"What do you need that for?" Dumbledore asked.
"With a green apple, you never know whether it will be sweet or sour until you bite into it. That gives it a kind of uncertainty, and in occultism, that uncertainty can produce a random effect. It's like getting another pull after failing the first time," Kasen explained.
"I thought you wanted to use the apple to make another map."
Dumbledore merely snapped his fingers, and an apple appeared on the desk.
At that moment, Kasen suddenly realised that when it came to searching for occult objects, apart from using apples to make apple maps, he did not seem to have any other method.
He could only awkwardly say, "...In that case... make it two apples."
Dumbledore smiled, snapped his fingers again, and then left the office.
...
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch... burp...
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch... burp...
"Apples are delicious!"
After devouring two apples, Kasen delivered their final words on their behalf.
As for why those two apples had not been used to search for more occult objects related to time...
The ritual had failed. What else could it have been?
There had been nothing wrong with the ritual itself. The only problem was probably that... apart from that pocket watch, there simply was not a second time-related occult object in this world.
At noon, Kasen appeared in the Great Hall, much to everyone's surprise.
After all, during breakfast, he had specifically announced at the table that he was going treasure hunting.
And Hogwarts had experienced Professor Kasen going treasure hunting before. It could hardly be called perfectly safe. In fact, it was usually more along the lines of murder and arson.
So the teachers and students had naturally prepared themselves for Hogwarts to go another week, perhaps even two, with Dumbledore filling in for Kasen's classes.
As for Dumbledore himself...
At the very least, before Kasen returned to Hogwarts, he had already been prepared to use Fawkes to appear anywhere in the world at a moment's notice, then use his incredibly powerful connections and equally incredible magical strength to fish Kasen out of whatever mess he had gotten himself into.
Who would have thought...
He had failed...
"Why do you all look so helpless?" Kasen asked faintly.
"Didn't you say you were going treasure hunting? Why are you back so quickly? Don't tell me the 'treasure' you were talking about was that little mound of dirt behind Hagrid's hut," Snape said suspiciously.
"Actually, it was even closer than Hagrid's hut," Kasen replied somewhat awkwardly.
"Oh... That's good."
Snape nodded and continued eating.
"What's in the mound behind Hagrid's hut?" Kasen asked.
"Why not ask the wonderful Hagrid?" Dumbledore chimed in.
"Hagrid, did you bury something good over there?" Kasen craned his neck and called out to Hagrid.
"If you're curious, you can go take a look yourself," Hagrid replied with a shrug.
"Good point."
The moment he finished speaking, the sound of an Ender teleport tearing through the air rang out across the Great Hall.
"What's in that mound?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"Bones Fang buried, probably. After all, who gets curious about what a dog buries in the ground?" Hagrid replied.
Meanwhile, behind Hagrid's hut.
Kasen aimed a diamond shovel at the little mound and dug straight down. Almost immediately, he felt something hard beneath the soil.
He dug another inch deeper, then levered upward with the shovel.
A gigantic bone, nearly as long as he was tall, was pried out of the ground.
"Holy shit? Did Hagrid kill his brother? No, his brother isn't that big either. Is this a dinosaur bone?"
While Kasen was still staring in bewilderment, he suddenly heard a pitiful whine.
He turned toward the sound and saw Fang looking at him with an aggrieved expression. The dog's face was so human-like that it almost seemed as though Kasen had wronged him.
Wait...
Kasen really might have wronged Fang.
Not in that way. Anyone whose mind went there deserved a shot from an orbital dragon-slaying cannon.
He meant in another way.
Dogs sometimes picked up bones and buried them in the ground, then devoutly offered up the mysterious and wondrous products created by their digestive systems every day as sacrifices, praying for good weather in the coming year so a huge bone tree would grow and bear enormous bones next year.
As for where Kasen had learned all this...
Cartoons, obviously. Orphanages had televisions too.
"That makes sense, then. Though I have no idea where Fang found a bone this huge... and it's already this big without even being planted... Maybe Fang was trying to grow an Ultraman..."
"Still, finding a dinosaur bone this enormous is impressive! Maybe Fang has some Odie blood in him. Hogwarts really is a place blessed with outstanding people and animals. I wonder if there are any cats with Garfield bloodlines around here."
As Kasen spoke, he prepared to continue digging with the shovel.
To be fair, if these had been ordinary bones, Kasen would already have buried them again. Just look at Fang's miserable and aggrieved expression. Even among dogs, it was pitiful enough to tug at the heartstrings.
However, on one hand, a bone this absurdly large was genuinely rare.
On the other hand, the instant he dug it out, the pocket watch hanging on his chest became frighteningly hot, as though the bone had some important use for it.
Kasen might not know what that use was, but the watch had spoken...
He suddenly paused.
Then, from thin air, he pulled out a steak and started eating it by himself.
Crunch, crunch, crunch... burp...
"All right."
After restoring his hunger bar, Kasen resumed his hard labour.
It was honestly impressive that Fang had managed to bury so many bones in the ground...
This dog was incredible!
Even more incredible than Sirius!
"Wow~~~"
Half an hour later, Kasen stared at the mountain of bones piled in front of him, towering higher than Hagrid's hut, and let out a rare sound of genuine admiration.
He almost never praised anyone like this.
In the past, even someone as powerful as Dumbledore would only earn a comment from Kasen along the lines of, "He doesn't know shit about alchemy."
But Fang...
Fang had genuinely earned Kasen's heartfelt admiration.
A dog had somehow buried an entire fucking dinosaur skeleton in a hole...
He had practically hollowed out the foundations beneath Hagrid's house!
With stamina this ridiculous, this dog could succeed at anything!
...
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