Hogwarts' Golden Glory

Kane's fingertips traced the obsidian cufflink, the blood-red crystal gleaming faintly in the dim cellar corridor.

He suddenly stopped, turned around, and raised his voice towards the still-open office door:

"Professor, when you prepare a gift for Potter, should you use silver or green wrapping paper? I guess you'd prefer it embroidered with 'Most Hated Potter'—"

An ink bottle flew out from under the door and exploded at Kane's feet, the black ink splattering onto his dragon-skin boots and forming small skull patterns.

Snape's voice slithered out like a viper: "Malfoy, if I hear another word from you, I'll turn you into mandrake fertilizer."

Kane's lips curled into a smile as he gave an exaggerated bow, his black robe billowing like bat wings.

As he straightened up, the office door slammed shut, knocking off the hat of a wizard dozing in a painting on the wall.

"Truly a classic Godfather-like concern," Kane whispered to his cufflinks, the crystal flashing in response.

He had only taken three steps—Porter was coming down the spiral staircase.

Her messy black hair hadn't been combed yet, clearly indicating she had just woken up.

Kane quickly adjusted his expression, pretending to lean casually against the dripping beast statue.

As Harry passed by, he casually tossed the tin box, which traced a perfect arc in the air.

"Next, Harry," Kane drawled, "a fan gift that an admirer asked me to pass on."

Harry instinctively caught the box, his green eyes behind his glasses filled with suspicion: "What's this? It's not Fred and the others' biting badges, is it?"

"Why don't you just open it and see?" Kane pretended to turn around and leave, but actually kept an eye on things out of the corner of his eye.

When Harry lifted the lid of the box, he saw the Savior's pupils suddenly contract—inside the box lay an obsidian cufflink exactly like the one on his sleeve.

"Who told you to deliver it—"

"Don't ask unless you want to know the secret menu for the Slug Club's party next week," Kane interrupted him.

Suddenly lowering her voice, she said, "Wear it, always."

Harry wanted to ask more questions, but Kane had already strode towards the greenhouse.

After turning the corner, he immediately cast a disillusionment spell on himself and quietly turned back.

Just as the savior's finger was about to touch the surface of the gem, Ron's loud voice suddenly came from around the corner of the corridor:

"Harry! Professor McGonagall is looking for you—"

The instant Harry looked up, Kane's wand traced a semi-circle in the air.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he murmured, and the cufflinks immediately floated from Harry's palm.

As Ron's red head peeked out from behind the pillar, Kane precisely manipulated the cufflinks to slide towards Harry's left cuff.

The instant the gem touched the fabric, he swiftly changed his incantation: "Fixus (Fixing Charm)."

"What's glowing?" Ron squinted and approached.

Harry instinctively covered his cuffs, but this action only made the newly appeared obsidian cufflinks more conspicuous.

Kane seized the opportunity to unleash another Confusion Spell, aimed directly at Ron's line of sight.

Red-haired Weasley suddenly sneezed, rubbing his eyes and muttering, "Merlin's beard... I must still be dreaming..."

"What's glowing?" Harry looked down and was surprised to find that the cufflinks were already firmly fastened to his cuffs, as if they were originally part of his clothes.

He tried to pry at the edge of the gem, but felt a slight electric current as soon as his fingertips touched it.

"This!" Ron finally saw it clearly. "When did you start wearing this Slytherin-style jewelry?"

Harry frowned in confusion: "What Kane gave me just now..."

His voice trailed off as tiny words suddenly appeared on his cufflink: "Don't make a sound, you idiot."

Kane covered his mouth to keep from laughing out loud while in stealth mode.

He recognized the handwriting; it was exactly like the scathing annotations in his sixth-grade potions textbook.

It seems there was an extra surprise hidden in the cufflinks Snape gave Harry.

"Malfoy?" Ron's voice rose an octave. "Did he cast a spell on you? Let me see—"

Just as Ron reached out, a beam of green light shot out from the cufflink, burning a small red dot on the red-haired boy's fingertip.

"Ouch!" Ron jerked his hand back. "This thing is a dark magic item!"

"How could that be? Kane wouldn't hurt me. Don't think like that. Professor McGonagall, is something wrong?"

Harry trusted Kane completely, but Ron still believed that Kane was a dark wizard.

Kane raised an eyebrow. It seemed the savior wasn't completely stupid after all.

Harry sighed and grabbed Ron's flailing arms, dragging him around the corner of the corridor. "Calm down," he said, "those cufflinks are probably some kind of quirky magic. I've seen your brothers wear similar ones."

He took out his wand and cast a healing spell on Ron's fingertip, and the red dot immediately disappeared. "Besides, Kane has helped me many times, how could he possibly harm me? You really should put away your prejudice against him, Ron. I'm really disappointed."

"That's just a smokescreen he used to cast a curse!" Ron rubbed his fingers.

Harry was about to retort when Professor McGonagall's roar rang out from afar: "Potter! Get to my office right now!"

Harry could only listen to his own professors for the time being.

Ron was left alone, pondering Harry's last words.

The herbal medicine greenhouse was filled with the distinctive sour, rotten smell of mandrake.

Professor Sprout was wrapped in a mud-caked robe and carrying a mandrake that was taller than herself.

The rootlets were tangled in her apron strap: "Watch closely, you must recite the 'Soothing Sound' incantation when repotting, otherwise—"

Before she could finish speaking, Mandrake suddenly let out a pig-like scream, and her tendrils snatched away her glasses.

Neville's mandrake took the opportunity to burrow into the bottom of the flowerpot, and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't get it out.

Draco poked at the grass with his silver pruning shears and was immediately sprayed in the face with green sap. He screamed and backed away, knocking over the flowerpots of his two henchmen.

In an instant, the greenhouse was filled with cries of agony, the roots of mandrakes crawled wildly on the ground like octopuses, and Hermione's "Complete Herbalist's Manual" was rolled into a grassy nest.

When Harry rushed into the greenhouse, he saw Professor Sprout riding on a mandrake and chanting a spell, his silver hair covered in dirt and grass seeds.

He hurriedly pulled out his wand to help, but a fleeing mandrake got tangled around his ankle and almost fell into the compost bin.

Kane appeared behind him without him noticing, and with a flick of his wand, all the mandrake roots obediently wrapped around the flowerpots labeled with names.

"Thank you, Kane. Slytherin, ten points!"

Professor Sprout had calmed down by now, realizing that a small accident had almost caused a major incident.

He then looked at Harry.

"Porter, you're ten minutes late."

"Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to me about... about Quidditch tactics." Harry's ears burned as he lied, but then he noticed that Kane had the same buttons on his cuffs as he did.

Professor Sprout finally got his glasses back and announced that the class would continue.

Harry whispered to Kane, "Thank you for... the Guardian Magic."