Climbing the exhausting spiral staircase to the top floor, Kaison paused in front of the wooden door to Dumbledore's office, taking two deep breaths to steady himself.
Creak… [Door opening sound]
"Dumbledore, what I'm about to say—don't be scared," Kaison said, sitting across from him.
"I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts. I don't scare easily. Go ahead," Dumbledore replied, slipping on his freshly polished glasses.
"Quirinus Quirrell. He's got a problem."
Dumbledore nodded. "Hm… you're sharp."
"Of course. Back in school, my teachers always said I—wait, what?"
Kaison caught the blind spot.
"You're saying I'm sharp, meaning you already knew Quirrell had issues. So why keep him around?"
Dumbledore poured a cup of tea and slid it over. "Remember the day I asked you to make a fake Philosopher's Stone? I'm fishing, and he's the fish."
"Do you know Quirrell's real identity?" Kaison asked cautiously, already planning his next move. If Dumbledore said "I don't know," he was ready to unleash a verbal storm.
But Dumbledore nodded. "His name is Tom Riddle. Though his other name is far more infamous—Voldemort."
Kaison slumped back in his chair, deflated. "You know. You know everything. You just don't seem to know this is Hogwarts, crawling with young wizards."
[Satisfaction from Albus Dumbledore +10]
[Trust from Albus Dumbledore +10]
[Goodwill from Albus Dumbledore +10]
"Forgive me, Kaison, but please trust me. Everything is under control," Dumbledore said, his gaze gentle.
"It's not that I don't trust you. Maybe you're powerful," Kaison said earnestly.
Having read plenty of books at Hogwarts, he no longer saw Dumbledore as some old man fiddling with a lighter. He was the most powerful wizard of their time.
"But I still don't think you can watch his every move."
"I can, actually. Every portrait in Hogwarts is my eyes, along with the house-elves and the professors."
"Fine, let's say you can."
"Trust me. Since you've figured this out, Kaison, would you mind helping me with a small favor?"
"Mm-hm."
"Please assist the person behind Quirrell unconditionally."
"In what way?"
"Any way within your moral limits."
"…I'll stick to what I can do with alchemy."
"Deal."
"Damn endowment effect. One more question—Quirinus Quirrell himself, just him as a person."
"He sought power and willingly let Tom possess him. Sadly, he chose the wrong path. He's a full-fledged dark wizard now."
"Alright, just checking," Kaison said, pursing his lips.
"Don't think me heartless. A mere wraith, no matter how powerful in life, can't control a complete wizard. Quirrell's fate today is his own doing," Dumbledore explained.
"He sought him out? I thought a big bad like that staying alive was some kind of secret."
"I never believed he was truly dead, so I've mentioned it from time to time."
"Fair enough." Kaison nodded, leaving the Headmaster's office in low spirits.
No wonder—finding out a colleague was a heinous villain would dampen anyone's mood.
Back in his office, he dove into studying basic alchemy again. While he could perform most matter transmutations instinctively, as long as he understood the theory and could explain it to students, he was fine.
But things like magical runes, energy manipulation—those were genuinely useful. Combined with redstone, he might create something interesting.
Knock, knock, knock…
"Who is it?"
"I-It's… m-me, Quirrell."
"Speak of the devil," Kaison sighed, opening the door.
Quirrell stepped in with a fruit basket, smiling. He set it on the desk and noticed the basic alchemy book lying there.
"Y-You… you're still reading… this level of b-book?"
"When you've done it long enough, it's second nature. But turning it into words for teaching? That's not easy," Kaison said, pulling out some tea leaves and brewing a pot for Quirrell.
"Y-Yes, that's it. I… I came today to… to ask for a favor," Quirrell said, sipping his tea.
"Go ahead."
"I-I'd like you to… make me a Philosopher's Stone."
Kaison's hand trembled, nearly spilling his tea. "What… makes you think I can make a Philosopher's Stone?" he asked, his gaze sharp.
"J-Just a… a fake one. It's… Dumbledore's idea," Quirrell hurried to explain.
"Mm-hm. Tell me more."
"Y-You know about the Dark Lord?"
