Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 127 Nick: Regret, I really regretted it at that time
Cohen saw a flicker of surprise in Dumbledore's eyes.

No, didn't Mundungus give Dumbledore the materials he stole from the laboratory?
Cohen thought Dumbledore knew the origins of his bloodline, but now it seems that the old thief Mundungus did not give the stolen books or diaries to Dumbledore at all, but sold them directly.

Would Dumbledore not know about this, or had someone offered Mundungus a higher price?

"Do you think it means you any harm?" asked Dumbledore.

"Malice?" Cohen shook his head. "There shouldn't be any creature with ill intentions towards me that would crawl into my bed while I'm sleeping, not to bite me to death but to scream at my soul..."

"It called you 'son'?" Dumbledore's beard twitched.

Are you laughing? You're obviously laughing! I saw it all!

Cohen clenched his fists.

No, I have to find a way to make things difficult for this old man.

Coin decided to sneak in at night and use his dirty little hands to sprinkle some mustard into Dumbledore's candy pile.

"It says it's in the secret room," Cohen said. "Do you think it could be the one who attacked Colin?"

"I do not think so, Corn," said Dumbledore. "It sounds like a visitor looking for someone at Hogwarts, not some Slytherin's monster who has been in the Chamber of Secrets for over a thousand years."

"That's great! This way I can take the civil service exam after graduation," Cohen said.

"The Ministry of Magic shouldn't have any restrictions on the backgrounds of its employees," Dumbledore consoled him. "There's a crucial point in the news you told me—Voldemort. This reminds me of a similar incident fifty years ago, when there were also several petrification incidents, and a poor child died in the end. Coincidentally, that was when Voldemort was in school."

"He was called Voldemort when he was in school?"

"At that time he was called Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore. "He changed his name after leaving school, as he hated it. But that is not the point for our discussion here. The point is that the Chamber of Secrets was opened by the same person."

"But this time, things are a little different."

"Because of that pervert who called me 'son'?" Cohen asked.

"Cohen, I hope what I say doesn't make you uncomfortable." Dumbledore looked at Cohen gently.

"It's okay. It calls me 'son' now, so I pretty much know what its relationship is to me," Cohen muttered. "He's just my biological father, as long as Edward has no objection."

"Since it has also lived in the Chamber of Secrets during this period and hasn't caused any conflict, it must be of the same species as the creatures there." Dumbledore quickly reached the correct conclusion. "Its goal is to find you, like a lonely father searching the world for his child."

I was almost getting to the truth, but I was wrong about one thing. It wasn't looking for the child because it was lonely, it just wanted a place with food and shelter.

However, Dumbledore certainly never thought that a basilisk would be so lazy. It's not his fault. After all, a basilisk would not hold a lifestyle seminar with wizards on a regular basis.

Cohen gained some deeper insights into Dumbledore's reasoning abilities.

This old man seemed to be possessed by a god. If he hadn't volunteered to stay in Hogwarts, he would most likely have brought about a major revolution in the wizarding world if he had gone out.

"Its ultimate goal is certainly not just to see you; it wants to be reunited with you," Dumbledore continued. "This is something Voldemort cannot understand. He may not even have seen the new resident of the Chamber of Secrets. This is the way to prevent the tragedy of fifty years ago from happening again."

"I'll go find the Chamber of Secrets?" Coln asked. "And then—"

"No." Dumbledore refused immediately.

Cohen knew why. The incident of "Cohen being killed" last semester had left a deep impact on him, and Dumbledore probably didn't want to experience it again.

But Cohen will definitely not use the old tricks...

This time, Cohen has a more refreshing way of dying than Avada Kedavra, which will give Dumbledore another heart-pounding roller coaster ride.

"This is my job, not yours," Dumbledore said. "And your friends shouldn't continue searching for the Chamber of Secrets. It's too dangerous for students."

But it was just right for the Dementors.

"It will continue to look for you. I just hope you can tell me the next time it finds you or you hear its voice."

Dumbledore said,
"That way we can determine its species and prepare ways to deal with it."

"What happens after this? Will it be killed?" Cohen looked at Dumbledore with pitiful eyes.

