"So, pure-blood families address each other by their full names? Mr. Lucius Malfoy," Kain said, mimicking Lucius's formal tone as he patted Hermione's fluffy hair. Then, he continued, "I noticed that dragon's blood pastries aren't as readily available these days. My goddaughter loved those, but it's a shame they're nowhere to be found. Mr. Malfoy, do you know anything about that?"
Hermione was momentarily taken aback, but she quickly played along and added, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy, I do enjoy dragon's blood pastries."
After saying this, Hermione remembered the last time she had dragon's blood pastries. Phil had brought them for her, but she'd barely managed a bite before spitting it out.
She'd even seen her godfather Kain's face contort in discomfort after eating one. Only a weirdo could love that stuff.
Lucius took a deep breath. A significant portion of the Malfoy family's business relied on dragon materials, but Kain's maneuvering had made that business difficult, reducing the family's income substantially.
Lucius's recent smear campaign against Kain in the Daily Prophet was largely because of this. He had even lobbied the Ministry of Magic for support, as had many potion-making families in Europe.
But with Kain's contract with the Romanian Dragon Training Center, cutting him out was no easy task.
"Pure-blood families don't falter so easily, Mr. Pent," Lucius replied stiffly. Summoning his entourage, he pushed through the crowd and exited.
Kain shook his head. If pure-blood families didn't cling so tightly to their lineage, there could be opportunities for collaboration.
Gathering three or four pure-blood families could yield immense power and wealth, potentially allowing them to monopolize several magical commodities.
And when the stakes are high enough, Kain thought, interest can be a powerful motivator. With the right incentives, three hundred wizards could be persuaded to cast the Killing Curse against Voldemort himself.
"Hello, Mr. Pent. I'm Arthur, Arthur Weasley," said Arthur as he stepped forward to greet Kain after Lucius left. Then, in a low voice, he added, "Thank you for the restraining spell just now, Professor Pent."
Kain chuckled. "Think nothing of it; I don't like that guy either."
While Kain was speaking with Arthur, Hermione moved over to her friends. "Harry, Ron, are you two all right?" she asked.
Harry looked thoughtful. "Hermione, is that your godfather? Is he the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I read about him in the Daily Prophet."
At the Weasleys' house, Harry had read previous issues of the Daily Prophet out of curiosity about the wizarding world.
"Of course! My godfather is really powerful," Hermione said excitedly. "Harry, you'll have a chance to learn a lot from him once school starts. Other than Dumbledore, I've never seen a wizard as skilled as my godfather."
Hermione's face glowed with a mix of pride and admiration. Before Kain learned magic, she had respected and relied on him, but now, after witnessing his spellcasting skills and ease with magic, her respect had deepened into reverence. And he treated her incredibly well.
When Hermione shared stories of her life with her godfather with her friends from wizarding families, they thought she was exaggerating. Such a lifestyle was rare even among pure-blood families, let alone for someone from a Muggle background like Hermione.
Ron looked unconvinced, his expression skeptical. "Is he really that powerful? He seems pretty young to me."
"Ron, you just haven't seen Godfather Kain in action yet. At Hogwarts, you'll get plenty of chances," Hermione replied, raising her chin slightly.
Though she disliked it when people doubted her godfather, just like the critics in the Daily Prophet, she figured Ron's opinion was likely influenced by them. She was confident that once he spent time around Kain, he'd see his brilliance.
"Hermione, are you ready to go?" Kain called over, having wrapped up his conversation with Arthur. There wasn't much left to discuss, as Arthur's fascination with Muggle objects didn't overlap with anything Kain found interesting.
"Yes, Godfather, we can talk more about it once we're back at Hogwarts," Hermione replied, trotting over to his side, eager to do a bit of shopping.
As Kain noticed Arthur's enthusiasm for Muggle inventions, he thought about something important in the magical world: enchanted objects.
Arthur's modified car was a basic example of wizarding alchemy, but Kain was more intrigued by goblin-crafted magical items, which often remained impenetrable to wizard understanding even after centuries.
It also reminded him that the basilisk at Hogwarts was valuable, and that he'd forgotten to retrieve the notebook from Ginny.
Once he was back at Hogwarts, Kain planned to get the Vanishing Cabinet from the Room of Requirement so he could travel easily between Hogwarts and Diagon Alley.
His business was just beginning, and in the European wizarding world, there was always high demand for dragon materials and enchanted items. With exclusive access to dragon materials, Kain could dominate the entire European market.
