"If you dare walk out that door, don't ever come back! It's not like I ever officially adopted you anyway!"
Vernon Dursley set down the TV remote and bellowed at the thin figure standing in the entryway.
Kane Heath finished putting on his shoes at the entrance, then turned to face Vernon Dursley and Petunia Dursley, who were bustling about in the kitchen.
"Regardless of everything, Mr. Dursley, Mrs. Dursley, I'm grateful that you provided me with a place to stay this past month without asking for anything in return.
Don't worry, I won't be coming back. When Harry and Dudley get home, please say goodbye to them for me."
After speaking, Kane pushed open the door and left the Dursley household, walking along the sidewalk of Privet Drive.
In the afternoon light, shadows on the street gradually formed into the shape of a tall, elegant man, one that only Kane could see.
The man raised an eyebrow and said, "Kane, you're not looking so good right now."
"If it weren't for you, Maxwell, I wouldn't be in such bad shape. What do you want to say?"
Kane glanced at this man, only he could see, a figure from the Don't Starve world, the... King of the Constant.
"Of course I have something to say," Maxwell replied. "Before dark, find something to eat."
"Thanks, I'll be sure to secretly dig through trash cans after nightfall," Kane said dryly.
"What I mean is, you're only eleven years old. Can't you find a more dignified way to live?" Maxwell said quietly.
"If you're trying to convince me to accept the shadows of the Constant and let them latch onto me, please save your breath. I barely managed to escape from there." Kane said coldly.
"Ah." Maxwell sighed.
"Kane, oh Kane, you're so naive. From the moment you set foot in the Constant, they already had their eyes on you.
Even escaping doesn't change that.
The only reason you haven't seen them is that I've been blocking them for you. But now, I think it's time for you to take that step yourself."
Kane lifted his eyelids to look at Maxwell. "So?"
"Same as before: before dark, find something to eat."
After Maxwell finished speaking, he smiled and pulled out a lock-shaped shadow from beneath Kane's feet.
In an instant, Kane felt himself reconnect with something terrifying.
The dark shadow that had been sealed away burst forth from within him all at once, flooding into his own shadow, before he quickly brought it back under control.
"It's time to embrace our true nature, Kane. Farewell." With a bang, Maxwell vanished.
Kane turned around and looked at his shadow, which was gradually beginning to writhe and twist.
He frowned and clicked his tongue. "Behave yourself!"
The shadow flinched and immediately became docile.
At dusk, Harry and Dudley entered the Dursley home.
Dudley went straight to the kitchen and ransacked the refrigerator, finally pulling out a bottle of ice-cold Coke and downing it in one satisfying gulp.
Harry, meanwhile, carefully brushed the dust off himself, picked up the mop from his cupboard under the stairs, and cleaned up the muddy footprints Dudley had tracked across the floor.
After finishing all this, he carefully poured himself a glass of water, drinking it as quietly as possible, then began searching the entire first floor for a particular figure.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find him.
"Uncle, where's Kane?" Harry slowly but firmly walked up to Vernon Dursley, who was reading the newspaper, and asked.
"Ran away from home," Vernon said, flipping a page.
Harry frowned. "You kicked him out? Why?"
Vernon angrily crumpled the newspaper into a ball and threw it into the fireplace.
"I didn't take you two in so you could ask questions. And I didn't kick Kane out. He chose to leave on his own."
Harry dropped his timid pretense. "So you just let him go? He has no money, he hasn't had dinner, and you didn't even go look for him!"
"Well, we never officially adopted him anyway," Vernon snorted, picking up the remote to watch TV.
At that moment, Dudley came thundering over and crashed into Harry like a freight train, nearly sending him tumbling into the fireplace.
"Good riddance to Kane! This isn't an orphanage," Dudley said, settling into his father's lap.
The poor sofa groaned under a weight far beyond what its designers had ever anticipated.
Petunia came down from upstairs and stood at the landing.
"No need to worry about him. Mrs. Figg says he's performing magic tricks over on Magnolia Crescent. When he gets hungry enough, he'll come back on his own."
Vernon snorted.
"Hmph. Living here for over a month and never offering to show us any magic tricks. Ungrateful little brat."
When Harry heard that Kane was on Magnolia Crescent, he immediately headed to the entryway to put on his shoes.
Vernon felt his authority being challenged. "If you dare go out today, don't bother coming back either!"
Harry didn't back down.
"I'm different from Kane. You're my legal guardians. If you don't come looking for me, the police will come looking for you!"
With that, Harry bolted out the door, leaving Vernon Dursley fuming helplessly on the sofa.
Soon, Harry jogged to Magnolia Crescent and spotted Kane standing at the street corner, surrounded by several teenage girls.
Kane stood on his tiptoes, placing a jet-black hat on one of the girls' heads.
Then he lifted the hat, and the girl's hair, which had been hanging loose, swept upward with the motion of the hat being removed.
Magically, it transformed into a cute, youthful hair ornament.
The girl's friends gasped in amazement when they saw the hair clip.
The girl herself pulled out a mirror to admire it, then squealed with delight and hugged Kane, planting a kiss on his cheek.
She then pulled out ten pounds from her wallet and placed it in Kane's hat.
"Thank you, elegant magician," the girl said, stepping back to let her friends have a turn.
Just as another girl was happily crouching in front of Kane, he noticed Harry Potter standing in the distance and immediately looked apologetic.
"Sorry, but I think special magic should only be for special people, don't you agree?"
"I think you just did it for Emily because you think she's prettier than us.
But we've been waiting here so long, you owe us something," the girl crouching before him said, resting her chin on one hand with a playful pout.
Kane glanced at Harry approaching and sighed helplessly. "Of course there's compensation."
He extended one hand, the back of it facing the nearby streetlamp. The shadow in his palm slowly twisted and writhed.
Then he flipped his hand quickly, and three black roses appeared in Kane's grasp.
He distributed them to the three girls, one each, then, without another word, put his hat on his head and turned to leave, walking toward the unlit area.
"Hmm, cute little guy. Why do I feel like he's avoiding us?" Emily said helplessly, holding the black rose.
"No, he's avoiding me!" Harry's voice came from behind the three girls, and he rushed past them.