"What happened, Dumbledore?" Kasenhis suddenly appeared in Dumbledore's office and sat down on the sofa.
"Oh, just a small matter. Given how dangerous things are these days, Hogwarts is now encouraging young wizards to duel one another in order to sharpen their combat skills."
"But clearly, their duels haven't exactly been brought out into the open. Not even once. Perhaps they don't trust the school and think we'll deduct points from them," Dumbledore said somewhat helplessly.
"So, what are you trying to say?" Kasenhis asked.
"Oh, what I'm saying is that today, at noon, we finally received our first official wizarding duel application."
"Let me see. Dean Thomas is requesting a one-on-one wizarding duel with Harry Potter. The reason... romantic matters."
Dumbledore smiled as he handed the application form to Kasenhis.
"Look at that. Young men full of vitality, love, and hatred."
Kasenhis nodded and took the form.
Dean Thomas's name was clearly signed under the challenger's section, while the challenged party's section was still completely blank.
"But doesn't the person being challenged also have to agree and sign this?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Of course. In a moment, I'll give this application to Professor McGonagall and have her pass it on to Harry so he can decide whether to accept."
"Do you think Harry will?"
Kasenhis sat in the chair and raised an eyebrow.
"Harry isn't particularly combative. His aggression usually only appears when someone close to him is in danger, or when he deeply hates someone... But if this is about romance, then Harry will probably agree. He's a teenage boy, after all."
"Then I'll leave this task to you. You'll be the referee for the duel. I have a few requirements," Dumbledore said as he poured Kasenhis a glass of wine.
"I never said I agreed to take this job," Kasenhis said after draining the glass.
Dumbledore said nothing.
He took a bottle of wine from the cabinet and placed it on the table.
"How about now?"
Kasenhis raised an eyebrow.
"Now I agree!"
Dumbledore nodded.
"I have several requirements for this duel. The two of them may get injured. You have milk, after all, and that can cure any lingering effects of Dark Magic. But there must be no humiliation."
"In other words, they can slice each other into mince if they want, but there mustn't be anything like one of them repeatedly slapping the other across the face. You understand what I mean, yes?"
Kasenhis nodded.
"Of course. They're allowed to beat each other's brains out, but they're not allowed to beat tears out of each other. Teenage pride, after all. One mistake and someone might decide to attack concrete with gravitational acceleration."
"Then there's no problem. As for everything else, I have complete confidence in your sense of fairness. Help me organise this duel properly, and prepare a prize for the winner and a participation prize as well. How does that sound?"
Dumbledore stood up, moved behind Kasenhis, and patted him on the shoulder.
"Mm-hm. Fine." Kasenhis raised an eyebrow and started to stand.
"That's everything I needed," Dumbledore said with a shrug as he returned to his seat.
Hearing that, Kasenhis reached for the bottle of wine.
His hand grabbed nothing.
Dumbledore had already put the bottle back into the cabinet.
"...Huh?"
At that moment, only that earth-shattering question could truly express what Kasenhis was feeling inside.
"I never said I was giving you the bottle, did I?" Dumbledore spread his hands with a delighted smile.
"You motherf..."
The three people sitting on the sofa in the Alchemy office watched with their own eyes as a huge sponge suddenly appeared beside the coffee table.
Bottle after bottle of alcohol materialised out of thin air and dropped onto the sponge.
"What's going on?" Thomas asked blankly, turning to Orlant beside him.
Orlant had never seen anything like this either, so he looked across at Clay.
Clay raised an eyebrow. "No idea where Professor Kasenhis robbed all that alcohol from."
The instant he finished speaking, Kasenhis Ender Blinked back into the office.
His hair was a complete mess, his clothes were equally dishevelled, and he looked as though he had just jumped out of a tumble dryer.
Messy, but somehow fierce-looking.
"Professor, what happened to you?" Clay and Orlant both stood up.
Thomas reacted a beat slower, then stood up as well and asked with concern.
"Nothing, nothing. I just had a fight with Dumbledore. No big deal."
Kasenhis waved a hand, picked up all the alcohol from the sponge, and stored it in his liquor cabinet.
Then he quickly straightened himself out, sat down on the sofa, and smiled at Thomas.
"I was just in Dumbledore's office, and I heard him mention you. That duel application."
Thomas looked somewhat awkward.
Clearly, he felt that Kasenhis was much closer to Harry than he was to him, so he didn't really want to say much.
Seeing this, Kasenhis took the initiative to reassure him.
"Dumbledore told me the reason too. At your age, getting jealous over romance is perfectly normal. I support it. At least you've got some fire in you."
Thomas still sat there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say to Kasenhis.
In the end, he could only ask, "Uh, Professor, when can Orlant leave?"
"When he finishes his homework," Clay said without even looking up.
"What do you need Orlant for?" Kasenhis asked.
"Harry's pretty good at duelling, so I came to ask my junior for some advice. After all, the powerful offensive spells Orlant has developed are already famous throughout Hogwarts," Thomas said somewhat sheepishly.
"Orlant, look at you! People are coming to study under you now!" Clay immediately hit him with a full set of Belial-style quotes.
"Yeah, I do have some talent in this area," Orlant said without lifting his head.
"Professor, you're not going to tell Harry about this, are you?" Thomas asked awkwardly.
"Why would I?" Kasenhis asked instinctively.
"Because if I get extra tutoring from Orlant, wouldn't that ruin the fairness?" Thomas replied without even thinking.
"It's a duel. One person is stronger, one person is weaker, and one defeats the other. That's what a normal duel is. Don't worry about it."
Kasenhis waved a hand, signalling for Thomas to relax.
"Done! I finally finished it!"
After finally completing two pounds of homework, Orlant shouted in delight.
"Yes!"
...
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