Gryffindor... Gryffindor, Honestly!

"Wow! I was wrong! I'll never shoot my mouth off in the papers again, really!"

Rita Skeeter, who had nearly been smothered to death by mud in the rain, lay crying and howling in the muck. Kayson put away his shovel and vanished from the quiet little grove in the blink of an eye.

Anyway, when Skeeter had her head smashed in with a baseball bat, she had not seen his face clearly. She probably would not report him to the Ministry of Magic...

Probably...

Back at Hogwarts, Kayson shook out his raincoat and headed to Dumbledore's office. He casually placed the office expansion application form he had prepared long ago on Dumbledore's desk.

"That Rita Skeeter?"

"At the very least, she should be much quieter for a while."

"Mm." Dumbledore nodded and signed his name on the form.

"Do you need me to find a construction crew for you?"

"No need. I can handle it myself," Kayson said.

"Oh, right. The expanded structure needs to match Hogwarts's style. You know, the black brick-and-stone walls."

"Don't worry about that. I'm a professional."

"That would be best."

Back in his office, Kayson hummed as he took out parchment and began designing his new workspace. Maybe he could...

Knock, knock, knock...

"Come in!"

"Professor? Your office?" Neville came in first, with Harry and the others following behind him.

Kayson put away the parchment on which he had just sketched a rough outline and took out a teapot instead.

Neville wore the Memory Bracelet Kayson had given him, while Ron, who had already settled onto the sofa and was stuffing snacks into his mouth, was also wearing his new robes.

But Neville, on the other side, looked at Kayson with a somewhat aggrieved expression.

First, the wizard robes he had given away were not being worn by Professor Kayson. And Kayson had said at Longbottom Manor that he was going to expand his office...

Well... at least Neville had not seen this office grow by even a single square meter.

An emotion called grievance suddenly caught in his throat.

"Er... Neville, what are you thinking about? Your little face is all scrunched up."

"Professor, didn't you say you were going to expand your office over the summer?"

"Sadly, I procrastinated a little. I'm still at the sketch stage." Seeing how sensitive the young wizard before him was, Kayson quickly pulled out his design draft and placed it on the desk.

"What about the new robes I gave you...?"

"I just went out, and it was still raining outside. You couldn't possibly expect me to get those new robes all filthy, could you?"

Kayson had to put on quite a performance with his words before Neville finally believed that he was not looking down on the robes he had given him, nor did he simply not want to stay the night at Longbottom Manor.

Of course, he genuinely did not like sleeping anywhere that was not his own territory. It always felt strange. But he could not say that—what if Neville started crying? Then he would have to comfort him himself.

"Go on, then. What do you four little troublemakers need this time?" Kayson asked.

"Professor, do you know Nicolas Flamel?" Hermione asked.

"Nicolas Flamel? I don't remember that name being in the textbook I gave you." Kayson scratched his head. The textbook he had given Hermione really was only an introductory one.

It contained only some basic theories and a few interesting little alchemy experiments.

It was not yet time for a figure as monumental as Nicolas Flamel to make an appearance.

"I didn't see it in that book." Hermione shook her head.

"I should have asked everything at once. Where did you see that name?" Kayson sighed.

The four children exchanged looks. "We heard it from Hagrid."

"Hagrid? Oh, right, you went to Hagrid's new house? How was it? Did you find out who built that house for him? Forget it, you probably couldn't guess. It was me. Before I became a Hogwarts professor, I was an outstanding custom interior designer. In other words, renovations..."

"Professor, please don't change the subject." Hermione sighed. Looking at the professor before her, who was so clumsy at changing the subject, she somehow suddenly felt as though he were an eleven-year-old first-year wizard.

And in her opinion, Professor Kayson was not nearly as skilled at changing the subject or lying as Harry was when he told Professor McGonagall that he had indeed finished his essay but had merely forgotten to bring it.

"Fine. Nicolas Flamel was a very powerful alchemist. The world's only Philosopher's Stone was made by him, and he used it to create an Elixir of Life. Rumor says he has lived for over six hundred years, nearly seven hundred... Don't any of you collect Chocolate Frog cards?"

Kayson leaned back in his chair, his hands folded over his stomach, and spoke with a rather resigned air.

"In that case, the thing hidden beneath the trapdoor must be this so-called Philosopher's Stone." Hermione spoke seriously, making Kayson want to laugh.

How was he supposed to politely tell them that the so-called Philosopher's Stone was actually Redstone, and that he had even given each of them a piece?

But compared to that little idea, there was something more important.

For example...

"You're still investigating that trapdoor? Or are you still investigating Quirrell?"

"Er..."

"Mm..."

"Well..."

"Professor, do you have any black tea here...?"

"Fine. How far have you gotten?" Kayson asked with a weary sigh.

"When we went to have tea with Hagrid before, we accidentally let it slip—we mentioned that Quirrell was a Dark Wizard. Hagrid didn't believe us, and Harry got worked up. He said Quirrell was not only a Dark Wizard, but that he also wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone in the fourth-floor corridor."

"Then Hagrid said a lot of things before hurriedly throwing us out. When he panicked, he also mentioned Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel's plan, and then... ahem, Nicolas Flamel." Hermione shrugged, looking thoroughly speechless.

"Hagrid... So now you know what's hidden in there. Do you have any plans too?" Kayson sighed.

"Why do you want to hear our plan?"

"So I can hear your plan, make an appropriate plan of my own, and sabotage your plan from the other direction."

"Is that right?" Hermione said, her expression nearly falling apart.

"Then will you tell me?"

The four children exchanged looks and shook their heads in unison.

"No."

"Ah..."

The four children exchanged looks again. No one knew what they muttered among themselves, but in the end, they all stood up together.

"Goodbye, Professor Kayson!"

Kayson's mouth twitched as he watched them leave the office one after another.

"Gryffindor... Gryffindor, honestly...!!"