Having escaped famine, I was accepted into Hogwarts

"So... Kane, are you really sure there are those so-called dryads in the Forbidden Forest?" Hagrid asked, panting heavily.

Kane shook his head: "Not sure."

"Okay, I had the same wild ideas when I was eleven. I totally understand you now. Let me rephrase the question: What do you want with the tree spirit?"

Hagrid then asked.

"I want to kill the tree spirit and take the living wood from its body to make materials for my wand," Kane said very frankly.

“The problem is… Kane, we might not have any dryads here,” Hagrid said bitterly.

"Don't worry, I have a brilliant plan." Kane took out an acorn, which he had thoroughly corrupted with his shadow. Once the tree grew, it would definitely belong to the tree spirit.

All that's missing now is the magic to make the seeds sprout and grow quickly.

Hagrid happens to possess this magic.

"What are they doing in that little pit?" Professor McGonagall frowned as she watched Kane and Hagrid squatting on the ground, digging and digging.

"I don't know either, maybe it's for planting trees in the Forbidden Forest..." Dumbledore, who had been smiling, suddenly stopped and stared blankly at the scene in the crystal ball: "What is this?"

Chapter Nine Living Wood

“Oh... I need to contact Newt, he might have some clues…” Dumbledore said, about to use his Portkey to go directly to Newt’s house, when he suddenly remembered that he was the headmaster and didn’t need to go through all that trouble. He simply vanished from the spot in an instant.

Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall had already rushed towards the Forbidden Forest. She cared more about Kane and Hagrid's lives than the emergence of a new species in the magical world.

Soon Dumbledore appeared in the office with another white-haired old man, and the two looked back at the scene in the crystal ball.

A giant tree, four meters tall and as thick as a water bucket, suddenly pulled its roots out of the soil and, in a very human-like manner, walked towards Hagrid, its trunk baring its fangs and claws as it relentlessly attacked him.

Behind the tree spirit was a young wizard, diligently hacking at it with an axe.

The two stared at each other for a full three seconds before Scamander, the Master of Fantastic Beasts, gave the answer Dumbledore had anticipated.

“I don’t recognize them, but the Forbidden Forest is so vast that it’s understandable that we might encounter some magical animals and plants we’ve never seen before. But shouldn’t you be more concerned with protecting the lives of those two children?” Scamander said.

"Well, given that they grew this big guy themselves, or more precisely, that little wizard grew it himself, I'll assume they should have the ability to solve the problem."

Dumbledore spoke softly, and then they heard Newt Scamander's heart nearly leap out of his chest.

"What the hell?" Scamander looked at Dumbledore in shock. "This thing... is it grown? Is it some kind of mutant Whomping Willow?" Scamander quickly entered thought mode, but still felt something was wrong.

“I’ve decided to ask that kid myself.” Scamander said, taking his flying broom from his pocket and flying straight out the window.

"Hmm, still as enthusiastic as ever." Dumbledore smiled as he watched Scamander fly away, then walked out of the office and strolled slowly towards the castle gates.

But things were not so peaceful in the Forbidden Forest.

Kane's axe attacks on the Dryads deal far more damage than Hagrid's attacks, so unfortunately, Kane is now the Dryads' target.

However, it wasn't too disappointing, since in Hagrid's eyes, Kane defeating this giant dryad was as easy as bullying a child.

Walk under the tree spirit's feet and chop it down four times in quick succession, then run a certain distance away and wait for the tree spirit's attack to land before coming back to chop it down again.

But just as a mother always thinks you're hungry, Professor McGonagall always thinks you're in danger.

At that moment, she landed very stylishly on a flying broomstick and shouted, "Mr. Heath, run away, I'll take care of this big guy!"

Upon hearing this, Kane felt a greater shock than the moment before each of the treant's attacks landed. He quickly ran to Professor McGonagall and reached out to stop her, saying, "No, no, no! This treant will only be useful if I kill it myself!"

“But this is dangerous!” Professor McGonagall stood with her hands on her hips, somewhat indignant at Kane’s willfulness. She hadn’t even told Kane about how he ran away from home and made her come all this way for nothing.

“But this big oaf isn’t really scary. Look, we’ve talked for so long, and it’s only taken three steps,” Kane explained.

"Sigh..." Professor McGonagall sighed, waved her wand, and several stone pillars sprang up from the solid ground, immobilizing the dryad from head to toe.

