HP: Alchemy? Nah, It's Crafting

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After a while, Kasenhis left the Headmaster's office and reappeared in the Alchemy office.

He walked over to Lockhart, who was sitting in a corner, pulled the Creeper head off his head, and promptly dismissed him.

Now, onto the four little wizards...

Hmm, surprisingly well-behaved.

The four of them were sitting quietly on the sofa, each holding a book from the stack under the coffee table, reading away.

As Kasenhis sat down in his chair, the four little wizards finally "booted up." Neville remained calm and composed, lounging on the sofa, while the other three turned to stare at Kasenhis in unison.

"...What?" 

"Professor, I want to learn Alchemy!" 

This time, Kasenhis didn't beat around the bush, nor did he bother explaining unnecessary details. Instead, he directly pulled out three slightly larger Redstone chunks than the one Neville had used earlier and placed them on the desk. 

"Light them up, and I'll consider you all qualified... Of course, they need to glow to a noticeable degree." 

The three young wizards eagerly grabbed their respective Redstone pieces and poured their magic into them with all their might. 

Neville watched as his three friends, each holding a Redstone chunk slightly larger than his own, managed to make them shine even brighter than his.

Then, Professor Kasenhis began to spout blatant lies with a straight face. 

"Hmm... Not quite good enough. If you force yourselves to study alchemy too soon, you're likely to get hurt. But I'm still more than happy to help you build a solid foundation." 

As he spoke, he bent down under his desk and retrieved a few alchemical notebooks. 

"Take these and read through them. If you plan to officially take my class in the future, I think you'll manage to keep up." 

He handed one book to each of the four young wizards. Even Neville, who had already gotten a head start, received one. 

"So, Professor, we're just not allowed to practice hands-on yet, right? But what if we only sit in and listen?" Hermione asked. 

"In fact, even sitting in on the lessons won't be necessary," Kasenhis replied. "Because I won't be teaching in a traditional lecture style. Instead, I'll be using a much more... inhumane method." 

"Inhumane?" Hermione was puzzled. 

Then, each of them was handed another book—Runes textbooks. And these books, quite frankly, were visibly thicker than the Oxford dictionary and even bigger than the benches in the Great Hall. 

"Oh, Merlin's beard..." Ron muttered, staring in shock at the massive tome in his hands, the kind that could knock someone out cold with a single swing. 

Kasenhis glanced at his wristwatch. "It's almost curfew. Aren't you heading back?" 

The four young wizards turned to look at the office door in the distance. 

"Can we just sleep here for the night?" Ron asked.

"Hmm... Of course not. I have to go out tonight," Kasenhis shook his head. 

"Oh, so professors go on nighttime adventures too?" 

Kasenhis rapped his knuckles lightly against Harry's forehead. "How can a professor's duties be considered a nighttime adventure? I'm simply conducting a routine patrol of the castle." 

"Oh..." Harry suddenly understood. "So if you're patrolling the castle tonight—" 

"You're welcome to try," Kasenhis cut in. "Or maybe you can even use that Invisibility Cloak of yours and see if I can still catch you." 

"Ah... alright." Harry shrank back slightly. Soon, the four young wizards made their way toward the office door. 

Meanwhile, Kasenhis instantly shadow-stepped, appearing in front of the abandoned bathroom on the second floor of the castle. 

He raised his hand and knocked on the door. "Hello, Myrtle... Miss? Or perhaps, fellow student? May I come in?" 

… 

Inside, only the gurgling sounds of the pipes echoed in response. 

Kasenhis knocked again. 

"Who are you?" A sharp voice rang out from within the bathroom. 

"Kasenhis, professor of alchemy at Hogwarts."

"Oh! I know who you are. Come in." 

Kasenhis pushed open the bathroom door and stepped inside. His gaze fell upon a semi-transparent, grayish-white ghost sitting absentmindedly on a toilet. 

"Should I call you Miss Myrtle or Student Myrtle?" 

"Do I look old to you?" Myrtle's voice suddenly sharpened. 

"Of course not. I was just trying to show my respect." Kasenhis quickly shook his head. 

"Oh, stop it. No one in this entire school respects me. I'm not even worth respecting. After all, I'm not outstanding, not pretty, not smart… not…" 

"Why do you think that?" Kasenhis asked. 

"Do I even need to think it? All I have to do is stand in front of a stranger, and the answer will come straight out of their mean mouths," Myrtle floated closer toward him. 

"For example, you. Look at me. What kind of person do you think I am?" 

Kasenhis tilted his head slightly—a habit of his whenever he observed others. 

[Magic] [Soul] [Death] [Void]

"...A kind person," Kasenhis spoke after a brief pause. 

"Kind? Why would you think I'm kind?" Myrtle asked in surprise, as if the word had never been used to describe her before. 

"Based on what you said, the young witches and wizards at Hogwarts don't treat you well, but I've rarely heard stories about you pulling pranks or using cruel words to hurt others. While regular ghosts might not be able to pull tricks like Peeves, they can still jump out to startle people or chase them down with insults." 

"But despite enduring insults you shouldn't have to bear, you never lashed out. At most, you hid in this bathroom, quietly... waiting for your feelings to settle. How could that not be considered kindness?" 

A faint hint of color appeared on Myrtle's usually pale, grayish-white face. 

"Maybe… maybe you're right… Could you say a little more?" 

"It's easy to say. You just haven't noticed your own good qualities. For example, your intelligence. You were a Ravenclaw, weren't you? Chosen by the Sorting Hat and recognized by Rowena Ravenclaw herself. You have every ability to become the kind of person you want to be, rather than waiting for others to discover the qualities you've overlooked." Kasenhis reassured her.

"Oh… thank you… but I'm still ugly, I still wear glasses, and I still cry all the time." For a brief moment, Myrtle seemed to be in better spirits, but just as quickly, her mood sank again. 

"Oh, come on. Isn't that just how kids are during puberty? At least from an adult's perspective, you're doing just fine. Wearing glasses isn't something to be ashamed of—I wear glasses too." 

"Crying isn't a big deal either. Last year, I had a student named Cassley. Of course, she graduated this year. She cried a lot too, but just recently, she wrote to me saying she had joined the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic." 

Myrtle's dull eyes lit up slightly as she looked at Kasenhis. 

"I knew her—she was a good person." 

Kasenhis subtly wiped the sweat off his forehead. 

Teenagers were really hard to comfort. 

Luckily… he had at least a little talent for it.

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P@treon: Dragonel