Old Dumbledore is too old to watch this.jpg
"Of course not," Dumbledore said soothingly to Cohen. "If it won't hurt you, perhaps you can keep it in that box, but I think you'll have to ask your parents for permission."

"Okay." Cohen nodded obediently. Yali and Sissoko must have agreed.
-
Starting on Monday, the news that Colin had been attacked spread like a virus throughout the school.

In just one morning, rumors spread and students became suspicious. Regardless of their grade, students began to move in groups, fearing that they would be attacked if they were left alone.

Somehow, someone snuck into Filch's office and discovered the secret that he was a Squib - which didn't give them much comfort.

"Remember that pure-blood thing about Slytherin?" Lee Jordan said one day at dinner. "He wanted to purge the school of anyone unworthy of learning magic. Filch was a Squib, Colin was a Muggle-born, and the attacks seemed to be on a regular basis."

These inferences made the young wizards of Muggle origin start to panic. They hid it from their teacher and chattered about exchanging amulets and other evil-repelling items after class.

Within a week, the practice became popular throughout the school, and even Neville bought some exorcism items.

"But you're not actually in danger," Ron said to Neville rationally. "You're a pure-blood. You might as well use the money to buy more food..."

"They went after Filch first." Neville's round face was filled with fear. "Everyone knows I'm pretty much a Squib."

In the eyes of Harry and others, Cohen seemed to be extremely wary of attacks and he often carried his own box with him.

"It's almost finished. I feel like I'll have a basement as big as the house before Christmas break."

On the last Friday before Christmas, Cohen said happily at dinner,

"Working on infrastructure is quite fulfilling—are you still working on the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Of course, and there's no clue," said Harry dejectedly. "Maybe it's a special ghost, or maybe it's a huge rat..."

After dinner, they planned to go look inside Cohen's trunk, accompanied by Ron. They chose the boys' dormitory as the location—Dean was busy preparing a new batch of anti-attack pendants with his friends and wouldn't be back for the time being. ("At least I know how a dragon would attack me," Ron said.)
On their way back to the lounge, they run into Nearly Headless Nick.

This was quite rare, because Cohen remembered that he had never encountered a single ghost in all the time he had been at school, and they all avoided Cohen when they saw him.

"Hello..." Nick greeted them cautiously, not daring to look directly at Cohen among the four.

"Nick, what's going on?" Harry asked. They often met Nick, but it seemed that it was always when Cohen was not around. He and Ron had previously guessed that Nick was Cohen - because the two of them almost never appeared at the same time.

"I'd like to ask Cohen—uh, to come with me to a place?" Nick said shyly, "Don't worry—it won't take too long, it won't take up much of your time..."

The remaining three looked at Cohen.

"First Dumbledore, then Nick - Coin, you broke the law?" Ron said in surprise.

"Then I'll become the heir of Slytherin and show you guys." Cohen said unhappily, "The first thing I'll do before going to prison is kill all my good brothers who like to talk nonsense."

Cohen agreed to go with Nick.

Why did Nick look for me?
The ghost took Cohen to an empty classroom not far away. He was particularly careful to see if anyone was passing by in the corridor - like a thief.

"I thought you ghosts had collectively ostracized me," Cohen said, pretending to be sad.

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to—we were just afraid—you know, you're—" Nick said stiffly, "you wouldn't be so angry about this—"

"I don't eat ghosts." Cohen shook his head. "Last year, it was only because you crawled into my mouth yourself - how could I know there was a ghost hidden in the chicken leg..."

"Huh..." Nick was a little embarrassed.

"Is there something wrong this time? Or did someone ask you to find me?"

Cohen asked.

But Nick seemed a little embarrassed to speak.

"Actually... it's not a big deal... You've already done it once before..."

"Don't describe things so inappropriately for children..." Cohen sighed, "You'll get banned."

"I'd like you to give me a little Dementor's kiss." Nick said this with all his might.

"That's not suitable for children!" Cohen couldn't hold it in any longer. "Just tell me to bite you."

"Ah—I don't quite understand what this Dementor thing is called..." Nick said fearfully. "That's what I was planning last year—you know, because my head is half gone and I'm often laughed at by other ghosts—especially at the end of October this year—at my Deathday party..."

(End of this chapter)