"Go now," Professor McGonagall said impatiently, watching Kane rush off with his axe. Then she looked at Hagrid: "Hagrid, go help him."

Hagrid shrugged helplessly: "He won't allow it. Kane said that only if he kills that monster with his own hands will the thing he needs appear."

Professor McGonagall was somewhat helpless. Soon Scamander arrived as well. Watching Kane hack at the tree spirit with his axe, Scamander felt as if the blows were hitting him.

He instinctively wanted to save the tree spirit from its predicament, but Professor McGonagall stopped him in the end.

"Mr. Heath said it was to... obtain something strange."

Scamander sighed helplessly. This tree spirit was planted by someone else, and he really had no right to ask them to spare its life. He could only numb himself by thinking that plants don't have pain receptors.

Soon, with the final axe blow, the entire tree spirit collapsed to the ground, turning into several tree stumps and a long-faced, groaning, twisting wooden stick about the thickness of a fist and thirty-five centimeters long.

Dumbledore, who had arrived at some unknown time, slowly walked over. He didn't reach out to take it, but squatted down to the side, looking at the wooden stick that kept groaning, and then looked at Kane.

"Is this all you need? It certainly looks like excellent material for making wands," Dumbledore exclaimed.

“He looks like he’s in pain,” Scamander finally couldn’t help but say as he walked over.

“Uh… you’re faking it.” Kane said, poking at it with his finger. “If you yell again, I’ll burn you.”

The stick quickly quieted down, and Kane picked it up, sobbing softly.

"Who are these two?" After the dust settled, Kane looked at Professor McGonagall and Scamander.

“Minerva McGonagall, you can call me Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor, Vice-Headmaster of Hogwarts, and also the poor girl who went to Number Four Privet Drive today to investigate your running away from home. You made me come all this way for nothing, kid,” Professor McGonagall said quietly.

"I'm sorry, Professor." Kane maintained a polite smile and demeanor even when facing the vice-principal.

Professor McGonagall looked at the young wizard in front of her with some helplessness. As the saying goes, you can tell what a child will be like at three and what he will be like at seven. As for Kane, she could tell what kind of outrageous things he would do after he enrolled by what he dared to do before he enrolled.

Perhaps a very talented Gryffindor? But considering the traces of dark magic this kid left on Harry's clothes... Ravenclaw or Slytherin are also possibilities.

“I don’t blame you. The Dursleys…it’s certainly not a place for ordinary people to stay. But you need to explain to Harry what’s going on. He’s very worried about you,” Professor McGonagall continued.

"Yeah, I'll go back to see him when I have my vacation." Kane still felt that he shouldn't go back to see Harry too soon. After all, his dark circles were a bit scary. If Harry saw them, he would think that he wasn't eating or sleeping well. Wouldn't he look like a clown who was suffering for the sake of saving face in Harry's eyes?

I'd better take care of myself at Hogwarts first, get myself clean and tidy, and then go back to see him. By the way, I can also learn some less sinister magic to improve Harry's situation at the Dursleys' house.

Everyone present looked at Kane with strange expressions, but that was normal. A junior wizard might not have a few proper magical outbursts in a month, so it was normal that Kane couldn't tell that Harry was a wizard, and they didn't expose him.

It would be wonderful if Kane and Harry met at the Sorting Ceremony or on the Hogwarts Express, bumping into each other while meeting old friends in a foreign land or passing the imperial examination.

When it was Scamander's turn, Hagrid spoke first, introducing himself to his idol: "This is Newt Scamander, a very great magizoologist."

Scamander smiled and knelt down in front of Kane: "Child, this tree spirit... you created it?"

Kane glanced at Scamander, seemingly unfazed by the possibility that he might be captured and turned into a ruthless seed-producing machine because of this particular trait. Instead, he answered quite frankly, "I used my magic to modify an oak seed. Once the modified oak seed is planted, it becomes a tree spirit."

"So, is this the seed?"

“I don’t really agree with it, and it wouldn’t do the world any good. As for why I did it... I’m a little selfish,” Kane said somewhat awkwardly.

“No…” Dumbledore shook his head: “This is not selfishness, but rather an unexpected sense of responsibility.”

"Hmm?" Kane looked at Dumbledore, wondering what this seemingly wise old man was about to say.

