HP: Alchemy? Nah, It's Crafting

"Poor Professor Kasenhis." Draco looked at Kasenhis with an unusual expression of pity that had no business appearing on his face, making Kasenhis feel an eerie sense of discomfort.

For the first time in his life, Kasenhis desperately wished he knew the Scourgify spell.

Under Draco's strange gaze, Kasenhis calmly took off his wizard robe, revealing the black shirt underneath.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" The others didn't bother hiding their unfriendly expressions toward Draco.

"Ahem..." Kasenhis suddenly coughed, drawing everyone's attention. "Harry, strictly speaking, you shouldn't be saying that, since this is Hagrid's house."

Hagrid, however, shrugged and said, "I don't mind. I welcome all young wizards to visit me."

"You're a decent guy, big fella," Draco said politely, which was rare for him.

"Alright then!"

Reluctantly, Harry and the others shifted on the sofa, pinching their noses as they made room for Draco. "You still haven't answered my question."

"I came from the Quidditch pitch. I heard you all talking about a dragon, so I came to check it out. Didn't see a dragon, though... but I did see... uh... you crying pretty miserably, big fella."

Hagrid awkwardly wiped the tears lingering at the corners of his eyes. "You can call me Hagrid."

"Alright, Hagrid."

"Yeah, so that's it. I was initially drawn here by the dragon, but when I came in, there wasn't any... um..."

A long silence ensued before Draco spoke in a slightly off-tone voice, "Is this... a dragon egg?"

"Yes, and it's about to hatch soon," Hagrid replied, sitting on the sofa and looking at the dragon egg in the fireplace with satisfaction.

"What exactly are you planning to do with it?" Neville asked stiffly.

"Heh! Is it wrong for me to like it?" Draco retorted.

Just as Draco finished speaking, the dragon egg in the fireplace trembled slightly. Hagrid, watching the egg, became flustered and turned to Kasenhis. "Should I put out the fire? Would it harm the little one?"

But Kasenhis… well, Kasenhis didn't know a thing about dragons.

Eventually, Draco was the one to speak. "You can put out the fire now..."

Everyone turned to look at him, and Draco rolled his eyes. "Why are you all staring at me? That dragon egg looks like it belongs to a Norwegian Ridgeback. When a Norwegian Ridgeback hatches, it's better if there's no fire... Although fire isn't necessarily harmful, it's still best to put it out."

Hagrid nodded, reached over, and pressed a button. The flames in the fireplace were extinguished instantly, revealing two glowing magma blocks.

Only then did Draco notice that the fireplace didn't even use fuel. After all, among the seven people in the small hut, Hagrid, Harry, and Hermione only had a superficial understanding of alchemy. Ron, being from a poor family, had only been exposed to his twin brothers' and father's amateur experiments in alchemy.

As for Neville's family, there had never been any notable alchemists mentioned, and in recent years, they had gradually withdrawn from the core of the wizarding world...

Draco focused his gaze on Kasenhis.

This alchemist, who had received apprentice training from a young age, seemed to have the least regard for alchemy. For instance, precious alchemical artifacts had become fireplace switches, and creations that could captivate other alchemists were casually distributed to young wizards.

Even his mannerisms seemed to constantly exude an effortless superiority without intention!

In this hut of seven people, Draco was the only one who truly recognized the value of such things.

"Um... Professor Kasenhis, are you currently accepting custom orders for full-house designs?" he asked boldly.

He had already prepared himself for the professor's reply to come at an emotional temperature of absolute zero—words like "a six-figure payment in Galleons" wouldn't have surprised him.

But Kasenhis's response made Draco's mouth twitch uncontrollably.

"I haven't considered doing more custom designs for now, since I want to renovate Hogwarts first. Unfortunately, Dumbledore won't let me use explosives, so I have to design it bit by bit instead."

"What—Uh... alright."

Crack!

The sound of eggshell breaking interrupted the conversation that was about to reignite. Everyone's gaze turned to the egg resting on the obsidian pedestal.

A crack had appeared on its surface, and the fissure quickly widened. Finally, an ugly little dragon head poked out from within.

Kasenhis, Hagrid, and Draco's attention were all drawn to the small, unattractive dragon head.

Harry and the others huddled together, whispering softly.

"What should we do? I remember that Hogwarts seems to have a rule against keeping dragons," Hermione whispered.

"...Should we remind Hagrid?" Neville asked.

"No way! Malfoy is here. If he remembers this, he'll definitely use it to threaten us!" Ron declared decisively.

"Then what do we do?"

"Do nothing? He'll figure it out eventually!" Ron said.

"...Have you guys heard of the Oblivian charm?" Hermione suddenly suggested.

Neville caught on, his hand creeping toward a hard, rock-like piece of Hagrid's infamous rock cake. He was ready to demonstrate a version of Obliviate powered by physics.

"Uh... can't we just directly ask Professor Kasenhis to vouch for us? And Neville, could you put that rock cake down? That's not Oblivian charm, that will be equivalent to the killing curse..."

"Oops.. but asking Professor to vouch.. Would that work?" Neville set the rock cake down.

"It should, right? I've noticed Professor Kasenhis gets along pretty well with Dumbledore..."

Just as the group was about to continue their planning, Draco interrupted, "What are you lot whispering about over there?"

"Nothing."

Draco sneered and turned to Hagrid. "Big guy, what are you planning to do with it? From what I know, a Norwegian Ridgeback can outgrow this house in less than a month."

"Uh... I'll ask Dumbledore to help me find a dragon reserve and send it there," Hagrid replied.

"I see... Well, my family is quite big—oh, I mean, we have a dragon reserve," Draco said.

"I can contact Charlie. He works at a dragon reserve." Ron also spoke at the same time.

Draco: I can't miss gaining a Dragon like this!

Ron, Neville, Harry, and Hermione: We can't let him get the Dragon like this!

The tension between the two was palpable.

An invisible sense of hostility filled the air.

Hagrid noticed the strange atmosphere and was about to look at Kasenhis, but the latter preemptively glanced at his wristwatch.

"Alright, kids, it's curfew time already. If you don't want Filch to catch you, it's time to leave. I'll escort you back," Kasenhis said.

The tension broke as the five students each let out a huff, stood up, and prepared to leave.

After leaving Hagrid's hut, Kasenhis conjured three luminous orbs to float around him and guided the five students back to the castle.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm~ Should I just get a glass of milk and sleep or should I get a hot chocolate and read a bit.."Kasenhis was walking ahead while mumbling to himself while the little wizards followed him from the back while whispering among themselves.

They were nearing the entrance to the Slytherin common room when a sudden commotion erupted behind Kasen who was walking in the front.

"How could you!" Ron shouted suddenly.

Neville and Ron had already drawn their wands, prepared to hex Draco and risk losing house points, while Harry and Hermione were caught in confusion, clearly unsure of what had just happened.

As for Kasenhis, who was occupied with his own thoughts, had no idea what was going on either.

Neville noticed Kasenhis's puzzled expression and quickly explained, "Malfoy... he called Hermione a... a Mudblood."

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