"I know quite a few things, like construction and renovation. Seriously, if your little hut ever needs rebuilding, come find me. Really, trust my skills." Kayson brushed the dust off Hagrid's coat as he spoke.
"I will, I will." Hagrid fastened all the buttons on his coat again. As for why he had come to Knockturn Alley, a place that was obviously no good, Kayson did not ask.
The world was not simply black and white. Coming to a place like this did not make someone a bad person, and Kayson was not that curious anyway.
More importantly, he believed Hagrid was a good man. Hagrid could never do those monstrous, unforgivable things.
"What now? Back to Hogwarts?" Kayson asked Hagrid again.
"Our business is done. There's still Harry's."
The three of them chatted as they arrived at The Leaky Cauldron. Hagrid rented Harry a room there, all the way until September 1, when school began.
"I don't think you'd be willing to go back to that so-called aunt's house, so stay here. When the time comes, just go to this address and board the Hogwarts Express. It'll take you to Hogwarts, all right?" As he spoke, Hagrid sorted out a map and a ticket for the Hogwarts Express before handing them to Harry.
"I will. Don't worry about me."
Harry nodded.
"Ahem, you can get all three meals here from Old Tom. His cooking is pretty good. Diagon Alley works too, of course. As long as you don't go to Knockturn Alley, you'll be safe. Oh, and I left a surprise for you with Old Tom. Go take a look." Hagrid added.
"Got it."
"One last thing..." Hagrid raised his head and looked around. Only after making sure no one was paying attention to them did he lower his voice. "The courtyard wall has been repaired. I'll tell you how to enter Diagon Alley properly now. There's a trash can in the corner of the courtyard. Count up three bricks, then two bricks toward the middle. Tap it three times with your wand. Got it..."
After finishing, Hagrid gave Kayson an especially pointed look.
"Okay, okay." Kayson shrugged.
"Ahem, you're leaving already?" Harry asked.
"Sorry, there's still work to do at Hogwarts."
"All right, then. See you when school starts."
"Ahem, see you then."
After saying goodbye to Harry, the two tossed Old Tom two silver Sickles. Each grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, and Kayson remembered having read about how to use the stuff in a book.
He threw it into the fireplace, and as the flames turned green, Kayson said, "Hogwarts Alchemy Professor's Office."
The first thing he did after returning to his office was change into dry pajamas. He put his old clothes into the laundry basket in the corner, where the House-elves would quietly take them away, wash them, and return them.
"One night and an entire day. I'm exhausted." He lay directly down on the bed and closed his eyes.
A House-elf quietly placed sleep-inducing aromatherapy on his bedside table, then took away his dirty clothes.
He slept until the next morning. Kayson sat up, took a casual shower, got dressed, and comfortably opened his office door, only to run into Dumbledore out for a stroll.
"Oh, Kayson, how was yesterday's adventure?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"Did that count as an adventure?"
"Why wouldn't it? Life is a constant process of doing things you have never done before. We can call that process an adventure," Dumbledore explained.
If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.
"Perhaps. It was wonderful, though there were unpleasant parts too. I killed three people." Kayson shrugged.
Dumbledore's satisfaction +10 Dumbledore's favorability +10 Dumbledore's trust +10
"Three Dark Wizards. I know. I wanted to ask you and Hagrid about it in detail yesterday, but you were asleep, so I didn't wake you." Dumbledore nodded.
"Ahem... I thought you'd be angry."
"Good people should not be harmed for being good. Do I look that pedantic?"
Kayson looked Dumbledore up and down.
"At least you look very old."
"Of course I do. In any case, I don't blame you. The moment they chose to use Dark Magic to commit evil, they should have known this day would come." Dumbledore smiled.
"Honestly, you really are a good headmaster. Before this, I thought you'd be one of those... no-killing types."
"That would be too foolish... You met that child, Harry Potter?"
Kayson nodded. "He's quite a pitiful kid. Hagrid said his family vault is well stocked, and that you had been looking after it. Why didn't you think to give his aunt and uncle some support money? His life should have been much better that way."
"I'm sorry. An old man may have lived long enough, but he is not perfect. That was my oversight." Dumbledore smiled.
"All right... I settled the support payments for you."
"Thank you. Submit a report to the Board of Governors later, and they'll reimburse you."
"Uh, that won't be necessary."
The two chatted all the way to the door of Dumbledore's office.
"I've been meaning to say this. At your age, climbing so many stairs every day... are you really sure that won't be a problem?" Kayson followed Dumbledore up the stairs, not forgetting to complain.
"That is the secret to my good health."
"All right." Kayson shrugged. After entering the office, Dumbledore sat in his chair, rummaged through his pocket, took out a small cloth bag, and placed it on the desk.
Sitting opposite him, Kayson curiously picked it up and pulled out an irregular red stone.
"This is the Philosopher's Stone made by an old friend of mine, Nicolas Flamel. It is called the Stone of the Wise, the pinnacle of alchemy," Dumbledore explained.
"Unfortunately, you're preaching to the deaf." Kayson curled his lip.
"Because what you can make is far more powerful than this Philosopher's Stone. In short, Nicolas Flamel and his lover have already prepared themselves to welcome death, so he gave this stone to me. Of course, it was also because a rat hiding in the shadows had set its sights on it, and he wanted me to keep it safe."
"So what do you plan to do?" Kayson asked.
"Can you make a replica for me? It needs to be genuine magical material, with roughly the same magical fluctuations. I want to use it for fishing, but I don't want the fish to actually swallow the bait, so I came to ask for your help."
Kayson looked at the blood-red Stone of the Wise in his hand and smacked his lips...
"Not difficult."
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