Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 77: Legacy Two Years Later
After Nicol tried several methods of reviving Cohen, Cohen felt it was time for his method to "work."

"Hands are moving!" Edward exclaimed, his joy evident. "Look at Cohen's hands!"

Cohen first moved his hands - that's how it's played in TV dramas, then slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

"hiss--"

Cohen gasped, looking as if his soul had just returned to his body.

Cohen was extremely satisfied with his acting because he did not feel any doubt around him.

Suddenly, Cohen felt a surge of "happiness" approaching rapidly——

"Cohen!" Rose picked Cohen up from the bed and held him tightly in her arms, fearing that something might happen to Cohen again.

"Mom, you're going to strangle me to death..." Cohen choked.

"Oh——" Rose quickly let go of him and rubbed Cohen's neck distressedly.

Compared to Rose, Edward seemed much calmer. His hands were clenched into a ball and were shaking at a high frequency.

"Thank you, thank you so much..." Edward thanked Nicolas Flamel nervously, "I don't know what I would have done without you..."

"Ah..." Nico looked from Cohen to Edward, "I didn't do much, actually—the kid came back mostly on his own."

"I'm glad to see this result." Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief - Cohen was alive, and he didn't have to suffer from the torment of his conscience.

Maybe I'll have to ask Nico later what spell worked, but for now, let's let this child who just saw the god of death reunite with his parents.

"I think we should give the space to Coin and his family first," Dumbledore suggested to Nico.

"Of course, of course." Although Nico was very curious about Cohen, he was never in a hurry. "Perhaps I can chat with Cohen alone later? I'm very curious about some of his circumstances - no 'little man in a bottle' has ever lived this long before..."

Edward and Rose had no objections, and Cohen was happy to talk to this ghostly, shriveled old man - no matter how you looked at it, the Philosopher's Stone he had eaten was much more valuable than Nico's simple request.

Dumbledore and Nicole left the ward temporarily. They met Harry outside. When Harry opened the door, he saw Cohen alive inside, which made Harry feel relieved.

After enjoying the care from all sides, Cohen has to face some more depressing things.

For example, the "truth" that the adoptive parents can no longer suppress.

"Cohen, I think we need to confess something to you."

Edward and Rose looked at each other, and Edward explained to Cohen that because Edward and Cohen usually played closer, Rose was responsible for discipline and care most of the time.

"About your background—you should have heard it just now? It's just..."

"That 'I'm a hybrid of many creatures' thing? I heard that, otherwise I wouldn't have touched your shoulders." Cohen nodded. "Is there anything you don't understand? I can explain it to you."

"Then - wait a minute -" Edward was about to start from the beginning when he suddenly realized that what Cohen said was "If you don't understand something, you can ask me."

"I've felt like I'm a little different since I was little..." Cohen confessed like a child, "So after coming to school, I've been looking for things related to myself - especially after Professor Quirrell threatened me to help him steal the Philosopher's Stone. He said I was a dark magic experiment..."

"Don't believe that bastard's lies!" Rose sat down on the bed with a distressed look on her face, hugging Cohen close to her. "You are our child, and you always will be. You are not some experimental subject!"

"I'm eleven, not one, Mom," Cohen continued. "And I love you, so I need to find out what I am, so I don't hurt you."

"I've pretty much figured out what happened at Burke Manor - and the fact that I have some Dementor traits."

"Are you scared?" Edward asked worriedly.

"Ah? Ask me?" Cohen pointed at himself. "What should I be afraid of?"

"Different from the others?" Edward asked, but it was obvious that he was worried that Cohen would develop some psychological problems because of this.

"I'm not afraid. Just think of it as if I've learned some special magic..." Cohen was telling the truth. He had a normal appearance and could easily blend into the human group. There was no need to waste his energy on this.

"That's good..." Edward breathed a sigh of relief. "I've been worried that you would..."

Rose stopped Edward from continuing with a stern look, lest the second half of the sentence make Cohen feel uncomfortable.

"Some bad ideas came up." Edward quickly changed his words.

"Don't worry, I'm healthy both physically and mentally. Before Professor Quirrell attacked me, Hagrid and I started a large breeding project involving several magical animals," Cohen comforted his adoptive parents. "I'm also very familiar with a group of unicorns. They often come to Hagrid for food."

Cohen concealed the fact that he had sneaked into the Forbidden Forest a little, so that Rose would not realize that something was wrong and get furious.

The comfort was effective, and both Edward and Rose seemed happy that Cohen had found a healthy hobby.

Of course, if they knew that this "magical animal breeding hobby" included illegal fire dragons and forbidden dark magic creatures called "nightmares", perhaps the smiles on their faces would disappear instantly.

The next topic shifted from Cohen's studies to the Dungeons & Dragons sandbox that Edward had given Cohen ("What? You didn't have a love life in it? I made a bunch of beautiful female characters just for you!" Edward asked in disbelief, "I even made a bunch of love lines for you - you weren't leveling up and fighting monsters the whole time, were you?").

The subsequent content was too inappropriate for children, so Edward was scolded by Rose, and now the whole family returned to normal.

