeves and was raising his wand to charge forward.
Before they could ask what was happening, the other person at the storm's center, Hermione, demonstrated the fundamental skill of the new generation of wizards.
With a zero-frame startup of some unknown spell, Pol Anrela's once-soft robes instantly became as hard as steel.
Ron, who'd been ready to stand up for someone he'd met once, suddenly calmed down.
Given how things looked now, Hermione seemed perfectly capable of handling this on her own.
"By the way, you still haven't told us what 'Mudblood' means." Harry asked.
"It's a slur for wizards born to pure Muggle parents.
The insult level is about a hundred times worse than calling someone a beach bum."
Kane scratched his head. "Me?"
"Even though your magic doesn't look like anything a pure Muggle-born wizard could pull off, the kind of wizards who go around calling people Mudbloods probably can't understand logic that complex, so... yeah, that's how it is."
Ron considered for a moment before nodding slowly.
Then he and Harry subtly positioned themselves on Kane's left and right.
If he just stuck someone to the ceiling, that'd be one thing. But what if he did more?
On the other side, a charm on Pol Anrela's necklace glowed briefly.
Inside it was a permanent Finite Incantatem spell that could protect him from some low-level jinxes.
As his robes returned to their soft state, he raised his wand and engaged Hermione in battle.
With a bang, Maxwell suddenly appeared behind Kane, watching this little drama unfold.
"I've got a pretty good idea of what this show is all about. It has to do with that so-called Sorting Ceremony, Kane." Maxwell said in a ghostly tone.
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~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones