Kasenhis and Sirius exchanged glances for about two seconds.
Neither of them mentioned what had just happened, and both very naturally acted as if Neos wasn't even there. Once they had walked far enough, they immediately used Ender Teleport to return to England.
After finding the group of young wizards happily fooling around in Diagon Alley, they all went straight back to Hogwarts.
"Why did we suddenly end up here? And why is Lupin asleep?" Ron looked at Kasenhis's shoulder, where Lupin was fast asleep.
"Because he's safe here. It's nearly dark, and Sirius and I need to discuss something with Dumbledore. You lot can go play with Hagrid. Once we're finished, we'll pick you up from his hut."
After dropping the kids off at Hagrid's cabin, Kasenhis teleported directly to Dumbledore's office.
"Oh… now you understand why I don't approve of your idea with the charged Ender Pearls?" Dumbledore said softly.
"Why?" Kasenhis asked shamelessly, showing no awareness whatsoever as he teleported straight into Dumbledore's office.
"...Forget it. You wouldn't be here visiting an old man unless you had something to discuss, would you?" Dumbledore sighed helplessly.
"That's right, it's something important." Kasenhis set Lupin down onto a chair, and Sirius cast a counter-spell to wake him, though he still wasn't fully alert.
"It's us—Kasenhis, Sirius, and Dumbledore's here too," Kasenhis explained.
At that moment, Lupin finally opened his eyes in a daze, as if he really had just been asleep. He glanced around at the decorations of the Headmaster's office, then at Kasenhis and Sirius, both wearing mischievous grins.
"I was going to ask for leave! What are you trying to pull?!" Lupin roared, pouncing straight at Sirius.
In an instant, Sirius was tackled to the ground, and the two of them rolled into a scuffle.
"Stop! Stop, Remus—we've got serious business right now!" Sirius said through gritted teeth.
After a while, Lupin finally cooled down and sat back in his chair.
"We noticed something strange about the director of the Romanian dragon reserve, Neos..." Kasenhis began, vividly describing all the oddities he'd seen in Neos's behavior.
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, listening for a long time. When Kasenhis paused to clear his throat, the old man straightened up with a sigh.
"Perhaps he was simply born without much emotion..?"
"You believe that?"
"Nope ...Once again, Remus, we need you." Dumbledore pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Lupin.
"What do you mean?" Lupin asked instinctively, but quickly realized it. Some highly skilled masters of the Imperius Curse or memory magic could tamper with people's subconscious—or even outright rewrite their memories.
For example, a person could appear completely normal on the surface, but secretly have their memories hollowed out, even to the point where their subconscious already worships the wrong master… Though this was mostly theoretical, it still had a basic level of credibility.
At least it wasn't entirely far-fetched.
"You're saying that after the Quidditch World Cup ends, I should wait a few days—or longer—then return to the dragon reserve pretending nothing happened. Either I explain away my absence by saying I lost my memory during that time, or I directly tell the truth—that I went to the Quidditch World Cup—because that too could just be a false memory implanted by someone."
"In this way, even if Neos really is suspicious, I could monitor him up close?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Exactly…"
Just then, Kasenhis seemed to remember something. He suddenly raised his hand, showing the Dark Mark painted on his wrist.
"You drew that on?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes. Sirius and I both did. At first, it was just to scare Lupin, but he never saw it. However… when I lifted my wrist while chatting with Sirius, Neos definitely did." Kasenhis explained.
"So Neos saw the Dark Mark but didn't stop you. Instead, he acted in that strange way… If Neos himself is also a Death Eater, then it all makes sense." Dumbledore said slowly.
Lupin and Sirius thought for a moment—actually, it did make sense.
"But if that's true, doesn't that mean I might've been exposed? He only needs to ask Voldemort, or his fellow Death Eaters, whether I'd been kidnapped, and he'd know exactly what happened." Lupin frowned.
"Don't worry. Tom doesn't trust anyone. Likewise, his Death Eaters wouldn't report every little thing to him—that'd be too dangerous for them. The fact that Neos saw two supposed fellow Death Eaters but didn't stupidly walk up to greet them is proof enough that he's an old, experienced Death Eater. Of course, all of this depends on whether our suspicions are true."
"Like I said, an old Death Eater would never be that reckless."
"I see…" Lupin let out a breath. "Alright, I'll take this mission. Close-range surveillance—it doesn't sound too hard."
"In fact, it isn't that simple." Kasenhis said, pulling Lupin's hand. From behind him, a mechanical arm suddenly extended and took a drop of Lupin's blood.
Lupin stared, dumbfounded. "I thought I'd imagined it earlier. So this mechanical arm of yours—where did it even come from?"
"He's had it for not even a day since he got back from Romania." Dumbledore said dryly, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Please don't mind those details." Kasenhis said as he pulled out an Ender Pearl, smearing Lupin's blood onto its surface. Then he took out an inactive teleportation device.
Dumbledore immediately recognized it...
The day Kasenhis built this teleportation device was the first time he realized just what kind of overpowered existence this half-baked alchemist he dragged in from the Muggle world truly was.
"You'll need something… something that can shatter anytime, preferably only when you're injured." Kasenhis rubbed his chin.
"Ahem." Sirius took off a ring from his finger. "The Black family vault is still pretty well-stocked. This is a magic ring that can be activated with your own magic—it instantly generates a swarm of living constructs around you to block the Killing Curse. But once it's done, the ring shatters."
"That's perfect!" Kasenhis slapped his thigh.
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