Once everyone else in the dormitory started snoring, Cohen, in his soul form, floated out of his body and slipped into the trunk that the house-elves had moved under his bed.
Tonight, only snakes—and exclusively snakes—were needed to scare Umbridge. Dementors were too distinctive; they would easily make the old hag think of Cohen.
"Grandson!" The Old Water Snake immediately twisted towards Cohen when it sensed him floating in, looking like a corporeal Dementor.
"Yes," Cohen replied, uncharacteristically, as if he'd found his target.
"Are you bringing me new fish fries? Those fish have eaten all..." the Old Water Snake began, but then, mid-sentence, it noticed something amiss. "Wait, what did you just say?"
"I didn't say anything," Cohen, in his Dementor form, had no face, and thus no expression. "You called me first."
"You said 'yes'!" The Old Water Snake looked as though it were facing a grave threat. "You never used to answer 'yes' when I called you 'grandson' before! You're not Cohen! Who are you?"
"You get upset when I answer, so now I'm upset," Cohen said in a sulky tone. "Fine, I won't ask you to come out and play. I'll ask Sisoko and the Old Basilisk instead – speaking of which, the Old Basilisk hasn't even..."
"No, no, no – that old thing is asleep!" The Old Water Snake quickly wrapped its tail around Cohen, saying, "Oh, you don't know how tired he was today; that little snake nearly dismantled him. As for going out to play in the middle of the night, I can grudgingly help you with that..."
"I knew that trick would work," Cohen said, grabbing the Old Water Snake's horn and dragging it a few steps towards the exit. "Come here, let me tell you the plan for later –"
"Plan?!" The Old Water Snake became alert as Cohen dragged it towards the trunk's exit. "Didn't you say we were going out to play?"
"Even playing needs a plan," Cohen said. "Tonight's activity is 'who can make a pink toad cry first'."
"Make what cry?" The Old Water Snake didn't understand what Cohen was saying –
"You'll know when we get there," Cohen said. "Later, we'll go invisible, then follow my scent."
"So... should we bring the little one?" the Old Water Snake asked.
"Let's just leave it behind –"
Originally, Cohen had indeed thought about bringing the little Basilisk, but considering it might just bite and kill too easily, making the death too painless, Cohen decided against it.
"Going out to play!" The little Basilisk suddenly burrowed out of the grass beneath their feet, as if it had been lurking there all along. "I want to go too!"
"How did you pop out from underground?" Cohen looked at the hole the little Basilisk had emerged from – logically, the ground here was indeed a bit deep...
When did the little Basilisk learn to dig?
Before the little Basilisk could answer, a small lion's head emerged from the same hole it had just come from, letting out a few barks at Cohen.
Could the young Manticore brought back from Greece actually dig?
"It taught me!" the little Basilisk said. "It's fun! – Much better than Harry Potter!"
So it says it doesn't care, but still brings him up every day, huh?
Cohen didn't comment.
But since the little Basilisk had found a new playmate, it wouldn't be long until it forgot about Harry.
---
Although Cohen's original intention was not to bring the little Basilisk to attack Umbridge, the little Basilisk's constant pleading, coupled with the Old Water Snake's inability to bear it and speaking up for it, changed his mind.
Finally, with the Old Water Snake's help, both of them went invisible and followed Cohen out of the trunk – as for the Manticore cub, which was also eagerly hoping to go out, it was left behind.
The main reason was that Cohen couldn't communicate with it, making it difficult to control the timing of the attack.
"Listen, I'll take you to the second floor. First, you... then you... if she..."
Cohen meticulously explained the plan to the two snakes beforehand.
He could see their souls nodding frantically – the little Basilisk was incredibly excited. This was its first time scaring someone with Cohen, and it felt much more interesting than chasing and biting golden sheep.
The Old Water Snake was also thrilled, hearing Cohen say that they were going to attack a high-ranking wizard, which was completely different from assaulting those simpletons in Greece.
...
Inside Umbridge's office.
It looked nothing like the previous Defence Against the Dark Arts professors' offices; it resembled a little girl's boudoir.
Everything was draped with lacy covers and soft pink tablecloths. Several vases filled with dried flowers were neatly arranged on individual pink coasters, and the wall behind the desk was adorned with decorative plates, each featuring a vibrant, moving cat.
Umbridge wasn't asleep; she sat behind her desk, speaking to a framed picture on it.
"Minister, I believe the promulgation of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four is absolutely necessary... Without a doubt... these students are lazy, undisciplined..."
"Of course, of course, we don't expect Dumbledore to teach very well. So many years of wild growth won't yield very satisfactory results..." Fudge's voice came from the picture frame.
"Who?!" Umbridge heard the magic detection charm at the door fail and immediately stood up (though there wasn't much difference in her height whether she was standing or sitting).
The voice from the picture frame ceased, and the entire room fell silent, save for the occasional meows from the wall covered in cat plates.
Umbridge drew her short, stout wand, pointing it directly at the door, which had suddenly opened halfway.
"Who? A ghost? A student?" Umbridge snapped. "As Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, I warn you, sneaking into the office of a high-ranking Ministry official is a serious offense, and I have the right to – Ah!"
She wildly flung a red spell towards the floor near her feet – because she had distinctly felt something slimy, slippery, like... scales, slithering past her ankle.
After a brief scream, she, like a common Muggle encountering a cockroach, carelessly cast a Blasting Curse at the spot on the floor near her feet.
"Crack!"
The wooden floor splintered, but Umbridge didn't get to see the invisible creature bleed as she wished, nor did it reveal itself.
"Reducto! Reducto!"
Two more spells, but this time, something truly chilling happened.
Something was rustling and crawling around her, accompanied by a hoarse hiss, like someone suffocating.
"Monster! Mongrel! Filthy creature! As Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, I order you to reveal yourself at once!" she shrieked, her wand uncontrollably flinging red spells towards the source of the sounds.
She didn't know if any of them hit – but the next sight made her even more frantic.
The neatly arranged flower vases lined up on the display stand against the wall were falling one after another, as if some slender creature was rapidly climbing over them.
If only it were just that – at least she would have pinpointed the creature's location.
But strange noises came from the other side as well. When she turned to look at the source of the sound, all she saw were shattered plates on the floor and a huge, S-shaped damp mark on the wall.
"Hiss –"
Just as she was about to raise her hand to cast a spell at the end of the damp mark, a hiss sounded from behind her almost invisible neck.
While she faced one monster, the other monster from before seemed to have already reached her back.
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