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Harry and Dumbledore, who had been passionately arguing with Dobby, both turned to stare at Snape in confusion.
"...A mistake as severe as that should have resulted in immediate expulsion, yet I only deducted a completely ordinary amount of points." Snape explained.
"This is your fault! I lost 35 points unfairly!" Harry angrily kicked the cage holding Dobby.
"In fact, esteemed Harry Potter sir actually lost 70 points in total," Dobby said timidly.
"I said I lost 35 points unfairly!!" Harry growled, his expression darkening.
"Oh, poor Harry Potter, because he likes his professor, he has lost his wisdom and can't even do arithmetic."
Kasenhis awkwardly scratched his chin. "I just remembered something funny. Carry on, carry on."
At this moment, Dumbledore finally stepped forward and patted Harry on the shoulder. "Dobby, why are you trying to make Harry leave Hogwarts?"
"Because Hogwarts is very dangerous right now! You cannot even imagine what has entered the school!"
"Oh, we know. You're talking about the Basilisk, right? Professor Kasenhis gave us these glasses, and they completely protect us from the Basilisk's attack! You foolish… little elf!" Harry said, tapping the bridge of his glasses with emphasis.
"No, not the Basilisk! It's something even more terrifying!" Dobby shrieked.
"And what exactly is this 'even more terrifying' thing?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"N-no… I… I can't say!" Dobby shook his head, sobbing.
"Let me guess… is it a pitch-black notebook?"
Dumbledore's voice was soft, but it carried a chilling weight.
"What?! How do you—?! No! Dobby must not say!"
Kasenhis, who had been lounging on the glass staircase, exchanged a glance with Snape.
"It's probably Voldemort's Horcrux. Didn't expect the Malfoys to have something like that," Kasenhis muttered.
"During the Dark Lord's prime, the Malfoy family was practically inseparable from him. You could say they were like one entity, moving in perfect coordination. Considering that, it's not surprising that one of his Horcruxes ended up in the Malfoy household." Snape explained.
"But… aren't Horcruxes supposed to help bring back the Dark Lord? Why would the Malfoys send a Horcrux to Hogwarts? That's basically throwing it into a fire pit!"
"If not for your alchemic monocles, the ones thrown into the fire pit would have been Hogwarts itself." Snape stated matter-of-factly.
"Hmm… I'll take that as a compliment," Kasenhis smirked.
On the other side, Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes stared at Dobby for a long time before he finally relented.
"Kasenhis, let him go."
"You're not going to ask any more questions?"
"Maybe it's a Malfoy conspiracy!" Harry's voice almost drowned out Kasenhis's, clearly showing just how much he had against Dobby.
"Perhaps the Malfoys do have a conspiracy," Dumbledore explained, "but it has nothing to do with Dobby. Besides, we already know just about everything we need to."
Kasenhis walked over, picked up the Ender Pearl from the Enchanting Table, and lightly tapped it with his finger.
"You can go now," he said.
Dobby gave a polite nod, snapped his fingers, and vanished.
"You can leave as well, Harry," Dumbledore said.
Harry glanced at the far, far away office door.
He looked at Kasenhis, then at Dumbledore. But then his gaze subtly drifted over to Snape, and in the end, he decided… yeah, walking was probably the better choice.
"What an interesting little thing… it can even prevent house-elves from Apparating?" Dumbledore mused, watching as Kasenhis toyed with the Ender Pearl in his hand.
"The magic injection time is not enough, otherwise it can still stop the Phoenix."
As Kasenhis spoke, he tapped the Ender Pearl again. Instantly, it emitted a pulse of purple light, sealing the surrounding space.
Then, he conjured a flame in his hand and burned the Ender Pearl to ash.
"Hmm?" Dumbledore looked puzzled.
"The enchantment time wasn't long enough. If I pushed a little harder, I could've made it block a phoenix's teleportation too," Kasenhis explained.
"…You wouldn't be trying to block me, were you?" Dumbledore suddenly asked, out of nowhere.
"Uh… Of course not. You're my great and honorable Headmaster. Why would I ever use something like that against you? No way, no way, not at all."
For some reason, beads of cold sweat started forming on Kasenhis's forehead. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⟡𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵
"Well, that's good to hear." Dumbledore nodded approvingly.
"What about the Malfoy family?" Snape, still sitting on the glass staircase, asked.
"Let them be. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have learned about Tom's resurrection method so soon," Dumbledore waved his hand dismissively.
"…Hmm, fair enough." Snape nodded, then transformed into a swirl of black mist and drifted toward the office door.
"I'm leaving too. Oh, by the way, Kasenhis—there's beef ribs for lunch in the Great Hall. You might like them."
Dumbledore said this before disapparating on the spot.
"Hmm… beef ribs… yeah, gotta get some of that."
Muttering to himself, Kasenhis teleported straight to the Great Hall for the third time that day.
After a long while, Kasenhis finally returned to his office.
As he pushed open the door, he found himself face-to-face with Harry, who was just about to leave.
"…Huh? You snuck in here again?" he asked.
Harry looked utterly defeated. "Professor, I never left in the first place! I've been walking towards the exit all this time!"
Kasenhis awkwardly scratched his chin. How was he supposed to explain this? He couldn't say that ever since he converted his office into a supersized Ender Chest, things had spiraled out of control, and now, on average, he had to expand it by a few extra square meters every night before bed.
"…What do you think about me installing a bus in my office?"
Harry let out a pained laugh. "Maybe, Professor. But do you remember what you said at the Quidditch pitch? About the weather?"
"Yeah, I remember. Why?"
"Well, if the weather's bad for our next Quidditch match…"
Harry deadpanned, "…maybe we should just play the whole match inside your office."
"Of course, I was actually planning to set up a polo game in my office… I just haven't gotten everything ready yet."
"What's missing? It's definitely not the space."
"We're missing horses, balls, mallets… oh, and players."
"Alright, Professor… I'm really missing some rest right now. Seriously. Next time, I'm bringing my broomstick."
"Mhmm… make sure to come back, yeah?"
As Harry walked toward the corridor, he stumbled, nearly face-planting onto the floor.
"Ah, young people… they really do need more exercise."
Humming a little tune, Kasenhis teleported straight onto the couch, pulled out his Arcane Handbook, and began prepping for his underwater lessons for the next week.
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