"So where's Sirius now? Also, how am I supposed to stick this thing back on?" Kasenhis asked calmly.
"Probably on the way to the Headmaster's office… and you can use Essence of Freshness," Lupin answered both questions.
"Alright." Kasenhis nodded. In the next moment, a force field enveloped him and Lupin, and the two of them instantly teleported to the Headmaster's office. Under Dumbledore's bewildered gaze, Kasenhis placed the dog tail right on his desk.
Right then, Sirius—who had just been granted access to the Headmaster's office—came flying in low from the staircase like a missile.
And then he saw Kasenhis, standing there alive and well.
Before he could say anything, Kasenhis scooped him up, plopped him onto the desk, and picked up a small, oddly black-and-red object sitting in front of him that looked way too much like his own tail.
Wait a minute—no, that was his damn tail!
"Got any Essence of Freshness?" Kasenhis asked Dumbledore and Lupin. In the end, it was Lupin who pulled a small vial from his pocket.
After all, as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, it was quite common for students to get hurt by various dark creatures during class.
So it was perfectly reasonable for him to carry a vial of Essence of Freshness.
Meanwhile, Kasenhis took a spoon from Dumbledore, scooped up a bit of the essence, and—like dipping sauce for grilled meat—dabbed it onto the severed part of Sirius's tail. Then he lined up the tail, adjusted the angle, and shoved it back onto Sirius's rear.
"AAAHHH WOOF WOOF WOOF—!!"
Sirius howled up at the ceiling—then was promptly knocked out by a light stun from Dumbledore.
Kasenhis, confirming that the tail had at least preliminarily been reattached with the Essence of Freshness, took the bandages from Lupin and wrapped Sirius's tail in a thick layer, even tying a nice little bow on it.
"Perfect," Kasenhis said with satisfaction, clapping his hands.
"Well then, since we've now completed the serious Sirius business, shouldn't we talk about the second matter?" Dumbledore smiled. While Kasenhis had been busy reattaching Sirius's tail, Lupin—acting like a helpful class rep—had already quietly and thoroughly reported to Dumbledore that Kasenhis had once again dabbled in human alchemy.
"...What matter?" Kasenhis immediately played dumb.
"You've started human alchemy again, haven't you?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"No. Absolutely not. I swear."
".....What about human enchantment?" Dumbledore followed up.
"....." Kasenhis instinctively looked up at the ceiling, then immediately tried to teleport away. He even gave a heads-up first: "So uh—Sirius's tail bled quite a bit, I'm going back to clean up so the little wizards don't get scared when they come by to play with the boats."
But Dumbledore and Lupin were faster—each grabbed a shoulder to stop him.
"The house-elves handle the office cleaning."
"Oh, I just can't bear to let them clean such a big room alone. I should go help ease their burden."
"No matter how big the office is, for them it's just a matter of casting one spell or several—it's not tiring for them," Dumbledore said.
"...Alright, alright."Kasenhis, like a schoolkid who'd done something wrong but was normally spoiled by his parents, sat down on the sofa with his arms crossed—hoping that sulking might distract the grown-ups from the real issue and redirect the conversation toward his "attitude" instead.
"Sigh.. This is your biggest problem. Even worse than your so-called arrogance," Dumbledore said directly, completely unfazed by Kasenhis's little emotional tactics and keeping the conversation firmly on track.
"Ah, right, my bad, I'll be more careful next time. And I've run so many experiments already—you really don't need to worry," Kasenhis nodded sincerely.
Before Dumbledore and Lupin could even decide who would say the next line, Sirius—still sprawled on the desk—gritted his teeth, clutching either his tail or his butt, and weakly protested, "He didn't test anything. He even said human experimentation is dangerous… and then immediately enchanted himself!"
Just then—
Ka-click...
Professor McGonagall entered the Headmaster's office, holding a stack of documents.
Then she saw the scene:Kasenhis sitting on the sofa with a face full of despair, staring at the ceiling; Lupin standing in front of the desk; Dumbledore leaning against the bookshelf...
And in front of Dumbledore was a man with his face hidden, collapsed on the desk, clutching his backside.
"Dumbledore… oh—excuse me… Merlin's beard, what's happened to Hogwarts?!"
Professor McGonagall slammed the door shut almost instantly, and her voice trailed off into the distance.
Until—suddenly—it came rushing back, fast and furious.
She pushed open the office door again, stormed in, grabbed Kasenhis by the arm, and started dragging him out.
"Dumbledore, I can just about accept, but you, Lupin—I never imagined... And you even dragged poor Kasenhis into this? Just look at him, terrified out of his wits!" Professor McGonagall said as she reached out and gently patted Kasenhis's deliberately faked expression of despair.
As Kasenhis was being hauled off by Professor McGonagall without a backward glance, he still had the time to shoot a strange smile at Dumbledore and the others. He even waved and mouthed the words: "Bye-bye!"
Dumbledore and Lupin exchanged a look, then simultaneously turned their gaze to Sirius—still hunched over the desk clutching his rear...
"..."
"..."
"Get up," Dumbledore said, feeling very much like a victim of reputational damage, though he managed to keep his emotions in check as he pulled Sirius upright.
"Uh... do you think Professor McGonagall misunderstood something?" Sirius asked awkwardly.
"I'm afraid so." Dumbledore nodded.
"Then why aren't you going after her to explain?" Lupin asked, utterly confused.
"The one who should be explaining to Minerva… is you, Lupin. Not me."
"...Huh?"
"...Mm… yes… well…"
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