"Now we can more or less take stock of how many of Tom's Horcruxes we've found so far."
Inside the Headmaster's office, black rain poured outside the windows, pattering against the glass in bursts.
Meanwhile, the fireplace nearby crackled and spat sparks into the room.
"Tom's diary, Slytherin's locket, and your flask, though before that it belonged to Lady Hufflepuff," Dumbledore said faintly.
"Am I not a Hufflepuff? Tell me, am I or am I not a Hufflepuff?" Kasenhis retorted speechlessly.
"Of course you're a Hufflepuff. Otherwise, what was the point of Sorting you?" Dumbledore shrugged, then continued, "And now we've found Ravenclaw's diadem as well."
Kasenhis reminded him, "There's also that poor ring. Voldemort worked himself half to death finding all those good things, only for them to end up benefiting everyone else."
As he spoke, as though afraid Dumbledore might pretend not to understand, he pointed at the dark ring on Dumbledore's middle finger.
"A person without sufficient virtue has no right to possess such precious treasures."
Dumbledore never passed up an opportunity to insult Voldemort, even here.
"Not bad at all."
Kasenhis shifted his chair a little closer to the fireplace.
The rain outside was simply too heavy, leaving even the air damp. Only by sitting close to the fire could he avoid that sticky, clammy feeling.
"That leaves only two Horcruxes. Harry Potter counts as one. The other should still be in Tom's own possession, because when we used that soul-tracking method, someone severed the connection between that soul and the Horcrux," Dumbledore continued.
"So why don't we think about what to do with the soul fragment inside Harry now?" Kasenhis said faintly.
"Why not try milk?" Dumbledore suggested.
"Harry is alive. He's coexisted with Voldemort's soul fragment for all these years. On the level of the soul, they're two separate people, but conceptually, they count as one person. Milk won't work."
Kasenhis sighed.
"And here I thought your milk was some kind of conceptual god," Dumbledore said with a smile, as though he had finally seen Kasenhis run into a problem and gotten his revenge.
"So you don't have any... other useful ideas?" Kasenhis asked back.
"Other than using the Killing Curse on Harry right now and letting the Totem of Undying he carries decide whether Harry's soul survives or Tom's soul survives."
"Of course, it's also possible that the Totem of Undying would shatter while both Harry's soul and Tom's soul remain completely unharmed. That would be the most frustrating outcome."
Dumbledore sighed.
The mechanism of a Totem of Undying was to take the death in someone's place, not transfer it elsewhere, so the possibility he described was actually the most likely one.
"Then shouldn't you have some kind of method too?" Kasenhis asked.
"Me? Of course I do."
"The limitation of the Totem of Undying is that it's a death-substitution spell, not a spell that transfers death. But if we can make the Killing Curse Tom casts possess directional targeting, so that his curse kills only his own soul fragment rather than Harry, then the problem is solved."
"And more importantly, Harry still has the Totem of Undying protecting him. No matter what happens, his life won't truly be in danger."
"As for flesh wounds... well, there's not much we can do about that."
"Harry gets plenty of flesh wounds every year anyway. A few more won't make much difference. What do you think?"
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow confidently.
"What's your method?" Kasenhis asked.
Dumbledore only smiled without answering and took out the Elder Wand.
"Right now, I need you to go and bring Harry here."
...
"Harry!"
Kasenhis suddenly appeared in the Gryffindor common room and immediately spotted Harry sitting beside the fireplace reading a knight novel.
He strode over, grabbed Harry, slung an arm around his shoulders, and started dragging him outside.
"Harry, hurry! Grandpa is about to take you on a grand adventure. Where are your shoes? Forget it, just wear these leather boots for now. First, we need to go to Dumbledore's office. He has a very interesting idea!"
"Professor, shouldn't you at least tell him what this is about?" Ginny asked as she jogged after them.
"It's a very complicated matter. It could take as little as a few seconds, or as long as ten days to half a month," Kasenhis casually spouted nonsense.
"Oh... Professor, now I'm actually curious too," Harry said, looking up.
"You should ask Dumbledore about that. I don't really know the details either."
Kasenhis's steps paused for the briefest moment before he continued walking as though nothing had happened.
"Professor, seriously, you're making me a little scared," Harry said faintly.
"Oh, come on. You're not a little boy anymore. Dumbledore won't do anything to you. Relax!"
Kasenhis comforted him while casually damaging Dumbledore's reputation yet again.
"So... that article in the Daily Prophet six years ago was true? Dumbledore likes little boys?" Ron muttered awkwardly from the sofa beside the fireplace, having witnessed the entire exchange.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing. Kids shouldn't know too much."
Ron shook his head and went back to playing chess with Hermione.
...
"Professor? What did you mean just now when you said Dumbledore likes little boys?" Harry asked somewhat awkwardly.
"Let me ask you this. Back when you first came to Hogwarts in your first and second years, wasn't Dumbledore basically a kind old grandfather from next door? But now he's turned into a scheming old bastard with who knows how many secrets hidden in his stomach?"
Just as Dumbledore never missed an opportunity to insult Voldemort, Kasenhis never missed an opportunity to insult Dumbledore.
So he simply added a little more fuel to the fire and sped up the destruction of Dumbledore's reputation.
Maybe one day, he could even become Headmaster of Hogwarts himself...
Of course, that had to be done step by step.
First, set a small goal.
Once Professor Sprout retired, he would become Head of Hufflepuff!
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