When the Weasley twins saw Kasenhis and the others arrive, they excitedly pushed their way through the crowd.
"Hello there! Judging by the time of year, you must be here to buy your new textbooks," the twins said.
"That's right... Since you've been so busy these past few days, Mum specifically told us to come and check whether you've been taking care of yourselves," Ginny said, crossing her arms like a parent.
"Oh... Well, have you had a good look? Clearly, we're exactly the same as when we were at home."
Unlike Ginny, the other three had already darted off into the labyrinth of the joke shop. To them, everything was interesting.
The bags that had originally been meant for books were reopened, and every last bit of their already pitiful remaining space was stuffed with prank items.
Meanwhile, Kasenhis had stationed himself beside the till, waiting for the children to bring over their purchases so he could pay for them.
However, the Weasley twins suddenly put on ingratiating smiles.
"Professor, since you're the one who brought them here, there's no need to pay. Consider it a small token of our appreciation."
Hearing this, Ron nodded in wholehearted agreement and immediately pulled out his wand to cast an Extension Charm on his book bag.
Meanwhile, standing at the counter, Kasenhis scratched the back of his head. He acknowledged that this was indeed the twins' goodwill, but the problem was that the children had picked out far too much. So he still had to pay.
A small white cube-shaped skull suddenly floated into existence behind Kasenhis. One of its eye sockets had been converted into an alchemical mechanical eye. As it emerged, it began scanning the various items carried by the four children, transmitting the data into the skull itself for calculation.
In the end, it produced the figure of sixty-two Galleons, twelve Sickles, and six Knuts.
"I really am a genius!"
Feeling the data transmitted by the servo-skull behind him, Kasenhis couldn't help but praise himself.
His servo-skull was different from Cedric's. The skull behind Cedric contained a beacon that granted beneficial effects, while Kasenhis' own contained an alchemical computer capable of providing enormous computational power.
Of course, this was still only the initial version. It couldn't predict an enemy's next move or anything like that.
At the moment, its main function was helping calculate shopping bills.
"Still needs more upgrades."
With that, Kasenhis led everyone out of the joke shop and, in full view of the public, directly Ender Teleported the entire group back to the Black residence.
...
Then came the one event that happened during every holiday.
"In the blink of an eye, it's already the last day of the holidays. If I listen to Counterclockwise Clock a hundred times, can I go back to the first day of term?" Ron asked while packing his luggage.
"Clearly not."
Hermione had already flown back from France a week earlier and had been brought directly to the Black residence by Kasenhis, where she spent the final week of the holidays.
As for Dumbledore and Grindelwald, they had already returned to Hogwarts ahead of time. They needed to inspect the castle from top to bottom to ensure that nothing that shouldn't be there had somehow found its way inside.
Kasenhis had also gotten dressed early.
He still had to pick up one particular ancestor.
"Honestly, can't he just arrange a Floo connection or a Portkey to Hogwarts himself?" Kasenhis muttered as he knocked on the door.
Less than a second later, Slughorn opened it.
"The times are turbulent. Using the Floo Network risks interception by Death Eaters. As for Portkeys, I do not possess the moral flexibility required to knowingly break the law."
Kasenhis stroked his chin as he looked over the neatly dressed Slughorn.
Not as flashy as he'd been during Kasenhis' first year.
Then he noticed the enormous suitcase.
"Do you need me to carry your luggage?"
Slughorn shook his head.
"No, no, certainly not. I'm not that old yet."
Kasenhis nodded and prepared to use Ender Teleport to take Slughorn directly to Hogwarts.
The moment Slughorn sensed the magical field about to envelop him, he swiftly put some distance between them.
Kasenhis scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He thought he'd accidentally frightened Slughorn and hurriedly explained.
"This is spatial magic, similar to Apparition. There's no need to worry."
Slughorn nodded.
"I know. But why don't we take the Hogwarts Express this time instead?"
Kasenhis rolled his eyes.
"My original plan was to deliver you to Hogwarts and then head to the Hogwarts Express myself to protect the children. But you're so concerned about staying alive that if something dangerous happens to you on the way, what then?"
Slughorn smiled, hailed a taxi from the roadside, placed his suitcase in the boot, and sat in the back with Kasenhis. After giving the driver the destination, he cast a Confundus Charm on him.
"Allow me to explain. Firstly, I don't know whether Albus has told you this, but the Dark Lord was once my student, so I understand him. His enemies are not children. At least, not children who haven't graduated. Harry Potter is, of course, an exception. According to Albus, that has something to do with a prophecy, though I don't know the details."
Listening to Slughorn's first explanation, Kasenhis shrugged.
He wasn't entirely convinced.
Voldemort certainly had no reason to go after schoolchildren. But the current Voldemort, who had split his soul into who knew how many pieces...
What if he simply snapped one day?
Better to remain cautious.
Slughorn could clearly see that Kasenhis wasn't buying it and moved on to his second reason.
"The second reason is that Severus has been Head of Slytherin for quite some time, and he's been teaching Potions for even longer. Replacing him so abruptly as Potions professor will create a great deal of resistance."
Kasenhis' mouth twitched.
"Do you know what Severus' teaching style is like? I guarantee you'll be wildly popular."
"But one can never be too careful, can one? Besides, I'd like to get to know my students."
"How? Oh, I think I've guessed." Kasenhis couldn't help himself. "You're planning to identify all the talented students on the train. The academic stars, the ones who hold grassroots power at Hogwarts, like prefects, or students from prestigious families, such as the heirs of pure-blood houses. As for everyone else, you'll just treat them casually. You won't even need to learn their names." Kasenhis ultimately failed to suppress the sarcasm in his voice.
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