At the banquet, the three schools gathered in the Great Hall.
Oh, except Fudge wasn't there. Apparently he'd rushed back to the Ministry to duel with Barty Crouch.
Ludo Bagman was gone too. Rumor had it he'd bet on the wrong side and had already run off to Africa.
In the entire enormous Great Hall, you couldn't find a single person from the Ministry—but honestly, that was for the best.
Kasenhis sat at the professors' table, watching Cedric struggle to lift the golden cup that Kasenhis had picked up from the graveyard again.
Mr. and Mrs. Diggory were also sitting at the Hufflepuff table, applauding their son like crazy with pride.
As the banquet ended, Hogwarts returned to its calm state—temporarily, of course.
The other two schools had both fled in their own ways.
Oh, well, halfway fled. Karkaroff, for some reason, shamelessly forced himself to stay at Hogwarts, refusing to leave no matter what.
He was practically one step away from moving his bed into the headmaster's office and becoming roommates with Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
In the end, though, it still didn't happen. No idea why. Really.
And now, in the office, Kasenhis sat on the sofa, watching Snape, who was sitting across from the headmaster's desk, chatting with Dumbledore.
Alright, calling it a conversation wasn't quite right. It was more like receiving orders.
Dumbledore issued commands to Snape unilaterally, and Snape chose to accept them.
Once they were done, Snape turned to Kasenhis. "If I die, let Harley stay Harley for the rest of her life."
Kasenhis laughed despite himself. "So the effect of that stuff really is permanent, huh."
Snape shook his head. "Not exactly. But something that was supposed to be taken in micrograms—you had him drink it by the bottle. Even if it's not permanent, it's close enough."
"You didn't say that much back then," Kasenhis said, a little embarrassed as he tried to defend himself.
"I remember giving you a manual. I also generously included a pipette," Snape said calmly.
"Okay, okay. If you die, it's not like Harley being Harley for life is unacceptable… but before you go, leave behind a pearl," Kasenhis said, suddenly changing the subject halfway through.
"No need. If I truly die, then the Dark Lord will still have all the false information and ideas I fed him. But if I don't die and manage to escape back, then everything I've told him before will be overturned instantly."
"For a spy, even in death, one must die as a loyal spy," Snape said at last.
"Then take care," Kasenhis said as he walked over and gave Snape a hug, patting him hard on the back.
"Shame I can't make a Totem of Undying," he added helplessly.
"You can keep that for yourself," Snape said.
"Mmh."
As Snape turned into a wisp of black smoke and flew out the window, the next visitor to the headmaster's office—Karkaroff—walked in.
"Dumbledore, you have to protect me," Karkaroff said, swallowing hard.
"Mm…" Dumbledore glanced at him. "How about being a Death Eater who turns up late?"
Karkaroff was so submissive he looked like he was about to kneel. "He'll torture me…"
"Torture is better than death, isn't it?" Dumbledore replied.
"Do I have a second choice?" Karkaroff asked Dumbledore, fear written all over his face.
"At most, a few Cruciatus Curses. That shouldn't be too much for you—after all, you used that spell quite a lot back then," Dumbledore said, giving Karkaroff a sidelong glance.
"I really didn't…" Karkaroff looked at everyone in the office.
"You can also choose death," Dumbledore said, directly taking out the Elder Wand.
"Both choices lead to death," Karkaroff said, trembling.
"No. You can trade a piece of valuable information to Voldemort in exchange for your chance to live. Severus Snape—a double agent. But now I can see it clearly. He isn't loyal to me. At present, you can use this information to trade for your life with Voldemort," Dumbledore said.
"W-what does that mean?" Karkaroff asked.
"Snape is the only one who knows you are one of my people. And now I have confirmed that the one he is truly loyal to is Voldemort. So you can tell Voldemort a lie—let Voldemort kill Snape—and you will naturally become a great hero."
Karkaroff's eyes darted around before he shouted, "I'll do it!"
"Do you need us to see you off?" Dumbledore asked.
"No need." Karkaroff left the headmaster's office, his legs trembling.
And just after Snape had left the headmaster's office using a flying charm, he appeared there once again.
"I've already figured out what I should say. But I need to erase some of the conversation between you. The Dark Lord may send me back to Hogwarts as a spy again… you said a bit too much," he said calmly.
"I'm not a professional in that area, after all. If you hurry now, you can still catch up to him," Dumbledore said helplessly.
"Mm."
Sitting on the sofa, Kasenhis once again marveled at how dirty the hearts of these tacticians were.
But it was effective—using Karkaroff as a loyalty card pack for Snape, trading Karkaroff's life to boost Snape's safety value. Very cost-effective.
Still, after Snape left once more, Kasenhis started to feel bored sitting there.
After all, once Dumbledore had arranged the two matters in this small office, he just sat at his desk in silence.
It made Kasenhis, who had been summoned here, look like an idiot.
"So… no task for me anymore?" Kasenhis said dryly.
"…I'm thinking—what if those two unreliable politicians reach some strange agreement and act together against Hogwarts?" Dumbledore said.
"I can understand Fudge, but would Barty Crouch really do that too?"
"If Fudge can say that turning your back and denying everything is a politician's basic trait, then why wouldn't Barty Crouch be able to do the same? A triangle is stable. Let's add one more person to the Ministry—how about Scrimgeour? Head of the Auror Office?" Dumbledore said as he handed Kasenhis a letter he had prepared long ago.
"So you made me sit here for so long just to have me deliver a letter…" Kasenhis said, pouting.
"And to let you fully understand our plan. That's a deeper level of trust," Dumbledore explained.
"Alright, I'll go."
...
The next day, after delivering the letter, Kasenhis returned to his office and let out a helpless sigh.
"So this is why you slept in that cage all night?"
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