"Then I might as well just wait until everyone is dead." Voldemort gave a cold snort. "Harry Potter and I are destined for a showdown—"
"But it's quite obvious you can't beat him right now—not if he doesn't even use a wand," Cohen stated the truth, stroking his chin.
"Isn't that because of that bit of Phoenix tear you added!" Voldemort said ferociously. "But I will win in the end—I will be the one left standing. Harry Potter cannot defeat me..."
"So what are you planning to do next?" Cohen asked. "Harry's in the Gryffindor common room right now, less than five hundred meters away from you, you know—"
"..." Voldemort looked calmly at Cohen, his snake-like pupils seemingly saying, "What in Merlin's beard are you talking about?"
Use this Muggle body to kidnap Harry Potter? And inside Dumbledore's school?
"So do you still want this body?" Cohen asked. "If not, I can recycle it—"
"I still have use for this body... I need to leave here first," Voldemort said. "Prepare for a while longer... then kidnap him again..."
"There should still be some Death Eaters outside, right?" Cohen said. "Your followers?"
"From what I've heard over the years, a portion of my followers remained outside Azkaban," Voldemort said with a dangerous hiss in his throat. "I will find them..."
"What if they find out your current fighting ability is less than... well, air?" Cohen asked, tilting his head. "Are your subordinates that loyal?"
"Hmph." Voldemort said chillingly. "They wouldn't dare."
Indeed, even if that group of Death Eaters knew Voldemort currently had very little magical ability, they wouldn't dare lay a finger on him. Who could guarantee this was Voldemort's last life?
"Need a lift?" Cohen offered, sounding unusually helpful. "Going out like that, wouldn't you just attract the Ministry of Magic's Aurors? I could take you to one of the Death Eaters' homes. I just learned Apparition last year."
Finally, Voldemort decided to make his temporary residence at the wealthiest of the Death Eaters' homes—Lucius Malfoy's place. Cohen felt like these two must have had some kind of ill-fated connection in a past life. Despite all Cohen's interference, Lucius was still the first person Voldemort thought of.
They arrived at Hogsmeade through a tunnel that had just appeared from the Room of Requirement. Cohen had originally wanted the Room of Requirement to open a door directly to Malfoy Manor, but it seemed the room's capabilities only extended as far as Hogsmeade. So they had to go through Hogsmeade as a transit point. From Hogsmeade, Cohen Apparated with Voldemort to Malfoy Manor—you can't Apparate within Hogwarts itself.
When Lucius saw Cohen arrive at his house with Voldemort, he felt as though all his vital signs had vanished instantly—the kind where even breathing stops.
"M-Master... Master..." Lucius immediately bowed deeply to Voldemort. "I've always... always been trying to find you..."
"Oh, really, Lucius...?" Voldemort said sinisterly. "Then why have I heard some whispers? Whispers that say you were forced to become a Death Eater because of the Imperius Curse..."
"That's because... because I needed to stay outside Azkaban—" Lucius immediately dropped to his knees, saying tremblingly, "So I could provide you with information—Cohen must have told you..."
Voldemort let out a sharp laugh.
"Get up, Lucius," Voldemort said. "Cohen did mention you to me... at least you still have a chance to live—prove your worth through your loyalty."
"I will, Master! I will!" Lucius was practically pressing himself against the cold marble tiles of his own home. "I will always be loyal to you."
"Alright, you two catch up. I need to head back to school," Cohen said, completely disrupting the mood. "I haven't finished my homework this week..."
Voldemort shot Cohen a displeased look, as if reminding him that he had just ruined the oppressive atmosphere Voldemort had carefully built.
As for Lucius, he didn't even dare lift his head—Cohen's relationship with Voldemort must have definitely warmed up now, otherwise, Voldemort would have already gone after Cohen. And it seemed Cohen hadn't forgotten their agreement. In front of Voldemort, he had put in a few good words about the Malfoy family... All he had to do now was wait, wait for Voldemort's new orders.
"I will stay here with you for a while," Voldemort said, not answering Cohen, turning and using a commanding tone. "Consider this a chance to repay me... prove your loyalty to me, Lucius..."
"I'll do anything, Master," Lucius agreed readily.
Cohen didn't stick around to keep watching the strange master-servant dynamic. Anyway, the body Voldemort was using was Cohen's flesh-and-blood puppet, so Cohen didn't need to be there to monitor his every move. He could even actively influence the current Voldemort's actions—though this active influence was a "one-off," because Voldemort would definitely abandon this body once he sensed something was wrong with it.
[Ding! Evil side quest completed] [3. Provide the necessary materials for Tom Riddle's resurrection] [1000 Sin Points, Animagus Form Mimic (Choose one bloodline source) awarded]
The system notification only just rang out, like there was a delay. Cohen also opened the system panel for the first time in a while. This "Animagus Form Mimic" wasn't an item, but a label displayed directly on the panel.
