"You... why are you chopping wood?"
Kane scratched his head. "Didn't I tell you I'm afraid of the dark? Obviously it's for building a fire."
"......"
After spending the whole day thinking it over, Dumbledore had already worked out why Kane had stopped using lamps at night and switched to campfires instead.
It almost certainly had to do with the shadow that attacked him near the Black Lake.
Just like only magic could counter magic, only light strengthened by darkness could drive away shadows.
"Kingsley told me that the night you stayed at the motor inn, there was a surge of dark magic that lasted until morning. That was because of the fire you made, wasn't it?"
Dumbledore didn't bother making wild guesses like most people would. He asked directly.
"Wrong guess. That was something else."
Kane was referring to Charlie, who had chased him out of The Constant.
Burning his own shadow only kept her from attacking him outright; if she wanted, she could still lurk in the darkness and watch him.
Compared to that, the campfire was much more useful.
"I look forward to the day you return to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, watching Kane leave his office.
After leaving the castle, Kane headed to the Forbidden Forest for firewood, then to the Black Lake to gather stones, and finally to Hagrid's hut so they could go to the Leaky Cauldron together.
"Tom's a good man," Hagrid reminded him.
"If you ever need help, just ask him. And if he can't handle it, write to Dumbledore. He'll sort it out."
Then Hagrid pulled out a cake from behind him like he'd just performed a magic trick.
"Today's Harry's birthday. I was thinking... growin' up the way he did, he's probably never had anyone throw him a proper birthday.
So I figured... maybe I should... you know... could you take this to him for me?" Hagrid's big face flushed as he spoke.
"I will." Kane raised an eyebrow. Well, dinner was taken care of.
He carried the cake upstairs, knocked on Harry's door with the tip of his shoe, and Harry opened it immediately, his gaze locking on the cake.
"Wow, is this for me? Wait, why's my name spelled wrong?" Harry asked, surprised.
"You can ask Hagrid later. Maybe Hogwarts doesn't offer spelling lessons."
Kane set the cake on the table, went to his own bed, and started unloading stones and wood from his pocket.
He waved his wand, shadows wrapped around the materials, and in a blink they dropped to the floor and burst into flame.
"This... this is the thing you were talking about? A campfire?" Harry stared, stunned. Even the cake hadn't made him look like this.
"What else did you think it'd be?" Kane asked, genuinely confused. What was this kid picturing?
"I thought your lighting setup would be, I don't know... like a big oil drum full of burning wood or something. Living off a campfire for heat and light... isn't your life after leaving the Dursleys kind of too rough?"
After hesitating several times, Harry finally decided to just say it.
He knew he couldn't stay at the Leaky Cauldron every break. Sooner or later, he'd have to go back to the Dursleys.
And Kane was the same. He couldn't seriously plan on sleeping under bridges during the holidays, right? Better to tell him the ugly truth now, so when the break came, Kane could just come home with him.
Sure, the Dursleys were emotionally abusive, but at least there was a roof over your head. Better that than relying on a campfire for warmth and light.
Look at poor Kane. Who knew how long he'd been roughing it? He was practically traumatized; he couldn't even sleep without staring at the fire.
Kane, oblivious to Harry's spiraling thoughts, sat on the bed and pulled out more objects from his pocket, tossing them onto the floor.
Wood.
"Uh, maybe don't get too close to the fire. If that wood ignites, we'll be paying for the room."
Stones.
"And if those crack the floor, we'd be paying for that too."
Two Galleons.
"That might cover it, but honestly, it's not worth it."
Kane sighed and looked at him. "Just eat your cake."
He flicked his wand.
Shadow spilled out, sweeping up everything on the floor, and in seconds the pile transformed into a crude mechanical device with belts and levers.
"Huh?" Harry blinked at it. "Wait—bro, when did you learn transfiguration?"
Kane raised an eyebrow. "This isn't transfiguration. I built it from raw materials."
Harry's mouth hung open. Should he say "awesome"? Or "you're joking"?
In the end, he said nothing. A mature friend tolerated weird hobbies.
As soon as he brushed Harry off, someone else logged in.
Maxwell examined the odd scientific contraption and stroked his chin. "And... what exactly is the purpose of building this?"
"Uh... to craft an alchemy engine?" Kane ventured.
"I see. And you're making the alchemy engine so you can build a Deconstruction Staff, right?" Maxwell asked, sounding tired.
"Smart as always, old Max. Truly worthy of becoming the Lord of The Constant."
Kane dismissed him with a wave, popped a couple bite-sized cakes into his mouth, brushed his teeth, lit the fire, and went to bed like it was all part of one routine.
"Wait."
Kane sat up. "What now?"
"Won't this fire give us carbon monoxide poisoning by morning?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Low chance. But without it, what you'd probably find tomorrow is my skeleton." With that, Kane lay back down and pulled the blanket over his head.
Morning arrived in a blink.
"Ugh, feels like my sanity dropped again. Must be the wand." Kane stared at it helplessly. He needed to recover his sanity.
Recovering sanity was easy. One option: eat an absurd amount of good food. The other…
"I wonder if anywhere in Diagon Alley sells garlands." Kane nudged a sleeping Harry. "Where's your money?"
Half-asleep, Harry fumbled a small gold object off the bedside table. "Vault key. Get it yourself."
Kane took the key and nodded approvingly at him.
"Now that's a real bro."
Gringotts seemed to operate twenty-four seven without ever shutting down.
Kane went in and came out in under half an hour carrying five Galleons.
He only needed a garland. No need to drain Harry's vault.
Anyone who'd even consider that would have no heart at all.
But when Kane sat at the bar downstairs wearing the garland infused with his own shadow and actually felt his sanity return, a troubling thought occurred to him.
As a straight guy, wearing this thing felt... kind of gay.
"Do you think so?" Kane asked Tom, who was—as always—polishing glasses behind the counter.
"You're young. Young folks can't really do anything wrong," Tom said comfortingly.
"Good to know." Kane let out a relieved breath, hopped off the stool, turned around—
—and found Harry staring at him in total confusion.
"Let me explain, bro. I'm totally straight!"