Professor Sprout introduced herself, then got straight to the point.
"Today, we'll be learning how to repot Mandrakes. First, you need to put on the specially made earmuffs in front of you."
Kane looked at the earmuffs before him. They had a distinctly Constant-like aesthetic. In other words, they looked so simple they might have been handcrafted on the spot.
He promptly put them on.
The earmuffs were rather magical. Wearing them didn't interfere with his hearing at all. According to Professor Sprout, they only filtered out the harmful effects of a Mandrake's scream without blocking the actual sound in the slightest.
Kane had no idea why a Mandrake's scream possessed some mysterious harmful property, but that suited him just fine.
The more chaos these things could cause, the better his chances of succeeding.
Once all the young wizards had put on their earmuffs, Professor Sprout explained just how deadly Mandrakes could be.
When she saw a faint trace of fear on every student's face... well, most of them, she finally placed a hand on the Mandrake's leaves.
"Everyone, do exactly as I do."
Kane followed her instructions and gripped the Mandrake by its leaves.
Professor Sprout looked as though she were facing a mortal enemy, and even Kane became unusually tense.
In the Constant, Mandrakes were just stupid radishes that hopped around and loved screaming their heads off.
But what if they were different here?
It never hurt to remain humble.
"On my count. Three, two... one..."
Kane took a deep breath.
Professor Sprout suddenly shouted, "Pull!"
In an instant, a Mandrake's battle cry, ten thousand times more piercing than fingernails scraping across glass, erupted throughout the greenhouse.
The entire place descended into chaos.
Holding the Mandrake by its hair, Kane suddenly understood.
He had previously wondered how a bunch of stupid radishes could make Professor Sprout look so wary. He had even wondered whether her magical abilities simply weren't particularly impressive.
Now, however, he realized he'd had it completely backward.
Her abilities weren't unimpressive at all.
They were ridiculously impressive.
If some incompetent fool had to deal with these damned radishes, forget nervous exhaustion or their Sanity dropping to zero. They would probably be dead within a few days.
And if some disobedient young wizard decided to pull some stunt during class, any professor incapable of immediately suppressing the situation would probably end up watching a student get screamed to death by a Mandrake.
Then Hogwarts would be sending them packing.
In short, Kane acknowledged Professor Sprout's abilities.
Absolutely acknowledged them.
This woman was definitely a hidden powerhouse.
Of course, admiration was one thing. Kane's hands never stopped moving.
Shadows gradually spread from his palm.
The ugly Mandrake that had been emitting an ear-piercing scream slowly quieted down, transforming into the familiar, adorably ugly radish Kane knew.
Following Professor Sprout's instructions, he shoved the newly naturalized citizen of the Constant into another flowerpot without hesitation.
Soon, the greenhouse finally fell silent.
"Phew... I'm alive again."
Kane breathed a sigh of relief.
Now all he had to do was wait until the end of class, pull out the Mandrake he'd transferred to the Constant, stuff it into his clothes, and replace it with that half-radish.
Then today's mission would be complete.
"Yaaaaawn..."
"Kane, class is almost over."
Harry gently patted Kane, who had somehow fallen asleep standing upright with both hands braced against the table.
"I feel alive again."
Kane yawned and slowly opened his eyes.
At that exact moment, the bell rang.
Neville immediately played his part without making the slightest mistake.
"Professor, I... could I take one of the Mandrakes with me?"
In an instant, every eye in the greenhouse turned toward Neville.
Kane seized the opportunity.
Now!
His hand shot out, grabbed the Mandrake by the hair, and yanked it straight out of the soil.
On the other side of the greenhouse, Neville was being lectured by Professor Sprout about just how dangerous Mandrakes were.
Then he saw Kane, completely unprotected and without so much as a barrier between himself and the plant, simply yank one straight out of its pot.
Neville nearly lost his mind with terror.
Mate, what the hell?
This wasn't the kind of crazy stunt I thought you were planning!
Weren't you supposed to steal the entire flowerpot?
Why are you ripping the plant straight out?!
Nobody in the greenhouse is wearing earmuffs anymore!
How is what you're doing any different from terrorism?!
Yet the expected piercing scream never came.
Nor did anyone die.
Kane held the Mandrake as casually as if he'd pulled an ordinary dead radish from the ground. He gave the noticeably better-looking Mandrake a little shake, confirmed that its transfer into the Constant had left it thoroughly "dead" by this world's standards, then quickly stuffed it inside his clothes.
Harry didn't hesitate either.
He pulled out the half-radish and forcibly planted it in the flowerpot.
