o(*￣▽￣*)ブMany thanks to B P and Dylanshadow for their patronage!♥♥
After leaving Borgin and Burkes, Kasenhis stood in the middle of the street with his hands on his hips.
He was pondering which shop to visit next when a commotion not far away caught his attention.
A middle-aged wizard was furiously casting Banishing Charms with his wand to drive away a younger wizard who looked utterly disheveled. The younger wizard clutched a cloudy crystal roughly the size of a basketball in his arms.
After driving him away, the shopkeeper returned to his store, while the disheveled wizard pulled out his wand, seemingly preparing to Apparate.
Seeing this, Kasenhis quickly called out, "Wait a moment!"
The down-and-out wizard looked over, puzzled.
"Excuse me, would you mind if I chipped off a small piece of that crystal for an experiment?" Kasenhis asked politely.
The wizard thought for a moment, then set the crystal down. "Go ahead," he replied.
Kasenhis nodded, took out his small pickaxe, and carefully chipped off a fragment. He placed the piece into his Arcane Workbench, and soon, a joyful expression spread across his face.
"An Order Magic Crystal! Excellent! Name your price."
The down-and-out wizard hesitated before tentatively holding up five fingers.
"Five hundred Galleons? Hold on, let me check… Do you accept upfront cash? Or, we can exchange names and addresses—I'm the Alchemy Professor at Hogwarts, so you don't have to worry about tracking me down or me skipping payment!"
Kasenhis opened his Ender Chest ring and looked inside. Unfortunately, most of his semester's salary had already been spent on buying wine.
That shameless Dumbledore!
"Uh, I meant… five…" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱
"Oh, five more fingers? Do you mean one thousand Galleons? Fine, I'll handle it. Stay right here. I'll head to Gringotts and pull off something big," Kasenhis said as he prepared to Apparate to Gringotts, mumbling, "This will absolutely be the last time."
"Actually… uh… five hundred Galleons is fine!" the disheveled wizard quickly interjected.
"Five hundred galleons it is, then. Here, take a look at these." Kasenhis poured out all the Galleons from his ring. "This is three hundred and twenty Galleons. I'll need to go back to Hogwarts to get the rest. Want to come along?" Kasenhis held the Galleons in his arms without letting go, making it clear he wasn't about to part with them yet.
"Alright then, let's go. Can you Apparate? We'll Apparate to just outside Hogwarts and walk into the castle from there."
"That works," the wizard said, nodding, as he pulled out his wand, gave it a wave, and instantly twisted and vanished.
Kasenhis let out a breath of relief and used an Ender teleport, reappearing in his office. After securely storing the crystal there, he teleported outside the castle, where he spotted the waiting wizard.
"Let's go. We'll find Dumbledore. He owes me at least two-thirds of my salary. Though, honestly, it's probably not that much… but he definitely has enough money to cover the difference."
The two of them made their way to the Headmaster's office. The disheveled wizard looked at the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance and fell silent. "I'll just wait here. You go get the money. I won't go up."
"Alright, suit yourself. Wait here for a bit," Kasenhis replied casually, uttering a random password of no particular meaning. This was one of Dumbledore's habits. Common passwords included things like "Fizzing Whizzbees," "Cockroach Cluster," and "Lemon Sherbet."
Most of these were the ones professors used among themselves to access the office. However, the meaningless ones like Kasenhis just used were specifically intended for situations involving outsiders or students.
As a result, the entirety of the British wizarding world—outside of Hogwarts staff—contained very few people who knew that Dumbledore's passwords were essentially a chaotic mix of sweets.
Once Kasenhis entered the Headmaster's office, he didn't even have a chance to speak before Dumbledore promptly handed over a stack of 100 Galleons, neatly arranged in front of him.
"The man waiting downstairs is named… Remus Lupin. He's a werewolf," Dumbledore stated.
"Oh…" Kasenhis pocketed the Galleons and nodded in sudden realization. "That explains why the shopkeepers in Knockturn Alley weren't too keen on him."
"Right. Can I entrust you with a small task?" Dumbledore asked.
"What are your plans for the holiday?"
"Well... I'll just roam here and there... I'm thinking of collecting those magical crystals," Kasenhis answered.
"…Since that's the case, how about you help improve his living conditions during this holiday?" Dumbledore said calmly. "For example, you could use whatever's left from that hundred Galleons, plus two months of your salary, to hire him as a bodyguard. On full moon nights, he'll find a secluded place to endure it alone, so you won't need to worry."
"Oh... are you two friends?" Kasenhis asked.
"He was once my student," Dumbledore replied.
"You don't need to say that; practically everyone in the British wizarding world has been your student."
"He was one of the closer ones. He joined a group I formed."
"Oh... sure, as long as he's not some shady dark wizard," Kasenhis nodded.
"Thank you," Dumbledore said sincerely.
"…Why are you still standing here?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"A hundred Galleons isn't enough," Kasenhis replied flatly.
"…What exactly did you exactly buy?"
"Magic crystal," Kasenhis replied.
"About the size of a basketball…"
Dumbledore sighed and got up from his chair, clasping his hands behind his back as he gazed out toward the Forbidden Forest.
"A basketball-sized crystal... What price did he give you initially?"
Kasenhis thought for a moment. "He held up 5 fingers."
"Right, 5 fingers... meaning 5 Galleons, correct?" Dumbledore turned back to Kasenhis with a peculiar look.
Kasenhis, suddenly feeling awkward, rubbed his nose.
"And how much did you end up agreeing to pay?"
"Uh... did you got confused and make a deal for more?"
"Haha, I think you made a deal for Fifty Galleons... is that right?"
Still, Kasenhis said nothing, only stroking his chin in silence.
"Come on, Kasenhis," Dumbledore said, exhaling deeply. "Forgive an old man, but I truly can't figure this out. How much did you pay?"
"Emmm... a hundred Galleons' multiple on that...."
Dumbledore looked at Kasenhis with an expression that was one-third perplexed, one-third resigned, and the remaining third filled with pity.
In the end, he sighed and pulled out a pouch containing two hundred Galleons.
"The remaining two hundred Galleons... Never mind. I sincerely hope you take a bodyguard along with you on your journey, just as a favor to an old man to look after one of his former students. How about that?"
Kasenhis pocketed the Galleons. "Of course, I can do that... But why don't you just give it to him directly?"
"He has a rather fragile sense of self-esteem."
(～￣▽￣)～Read two weeks ahead: