Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 156 The luggage you are referring to is not this big Slytherin head statue, right?

"I've kept you here to ask you something else," Dumbledore continued. "About what happened in the Chamber of Secrets."

"We lied."

Cohen made no secret of it.
"Those two serpent monsters are still alive."

Anyway, Dumbledore had observed the first half of the process, and now he was leaving a private message to ask about the follow-up situation.

"I thought your secret would be kept longer." Dumbledore said with interest.

"We just don't want parents to know that the monster that attacked us is still alive," Cohen said. "They certainly won't believe... that the old basilisk was actually forced to attack, and that Voldemort was the culprit, not him."

"It's a smart decision. You are far more proactive than your peers." Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "Our enemies are always those with malicious intentions, not those pitiful creatures who are threatened and controlled. However, letting the basilisk stay in Hogwarts is not a good decision. I remember last time we discussed how to deal with the basilisk's deadly stare..."

"I've already made it," Cohen said. "But I made one for the little basilisk. I plan to make one for each of the two big basilisks so that I can send them to live in my box. After all, I already have a fire dragon, so raising three basilisks doesn't seem so scary..."

"Besides, one of them is a basilisk of yours," Dumbledore quipped. "I often say that I have seen many sights and people, but what is happening to you is something I have never seen before, and they all love you very much."

It's hard to say about Cohen. So far, Ali has no feelings for him, mainly because of the contract. The little Dementor has no self-awareness at all. Only Sissoko truly treats Cohen as a child.

"However, Cohen, I don't really want to ask about the 'basilisk part' alone." Dumbledore stared at Cohen's dark pupils with his azure eyes over his half-moon glasses. "Before you were swallowed by one of the basilisks, did you already know them?"

"Damn it, you found out," Cohen confessed carelessly.

When faced with an execution scene where your secret tricks are discovered, the best way is to partially confess and make the other person feel that they are on the second level.

Cohen had already prepared several final explanations.

"The basilisk that's related to me is called Sissoko. It came to me for help the day before yesterday, and you happened to give me some advice on how to help the basilisk solve its staring problem." Cohen said, "Then you introduced me to the old basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets - for some reason, Slytherin didn't even want to give it a name..."

"For many people who don't understand love, a name is a ridiculous number, Cohen," Dumbledore said, "but for us, a name represents something far more important than just a single word."

"A name is a spell, a spell that can tightly string different creatures together, like the names of pets, nicknames between friends, and the names between parents and children. Once you give someone a name, it means you are separating some magical emotions. For some powerful wizards, this is an act of self-harm."

Dumbledore said,
"Salazar Slytherin didn't want to have much to do with the basilisk—he simply used it, treating it as an obedient tool of his own creation. He used magic to put it to sleep, allowing his descendants to control it and commit horrific attacks. Not giving the basilisk a name meant he didn't have to consider how confused it would be when it woke up a thousand years later, how panicked it would be when discovered, or how desperate it would be after being 'eliminated.'"

"It's very irresponsible, especially for a creature with human-like self-awareness," Cohen said.

"That's right, Cohen."

Dumbledore said happily,

"That's what makes us different—and that's probably one of the reasons why Slytherin and the other founders of Hogwarts eventually parted ways."

"Wait a minute——"

Cohen pretended to have just realized something was wrong.

"I haven't told you about Sissoko swallowing me—" "Huh!" Dumbledore said, stroking his long beard, "Since we've been so frank, I don't think I should hide anything—actually, after Fawkes showed up, I also went to the Chamber of Secrets."

"And you just watched the three of us second-year students deal with Voldemort and the Basilisk?" Cohen seized the opportunity to question.

"I have always advocated the integration of teaching and practice." Dumbledore said cheerfully, "And - allow me to brag a little - with my protection, you will really be fine."

"I was swallowed by the basilisk!" said Cohen, "even though it originally intended to hold me in its mouth to prevent me from being affected..."

"Didn't I cast a protective spell?" said Dumbledore slyly.

"Whatever, I'll tell my mother," Coin said vehemently. "You're watching the show again—it happens every year—and unless you fix my wand, I'll—"

"..."

Dumbledore quickly covered Cohen's mouth.

"I'll help you fix your wand, and we can just keep this a little secret between us, okay?"
-
It’s not that you can’t afford a new wand, but the old wand is more cost-effective.

Cohen had already developed an attachment to the wand, which he had used for less than two years—the kind of attachment one develops to an old toy.

I can replace it if it’s not working anymore, but the old one cannot be broken or thrown away.

Besides, Cohen saw that Dumbledore also enjoyed this kind of "joke" that put aside the status difference between the headmaster and the student. Old Dumbledore was still very pitiful sometimes. This was considered as taking care of an elderly single man who was over a hundred years old and still sticking to his job. Cohen felt that the system should reward him with a few thousand more goodwill points.

[Goodwill +10]

[Note: There are no more. All the money comes in but you don’t buy anything. Ugh! Tuntun Rat!]
What happened to Tuntun Rat? (annoyed)

Cohen also wanted to spend points to buy some useful things, but the useful and fun magical animals in the Goodwill Store cost thousands or even tens of thousands, not to mention the things that could be bought with the even more scarce sin points.

Just to raise the soul's integrity by 1% costs one thousand souls. Cohen has always regarded it as his backup energy source for "breaking through the battlefield". If he encounters an enemy that he cannot absorb now, he will exchange the sin value in his hand for soul integrity, and then shout "Don't underestimate the friendship and bond between me and my former victims" and rush forward to kill the enemy.

There is no doubt about it, this is the classic plot.

After being urged by Dumbledore to collect the two basilisks, Cohen returned to the Chamber of Secrets with the box.

But before he even entered the room, he heard a loud noise, as if something had been smashed - perhaps it was a stone pillar in the secret room, or perhaps it was a wall, anyway, it was the sound of stone breaking.

There was also the whispering of two snakes.

"What else do you have?" Sissoko asked.

"And this—" said the old basilisk.

Then, there was a louder explosion, and the old basilisk seemed to have severely whipped a pillar with its tail.

What other luggage does a basilisk need to bring when moving? No, what kind of luggage could a snake have in such a shabby place like the Chamber of Secrets?
(End of this chapter)