"So the one who beat the crap out of me just now was an actual Death Eater, not one of the actors you arranged?" Ron said, his whole body stiff with shock and confusion.
Dumbledore clicked his tongue. "Judging from the situation now, that seems to be the case."
"But it's not as though I made no preparations at all. I had Professor Kasenhis watching over you, didn't I? If those two Death Eaters had used any powerful Dark Magic, Professor Kasenhis would definitely have dealt with them."
"But one of those Death Eaters didn't even look like he was using proper magic. The strongest thing he hit you with was just an ordinary wave of magical power. Ron, you really should work harder. You're starting to slack off," Kasenhis teased.
"Professor, the instant that magical wave sent me flying, I honestly thought the Death Eater was being played by one of you three, you, Professor Dumbledore, or Professor Grindelwald. He was way too strong!" Ron complained bitterly.
"That really is abnormal. For an ordinary magical wave to be able to smash your..." Sirius started to say that it had directly shattered Ron's Sectumsempra, but quickly stopped himself.
Snape might not exactly be a bad person now, but he definitely couldn't be called a good one either.
So expecting him to privately teach Harry and the others spells, especially spells he had invented himself back in school, was probably impossible.
Which meant that if Ron knew Sectumsempra, where had he learned it?
He had probably secretly picked it up from some old textbook.
In that case, Sirius absolutely couldn't alert anyone to it. Given Snape's relationship with Harry and the others, he would definitely confiscate that old book if he found out.
Couldn't say it. Definitely couldn't say it.
Sirius might not think much of Snape as a person, but if Harry and the others could secretly learn a trick or two from him, their chances of survival would increase dramatically.
"Sirius, why did you stop halfway through what you were saying?" Ron asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing. My tongue went numb from the spice," Sirius said casually.
The winter picnic in the forest was still steaming hot, but the atmosphere among a few of them had become rather gloomy.
Why had they gone through so much trouble putting on this whole show?
For fun?
Of course not!
It was all to push Ron and Hermione together.
But what was the result now?
Completely useless!
They could only start over and come up with another plan.
...
After returning to the Black family home, Kasenhis squeezed back into the small sofa and started discussing countermeasures with the others. This time, Harry and Neville had joined them as well.
After all, those two were practically inseparable from Ron and Hermione. The three of them were waiting for Harry and Neville to offer some constructive ideas.
As for Harry and Neville, the two people most likely to come up with something constructive...
"Lunch was a little salty."
Harry was frantically gulping down orange juice.
Neville, meanwhile, kept picking at his teeth.
Clearly, expecting anything useful from these two was probably even less likely than Ron trapping Hermione under the covers and farting nonstop until the carbon monoxide and ammonia fried her brain, causing her to develop Stockholm syndrome and leaving the two hopeless fools permanently stuck together.
"Sirius, we're counting on you. Tell us your next plan," Kasenhis said solemnly, patting Sirius on the shoulder.
"Emmm..."
Sirius looked helpless for a while before finally shaking his head.
"I've got nothing."
Lupin rubbed his lips. "After all, love is still a private matter between the two of them. It's really hard for outsiders like us to interfere. With Sirius's previous plan, you could say we were just giving them a little push and helping them see their own feelings clearly. But now... there's nothing we can do. I can't handle this anymore..."
By the end, Lupin was practically letting out a pained wail.
"So we just leave them alone?" Kasenhis raised an eyebrow.
"Students have their own blessings. Why should we worry so much?" Sirius said freely.
"You three, want to find somewhere and have a drink?" Hagrid appeared behind them with a grin.
Kasenhis glanced back at Hagrid. "I'll pass. I quit."
Hagrid scratched his head in confusion. "But you were drinking at lunch. And you drank quite a lot."
Kasenhis shrugged. "Yeah, but I suddenly realised drinking is a losing business. It costs money and damages your health, so I quit."
"But you only drank at lunch. It hasn't even been two hours."
"Exactly. I only just quit. What a coincidence..."
"How long have you been sober?"
"Less than two hours?"
"Alright then..." Hagrid tapped his temple with a finger.
He now needed to put his clever brain to work and figure out how to lure Professor Kasenhis to the drinking table.
Very quickly, he came up with a new argument.
"Since you successfully quit drinking, how about this? Let's celebrate it properly."
"Let's go!"
Kasenhis immediately stood up.
"But Professor, didn't you just say you quit drinking?" Neville asked, scratching his head.
"Quitting drinking is quitting drinking. Socialising is socialising. They're two different things," Kasenhis explained.
"Professor, you're amazing!" Harry and Neville exchanged a glance, then simultaneously gave him a thumbs-up.
...
"Cheers to Professor Kasenhis successfully quitting drinking!"
In a quiet corner of the sitting room, most of the people who drank were now gathered around a small table.
They raised their glasses together and clinked them happily.
...
"This is Antarctica. We just need to hide out here for a while. Once Socket-Nostrils dies miserably, we can go back to England."
In Antarctica, a pair of Death Eaters stepped onto the solid, freezing continent.
"How do you know when he's going to die?"
"Because I subscribed to the Daily Prophet, of course!"
...
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