HP: Alchemy? Nah, It's Crafting

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Kasenhis swiftly enchanted each pair of glasses, then placed the blood-bound Ender Pearl into the miniaturized teleportation device. Finally, he packed the duplicate glasses by Snape—already pre-enchanted—into the chest.

"Next, place the machine by your bedside—or anywhere safe. Always wear your glasses. Don't take them off unless absolutely necessary… Wait, let me add a Binding Curse. These things feel like you're not even wearing them anyway—bathing, sleeping, it won't bother you. Plus, they have a built-in Cleaning Charm, so you never have to wipe them. Super convenient."

He quickly cast the Binding Curse onto the glasses and handed them to the student in front of him.

"Professor, when can I take them off?"

"Once we've killed that Basilisk. Next!"

Time passed, and Kasenhis' actions shifted from mechanical efficiency to mind-numbing repetition.

That was, until someone familiar sat down in front of him.

Among the rare few wizards who already wore glasses, this student hadn't gone to Dumbledore for a custom pair. Instead, he stubbornly handed over his current glasses—the same style as his father's—straight to Snape.

Snape, with a stiff expression, duplicated them with a Twin Copy Charm, then returned them to Harry with enough force to suggest he could crush a troll's skull barehanded.

"Hmm… These glasses are pretty old. Ever thought about getting a new pair?"

Kasenhis addressed Harry, but his gaze shifted toward Neville, who was standing further back in the queue.

Neville, noticing the look, hesitated for a moment before steeling himself and pulling out the glasses he had made for Harry.

Kasenhis waved Neville over.

"This is a gift I made for you… Though it's nothing compared to what Professor Dumbledore crafted…" Neville mumbled awkwardly, standing beside Harry.

"No… It's precious. I don't want it to become a sacrifice," Harry said as he took the glasses.

With a flick of his wand, he transfigured a delicate glasses case and carefully placed Neville's gift inside.

"This…"

Seeing Neville's hesitation, Kasenhis spoke to Harry. "Why not? A gift made by Neville himself that can literally save your life—sounds like a good deal, doesn't it?"

"But…" Harry touched the glasses in his pocket, glanced at Neville, then finally made up his mind. Taking a deep breath, he turned and walked back toward Snape, glasses in hand.

Neville let out a relieved sigh. Looking back at his original spot in line, he saw that the students had still left a place for him. But realizing how much time he had already taken at the front, he chose to move to the end of the queue.

Snape, in a rare display of gentleness, duplicated Harry's new glasses with noticeably softer movements than usual.

After retrieving his glasses, Harry glanced back at Neville, who was now at the very end of the line. After a moment's thought, he patted the shoulder of the student standing behind him in line and silently followed Neville to the back.

...

"Wow…"

Ron, already wearing his new glasses, sat on the steps of the Great Hall beside Hermione. Both had a glass of lemonade in hand, with two unopened ones resting at their feet.

"I now get why Professor Kasenhis had Neville learn alchemy in advance… Turns out, it was so he could make a gift for Harry," Ron said before taking a long gulp of his lemonade.

"We should get one too, right? What do you think Neville will make for me?"

"Maybe it's something you already have."

"Oh… How about I write Neville a [Christmas Limited Edition] card this year?"

".....I think I'll pass. I don't have anything special to give Neville, so I won't write one. No matter what he gives me, I'll be happy with it."

"Merlin's beard, that's going to hurt Neville's feelings," Hermione sighed. "Trust me, Neville would love to know what kind of gifts you actually like. Otherwise, think about how exhausting it must be every Christmas Eve, racking his brain to figure out what to get you."

"…You've got a point. Do you think Neville would like a complete set of Chocolate Frog cards? That's about the only thing I have that's worth anything," Ron said, setting his lemonade down and resting his chin in his hands.

"Neville's a very good person. No matter what you give him, he'll be happy. Trust me."

"…That'd be ideal."

Time passed quickly, and soon Kasenhis finished calibrating the last student's teleportation device. He stretched with a satisfied sigh.

Now, it was time for the professors.

Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick already wore glasses, so their devices were quickly adjusted. However, unlike the students, their glasses weren't enchanted with the Binding Curse—after all, professors had at least basic self-awareness. It wasn't exactly a difficult decision to choose between fashion and survival.

After processing two or three more professors, just as things were wrapping up, Professor Sprout—who had already finished earlier—suddenly returned.

"This is Lockhart's. He was too afraid to come see you himself, so he asked me to bring it… along with his blood," Professor Sprout said with a sigh.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, is he a child?" Kasenhis muttered in exasperation as he adjusted Lockhart's teleportation device.

And, just for good measure, he added a Binding Curse to Lockhart's glasses.

Sure, Lockhart had no brains, was terrible at magic, vain, greasy, and had a habit of stealing others' achievements—but at the end of the day, he was still technically human. He didn't quite deserve to die.

Besides, he'd been a lot more well-behaved lately.

His lessons were less flamboyant, he avoided Kasenhis whenever possible, and when he couldn't, he at least had the decency to paste on an ingratiating smile.

…A definite improvement from the last time Kasenhis saw him not to mention the cocky him in Diagon Alley.

"Give this to him," Kasenhis said, handing Professor Sprout the glasses and the device. "And while you're at it, tell him I'm not some man-eating monster. He doesn't need to hide from me like I'm the Grim Reaper… Though, to be fair, I still have a strong urge to plant him in a flowerpot next to a Mandrake."

"I'll pass the message along," Sprout replied with a chuckle.

Next up was Filch.

Unlike the other professors, it seemed his glasses weren't made by Dumbledore—or rather, none of the staff's glasses had been.

While they weren't alchemy experts, crafting a simple pair of glasses wasn't exactly difficult for them.

For Filch, however, it was a different story.

The pair he pulled out was… tragic.

The lenses were barely holding on, and the temples had been glued back together, complete with dried streaks of hardened adhesive forming an unsightly white crust over the joints.

Perhaps he had picked them up somewhere—discarded by a student—and, too embarrassed to ask the professors for help, had clumsily glued them back together himself...

"..."

Kasenhis glanced at the battered glasses, then looked up at Filch, who seemed a bit uncomfortable.

With a sigh, he pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill.

"Draw the style of glasses you like. I'll make you a proper pair."

Filch hesitated for a moment before stiffly taking the quill. After a long pause, he muttered, "I... Thank you!"

Once Filch's teleportation device was finally completed, Kasenhis could at last retreat back to his office.

He pulled out the parchment and quill once again...

"It's about time I designed myself a custom skin— oh, wait, I mean… custom glasses."

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P@treon: Dragonel