Hogwarts' Golden Glory

Moody's question hung like a cold dagger in the air between the two men.

The rain began to fall again, pattering on the heather, on the werewolf's tired face, and on Moody's hand that gripped his wand tightly.

The werewolf—whose name was Tobias, he later mumbled—shifted uneasily, sensing the change in the atmosphere.

Fear returned to those eyes that had just regained some clarity.

Kane did not answer Moody immediately. He stood up, walked to the side, turned his back to the two of them, and looked towards the outline of the mountains to the north shrouded in rain.

Igor turned his head on his shoulder, his silver eyes sweeping over Moody, then over the werewolf, and finally settling on Kane's profile.

Time passed in the sound of rain.

"You want to know my real purpose?" Kane finally spoke, his voice calm, without turning around.

"Yes." Moody's voice was as hard as iron. "Because based on all the intelligence I've gathered, Kane Malfoy—Lucius Malfoy's eldest son, Slytherin's genius, a student personally 'mentored' by Grindelwald, the 'next Dumbledore' or 'next Voldemort' in people's mouths—his reason for being here could not possibly be simply 'kindness' or 'academic research'."

Kane turned around. Rain soaked his hair, a strand of black hair clinging to his forehead, but his grey eyes were unusually clear in the twilight. "Which one do you think it is?"

"What?"

"The next Dumbledore, or the next Voldemort?" Kane took a few steps closer, stopping two steps in front of Moody. The distance was so close he could see the lines of every scar on the old Auror's face. "Or, is it possible that I am neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort, but simply Kane Malfoy?"

Moody's prosthetic eye spun wildly, while his real eye remained unblinking: "What does Kane Malfoy want?"

"Order," Kane said simply.

"order?"

"The current order in the wizarding world is fragile. On one side is the 'light' represented by Dumbledore, which relies on morality, love, and idealism; on the other side is the 'darkness' represented by Voldemort, which relies on fear, violence, and pure-blood fanaticism. Both are on the verge of collapse—the light is too weak, and the darkness is too foolish."

Kane spoke as if analyzing an academic problem, "And in between these two, there is a huge gray area. Werewolves, vampires, giants, excluded half-bloods and Squibs... They don't belong to either side, so they can be used by either side, or—integrated."

Moody's breathing became heavy: "Integration? With your potion? With your 'improvement'?"

"Give them what they really need: dignity, security, and the possibility of controlling their own destiny."

Kane's gaze shifted to Tobias, the werewolf huddled beside a pile of stones, watching them warily. "Look at him, Moody. He's injured, discarded as an experiment, and nearly died. Does he hate Greyback? Of course. Does he hate that man in black? Without a doubt. But he hates this world even more—a world that treated him like a monster, labeled him, and then left him to fend for himself."

Tobias flinched when he heard his name called.

“If I give him a medicine that will prevent him from going mad at the full moon and allow him to live like a normal person,” Kane continued, “he will be grateful to me. If I give the entire tribe the same medicine, they will follow me. This is not the Dark Lord’s reign of fear, nor Dumbledore’s moralizing; it’s a deal—I give them the dignity to live, and they give me loyalty.”

Moody fell silent. Rainwater streamed down the grain of his wooden legs, merging into the mud.

"So you must build your own power," he said finally, his voice low, "a third force, besides Dumbledore and Voldemort."

“A more practical, more solid foundation of order,” Kane corrected. “The werewolf tribe is just the beginning. If successful, other marginalized groups will see a model. Vampires, trolls, even some giants… There are too many overlooked forces in the wizarding world, and Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic are treating them the wrong way.”

"And then? When your 'power' is great enough, what do you want to do? Overthrow the Ministry of Magic? Replace Dumbledore?"

“Repair,” Kane said. “Repair what’s broken. But before that, I must stop a greater catastrophe—Voldemort is building an uncontrollable army of werewolves, and if he succeeds, all of Britain will be plunged into bloodshed. So my first objective is the same as yours and Dumbledore’s: destroy the experiment of that man in black and dismantle Greyback’s rule.”

Moody stared at him for a long time. Finally, he slowly exhaled, and his wand fell to the ground. "The way you talk... doesn't sound like a twelve-year-old."

“Age doesn’t matter,” Kane said. “What matters is what I can do and how I intend to do it. Now, do you still want to stop me?”

Old Auror didn't answer immediately. He looked at Tobias, the werewolf who was cautiously observing them, still clutching the medicine bag Kane had given him tightly in his hand.

"If I stop you," Moody asked the werewolf, "what will you do? Go back to camp and wait to be used as a test subject again?"

Tobias shook his head violently, the movement so forceful it aggravated his wound, causing him to grimace in pain. "No... I won't go back. I'd rather die here than go back."

Why?

“Because that’s not home, it’s a prison,” Tobias said hoarsely, tears welling in his eyes and mingling with the rain. “Greyborough said we were building a ‘werewolf kingdom,’ but I know… we’re just his slaves, now the experimental subjects of that man in black. I’ve seen him dispose of corpses… draining the blood from the failed ones to draw those disgusting symbols…”

Moody clenched his fist.

Kane waited a moment, then said, "I have a plan. But it needs time to prepare and internal support."

"Lupin," Moody said.

"Yes. But we can't contact him directly; it's too risky. So we need Tobias's help."

The werewolf raised its head, a glimmer of hope flashing in its eyes: "Me? What can I do?"

"Back to camp." Kane crouched down, meeting his gaze. "Pretend nothing happened. Say the injury was from a wild animal during the hunt. Observe, remember, but don't do anything unusual. On the night of the full moon three days from now, when everyone has gathered to prepare to transform, I will appear. At that time, I need you to do one thing."

"What?"

"Stand on my side," Kane said. "When I demonstrate the potion's effects, you'll be the first to step forward and prove it works. Then, tell the others everything you've seen—the Black Man's experiments, Greyback's betrayal, and another possibility."