Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 143: Nightmare Fire Dragon Snake Monster...Are you going to raise a Chimeramon next?
"So, could you two please share some information with me? What happened to you tonight? Why did Cohen suddenly leave the school?"

Dumbledore asked with concern,

"And Mr. Xenophilius, why are you with Cohen?"

"I was kidnapped by a group of people from the Silver Key Gathering," Xenophilius explained to Dumbledore, distancing himself from that group to avoid Dumbledore mistaking him for the one who had captured Cohen. "They threatened me with Luna—my daughter, who goes to school here. I think you, Headmaster, know about this—no, maybe you don't remember either..."

"I remember every student, Xenophilius."

Dumbledore said,
"Luna is a smart child, very similar to you. If they threaten you with Luna's safety, it is understandable that you might take some actions out of necessity. Of course, I can assure you that as long as Luna is at Hogwarts, she is safe. There is no need to worry about that."

"The people of the Silver Key Gathering are a group of lunatics with strange beliefs. They illegally cultivated a basilisk..." Xenophilius roughly told Dumbledore what had happened.

But he didn't know much about the Silver Key, and because he was threatened, he couldn't participate in these people's conversations about important issues, such as what exactly was the "god" that looked like a Dementor, and what happened during his coma.

"Then... can I go back now?" Xenophilius asked uncertainly after recounting his experiences. Dumbledore had already been the headmaster when he was still in school. Even now that he had graduated, he still respected Dumbledore. "Perhaps I can still go see Luna..."

"Of course, after experiencing such a series of horrific events, you do need a good night's sleep," Dumbledore said. "If you need to find a student, you can go to the fourth floor to find Filius. Compared to a parent barging directly into the Ravenclaw common room, the headmaster is obviously a more appropriate person."

Xenophilius hurried away.

Now only Dumbledore and Coin were left in the headmaster's office, along with the little Thestral in Coin's arms.

"If I said I was going to save this little thestral, would you believe me?"

Cohen blinked twice.

"I don't think so, Cohen." Dumbledore didn't look angry at all. "But saving the little Thestral is a good thing. I will add 20 points to Gryffindor - but we have more important things to talk about. I was surprised that you suddenly left the school on your own tonight. Did something happen to you?"

"Because of a letter, Professor," Cohen said bluntly. "They said if I came over, they would tell me something I most wanted to know."

Cohen handed over the letter that someone had asked Hermione to give him. There was a silver key pattern on the envelope.

[January 1993, 1, Cairngorms Mountains, the cave under Sirius hides what you desperately want to know]

Dumbledore read the contents of the letter and frowned slightly.

"Excuse me, what is this thing you're dying to know about?"

"I don't know," Cohen said truthfully.

"?"

Dumbledore lowered his head slightly, looked straight at Cohen over his glasses, waiting for Cohen's explanation.

I don't know if it's too late to go...

"Just because I don't know what they think I want to know, I want to know what they think I want to know." Cohen said confidently, "It's very curious, I can't help it." "It's also human nature..." Dumbledore's beard twitched, "Curiosity is important, but it's too dangerous for a student. You can choose other safer ways, such as telling me about this. You know, the kidnapping rumors of the 'Silver Key Gathering' have been published everywhere in various newspapers - I guess you have seen them too."

"Woo——"

The little night mermaid was woken up and struggled in Cohen's arms for a while, but was then put to the ground by Cohen who couldn't hold it anymore.

"But what I want to know more is that Mr. Lovegood just said that he fainted after the appearance of that 'Dementor-like' 'god' - do you know what happened during that time?" Dumbledore asked.

"I know, I was there," Cohen said without any reservation.

The most clever method is to mix truth and lies. Cohen only says what he wants to say, so there will be no loopholes.

It also gave Dumbledore the feeling that Cohen was sincere to him - unlike Voldemort, who always said "I don't know, Professor" when asked questions during his student days.

"I was planning to sneak in and release whoever they had captured," Cohen said. "I saw Elvis—my mom's coworker, the one I'd read in the newspaper about being kidnapped by Silver Key—and this little Thestral."

Dumbledore waited for Coin to continue.

"But Elvis was so excited when he saw me that his voice attracted the Silver Key men, and they found me," Cohen said. "I was afraid they would attack me, so I turned into the most terrifying person I thought."

"It's a smart decision, Cohen," Dumbledore said with understanding, "but try not to do this in front of other ordinary people in the future. It may cause some unnecessary panic..."

"I noticed that," Cohen nodded. "Elvis fainted from shock—but it wasn't a big deal at the time. Suddenly, they knelt down before me, calling me Lord and God."

"This is their belief," Dumbledore guessed. "After what happened at Burke Manor, some of the news may have leaked out, and those who hold the Silver Keys may have developed a new belief based on it. I've met people like this before. Belief is a terrifying, yet precious thing. Many people devote their lives to it. It is precisely because of this that it makes us all so different and unique."

"But they encountered a bit of an accident. They hatched a basilisk in the cave, and the basilisk didn't listen to them after it was hatched," Cohen said. "The basilisk ate them all - then I found Luna's father. I had seen him in the photo she showed me before, so I cast a stunning spell on him to prevent the basilisk from killing him directly."

"Have you ever heard of the Basilisk?" Dumbledore asked with interest.

"Yes," said Cohen. "Ever since a scaly creature crawled into my bed, I've been researching every scaly magical creature I can find—a basilisk's stare can kill."

"But I'm fine," Cohen said. "I locked eyes with the basilisk, and not only did it not kill me, it actually spoke to me."

"What did it say to you?" Dumbledore sat up visibly straighter - now it was his turn to be curious.

"He thinks I'm his dad," Cohen said, pursing his lips. "He's been clinging to me—so I put him in a crate. Is that illegal?"

"..."

Dumbledore looked at Cohen's box, hesitant to speak.

(End of this chapter)