Chapter Ten: The Bedroom with a Roof – That's Amazing!

"If I possessed extraordinary power to change the world at your age, even if no one knew, I would do my best to share and spread that power, without realizing that there might be something wrong with it or that it might have any negative impact on the world."

"What I need is nothing more than useless praise, while you now realize that the power you wield indiscriminately may not be good for the world."

Kane looked at Dumbledore and suddenly began to sigh, then looked at Hagrid with some curiosity: "Does he do this often?"

“Hmm, perhaps that’s how Dumbledore thinks,” Hagrid said thoughtfully.

“Okay.” Kane knew there was unlikely to be an answer to this question.

Soon, evening arrived. Kane had eaten early and sat on a small rock by the Black Lake, quietly watching the lake surface, letting his long shadow stretch out in all directions, pulling any small creatures it could catch into the shadows.

"What do you think of that boy?" Dumbledore asked Snape, who was standing beside him watching Kane's shadow, in the headmaster's office.

"Dark magic has permeated his soul to the point that it has affected his shadow?" Snape commented, then glanced at Dumbledore. "So you still enjoy collecting dangerous people. I wouldn't be surprised if a few junior wizards die at Hogwarts this year."

"You can only verbally bully this slow-talking old man like me, fine, young man, you can verbally bully him too. What I want to ask is, do you know why he's sitting there doing nothing?" Dumbledore said quietly.

“Isn’t this good? I reckon the moment he gets his wand tomorrow, he’ll open a secret chamber at Hogwarts and do some dark magic experiments, so I think we should be grateful that the kid is so quiet right now.”

“What I mean is, look at Kane sitting there, doesn’t he look like he’s fishing, and he’s the bait?” Dumbledore finally chose to get straight to the point.

“You mean…” Snape frowned, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw the shadow of a withered tree next to Kane suddenly come to life.

The shadow transformed into an abstract, scribbled shadow monster, resembling a child's simple drawing, and lunged at Kane with bared fangs and claws.

But in that instant, Kane's long shadow suddenly twisted into a long, unidentified shape, like a python, and strangled the shadow monster. In the end, only some specks of black smoke could be seen dissipating in mid-air.

Oh, and of course, there was nightmare fuel, which Kane picked up from the ground and stuffed into his pocket.

“What’s that?” Snape frowned. “The one he put in his pocket?”

"Please don't be so curious about other people's privacy."

Snape instinctively wanted to say something trash, but he ultimately changed it to sarcasm: "People who have been peering into the crystal ball have a lot of nerve."

"Thank you for the compliment."

Snape left the office soon after, while Kane killed a few more shadow creatures and picked up some nightmare fuel on his way back to Dumbledore's office from the Black Lake. He also went to Hagrid's yard and pried up the campfire along with the entire ground of Hagrid's yard.

"What are you doing..." Dumbledore thought his heart was already very big, but he never expected Kane to give him such a hard time.

“I’m afraid of the dark,” Kane said, and began looking for a good spot in Dumbledore’s bedroom, trying to get the firelight to shine on the upper bunk.

At this moment, Dumbledore suddenly seemed to have all the ailments of an old man, quickly climbing onto the upper bunk, even faster than Kane.

"I hope we're not poisoned. Let's open the window." Dumbledore said casually, waving his hand, and the bedroom window opened gently.

Meanwhile, Kane, who was in the lower bunk, had already started a fire.

With the crackling of the fire, he could finally get a good night's sleep.

The good little wizard who goes to bed early and gets up early will not meet Sister Charlie.

"Kane." Dumbledore, lying on the top bunk, felt it was time. How could the boy refuse to chat with his roommate at night?

Unfortunately, Kane refused; perhaps he was too tired today and fell asleep unusually quickly.

I originally wanted to ask Kane about that strange shadow creature, the black magic fluctuations that lasted all night, and some even more magical things, such as the dryad, the living tree, and his own strange shadow.

All the questions in my head were bottled up inside.

the next day...

Dumbledore woke up relatively early; the sky was already beginning to lighten. Thanks to Merlin's blessing and the fact that he had opened the window the night before, the two people in the bedroom had not been killed by carbon monoxide.

He tiptoed down from the upper bunk. The campfire beside the bed was still burning with a faint flame, casting Kane's shadow on the wall. Although he was still restless, he was much better than he had been at Black Lake the previous evening.