Kaison nodded.
"D-Dumbledore… he's always believed the Dark Lord… isn't dead. So this year, at… at Hogwarts, he's set a… a trap."
"The bait for this trap is… the Philosopher's Stone. Of course, that's what Dumbledore's claiming. He told me… he needs a… a forged Philosopher's Stone. A fake bait to… to lure the Dark Lord out."
Kaison nodded, calmly sipping his tea. "Oh… so that's it. Why didn't he tell me himself?"
"He wants… as few people as possible to… to know. Only we… the professors… know the stone is fake. So… so if you see Dumbledore, d-don't mention it…"
"It's his orders. Keep it… keep it to yourself," Quirrell stammered, while Kaison patiently watched his performance.
A fake Philosopher's Stone, and don't tell Dumbledore? Easy to decode: a classic bait-and-switch.
Quirrell—or Voldemort—wanted to swap the fake for the real stone.
Too bad the so-called "real" stone was also a fake.
And both fakes came from the same source: Kaison.
What baffled Kaison was how Quirrell, or rather Voldemort, could spin such a lie and accidentally stumble onto Dumbledore's fake trap plan, yet fail to consider that Dumbledore might actually be using a fake as bait.
After racking his brain, Kaison could only conclude these two weren't the sharpest wands in the shop.
No other explanation made sense for such a convoluted, pointless scheme.
"H-How… can you do it?" Quirrell asked eagerly.
"Sure, it's doable. Just a fake, right? Needs the rough shape and magical fluctuations. But I've never seen a real Philosopher's Stone. How am I supposed to copy it? From a picture in a book?" Kaison pointed to the beginner alchemy text on his desk.
"N-No problem. Look at this." Quirrell drew his wand and waved it, conjuring a perfect illusion of the Philosopher's Stone.
"This shape?" Kaison asked.
"Y-Yes. How… how long will it take?"
"This size? Not long."
Kaison held the illusion, finding this task even easier than the fake he'd made for Dumbledore. Back then, Dumbledore had provided the real stone to copy. Now, Quirrell had given him a template—just fill it with tiny redstone blocks, and done.
Soon, Kaison's Philosopher's Stone 2.0 was hot off the press.
"Tr-Truly… incredible alchemy. You're… you're probably on par with… with the real Nicolas Flamel," Quirrell said, awestruck, taking the stone with both hands.
"No need to flatter. More tea?"
"N-No… I've got to… prepare lessons."
"Safe travels. I won't see you out."
After Quirrell left, Kaison waited five minutes before heading straight back to Dumbledore's office.
"That's the deal. He's probably planning a bait-and-switch."
Dumbledore nodded. "I'm glad you came to me."
"Uh… was I not supposed to? This is for the students' safety, Hogwarts' safety… and mine."
"Exactly, Kaison. You're a fine professor," Dumbledore said, his gaze still warm.
"Whatever you say. I've got to figure out how to teach fourth-years… Honestly, don't you ever consider giving me a different job?"
"Absolutely not," Dumbledore said, shaking his head.
"I wish you would."
The next day…
"Deep breath, Kaison. You've got this. Today, you're teaching a bunch of Alchemy newbies. Believe in yourself—you'll have them eating out of your hand!" Kaison stood in front of his dressing mirror, psyching himself up.
Unlike yesterday's fresh-faced third-years, his two months of Alchemy cramming might not stack up against fourth-years who'd already studied for a year.
His goal for this first fourth-year lesson was simple: don't get exposed.
"Just don't get exposed," he muttered, taking another deep breath and exhaling sharply.
About ten minutes later…
"Getting up three hours early was too much. I'll nap first… getting exposed isn't that bad…"
Kaison flopped onto his bed, hugging the quilt, while the sky outside remained inky-black.
[There's another chapter during the day. Sorry, I pulled an all-nighter yesterday and have no draft.]
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🤦 : Oops! You've reached the limit for today. But just for your power stone and recommendation I might— no I would add additional Chapter.
20PS — 1 additional Chapter
40PS — 2 additional Chapter and special mention if you've contributed 3 or more PS.
That's all. Enjoy Reading!