"..."

Lupin paused for a moment, then decisively nodded. A job he could earn money from and conveniently help Hogwarts at the same time—why not?

"When are we leaving?"

Kasenhis adjusted his monocle. "Tomorrow morning. Bring Sirius and Harry. Meet in my office."

"Oh? Are we traveling abroad using magical means this time?"

Kasenhis instinctively looked up at the sky. If the airplane powered by mechanical force counted as magical...

"Yes!"

...

The next day...

Lupin and Harry showed up in Kasenhis's office lugging huge bags, which left Kasenhis a bit confused.

"Why can't you just use an Undetectable Extension Charm or something? You guys should take a leaf out of Sirius's book in this area," Kasenhis said, pointing way off toward the door, where Sirius was just a tiny black speck in the distance.

Sirius tilted his head—he'd actually heard that—and responded, "What was the incantation and also the wand movement and the rune for the Undetectable Extension Charm by the way?"

"…Aren't you bringing any luggage?" Kasenhis asked snidely.

"No need. I brought Galleons and pounds. Whatever I'm missing, I'll just buy it there," Sirius replied matter-of-factly.

Harry, who was still relatively well-off, and Lupin, a working-class man, both looked toward the distant Sirius with the kind of expression usually reserved for capitalists.

"So how are we leaving? Portkey or Floo Network?" After that brief interlude, Lupin asked.

"By plane."

"??? If we're flying, why didn't we just meet at the airport? Why come all the way here?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Who said planes only exist at airports? Kekeke~~" Kasenhis pulled out a small remote control from his robe and pressed a button. Not far away, a small plane made of various intricate wooden parts and redstone machinery lit up.

"Merlin—I thought that was a decorative model!" Lupin stared, wide-eyed, at the wooden airplane. After all, what kind of normal person…

Kasen: "Kekeke~~"

Never mind, Kasenhis could never be called normal. But still…

"Can this thing even get off the ground? You've got wings on both sides and a propeller on top—aren't you overcomplicating it a bit?" Lupin muttered, rubbing his chin as he examined the contraption. No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem particularly logical.

It wasn't magical, and it definitely wasn't scientific either.

"Aiya, don't worry about that. What matters is that it can fly. And Sirius! I'm temporarily letting you into my office this once—hurry up and get in here!" Kasenhis shouted toward the door where Sirius stood. After yelling, he confidently sat down in the pilot's seat of the plane.

Lupin still looked confused. "Why is the rest of this plane oak-colored, but the propellers have red patterns on them?"

"Because I figured painting them red might make them spin faster," Kasenhis replied nonchalantly from the cockpit.

"..."

Soon, as Sirius came jogging over with his usual goofiness, Lupin's expression grew even more doubtful.

The two propellers on top of the plane had begun spinning slowly… and were getting closer and closer to each other…

"Kasen, if I'm not mistaken, those two propellers are about to hit each other," Lupin called out nervously.

"Hey, calm down! If I say this plane can fly, then it can fly!"

Just as he said that, the two propellers inevitably collided…

…then passed right through each other.

"What the hell?!" Lupin nearly popped his eyeballs out, staring in utter disbelief as the propellers phased clean through one another like they were made of jelly.

"Wait—Kasenhis, are these propellers even real?" At this point, it wasn't just Lupin; even Sirius and Harry were seriously questioning whether the propellers were physical objects.

"Kekeke~~ If you're that curious, why don't you go ahead and touch them?" Kasenhis said cheerfully, clearly enjoying the chaos.

Lupin, half skeptical, reached out to give one a try…

"Ow-howwwwwww—Ssss fuaa!!"

"So? Confirmed they're real now?" Kasenhis asked with a grin.

"Hold on..." Lupin, now fired up with stubbornness, shook the pain out of his left hand and switched to his other hand as he walked toward the other propeller.

"Ahhhh—owwww—arghhhh..."

"Well? How about now?" Kasenhis asked, watching the man who clearly had some self-destructive tendencies, looking slightly helpless.

"I believe these things are real now. But why do they clip through each other? That makes no sense!"

"It's a feature, kid~" Kasenhis said with a shrug—though the explanation made just as little sense as the phenomenon itself.

Once all three of them were seated on the plane, Kasenhis pulled out the small remote again and pressed a random button. The massive floor-to-ceiling window slowly lowered under the control of mechanical arms and pistons, transforming into a giant runway.

"Damn.. I'll just say this—if James were still here, he'd absolutely love this adventure!" Sirius said from his seat on the rickety plane. He looked left, then right, inspecting the whole setup.

This plane, no matter where you looked, was practically dripping with unreliability—but for Sirius, that was exactly the kind of vibe he liked.

If an adventure didn't come with at least some level of danger, would it even feel right to him?

Another strong piece of evidence proving that Serius really had a dog's brain.

"He liked adventures that much?" Harry asked.

"Absolutely. Your dad was a madman when it came to fun—just like Kasenhis. At first, I thought Kasenhis was a pretty reliable adult, but after seeing this plane he built, I realized... maybe bringing you along on this trip wasn't the wisest idea, haha!" Sirius called out loudly.

"I don't think so. We've got Lupin, don't we?" Harry shook his head.

"Take a look at what Lupin's doing right now," Sirius said with an expression that screamed you're still too young, then glanced at the co-pilot's seat where Lupin sat—currently clutching a gearbox and looking completely overwhelmed as he endured Kasenhis's Snape-level verbal beatdown.

"Sweet holy Merlin! Lupin, you're a genius! That brain of yours might not be bigger than a troll's, but it sure is smarter! May I ask who your mentor was? Some legendary alchemy master? A mechanical demigod? Who taught you how to disassemble my plane's gearbox bare-handed? You must be the real mechanical priest! No one's ever done something like this in the history of humankind—you should apply for a Guinness record! And why are you still hugging that gearbox? Is it your wife? Or is it Tonks? Shove it back in the slot already!"

Harry watched Lupin, flustered and fumbling to slot the gearbox back into place.

Then he looked at Sirius beside him, who was already wearing sunglasses, ready to embrace the open skies.

Finally, he glanced at Kasenhis in the pilot's seat, furiously slamming the throttle and shifting gears to get the propellers spinning faster and faster...

As the plane lurched forward and began accelerating on the massive glass runway, finally lifting into the air, Harry cast a wistful glance back at Hogwarts.

"Are we really going to make it back alive?" Thought the Boy who lived.

_________

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