Hannah Abbott!

Ron was about to find out just how much money Professor Kayson had.

As he followed the young wizards toward the Great Hall, he looked in the direction Harry pointed and saw a tall, thin, handsome professor with a brooch on his chest that glittered shockingly.

"A diamond that big!" Ron exclaimed in astonishment.

"I told you he was amazing!" Harry said smugly, clearly enjoying the stunned look Ron was giving Kayson.

Sitting at the High Table, Kayson also noticed the young wizard who kept staring at him, and he raised a hand to give a small wave.

Harry quickly waved back, not even noticing Professor Snape's gaze fixed on him like it was welded there.

Soon, Professor McGonagall walked out carrying a tattered hat—the Sorting Hat—and began to recite the opening verses she had sung countless times before.

Until now.

"The Sorting Ceremony will now begin."

Professor McGonagall glanced at the parchment in her hand and cleared her throat.

"Hannah Abbott!"

"Hufflepuff!"

The entire Great Hall erupted in thunderous applause, and Kayson clapped enthusiastically from the High Table as well.

He had been at Hogwarts for quite a while now—nearly two months—and had gained a basic understanding of the four houses.

For instance, Gryffindor's bravery, Ravenclaw's wisdom, and Slytherin's cunning.

But what he truly admired was the kind and benevolent Hufflepuff. From the founding of Hogwarts to the present, Hufflepuff had always been the house of warmth and universal love.

At least in Kayson's mind, the wisdom of that Hufflepuff lady was in no way inferior to Lady Ravenclaw's.

As the girl named Hannah Abbott made her way to the Hufflepuff table, Professor McGonagall began calling the next name.

Kayson watched each young wizard pass by, offering them his silent blessings.

Until two familiar faces appeared. One was Harry Potter—Gryffindor, as he had expected.

The other was Draco Malfoy—Slytherin, also as he had expected.

Soon, the entire Sorting Ceremony came to an end, and Dumbledore rose from the center of the High Table.

"Alright, I know you've all had a long day of travel and have no interest in listening to an old man like me ramble on, but I still have two things to say."

"First, this year, Hogwarts has a new forbidden area—the corridor on the fourth floor of the castle. If you get up to mischief there, you might just end up dead."

"Second, we have two new professors joining us. Professor Quirinus Quirrell, who will be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"And Professor Kayson Heath, who will be teaching you Alchemy. Trust me when I say his craftsmanship is remarkable. Have you noticed that Hogwarts' Stone Golems have been replaced with Iron Golems? That's his work."

"That's all I have to say. Everyone, dig in!"

Kayson liked this kind of headmaster. Who wouldn't like a headmaster who kept things short?

Just as he picked up his knife and fork to eat, Professor Quirrell beside him leaned over and extended a hand.

"N-nice to m-meet you. I'm... you can call me Quirrell. I just got back today."

Kayson quickly set down his utensils and shook Quirrell's hand.

"Nice to meet you too. Call me Kayson or Heath—whatever you prefer."

After shaking hands, Quirrell nodded and spoke haltingly, "You... you're an alchemist?"

Kayson was surprised by Quirrell's obvious question but nodded anyway. "I've done some research into alchemy."

Quirrell nodded again, then sat back down without another word. Kayson didn't press further. In his eyes, Quirrell was just a wizard with an odd personality—perhaps even a little timid.

Nothing more.

The next day, Kayson woke up with a hangover. Forgive him—his tolerance for alcohol was just average. He couldn't compare to Hagrid...

Or even Dumbledore, for that matter.

"Ugh... my head. If I ever drink that much again, I'm a dog." He knocked on his own head, groggy and dazed.

Knock, knock, knock...

"Coming."

He stumbled to the door and opened it, only to find a letter suddenly thrust in front of him.

[This is your class schedule]

The envelope read.

Kayson sighed in relief. Just a class schedule... Wait, a class schedule?

He quickly tore open the envelope. Thankfully, he didn't have many classes today—just one afternoon session for third-years. A perfect beginner's introduction for him.

After all, third-year classes were full of little novices. It shouldn't be too difficult.

He closed the door again, picked up his alchemy textbook, and began cramming one last time.

That afternoon, in the Alchemy classroom.

Kayson stood at the podium. To his surprise, quite a few young wizards had chosen Alchemy—more than he had expected.

Four houses combined, that was over twenty young witches and wizards—definitely a lot by Hogwarts standards, especially since other elective courses sometimes had to combine two grades for a single class.

"It is an honor that you've chosen Alchemy, and I'm equally honored that you're willing to listen to me, a professor who's just as much a newbie as you are." Kayson started with a brief bit of nonsense.

Yeah, it really was nonsense. Once he finished that drivel, he finally got to the main topic, like introducing himself.

"Kayson Heath! That's my name. You can call me Professor Kayson. I'm happy for you to address me directly by my name plus 'Professor,' and of course, if you see me outside of class, you can just call me Kayson."

"Don't worry, I won't deduct points from you, as long as you haven't committed any serious mistakes."

Kayson picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the blackboard, then looked at the quiet young witches and wizards below the podium.

Maybe it was quiet, but more likely, there were undercurrents stirring.

After the introduction, he picked up the book on the podium, flipped to a random page, and showed it to the young witches and wizards.

They quickly flipped to the page Kayson had opened, only to see him close the book immediately.

"Alright, kids, you'll have plenty of time to flip through this old book later. For now, toss the book into your pockets, and let me show you the wonder of Alchemy."

"Of course, most importantly, I'm a newbie professor who's never taught before. If you finish this class and never step foot in this room again, honestly, I'd be really sad." Kayson said with an exaggerated expression, his voice rising and falling.

The young witches and wizards laughed along cooperatively. This wasn't acting on their part—they'd realized that the Alchemy professor in front of them seemed pretty decent.

At least much better than Divination, which was always cursing people to die, and Snape, who wore a deadpan face all the time.

All thanks to the contrast with his colleagues.

Kayson sighed inwardly and spoke up: "Next, I'm going to show you the wonder of Alchemy, and its foundation—the transformation of matter."

As he spoke, he reached down and pointed at the podium in front of him, knocking on it. The solid wood single-person podium instantly began to change from the spot he'd knocked, and soon, a dazzling golden light illuminated the faces of every young witch and wizard in the classroom.