HP: Alchemy? Nah, It's Crafting

All in all, Harry was smart enough to keep his Parseltongue ability a secret.

At the very least, when Kasenhis woke up the next morning, he didn't hear any weird rumors floating around the school.

As for our poor Neville, his merciless studies had already driven him to Madam Pomfrey to ask for hair regrowth potion.

But hey—he was a Gryffindor.

And Gryffindors? They had guts.

For example, when Neville picked up his hair potion, he also swiped a bottle of Draught of Living Death.

And then?

He knocked Ron out cold in the dormitory.

Just like that, Neville arrived at the Alchemy classroom, holding Ron's old wand in one hand and Harry's broomstick in the other.

"Originally, I wanted to save all their gifts for Christmas," Neville explained as he carefully engraved the Loyalty enchantment onto Ron's wand at the enchantment table.

"But then, Harry's glasses ended up being given early, and Ron constantly struggling with an ill-fitting wand was just too painful to watch. So I figured—why not just give it to him now?"

From the work area of the office, Kasenhis was busy constructing a magical ritual platform, stacking Arcane Stone Bricks and Arcane Steps—both synthesized from stone and mana crystals.

"Hmm… What about Hermione? What are you planning to give her?"

"I checked her Christmas card list. She wants a pet. But that's not something I can create with alchemy…" Neville admitted.

"At first, I thought about making her a small Mystic Golem—the same kind everyone gets in third year—but that thing's cold and lifeless. I don't think Hermione would like it."

"If I have time, I'll go with you to Diagon Alley to pick something out for her," Kasenhis offered.

With a flick of his wand, he pointed at the fully constructed ritual platform.

In an instant, the platform transformed, shifting into a massive Arcane Imbuement Table.

At its center, a floating black cube radiated glowing light from its cracks.

"Done!"

"Done!"

Kasenhis and Neville spoke in unison, but Neville, still confused, turned toward Kasenhis.

"Merlin's beard, Professor—what the hell is this?"

Neville stared, completely baffled, at the massive, unheard-of Arcane Imbuement Table.

"As for what it does… no clue yet," Kasenhis admitted. "Oh, right—Neville, go over to the Essence Bottling Machine and bring me all the filled jars."

As he spoke, he casually took Ron's now-enchanted wand from Neville's hands.

"…What kind of nightmare story has this wand been through?"

He muttered to himself, before discreetly hiding his own wand up his sleeve.

After all, if Ron's wand were a horror movie, his own wand was a naïve little bunny being forced to watch it.

It might get traumatized.

"Hmm… Willow wood, unicorn hair…"

"I don't have willow here…"

Kasenhis paused, then turned to Neville.

"Hold on a bit, I need to step out."

And just like that, he was gone.

Leaving Neville alone in the office…

With over thirty jars of bottled magical essence.

"...Uh. Well, this is awkward."

...

Meanwhile—at the Whomping Willow.

Kasenhis crept forward like a sneaky thief, carefully approaching the Whomping Willow.

Once he was close enough, he didn't hesitate—in an instant, his diamond sword was in hand, and with one swift chop, he sliced off a small willow branch.

Then, just as swiftly, he teleported back.

Whomping Willow: "..."

"Damn, that was efficient."

He looked around, surprised to see that Neville had already finished moving all the essence jars.

Even using a Levitation Charm, moving two jars at a time should've taken at least a few minutes—but somehow, Neville had finished it all ridiculously fast.

And then, Neville showed off.

With a wave of his wand and a quick incantation, all thirty-plus jars levitated into the air at the same time.

"…???"

"This is the expected magic level for a third-year?" Kasenhis asked, utterly bewildered.

"I practiced for a long time… Just got used to it," Neville admitted, looking a bit embarrassed.

"…Impressive, impressive."

After genuinely praising Neville, Kasenhis sent him off to place candles around the Imbuement Table.

After all, infusing magic into an object could fail—but adding candles increased the stability of the enchantment process, reducing the risk of failure.

Meanwhile, Kasenhis himself carefully peeled apart the willow branch, separating it into fine wood fibers as he began repairing Ron's old wand.

"Oh, right—Neville, where's your own wand?"

Neville, who was placing candles beneath the glass floor of the Imbuement Table, suddenly paused for a moment.

"I didn't enchant my own wand," he admitted. "I keep thinking… maybe one day, my parents will recover. When that happens, I'll need to give it back to my dad."

"…They're in St. Mungo's, aren't they?" Kasenhis asked.

"Yeah."

...

Afternoon

Neville rushed out of the office in a panic—probably because he miscalculated the dose when drugging Ron, and the guy was about to wake up too soon.

Meanwhile, Kasenhis pulled out a roll of black silk from his cabinet and placed it directly onto the Imbuement Table.

He planned to infuse it with magic and later make a few enchanted outfits.

Then—Buff!

The entire Imbuement Table exploded.

"...cough"

"A lifetime of brilliance, and I forgot to light the damn candles."

Looking a little worse for wear, Kasenhis fixed his hair, rebuilt the entire Imbuement Table, and pulled out a fresh roll of silk.

Evening

After leaving his office, Kasenhis headed toward the Great Hall for dinner.

Along the way, every single student he passed looked at him and smiled strangely.

"…What's going on?"

He grabbed a random student, Carnier, by the collar.

"Carnier, do I have something weird on my back?"

Carnier shook his head and answered innocently,

"No, Professor. Nothing at all."

"..."

Kasenhis wasn't convinced.

He took off his wizard's robe, carefully inspected it from all angles…

Nothing.

"Weird."

"Some prank from the Weasley twins? What's so funny about this?"

Still puzzled, Kasenhis continued toward the Great Hall.

When he arrived, the strange atmosphere only intensified.

Every single student—even the professors—were looking at him with that same eerie smile.

"Dumbledore, what the hell is going on?"

"Did the fact that I taught students how to create Withers finally get exposed?"

"Is the Ministry of Magic about to storm into Hogwarts, inspect the Floo network, and drag me straight to Azkaban?"

"Oh, no, no, of course not," Dumbledore said with a casual shake of his head, looking completely unbothered.

But he offered no further explanation.

Soon, Professor McGonagall entered, holding the Sorting Hat in one hand.

Behind her, the Weasley twins carried a chair between them.

"…What's happening? Is Hogwarts accepting transfer students now?"

Kasenhis asked again, still confused.

"You'll find out soon enough," McGonagall replied.

She directed the Weasley twins to place the chair in the center of the Great Hall, then pulled out a parchment from her pocket.

She cleared her throat and announced: "The Sorting Ceremony will now begin."

Then—

"Kasenhis!"