Having escaped famine, I was accepted into Hogwarts.

Chapter 115 Felch is petrified

Chapter 115 Felch is petrified

Unlike the three professors, Filch, who was holding Mrs. Lorris, screamed 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 that? The heir, the heir of Slytherin!" Filch 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 real division 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 pointing the finger at Kane, an innocent child, out of anger and cowardice because you can't find the real culprit who harmed Lady Norris," Dumbledore said, frowning.

"That's right, I don't have any grudges against you." Kane rolled his eyes. If you had to name a grudge, it should be Filch who resented him, because he almost made Filch feed the Cerberus last year.

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

Wait a minute, is Filch 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!" Filch 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 Filch seemed to take the mockery as a confession. A snarling expression appeared on Filch's face as he pointed at Kane and gritted his teeth, saying, "Look at Dumbledore, he admitted it!"

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

Almost instantly, Snape and Professor McGonagall drew their wands. Not to target Kane, but mainly to protect Filch. After all, as the two professors at Hogwarts who had the earliest contact with Kane besides Dumbledore, they genuinely believed that Kane had a way to secretly kill Filch right under Dumbledore's nose. They were also genuinely afraid that Filch, who had bullied young wizards at Hogwarts Castle for decades until today, would suddenly be wiped out if they weren't careful.

Filch, who had just been roaring and gesticulating wildly, quickly hid his entire thin, hunched body behind Dumbledore, becoming completely silent.

"Old man," Kane muttered under his breath.

"Um, may I ask, Kane, who are you talking about?" Although Dumbledore disliked Filch clinging 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 Filch today so that Filch 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, Filch, 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. Well then, Filch, let's start the apology with you." Dumbledore nodded, revealing Filch behind him.

Filch, 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 Filch'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 a seventy- or eighty-year-old dud with dirt buried up to his nose 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 dagger to Filch's heart, Dumbledore quickly laughed and stood in front of Filch 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 Filch's shoes, waking up at seven tomorrow morning and hearing Filch 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.

"Hmph." Kane crossed his arms and snorted coldly.

"Professor Dumbledore, I..." Filch looked at Dumbledore with extreme pain on his face.

"Take Mrs. Norris to the infirmary, then go back and get some sleep. I'll have the house-elf prepare a cup of warm milk for you." After saying this, Dumbledore took out his wand and concealed all the details of the wall. This way, it wouldn't cause panic among the young wizards, but they could still come here to check the details when needed and find the true heir to Slytherin.

"As for you two, you should go back and get some sleep. Hmm... keep it a secret." Dumbledore then looked at Kane and Neville, who nodded and were about to leave. After all, whether Lady Norris was a prankster using a petrification charm, a magical artifact, or the true heir to Slytherin was still unclear.

Therefore, it's best to keep it a secret.

"Hmm." Kane nodded and walked with Neville toward the Gryffindor Tower. When they passed the fourth corridor, they ran into Lockhart, who had just walked up to his office.

"Oh? Kane, and Mr. Longbottom? It's curfew now, isn't it? Do you need me to take you back to the Gryffindor Tower? That way, Filch won't be afraid if he sees you." Lockhart naturally offered to help Kane after seeing him.

Kane shook his head: "If nothing unexpected happens, Filch probably doesn't want to see me right now."

Lockhart, who had been writing novels for many years, immediately sensed that there was more to this story than met the eye; this was juicy gossip.

He opened the door casually and invited Kane and Neville, "I think you'd love to have some late-night snacks here, and tell me what's going on with Filch."

"Are you coming?" Kane was in the mood to have a friend to rant about Filch, so he was eager to accept Lockhart's invitation and immediately looked at Neville to ask.

Neville shook his head: "You said Harry and the other two are still looking for me? I have to go back to the tower and wait, otherwise they'll get worried if they don't see either of us."

"Ah, thank you. Just tell them I'm with Professor Lockhart when you see them." Kane nodded reassuredly at Neville, who seemed very reliable, then walked into Lockhart's office, sat on the sofa, and began to communicate with Lockhart.

Lockhart listened quietly, joining Kane in a variety of tirade against Filch like an ordinary friend, until Kane got tired of it and left Lockhart's office, taking food and other items with him.

Lockhart, meanwhile, stroked his chin, took out the jet-black notebook again, and began to scribble and draw on it with a quill pen.

Ink slowly appeared on the previously blank pages: "So the little wizard I just sensed was the one you were talking about... I still can't believe you would mistake a little wizard for a teacher."

