Why Didn't You Tell Me Earlier?

"Wait, wait, wait... Tell me the whole thing again..."

Kayson took a deep breath and slowly said, "Draco was in the office first, honestly grinding Redstone, right?"

Draco, weeping quietly in the corner, and the four Gryffindor youngsters beside him nodded at the same time.

"Then the four of you came looking for me. My office happened to be unlocked, Draco happened to say 'come in,' and so you came in."

The five young wizards nodded again.

"Then, after you came in, Draco kept honestly grinding Redstone. Ron, you sat there drinking cola... No, where did you get cola from? Forget it, that isn't the point. In short, Draco didn't provoke any of you, and Ron sat on the sofa drinking cola and running his mouth."

"Eventually, he finally made Draco angry, and you pulled out your wands and started fighting."

The five of them nodded again.

Kayson nodded in understanding. "I more or less get it now... Since that was the case... why didn't you... fight outside? Like you said, my office wasn't locked. It wasn't as though you wouldn't be able to get back in after you were done fighting."

"Um... We were afraid the professors and Filch would catch us if we fought outside," Harry said quietly.

"...Harry, who am I?" Kayson sat on the only sofa in the corner that had survived, pressing his thumb against the space beneath his nose. He had neither the strength nor the means to deal with this.

"You're Kayson... and also the Alchemy professor." Harry gave the first answer without thinking, then finally realized... the last two words in Professor Kayson's title were professor.

"That's right... I'm a professor too. I completely understand your fear of professors, so you didn't dare cause trouble under their noses. But can you remember that I'm also a professor? Can someone tell me why? Why did you treat my office like this... And my Redstone Flash, too. I carved it bit by bit with my own hands."

Kayson tapped the coffee table in front of him again. A Flash figurine, broken in two at the waist, lay on top of it.

"I'm asking you, children. Why are you afraid of the other professors but not me?"

Gryffindors never spoke after thinking things through. Ron, for instance, said as if possessed, "Because you're a good person."

"Absurd! Does being a good person mean your office deserves to be turned upside down by your wands?"

To be fair, this was the first time Kayson had truly been hurt since becoming a professor. It wasn't because of the office. This office had been blown up more than once already, and every time, he had simply redecorated it in a new style.

But this time alone...

"Ah." Kayson lightly tapped the two pieces of the Flash figurine on the coffee table with his knuckles, instantly reducing them to dust.

"Alright, five exceptionally powerful young wizards, all I can say is that I'll have to start renovating my new office. So, I'm handing you over to Professor McGonagall."

"And Draco, you got lucky. Although this wasn't your fault, one matter was one matter and another was another. That Redstone block still counts against you. Are you choosing to come back and keep grinding it once I've finished renovating my office, or are you going to Professor McGonagall and letting her punishment offset the Redstone block?" Kayson asked.

"Professor McGonagall!" Draco answered decisively.

"Good. Now follow me."

The five young wizards trailed behind Kayson dejectedly to Professor McGonagall's office.

There, the five young wizards witnessed a dignified and respected lady professor transform into a lioness.

After finishing his complaint, Kayson trusted that Professor McGonagall would give him justice. So he left her office without the slightest hesitation and, while Dumbledore was sneaking off to the kitchen for a private meal, quietly slipped into the Headmaster's Office.

Then he discovered that the wine which should have belonged to Professor Kayson had Dumbledore's name written on it.

How could that be allowed?

He decisively tucked the wine into his robes and headed for Hagrid's hut.

Then he witnessed the third dramatic event of the day.

The dragon Hagrid had hatched was already about the size of a table. At that moment, she was studying how to swallow the lava block at the base of the fireplace into her stomach.

"This little fellow... big fellow, was Fluffy really this big?"

Hagrid raised an eyebrow. "She isn't called Fluffy. Fluffy is the three-headed dog."

"Oh... Fang?"

"Fang is the hound chewing on bones."

"...Alright, maybe my memory isn't so good. What are you planning to do with him... her? At this rate, in a few days, she'll probably start measuring you up."

"Don't say that. She's a good girl... Oh, but she really is too big. You're right. Ron and Malfoy gave me two business cards before, both from dragon farms. I've been looking up information lately, trying to see which one has better conditions."

Hagrid took out a thick stack of papers. Really, Kayson had never seen so much paper within five meters of Hagrid.

"Just pick one. And right now, I don't want to hear the names of those two little brats. They ruined my figurine completely."

As he spoke, he took out the wine from his robes.

"Whoa! Isn't this the wine Dumbledore brought back from France last time? This is the good stuff!" Hagrid said in surprise.

"What do you mean, Dumbledore's? They're Kayson Heath's collection now. They've been my collection for the past twenty minutes, and they'll be my collection from now on."

"Um... You went to Dumbledore's office?" Hagrid asked, rubbing his beard.

Kayson looked at Hagrid strangely but still reassured him, "Don't worry. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, who would know? Besides, he has no proof."

"But I remember Dumbledore treasured those two bottles very much. I heard he even told them bedtime stories," Hagrid said, swallowing.

Kayson cheerfully opened the wine and took out two glasses. Hagrid obediently accepted one of them...

"Mmm... Good wine!"

"Right?"

"But Dumbledore?"

"Don't worry about Dumbledore. So many people know the password to his office. He won't know I was the one who took it." Kayson waved a hand and took another sip...

Hagrid took a deep breath and had a sip as well.

Late at night, the thoroughly tipsy Kayson pushed open the door to Hagrid's hut. The winter wind, carrying snowflakes with it, did not sober him up in the slightest. Instead, it made him want to face-plant straight into the snow.

"Oh, right. Those two guardian statues outside Dumbledore's office have minds of their own... Did you know that?"

Kayson instantly sobered up by more than half. The alcohol fumes pouring off him made him look as though steam were rising from his body.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Hagrid twisted his two thick fingers together. He couldn't exactly say that he had been craving Dumbledore's two bottles of fine wine for ages, could he?