Cohen stared at the man who seemed to have stepped from middle age into a grave in an instant, considering whether or not to point out the fact that "Cohen is no longer his son"—neither physically nor mentally.
According to alchemical theory, the final product, transcending the original material, has nothing to do with the materials put into the alchemical ingot.
Just as the atoms that make up the human body come from the stars in the universe, but the stars are completely different from humans.
But this news was certainly hard for Herbert to accept now. Perhaps he had given up everything, willing to spend his whole life in this lonely and dangerous place, just to see Cohen return one day—
"Damn it," Cohen sighed, "You've gone this far with your sentimentality, so I'll reluctantly grant your wish and spend Christmas with you."
[Ding! Goodwill Value +100]
Cohen had been waiting for this announcement from the system. If helping a poor man have a beautiful thought during his endless prison years wasn't considered a "good deed," then Cohen could only conclude one thing—that Herbert was lying.
However, it seemed Herbert was sincere; the system hadn't been deceived before, at least not by a nearly driven-mad old man.
"Great!" Herbert seemed to suddenly become ten years younger, his hands nervously rubbing against his tattered clothes. Cohen could see him trembling, trembling with excitement. "I—what should I do—you said you were hungry…yes, I'll go get you something to eat…"
Herbert hurriedly got up to light a fire, but the fire in the house had already gone out, and his wand was with Cohen.
However, he didn't ask Cohen for the wand.
His mind was unusually clear now; it was fortunate that Cohen was still here. He could see Cohen was cautious, and he should put Cohen at ease—on Christmas Day.
"Burning fire!" Cohen cast a fire-starting spell at the fire to prevent Herbert from trying to start a fire by friction—he didn't have a lighter. "That rabbit's practically rotting from being soaked. Earl, go catch a few more."
"I was going to praise you for regaining some conscience," the Earl glared at Cohen, but still spread his wings and flew away.
"An owl can talk?" Herbert turned to look at the Earl, then secretly glanced at Cohen, before immediately turning his worried gaze to the iron pot in front of him, afraid that Cohen might change his mind because of something he said.
"Yes, my pet, bought for ten shicos," Cohen answered Herbert's question.
At least he wouldn't be spending his first Christmas alone in this world.
"I have some money here..." Herbert rummaged through his pockets, then found his pitiful change piled on the table—within it a Galleon that shouldn't be between silver and bronze coins.
The Aurors wouldn't give it to him, because there was nowhere to spend money here—it could only be Cohen.
The child hadn't been affected by any evil at all, like a little angel—
thinking of this, Herbert felt a lump in his throat.
"You're not going to cry, are you—just a heads up, I'm not good at comforting adults—no, buddy, you look like you're in your forties or fifties, you wouldn't be like this…"
Cohen quickly stopped Herbert, seeing him about to burst into tears.
A little sentimentality was enough, don't go overboard!
Cohen was afraid he'd actually be moved—having a couple of parents was enough, really.
Perhaps if Herbert had ulterior motives, Cohen would feel better…
"No, no, it's just… sand got in my eyes." Herbert wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his tattered robe. "Then I'll go find some for you…"
Herbert suddenly realized he didn't seem to have anything to give Cohen.
Instantly, he slumped down like a deflated balloon.
"Tell me what happened before?" Cohen gave him a direction; Herbert's emotions were a jumbled mess.
Joy, distress, anxiety, sorrow—it was like a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans being crushed, poured into a cup, and stirred with pumpkin juice.
Was this human emotion?
Complex, chaotic, and fraught with pain.
"Tell me everything you know, consider it my Christmas present tomorrow," Cohen continued. "There's almost nothing useful in the basement—I want to know everything about that experiment."
Herbert slowly sat back on the bed, looking at Cohen's face, his hands clasped together, seemingly hesitant.
"I…I know some—but not all…" Herbert's Adam's apple bobbed. "I don't want you to think of yourself as…as…"
"Actually, I already know part of it," Cohen pursed his lips. "There's a human, a Dementor, a Nightmare Unicorn mixed in with the bloodline—but I don't really care, since no one can find out anyway."
