"That will require precise calculations," Dumbledore said with a shake of his head.
"Alright then. I'll keep this from Harry. Knowing too much wouldn't do him any good anyway," Kasenhis said as he prepared to leave the Headmaster's office.
"Keep it from everyone," Dumbledore added. "That includes Sirius and Remus."
"Mhm, I won't forget."
"And perhaps," Dumbledore continued, "you could find someone reliable enough to teach Harry Occlumency. That way, he could at least sever his connection with Tom to some extent."
"Got it."
"I think you could ask Severus."
At that, Kasenhis stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Dumbledore, you're a really funny man sometimes."
Dumbledore shrugged, as if saying, I'm listening.
"You have this… refined way of treating people like they're not people."
"Oh?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
"For example, you told Harry to get private lessons from Severus. You know the two of them can't stand each other—Severus is a brooding introvert, and Harry's like a spiky hedgehog. Put them together, and something's bound to go wrong. But you still went ahead and tossed them into the same room."
"You don't actually think they'll have any issues, do you? Is it that you believe no one but yourself has emotions, or do you just see everyone as NPCs? To you, this whole thing is a strategic management game—just without the affection meter or relationship tree system?"
Dumbledore blinked innocently. "Perhaps Lupin could do it too. Whatever you prefer. Or just let Harry teach himself."
"Mm-hm."
Kasenhis pushed open the office door and patted Harry on the shoulder. "Let's go. It's fine now."
"Professor Dumbledore said I had something important?" Harry asked.
"He said you need plenty of rest—and that you'll have to learn a new spell. Something like a permanent buff effect… Wait—buff effect?" Kasenhis froze for a moment. A buff? He had one of those!
"No need to find a teacher. Come to my office!" Kasenhis said, wrapping Harry in a field of force. The next second, the two vanished and reappeared inside the Alchemy Office.
"Uh, Professor, what are you—" Harry hadn't even finished when Kasenhis drew glowing symbols in the air with magic, forming a signature that he handed to him. "Go to the library and find Madam Pince. Tell her to give me the most authoritative book on Occlumency."
"Ah—yes, sir! I'll go right now!" Harry said quickly, then hopped into a small boat that appeared at random and rowed off in a hurry.
Kasenhis took out a small beacon along with nine miniature diamond blocks… but soon felt the diamonds looked rather unimpressive. So, he swapped them for emerald blocks instead—perfect, the same color as Harry's eyes.
After assembling the gemstone blocks with the beacon, a beam of light shot upward. Judging by its brightness, if he aimed it toward the sky, it might even reach outer space…
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Kasenhis clicked his tongue, then pulled out five sets of beacon kits and paired them up to form a glowing green cube.
Next, he placed the corresponding gemstones into the other five beacons and poured in effects—four units of Regeneration and one of Agility.
As for Jump Boost, that one was off-limits. It had been banned ever since the Weasley twins nearly embedded themselves into the ceiling last time. Better not risk it.
Soon, Harry came rowing back in his little boat, handing over the book on Occlumency to Kasenhis.
"Mm-hm. Go get some rest, I'll study this thing," Kasenhis said, taking the book and immediately flipping it open.
He wasn't exactly gifted in spellwork, but after repeatedly tearing down and remodeling Hogwarts magic to make it compatible with his own house—and suffering many disastrous results—he had developed a fair bit of expertise in deciphering and modifying spells.
After all, it wasn't his first time doing something like this.
The next day…
Knock knock knock.
"Severus, you in?"
Kasenhis appeared at Snape's office door, face red and ears burning. Yesterday, he'd bragged about cracking Occlumency wide open—and thank Merlin he'd only done that in his head. If he'd actually said it out loud in front of Harry, he'd never live it down.
"What is it?" Snape opened the office door and, seeing who it was, asked curtly.
"I need to ask you something." Kasenhis stepped inside and sat down on the sofa. "It's about Occlumency."
"Mm-hm. Which part do you not understand?" Snape asked, walking over.
"Uh… all of it, actually. I want to modify the magic so it can be written into an enchantment book using runes," Kasenhis said honestly.
"You're planning to perform direct body enchantment? That's not really feasible. Occlumency isn't a typical spell—it's a state of mind. If you want to replicate it through physical enchantment, you'd need the enchanted book's magic to stay in contact with the body twenty-four hours a day, nonstop," Snape explained.
"I've already solved that part," Kasenhis replied matter-of-factly.
"…Alright then." Snape shrugged, pulled a piece of homework off the shelf, flipped it to the back, and began writing on it.
Before long, the parchment was filled with runes. "This should count as a variant of Occlumency," Snape said. "Its principle is to create a barrier on the surface of the soul—blocking outside intrusion."
"If the two souls are extremely close together?" Kasenhis asked a rather odd question.
"The barrier I mentioned operates on the level of magical law," Snape explained. "Even if the two souls are stuck together like puzzle pieces, it would still function."
"That's good to hear. Thanks a lot!" Kasenhis said cheerfully, grabbing the parchment and heading for the door.
"And… who exactly is that for?" Snape suddenly asked.
"Uh…" Kasenhis froze mid-step, instantly awkward. His hands fidgeted between his chin and jaw like an embarrassed old scholar caught cheating on an exam, the air around him thick with uncomfortable energy.
After a moment, Snape rolled his eyes and gave a faint, disdainful snort before deciding it wasn't worth pursuing. Kasenhis could only chuckle sheepishly and hurry back to his own office.
There, he turned the runes Snape had written into an enchanted book and tossed it straight into the last beacon. A pillar of light flared upward smoothly.
"I really am a genius… maybe half a genius," Kasenhis sighed in relief. But just before reinstalling the final beacon, something occurred to him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny golden figurine…
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