Kasenhis quickly conjured a notebook and quill, meticulously copying down the section on flesh alchemy from Forbidden Alchemy.
Once finished, he returned the book to the shelf, clutching his handwritten notes as he prepared to head back to his office.
As he walked through the corridors back to his office, he suddenly heard the rapid patter of footsteps, almost like someone was fleeing.
He shrugged it off—must Filch chasing down some night-roaming students.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
It wasn't until he had walked about seventy meters past the staircase that he realized something. That staircase led directly to the classroom Dumbledore had designated for his "bait and trap" experiment.
The one with Hagrid's three-headed dog inside!
"Sweet Merlin's beard!"
A shimmering Ender Pearl materialized in Kasenhis's hand. Within three breaths, he teleported to the door of that very classroom.
He pushed the door open hurriedly, only to see four familiar young wizards frozen in place.
At the same time, the distant flicker of light from a lantern came into view, accompanied by labored breathing.
"Professor Kasenhis? Have you seen four little mischief-makers sneaking around tonight?" Filch's voice carried over.
Kasenhis glanced down at the four young wizards crouching desperately at his feet, shaking their heads frantically. He looked back up at Filch and shook his head in turn.
"I see. I'll check the other floors, then! Those sneaky brats won't escape my clutches!" Filch muttered sinisterly as he descended the staircase, lantern bobbing in the gloom.
After ensuring Filch had left, Kasenhis grabbed each student in turn and swiftly yanked all four out of the room in two quick motions.
"Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione!"
Kasenhis began sternly, his voice as sharp as a whip, "care to explain why you're sneaking around at night? Actually, scratch that—night roaming is minor compared to this. Do you realize that this big fellow in there could devour three of you in two moves?"
He leaned in closer, his voice dropping ominously. "And the last one would still be divided into three pieces!"
Once they were safely back in his office, Kasenhis folded his arms, glaring at the four as they squirmed under his intense gaze. His tone was unyielding.
"Malfoy," Ron blurted, voice tinged with frustration. "He challenged us to a duel, but he ran off and snitched to Filch! We were just trying to avoid losing points so we ran—"
"Points? POINTS?" Kasenhis cut him off sharply. "You should've let Filch take the points! Did Dumbledore not warn everyone at the start of term about the danger in that classroom? Did that warning go in one ear and out the other?"
He jabbed a finger toward them for emphasis. "Would you prefer losing some house points or losing your lives? Worst case, Filch might have given you detention. Are you telling me death is more appealing than detention?"
"If it's detention with Snape, it might actually be—"
"Harry, shut your mouth!"
Kasenhis said in frustration, making Harry flinch. "You clearly don't grasp the gravity of what happened tonight!"
"You utterly misjudged the danger of your choices! Before running into that classroom, you should've remembered Dumbledore's warning from the start of term. Fine, maybe you panicked and made a mistake—fair enough. But once you saw the three-headed dog, why didn't you immediately turn and run?"
"You honestly thought that big dog was sound asleep?" Kasenhis's voice rose sharply, his expression livid. "Even if I hadn't told you, you should've seen for yourselves—if that dog had decided to attack, Harry, Neville, and Ron would've been gone in a single bite each. And Hermione? You'd have been last and the worst off, because you'd have been bitten into three pieces!"
The angrier he got, the more his voice echoed around the office.
Earlier in the evening, he and Snape had been installing potion launchers for the piston door. Kasenhis had seen Snape—a wizard with decades of experience—cast a silver sheen of a Shield Charm over himself before entering. Even then, the three-headed dog had managed to tear through his defenses.
What's worse, after Kasenhis had knocked the dog unconscious, it transitioned seamlessly into a deep sleep.
This meant the dog had been sleeping on an empty stomach.
Now, if it had woken up groggy and found three entrees and a dessert... well, the outcome was grim to even imagine.
"You all... you know what? Forget it. Prepare to lose points. No, wait—I'm a professor, I'll just dock them myself. Gryffindor, four students, fifty points each!"
The four students hung their heads low.
For the first time, they realized just how frightening Professor Kasenhis could be when angry.
Usually warm and sunny like a small ray of light, his fury rivaled McGonagall's imposing demeanor, paired with a tongue as sharp as Snape's.
But one particularly sensitive young wizard noticed something else behind Kasenhis's anger. A thread of worry, hidden beneath his booming reprimand.
"I... I'm sorry, Professor.."
Neville muttered, his voice trembling as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Neville... uh... Neville!" Kasenhis's instinctive reaction was to crouch down and comfort him, but he stopped himself just in time.
He needed to stay firm.
"Do you understand your mistake now?" Kasenhis asked, his tone still sharp but slightly softer.
"Yes..." the four mumbled in unison.
"And what exactly have you learned?"
"We shouldn't have gone into that classroom," Ron offered hesitantly.
"Beyond that!" Kasenhis exclaimed, his hands resting on his hips. "It's not just about the classroom—it's about how you completely failed to assess the situation. Can't you use your heads to weigh the difference between losing points and losing your lives? Which is scarier?"
"We'll think, Professor. We will," Harry replied, his voice subdued.
"And another thing—you can't keep relying on luck. That dog... I knocked it out earlier this afternoon. But just now, you couldn't have known for certain if it was sleeping or unconscious. What if it had woken up? Or worse, woken up hungry?"
He paused mid-rant and glanced down. "Neville at least yo... eh? Neville?"
Kasenhis's voice shifted from exasperation to disbelief as he noticed the small puddle forming at Neville's feet. The boy stood frozen, his face pale with embarrassment.
Kasenhis pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply, his frustration mingled with resignation. "Alright, alright. I think you've all understood the seriousness of what happened."
The group nodded, their heads hanging low.
"So once again, what have you learned from this?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝕟𝕖𝕥
"Next time you face a situation , weigh the pros and cons in your mind... Though that sounds a bit like Slytherin," the four said in unison, with Ron mumbling the last part under his breath.
"The traits of all four houses are strengths," Kasenhis corrected, his tone firm. "You shouldn't let your dislike of Slytherin blind you to their good qualities, much less discard them like trash."
"We understand, Professor," they replied, nodding.
"Alright then, head straight back to your dormitories," Kasenhis instructed, pointing towards the door, which creaked open with a wave of his hand.
He hesitated for a moment. "Actually, I don't trust you entirely—after all, you are Gryffindors. I'll escort you back."
"Professor, that's really not necessary," Neville said, his eyes still red from earlier.
"Think of it as helping you avoid Filch."
The walk back was silent, the group subdued after Kasenhis's lecture. When they finally reached Gryffindor Tower, he waited until all four had safely climbed through the portrait hole behind the Fat Lady.
Only then did Kasenhis let out a long sigh, his stern expression relaxing.
"Keeping a serious face is exhausting. I don't know how Severus manages it 24/7... And as for my blood-and-flesh alchemy, that's two hours of my life gone... Filch wasn't wrong—these little kids of Hogwarts are really too mischievous."
"And Gryffindors? A little too reckless."
Muttering to himself, Kasenhis turned and made his way back to his office.