area51novel Chapter 155 End of the Semester [4K2-in-1 Large Chapter]
Chapter 155 End of the Semester [4K2-in-1 Large Chapter]
Chapter 155 End of the Semester [4K Two-in-One Chapter]
Kane stared blankly at the elegant, ornate envelope that slowly descended from the ceiling; inside was the ticket to the Sir Merlin Order.
The problem is, all I did was kill a basilisk, so why was I given such a prestigious honor?
Kane explained the problem to his friends, and Hermione shrugged: "It probably doesn't carry that much weight, after all, Professor Lockhart is also a member of the Order of Merlin, and he has a third-class badge, right?"
Kane knew the answer was bad, but...
He suddenly realized that the Sir Merlin Order wasn't all that prestigious after all.
After all, Lockhart himself was able to get in, which shows how high the bar was.
I estimate that changing the name of the Merlin Jazz Orchestra to the Geoduck Jazz Orchestra would not feel out of place at all.
After all, they're all watery when you squeeze them.
"By the way, Kane, you should open the envelope and see what level of medal it is. A third-class medal is something anyone can get if they're willing to work hard. A second-class medal is for making some significant contributions to the magical world."
Kane nodded. "I see. What about a First Class medal?"
"...Level 1, actually it's also divided into..." Ron was just about to say that the Level 1 medal is highly polarized, with some requiring great contributions and others only requiring spending money or finding the right path. Just as he was about to give everyone a very objective answer, Kane had already taken out his Level 1 medal envelope.
After a second of silence, Ron's emotional intelligence kicked in: "God!"
Hermione slowly waved to an upperclassman and eventually received a bottle of alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content of no more than two digits.
With the end of an unnecessary little incident in the auditorium, the auditorium finally returned to normal.
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 become a member of the Merlin Order, and not even a third-rate fake...
Would Dumbledore really go and use the Elder Wand to coerce or bribe him?
No, 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.
"6
Hmm...
'
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, so you saw... uh... we both made a fool of ourselves. What's wrong?"
"Of course there is." 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 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 Northern Europe, who knows."
After saying that, Dumbledore 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 sense of refinement.
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 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 anything special 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, lost control due to his excessive speed, 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 so 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 complicated 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 ended, 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 was holding a cup of hot chocolate and smiling at him.
"I don't know if you still remember me. We agreed before... um... how should I put this..."
Just as Lupin was struggling with how to phrase it, Kane remembered: "It's about helping you figure out 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 somewhat 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 allow me to leave the Dursleys. He said I must spend one 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 better quality of life than just freeloading, right?" Kane repeated what he hadn't had a chance to say earlier.
"Maybe, but I don't want to do that..."
"...Um...why?"
"Perhaps it's because I have a fighting spirit. If I give them money just 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 the 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, "speaking of house-elves, how's Dobby?"
Kane, knowing that both the Basilisk and Tom were now dead, didn't hide it 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 to 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 his 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 to bring back 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.