The group arrived at the base of the Gryffindor Tower. As a professor, Kasenhis had enough self-awareness to know that even if he was popular, suddenly appearing among a bunch of students playing around would probably kill the mood. So, the task of calling Harry down naturally fell to Hermione.

Hermione nodded in understanding and went upstairs. Not long after, Harry came down, dressed and ready.

"Professor, it's just the two of us?" Harry asked.

"Though I do think having a friend along is a good idea, this involves Voldemort after all. The fewer people who know, the better," Kasenhis said, patting Harry on the shoulder.

The next moment, the two of them vanished from the spot.

Buzz!~

Dumbledore and Grindelwald, the two old men, were nearly scared out of their hearts by Kasenhis's sudden appearance. Though honestly, it was strange — he'd apparated in front of either of them before and they had never panicked like this.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What are you two… doing?" Kasenhis asked, squinting slightly.

"Uh… next time, maybe knock before coming in, alright?" Dumbledore said after taking a deep breath.

"No problem," Kasenhis replied lightly. "So, what were you two doing? You still haven't answered my question."

"Why don't we ask Harry, then? You brought him here for…?"

Kasenhis sighed quietly. Since even Dumbledore was deliberately steering the topic away, he decided not to press further. Instead, he got to the main point. "Harry's scar started hurting during the holidays, and he could even sense emotions from it. What's going on with that?"

Dumbledore frowned. "Emotions? What kind of emotions?"

Kasenhis patted Harry on the shoulder, then recalled for a moment. "Hmm… joy."

He added, "It was on the day of the Quidditch pitch incident."

"…"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. The light reflecting off his half-moon glasses made it impossible to read his expression. He glanced at Grindelwald, who shrugged. "If I remember correctly, Voldemort did make Horcruxes, didn't he?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Harry, could you step outside for a moment?"

Harry looked at Kasenhis, and after seeing him nod, obediently left the room.

"What do Horcruxes have to do with this?" Kasenhis asked.

Grindelwald explained, "The creation of a Horcrux involves splitting the soul. A wizard's soul is usually very resilient — at first, one must commit murder and perform a complex ritual to tear it apart. But if someone has split their soul multiple times, their soul becomes extremely fragile. Eventually, even an unintentional killing could cause another passive split."

"For example," Dumbledore added, "that day at Harry's home—Voldemort killed his parents. Afterward, his soul unintentionally split apart. Because souls are naturally drawn to one another, that fragment was attracted to Harry and latched onto him."

"...So..." Kasenhis frowned. "I'm not exactly an expert in soul-related stuff, but I think I get the gist. Voldemort's soul is inside Harry. The joy Harry felt that day—the same as Voldemort's—does that mean we can monitor Voldemort's emotions now?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "It's… mixed news, you could say. Tom can also sense Harry's emotions. But since Harry is just a student, this emotional resonance between them might actually be to our advantage—for now. Still, eventually Tom will realize he only needs to use Occlumency to turn Harry blind to everything."

"And there's another bit of bad news."

"What is it?" Kasenhis asked.

"Since Voldemort's emotions have attached themselves to Harry Potter," Grindelwald said bluntly, "it means that, at this very moment, Harry Potter is essentially a Horcrux."

"..." Kasenhis rubbed his chin in silence.

Dumbledore stated directly, "That's the worst part. It means that unless Harry dies once, Voldemort cannot truly be defeated."

"...Wait! You said dies once! You mean, as long as he dies once, it's possible? Then what if he dies—and immediately comes back to life?" Kasenhis suddenly exclaimed.

Dumbledore shrugged. "Ordinarily, that wouldn't be possible. But in Harry's case, it might actually work. This involves a conceptual rule of magic itself — the Killing Curse always brings death to whatever life it strikes. But… what if it strikes two lives at once?"

"Two lives?" Kasenhis raised an eyebrow. "And if the one who dies is Harry, not the fragment of Voldemort?"

Dumbledore opened his mouth to respond but suddenly recalled some rather unpleasant memories. He quickly stood up and backed five meters away from Kasenhis. "Unfortunately, Harry's not that lucky."

Kasenhis's mouth twitched. "So…?"

Dumbledore quietly shifted even further until he was standing behind Grindelwald.

"Relax, I'm not going to attack you," Kasenhis said dryly. "Otherwise, I'd look like some kind of violent maniac… I do have a bit of refinement, you know."

"What refinement?" Grindelwald asked curiously, wondering what kind of terrifying "refinement" an alchemy professor could possibly mean.

Kasenhis shrugged, touched the ring on his finger, and drew out a tiny golden figurine.

"What if we give this to Harry to wear?"

Dumbledore let out a startled hum. "Is that… alchemy?"

"I just need to know if this thing can protect Harry. I only have one," Kasenhis said.

"The problem," Dumbledore replied, shaking his head, "is how to make sure it protects only Harry's soul and not the fragment of Tom's. Otherwise, it's still what I said before—up to luck."

Grindelwald, sitting on the sofa in the corner, clicked his tongue twice and shook his head.

"What's your idea?" Dumbledore turned toward him.

"The Elder Wand," Grindelwald said tersely.

Dumbledore frowned and looked at the wand in his hand. "It cannot harm its master…"

"…So?" Kasenhis looked utterly confused as he glanced between the two of them who were now speaking in cryptic code.

His head was starting to hurt just like Harry.

_________

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