Dumbledore awkwardly took off his glasses and wiped them again and again.
"No need to pay attention to such trivial details."
"…Speaking of which, I still don't know who exactly this old man who suddenly showed up is," Kasenhis scratched his chin and asked.
"Heh~ You are in the presence of Gellert Grindelwald," Grindelwald straightened up just a little as he spoke.
"...Who?"
".....You… don't read wizarding history books, do you?" Grindelwald's brows furrowed tightly.
"I've read some unofficial ones, but mostly around the era of the four founders of Hogwarts."
"Alright, Gellert, you've said it yourself—we're already old. There's no need for every wizard to remember us," Dumbledore stepped in to smooth things over, barely suppressing a laugh.
"So, why did you call me here?" Kasenhis asked.
"To let you ask a few questions about that person," Dumbledore replied.
"Ah? Oh… go ahead and ask."
"That person is…"
"Myself, nine years in the future."
Dumbledore nodded. "So it's just as Gellert said—because of that plan to give magic to everyone?"
Kasenhis looked at Dumbledore in surprise. "Don't tell me you were convinced by this guy?"
"Let's just say I'm indulging a professor's curiosity. Knowing this much is enough. Thank you for coming all this way," Dumbledore said with a smile.
Kasenhis' brain uncharacteristically froze for a second—but this time, he didn't flip him off. After all, that Grindelwald guy seemed to be an old friend of Dumbledore's.
Best not to ruin the headmaster's dignity. Nothing wrong with giving him some face.
...
The next day…
Kasenhis sat up in bed in a daze.
"Eh..?" He didn't even bother with slippers and intended to step straight onto the floor—only to step on something warm and soft.
"Woof–ooowww…"
Sirius lifted his head in utter confusion, his little doggy face full of big, baffled energy.
"Oh, why are you crying? Ah… had a nightmare, didn't you? It's fine, it's fine. Go back to sleep," Kasenhis said awkwardly, patting the dog's head and gently nudging him back onto the woolen mat to keep snoozing.
As for Kasenhis himself, he went off to the bathroom and took a cold shower—which, in the dead of winter, was quite the experience.
Once he was dressed and ready, he glanced at his watch. If all went as expected, the little wizards should already be seated in the classroom, ready for lessons.
Straightening his collar, he blinked—and instantly appeared in the Alchemy classroom.
...
"Our progress is already falling behind!"
Kasenhis was now in strict teacher mode.
The Weasley twins raised their hands at the same time.
"Yes?" he called on them.
"But Professor," said one, "the whole fourth year is in the same classroom—how are we behind?"
"You're behind compared to another fourth year—Cedric, for instance," Kasenhis replied, marching over to personally shut the classroom's front and back doors tight.
The little witches and wizards inside took one look at his expression and immediately understood what was about to happen.
Their eyes lit up.
"I still haven't forgotten the promise I made to you all. These are the last few lessons of the term—if I don't teach you this now, you'll have to wait until next term."
As he spoke, Kasenhis pulled out an enchanted Ender Pearl and gave it a light tap.
The power of spatial restriction began radiating outward, ensuring that within a five-meter radius—up, down, left, right—absolutely nothing, not even Dumbledore's phoenix, could get in.
Well... Unless they walked...
"All right, little wizards, who can tell me—what subject are we covering today?" Kasenhis asked.
"Wither!" a young Gryffindor wizard shouted eagerly, raising his hand high before Kasenhis even called on him.
"Mhmm. And tell me, what's it used for?"
"It has incredibly strong repellent effects against undead creatures!"
"That's correct. It's highly effective against the undead. But I still need to walk you through the theory. Technically, a full-fledged Wither—constructed using four cubic meters of Soul Sand and three proper Wither Skeleton skulls—has no repellent effect on undead creatures."
"Because the Wither is the most powerful undead creature."
"However, what I'm teaching you is the Wither Talisman—a calcium-deficient, fun-size Wither. This mini-Wither is still a powerful undead entity, but due to its incomplete growth, it has an intense craving to consume other undead creatures to strengthen itself."
"The logic behind the Wither Talisman is this: in its hunger, the little Wither emits a frightening aura and an ultrasonic shriek—inaudible to humans—to repel undead creatures. And 'undead' here covers a wide range."
"Included, but not limited to…" Kasenhis shamefully paused at that point.
He quickly reached into his ring and pulled out the Dark Creatures Illustrated Handbook that Lupin had given him last time. Flipping quickly through the index, he turned to the section on undead creatures.
"Included, but not limited to ghouls, inferi, zombies, banshees, and dementors. All of these fall within the Wither Talisman's repelling range. So, theoretically—theoretically—I am in no way encouraging you to try this out in practice."
"Hypothetically speaking, as long as you're wearing this Wither Talisman, you could have a team-building outing in Azkaban, and your laughter alone could blow the roof off the place. The dementors wouldn't dare come within fifty meters of you."
After saying that, Kasenhis noticed the students whispering and muttering excitedly below. He suddenly grew nervous that his lecture might awaken some bizarre and dangerous ideas in their little heads... Oops? Meh~
To steer them off that path, he quickly picked up the Dark Creatures Handbook again to change the topic.
"One more thing!"
"The Wither Talisman also has repelling and intimidating effects on ghosts and thestrals. And since this so-called 'intimidation' comes from a shriek the Wither emits—inaudible to humans but painful to undead—I sincerely hope you won't show your talismans when you run into Hogwarts ghosts… or when you ride the carriages from Hogsmeade Station."
"Uh… Professor, what do the carriages have to do with this?" Angelina raised her hand and asked.
"Thestrals," Kasenhis explained. "According to the book, thestrals can only be seen by those who've witnessed death and have processed the experience to some degree. The carriages you ride are pulled by thestrals. I'm not an expert on that subject, though—you can ask Professor Snape. He's still covering your Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, right? He's the expert."
"You want us asking questions to Professor Snape..?"
"Alright, enough with the small talk. Obviously, I can't just let you start by creating a full Wither… we're going to begin with the shell of the Wither Talisman. Take out the obsidian, gold, mithril, a chain I've placed in the box in front of you, and your enchanting table..."
Weasley twins: "Gold???"
After class, Kasenhis returned to his office feeling refreshed and invigorated. Leisurely, he pulled out the New Arcana manual that Civil Servant Kasenhad handed him and began reading through it.
In a little while, this school term would be over, and he figured it was a good time to find something to keep himself busy.
Like maybe doing some research on his brand-new mod.
Blockhead Edition Kasenhis...?
_________
Sooo... I disappeared for two days (Was it three?) because I did something incredibly dumb. Picture this: me at a party, see a fancy-looking Parmesan Pizza, decide to live my best life, and grab a slice. One bite in—delicious. Ten minutes later—chaos. Why? Because I'm allergic to eggplant... and guess what the pizza base was made of? 😭💀
Anyway, I've survived my tragic villain origin story, recovered from my eggplant betrayal, and I'm officially back in the game. Let's do this!
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P@treon: Dragonel