"What's so strange about that?" Lockhart continued writing in the book with a quill pen: "Although you're older than me, your memory hasn't graduated yet. Didn't you teach me a lesson too?"

"It's just a very basic understanding of spells. If you had paid attention in class, you could have learned it too. But speaking of which, that little wizard mentioned Filch? To me, this castle caretaker doesn't sound very powerful."

Looking at the words appearing in the book, Lockhart finally smiled. This book had been answering his questions all along, and now it was finally his turn to answer the book's questions.

Thinking of this, he picked up his pen and wrote: "This castle caretaker is indeed not very powerful. He is a Squib. I didn't know this when I was in school. It was only after I left Hogwarts and met some upperclassmen outside of school that I learned about this from them."

"Aha~ So the current Hogwarts Castle caretaker is a Squib, how strange."

As this sentence slowly appeared on the page, at the same time...

Kane returned to the Gryffindor common room, where Harry, Harry, and the other two were still warming themselves by the fireplace in the corner. Upon seeing Kane return, the three of them yawned in unison.

"Is Neville back?" Kane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just got back. I've been waiting for you. I heard you and Filch got into a fight?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, it wasn't really a shouting match. After all, Filch is good at making people angry." Kane felt better after venting in Lockhart's office and didn't want to let Harry and the others be unhappy with his negative energy. He just said it was a little friction between him and Filch.

It was really just a tiny, insignificant friction.

After Kane finished speaking, he was a little tired and went back to his dormitory to get a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, Dumbledore in the headmaster's office didn't particularly want him to get a good night's sleep.

A small, silver bird flew in through the window and landed on Kane's bedside table.

"Kane, I've taken a closer look at Filch's cat, and I think you should come to my office now. Be careful."

After the silvery-white bird finished speaking, it turned into a speck of light and disappeared. Kane, feeling helpless, got out of bed, put on his clothes, and left the dormitory again.

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still unable to sleep and were warming themselves by the fireplace, wondering what earth-shattering thing Filch had done to make Kane angry.

After all, since enrolling, Kane has only gotten angry once, and that was because of Filch. Neville said he was furious and hurled many hurtful insults at Filch...

It can only be said that Filch does have a bit of talent. The Dursleys, Paul Anrella, Draco Malfoy, the two Slytherin seniors who deliberately caused trouble for Kane, Quirrell, Voldemort, even Snape, and Lockhart—these people are all incredibly abstract, but Kane can always find a little bit of merit in them and befriend them. Even if he can't find any merit in them, he understands them and calmly beats them to their knees once or twice before living peacefully with them.

He didn't actually get angry or lose his composure over anyone, but Filch really made Kane, disregarding the occasion and the three professors watching, unleash a long string of heartbreakingly angry words in the corridor...

What terrible things has Filch done?

They saw Kane come out wearing a coat and were all a little curious. Hermione, for some reason, suddenly felt uneasy and asked, "What's wrong now? Is it because of Filch?"

Kane rubbed his eyes: "If I had to say, there is a connection, but I don't know the specifics."

After he finished speaking, he stopped explaining and left the lounge on his own, heading towards Dumbledore's office.

Soon, inside the headmaster's office, two cups of cold tea on the table told Professor Kane McGonagall and Snape that they should have been gone for a while.

Kane sat down and poured himself another cup of tea. "How is Mrs. Lorris?"

"Well, good news and bad news, which do you prefer?" Dumbledore asked, pushing a plate of potato chips in front of Kane.

"Although I don't think your sense of humor is quite suitable for today, as a qualified straight man, this is good news," Kane said, taking a sip of tea.

"Mrs. Lorris did not die; she was simply petrified for some strange reason."

"Hmm, so what's the bad news?" Kane then asked.

"We don't know the reason for the petrification. It's not the petrification curse, not the petrification potion, not some obscure curses I know, and it's not even the Medusa's Eye that has suddenly become popular at Hogwarts recently."

"What's the direct reason you called me here?" Kane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm giving you a heads-up: this semester, like last one, is going to be a turbulent one. I don't know when I'll need you, so be prepared," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Then thank you for entrusting me with this important task. I need to go back and prepare now, like going back to get a good night's sleep."

With that, Kane left the principal's office and went straight to his bed, where he slept soundly until the next morning when he woke up and stepped out of his dormitory to see three serious faces.

Kane looked at Harry, Ron, and Hermione with some surprise at their serious expressions: "Which Hogwarts rule did I break this time?"

Hermione swallowed hard and forced herself to say, "Filch... has been petrified."

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