Contrary to Kasenhis's expectations—no, Hermione didn't burst into tears or drop any little pearls. To be honest, she was much tougher than she looked; she wouldn't cry over something so trivial.
What really caught him off guard was that Hermione, dazed and thoughtful, simply nodded. She didn't argue, didn't speak back—just nodded and said softly, "I understand, Professor."
Kasenhis's pupils contracted. No, no—something was off. Very off. This wasn't right at all. Hermione, even if she didn't argue, would never just concede so easily!
"Uh... Hermione, are you... angry?" he asked cautiously.
"No... I just realized something, Professor. You're right. The oppressed in the wizarding world aren't just the house-elves. Compared to one species oppressing another, what's even more important is that one class oppresses another!" Hermione said, her eyes sparkling.
"So... what are you getting at?" Kasenhis asked.
"I was lightly browsing through about a hundred years of Daily Prophet archives in the library recently... and I noticed that most of the Ministry's leadership are pure-bloods, a few are half-bloods, and on the rare occasion a Muggle-born becomes Minister, they're quickly forced out."
'lightly browsing' through about a hundred years of Daily Prophet....
"Besides liberating the house-elves, I'm going to liberate Muggle-borns and half-bloods too!"
Kasenhis rubbed his chin, listening to her grand declaration. "So, what's your plan?"
"Start small—by becoming Minister for Magic first!" Hermione said, full of ambition.
That's a small start...?
Clap clap clap clap clap!
Kasenhis clapped like his life depended on it. "Excellent! Hermione, you're finally back to normal. I wish you all the success in the world!"
Harry, Ron, and Neville exchanged glances. After a brief moment of realization, they thought—wait... did this mean Hermione wouldn't be pestering them anymore?
Clap clap clap clap clap clap!
"Amazing!" they joined in, clapping enthusiastically.
Kasenhis then switched into full-on life-coach mode, showering Hermione with motivational words until she was thoroughly filled with "chicken soup for the soul."
Satisfied and inspired, she finally left the office with Harry and the others in tow.
Kasenhis exhaled deeply in relief.
As for Hermione wanting to become Minister for Magic—he was all for it. Technically speaking, he himself was a Muggle… yes, a pure Muggle—not even Muggle-born. Just plain, unmagical Muggle.
At least if she became Minister, she wouldn't nag him about food, lodging, or lifestyle anymore.
Perfect!
The next day…
Kasenhis very sensibly abandoned his teaching plan for the term.
Compared to writing a syllabus, writing a research paper sounded way better—at least that could help him and his students rack up some attribute points later on.
But those attribute points came in two types of usefulness—his own points could be used to mooch meals off the Alchemy Association, while the students' points could make their résumés shine brighter.
Wasn't that a total win-win?
No—scratch that. Not just a win-win. If it also helped advance the magical world's tech tree, that made it a win-win-win!
That afternoon, in the Alchemy classroom—
"Ahem, did any of you happen to hear... any rumors about me over the summer?" Kasenhis asked, standing at the lectern and clearing his throat.
The fourth-year students looked at each other blankly, confused, shaking their heads.
"About me. During the Quidditch World Cup. You didn't hear any strange rumors involving me?" Kasenhis pressed further.
At that, Draco suddenly snapped his fingers—he did remember one rumor connected to Kasenhis. Well, actually, it wasn't just a rumor... it was true.
That night, the Death Eaters, together with a mob of hooligans, had started a riot. The Aurors and a few vigilante wizards had gone to suppress it.
Everything else aside, the weird part was that thirty people had mysteriously gone missing—and there were suddenly thirty servings' worth of meat paste left on the riot grounds afterward...
And according to an anonymous Death Eater eyewitness... alright, fine, the guy said it outright—the one who caused that massacre… was Kasenhis.
Thinking of that, Draco instinctively started to raise his hand—but before it even got halfway up, he quickly lowered it again. After all, that wasn't exactly the kind of story you wanted to be associated with.
What if he said too much and ended up becoming another serving of "meat paste" himself?
Standing at the lectern, Kasenhis watched the entire classroom of students sit in awkward silence for a good half minute, not saying a single word. He sighed helplessly—guess it was time to get straight to the point.
In the next instant, the mechanical arms, mantis blades, and hidden sleeve blades on his body all snapped open at once.
"This," he said calmly, "you've all heard about, right?"
Only then did the students seem to realize what he meant. "Professor! Are you saying... you're going to show us how to make those cool things?"
Kasenhis nodded. "I think it's about time. In the last class, you learned the basic principles of mechanical—or rather, magical—transmission. So this lesson will be the test of your results."
"...It's absolutely not because I need you to help me write my thesis... though, well, I do need you to help me write my thesis."
The moment he said it, he regretted it—because, honestly, that sounded incredibly sketchy.
Anyway, that was the gist of it.
After showing off the mechanical arms attached to his body, Kasenhis officially began the class.
"Children, you need to learn!" Kasenhis declared as he picked up a piece of chalk and began filling the blackboard with dense lines of writing.
"Can you understand any of this?" he asked, jerking a thumb toward the board behind him.
The young wizards exchanged glances, then shook their heads in perfect unison.
"It's fine if you don't. Once you've built your own basic mechanical arm, you'll understand."
He waved his hand, and the power of the MC condensed midair into countless tiny cubes, which then assembled into the fundamental components of a mechanical arm.
"Today's your first class, so I'll keep it simple. Your task is straightforward—use whatever parts you like to assemble your own uniquely designed mechanical arm. Each joint must be capable of a full 720-degree rotation, and you need a proper energy transmission channel…"
He kept talking for a good while—his "Country map" lecture was impressively long.
Finally, he reached the main assignment of the day. "And one more thing—each of you will write me a three-foot-long essay. Make sure it actually says something meaningful. Your papers will be submitted to the European Alchemy Journal."
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