In the library, Kane sat with a quill trembling across the page as he wrote. A reference book on gemstones lay open in front of him.
Hermione, sitting beside him and waiting for Professor Kane's lesson, glanced at the book and was stunned by the prices.
A thumbnail-sized emerald in one corner cost ten Galleons. The more conventional, prominently displayed gemstones all cost at least a hundred.
A half-palm-sized Purple Gem cost a full one hundred and fifty Galleons...
Must be nice to be rich. He'd talked a poor professor out of his hard-earned Galleons, then spent them on luxury gemstones...
Mm. Gringotts really did not rob poor wizards.
Hermione stared at the appalling prices and sighed quietly.
Kane had finally finished his letter to Gringotts. He folded it up, used a Summoning Charm to call over a small bird, and had the bird carry the letter to Huginn, who would deliver it to Gringotts.
Honestly, whether a gem bought from Gringotts could make a Shadow Manipulator was something he would have to test. For these things, quantity mattered.
For instance, the gold required for a Science Machine had to be a fist-sized lump. Extra did not matter, but if it were even a gram short, the shadow infusion would fail and the Science Machine could not be made.
He could only hope this Purple Gem would just barely have enough material. Please, please, please.
Once he had finished praying, Kane looked at Hermione.
In truth, when he had told Hermione to stay away from Quirrell, he should have put it differently. He should have told her to ask another professor, such as McGonagall or Flitwick, rather than casually sending her to Professor Kane and creating a headache for himself.
Fortunately, Hermione had exceptional social awareness. She did not expect Kane to teach her for free. As payment, she lent him Transfiguration notes she had copied from a second-year Ravenclaw.
After naturally slipping the notes into his pocket, Kane cleared his throat. It was time to show off the skills he had crammed into himself inside the Prestihatitator's oversized hat.
That evening...
Thankfully, there were no classes that day. Kane did not know whether he was simply terrible at teaching or Hermione just wasn't following him, but their progress was remarkably slow.
After nearly half a day of instruction, he finally got Hermione to cast the Swamp Spell successfully. For some unknown reason, the swamp vanished on its own a few seconds later, but it was still a very good start.
Hermione finally let out a breath. The beginning was always the hardest part. Now that she had taken the first step, she could go back and practice slowly.
She also swore that she would never ask a natural genius for help again.
They did not explain the basic principles because, in their minds, those principles were no different from muscle memory. It was not so much that they had learned them well as that they had failed to forget them from a previous life.
"All right, let's get to the Great Hall while there's still time for dinner. I won't finish copying your notes today, but I'll return them as soon as I can tomorrow."
Kane stood, stretched hard, and made his joints crack.
"Go eat. I'm going to find somewhere to practice."
Hermione had barely finished speaking before Kane replied, "You're not hungry? Is someone bringing you dinner?"
There was not a trace of malice in his voice. It was only a sincere, low-EQ devil's whisper.
Hermione left even faster.
She intended to find somewhere private and shed a few tears, somewhere no one would see.
Kane scratched his head in confusion as he watched Hermione suddenly sprint away. At this point, he might as well eat first.
The next day...
Perhaps because it was Halloween, the professors throughout the castle were busy preparing the Great Hall.
And Kane...
Looking at the three green carving knives and several pumpkins larger than his head that had somehow appeared beside his bed, he understood at once.
Halloween. Back in the Constant, every Halloween had featured this classic event. But he had already left the Constant, hadn't he?
"So my bed is an ecological niche for a Florid Postern? Probably not. Maybe my shadow sensed the holiday and condensed these things on its own..."
Kane picked up a pumpkin and a carving knife, muttering in confusion.
Harry and Ron, awake unusually early, washed up as usual. They had already grown accustomed to Kane occasionally saying things they did not understand.
When they emerged from the washroom, they found Kane sitting on the sofa with a blankly calm expression, looking thoroughly lifeless.
