"What are you trying to say?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow as he sat in his chair.
"What I'm saying is that the reason you've been able to call the shots at Hogwarts, play ridiculous house games inside the school with your favorite boy Harry Potter, and stuff all kinds of dangerous things into Hogwarts is because I've been supporting you unconditionally from behind," Fudge said, his face flushed red.
"Please speak more plainly," Dumbledore said bluntly.
"If you choose not to support me, I will use completely reasonable and legal means to bring Hogwarts back onto what I believe is the correct path, instead of letting it remain in your hands like some fairy-tale kindergarten."
"Anything that does not conform to Ministry law, anything dangerous or unconventional, anything that young wizards should not be doing, will be prohibited. This is entirely reasonable and legal behavior by the Ministry!" Fudge said through clenched teeth.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Dumbledore asked.
"Umbridge will become the Head of Student Discipline at Hogwarts, supervising and managing every aspect of the school—of course… assisting you," Fudge said, leaning back in his chair.
Kasenhis was just about to sit up, but after thinking for a moment, he chose to stand up directly, planning to give Fudge a solid slap to see if he'd still dare to go crazy.
But Dumbledore looked deeply at him. Kasenhis frowned and stopped his movement.
"Do as you please," Dumbledore said, leaving Fudge's office with Kasenhis.
"Wow. I need an explanation. Or you can wait until I go back and give Fudge and that pink toad one hard hit each—guaranteed they won't go crazy anymore," Kasenhis said.
"Fudge is right. The Ministry of Magic does have the authority to supervise Hogwarts, and to a certain extent, manage it. Before, Fudge didn't do that only out of respect for me. Now that he's no longer willing to, it's not a big deal," Dumbledore said calmly.
"The problem is Umbridge. She's disgusting," Kasenhis said with a bitter expression.
Dumbledore looked at Kasenhis in confusion, making the latter feel a little uneasy.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
"I'm a bit puzzled. Since when have you been this honest? Speaking frankly behind closed doors, once Umbridge comes to our territory, wouldn't it just be up to us whether we round her up or flatten her?" Dumbledore said as if it were perfectly natural.
"..."
"What are you looking at?" Dumbledore asked, seeing Kasenhis suddenly freeze.
"I'm thinking… I used to believe you were a very principled old man," Kasenhis muttered as he lifted his head to look at the clock.
He blinked.
The date displayed on it was September 1st—the day Hogwarts started term.
During this period, the Ministry of Magic had also reached a strange kind of balance. But one thing had become a consensus among those rotten politicians.
Of course, that consensus might also have been something Dumbledore forced them into accepting—that the Ministry of Magic would dispatch a considerable number of Aurors to stay on the Hogwarts Express at all times to protect the young wizards.
At any moment, whenever the Hogwarts Express departed, they had to come here.
And the adults on the Hogwarts Express weren't just the Aurors. There was also Kasenhis, who was currently sitting in Harry and the others' compartment, looking out at the scenery beyond the window.
Pretty nice.
Knock knock knock…!!
"Come in," Hermione said as she opened the compartment door, revealing Cedric and Cho Chang outside—the couple who looked like they'd stepped straight out of a fairy tale.
"I heard you were on the train too, Professor, so I came over to say hello. Oh right, I also signed up for your advanced class," Cedric said, scratching the back of his head.
"That depends on your entrance test results at the start of term. What if your grades aren't good enough?" Kasenhis smiled. Of course, he was just joking.
Not to mention that Cedric's alchemy grades were basically first place by a huge margin in their year.
And then there was his identity as Professor Kasenhis's first disciple. Just based on Kasenhis himself, his advanced class was basically open to anyone who signed up, with no threshold at all.
"I'll definitely work hard, Professor," Cedric replied with a smile.
"Mm-hm." After seeing Cedric off, Kasenhis suddenly remembered something. He sat back down, rummaged through his pocket, and pulled out an envelope. "During the holidays, Dumbledore and I discussed who should be Gryffindor's prefect. There was no suspense about the girl prefect. Take a guess."
Hearing Kasenhis say this, Hermione suddenly lifted her chin proudly. Sure enough, the envelope containing the prefect appointment letter and badge floated over to her.
"But the boy prefect caused a bit of debate. Dumbledore originally wanted to give the prefect position to you, Ron, but you can completely blame me for this."
"Dumbledore believed your abilities were fully sufficient to manage the Gryffindor students, just like your brother Percy—"
Before Kasenhis could finish, Ron interrupted, "Professor, can you not mention him… A while ago that guy went to Grimmauld Place to see Mum and Dad. You weren't there at the time, but anyway, they had a huge argument."
"Alright, let's get back to the prefect topic. Dumbledore thought you were a good candidate for prefect, but I suggested to him that Neville should be the prefect instead. Because although Neville is now basically no different from a normal person, deep down he's still a bit more fragile than you guys, so I thought giving him the prefect position might help strengthen his confidence."
Kasenhis had barely finished speaking when Ron interrupted again, "Then just give it to Neville! I'm too lazy to be a prefect anyway, so I don't end up like Percy two years later and become an ungrateful traitor."
"Alright." Kasenhis shrugged. "Originally, I brought two appointment letters and planned to let you settle it with a wizard duel."
He could only take out Neville's envelope and hand it over.
"Uh, wouldn't that still be Neville's anyway? His Levitation Charm can fling out the food someone ate a year ago," Ron said with a shiver.
"Actually, I planned it so that whoever lost would become the prefect… because that way your mental balance would be better," Kasenhis explained.
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