Having escaped famine, I was accepted into Hogwarts

With that thought in mind, Kane returned to that familiar little corner. He felt it was essential to rally his friends together to search for poor Neville.

Chapter 113 Good news: Kane is innocent! Bad news: Slytherin's heir has returned.

Before the curfew bell rang, Kane and his companions left the Gryffindor tower, and Hermione thoughtfully brought Harry's Invisibility Cloak with her.

Compared to the three people before her who were fearless, she was genuinely afraid of accidentally running into trouble and being fired.

And so, the four of them left the Gryffindor Tower and split up to search for the locations where Neville had appeared before, starting their search from those locations outwards.

Of course, if you can't find him inside the entire Hogwarts Castle... then you can't go outside the castle to look for him, not because you're afraid of being in danger, but because you're afraid Neville might be in danger.

If it really comes to that, we should call Dumbledore as soon as possible, otherwise what if Neville gets carried away by the big bad wolf in the Forbidden Forest?

Overall, Kane was quite lucky. He found poor Neville, who was bound by the Binding Curse and looked like a mummy, at the top of the Astronomy Tower. He quickly waved his wand and cast a spell to stop the binding.

"Poor Neville, get a good night's sleep and then go find Professor McGonagall. This place is a bit too much." Kane said, taking a hot stone from the little pumpkin's mouth to warm Neville up before taking him back to the Gryffindor tower.

"Let's not, Professor McGonagall will definitely come after us parents if she finds out," Neville said, holding the warm stones in his hands and shrinking his neck.

"Isn't this a good thing? It's the right thing to do to deal with it seriously." Kane raised an eyebrow and walked ahead.

"No, it's mainly because my grandma will definitely be here, and she'll give me a really bad scolding," Neville said timidly.

"That's not necessarily true. It's not your fault. Besides, your grandma sends you snacks and gifts every now and then. She really cares about you."

“It’s heartbreaking, and it’s embarrassing, but they’re not the same thing,” Neville explained somewhat awkwardly.

"Um... I suddenly think that being single and having no family to worry about isn't so bad." Kane sighed helplessly. "So what are you planning to do? Just swallow your anger or what? Take revenge yourself? You're not planning to ask us to help you get revenge, are you?"

After saying that, he turned back and raised an eyebrow at Neville, who quickly shook his head: "Of course not, this is my own business. If I can't get revenge... then I can only pretend it never happened."

"Tsk tsk tsk...poor Neville."

Kane shook his head and sighed, then suddenly threw a ring at Neville, expecting him to catch it. However, it inevitably hit Neville on the forehead and fell to the ground.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I was just trying to give you a gift." Kane quickly went over to help Neville pick up the ring and hand it to him.

"What is this?" Neville asked, rubbing his forehead.

"The Eye of Medusa, the Medusa Ring. When worn on the hand, it can be opened or hidden at your will. Anyone who sees this ring for five seconds will be temporarily petrified."

"Although the wind-up animation is very long, it's still a small tool that you have to be careful not to use it against the enemy. Next time I use this, as long as the enemy doesn't want to be petrified, they will definitely look away or close their eyes."

"At this point, you can fight back... Ah, of course, you can run away. If the other party doesn't know, that would be even better. Just petrify him, and then you can carry him to the Astronomical Tower to get some fresh air."

After Kane finished speaking, he continued walking ahead, while Neville quickly jogged up behind him and thanked him.

Originally, the two of them would most likely have been able to return to Gryffindor Tower in a harmonious and pleasant manner, and then wait for the remaining three Harrys to return. However, unfortunately, fate may not have wanted them to return to their dorm safely.

As they rounded a corner, a patch of blood-red graffiti on the wall, along with some blackened graffiti, made them stop.

"The secret chamber has been opened. Those who oppose the successor, beware... What does this mean?" Kane subconsciously nudged Neville with his shoulder, but Neville didn't answer; instead, he shuddered.

Kane looked over in surprise and found that Neville was not just trembling, but was now so frightened that his face turned pale and his lips turned blue. He was as terrifying as could be.

"Alright, you can digest this yourself. I'll study it first." With that, Kane raised his wand and walked closer, intending to take a closer look at the graffiti to see if there was anything of interest.

Then he suddenly kicked something, and with a clang, he looked down at the ground.

“Hmm... a familiar cat.” Kane frowned and crouched down. He recognized the cat as Mrs. Lorris, Felch's pet, but now...

Is it rigor mortis? Or petrification?

Well, it should be petrification for now, since even the stiffest corpse wouldn't make that clanging sound like a stone falling to the ground.

He looked up again at the words on the wall that seemed to be written in blood, so Lady Lorice was created by this so-called heir.

Kane turned to look at Neville, who was now somewhat normal, his complexion regaining its color.

“Neville, do you know what this heir is?” Kane asked as he picked up the petrified Lady Lorris.

Neville's lips twitched, and he began to stammer out a legend about a castle unique to Hogwarts.