He had realized that he had neither the materials to make the Halloween Science Machine nor a Pig King to give him extra rewards.
"So all I can do this Halloween is carve pumpkins..."
Kane sighed. Then he spotted a raven ornament next to his pillow.
"Well, at least it was free."
He pinned the raven ornament to his collar and went to his desk to copy the notes Hermione had borrowed from a second-year.
And so a boring day began.
After copying books all morning, the afternoon came. In Charms, the three boys still occupied their usual prime seats at the front by the window, while Hermione sat in the row behind them with Seamus Finnigan.
Kane mastered the spell as fast as possible, then lowered his head to continue copying notes. Harry and Ron obediently worked through their books.
Everything remained peaceful until Hermione asked to use the bathroom midway through class. Not long afterward, Kane realized that their row had gotten crowded.
He looked up to find that Seamus had somehow moved from the row behind them and squeezed in with the three boys.
"I finally understand why Hermione has been fighting with her friends for so long. Sharing a desk with Hermione is practically torture," Seamus whispered.
Harry and Ron nodded in wholehearted agreement.
They were both poor students. When they sat far enough away from Hermione, it was fine. But if they got even a little closer, there was a good chance she would lecture them. Seeing Seamus get lectured too, they felt deeply understood.
Kane: ???
Hiss... Was Hermione going to get angry and smash Seamus with a hammer?
Soon Hermione returned from the bathroom. She pushed open the door, looked toward her seat, and froze.
???
Her desk mate was gone.
Seamus awkwardly raised his head. He saw the helpless look in Hermione's eyes and lowered his head again, even more awkwardly.
In the end, Hermione said nothing and made no physically aggressive move. She simply returned to her seat and decided that she would skip the feast later and go cry in her usual spot.
The four boys in front did not notice anything unusual behind them. Before long, class ended, and Hermione left faster than any other young wizard.
"Did Granger seem angry just now?" Ron asked. Then he looked at Seamus. "Maybe you should apologize to her?"
"I'll talk to her when I see her later. But it isn't entirely my fault. Nobody likes being lectured in a hundred different ways," Seamus said with a bitter sigh.
He felt unbelievably unlucky that day. Then he headed after Neville, who was walking ahead of them.
Kane, still copying notes, noticed that Harry and Ron had not left. Without looking up, he said, "Go save me a good spot in the Great Hall. I'll come find you once I finish copying."
"Don't take too long."
Ron left with Harry. Kane finished the last part of the notes alone, and when he looked up again, fifteen minutes had passed.
He slipped his own copy into his pocket and held Hermione's notes in his hand. He planned to return them when he saw her in the Great Hall.
He searched the room, but couldn't find her anywhere.
"Are you looking for Hermione?"
Kane turned at the voice behind him. It was Hermione's roommate, Lavender Brown.
"I'm returning her notes."
Kane raised the notebook in his hand. Lavender nodded and leaned closer, lowering her voice.
"When nobody can find Hermione, she's usually crying alone in a girls' bathroom on the first floor. You could try there."
Kane truly did not understand what was going on between Hermione and her friends. A misunderstanding had turned into an argument, and they had stopped speaking. Even so, her friends still knew where she went to cry...
He did not understand this complicated emotional mess, but he was thoroughly shaken by it.
"Thanks. I'll go see what's going on."
Kane headed for the bathroom Lavender had described. Luckily, it was extremely out of the way. Otherwise, he might be mistaken for some kind of pervert sneaking into the girls' bathroom.
Following the map of Hogwarts he had built while wandering the castle, he quickly found the bathroom, if it could still be called one.
The once-slim, elegant door had been violently smashed open with a hole the size of a Tallbird Egg. A stench like rotting flesh filled the room.
"Don't house-elves clean bathrooms?"
Kane muttered as he looked inside. Then his eyes flew open.
"Hiss... Did Hagrid secretly raise a troll at Hogwarts, and it got loose?"