The Yule Ball hadn't even reached its midnight intermission yet, but Cohen and Harry had already left the event.
Harry went straight back to the Gryffindor common room, while Cohen had to escort Xisoko, the Little Snake Monster, and the Unicorn back to the Room of Requirement.
The room had to be expanded twice its usual size just to make space for their original forms—especially since the Little Snake Monster was now nearly half the size of Xisoko.
"Being a snake really is better," Xisoko groaned, stretching comfortably in his serpent form. "And not having any dangling parts feels a lot less awkward too."
"If there's no more balls, and you still want a human body, I'm turning you into a man," Cohen said flatly. "It's way too weird hearing you speak Parseltongue in a girl's body."
"Will I get to see Harry again?" the Little Snake Monster asked dreamily. "He's such a good person!"
"He's a little perv," Xisoko grumbled. "You're not allowed to get close to anyone who starts touching your tail the moment they see you."
"You're the bad one!" the Little Snake Monster pouted and turned her head away from Xisoko.
"I'm just trying to protect you from creeps—wait…"
Xisoko was just about to rant more when he suddenly paused.
"What… what did you just call me?"
Wait a second—did she just call him Dad correctly?
"Hmph!" the Little Snake Monster huffed without answering.
"You were getting it wrong on purpose just to annoy me?!" Xisoko exploded.
"Take your family drama inside," Cohen said, shoving both snake monsters and the unicorn into the suitcase. "Also, don't let that pudding pile up. It'll get soggy. Go share it with the other baby unicorns."
He closed the suitcase lid.
He still had to interrogate Rita Skeeter tonight. It was already suspicious enough that Karkaroff might be tied to the Silver Key, but Rita suddenly acting unafraid of Cohen screamed of outside influence too—likely the same group.
After sealing off the Room of Requirement, Cohen dumped a small glass jar onto the table—inside it, a beetle rolled out.
"**Awaken.**" Cohen pointed his wand at the overturned beetle and cast a spell.
Its first reflex was to struggle and flip itself over, freeze momentarily, then dart straight for the door—only to smack into an invisible wall.
"Run if you want," Cohen said with a cold smirk. "I enjoy playing with my food… when I'm not especially hungry."
The beetle flew frantically around the perimeter, bouncing off the invisible walls several times, before finally collapsing on the floor like it had given up.
Then—flash! A burst of white light.
The beetle rapidly expanded and reshaped itself into a disheveled woman.
Rita Skeeter's previously well-coiffed waves were now a tangled mess. Her face was pale, and she adjusted her askew glasses with a trembling hand.
"You… how did you figure—"
"Turning into something else won't help you hide from me," Cohen said coolly. "I understand humans better than most of my kind. And who told you I don't hurt non-humans?"
"…" Rita stayed silent, but Cohen saw her fingers twitching—her wand was behind her back, gripped tight.
"Gryffindor, were you?" Cohen asked. "Still this bold after my 'warning'? Asking Hagrid about me?"
"Ravenclaw," she muttered, barely focusing.
"Didn't seem all that smart," Cohen said. "Just tell me—who's backing you now?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rita blinked innocently. "But whatever you're planning—this is illegal detention—"
"Oh no, Azkaban," Cohen said mockingly. "Shall I ask the Dementors to give you a little extra attention? Trust me, they go too easy on inmates most of the time."
"You're the one illegally holding me here," Rita stated firmly. She still didn't cast a spell, waiting for a moment—when Cohen's wand lowered.
"You expect Dementors to do what to me? Hug me? Tuck me in at night?" Cohen chuckled darkly. "You can still talk because I allow it. But if you keep refusing to answer… I'll stop being polite."
"I already told you—I don't know what you're talking about. Let me go and I'll—"
Cohen deliberately shifted her wand away from Rita.
Just as expected, Rita saw her chance.
*"Expecto Patronum!"*
A huge silver beetle—the size of a human head—shot out from her wand, barreling straight at Cohen.
The fact that she could use the Patronus Charm was surprising… but only just.
She planned to use the Patronus to buy time. While Cohen dealt with it, she could dart through the anti-Apparition barrier and escape the Room of Requirement. If she found anyone in the castle, Cohen wouldn't dare act rashly—not with Dumbledore around.
But what happened next made her stomach drop and her hands go cold.
**"Fun. Expecto Patronum!"
Cohen's voice rang out again—but what came from his wand was no ordinary creature.
It was a silver Dementor.
Rita's eyes went wide. She tried to cancel her spell, but it was too late.
Cohen's Patronus snatched hers in a skeletal hand, and a jolt of icy energy shot from the tip of her wand through her body. It felt like her joy—her will—was being leeched away.
"You like playing with Patronuses?" Cohen said. "Is that what the Silver Key told you? That Patronuses could beat me?"
The Dementor-Patronus pulled back its hood, exposing a mist-shrouded face as it sucked out strands of silvery smoke from Rita's magical projection.
"You… what are you?!" Rita gasped.
Even the Patronus Charm couldn't stop him?
"What can stop you then?"
"I hate being called a monster," Cohen growled. "Especially when I'm just the result of something you people made… and now you can't stand the sight of me."