Legend has it that during the era of the four great wizards of Hogwarts, due to the irreconcilable conflict between wizards and Muggles, Muggles would sometimes storm into the homes of wizards from entire villages to persecute them. Some powerful adult wizards were not afraid of this, and even if they could not fight back, they could easily escape.

However, some less capable wizards and some junior wizards would be captured and executed by Muggles.

Therefore, wizards and Muggles in that era were considered irreconcilable enemies. Salazar Slytherin, as one of the headmasters of Hogwarts at the time, naturally distrusted any young wizards of Muggle blood, fearing that bringing in Muggle wizards would attract hundreds or even thousands of Muggles or even an army.

However, the other three headmasters did not agree with this idea, and Salazars Slytherin eventually left the school in anger, from which a rumor began to circulate.

Salazars Slytherin left behind a secret chamber that only his successor could open. Inside the chamber was his legacy, and whoever received the legacy would have to bear his responsibilities.

For example, expelling those minor wizards from Hogwarts who were not recognized by Salazar and Slytherin, yes, I'm talking about Kane and Hermione.

“But why are you so scared?” Kane raised an eyebrow at Neville, who was still shaken. “Aren’t you a pureblood?”

“I’m not much different from a Squib, so how could I not be in danger? Besides, right now in the castle, it’s not about who’s a pureblood or not, it’s about the addition of a murderer! He can turn people to stone!” Neville said through gritted teeth.

"It shouldn't be that serious. Lady Lorris can turn back. At least I can tell that she's not dead. It's just a very powerful binding curse." Kane said, not forgetting to show Neville the horrific scene of Lady Lorris turning to stone.

"Ahem..." A familiar but long-unheard voice suddenly rang out behind Kane. He turned around and looked over: "Ah, Old Mike, how long has it been since we last met?"

“I don’t know. The flow of time in the Eternal Realm is different from that in the real world. I came out out of curiosity. Why didn’t you run away?” Maxwell said, circling Kane with his hands behind his back.

"Hmm...why should I run?" Kane raised an eyebrow.

“Mrs. Lorris and Felch are inseparable. If you don’t run now, he’ll probably come after you, and you’ll have to prove your innocence.” Maxwell was like a harbinger of doom; just as he finished speaking, the light of a kerosene lamp came from afar.

"Wow, you're absolutely right." Kane raised an eyebrow at the agile figure who had covered less than three steps from one end of the corridor to the other.

As Felch ran up to Kane and snatched Lady Lorris back from his grasp almost instantly, his aged face contorted as he looked at Kane and Neville: "You two murderers! You killed Lady Lorris!"

Kane quickly spread his hands: "We didn't do this. Even if you call Dumbledore, you can't just accuse us of crimes we didn't commit."

However, Kane's words seemed to remind Felch, who suddenly ran towards the distance, abruptly knocking on a sleeping portrait to wake it up, and hysterically roaring, "Go and call Headmaster Dumbledore here! There's a murderer here!"

The portrait, which had just been woken up and was completely bewildered, actually thought someone had committed murder at Hogwarts, so it quickly left the portrait and went to the headmaster's office to deliver the message.

Meanwhile, Felch still pitifully clung to his Lady Lorris, looking at Kane and Neville with a fearful and resentful gaze, as if he didn't know who the real murderer was, and simply hated both of them together.

Kane, looking at Felch's expression, truly couldn't understand why this old man couldn't listen to an explanation. The person at the crime scene was the murderer, not a bystander who was just watching the spectacle. There was no way the world could be so absurd.

However, he could understand to some extent why Felch was standing so far away.

After all, in his eyes, the two of them were the cat killers. What if he stood just a little bit closer to them and they became the murderers, and he directly reached out his claws to him?

In other words, it's already commendable that Felch is still standing here for Lady Lorris's sake. Anyone else, like a certain Slytherin boy, would have been scared out of their wits.

Soon, a flash of phoenix fire appeared. Dumbledore, along with Snape and Professor McGonagall, were hurriedly brought over by Fawkes the Phoenix. It's no wonder they were in such a hurry; Felch's words were truly terrifying.

Even when it came to committing murder, Dumbledore was not entirely calm.

As Dumbledore and his companions entered the corridor and asked Felch about the corpse, Felch raised the statue of Lady Lorris in his hand.

For a moment, all three of them were completely dumbfounded. Snape even reached for his wand, while Dumbledore was the first to calm down. It was all for the best that nothing had happened. Besides, he could tell that the dark magic was reversible. Even if Kane had really done it, he didn't intend to kill anyone.

However, we shouldn't be prejudiced; we still need to ask.

Then, Dumbledore looked at Kane, who was not far away: "So Kane, did you do this?"

Kane slowly raised his wand, and Felch immediately glared at him with hatred, while Snape gave him a knowing look.

Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore looked puzzled, since the Kane they knew wasn't like that. Sure enough, when Kane's wand glowed and illuminated the wall behind him, they confirmed some good news: Kane was innocent.

But the bad news... Slytherin's heir is back!

Chapter 114 Felch is petrified

Unlike the three professors, Felch, who was holding Mrs. Lorris, let out a scream the moment he saw the words on the wall and immediately hid behind Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, only his head showing.

"Dumbledore, do you see this? The heir, the heir of Slytherin!" Felch looked at the words on the wall in a panic, then his cloudy eyes inevitably slid down to Kane.

After all, during the era of the four great masters of Hogwarts, there was no separation between the four houses, so it was not a problem that Gryffindor was the successor to Slytherin.

"Please calm down. You're giving me the impression that you're angrily and cowardly pointing the finger at Kane, an innocent child, because you can't find the real culprit who harmed Lady Norris," Dumbledore said, frowning.

“That’s right, I have no grudges against you.” Kane rolled his eyes. If there was any grudge, it should be Felch who resented him, because last year he almost made Felch feed the Cerberus.

Although he ultimately saved Felch from danger, without Kane, Felch wouldn't have faced that crisis. Therefore, Felch's hatred for him was more than his own hatred for Felch...

Wait a minute, could it be that Felch is constantly seeing himself as an imaginary enemy because of this?

“There’s nothing I can do, Professor Dumbledore. From the first moment I saw him, I knew this little wizard… he’s not a good person!” Felch said with difficulty.

"Oh yes, yes, I'm not a good person. If I were really the heir to Slytherin, I wouldn't have hurt Mrs. Lorris. After all, that cat's magic is more active than yours. If I were to hurt someone, I should hurt you."

Kane nodded and shook his head in mockery, but Felch seemed to take the mockery as Kane's confession. His face contorted with rage as he emerged from behind Dumbledore, pointing at Kane and gritting his teeth, "Look at Dumbledore, he's admitted it!"

Kane, slightly angered by Felch's seemingly abstract, foolish, or genuinely dislikeful attitude, abruptly pulled his wand from his pocket and pointed it at Felch behind Dumbledore: "Ah yes! I admit it, how about I kill you right now?"

Almost instantly, Snape and Professor McGonagall drew their wands, not specifically to target Kane, but mainly to protect Felch. After all, as the two professors at Hogwarts who, besides Dumbledore, had been among the first to have contact with Kane, they genuinely believed Kane could secretly kill Felch right under Dumbledore's nose.

They were genuinely afraid that Felch, who had bullied young wizards at Hogwarts Castle for decades until today, would suddenly have his account wiped out without them noticing.

Felch, who had just been roaring and screaming with a ferocious expression, quickly hid his entire thin, hunched body behind Dumbledore, and his breathing became completely inaudible.

"Old man," Kane muttered under his breath.

"Um, may I ask, Kane, who are you talking about?" Although Dumbledore disliked Felch clinging so tightly to his robes and hiding behind him, leaving his robes with that distinctive rotten smell, he still felt it necessary to resolve this little conflict between Kane and Felch today so that Felch could leave this small corridor unscathed, and even retire.

Let's start by easing the tension.

“You both have... well, the one behind you. You’re old, but you’re not a thing... never mind.” Kane said slowly, putting away his wand.

"Ah, I'm glad you took back that hurtful remark. Well, Felch, Kane has apologized to you, shouldn't you return the favor?"

“In fact, I didn’t take it back,” Kane said quietly, showing no respect for Dumbledore whatsoever.

“Hmm, that makes perfect sense. So, Felch, let’s start the apology with you.” Dumbledore nodded, revealing Felch behind him.

Felch, who had just narrowly escaped death, became slightly more obedient, quite unwillingly, perhaps even embarrassed that a middle-aged man was apologizing to a twelve-year-old wizard. His face flushed, but looking into Dumbledore's eyes, he still muttered softly, "I'm sorry."

Kane looked at Felch's insincere apology and sneered disdainfully, "I can't be bothered to talk to you. I don't know what face you old codger have that makes you think apologizing to me is shameful. After all, you shouldn't have any face left to lose."

"When an old dud, who's seventy or eighty years old and whose nose is buried in the mud, faces me, does he think he has something to be proud of after eating salt for seventy or eighty years?"

"The only difference between you and Mrs. Norris and the house-elves is that the latter two can use magic, while you cannot. So instead of worrying about why Mrs. Norris was turned to stone by the Slytherin heir, you should think about how to leave Hogwarts as quickly as possible. That might save your life."

Hearing that every word was like a knife to Felch's heart, Dumbledore quickly chuckled and stood in front of Felch again.

Although Kane doesn't use his wand anymore, why does it feel like his words are even more impactful? If I put myself in Felch's shoes, waking up at seven tomorrow morning and hearing Felch use gravity to attack the lawn from a height of twenty-five meters wouldn't feel out of place at all.

"Kane, stop talking," Dumbledore said gently.