"...No. No matter how you put it, stealing is far too undignified." Kasenhis refused flatly.
"That was a magical experiment I conducted back when I was a student at Durmstrang," Grindelwald went on as if he hadn't heard the rejection at all, speaking to himself.
Kasen, for his part, ignored him just as thoroughly, absorbed in drafting this term's lesson plan.
"One of my research topics back then was the possibility of alchemical technology modifying the human body."
Only then did Kasen glance over at him with a helpless look. "And you think that kind of thing appeals to me?" As he spoke, a mechanical arm slowly extended from behind him, picked up a glass of wine, and brought it to his lips.
"That sort of thing can't be applied to ordinary people," Grindelwald said, shaking his head.
"Mm-hm, exactly." Kasen nodded. His own mechanical arm, mantis blade, and hidden wrist-blade all relied on Essentia energy and redstone signals deep in his nerves for control.
At best, an ordinary person could only handle something like Harry's little sleeve-blade and a basic anti-disarm device. That was the upper limit of what a normal body could take.
"Don't you want to pass on your craft?" Grindelwald asked in a low, thoughtful tone.
"What kind of sane person would want to turn themselves into this half-human, half-machine mess?" Kasen shrugged.
"...Wouldn't they?"
"But if you're talking about finding an heir…" Kasen tilted his head back slightly. "Spit it out."
"It's a technique of soul branches," Grindelwald explained. "It lets a person's soul spread outward—like roots—so that the tendrils of the soul can control all sorts of alchemical devices. One person becomes a fully operational alchemy factory."
"...A brain–computer interface?" Kasen translated dryly.
"What's that?"
"Nothing." Kasen shook his head. He had no interest in this whole "find a successor" plan. After all, mechanical ascension wasn't something most people could stomach.
Compared to some mechanical arm for the masses, the real place this soul-branch technique could shine was Hogwarts itself!
He'd spent nearly his whole summer doing nothing but digging tunnels under Hogwarts and installing machinery, all in preparation for the day some idiot enemy tried to invade and ended up staring dumbfounded when Hogwarts itself stood up.
Making Hogwarts stand up wasn't hard—it was just a matter of installing enough big machinery underneath.
The problem was control.
His original plan was to have a bunch of wizards separately handle different system joints. But if Grindelwald's so-called soul-branch technique was really that powerful, then maybe—just maybe—it could actually work…
"....."
Kasen suddenly caught himself. Why did this Hogwarts plan feel like it was heading in a very strange direction?
"So what exactly do you need?" Kasen asked. He didn't believe Grindelwald was asking him to steal something just for an item useful to himself but practically worthless to Kasen.
That so-called soul branch thing was probably nothing too important to Grindelwald, just something that happened to overlap with Kasen's area of expertise. There had to be something else.
"Indeed. Back then, to make soul research easier, I created a soul amplifier… do you know what that is?" Grindelwald asked.
"Of course I do. When doing fine operations or magic experiments involving the soul, you need to use parts of your own soul—things like willpower or mental energy. A soul amplifier is just a device that boosts that strength. But seriously? I could whip one of those up for you myself—why would you need me to steal it?"
"When I was young, I embedded a sliver of my soul into it to study more efficiently… but don't worry, it's not a Horcrux. If I die, that soul fragment will peel away and return to me automatically. Still, you can't expect me to live the rest of my life missing a chunk of my soul, can you? I'm not like Voldemort with his strange fetishes." Grindelwald looked almost embarrassed as he said it.
"You mean when you were expelled you couldn't just swing by and pick it up?" Kasen's mouth twitched.
"At the time I thought leaving a fragment of my soul at Durmstrang wasn't a bad idea. I could still control it back then, and it fed me plenty of information. But once I landed in Nurmengard, that fragment fell asleep, and it hasn't stirred since." Grindelwald explained.
"…" Kasen listened to this bizarre logic and rubbed his chin helplessly. He had intended to stroke his beard while thinking, but no luck—he'd just shaved that morning.
"...."
"...."
"The address then? Where exactly did you stash this soul amplifier… and your unfinished experiments?" Kasen finally sighed, resigning himself to a little good deed.
…The soul branches were a minor detail, a side note—not the main reason he was asking for help.
"I remember I did that research in my alchemy professor's office at the time," Grindelwald said. "Later I was expelled, but I don't think that professor ever continued the experiment. Still, the data and the results should all still be in his office—including the soul amplifier. You should be able to find them in the storage room of the alchemy office."
"Hmm… the alchemy lab, and at Durmstrang no less… Wait, I think I actually know the current alchemy professor there. I could just write her a letter and ask outright. Do this above board. Honestly, it wouldn't even hurt. I could just whip up some gold. Wouldn't cost me much," Kasen suggested.
"No, no. If you want those things intact, you'll have to steal them. If they find out there's something in the alchemy office's storage room that belongs to Gellert Grindelwald, they'll burn it all with Fiendfyre without hesitation." Grindelwald shook his head.
"Uh… so you're saying I really have to keep quiet, huh…"
Kasen stood up and stretched, and the mobile blackboard nearby automatically slid over. "Alright then, draw me a floor plan of Durmstrang. You should still remember it… Too bad my map only draws rooftops, not the interior layout."
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