Dumbledore sighed. "You really can't judge a book by its cover."
Kingsley nodded in full agreement.
"Albus, that dark magic fluctuation… it can't really be coming from that child, can it?"
Dumbledore glanced at him. "Unless I'm mistaken, yes. Is there a problem?"
Kingsley's expression grew serious.
"A big one. If he were an adult wizard, he'd be in Azkaban. If he were already at Hogwarts, his wand would have been snapped.
Even you don't recognize him, which means he hasn't enrolled. The Ministry has no way to punish or control him."
"You're forgetting one place, Kingsley. Hogwarts is designed for exactly this kind of situation. I'd bet the child's acceptance letter is already on Minerva's desk, waiting to be signed," Dumbledore said.
"Right now, our job is simply to investigate this young gentleman's unusual dark magic."
With that, Dumbledore led Kingsley toward Kane at a calm, measured pace.
"I imagine a young man who uses dark magic to entertain wealthy ladies for pounds wouldn't refuse a trick for an old man, would he?" Dumbledore said with a smile.
If Kane had heard him, he might have performed without hesitation.
Unfortunately, he didn't hear Dumbledore. He only heard Maxwell.
"Two wizards are watching you."
Kane jolted and looked up, just in time to see Dumbledore and Kingsley in their outlandish robes, holding little wooden sticks, with "I'm a wizard" practically written all over them.
Fortunately, today's work had been much more efficient than yesterday's.
The two wealthy ladies had generously tipped him a full hundred pounds.
With a hundred pounds in hand, it was naturally time to pack up and go home!
Soon, Kane hurried away, leaving the two ladies somewhat puzzled.
But they quickly spotted the menacing, oddly dressed strangers chasing after Kane in the direction he'd gone.
The two ladies, whom Kane had just delighted, were filled with a sense of justice and moved to block Dumbledore and his companion.
However, Kingsley simply gave his wand a subtle flick, and the two poor ladies wandered back to their car in a daze.
"Maxwell? Can you see if they're still following?" This time, Kane hid in a different alley.
Yesterday, Harry had just been an untrained little wizard whom he could easily brush off with a wave of his hand.
Today, these two wizards, one middle-aged and the other white-haired, looked terrifyingly powerful. He absolutely had to avoid confrontation.
But he quickly gave up that hope. There was no point in having Maxwell check behind him, because Dumbledore and Kingsley were now standing right in front of him.
"Young sir, would you be interested in performing a magic trick for us? I saw you at the crossroads just now." Dumbledore asked warmly.
Kane sighed inwardly and removed the hat from his head. "Of course. Please hold this hat with both hands."
Dumbledore readily accepted the hat.
In an instant, he sensed the hat's true nature: ice-cold, bone-chillingly so, an incredibly eerie dark magic.
Even the dark magic wielded by wizards in their seventies and eighties might not be as pure as this dark magic energy.
And this little wizard, who looked about eleven years old... could he be a natural dark magic manipulator?
Unlike Dumbledore's contemplation, Kane was currently working tirelessly on his escape plan.
Seeing that these two had basically revealed their wizard identities, he naturally didn't need to hide anything anymore.
He simply had his own shadow sprout a second black top hat, which slowly crawled up into his hand. He handed the second hat to Kingsley.
"Sir, you as well, please." Kingsley glanced at Dumbledore, and after receiving a confirming look, accepted the hat with both hands.
"Next, please place the brims of your hats together, and then it's time to witness the miracle." Kane said with an air of mystery.
Dumbledore and Kingsley cooperatively pressed their two hats together.
When they looked back toward Kane, all they saw was a rapidly fleeing figure.
The hats in their hands had transformed into a tangled mess of shadow chains, locking their hands together.
One chain even fell to the ground, preventing them from moving freely.
"Hmm, instinctive application. You could say it's ingrained in his bones." Dumbledore commented.
"So you're saying some unknown dark wizard has disguised himself to look like this child..." Kingsley murmured.
"What I mean is, this dark magic is probably innate to this child. He uses dark magic as naturally as breathing... I can't make Transfiguration feel that effortless.."
After saying this, Dumbledore began working to break free from the shadow chains in his hands.
Overall, it wasn't too difficult.
After all, Dumbledore's century-plus of magical power was something Kane's eleven-year-old shadows simply couldn't withstand.
"Where to next?" Kingsley also broke free from the chains.
"Just a not-so-evil young gentleman. He probably won't play cat and mouse with us. Let's go to his motel."
Dumbledore calmly gave the order.
While Dumbledore and Kingsley were playing the waiting game, Kane was eating a hot dog while looking at Maxwell beside him.
"We've known each other forever, and you can't even lend a hand?"
Maxwell raised an eyebrow.
"You handled it beautifully on your own without me. Besides, this isn't the Constant after all.
I can't use my authority here. I'm not like you, who somehow managed to... smuggle out this shadow authority, bold as brass."
"Maybe it's talent. Who knew that after I escaped the Constant, these shadows would cling to me." Kane sighed and took another fierce bite of his hot dog.
And this shadow authority wasn't as useful as most people would think.
The entity in the Constant had part of its authority stolen, which definitely didn't feel good.
Case in point: last night, it sent shadow creatures to hunt him down, trying to bring back both the authority and his life.
Maxwell seemed to understand Kane's troubles and offered some comfort.
"You're in the real world. Shadows from the Constant are weakened when they extend here, but yours aren't.
That's your advantage. Get ready tonight. You might be able to snatch a bit more shadow from It."
"I get what you mean. Tonight I won't be so pathetic." As Kane spoke, he'd already arrived at the somewhat shabby motel.
He pulled the key from his pocket and walked all the way to his room. Suddenly, he frowned.
He decisively dropped the key on the ground, turned around, and tried to leave.
But he came face to face once again with Dumbledore and Kingsley.
"Young sir, you haven't finished your magic trick yet." Dumbledore said gently.