HP: Alchemy? Nah, It's Crafting

10:00 PM...

"Hmm, hmm, hmm~ Shall I get going for my night petrol then?" 

"Professor Kasen!" Harry shouted.

"Um... may I ask why you're all here? And Filch, what's going on?"

Kasenhis looked at the group of young wizards, then at Filch, who had escorted them over.

"Good evening Professor. This is a punishment assigned by Professor McGonagall for their reckless night strolls. Originally, they were supposed to patrol the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, but now it's been changed to you," Filch replied humbly.

"What? For being reckless, strolling at night... she gave them punishment to stroll the forbidden forest, at night? Not to mention they were gonna go with Hagrid.. Are you sure McGonagall assigned that punishment?" Kasen looked at Filch with some doubt.

"Yes, Professor!" Filch looked very happy for some reason.

"..Alright. Thank you, Mr. Filch. And you lot, stick close to me, don't fall behind. Since you're here, we'll just patrol the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest and call it a night."

After Filch left, Kasenhis conjured a small lantern in his hand. At the same time, three glowing orbs of fluorite appeared, orbiting around him.

"Cool!"

"Of course. If this weren't during your punishment time, I might even let you touch them... Draco, would you kindly remove your hand?" Kasenhis had barely finished saying he might allow them to touch the fluorite when Draco immediately reached out and placed his hand on one.

In short, it was very disrespectful.

Holding his wand in one hand and surrounded by the floating fluorite, Kasenhis ensured the orbs could instantly transform into hard obsidian to knock out any magical creature that dared to launch a surprise attack—quite literally.

He even brought out a rope, instructing the young wizards to each hold onto a section to ensure no one fell behind.

As the most reckless and self-preserving, Draco was quick to grab the very front of the rope. After all, being closest to Professor Kasenhis felt much safer than holding a useless piece of rope.

The other four students, however, hesitated awkwardly. On the one hand, they also wanted to stay as close to Kasenhis as possible. On the other hand, as Gryffindors, their ingrained courage made them reluctant to compete with Draco for the most forward position.

And so, the group of six formed a shivering little squad, slowly patrolling the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.

"Professor, will we encounter any danger?" Harry, walking at the back of the group, suddenly asked.

"Probably not. This punishment was arranged by Professor McGonagall, right? While Dumbledore can be unreliable at times, Professor McGonagall is someone you can trust to be thorough and responsible," Kasenhis explained.

Draco, walking just behind him, let out a sigh of relief. McGonagall didn't seem like the kind of person who would recklessly endanger the lives of young wizards.

After all, someone that serious...

"Alright, let's finish this patrol quickly. Once you're done with tonight's punishment, you can happily curl up in your warm beds and no longer have to grind redstone."

"Although," Kasenhis added, "that might not be entirely true. Draco, just make sure you don't repeat the same mistake you made before."

Draco shuddered at the memory of the nightmare-like redstone-grinding punishment. "Never again, Professor."

The group continued chatting sporadically, mostly Kasenhis trying to keep the young wizards distracted from their fear by finding topics to talk about. He hoped it would help them relax a little.

The magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest were mostly intelligent, albeit not highly so. Still, they were clever enough to distinguish between a group of young wizards and a highly powerful adult wizard. Such a combination was not likely to be seen as prey.

The simple-minded magical creatures could easily compute such basic calculations.

Taking a gamble in this case was almost guaranteed to end badly.

When Kasenhis finally felt they had walked far enough, he pulled out a pocket watch from his coat. "It's already midnight. We'll need another two hours to make it out of the forest. I hope none of you have classes tomorrow morning."

"Actually, we do. An 8 a.m. class," Harry said with a miserable expression.

"Perhaps you could ask Madam Pomfrey for some invigorating potions. They're perfect for groggy mornings—if you don't mind the embarrassment of having white smoke coming out of your ears," Kasenhis replied.

"Maybe..." Neville muttered softly.

Then he raised his head, peering past Ron, Hermione, and Draco, finally looking toward Professor Kasenhis.

At that moment, Kasenhis was tilting his head back, controlling the floating fluorite orbs to move toward a particular area. There seemed to be... a figure?

The figure, realizing it had been spotted, stepped out from the bushes. It was a muscular being with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse—a centaur.

"I am a professor at Hogwarts, Kasenhis. And you are..." Kasenhis's hand remained tightly wrapped around his wand. He was prepared—if this centaur made even the slightest hostile move, three wither skulls would immediately reduce it to fragments.

"I am Ronan, a centaur. We have always lived deep within the Forbidden Forest, keeping to ourselves and avoiding conflict with wizards," the centaur replied calmly.

Kasenhis nodded. "That's for the best. So, Mr. Ronan, why are you here instead of staying in the depths of the forest? If I'm not mistaken, this area is considered the outer ring, maybe bordering on the middle."

"Tonight, Mars shines unusually bright. Correspondingly, this signifies that the Forbidden Forest will not be peaceful in the near future," Ronan said.

"Mars… disaster and misfortune?" Kasenhis asked.

Ronan nodded. "The centaurs' astrology differs from the wizards' divination, but our interpretation of Mars is similar. Recently, there have been numerous unicorn deaths in the forest. It could be the work of some powerful and malevolent magical creature, or perhaps individuals with sinister motives."

Kasenhis nodded, his eyes fixed intently on the centaur in front of him, though his tone remained light as he joked with the five young wizards behind him. "What a shame—if we'd heard this an hour earlier, we could've been back in the castle by now."

"Still, it's not too late. Thank you for the warning, Mr. Ronan," Kasenhis said as he began to slowly retreat, shielding the young wizards behind him.

Ronan seemed to understand. "The centaurs have no intention of attacking you."

"Mmhmm," Kasenhis replied, keeping his wand raised until Ronan turned and began to trot away. The sound of hoofbeats faded into the distance, and only when the centaur was completely out of sight did Kasenhis lower his wand.

"Let's get moving as well. I don't know if what that centaur said is true, but I'm not taking any chances."

This time, the group of six people did not follow the original route, but directly followed the Big Dipper in the sky, heading straight towards the Hogwarts Castle.

Along the way, they encountered rivers, bridges, and slopes.

Everything was going fine... Until this moment.

'...Fuck..' Kasen took a deep breath.

He regretted it, really regretted it. If he had known that such an unfortunate thing would happen, there would be no straight line and he would have just followed the determined route.

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(～￣▽￣)～Read two weeks ahead of WN:

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