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Hospital Wing.

It had been a month since Kayson's last stunt—controlling a Wither Skeleton Skull to fly toward his own feet in his office, blasting himself into the Hospital Wing.

Of course, if it were just the explosion, Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing could have healed him easily. The real problem was that the withering power had, of all things, invaded his body.

Putting it nicely, it was Dark Magic backlash. Simply put, he'd entered a withering state—the kind that continuously drained health.

Unfortunately, he still hadn't gotten his hands on a Milk Block, and regular milk didn't seem to do anything for him.

He hadn't just lain around in the Hospital Wing this past month, though. He'd worked on improving himself—specifically, making his spellcasting more similar to a wizard's.

He couldn't use the wizards' magic himself, but by relying on the various properties of MC Blocks, he could cosplay as one.

And now, he could even use a wand.

The difference was that he cast spells directly with the one he'd DIY'd from Rose Vine and Phoenix Tail Feather. He had to admit, though he didn't use it often, every now and then it came in handy.

"Professor Heath, after a morning of diagnosis, you're cleared to be discharged."

Madam Pomfrey knocked on the doorframe first, then pulled back the curtain and leaned in halfway.

"Thank you. May magic bless you, madam." Hearing that, Kaysen sprang back to life, dressed in a flash, and snapped his fingers to summon a pixelated carnation.

[+10 Favorability from Madam Pomfrey]

"I'll have you know, even if you give me this flower, I won't forgive you. Because of your dangerous magical experiment, my two-month vacation got cut down to one." Madam Pomfrey accepted the flower with clear satisfaction, but still spoke sternly.

"Yes, I'm terribly sorry. If I weren't afraid you'd find it vulgar, I'd have wanted to give you a cubic meter of gold blocks. For now, I can only hope this carnation expresses my admiration for you—nothing more."

By the time the Hospital Wing was empty except for Madam Pomfrey, her hand holding the carnation trembled slightly.

A single sentence was stuck in her throat.

"I am that vulgar kind of person—give me back my cubic meter of gold!"

But in the end, she never said it.

Just like every school, the teachers arrived before the students.

The professors at Hogwarts were no different—some prepared lesson plans in advance, others inspected every corner of the school.

Professor McGonagall, for instance.

"Kayson!"

Hearing Professor McGonagall's voice behind him, Kayson's whole body stiffened, then he quickened his pace.

"Kayson! Professor Kayson!"

When the voice behind him was just a decibel shy of a roar, Kayson wisely stopped and turned around, putting on a bright smile.

"Professor McGonagall, what's up?"

"I recall I asked you to give me a copy of your lesson plans for this term—for years three through six, plus the advanced class..." Professor McGonagall crossed her arms, her face stern, staring at Kayson like she was scolding a student.

The latter made a foolish decision: "I already wrote them, but they got blown up in my magical experiment—the Wither Skull one, remember?"

Professor McGonagall listened to this excuse, which was almost on par with "I finished my homework, but I forgot to bring it."

Having dedicated years to education, she could see through such tricks easily. She didn't budge an inch.

"You can just tell me orally. I only need a general direction."

"..."

"Don't tell me you spent a month in a hospital bed and prepared nothing?"

"..."

"What about the students' textbooks?"

"They can use their old ones," Kayson said, adding silently: Not that it makes any difference to me—I can't read them anyway.

"...Kayson..."

In the end, bowing to Professor McGonagall's authority, he helped her move a stone statue that had been standing guard in the corridor out of the castle.

Well, "move" wasn't quite the word. Over the past month, he'd learned some basic magic and could replicate the same effects through imitation—like the Levitation Charm.

He could control tiny blocks to lift heavy objects, achieving the same result as the charm.

After the two of them placed the statue by the Black Lake, Professor McGonagall drew her wand, rested it on the statue's forehead, and chanted softly for a moment. The statue seemed to come to life, moving on its own and standing guard.

"Create your Iron Golem. As professors of Hogwarts, it's our duty to safeguard the school—including upgrading its defenses." Professor McGonagall finally revealed her true intent.

"OK." Kayson shrugged, pulled out his wand, and waved it casually. Iron cubes formed a T-shape, topped with a pumpkin skull, and an Iron Golem was born.

He rubbed his chin, feeling something was missing. After a moment's thought, he created two Iron Blocks and a Log Block, assembling them into a massive Greatsword.

The Iron Golem obediently took the sword, planted it in the ground, and stood still.

"Have them fight." Professor McGonagall looked from the Iron Golem to Kayson.

"OK."

Professor McGonagall also drew her wand, controlling the stone statue to attack the Iron Golem with its weapon. A loud clang rang out—clearly, it hadn't broken through the defense.

The Iron Golem glanced down at the stone statue, then swept its greatsword across it.

Stones shattered into pieces across the floor.

[From Professor McGonagall: Satisfaction +10]

[From Professor McGonagall: Trust +10]

The sharp glint in Professor McGonagall's eyes grew even brighter. The next moment, she grabbed Kayson and headed straight for the Headmaster's Office. It seemed that today, no matter what, she would convince Dumbledore to fully upgrade Hogwarts' defense system.

She could already imagine it—her wand waving, a tide of steel marching in unison from Hogwarts, crushing every enemy like an earth-shattering cataclysm.

She had no idea just how happy she would be then.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait, wait." Kayson quickly slowed his pace, pointing his wand at the Iron Golem and its greatsword. In an instant, they crumbled into blocks and dissipated into the void.

"Kayson, I can only say that's far too wasteful." Professor McGonagall put her hands on her hips, somewhat helplessly.

"That thing already took a hit. I'm a perfectionist, you know."

"Right, a perfectionist who doesn't write lesson plans?"

"And also a libertarian."

The two arrived at Dumbledore's office. He seemed to have been waiting there early, with three cups of freshly brewed black tea set on the table.

"Since when did he become this healthy? His drinks usually need to be paired with insulin." Professor McGonagall commented sharply.

"Huh?"

"I'm just using an exaggerated figure of speech."

"Oh."

Professor McGonagall sat down gracefully, picked up a cup of black tea, and took a sip.

Dumbledore, arriving belatedly, spoke up: "Minerva, that cup of tea you just drank was sipped by Fudge."

Pfft!!!