Krum looked like he'd just been caught cheating—by the person he was cheating on.
Curious, Cohen shifted closer to Krum and, under Harry's incredulous gaze, began what could only be described as "Cohen-style socializing."
"Oi, oi." Cohen greeted Krum casually. "Feeling nervous?"
Krum gave a stiff nod, but compared to Harry, he seemed more willing to meet Cohen's eyes—he was still very deliberately avoiding looking at Harry.
"Got a girlfriend?" Cohen asked with absolutely no sense of personal boundaries. "When Harry left this morning, his girlfriend was super anxious—"
"Cohen!" Harry hissed in a low growl, "I don't have a girlfriend!"
It was hard for Krum not to hear that.
And when he did hear Harry say, "I don't have a girlfriend," Krum suddenly looked up, his face full of confusion. He glanced at Harry, then at Cohen, as if about to ask something.
But Fleur's turn ended quickly, and from outside came the call for Krum.
"I have to go." Krum said quickly to Cohen. "Can you wait for me outside after the task—I've got a few questions—"
"Viktor Krum!" Moody stuck his head into the tent, barking gruffly. "You're up."
"Coming." Krum hurried off.
Now it was just Cohen and Harry left in the tent.
"What was all that about?" Harry asked, keeping his voice low out of instinct even though they were alone. "You know I don't have a girlfriend—it's all stuff the Daily Prophet made up—"
"But Krum doesn't know that," Cohen raised an eyebrow. "He likes Hermione. Didn't you notice?"
"What?" Harry said in shock.
"Why do you think he was avoiding your eyes just now?" Cohen smirked. "Because the papers said you're Hermione's boyfriend—so he didn't dare look at you. Then you said you don't have a girlfriend, and suddenly he perks right up—"
"But Hermione doesn't like him, right?" Harry said, clearly confused. "Just the other day, she was complaining about how he causes a commotion wherever he goes—and she called the Wronski Feint a 'silly trick move'…"
"Girls aren't always logical," Cohen said, sounding like someone who'd seen too much. "First loves—especially for young girls—are usually all hormones and instinct."
Harry shook his head, unconvinced. He still didn't believe Hermione and Krum would ever get together.
But he didn't have much time to think about gossip—because after Krum's turn, he was up next.
"Don't get nervous," Cohen advised. "Lock eyes with the dragon and start hurling spells. Then sprint in, grab the golden egg, and run. Simple."
"Let's hope so." Harry took a deep breath.
"Harry Potter!" called a voice from outside.
Harry left, and Cohen was alone in the tent.
From outside came the roar of the crowd. They were all speculating about how Harry would take on the dragon.
If nothing went wrong, Cohen figured the crowd might be disappointed—Harry would probably use the same tactic as Krum, and "repetition" was the one thing audiences hated most.
But it's always when you think "if nothing goes wrong" that something goes wrong.
"Very bold! Oh—uh-oh! The Horntail seems to be getting agitated—it's starting to thrash around—"
A sharp, piercing roar followed—the cry of the Hungarian Horntail.
Cohen, curious, used his soul magic to sneak a peek outside.
Sure enough, Harry had used the Conjunctivitis Curse—but the audience reacted as though they were seeing it for the first time, erupting into cheers.
So… Krum didn't use the Conjunctivitis Curse?
Something had definitely gone off-script, and Cohen was pretty sure it wasn't just because he'd mentioned girlfriends earlier.
Despite a few close calls, Harry managed to get the golden egg.
Now it was Cohen's turn.
"Cohen Norton!"
His name rang out from the stadium.
Cohen adjusted his gear and stepped out briskly.
"Ready?" Moody asked quietly. "Your dad made a bet—five Galleons on you coming in first."
"I'll try," Cohen said uncertainly.
"I bet on second," Moody grinned. "No pressure."
Hard to say if Moody was really being reassuring—Cohen hadn't felt any pressure until now. All he could think about was poor Edward losing five Galleons.
Putting aside the fact that Umbridge was here replacing Fudge as a judge, Cohen knew he wouldn't be getting a perfect score anyway.
Because he and Norbert had made a deal—Norbert would stomp on as many eggs as possible during the chaos, giving Cohen the chance to grab a few extra dragon eggs unnoticed.
"The final champion!" Lee Jordan shouted enthusiastically. "He's entered the arena! What will he do against the Norwegian Ridgeback?"
The stands erupted in wave after wave of cheers. Even though most people barely knew Cohen—and maybe weren't actually rooting for him—they screamed anyway, caught up in the primal excitement.
No wonder people loved the spotlight—it did feel amazing.
As he stepped into the ring, Cohen quickly spotted Edward and the others in the stands. He had no idea how he could pick his parents out of the massive crowd of souls—he just could.
He gave them a little wave, then turned his focus to the fire-breathing beast on the other side of the arena.
It looked just like Norbert—only this one had more scars across its scaly body, like it had fought a dozen battles and come out meaner each time.
The Norwegian Ridgeback crouched by her nest, guarding her eggs, eyes locked on Cohen—his presence made her feel an unusual sense of danger.
"He's walking straight toward the dragon! No spells yet—what's he planning?" Lee narrated. "The dragon looks angry—it's already spreading its wings, and Cohen's not even in the center yet! We haven't seen this behavior with any other champion!"
The Ridgeback decided to strike first—it sensed real danger from the human in front of it.
"Look—Cohen's raising his wand—" Lee shouted.
"Portalium Evoco."
As the dragon lunged toward him, Cohen casually raised his wand and spoke a spell barely anyone in the arena recognized.
A blast of white light burst forth, and from the tip of Cohen's wand tore open a massive rift—on the other side, another adult Norwegian Ridgeback came flying through.
"Merlin's beard!" Lee gasped, nearly speechless. "What kind of spell is that—I don't think anyone's heard of it—I've never heard of it—a second dragon just flew out of that portal!"
"Two dragons are fighting now! Should the safety team—wait a minute…"
Lee's voice cut off abruptly.
Because within five seconds, the two dragons stopped fighting—and just froze.
"What's going on? Why aren't they moving?" Lee yelled. "It looks like they've been caught in some kind of advanced magic—"
Cohen's expression darkened.
If only it were magic.
But clearly, it wasn't.
Norbert seemed to have fallen for the mother dragon.
His tail had started wagging wildly.