In the end, Harry didn't get to ride Sirius and run four laps…
Because Sirius was underneath Kasen.
Long story short, Sirius ran insanely fast and was absurdly strong.
Even with Kasen riding on his back, he could still run like the wind.
Truly, a natural-born athlete.
Even like this, Sirius still managed to keep right on Harry's heels, chasing him all the way from the dead of night until dawn broke. When Harry was already collapsed on the couch resting, Sirius was still circling his feet energetically.
"Alright, drink this hot chocolate milk and then go back to sleep. Good thing today's Saturday—otherwise, you'd be heading straight to Madam Pomfrey for a stimulant potion just to get through class."
"Huff.. huff.. Of course, we will," Harry muttered, completely drained, like those four laps had cost him half his life.
"Mhm. In the future, well… fine, I know I can't really control you Gryffindors anyway. Every time you go sneaking around at night, I usually just turn a blind eye. But with Grindelwald here yesterday, going out at night was seriously dangerous."
"But considering you didn't know that guy was at Hogwarts… Gryffindor, minus forty reversed. Now off you go."
Students: Yaay! o(*^＠^*)o
"Now, leave, will you?" Kasen pointed toward the distant door of the office.
At that moment, Neville suddenly stood up.
"Professor Kasenhis… thank you!"
He gave Kasen a deep, earnest bow.
"I only made a small contribution. The real credit goes to Lockhart… Did you thank him?" Kasen quickly helped Neville back up as he spoke.
"Yeah, we even invited him to spend Christmas at the Longbottom estate. It's just a pity you weren't there, Professor." Neville rubbed the corner of his eye with his hand.
"Well, it's clear you had a really joyful Christmas this year," Kasen said with a smile. Then he noticed the expression on Harry's face, sitting quietly on the sofa—it had suddenly turned a little downcast.
At this moment, he was the only one among the four Gryffindor kids whose parents weren't around.
With how kind-hearted Harry was, he was no doubt genuinely happy for Neville. But in contrast, it was impossible for him not to feel that pang inside.
"Harry, you…" Kasen started to speak but trailed off. He didn't know what he could say that would make Harry feel better right now.
"Then, Professor, we'll get going?"
Harry had noticed Kasen's awkward pause and, being emotionally intelligent, immediately stood to pull his friends along to leave.
"…Wait, I have a gift for you." Kasen quickly stopped Harry, waved his hand, and the heavily modified Z9 broomstick appeared in his grasp.
"This is a broom I've upgraded myself. See if you like it. Of course, if it's not good enough, I can make you a new one… Consider it your Christmas present. You three get one too, don't worry."
Neville shook his head. "I've already received my Christmas present."
"Well, then it's just you two."
Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance. "Uh… no, no, we're good… not lacking… I mean, uh… give our share to Harry."
"Yeah, give it to Harry."
Harry took the broom and nodded. "This one's great."
"Hope so."
Curled up at Harry's feet, Sirius had his eyes half-lidded, looking like he wasn't in the mood for anything.
Right now, he was starting to doubt the version of himself from over a decade ago—his so-called acceptance of punishment, his so-called atonement, had all just led to a child growing up without his father…
Now, he couldn't help but feel that, as Harry's so-called godfather, the love he'd given Harry might not even compare to what this professor sitting across from him on the couch had offered till now.
No, that was putting it too kindly—he hadn't even had a chance to give anything before he was thrown into Azkaban.
"That dog looks really sad," Neville said, glancing at the large black dog at Harry's feet.
"Yeah, he's a smart one, aren't you Bruce?"
Harry replied with a bit of a laugh, reaching down to pat the dog's head.
"So, Professor, should we head out now?" Harry asked, broomstick in hand.
"Mhm. Ride that broom carefully—it's a lot faster than the Nimbus 2000, by more than just a little," Kasen reminded him.
Harry nodded, and the four of them made their way toward the distant door. Behind them, Sirius followed with his tail drooping, escorting the four on their way out.
Kasenhis, meanwhile, moved the teaware on the coffee table into a corner—once the house-elf came back, it would be cleaned up properly.
As for himself, he Ender-teleported out of the office and reappeared in the Headmaster's office, ready to raise hell about Grindelwald's unfiltered mouth and uninvited stay at Hogwarts.
"Dumbledore… why are you still—Ah.." Kasen began, then spotted Grindelwald sitting in the corner of the office.
"Clearly, Albus thinks no one else can keep an eye on me, so he decided to do it himself," Grindelwald replied, lounging on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, casually reading the Daily Prophet.
"...So... Dumbledore, yesterday this Mr. Grindelwald told me he's going to be the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." Kasen sat down in front of Dumbledore's desk, looking a bit exasperated.
"I believe he'll be… quite well-suited for the position," Dumbledore replied.
Kasen nodded. Clearly, he'd just received confirmation from the man himself.
And now he also understood—the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald? Very close.
Not your average close. The kind of close where you don't even bother keeping up appearances anymore.
"Wow… wow wow wow… Dumbledore? Gotta hand it to you, your creativity is truly something else. Let me think… in the past, you let Quirrell in—that guy had a Dark Lord growing out of the back of his head…" Kasen glanced at Grindelwald and added, "First generation."
"Then, the next year, the diary had the Dark Lord's teenage version."
"The year after that, who knows if there'll be another Dark Lord, unless Lucius decides to take a walk and gets possessed too. But that seems unlikely—um.. we can explore other guesses."
"And now, you've invited the first-generation Dark Lord himself to Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Is this some kind of weird kink of yours? Or are you trying to… I don't know, fill the Dark Lord void at Hogwarts?"
"To be honest, I'm starting to seriously question your brain. Pardon my rudeness, but what exactly is your head filled with? Herbal powder? Gallbladder paste? Moonstone dust?"
"Or maybe something else entirely? Honey? Sweets?"
"Ahem—Kasen, discussion is fine, even criticism, but let's avoid personal attacks," Dumbledore said awkwardly, rubbing his face.
"Oh...it's me sitting here, not the snarky Snape, so just be happy…"
________
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