In fact, he had already started. By marking up the price of his magical materials 1.5 times, he was making more Galleons by reselling than others earned by laboriously cultivating herbs.
After they finished shopping, Kain asked Hermione if she wanted to go anywhere else, happy to spend time out with his goddaughter.
When the term began, Kain didn't take the Hogwarts Express with Hermione. Instead, he arrived at the school early to familiarize himself with the environment—after all, getting lost in the castle on his first day of class would be rather embarrassing.
"Professor Pent, Hogwarts welcomes you," greeted Dumbledore, who had come in person to meet him. Alongside Dumbledore were Professor McGonagall, the stern professor he'd met twice before, and Snape, the rather greasy-looking Potions master.
"Professor Dumbledore, I'm very pleased to be teaching at Hogwarts. I've done a lot of preparation to be a good teacher for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class," Kain replied with a smile.
Under Dumbledore's introduction, he met the rest of the Hogwarts staff. When he was introduced to Snape, Kain regretted not having learned the Reanimation Jutsu; otherwise, he could have offered Snape a unique business proposition.
With one day left before the start of term, Kain was led on a tour of Hogwarts by Filch. He set up his office, thoroughly cleaning every corner with magic to make the space his own.
The Restricted Section of the library, the Room of Requirement, and the Forbidden Forest—these three areas intrigued him, and he felt as curious as a first-year student eager to explore them. His office, like those of other Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, came with a private bedroom and an adjacent resting area.
That night, Kain couldn't resist visiting the library. Though he was curious about the dark magic in the Restricted Section, he knew he still had much to learn about magic basics, so he decided to start with general magic books in the main library.
Madam Pince granted him permission to stay overnight, a privilege reserved for professors. If he were a student, he would've been kicked out at closing.
To speed up his study, Kain used his Shadow Clone technique, which allowed him to read multiple books simultaneously. His memory could handle the influx from four clones, each focusing on different topics.
With this method, Kain could absorb the content of more than a dozen books in one night—an impossible feat for most wizards.
As dawn approached, Kain put down his last book, tidied up the library, and released his Shadow Clones. Instantly, a flood of memories and chakra surged back into him, causing his eyes to glow red for a few seconds as he recovered.
"Phew, what a headache. I'll need to organize all these memories," he muttered, rubbing his temples. He remembered everything but needed time to sort through and integrate the information properly.
"Magic is truly a wondrous power," he thought, reflecting on what he'd read. "It seems to manipulate particles, causing transformations and reorganizations on a fundamental level. If magic can achieve this, why does the basic law of Gamp's Elemental Transfiguration still apply?"
Kain was a bit puzzled. He understood both magical power and chakra; however, while magic seemed to adhere to a principle of equivalent exchange—useful in many ways but unable to create items from nothing—chakra was entirely different.
After pondering this for a while, he shook his head and set aside the complex principles for now. "Let's focus on learning some powerful spells first. I can dig into the theory later when I have more experience."
As he grew stronger, he knew he'd be able to observe and understand more.
During the day, instead of heading to the Restricted Section, Kain wandered through the castle and found his way to the Room of Requirement. There, he discovered the Vanishing Cabinet.
As a school professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and trustee of school, he figured it wouldn't be unreasonable to set up a convenient "back door" for himself.
As evening fell, signaling the arrival of the new students, Kain made his way to the Great Hall. Dumbledore and the other professors were already seated. Spotting Kain, Dumbledore gestured to the seat next to him, indicating that it was reserved for him.
Not long after Kain sat down, students began filing into the hall. He spotted Hermione, who smiled and waved at him before sitting with Ron and Harry.
He was a little surprised to see Ron and Harry; he recalled that the Malfoy family's house-elf, Dobby, had tried to prevent them from attending Hogwarts, forcing them to arrive in Arthur's modified car.
But somehow, things had changed.
The Sorting Ceremony soon concluded, and once all the new students were seated, Dumbledore rose to make his announcements before the feast.
"Quiet."
When the hall fell silent, Dumbledore continued, "I discussed it with Professor McGonagall, and the school plans to replace some of our flying broomsticks. Many of the old brooms have been around for ages, which poses a risk to our Quidditch players."
"The greenhouse will also be expanded, a project overseen by Professor Sprout. Her Herbology classes will be taught by other professors until the work is complete."
"Mr. Filch has also submitted a list of seventy-three prohibited items, all of which I've approved. The list will be posted by Mr. Filch."
"Finally, we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Pent."
…
patreon.com/Vks_sh