The two returned to Kasenhis's office at Hogwarts, with Dobby in tow.
"Lupin, take a break for a bit. I'm going to take Dobby to Dumbledore's office."
As Kasenhis left with Dobby, Lupin turned to look at Bruce, who was still drifting around playfully on the ice rink.
Bruce: Woof woof woof!
Lupin: "..."
…
"Dumbledore." Kasenhis pushed open the door to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore was in the middle of studying ...a glass of strawberry milkshake.
"Oh, Kasenhis. Looks like everything went smoothly," Dumbledore said, handing over half of the milkshake. "Give it a try."
"Uh, I'll pass. I'm here to recommend a house-elf for you." Kasenhis stepped aside, revealing a slightly bashful Dobby.
"Oh, Dobby! I remember you. You were the Malfoy family's house-elf."
"Dobby is no longer with the Malfoys. Dobby is free now," Dobby explained.
"Oh... I see. So you're looking for a job?"
"And a paid job," Kasenhis added helpfully.
"That's not a problem. What's your expected salary?" Dumbledore nodded.
"Er... I don't know, Headmaster."
"Hmm... how about ten Galleons a month?"
"Ten Galleons! No way, that's too much!"
Hearing Dobby's sudden, high-pitched shriek, Kasenhis rubbed his ears with a helpless look.
Dumbledore glanced at Kasenhis, who shrugged innocently.
"Well then... five Galleons?"
Kasenhis sat on the sofa in the corner and leisurely brewed himself a pot of tea. By the time he'd finished the entire pot, Dobby and Dumbledore had finally wrapped up their salary negotiations.
In the end, Dobby happily went off to report to the Great Hall for work, earning four Galleons a month. Meanwhile, Dumbledore, quite amused, noted on the Hogwarts monthly expense ledger: "—500 Galleons."
"Let me guess—this was Harry's doing, wasn't it?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yeah. Dumbledore, what's your opinion on the purebloods?" Kasenhis nodded and asked in return.
"...Fools. Though not without a few clever ones—but even those clever ones have poor judgment," Dumbledore replied.
"Mind naming a few typical examples?" Kasenhis asked.
"Examples, hmm… I'll use the Weasley family and the Malfoy family," Dumbledore replied. "I would call the Weasleys intelligent—they see that wizards and Muggles form one community, and they're very willing to accept Muggles and Muggle-borns."
"And the fools would be the Malfoys. They have a bit of cunning, stirring up waves in wizarding history, and every time they manage to avoid being held accountable. But that's still just cleverness, not wisdom. Truly wise people go to great lengths to keep their families out of violent power struggles. The Malfoys, on the other hand, jump in every single time—and enjoy it. But both have a common flaw: arrogance." Dumbledore finished and took a sip of his milkshake, falling silent afterward.
"...Why'd you stop talking?" Kasenhis asked.
"Well, why didn't you ask me?" Dumbledore hummed.
"...Fine, great Headmaster Dumbledore," Kasenhis rolled his eyes, "what about it then? What exactly is this so-called shared flaw of arrogance?"
"I'm not hiding my words. I'm referring to the surface-level arrogance. Let's not even get into the Malfoys. The Weasleys, on the surface, are very friendly toward Muggles—but they still chose to build the Burrow in the middle of nowhere, far from the Muggle world."
"Well.. to be honest.. They probably just couldn't afford a house in the Muggle world," Kasenhis muttered.
"Hear me out," Dumbledore said seriously. "Right now, the Weasley family may not be well-off, but when Arthur and Molly first got married, their financial situation wasn't tight. And yet, they still instinctively believed that wizards and Muggles shouldn't live in the same neighborhoods."
"Secondly, Arthur has a deep fondness for all sorts of Muggle mechanical inventions," Dumbledore continued, "but in truth, it's a one-sided fascination. He uses magic to disguise some scrap metal as Muggle machines, yet he's unwilling to actually engage with Muggles to learn from them."
"He has talked to them, though. Ron tells me all the time that Arthur Weasley freezes up around Muggles, bombarding them with questions..." Kasenhis interrupted mercilessly.
Dumbledore took a deep breath. "Are you going to talk or am I?"
"Go ahead, go ahead."
"When I say 'engage,' I mean systematically studying from Muggle professionals—mechanics, engineers, car repairmen—not just chatting. Instead, Arthur uses magic and alchemy. Deep down, he believes Muggle inventions are just clever ideas but inherently inferior to magical ones."
"Oh... now I get it."
"You're the same, Kasen," Dumbledore added.
"Huh? Where did that come from?"
"I mean, you too possess that kind of magical arrogance."
"Me? I do?"
"You studied that magical seed before, didn't you? And you even considered making it a reality. But what gives you the right to assume that magical people are inherently superior to ordinary ones? Or that everyone would even want to use magic? That's the arrogance I'm talking about."
"And your arrogance is different from that of the Weasleys or the Malfoys," Dumbledore continued. "Their arrogance is like that of strangers. The Weasleys believe they're stronger than Muggles, so they don't think they need to learn Muggle technology."
"The Malfoys believe they're nobler than Muggles, so they look down on them—even demean them."
"But your arrogance is the kind a parent has toward their child. Take the magical seed, for example—you want everyone to have magic. But do they really want that? In essence, you're making that choice for them."
Kasenhis suddenly understood and nodded. "Got it…"
"In fact, in some ways, your arrogance is more frightening than theirs. Because of their limitations, at most a few Muggles might be ridiculed or disrespected."
"But you? Let's be honest—someone like you, with your level of power… if you ever went off the rails, and no one was there to stop you, your destruction could surpass even Tom Riddle's."
Kasenhis nodded like a pecking chicken. "Okay, okay, I get it—please stop coming at me like I'm on trial."
"…By the way, why all these questions?" Dumbledore asked.
Kasenhis pulled a teaching syllabus out of his ring. "Just a few little things I picked up while prepping for my first alchemy seminar."
He handed the syllabus to Dumbledore.
_________
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
Patreon: Dragonel