"Prefect Percy, or should I call you Mr. Weasley? What would be more appropriate?" Kasenhis asked.

"Just Percy is fine, Professor," Percy replied, looking a bit nervous.

"Oh... is there something you need?" Kasenhis asked with a touch of curiosity. He certainly knew who Percy was—not only the Gryffindor prefect but also Ron's older brother. His excellence was beyond doubt.

Kasenhis had even heard during Professor McGonagall's casual gossip that Percy was a textbook overachiever—the kind of guy who needed a Time-Turner just to attend all his classes.

Although it seemed like he only lasted one semester like that. By the second semester, Percy had dropped most of his electives, keeping only the ones most beneficial to his future plans.

Yes, Percy was the ultimate try-hard in every respect. When third-years were allowed to pick electives, Percy had already laid out his entire roadmap for the future in fourth year and was steadily working toward it. Undeniably intense.

But precisely because of that, Kasenhis had never seen Percy in the alchemy classroom before. This might actually be the first time the two of them had spoken face-to-face.

"Professor, I heard from some classmates that after the alchemy exam, you kept behind the students who plan to work at the Ministry... and introduced them to some of your connections?" Percy asked.

Kasenhis nodded. "Well, I don't get along with Fudge, and if he finds out they're my students and that we're on good terms, he might deliberately make things hard for them. I have to take some responsibility, don't I?"

"Huuuuuh?" Percy looked at Kasenhis in surprise. A moment later, he finally recalled that at the beginning of this semester, this very professor had marched straight into the Minister of Magic's office... and chopped off one of Fudge's arms.

"Anything else?" Kasenhis asked politely.

At this moment, Percy wished he could go back in time an hour and slap himself across the face repeatedly. If he was going to come and try to network, he should've done his homework properly.

Sure, Kasenhis's connections were solid—he had excellent students and friends all across the wizarding world. But his enemies? Equally top-tier.

Right out of the gate, his nemesis was none other than Fudge, the big boss of the Ministry of Magic. Who could possibly handle that?

After having his arm chopped off, Fudge might still have to force a smile when meeting Kasenhis. But Percy? Sure, he had the so-called "pure-blood" status… but that basically meant nothing. His family didn't own any property, had no real power, and the Weasley name wasn't exactly prestigious.

Among the so-called "Twenty-Eight Sacred Families," the Weasleys were the ones everyone mocked as poor nobodies.

In this situation, if Fudge found out Percy had come to Kasenhis to kiss up and network, wouldn't he absolutely crush him? And the worst part—it wasn't like Percy got dragged into it. No, he willingly jumped aboard this shady ship himself.

Kasenhis found Percy's expression rather amusing—it was just too vivid and far too obvious.

It would've been hard not to understand what he was thinking. Besides, Kasenhis had already heard a fair bit about Percy from Professor McGonagall.

In short… the guy was a total title-chaser. Ever since becoming a prefect, he'd shown all the signs of being obsessed with status.

But he wasn't just ambitious—he had the chops to back it up.

Since he'd become prefect, things might not have been perfectly organized—after all, trying to manage Gryffindor like a well-oiled machine was inhuman—but he had managed to carry out Professor McGonagall's instructions quite efficiently.

This was the kind of guy who heard rumors that Kasenhis had introduced students to his connections after the exam… and immediately rushed over to try and rub shoulders. Only, he probably forgot all about the feud between Kasenhis and Fudge.

Right up until now, it wasn't until Kasenhis reminded him that Percy's expression said it all—his guts were probably twisted into knots by now.

"So Percy, anything else?" Kasenhis asked.

Percy quickly shook his head. "No, no, nothing at all!"

He shook his head so vigorously that it was a miracle his neck was covered in flesh—if not, he might've dislocated a vertebra right then and there.

"If that's it, then hurry up and go. Are you planning to enter the Ministry of Magic?" Kasenhis asked.

Percy nodded blankly.

"Then all the more reason to stay far away from me. Heh~ Otherwise, who knows—Fudge might really make your life hell. Oh, and don't worry—no one will know you came to see me today. That much, I can guarantee."

Percy kept nodding like a zombie.

It took him a while to even remember how to walk with his feet.

"Oh, by the way," Kasenhis called out just as Percy was about to leave.

"Yeah.. What is it?" Percy stiffened.

"If you're still feeling anxious, you can curse me out a couple of times when Fudge is around. I won't mind," Kasenhis said with a grin.

Percy pursed his lips, discreetly swallowed hard, then gave Kasenhis a deep bow before quickly hopping onto the boat and leaving.

"This kid… he's got so many little calculations going on, it's kind of fun to watch," Kasenhis muttered with a chuckle, watching Percy disappear into the distance.

That brief interlude passed quickly. Kasenhis got back to work, filling in the students' final grades and graduation results.

For important exams—like graduation exams—he helped wherever he could. If he really couldn't bump someone up, at least he made sure the handwriting was neat.

Once all the papers were sealed, archived, and handed off to the house-elves to be delivered to Madam Pince, a new guest arrived at his office.

"You still haven't taken down that sign at the door that says 'No Sirius or dogs allowed'?" Lupin asked, sitting down across from him.

"He doesn't come to Hogwarts anyway. What's the harm in leaving it up?" Kasenhis replied casually.

"Fine, fine, let's not talk about that. Dumbledore told me about the trip to the Romanian dragon reserve over the holidays," Lupin continued.

"Uh-huh. What about it?"

Lupin pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "You know how I only signed on for a one-year teaching contract? Well, Dumbledore already went behind my back and found me my next job."

Kasenhis took the envelope and glanced at the wax seal—it bore the symbol of the Romanian Dragon Reserve.

"Damn, that's what you call a seamless transition," Kasenhis said with genuine admiration.

"What do you mean, seamless transition?" Lupin asked, puzzled.

"I mean, there's a good chance you'll be back at Hogwarts next term. Remember that time in the Headmaster's office, when we were talking about Karkaroff? You already knew about the Triwizard Tournament."

"Triwizard Tournament?" Lupin thought back—yeah, that was a thing.

Then he looked at the new job in his hand, the envelope from the dragon reserve, and recalled what Kasenhis just said about him probably coming right back to Hogwarts next term...

"The Triwizard Tournament involves dragons!" he exclaimed.

"Exactly. Dumbledore's the master of win-win situations," Kasenhis said, pointing at the envelope. "On one hand, you get to earn that sweet dragon reserve salary. On the other hand, you're in the perfect spot to open some doors for Hogwarts—how convenient is that?"

"Isn't that cheating?"

"Isn't that the Triwizard tradition?" Kasenhis replied, quoting back the phrase like he just learned it.

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