Kasenhis took out the small hip flask from his robes and drained it in one breath. Then he waved his hand, and a bottle of white wine smoothly floated over from the Headmaster's office wine cabinet.
After refilling the flask, he directly drank the rest straight from the bottle.
"How do we solve it? Do I need to go to some specific place, or can you handle it from the Headmaster's office?" he asked, looking at Dumbledore.
"Go to the Room of Requirement. Let it take you there," Dumbledore said.
"Can I solve the problem by going alone?" Kasenhis stood up and stretched hard.
"No matter how powerful a spell is, it cannot remain constant for centuries. That is why Hogwarts' defensive magic is continuously emitted from the core of Hogwarts through alchemical modules, before finally spreading across the entire school. This is your area of expertise," Dumbledore explained. "As for us, we will remain here to monitor the whole of Hogwarts and make sure Tom and his people don't take advantage of the situation."
As Dumbledore spoke, he looked down at a piece of parchment in front of him. On it was a map. If Sirius, Lupin, or the Weasley twins had been here, they would have recognised it as the Marauder's Map.
"Alright."
Kasenhis nodded, took out a Netherite sword, and teleported directly to the 7th floor of Hogwarts, opposite the ugly tapestry.
Standing in the corridor, Kasenhis first used the long sword to clear away most of the cobwebs, then began pacing.
"I need to repair Hogwarts' defensive magic. I need to repair Hogwarts' defensive magic. I need to repair Hogwarts' defensive magic."
He repeated this silently in his mind, and soon, a door abruptly appeared before him.
He let out a breath of relief. The Room of Requirement was still usable. It had not been contaminated together with Hogwarts' protective magic.
He pulled the door open. Unlike the time he had used the Room of Requirement to search for the Chamber of Secrets, what appeared was not a proper room, but a darkness whose reality could not be discerned.
Kasenhis yawned. Just as he was about to step inside, he suddenly paused, then directly tossed the Netherite sword in his hand into the room.
After a series of strange sounds that made one's ears feel pregnant, Kasenhis could clearly sense that the Netherite sword he had just created had already been reduced to a pile of scraps.
"As expected. If even Hogwarts' defensive magic can be contaminated, why should the Room of Requirement be immune...? Still, Hogwarts' magic really is powerful. It can even tear apart a Netherite sword."
Kasenhis murmured as he took two steps back. Then, after waiting for the door to disappear, he placed a sign nearby to warn anyone else who knew about the Room of Requirement that the room was now extremely dangerous.
After returning to the Headmaster's office, Kasenhis said, "The Room of Requirement has been contaminated. It can't be entered now. Do you know the true location of that room? Or is that room the Room of Requirement itself?"
"That room is an entirely separate place. Although I don't know where it is, it is definitely not the Room of Requirement," Dumbledore explained.
Hermione sat weakly on the windowsill, her hands trembling uneasily. At this moment, she was truly panicking.
Previously, she had had either direct or indirect contact with Voldemort, but back then, Voldemort had always targeted individuals. And at the time, Voldemort had been terribly underwhelming, not truly terrifying at all.
Even though the entire magical society feared Voldemort to the bone, Hermione herself had never felt much fear towards the name.
Because, to some extent, she knew far too many moments where Voldemort had suffered humiliating defeats.
And only now did Hermione truly understand the fear that the native magical society felt towards Voldemort.
That suffocating feeling of possibly being persecuted anytime, anywhere. Of a crisis having already happened, yet with no solution in sight, forcing everyone to watch as things grew worse and worse.
And Kasenhis, who had once truly repelled Voldemort, as well as Dumbledore, the only person Voldemort feared, were both helpless against it...
"What's with that expression?" Clay couldn't help asking as Hermione's face grew worse and stranger.
"Fear," Hermione swallowed and answered succinctly.
"Fear that Professor Kasenhis won't find that alchemical room? That he won't be able to solve the current problem?" Clay precisely analysed the essence of Hermione's fear.
Hermione nodded.
"Don't you feel that way?"
Clay rubbed his chin.
"I've learned a tiny bit of Professor Kasenhis' methods. But I think that method should have other uses, such as in a situation like this."
Hermione did not quite understand what Clay meant, but very soon, Kasenhis' actions directly explained to her exactly what method he was talking about.
Kasenhis took out the little wooden axe, tapped the upper north-eastern corner and lower south-western corner of Dumbledore's desk, then tapped casually with the wooden axe again. The entire solid wooden desk instantly turned into crystal-clear glass.
"The theory is feasible! Begin practical application!"
Kasenhis slowly nodded. Then he appeared at the north-eastern corner of all Hogwarts, tapped it with the little wooden axe, and then began digging downward with a shovel from the lower south-western position. Only after digging all the way to the very bottom of the foundation did he tap it again with the little wooden axe.
Then came the familiar tap.
Everyone waiting in the office suddenly saw the entire castle turn into shimmering glass. For example, Hermione, who was in the Headmaster's office, could even see Harry and the other two sleeping in Gryffindor Tower not far away.
"This is Professor Kasenhis' way of solving the problem?" Hermione said in disbelief.
"Clearly," Clay said.
After the castle became glass, the entire structure looked, in the eyes of Kasenhis, who specialised in civil engineering, like a 3D design blueprint.
Kasenhis quickly located the underground chamber more than ten metres beneath the Great Hall, where an enormous alchemical module faintly floated.
Kasenhis casually looked it over and discovered that there was no passage for humans to enter.
"Alright, old friend, it seems I'll be fighting alongside you again... the vertical mining method!"
As Kasenhis spoke, he directly appeared in the Great Hall, found a corner, pulled back the carpet, and started digging with his bare hands.
With a series of endless thudding sounds, more than ten seconds later, Kasenhis directly fell into the enormous chamber.
He finished with an elegant water landing.
Absolutely perfect!
He looked up. He could only vaguely make out the outline of the Great Hall. Since the stone that had originally served as the foundation had turned into interwoven glass, the details were somewhat difficult to see, let alone other places such as the Headmaster's office or the tower dormitories.
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