"Thanks, Severus!" Kasenhis said with a grin as he closed the door behind Snape, then used Ender teleportation to blink back into his office.
"Teach this potion to them. As for who drinks it, that's for you two to decide," Kasenhis said, placing the potion in front of them.
"Uh, Professor, what does this thing do?" Harry asked, swallowing nervously.
"Can't be said," Kasenhis replied with a mysterious smile. "All I can tell you is that as long as one of you drinks this potion, you won't need to worry about finding a dance partner."
........
In the morning, Kasenhis finished sending Ron and Harry on their way, bonus good idea included.
In the afternoon, the small.. scratch that out, huge office welcomed another visitor.
"Professor, I've got a problem and I don't know what I should do," Hermione said with a sigh.
"Hm? Go on," Kasenhis said.
"Two people invited me to be their dance partner at the same time. Who should I choose?" Hermione asked.
"My opinion is... the latter."
Hermione looked surprised. "Why?"
"If you truly didn't like the latter and liked the former enough, you wouldn't be facing this problem at all. We can apply some logical reasoning to examine the question properly, which just happens to be your strength," Kasenhis explained.
"But I already agreed to the former, and I've already turned the latter down," Hermione continued.
"Do you feel like you shouldn't have rejected him so absolutely?" Kasenhis asked.
"Of course not. Things like this should be rejected cleanly. It's precisely because of that that I'm regretting it," Hermione sighed.
"You regret agreeing to the former?" Kasenhis raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Hermione nodded.
"Then reject the former. Go and make things clear with him. If you don't actually like the former at all when compared to the latter, then accompanying him to the dance out of what could only be called pity—does that seem fair to him?" Kasenhis said.
"But Professor... wouldn't that be an even bigger blow to him?" Hermione asked.
"An open, honest rejection is always better than a covert deception, especially for someone who's proud," Kasenhis replied.
"Then I'll go?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"Do you want me to walk you there?"
"No need." Hermione shook her head.
Kasenhis watched Hermione get onto the boat, then immediately used Ender teleportation at full speed to appear directly at Gryffindor Tower.
"Where is Ron Weasley! Where is he!!!!????"
"They're in the dormitory, Professor."
"Want us to drag him out?" the Weasley twins chimed in as they crowded over.
"Lead the way," Kasenhis said urgently.
He was now certain that Hermione had gone to find Krum to reject him, and if Ron had already drunk the potion and turned into a girl, then he would truly have committed an unforgivable sin.
Very quickly, with the twins leading the way, Kasenhis arrived at Harry and the others' dormitory. He let out a sharp breath of relief, but the twins guiding him suddenly wore awkward expressions.
"Ickle Ronnie-kinns..."
"Eh? This little beauty... where did you even find her?" the twins asked, both of them completely baffled.
Kasenhis completely ignored the green-eyed little witch and instead grabbed Ron by the hand, dragging him straight back to the Alchemy office.
"Professor, what's going on? No—why did that potion turn Harry into a girl?!" Ron said in shock.
"Forget the irrelevant details! Hermione rejected Krum for your sake. Hurry up and go find Hermione!" Kasenhis said anxiously.
"R-Really?!" In barely a second, Ron abandoned his good brother Harry, who had temporarily become a little witch, and bolted straight for the door at top speed.
Only after that did Kasenhis finally feel at ease. He used Ender teleportation once more to return to Gryffindor Tower.
By then, the common room was packed to the brim, and the one surrounded in the center was Harry, who was about to leave the tower to find Snape and demand an explanation… except now it was a girl—well, Harry was Harry.
"What are you all doing? Why are you crowding around here!" Kasenhis shouted loudly, instantly forcing a path through the packed common room.
Seeing this, Harry hurried over toward Kasenhis at a light jog…
For some reason, even Harry's running posture had become much more ladylike.
"Come on, Harry. You should have something important to take care of," Kasenhis said, forcibly holding back his laughter as he looked at the cute girl in front of him.
"Yes, Professor..." Harry nodded as she spoke. For some reason, her voice carried a strangely gentle, lilting quality now, the kind that made people's bones go soft just listening to it.
Kasenhis kept his face tightly composed and led Harry outside.
Only after the two of them left Gryffindor Tower did Harry finally let out a breath, completely breaking down as she clung to Kasenhis and complained, "Professor, what was that thing you made me drink?!"
"A gender reversal potion. You'll probably have to be a girl for more than a month. As for the potion itself, Severus invented it, so you can't blame me," Kasenhis said with a shrug.
"M-More than a month..? B-But Professor, this was your terrible idea," Harry said resentfully.
"That's my fault. I didn't expect things to turn out like this," Kasenhis admitted guiltily.
"Me turning into a girl wasn't within your expectations, Professor?" Harry asked in confusion.
"No, it's just that I didn't expect Ron, who could've been your dance partner, to end up gone," Kasenhis said awkwardly.
"What do you mean, gone?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Hmm... Hermione rejected Krum, so Ron has a dance partner now," Kasenhis explained.
"...Then what am I supposed to do in this state? How do I find a dance partner? How do I go to class? How do I face people…" Harry looked at Kasenhis in despair.
"For a dance partner, you could invite a young wizard. Going to class is fine. Meeting people is fine too. This is Hogwarts, the most magical place in all of England. Nothing that happens here is strange," Kasenhis explained patiently.
"No, Professor, I want you to take me to Snape! I want an antidote!" Harry looked at Kasenhis with teary eyes, on the verge of crying. She truly looked pitifully endearing.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you to see Severus. But this potion was something he only invented recently, so I can't be sure whether he's made an antidote yet," Kasenhis said cautiously.
"So that means, if there isn't one..." Harry stared at Kasenhis, enunciating every word.
"At worst, it's just a little over a month. Not that bad, right?" Kasenhis shrugged.
"....."
"Ehm.. Of course, I'll take you to see Severus right now."
Half an hour later, the two of them stood outside the Potions office and knocked on Snape's door.
_________
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