110: Lupin's Current Situation

"Magical? Hmm… are you trying to say she's a bit unique? Because I heard her say she hasn't made any friends yet."

Kasenhis sat down on the ground as he asked.

"You could say that. But really, it's just a matter of personality—not everyone is naturally sociable or interested in making friends.

Some people prefer solitude, and Ravenclaws tend to have a lot of those types.

Books and knowledge are often their closest companions."

Professor Flitwick explained.

"I see… well, as long as she's doing fine, that's what matters."

"No need to worry—Luna is much stronger than she looks."

"Mm-hmm."

Kasenhis replied as he put on his gloves, picked up a piece of lamb, and started eating.

At the same time, Hagrid appeared out of nowhere, carrying two massive barrels of alcohol.

"You know exactly what I'm here for, don't ya?"

Hagrid grinned, flashing his big teeth.

"Of course."

Kasenhis summoned two goblets from his office area.

The next day…

"Ugh…"

"If I drink again, I'm a bloody dog."

Kasenhis groaned, holding his hangover-ridden head as he crawled out of bed.

With great effort, he downed a gulp of milk, finally feeling a little better.

Coming downstairs to his office, he stared at the mountain of gifts stacked so high they nearly touched the ceiling.

Rubbing his hands together like an excited little gremlin, he immediately got to unwrapping.

Professor McGonagall had gifted him a dark red wizard hat—Nice. He put it on immediately.

Professor Flitwick left him a silver eagle statue.

Professor Sprout gifted him a never-ending pie—Some kind of mysterious magical food enchantment, no doubt, because Kasenhis had never seen anything like it before.

Lockhart…Of course, this guy actually gave him a self-portrait.

Fortunately, it wasn't a magical self-portrait—Otherwise, Kasenhis might not have been able to resist the urge to plant Lockhart inside a flowerpot.

Of course, he would be gentle about it… maybe put him in head-first.

But among all the gifts, the one that made him the most satisfied was still the giant Redstone lamp screen the students had built over the Black Lake.

Kasenhis had already shrunk the giant Redstone lamp screen and placed it neatly on his office desk.

Yep.

Satisfied.

Indescribably satisfied.

After unwrapping all the gifts and placing them in their proper spots, he finally had to face the painful reality—

Rebuilding the shattered floor-to-ceiling window!

Last night, he got a little too carried away and completely destroyed the entire glass wall.

The more stylishly he had smashed it back then, the more miserably he was rebuilding it now.

After spending half the day restoring the window, Kasenhis finally pulled out his Arcane Handbook once again.

Laying it flat on his desk, he watched as the map of the Chamber of Secrets, copied from the Room of Requirement, appeared above it like a hologram.

He could move it freely with his fingers, adjusting the scattered points, lines, and surfaces until they realigned correctly.

The only challenge—this map was 3D, making it way harder to piece together than a simple 2D layout.

"That damn brat Tom Riddle, you better pray that when the time comes, you die quickly—or else you're going to suffer."

Kasenhis muttered through gritted teeth, focused on reconstructing the map—so much so that he didn't even notice Dumbledore had walked up to his desk.

"Ahem."

Dumbledore gently cleared his throat twice.

"Hmm? What's up?"

Kasenhis looked up and asked.

"Wait—how did you even get in here?"

"Your office wasn't locked."

"…Fair enough. What do you need?"

"Remus has run into a bit of trouble."

Dumbledore said.

"Alright, let's hear it."

"In England, there's a werewolf with ambitions—Fenrir Greyback. He's the one who bit Remus when he was a child. He's an opportunist, and in some ways, a terrible leader—he rules over a pack of weaker werewolves using violence and fear.

But thanks to your enchanted book therapy, a large number of werewolves have regained their humanity and escaped his influence."

"Werewolfism is no longer an incurable condition. Before, all he had to do was bare his fangs, and wizards would back down to avoid conflict.

But now, a single potion is enough to cure Lycanthropy, meaning he's lost his greatest weapon—his ability to intimidate wizards into submission.

And now, he holds a grudge against you."

Hmm... Kasenhis rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"So… he holds a grudge against me, so he should come to Hogwarts looking for me, right? What does that have to do with Lupin?"

"Remus has been traveling between werewolf communities, promoting the Enchanted Book Therapy.

This has completely undermined Greyback's authority, turning his rule into a laughingstock.

So recently, Greyback has been hunting Remus down."

Dumbledore explained.

"Oh, come on. Lupin's no slouch in a fight. What's one werewolf gonna do to him?"

"It's not just about helping him defeat Greyback. I also need you to convince him to return to Hogwarts and take over as next term's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Lockhart has officially submitted his resignation—he'll be transferring to St. Mungo's as soon as this term ends."

Dumbledore said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"He's finally getting sent there? I was hoping to make it a Christmas surprise for Neville."

Kasenhis muttered.

"Oh, he will be. The Longbottoms actually invited you to spend Christmas with them this year.

They sent several letters, but you never responded, so they came to ask me."

"Honestly… I don't really want to go."

"Then don't."

Dumbledore casually slipped the letter he had just pulled out right back into his robes.

"Perfect. I hadn't replied yet either—we'll just say the owlery caught fire or a gust of wind blew away a batch of letters."

Dumbledore left, and Kasenhis closed his Arcane Handbook.

As for Neville's parents' invitation, he didn't even need to think about it before deciding to decline.

For one, this whole thing—strictly speaking—was Lockhart's accomplishment.

He had just been the middleman.

And, honestly, he really hated visiting homes with thankful people.

That fussy feeling is too much!

Now, about Lupin—half the semester had passed, and Christmas was approaching fast.

Kasenhis had absolute faith in Lupin's combat abilities.

Dumbledore sending him after Lupin wasn't really about helping him deal with Greyback.

The real reason was to rope him into becoming the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Of course, that was for next term—for this term, Snape would continue covering the classes.

And honestly? With almost an entire semester of teaching under his belt, Snape was clearly having the time of his life.

Then there was that damn 3D map in the Arcane Handbook.

Not gonna lie—when it came to mathematical geometry, compared to actual geniuses, his own skills weren't even worth mentioning.

But that didn't mean he was out of options.

If he could convert this geometric model into a digital format, he could just hand it over to someone who actually specialized in math to solve it.

For example… he could go back to his alma mater, Manchester, and find some mathematical prodigies to handle it…

…Wait. Hold on.

___________

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P@treon: Dragonel