○( ＾皿＾)っMany thanks to Nicolae for their patronage!♥♥
Sitting at his seat, Kasenhis cracked his knuckles as he processed what had just happened.
Gryffindor's four troublemakers, the so-called "Four Little Lions," had just been awarded an outrageous two hundred and fifty points by Dumbledore.
And yet, silence lingered.
Kasenhis subtly glanced up at Dumbledore, then over at Snape, whose face was now an impressive display of suppressed outrage.
Forget it, he thought, Better focus on eating.
After the feast, back in his office, Kasenhis rummaged through his collection of materials.
Finally, he crafted a crystal ball stand by hand using obsidian, hoping that Professor Trelawney, as an esteemed Divination teacher, would appreciate the gift.
The last time he returned from France, he'd gifted her a set of tarot cards. However, Trelawney didn't seem particularly fond of them, even though she maintained the polite facade of wanting to repay him—with a death prophecy, no less.
Since then, Kasenhis had been so spooked that he hadn't dared approach her classroom for quite a while.
"Let's hope this time my predicted death is a little gentler," he muttered under his breath as he raised his hand to knock on the door.
But just before his knuckles made contact with the wood, the door suddenly swung open.
"The third eye told me you needed help, but it seems you're faster than I expected," Professor Trelawney said without looking directly at Kasenhis.
"Oh... here is a gift," Kasenhis mumbled, unsure of what to say as he handed over the obsidian crystal ball stand.
"Thank you. Uruguay, Minas, Gilas, Knockturn Alley, and here," Trelawney replied cryptically, pulling out a large, cloudy, constantly shifting crystal and placing it into Kasenhis's arms.
"Uh... a return gift? Um.. thanks," Kasenhis responded awkwardly, nodding in acknowledgment. Only then did he notice something unusual about Professor Trelawney.
He remembered hearing from Dumbledore that Trelawney came from a line of exceptional seers and had inherited the ability to make prophecies. While not all of her predictions hit the mark, the ones that did were undeniably accurate. At this moment, it seemed like Trelawney was in one of those rare, prophetic states.
After saying his goodbyes, Kasenhis awkwardly carried the massive crystal out of Trelawney's domain. On the way back, he ran into Professor McGonagall.
"Is that from Trelawney?" McGonagall asked, visibly surprised.
"Yes," Kasenhis confirmed, glancing at the oversized crystal in his arms.
"Remarkable. It's really weird to get something from her," McGonagall said with astonishment.
"Yeah, surprising indeed. Well, I'll go and figure out what to do with this big guy," Kasenhis replied, lifting the crystal slightly.
Back in his office, Kasenhis set the giant crystal down. He pulled out a ridiculously small enchanted diamond pickaxe and lightly tapped the crystal to examine it.
A small shard fell off the crystal. Kasenhis picked it up and placed it into the corresponding slot on the Arcane Workbench, testing it in all six crystal positions. Finally, it fit perfectly into the Chaos Magic Crystal slot.
"Chaos... Is it because the future is chaotic and unpredictable, so the Chaos Crystal is used for divination?" Kasenhis murmured. He carefully set the large crystal in the corner of his office and marked the Chaos Crystal slot on the parchment on his desk with a circle.
After finishing this, he pulled out a world map and, with a quill, circled the locations Trelawney had mentioned.
These were all world-famous crystal mining sites. However, Kasenhis figured that if these magic crystals could be easily mined at those sites, there would be no need for him to search for them himself. Instead, he could just visit a Muggle crystal market and gather them all within an hour.
"Hmm.. Seems like these magic crystals are extremely rare, and I'll likely have to go find them myself.."
Stretching lazily in his chair, he took out the Arcane Manual again and began poring over its contents.
Splash... gurgle gurgle... splash... gurgle gurgle...
Kasenhis splashed water on his face, shaking off the sleepiness from the previous night. He returned to his desk, reflecting on the progress he'd made. After spending the whole night "devouring" the book, he'd learned something useful—how to upgrade his wand.
He pulled out a piece of gold and fiddled with it in his hands. Before long, he had crafted a golden wand tip, which he firmly attached to the end of his wand.
Though it didn't immediately seem to have any practical benefit, according to the Arcane Manual, this addition completed the wand, or more accurately, transformed it into a proper staff.
"Classes for next term are all set—feeling good," Kasenhis muttered to himself, sliding his newly enhanced staff back into his sleeve. Leisurely, he left his office, knowing there were no lessons today—or for that matter, across all of Hogwarts.
All the students were orderly making their way to the Hogsmeade station, ready to head home for the holidays.
After having breakfast and exchanging pleasantries with a few professors, Kasenhis used an Ender Pearl to teleport straight to Knockturn Alley.
Knockturn Alley, as it turned out, had more shops than one might expect. However, most were barely surviving, thanks to the fact that many Dark wizards either had no money or preferred the fine art of theft.
Coupled with the low foot traffic, only a handful of shops managed to stay afloat—primarily those owned by individuals with a strong grasp of Dark magic and reliable products.
Chief among them was Borgin and Burkes.
At least, from Kasenhis's perspective, stepping within the shop's vicinity seemed to have a peculiar effect.
Even the foul-smelling Dark wizards—who probably hadn't bathed in Merlin knows how long—appeared to clean up their act somewhat. It was almost as if they were afraid of the shopkeeper.
The screech of the creaky door grated on Kasenhis's nerves as he entered. He winced and turned to address the shopkeeper behind the counter, Borgin himself.
"You might want to oil that door," Kasenhis said, his face twisted in mild disgust at the sound.
"I'll heed your advice, Professor Kasenhis," Borgin replied with a sycophantic smile. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩
"...Has my reputation really spread that far?" Kasenhis asked, a little surprised.
"You are indeed the most wanted man right now... in a good way that is, Professor Kasenhis. How can I assist you today?" Borgin inquired, his voice dripping with deference.
"I need magical crystals—any kind, really. But I'll need to inspect their composition first, and I might chip off a small piece from some of them," Kasenhis said directly.
"Not a problem at all," Borgin replied smoothly, waving his wand. Three massive chunks of magical crystals floated out from the back of the shop and landed in front of Kasenhis.
Seeing this, Kasenhis pulled out a compact diamond pickaxe. He carefully chipped off small fragments from each crystal, then retrieved his portable Arcane Workbench to begin his experiments on the samples.
After a short while, he sighed and turned back to Borgin. "I'm sorry, Mr. Borgin. These crystals aren't what I need. But since I've chipped a bit off, let me compensate you for the damage."
"Uh..." Borgin leaned forward slightly, inspecting the crystals and then holding up three fingers.
Kasenhis nodded, promptly laying three Galleons on the counter.
As he exited Borgin and Burkes, Borgin watched him leave, carefully pocketing the Galleons. With a smirk, he muttered to himself, "As expected of a big alchemist...."
(づ￣ 3￣)づRead two weeks ahead of everyone!