Having escaped famine, I was accepted into Hogwarts

After all, you have to eat at the dining table.

As dinner time ended, the young wizards packed up their belongings and returned to their lounges, but Kane still didn't follow suit.

He needed to ask Dumbledore what was going on, how he'd suddenly become a member of the Order of Merlin, and not even a third-rate dud...

Would Dumbledore really go and use the Elder Wand to coerce or bribe him?

No way, Dumbledore, I'm not worth it!

After Kane left the main group, his inner monologue flowing freely, Harry and the others, as usual, asked him what he was doing.

Hermione walking in the group was like a candle flickering in the dark, giving off a light, but illuminating nothing.

Oh... not only was her mind unsteady, but her steps were also very unsteady. She had obviously been knocked out by a drink with less than 400 milliliters of alcohol and no more than double digits in alcohol content. She was being helped back to her dormitory by her girlfriends.

"Dumbledore? I'm coming in!" Kane knocked on Dumbledore's office door and saw Dumbledore being pinned to the table by his phoenix, Fawkes, as the two engaged in a lively fight.

"emmm..."

Kane thought about it for a moment. Logically speaking, Dumbledore and Fawkes' fight was a family matter, so was it inappropriate for an outsider like himself to help?

In that very moment of hesitation, the situation on the field changed. As Dumbledore finally reached for his wand, Fawkes was sent flying back to the bird perch with a whoosh, now enveloped in a transformed cage.

"Alright, Kane, you saw... um... we both made a fool of ourselves. Is there something wrong?"

“Of course.” Kane pulled out the envelope from the Order of Merlin. “This thing, level one? I remember I only killed one Basilisk, and at most last year I took down Quirrell and Voldemort, but they only know Quirrell.”

"Something's not right with this medal, is it?"

"So, do you want it or not?" Dumbledore asked.

Kane gave a shy smile: "To say I don't want it... of course that would be a lie."

"That settles it then. As for its origin, don't worry, it's quite respectable. Remember that circus that you, Harry, and Lupin destroyed at Christmas, the one that enslaved the blood cursed beastmen? One of the blood cursed beastmen was the wife of a member of the Order of Merlin... Hmm, I suppose they're living happily ever after now. If we ignore that... never mind."

Kane understood immediately when Dumbledore said that: "But why is it just me, Harry, and Lupin?"

"Because you are the only one he can help within his power, and now he and his wife should have returned to nature, well... a pair of star-crossed lovers," Dumbledore commented objectively.

"Yes, let me guess, is it... that Walrus Lady?"

"Yeah, they should be in Antarctica by now... or maybe in Northern Europe, who knows."

After Dumbledore finished speaking, he thought for a moment and then asked, "By the way, have you decided who will accompany you to the Merlin Order's investiture ceremony?"

After Dumbledore finished speaking, he straightened his clothes, and his whole demeanor seemed to exude a refined air.

That sounded as if he were giving Kane a stern lecture: Look at me, look at me, everyone else in Hogwarts except me is a bunch of freaks.

However, Kane's reply did not satisfy him: "I read in the letter that the Order of Merlin also accepts newspaper announcements of medal awards and then sends the medals to me by express mail."

Dumbledore wore a puzzled expression: "So...why is that?"

"Maybe it's because I'm... naturally introverted." Kane shrugged and was about to leave. After all, he had only come here to confirm that Dumbledore hadn't made any strange deals for him. But good, he was probably overthinking it.

The following days were much more leisurely. A week later, Kane's Order of Merlin First Class Medal arrived. After playing with it in his hand for a while, he decided it wasn't a big deal and casually tossed it into the little pumpkin.

Then there's Ginny. This girl finally found out that her senior Tom was Voldemort's alter ego. In her fear, she almost dropped out of school and went back to find Mrs. Weasley. Later, she was finally coaxed back by Luna.

Harry, riding his ring of fire, finally lived up to expectations and, in the Quidditch final of this season, was going too fast and couldn't stop, knocking a Slytherin player, who wished to remain anonymous, into the infirmary.

It is said that Madam Pomfrey specially bought infusion equipment from the Muggle world that day, and gave the unfortunate child bone-regenerating fluid and muscle-regenerating potion 24 hours a day. It took a week for the child to grow back the lower half of his body that Harry had bumped into.

There were no casualties, and everything went smoothly, except that Professor McGonagall called Kane and Harry into her office for a scolding.

For a broom, the speed of the fire ring is considerable but not excessive, but in terms of its hardness, it's a bit of a cheat.

It's like a Muggle building a car. This car studies energy absorption, proactive avoidance, and automatic stopping, striving to survive itself while also ensuring the survival of others.

But the other train didn't have that patience. It was too lazy to calculate and study those complex systems, so it simply stripped two rails from the railway track and welded them onto the train.

Such cheating behavior is definitely not allowed.

Under Professor McGonagall's pressure, Kane withdrew the Shadow Armor built into the ring of fire and replaced it with Professor McGonagall's Soft Protective Magic.

At least there won't be any tragedies where someone gets smashed to pieces just by accelerating.

After leaving Professor McGonagall's office, the two sat on an armor rack and began to review why they had been called there by Professor McGonagall.

Kane eventually came to a conclusion: "Next time you can't hit your lower body... hit your upper body."

Harry glanced sideways at Kane, mentally simulating what Kane had said about what would happen if the body bumped into something in the upper body...

"You're going a bit too far... I'm serious."

Since the Quidditch final, time seemed to accelerate at Hogwarts, and nothing interesting happened there until the day of the final exams.

Well, it's not like nothing happened at all. On the last day of the final exams, Kane had just finished the last course, History of Magic, when Dumbledore called him into his office.

An acquaintance, whom he could somewhat call a friend, was already sitting there waiting for him. Lupin held a cup of hot chocolate and looked at him with an awkward smile.

"I don't know if you still remember me. We agreed before... um... how should I put this..."

While Lupin was struggling with how to phrase it, Kane had already remembered: "It's about helping you resolve that werewolf's identity, right? No problem."

Lu Ping breathed a sigh of relief; his long period of isolation had rendered him speechless.

At that moment, Dumbledore slowly joined the group chat: "By the way, Remus, the professorship next semester... are you planning to accept it?"

"If I'm lucky enough this time, maybe," Lupin said shyly, not giving a definitive answer.

“Then I’ll have to trouble Kane a bit more.” Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow at Kane.

"I can't guarantee that," the latter shrugged, he couldn't make any promises about such a thing either.

Dumbledore nodded: "Of course, of course. So when do you have time?"

"I can do it now, but I need to go back and prepare some things first. Last time I went out, I had to carry the little pumpkin as a backpack every time I was in Muggle society, which was too tiring. So this time I plan to use a different storage method."

Kane left Dumbledore's office as he spoke, intending to return to his dormitory to make a magician's chest. The Shadow Pumpkin would be mainly used to store materials and items, while the magician's chest would be used to store technical and magical machines.

This way, when you go out, all you need to do is wear a magician's top hat, which is equivalent to packing up an entire base. The main feature is convenience.

Back in his dorm, Kane looked at Harry, who was packing his bags with a miserable expression, and offered a suggestion: "Hey Harry, if you really feel that the Dursleys aren't a good place to live..."

Before Kane could finish speaking, Harry waved his hand and said, "Don't say anymore. After experiencing the freedom and happiness of Hogwarts, I understand you from a year ago... But Dumbledore won't let me leave the Dursleys. He said I must spend a month of each year living under the same roof with them."

“What I mean is, you could give them some child support, the ratio is one Gallon to five pounds, or just send them some gold. That would be a much better quality of life than just freeloading.” Kane repeated what he hadn’t had a chance to say earlier.

"Maybe so, but I don't want to do that..."

"...Um...why?"

"Perhaps it's because I have a fighting spirit. If I give them money because I can't stand the Dursleys' lifestyle, wouldn't that mean I'm admitting defeat in this confrontation?"

After Harry finished speaking, he thought for a moment and added, "I think they should give me money, after all, you can't find a human-intelligent, 24/7 venting robot in an ordinary family... except for house-elves."

Kane nodded. "That's true."

“By the way,” Harry looked up again, “how’s Dobby, speaking of house-elves?”

Kane, knowing that both the Basilisk and Tom were now dead, didn't hide anything from Harry: "Lucius was summoned to Hogwarts by Dumbledore because of Dobby... If Lucius finds out about this from Dobby... well... Dobby probably won't fare well, he might even die."

