Thud!
Thud! Thud!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"I really ought to ntion this to Dumbledore. Professor Kasen hasn't been at Hogwarts lately, yet his office keeps making these bizarre noises—like soone is tossing things around inside," Filch muttered as he led the Gryffindor quartet toward Professor McGonagall's office.
Hearing the eerie noises coming from Kasen's office, Filch couldn't help but voice his thoughts.
"Could it be that sothing went wrong with one of Professor Kasen's alchemy experints?" Hermione suggested hesitantly.
Filch paused mid-stride, considering her words, then shook his head after a mont. "Even if that's the case, we should report it to Dumbledore first. Don't tell you think you know more about alchemy than he does."
"Well, actually, I have been studying alchemy—"
Hermione started, but Filch cut her off.
"That doesn't matter one bit! Your so-called alchemy can't even compare to Professor Kasen's, you hear ? The lamp he gave last sester is still glowing brightly to this day—hasn't needed refueling once!"
Hermione nodded, albeit reluctantly. "I understand your admiration for Professor Kasen, Mr. Filch, but listen to those sounds. Don't you think they're... a little too strange?"
Filch furrowed his brows, finally conceding to her point. He pressed his ear against the office door, trying to discern the source of the noise.
Inside, the thundering sounds rumbled on and on, wave after wave...
"The sound is too terrifying. I'm going to find Dumbledore. You lot stay here and don't even think about running. If you do, I'll have no choice but to go to Professor McGonagall to bring you back!" Filch snarled at the four students, glaring at them for emphasis before rushing off toward Dumbledore's office.
"So... should we run?" Ron proposed. "I heard George and Fred say there's an unspoken rule at Hogwarts: if you break the rules but don't get caught, there's no punishnt."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Ron," Hermione said with a regretful shake of her head, "but we've already been caught."
While Hermione and Ron debated, the other two—Harry and Neville—had already started to act. They were attempting to use the Alohomora spell to unlock the door.
However, Kasen's office door wasn't equipped with a typical chanical or magical lock.
Instead, it was secured with a redstone lock. The Alohomora spell, unfortunately, had no effect on such a system.
"Wait... a redstone lock?" Harry suddenly realized sothing.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red cube.
"Hermione, do you know the Disassembly Charm?" he asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "The last ti we ssed with Professor Kasen's office, we almost turned the place upside down. The professor didn't even hold it against us. And now you want to dismantle his lock?"
Harry shrugged. "Dumbledore's already on his way, and this door's going to get opened one way or another. If we use redstone to open it now, at least we can put the cover back on before anyone notices."
"...Fine," Hermione relented, finally swayed by Harry's logic. She pulled out her wand, pointed it at the lock, and muttered an incantation. The lock's casing fell off, revealing a dense network of redstone wiring, along with tiny levers, pressure plates, and buttons arranged intricately. The locking chanism was reinforced with several blocks of obsidian and pistons.
"Got it open. Now how are you planning to unlock the chanism?" Ron asked.
"Didn't Professor Kasen teach us this before? Use redstone," Harry replied confidently, pulling out a small chunk of redstone. He pressed it directly onto the redstone dust circuit, and as the dust glowed faintly, the pistons and obsidian components of the lock chanism retracted smoothly.
Harry turned to Hermione and the others with a triumphant grin. "See? I've got a knack for alchemy, don't I?"
"You do. Now, esteed alchemist, kindly open the door!" Hermione replied, nodding with mock seriousness.
"Oh, right," Harry said, pulling the door open.
The next mont, an avalanche of gifts spilled out, burying all four of them under a mountain of brightly wrapped packages.
At that mont, Filch arrived with the finally appearing Dumbledore in tow.
"Well, well, it seems you've all been buried under an ocean of happiness," Dumbledore remarked, bending down to pick up a large gift box adorned with ribbons and a handwritten card.
"This one's from Kasen, for you," he said, handing the gift to Filch.
Filch's hands trembled slightly as he took the gift, standing there for a mont in stunned silence before instinctively starting to open it.
Thankfully, Dumbledore stopped him. "Hold on, Argus. Wait for Kasen to return. Let him give this to you personally. The joy on your face will undoubtedly be a gift to him as well."
Filch quickly set the gift down, nodding fervently. "You're absolutely right, Professor Dumbledore."
Dumbledore smiled and turned to the four students, who were cautiously erging from the mountain of presents. "I wonder, when Kasen learns you managed to bypass his lock, will he marvel at your talent or feel sorry for this poor lock and decide to give it a new casing?"
"Don't worry, Professor, we'll fix it!!" Neville said, holding the fallen outer casing of the lock in his hand.
With the small incident of the lock put aside, everyone turned their attention toward the source of the ever-growing mountain of gifts.
In the corner of Kasen's office, a spot kept spitting out presents like a relentless fountain.
Dumbledore used magic to clear away the pile of gifts that blocked their view, revealing a dark green, ornate chest from which the endless cascade originated.
"Hmm, I rember Kasen's ring looking almost identical to that box—just a bit smaller. Well then, have you all satisfied your curiosity?" Dumbledore asked, casting a knowing glance at the four students.
The four of them scratched the back of their heads sheepishly, avoiding eye contact.
"Good. Now that you've seen enough, it's ti to leave this delightful ss for our fashionably late Professor Kasen to handle," Dumbledore said with a small smile.
With a wave of his hand, the flood of presents stacked themselves neatly into an orderly pile in the middle of the office.
But, as if to mock their efforts, another freshly ejected gift tumbled out and imdiately disrupted the neat pile.
"Quickly, lock that door! Or else we'll be buried again!" Dumbledore said urgently to Harry.
Harry reacted fast, using the redstone to re-trigger the circuit and causing the lock to retract for three seconds. Taking the opportunity, he slamd the door shut and quickly reattached the outer casing to secure it.
With the office finally sealed, the chaotic event was brought to a close. Under Dumbledore's persuasion, Filch reluctantly abandoned his plans to march Harry and the others to McGonagall's office.
Once again, the hallway outside the Alchemy Professor's office fell silent, undisturbed until the approaching dusk...
Buzz...[Ender Teleport Sound]
thump....
thump...
thump....
"Wa.da.fk...?"
_______
(づ￣ 3￣)づRead two weeks ahead of WN at-
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