At eleven o'clock in the evening, three sneaky figures slipped out of Hogwarts Castle and headed toward the pitch-black Forbidden Forest in the distance.
A bright full moon hung in the night sky, and by its light, Kyle could make out Hagrid's hut not far away.
"Is that you lot? George and Fred?" a shout came from afar.
Hagrid strode toward them out of the darkness, a massive crossbow slung over his back and a quiver packed full of arrows. A sleek hunting dog followed at his heels.
"Kyle, what are you doing here?" Hagrid frowned when he spotted Kyle. "The Forbidden Forest is dangerous at night—get back inside!"
"We were the three Professor McGonagall caught this afternoon, but she didn't punish me," Kyle said with a shrug.
Hagrid paused, then nodded. "Alright then. Listen up carefully now—the Forbidden Forest at night is extremely dangerous for young wizards like you. I don't want anyone getting hurt."
He led them to the edge of the forest, raised his lantern high, and pointed to a narrow path that wound deeper into the black thicket.
They peered into the forest as a gentle breeze ruffled their hair.
"Our job is to patrol the forest. As long as you three stick close to me and Fang, you'll be fine."
Hagrid patted the dog's head, signaling it to take the lead ahead. "Stay alert. Alright, let's move."
The forest was pitch-black and eerily silent.
Fang and Hagrid took the front, one behind the other, while the three young wizards followed closely in Hagrid's footsteps.
George and Fred held their wands aloft, the tips glowing with the Lumos spell, flanking Kyle protectively on either side.
Kyle felt a mix of warmth and amusement at their actions. He patted their arms. "Guys, you really don't have to do this."
Before coming to Hogwarts, Kyle had been New York's Dark Knight, a lethal guardian in the shadows.
The night provided perfect cover, so most crimes happened then—and Kyle had to operate in that same window.
As a result, he'd honed his skills for fighting in the dark.
If the three of them tangled in a place like the Forbidden Forest right now, Kyle wouldn't even need ninjutsu. With close-quarters combat and his infuriatingly evasive footwork, taking down George and Fred would be no problem at all.
George and Fred grinned at Kyle's words.
"What are you thinking? We're not bodyguarding you."
"It's just 'cause you don't know Lumos, so we're lighting the way on both sides."
Is that it? Treated like a magic-less newbie, huh.
Kyle thought for a moment, then pulled his wand from his sleeve.
After five years of practicing hand seals for ninjutsu, this wand thing still felt awkward.
"Lumos," Kyle murmured.
With a deliberate surge of extra magic, a head-sized orb of light floated from the tip of his wand, illuminating the pitch-black forest like daylight.
No—daylight wasn't even this bright. The trees in the Forbidden Forest were too dense for sunlight to penetrate directly.
George, Fred, Hagrid: ???
"How did you do that?"
"Even the advanced version of Lumos doesn't get that bright!"
Hagrid nodded vigorously in agreement. In all his years in the wizarding world, he'd never seen anyone's Lumos shine like a miniature sun.
Of course, he figured if Professor Dumbledore wanted to, it'd be a piece of cake.
Kyle flicked his wand upward, and the orb rose with the motion, hovering above them like a sun. "Isn't it simple? Just increase the magic input."
George, Fred, Hagrid: ......
Increase the magic input—it sounded easy enough.
But the twins had no idea how to do it.
Hagrid had never heard of such a technique.
George and Fred gripped their wands with all their might, faces turning red like chronic constipation patients desperately trying to relieve years of blockage...
"What are you doing?" Kyle asked curiously.
"Increasing the magic input," George answered honestly.
Kyle coughed lightly, trying not to laugh. "That's not how you increase magic input at all."
Realizing his own Lumos was weaker than a pre-Hogwarts student's, Fred looked a bit embarrassed. "Then how do we do it?"
Kyle opened his mouth, then realized he couldn't explain it properly.
Was controlling internal magic really that hard? Was it?
"You just... do this, then that," Kyle said, pointing to the little sun overhead. "And it floats out."
Feeling thoroughly brushed off, the twins looped their arms around Kyle's neck from both sides, clearly intent on strangling him if he kept dodging.
"Stop, stop, stop! I'll teach you both magic control techniques when we get back!"
Kyle's mind was already scheming.
Tree-climbing and water-walking weren't advanced skills, but if they could help build alliances, they were worth it.
Kyle hadn't forgotten his identity as the Demon King's son.
Even without plans to rule the wizarding world, expanding his network was still necessary.
Hagrid glanced at the three young wizards roughhousing and coughed to remind them: "Patrol's not done yet."
At Hagrid's words, the three stopped messing around.
The twins, having extorted magic control tips from Kyle, exchanged satisfied blinks.
But just then, a sudden wolf howl shattered the forest's silence.
Hagrid's face changed drastically at the sound.
"Go! We have to get back!" Hagrid shouted. "Kyle, extinguish your Lumos!"
Hearing the urgency in Hagrid's voice, Kyle complied.
The four of them—plus the dog—raced back along the path they'd come.
Fang bolted ahead at incredible speed, soon vanishing from sight.
"Hagrid, werewolves?" George asked.
"Yeah, that's a werewolf calling its pack. Damn it! It's a full moon tonight!"
At Hagrid's answer, George and Fred's teeth chattered, and their legs pumped even faster.
Another howl rang out, more piercing than the first—and judging by the volume, the source was closer.
"They're catching up!" Hagrid stopped. "We can't outrun it!"
He herded the three behind a towering oak tree, unslung his crossbow, nocked an arrow, and raised it to fire.
Kyle eyed the nearby tree, then scrambled up it with hands and feet, reaching the top over ten meters up in a few leaps.
Seeing Kyle pull off that move, George and Fred nearly dropped their jaws.
Crouched in the branches, Kyle pulled a pair of insulated gloves from his pocket and slipped them on, holding his breath as he waited for the werewolf.
The four listened intently. Soon, a bizarre shadow appeared in their view.
Two points of ghostly green light, like will-o'-the-wisps floating in the air, entered their sight first.
A strange creature covered in thick fur stood on two legs, its upright triangular ears twitching in the cold wind, sensitively catching every faint sound from around it.
That was the werewolf.
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