After Kane finished speaking, Harry abruptly stopped packing his clothes: "What do we do then?"

Kane shrugged. "What? What can we do? Is there anyone who can stop Mrs. Dursley from scrapping the Dursley family's vacuum cleaners?"

“Maybe, like stealing that vacuum cleaner from the Dursleys… After all, Dobby did it to keep me alive, even if the method is a bit abstract… I need to go see Dumbledore!” Harry said and rushed out of the dormitory, almost bumping into Ron.

Ron, watching Harry's retreating figure, scratched his head, puzzled. "What's wrong with Harry?"

“I’m in a hurry to save a living life,” Kane replied, while taking the materials for making the magician’s box out of the little pumpkin’s mouth.

Spider silk, wooden planks, and its own shadow.

Ron thought for a moment, but still couldn't figure out who that vibrant life was, so he simply stopped thinking about it and patted Kane on the shoulder: "By the way, my dad won the lottery, and he's planning to take us to Egypt this holiday."

Kane turned around in a daze, and after realizing what had happened, he sighed at how kind the Weasleys were, while also giving an apologetic look.

"I'm afraid that won't work. I promised a friend I'd do something special with him during this holiday."

Ron, who had been beaming with joy, suddenly looked as wilted as a frostbitten eggplant.

"This is a very rare opportunity."

"I know, Ron. I already promised that person in advance, during the semester," Kane explained to Ron with a hint of helplessness after finishing the magician's box.

“Okay…do you need any souvenirs? Mummies, pyramids, or gold masks or something. George and Fred have already found a map to the secret passage of one of the pyramids. If we can keep it from Mom and Dad, maybe we can sneak some out for you,” Ron continued.

“Um… a postcard will do.” Kane awkwardly declined Ron’s extreme gift suggestion.

Ron, meanwhile, pondered slowly: Did Kane mean to seal those things inside postcards?

Unlike Ron, whose thought process was quite peculiar, Kane had already stuffed all the machines into the magician's cabinet, along with Little Pumpkin's eye bone.

This way, the magician's cabinet and the little pumpkin could be left in the dormitory, and all he needed to do was wear the magician's top hat and head lightly toward the principal's office.

Chapter 155 What kind of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is this?!

"Dumbledore, Lupin, hey, Harry, you're still here?" Kane, dressed lightly with only a magician's top hat on his head, entered Dumbledore's office and saw Harry discussing something with Dumbledore, and Lupin sitting on the sofa sipping hot chocolate.

Kane sat down, and Lupin, who was sitting next to him, subconsciously felt that he was a werewolf and should stay away from ordinary, healthy, and kind little wizards, so he wanted to move to the side.

However, he was also afraid that Kane might think he was looking down on him, or that he was insecure and difficult to get along with, so he stood there awkwardly, not knowing whether to move or not.

Kane then initiated the conversation: "Why haven't you finished your hot chocolate yet?"

Lupin realized what was happening and breathed a sigh of relief: "This is the third cup."

Kane nodded. "Yes, Mr. Werewolf who likes chocolate."

Meanwhile, Harry was still discussing things with Dumbledore, and he even suggested using Galleons from the Potter family's vault to buy Dobby from the Malfoys.

However, Dumbledore still didn't think this was plausible. After all, the house-elf named Dobby was kind. Perhaps he was kind, but that didn't mean he wasn't a masochist. Maybe he was currently enjoying the insults, beatings, and domination from the Malfoy family.

“Perhaps I could have it work for Hogwarts? Hogwarts wouldn’t be so harsh on house-elves. Actually, I’d prefer it to make its own choice. If it needs a client, it could be Hogwarts; if it needs freedom, that’s fine too,” Harry suggested.

Before Dumbledore could speak, Kane, who was sitting on the sofa, quietly whispered something to Lupin.

"To be honest, I don't quite understand Harry's approach. His money is too easy to make. If I wanted to make money, I could just catch a bunch of house-elves, walk them around in front of Harry, and sell them all."

Lupin pondered for a moment: "Unlikely. House-elves are generally the private property of various wizarding families; there are no wild ones."

"And Harry probably just didn't want a familiar friend to be killed. If Dobby, whom he mentioned, hadn't disobeyed Malfoy's orders for him beforehand, he probably wouldn't have done it."

"Hmm, I get it, I get it, it's about seeing through the phenomena to the essence."