At first glance, it actually looked fairly convincing.
"And that is why Mandrakes are extremely dangerous magical plants. Do you understand, Mr. Longbottom?"
Professor Sprout finally finished her lecture.
Neville nodded blankly.
Your Mandrake and my Mandrake...
They don't seem to be the same thing.
After class, Kane deliberately gave Neville an enormous hug.
This guy hadn't made a single mistake. A true brother.
"Neville, my good brother! From now on, your problems are my problems. If anything ever happens and I can help, just come find me!"
Kane excitedly shook Neville back and forth.
The strength required to shake the chubby boy hard enough that he nearly threw up was completely at odds with Kane's sickly appearance, which made him look as though he might not survive the winter.
"I... I will. But that plant of yours..."
It took Neville considerable effort to escape Kane's grip.
He looked suspiciously around before continuing in a low voice.
"What happened to it? Why did it look like it was dead?"
Kane pursed his lips.
In the end, he decided to tell the truth.
He had used his shadows before to temporarily naturalize Neville's toad into the Constant. There wasn't much point in hiding the fact that his magic could alter the form of living creatures.
Dumbledore and the others already knew about it anyway.
He might as well be honest.
After hearing the explanation, Neville nodded blankly.
As far as he was concerned, that sounded suspiciously like Kane trying to justify himself.
The truth was probably that the poor Mandrake had simply been murdered by Kane.
"Forget it. Oh, right. I saw Hagrid outside the castle earlier. He asked me to tell the three of you to visit his hut when you have time. He said he wanted to ask how you've been finding life at Hogwarts."
Neville quickly forgot about the tragically murdered Mandrake and dutifully delivered the rest of the message.
"We'll go after lunch. See you this afternoon for Flying class."
With that, Kane headed toward the Great Hall with Harry and Ron.
He was in an exceptionally good mood the entire way, his grin practically reaching the sun.
After all, when they met Hagrid later, he could ask where exactly those spiders in the Forbidden Forest lived.
He was still waiting to collect spider silk for his Tent and Prestihatitator.
Wasn't this basically like someone handing him a pillow the moment he started feeling sleepy?
Perhaps Merlin really was watching over him, because coffee was being served at lunch today.
It practically saved Kane's life.
As for the other food, he merely sampled a little.
Watching Harry and Ron wolf down their meals, Kane gave them a knowing, high-IQ smile.
They were going to visit Hagrid's hut later.
Obviously, he needed to save some room for Hagrid's snacks.
Not long afterward...
"Mm. They'll definitely like these rock cakes."
Hagrid took a plate of glowing red-hot rock cakes out of the furnace and placed them on an empty tray to cool.
This process was known as tempering. It reduced the hardness of metal while increasing its toughness.
Though rock cakes probably weren't made of iron.
Knock, knock, knock...
"Oh, they're here!"
Hagrid hurried to open the door.
Once the door opened, Kane, Harry, and Ron walked inside, each carrying a gift.
Hagrid stared at the three presents on the table in delighted surprise.
What wonderful children!
Without further ceremony, he immediately began opening them.
Harry's was an exquisite little trunk, apparently enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
Ron's was a brand-new axe.
Kane's was a small beige bag, likewise enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
All three looked expensive at a glance.
If Kane could have heard Hagrid's thoughts, he would undoubtedly have responded with an awkward but polite smile.
In truth, Kane had handcrafted all three gifts himself.
The only cost was a little ecological damage to the area surrounding Hogwarts.
"Thank you so much. I love all of them."
Hagrid quickly ushered the three of them over to sit beside the fireplace.
He had just been about to say something when a letter suddenly flew in through the window.
Hagrid picked it up and glanced at it.
His expression changed dramatically.
Kane was holding one particularly hefty rock cake, studying it while wondering whether he could fit the entire thing into his mouth in one bite.
Then he noticed Hagrid's expression.
"What's wrong?"
Hagrid swallowed.
"Professor Dumbledore sent word. A Mandrake has been stolen from the greenhouse. Right now, Hogwarts Castle is basically a ticking time bomb. Nobody knows when it might suddenly..."
Kane continued examining the rock cake in his hand, his expression perfectly calm.
"Then why did he write to you? Do you have some special way of finding Mandrakes?"
Hagrid shook his head.
"Oh, no, nothing like that. It's mainly because Dumbledore told me he already knows you stole the Mandrake, and he wants you to go turn yourself in immediately."
Clang!
The rock cake dropped back onto the plate.
The plate shattered beneath it.
Kane slowly raised his head, utterly dumbfounded.
???