Hogwarts' Golden Glory

The shadows in the cellar were as thick as ink.

Kane went straight to Draco's dormitory.

The door slid open silently, revealing Crabbe's sleepy, round face.

"Boss Kane?" Crabbe's voice was stuck in his throat, like a chicken being choked.

His massive body instinctively moved aside, his pajamas still covered in crumbs of the sugar pie he had eaten before bed.

Kane did not answer; as his black robe swept across the threshold, it carried with it a wisp of the distinctive fir scent of the Forbidden Forest.

His gaze was fixed on the raised figure on the four-poster bed.

Draco still curls up like a shrimp when he sleeps, just like when he was a child.

"Get up." Kane yanked back the bed curtains, the silver bed hooks clanging against the metal rings.

Draco jumped up, his wand already in his hand, sparks flying from its tip.

When he saw who it was, his gray-blue eyes widened at first, then narrowed: "It's your first day at school, why don't you take a day off?"

He thought Kane was asking him to train.

Kane's gaze swept over his brother's pale skin peeking out from the collar of his pajamas.

"I have something to discuss with you!"

Draco was still a little confused.

"Crawb, Goyle," Kane commanded without turning his head, "Get out."

Theodore has already gotten up and gone off to do something.

The two big guys darted out the door like startled sniffles, even forgetting to put on their slippers.

The moment the door closed, Kane shook off Draco's hand, took two items from the inner pouch of the dragon skin, and slapped them onto the back of the silk.

The silver bracers gleamed coldly in the candlelight, and the serpent scales on the inside had an eerie dark green hue.

The frames of the specially made glasses are wrapped with mithril wire, and the lenses shimmer with rainbow-like ripples when shaken.

Draco's breath hitched for a moment. He reached out to touch the wristband, then withdrew his fingers just before making contact, as if it were some dangerous magical creature: "What kind of new prank product is this?"

"Put them on." Kane's voice sounded like it had been sanded.

He picked up the wristband; the metal looked remarkably small in his palm. "Left hand."

"Will it explode?" Draco looked up, but his trembling eyelashes betrayed his unease.

Kane grabbed his left wrist directly.

In contrast to his rough movements, his fingers were exceptionally dexterous when adjusting the buckle, ensuring that every inch of the scale lining fit his pulse perfectly.

The moment the wristbands locked, Draco gasped.

Fine runes appeared on the metal surface, like countless silver ants crawling across the skin.

"That's so cool!"

"Does it hurt?" Kane suddenly asked.

Draco bit his lower lip and shook his head, but beads of sweat had already formed on his forehead.

When it came to glasses, Draco became even more resistant. He turned his face away: "I don't need vision correction."

"It's not for you to correct your eyesight." Kane wiped the dust off the lenses with his thumb.

"There might be some color difference when looking at things, but you'll get used to it in three days."

Draco shuddered as the cold temples of his glasses rested on his ears.

The world behind the lens was instantly veiled by a pale golden filter, the candlelight turned an eerie blue-green, and silver specks of light swam in the folds of Kane's black robe—this was the Confusion Charm distorting certain wavelengths of light.

"Damn it!" Draco tried to take off his glasses, but Kane grabbed his wrist.

Under Kane's command, Draco had no choice but to obey.

"Wear it all day." Kane released his grip, his voice almost inaudible. "Baths, sleep, Quidditch practice—especially when you're walking around Hogwarts alone."

After warning the other party, Kane left the dormitory.

Kane pondered how to deal with the basilisk monster the entire way.

Although it's cool to kill a basilisk with the Gryffindor sword.

However, for the opponent's snake venom, he still needs the Phoenix's Tears.

"Kane, come with me!"

Just then, Snape appeared before Kane like a giant black bat.

"Professor, is there anything I can help you with? I'm a bit busy right now."

Kane wanted to politely decline, because he wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Dumbledore should be having breakfast in the Great Hall, and go to the other person's office to see if he can get some of Fox's Tears.

If Professor Older were here, the other side would definitely have a way to get Fox's tears.

Snape said coldly, "The office, now!"

Kane had no choice but to abandon his plans for the time being, even though he knew his professor wouldn't say something like, "Slytherin, lose five points."

The bronze door to the potions office slammed shut behind him.

Kane noticed that the air today lacked its usual bitter potion smell.

Instead, there was a crisp, fir-like scent—a sign of an anti-eavesdropping spell.

"To prevent that homeless man from eavesdropping!"

After learning that Kane had acquired the other man's ancestral home, Snape began referring to him as a vagrant!

"Explain yourself," Snape suddenly slammed a stack of parchment on the table.

Kane recognized it as his research that he had given to the other person during his vacation.

An eerie blue flame was burning at the edge. "Why did you add phoenix feathers to your Water of Life and Death recipe?"

Kane's Adam's apple bobbed.

Because he was just playing around with it when he had nothing else to do, and anyway, Igor lost some feathers at the time.

"Because..." He looked directly into Snape's dark eyes, "regular waters of life and death are ineffective against magical creatures."

A deathly silence fell over the office. Suddenly, all the potion specimens soaking on the wall shelf turned towards Kane.

Countless floating eyes stared at him without blinking.

Snape's lips twisted into an almost smiling expression.

"A clever answer," he said softly, "a wrong reason."

A small dragon-skin pouch was tossed in front of Kane, and two obsidian cufflinks rolled out as the pouch opened.

Each one has a blood-red crystal embedded in its center, which looks like a solidified flame in the candlelight.

"These two little things are for you and Draco," Snape's voice was hoarser than usual. "They've undergone... special treatment."

Just as Kane was about to touch it, his cufflinks suddenly fastened automatically onto his cuffs.

"Oh, and let me tell you something: no matter how great or impressive you think you are, don't go into the Forbidden Forest this semester!"

Snape practically spat out those words through gritted teeth!

The other party's expression was extremely serious, as if Kane would deduct points from their score if they didn't agree!

"Is it because monsters have appeared in the Forbidden Forest?"

Kane asked directly.

Snape was stunned; he hadn't expected Kane to know about this.

"At last night's faculty meeting," Snape suddenly turned around to tidy the medicine cabinet, his back to Kane, and said, "Dumbledore mentioned unusual biological activity in the Forbidden Forest."

Kane had actually guessed it yesterday; this was exactly what Dumbledore was talking about.

After all, Dumbledore still had a certain degree of control over the Forbidden Forest.

"Oh, and there's an extra obsidian cufflink. Give it to Potter, but don't say it was from me."