Kasenhis had mostly wrapped his head around what his future self had said in that strange place.
He didn't understand the exact mechanics, but the conclusion was clear—if he created a magic seed, then the timeline belonging to the future Kasenhis who wanted to kill him would be re-established.
And once that future Kasenhis had a timeline to return to, he would be pulled back into it by the natural laws of time. As soon as the magic seed was destroyed, both he and his timeline would vanish.
The only part that truly unsettled him… was the fact that his mistake had nearly dragged thirty damn billion people down with him.
"What's wrong?" Dumbledore turned to him with a concerned look.
Kasenhis pressed his lips together. "I made a mistake. And now, I'm doing my best to fix it."
"You didn't—"
"Let's just go deal with that basilisk." Kasenhis cut him off with a shake of his head, refusing any form of comfort. He turned and strode toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
The three of them arrived at the abandoned lavatory. Myrtle, looking somewhat shy, had hidden herself inside one of the toilets, clearly in no hurry to come out.
Meanwhile, Kasenhis activated his monocle and scanned every inch of the washroom in detail.
Finally, he spotted something… off.
A tiny, almost imperceptible difference on one of the faucets.
[Metal][Magic]
"This…" Kasenhis stepped forward, his gaze locking onto a tiny, intricately engraved snake on one of the brass faucets.
Dumbledore leaned in as well. "Let me think… You mentioned earlier that Harry is a Parselmouth, correct?"
Kasenhis nodded.
Beside him, Lupin looked utterly confused. "Wait, what? Parseltongue? Harry?"
"It's true," Dumbledore confirmed.
Parseltongue was typically an inherited ability, passed down through bloodlines. Though in rare cases, it could also be transferred through other means—such as a connection between souls.
It was possible that one of Harry's ancestors had been a Parselmouth, with the talent lying dormant until now.
However, that explanation was rather flimsy. The Potter family was well-known in the wizarding world, and there had never been any record of a Parselmouth among them. Even if such a trait had existed in the past, it was highly unlikely that it would only manifest now.
If this ability hadn't been inherited through blood, then the only other possibility was… external contamination. A soul fragment. An unintentional acquisition of Parseltongue.
It would go like this.
A piece of another soul… = A torn soul = A Horcrux = Voldemort related… = Harry is a Horcrux!
The same way as Water = Good. Lloyd = Water. Lloyd = Good.. ehm.. back to the topic- If Harry's Parseltongue came from Voldemort, then it proved that Voldemort also spoke Parseltongue.
So, according to Dumbledore, if Kasenhis couldn't even gauge the magical depth of this alchemized object, then it could only mean one thing—this was a blind spot in his knowledge.
Thud… Thud…
Dumbledore watched in bewilderment as Kasenhis, without hesitation, hammered two holes into the wall, revealing a massive hidden pipeline.
"…You are destroying Hogwarts' structural integrity," Dumbledore sighed. It wasn't just about the damage—though that was certainly an issue—it was also about how Kasenhis had so shamelessly interrupted his train of thought.
In simpler terms…
It made Dumbledore feel completely useless.
Dumbledore stood with hands on hips, feeling frustrated.
"Alright, let's head down—wait, Lupin, put this on."
Just as Kasenhis was about to jump down, he pulled out a pair of glasses from his pocket and tossed them to Lupin.
"What do these do?"
"They'll keep you from dropping dead if you accidentally look the basilisk in the eyes."
"Much appreciated."
Lupin put on the glasses and followed Kasenhis, both of them jumping into the pipe one after the other.
Dumbledore, on the other hand, merely peeked down, wrinkled his nose at the rather filthy-looking tunnel, and simply Apparated.
…
"So, would anyone care to explain why you both still look presentable, and I'm the only one looking like this?" Lupin grumbled, glancing at the spotless Kasenhis and Dumbledore before looking down at his own disheveled state inside the Chamber of Secrets.
"Oh… I can fly, and Dumbledore Apparated. You, on the other hand, actually slid down the pipe like it was a playground ride. Nothing we can do about it," Kasenhis shrugged.
"…"
Dumbledore lifted his head to scan the vast chamber. "As expected, this is indeed Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. We simply need to wait for the basilisk to appear."
"Wait for it? That's the plan? What do you think?" Lupin whispered to Kasenhis.
"You really want my opinion? I think Dumbledore's gone senile. We need a better Headmaster."
"Ahem—" The subject of their discussion awkwardly cleared his throat.
"What— Oh, wow. Dumbledore, you might want to turn around and take a look at that ridiculously ominous-looking thing behind you."
Dumbledore shook his head. "If you've truly set your sights on assassinating the Headmaster, I'd advise you to start with Minerva first because she'll be a more stern Headmistress than me."
"Seriously, just look behind you. Don't you trust us?" Kasenhis tilted his head.
"I trust you fully."
"Then why aren't you turning?" Kasenhis quipped, pulling out his wand as deathly energy gathered at its tip.
Dumbledore sighed and turned... just to find a huge Basilisk looming on top of him.
Lupin, on the other hand, wasted absolutely no time. With zero wind-up, not even a single frame of hesitation, he cast a Conjunctivitis Curse straight at the basilisk.
Almost instantly, the once-glossy, round eyes of the serpent shriveled up, going completely lifeless and dull.
At the same moment, the death energy Kasenhis had been charging struck the massive head of the basilisk.
From the moment the creature appeared to the moment it was dead, the entire sequence took no more than ten seconds.
The monster that had terrorized Hogwarts for nearly half a school year, the so-called nightmare of the castle, was now nothing more than a motionless heap on the floor.
"Haha~ Severus is going to absolutely love this basilisk corpse," Dumbledore said cheerfully, hands on his hips.
"Yeah, I have no doubt… But, dear Headmaster, would you be so kind as to lower yourself and help us locate Lord Voldemort's personal diary before he comes to kill our Lupin?" Kasenhis asked with his usual flair for saying things that made people choke on their own breath.
Lupin blinked in confusion, glancing at Dumbledore. "What do you mean, Voldemort want's to kill me?"
Kasenhis, ever the master of tact, threw an arm around Lupin's shoulders and guided him toward a corner, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
"That's right… hush hush hush"
"You mean Voldemort cursed the DADA position....hush hush hush"
"Dumbledore knows about the curse, you seriously haven't figured it out yet? hush hush hush..."
"He just has this habit."
"Yeah, that's why I say the Defense Against the Dark Arts position carries a certain… reputation.. hush hush hush."
Dumbledore, watching the two loudly conspiring in the corner, let out a long-suffering sigh, taking off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.
Kasenhis never had much respect for him in the first place. Well… admittedly, part of that was his own doing. But he had at least hoped that by bringing Lupin on board, he could balance things out with someone who still had some admiration for him.
And yet, somehow, Lupin had already been completely assimilated by Kasenhis?
That meant next term, he'd be dealing with two professors who had absolutely no regard for his authority.
At this realization, Dumbledore felt an overwhelming sense of foreboding.
It seemed unlikely that he'd be getting much restful sleep next semester.
_________
Couldn't upload yesterday... Took my niece to see the Snow White live action... yeah, I'm a guy who just reads novels and watches movies like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc.. didn't knew about the wokeness... My brain melted, my niece is now crying.. those fking CGI dwarfs and that actress.. ugh. Well, here is the chapter!
Read two weeks ahead of WN at-
P@treon: Dragonel