Cohen's "death" turned out to be a false alarm, and Edward and Rose did not stay in the school for long - Dumbledore once again assured them that Cohen would be "absolutely safe" in the school, and Rose also apologized for some inappropriate words she said to Dumbledore in the morning.

However, Dumbledore did not accept the apology, but repeatedly stressed that Rose's actions were reasonable, and that it was indeed his fault first, and that he should apologize to Rose more. Everything seemed to have returned to normal. The only two things that had changed in the school were Quirrell's death and the Philosopher's Stone eaten by Coin.

After dinner, Nicolas Flamel came to Cohen's ward alone.

"Mr. Flamel—" Cohen said, sitting up and greeting him, "Thank you for saving me."

That's the polite thing to do.

"Ha, actually I don't understand which spell worked."

Nicolas Flamel had no airs of an elder at all. He ran to the bed next to Cohen at a very hard speed and sat down so that he and Cohen could have an eye contact and talk.

"I guess you could return to your body, but because of people's general perception of 'death', I haven't tried it... But it doesn't matter. At least the result is good..."

"I just asked your parents and Albus - you should have a little understanding of your own life experience?" Nicole asked gently.

"Yes, I've read a few books on alchemy - they mentioned the 'Homunculus'," Cohen replied.

"You're special, Cohen," Nico said. "I'm not kidding. I've seen many similar alchemical studies—of course, I'm reluctant to conduct such unethical experiments myself—but without exception, those 'little people in bottles' died within three years."

"The experimental materials and types used in this study are almost identical. The only difference is the selection of raw materials, but raw materials have always been the least important part of this research," Nicole asked. "Child, do you know what this means?"

"Does that mean the Burkes rolled a 'big hit'?"
Cohen didn't understand what Nico said at first.

"Those mixed materials that don't belong to the same creature will repel each other. Only extremely strong magic can glue them together—but it's just glue. Things that were originally broken will always break easily."

"You have one major difference from those 'little people in the bottle' who couldn't survive," Nicol continued. "You have something extra, something the other 'experimental subjects' don't have, and can't have."

"The magical power that Albus believed in - 'love'."

Nico smiled.

"Isn't this a bit far-fetched? I was adopted by Edward and Rose after I was born..." Cohen felt that this was not quite right. "It can't be..."

Suddenly, Cohen realized why.

"Cohen" was not "loved" until he was adopted.

There is a man who has long placed his hopes, love and sorrow on "Cohen" - Herbert Burke, who is still "jailed" next to the ruins of Burke Manor.

Is love really magical?
Cohen had been a bit skeptical before—and still was.

"Of course, this is just a guess." Nico shook his head. "If it were three hundred years ago, I might have wanted to study you carefully—I was still very young back then, with a strong thirst for knowledge..."

Three hundred years ago, Nicolas Flamel was already over three hundred years old, so he couldn't be considered "young" no matter how you look at it...

Cohen felt that Nico's sense of time had been diluted.

"But now... I would rather see children like you grow up healthily and carefree." Nico said with a smile.

"I thought you wanted to study me..." Cohen was puzzled by the fact that Nicolas Flamel had asked for a private chat but was really just having a heart-to-heart talk. "For example, starting with those strange and bizarre abilities, or asking about the Philosopher's Stone..."

"The Philosopher's Stone isn't that important to me anymore," Nicol replied relaxedly. "The fact that it can merge with you proves that the 'Great Work' (Magnum Opus) in the Emerald Record isn't simply referring to the Philosopher's Stone. The end of alchemy remains unseen—but none of this matters to me. My wife and I plan to find a time to prepare properly and embark on our next journey. This project will be left to future generations."

“…” Cohen knew what Nicolas Flamel was talking about.

"The next journey is death, Cohen," Nico said bluntly, "For a clear-minded person, death is just another great adventure. My wife and I have lived too long, and it's time to move on to new scenery."

"But you are different. You have just arrived in this world. There are still many sights you haven't seen and many emotions you haven't experienced. The adventure shouldn't end hastily before it even begins. This is why Dumbledore tried his best to save you."

Nico stretched out a dry and slender hand and stroked Cohen's hair.

"Cherish the ones you love while there's still time."

Before leaving, he left a letter on Cohen's bedside. When Cohen picked up the letter and was about to look up to ask something, he found that Nicolas Flamel had disappeared.

"Does it have to be so fairy-tale-like..." Cohen clicked his tongue.

He can obviously teleport, but he was still trying so hard to run around with his old body.

When I opened the letter, there was a piece of letter paper with a few lines of words and an antique brass key.

The key's surface is covered in intricate carvings; there's nothing ordinary about Nicolas Flamel's creations.

The content of the letter is not much, but it is very important.

[Cohen, are you interested in alchemy? If so, you can come to my workshop in two years—there are some things here that can help you learn alchemy.]

[Enclosed is a workshop key. Insert it into a door that will lead to my workshop. Please use it after two years. During this time, it will be just an abandoned garbage dump. I will deal with these things before I leave.]

The last sentence was written in a more recent hand, as if Nicolas Lemeis had added it after some thought.

[I suspect you will need help from the source of alchemy, as I've noticed your soul is incomplete. So whether you're interested or not, come back in two years.]

(End of this chapter)