Dumbledore still smiled without saying anything—or rather, he did say something: "The storm is coming... If you want to avoid it, resigning would be much safer. But if you wish to stay in office, well... that's a different matter."
Fudge's face turned from green to red, torn in an internal battle for quite a while. In the end, the politician's ambition triumphed over the basic human instinct for self-preservation.
"I won't resign."
"Then congratulations, Minister... and... be prepared." Dumbledore smiled kindly.
"If you could just tell me what this so-called war actually is..." Fudge said dryly.
"One day, you'll find out."
As Fudge left, Sirius officially entered the countdown to having his name cleared. What remained was a simple Wizengamot vote—nothing too complicated.
"Well then, Sirius, kids... perhaps it's time you move to a different room," Dumbledore suggested.
Sirius looked at Kasenhis, who shrugged. "My office isn't locked. Go ahead. Just remember to lock the door once you're in—some students like to drop by and chat."
Soon the office was left with only three people: Kasenhis, Dumbledore, and Peter Pettigrew, who was still lying on the floor completely immobilized.
Dumbledore waved his wand, and Pettigrew stiffened like a mummy. Then, with another flick, a tall cabinet nearby opened—and floated out another mummy.
Alright, it wasn't actually a mummy—it was an old acquaintance, Karkaroff.
Dumbledore casually tossed Peter Pettigrew into the cabinet and then lifted the binding spell from Karkaroff.
"I'm still curious, what brings you to Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked with a gentle smile.
"Ah! I-I really just wanted to meet—"
Karkaroff didn't even get halfway through before Dumbledore mercilessly cut him off.
Dumbledore glanced at Kasenhis.
Then Kasenhis awkwardly pointed at himself. "Do I look like someone good at interrogations? And don't you know how to extract memories?"
"I'll have to force my Legilimency and shatter his Occlumency defenses, it can be later detected.. and can make him a retard, and even if not, in this case, I prefer.." Dumbledore squinted one eye at Kasenhis. "..Purely physical interrogation."
"...Fair enough."
With a flick of his hand, Kasenhis summoned a few blocks and some redstone.
In no time, he built a sticky piston with an End Rod stuck on top, then added a simple high-frequency circuit that made the rod move back and forth rapidly.
Karkaroff: "..."
"Oh? What exactly does this thing do?" Dumbledore asked, watching curiously.
"You just need to hold Karkaroff in a fixed position against this device's..."
Karkaroff: "..."
Kasenhis: "Yeah.. tilt his backside up.."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUHHHH!!!"
Karkaroff, who had been pretending to play dead, suddenly let out a terrified cry, managing—through sheer force of will—to break free from Dumbledore's spell. Only his mouth could move, but it was still a remarkable feat that left the room deeply impressed.
Mainly because the noise Karkaroff made was... honestly, way too ridiculous.
"So… can you talk now?" Dumbledore smiled warmly.
"You… you can just pull the memory from my head or use Legilimency! Why torture me like this?!" Karkaroff howled.
"Because I need your help. Your willing help," Dumbledore replied calmly.
"What do you want from me?!"
"You still remember your master, don't you? Voldemort. Tom Riddle," Dumbledore's voice turned low, almost devilish.
"He... I... he'll kill me!"
"Kasenhis, what posture should we set him in?" Dumbledore asked casually.
"I... You... You know this is impossible. The Dark Lord would see right through me!"
"All I need is a yes, or a no," Dumbledore said, sharp and to the point.
Karkaroff stared at the End Rod jerking violently back and forth thanks to the piston, then turned his eyes to Dumbledore.
"Help me up."
Dumbledore lifted the spell and reached out his hand.
"You've made the right decision. I think we'll need an Unbreakable Vow."
Karkaroff gritted his teeth. "Haah..."
"Kasenhis, you'll be the witness... Actually, never mind. Go fetch Severus."
The moment Karkaroff heard the name "Severus," he instinctively felt something was off. But then he quickly realized—whether Severus was spying for that side or this side, it had nothing to do with him. He didn't need to know that much.
Staying alive was all that mattered. At least, for now.
Soon, Kasenhis brought Snape back into the office.
As soon as he stepped in, Snape immediately noticed the rather disheveled-looking Karkaroff. Meanwhile, Karkaroff silently prayed to Merlin that Severus was truly on Dumbledore's side.
Otherwise, the very day the Dark Lord returned, wouldn't he be dragged out as a ceremonial offering?
Not that he had much time left to think about that.
As Dumbledore and Karkaroff grasped each other's forearms tightly, a long string of complex, binding terms spilled from Dumbledore's mouth. Streams of bright magical threads shot out from Snape's wand, twisting around their arms like glowing ropes.
Karkaroff could only hope that if the day came when Voldemort wanted to kill him, he'd be quick enough to draw his wand and finish himself off before that happened.
As Karkaroff was finally let go, Kasenhis curiously asked, "Is that Unbreakable Vow actually useful? Not that I'm questioning the magic itself, but there were quite a few logical loopholes in what you just said. I even tried reminding you, and you completely ignored it."
Dumbledore pulled a wet wipe from his desk drawer and casually wiped his hands. "I never actually intended for him to truly do anything for me. He's just a tool to mess with Tom's decision-making. When necessary, his life and a handful of fabricated memories will be enough to mislead Voldemort, and in the process, help Severus gain Tom's trust."
"...Damn, you're ruthless. Does Grindelwald know you're like this?" Kasenhis raised a brow.
"As if he has any right to act like he's pure," Dumbledore retorted with a snort.
"If there's nothing else for me here, I'll be leaving," Snape said flatly.
"By all means... Oh, wait. Take this with you. Consider it your Christmas present. The sky above Knockturn Alley has been covered with tons of bird nets by Muggles recently, poor owls couldn't get through and had to turn back."
Kasenhis watched as Dumbledore pulled out a huge bag of candy from under his desk. Something about the way he did it made Kasenhis pretty sure that Dumbledore had simply forgotten to send Snape his present... and was now scrambling to make up for it.
Moreover, Sirius had just told him before that owls could use minor spatial magic…
And his own owl hadn't failed to deliver anything.
Snape clearly realized this as well. He gave Dumbledore a disgusted side-eye.
Then Dumbledore sighed helplessly. "Fine, fine… you've got to forgive an old man's memory. At least I forgot everyone, not just you."
Kasenhis pinched his nose with a look of pure disdain. Just earlier, Harry had even shared with him that Dumbledore had gifted him… a pair of wool socks.
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