"Progress… I've finished about half of one leg," Kasenhis admitted.
"Oh…" Professor McGonagall's enthusiasm visibly dropped. "I thought it was already completed."
"How could it possibly go that fast?" Kasenhis said with a helpless smile and a shake of his head.
"Alright then… Still, this might be a bit much to ask, but I'd appreciate it if you could try not to make too much noise while working—if conditions allow," McGonagall said tactfully.
"No problem. I promise."
After finishing McGonagall's lecture mission, Kasenhis casually began sweeping through the dishes on the dining table.
"How long has it been since you last ate?" Snape asked.
"Most of the day, I think. Mainly because… well, it takes a lot out of you," Kasenhis said, unusually pausing mid-chew. Once he'd swallowed everything, he finally answered.
Snape sighed and pushed a glass of pumpkin juice toward him.
"Oh, thanks!"
Kasenhis took the pumpkin juice and downed it in one go, sighing in satisfaction.
"...Mm… eat slowly," Snape muttered before standing up and leaving the Great Hall, presumably heading back to his office.
Kasenhis, meanwhile, finished clearing the remaining food on the table in just a few bites and returned to his office. He slumped onto the sofa, tossed a music record into the player, and was about to enjoy some rest with a bit of background music.
Then, out of nowhere, a figure appeared in front of him. Cedric stood nearby, looking a bit dazed, clearly unsure whether he should greet Kasenhis or just turn around and leave.
In true good-natured fashion, Cedric quickly chose the latter—he turned to go.
"Hey, what's this? You just pop in for a stroll and leave?" Kasenhis asked, half-opening his drowsy eyes.
"Uh, Professor, I've already put my name into the Goblet of Fire," Cedric said, walking back with a series of quick steps.
"That's great. So?" Kasenhis stood up.
Cedric fumbled through his pockets. "Here—this is the letter I got back from my father. I wrote to ask his permission, and he agreed to the alchemical modification—as long as it doesn't affect my appearance when dressed. He even signed it."
Kasenhis took the letter and gave it a quick read-through. "Oh… You didn't forge this, did you?" he asked, giving Cedric a suspicious glance.
"Of course not! I'm not one of the Weasley twins. Besides, it's got my father's magical signature—his magic is embedded in both the signature and the letter itself."
Cedric spoke with full confidence.
"Oh, this is quite a big deal—you should've told me in advance. At least let me meet your father. Just handing me a letter makes it hard to believe," Kasenhis said, clicking his tongue.
"Professor, you can't apply Muggle concepts of family relationships to the wizarding world. In fact, family dynamics here are… much more abstract. As long as it doesn't involve souls or death, young wizards have quite a bit of freedom," Cedric explained.
"Oh, well, I don't have kids, so that's not really my fault," Kasenhis replied with a shrug.
"So, Professor, do you agree then?"
"I'll write to Mr. Diggory myself," Kasenhis said, pulling out a piece of parchment. In a few swift strokes, he wrote a letter, placed it together with Cedric's in an envelope, and sent it off to Mr. Diggory by owl.
Perhaps this owl was unusually efficient, because by evening Kasenhis had already received a reply. When he opened it… it was still a letter of consent.
"Well, your father's pretty open-minded," Kasenhis said, tucking the letter into his bookshelf and turning to Cedric.
Cedric simply nodded, sitting properly on the sofa with his hands on his knees, ready to listen obediently.
"I've already taught you the principles behind mechanical arms, so I won't repeat myself," Kasenhis began. "Let's get straight to the main work. I'll provide you with an unlimited supply of materials and knowledge—as long as it's something you can learn and build yourself."
As he spoke, small cubes of metal and crystal flowed through his fingers, gradually assembling themselves into the most basic alchemical components.
Cedric immediately reached out to start working, only for Kasenhis to grab him by the collar and pull him back.
"Sketch it first."
"Right, right! Got it!" Cedric quickly grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment, and within moments, he had drawn a rough outline of a mechanical arm on the coffee table.
It was a four-jointed mechanical arm, with a blade attached at the end.
Kasenhis glanced at it and shook his head. "Too few joints. This is your first arm—you'll have to mount it in the center. Otherwise, your body's balance will be off."
"What about yours, Professor?" Cedric asked.
"My arms are split evenly—five and five—and they were installed all at once."
"I see…" Cedric nodded thoughtfully. "Then can I make two arms and install them together right away?"
"You can—but it's going to hurt. A lot," Kasenhis warned.
"It's fine, I'm not afraid!" Cedric said determinedly, already starting on the second design.
Soon, another sketch took shape. This time, there were two mechanical arms—each with eight joints. The ends had been carefully designed: one side featured twin blades with a small-caliber cannon mounted neatly in the center.
The other arm was also twin-bladed, with a small-caliber cannon centered neatly between the blades.
"Two identical ones, huh? Not bad. Just make sure to standardize both arms completely during construction—if one side's heavier than the other, all our balance work will be wasted," Kasenhis said as he handed Cedric the materials: large chunks of mithril, a small amount of iron, and mostly thaumium ingots.
"Professor, why so little iron?" Cedric asked.
"Iron's too heavy. Your spine wouldn't be able to handle the weight."
Cedric nodded. "That's… surprisingly scientific. What about your arms, Professor?"
Sitting on the sofa, Kasenhis looked at his student—who seemed determined to model everything after him—and felt a strange emotion stir inside him… was that pride?
After all, who doesn't want an excellent student? He was no exception.
"I reinforced my entire skeletal structure. Your spine isn't strong enough for that yet."
"Then I want to do that too, Professor!" Cedric said eagerly.
"…Alright," Kasenhis replied, a crooked smile tugging at his lips.
He turned to the bookshelf and rummaged for a moment before pulling out the original skeletal blueprint he had used to enhance himself, handing it to Cedric.
"This is the design I used back then. But if you're going to build it, you'll need to see Madam Pomfrey first and have her push your bone growth to the limit until all the gaps close. Trust me—you don't want your bones to keep developing after you've already reinforced them."
He paused, rubbing his temples. "Ugh… feels kind of hot in here."
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