[Cohen Norton] [Race: Dementor / Human / "Nightmare" / Basilisk / Chimera] [Soul Integrity: 34.8%] [Special Abilities Unlocked: Spirit Body Shaping (10/10), Emotion Absorption (10/10), Liquid Curse (3/10), Parseltongue (10/10), Death Gaze (5/10), Revelation (8/10)] [Animagus Mimic Forms: None (Selectable: 1)] [Soul Strength: 34.8] [Current Benevolence Points: 7125] [Current Sin Points: 8377]
Those special abilities he hadn't paid much attention to before seemed to have leveled up without him noticing. Spirit Body Shaping, Emotion Absorption, Parseltongue, and the like had all reached max level—though the levels for these things didn't seem to have any particularly obvious use. The trigger for leveling up seemed to simply be "using them more." Cohen hadn't used methods like the Basilisk's Gaze at all, so its level hadn't increased.
What concerned Cohen more was this Animagus form—he could choose one from Human, Nightmare, Basilisk, and Chimera. The reason he couldn't choose Dementor was simply because, from a soul perspective, Cohen was currently a pureblood Dementor and didn't need to transform into one.
Cohen's first choice was the "Basilisk." Not for the Basilisk's venom or anything like that—purely because of Hissokoh. If Hissokoh could see Cohen transform into a Basilisk, he would likely feel a little happier. After all, the people who created Cohen had merged Hissokoh's wife and children into him...
Not long after Cohen decided on the first Animagus form to mimic, another task completion notification popped up.
[Ding! Good side quest completed] [3. Prevent Tom Riddle's servant from gaining freedom] [1000 Benevolence Points, Animagus Form Mimic (Choose one bloodline source) awarded]
How come this task concerning Peter only settled now? Doesn't make much difference, though, as long as the rewards weren't short-changed.
For the second mimic target, Cohen chose the Chimera—it had quite a few special abilities, and it was huge. Nobody could refuse the ability to "make yourself really big."
After returning to Hogsmeade and coming back to Hogwarts through the door that opened in a stone wall, Cohen, having been busy going back and forth, decided to grab some dinner.
"Peter Pettigrew was executed," Harry said to Cohen from the Gryffindor table, reading the newspaper.
"I thought the wizarding world didn't have capital punishment, come to think of it..." Cohen said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. "What was the charge?"
"Framing a war hero and spreading terror," Harry said. "Why isn't there any news about Voldemort trying to return?"
"Because most people in the magical world are trying very hard to believe Voldemort is well and truly dead," Cohen replied. "Fudge wouldn't dare let that news get out."
"But it's the truth!" Harry said, not understanding. "What's the use of hiding the truth?!"
"That's how short-sighted people are," Cohen said, raising an eyebrow noncommittally. "Because he can't come up with a plan or the courage to confront Voldemort, nor does he have the means to reassure people—Fudge is a competent politician, but not a competent leader."
"Coward," Harry muttered through gritted teeth.
"How's Sirius doing now?" Hermione asked.
"A war hero... locked up in Azkaban for twelve years for his friends and godson, completely innocent..." Ron sighed dramatically. "He must have gotten a lot of compensation."
"The paper didn't say," Cohen shook his head. "But Sirius wrote to me. He said he got a Order of Merlin, Second Class, and a big pile of gold—though he said he's not exactly short on Galleons."
"Why am I surrounded by rich kids!" Ron exclaimed, covering his face in despair.
"Sirius is still single, by the way," Cohen reminded him kindly.
"He's old enough to be my dad," Ron said, pursing his lips.
"You mean if he were younger, you'd actually consider it?" Harry asked, eyes wide. "My Brother Covets My Godfather"... that's weird...
"That's absolutely revolting!" Ron said, making a face. "Just you wait, I'll be rich someday too—if worst comes to worst, I'll just find a rich witch."
"Is money all you ever see, Ronald?" Hermione suddenly asked.
"Not really, I mean, if a girl was really pretty, I'd even be willing even if she gave me tens of thousands of Galleons..." Ron said wistfully, completely missing the strange look in Hermione's eyes.
After dinner, Cohen returned to the Room of Requirement and climbed into the box. The surprise for Hissokoh was decided for tonight—he just hoped it wouldn't react strangely.
After getting into the box, Cohen performed his first transformation. He felt his body gradually swelling and lengthening, dense, dark green scales pushing out all over him, and sharp, venomous fangs growing in his mouth. The feeling of being a snake... It was a bit like a weird creature covered head to toe in hands, but stuffed into a long cloth bag, only able to wriggle forward through the skin.
(End of Chapter)