The firelight inside the room seemed exceptionally bright due to the gloomy weather outside.
"Starting from the beginning?" Herbert's eyes reflected the firelight behind Cohen, his lips trembling slightly.
"Can we start from the middle?" Cohen retorted.
"Then… let's start from the beginning…" Herbert recalled the past, "from when you were five years old—I mean, before the experiment…"
"Back then you… I couldn't… back then…"
Herbert stammered, trembling, unable to utter the word "dead."
"How about I just use Legilimens? That would be faster?" Cohen asked.
Herbert nodded silently.
It was as if saying those words would kill him—or rather, he knew in his heart that his original child, "Cohen," was already dead, and saying that word again meant he had to accept that fact.
"Legilimens." Cohen
pointed his wand at Herbert's forehead, a silver, wispy spell connecting the tip of the wand to Herbert.
Herbert was completely unprepared, even though Cohen could manipulate his mind at any time.
A strange sensation flowed from the wand through Cohen's hand into Cohen's mind, like a very long movie playing, which Cohen could speed up, rewind, and skip to at will.
Herbert's entire life's memories were stored here.
But Cohen mainly looked at the things about himself.
In 1976, Herbert, 33, and his wife Belvina Black had their youngest son, Cohen Burke, after already having a son and a daughter.
In 1978, Herbert's eldest son died. At that time, dark wizards were rampant, and no one knew whether he died in some mad dark wizarding activity or not—the Burke family was at the height of its power and naturally wouldn't admit that their descendant had been bullied by their peers.
Especially since Herbert and Rose, the siblings, were very close—they were notorious "family scum," not only having abnormal attitudes towards Muggles but also frequently showing affection for them.
Therefore, the Burke family never exposed the incident, and Herbert couldn't find a way to avenge his child—he didn't even know where his child's body was.
In 1979, Herbert's daughter's magic went out of control; the Obscurus within her killed several of her brethren who had bullied her, leading to a death sentence from the then-head of the Burke family—two Avada Kedavra curses, one on Herbert's wife Belvina (who shielded her daughter), and one on Herbert's daughter.
From that moment on, Herbert was left with only his young son, Cohen.
Instead of seeking revenge, he took Cohen and left the family—a terrifying and powerful family that terrified him.
Herbert moved to Godric's Hollow with "Cohen," and that same year, his sister Rose also severed ties with the family, marrying Edward Norton, who was not of pure blood.
In 1980, Cohen died from a mysterious curse—Herbert couldn't understand why anyone would curse Cohen.
Cohen's death nearly broke Herbert; he had lost everything—his family was all dead.
In 1981, Voldemort fell, and while the surrounding wizards rejoiced, a young member of the Burke family approached Herbert.
He told Herbert about a way to bring the dead back to life: the family was secretly creating a being to replace Voldemort and control the wizarding world—the "Man in a Bottle."
They needed the corpse of a young wizard—a corpse with Burke blood.
This sudden hope blinded Herbert. He dug up Cohen's body and returned to Burke Manor, helping with countless alchemical materials and rare creatures, including many illegal and cruel acts—but Herbert was obsessed with resurrecting Cohen, doing whatever was available, like a slave.
The research succeeded, but also failed.
The "Man in a Bottle" survived, but in the instant of its success, it killed almost everyone in the manor—like a black hole, it devoured the souls of almost every living thing.
Except for the unicorn underground, and Herbert himself.
Then Herbert was arrested and sentenced by the Ministry of Magic. Cohen, unable to be killed, was adopted by Rose on Dumbledore's advice.
What followed was a tedious, almost torturous, ten-year wait, finally ending with Cohen's arrival—though their first meeting wasn't exactly friendly.
While Herbert was bound tightly, two Aurors passing by noticed something amiss in the manor ruins, freed Herbert, and rushed into the basement Cohen had blown open.
Then came what Cohen saw…
…
After reading Herbert's memories, Cohen now roughly understood the specific events of the past. Unfortunately, Herbert had been supplying materials for research and hadn't participated in the experiments (because he didn't know how).
Therefore, Cohen couldn't determine what kind of dark magic creature his remaining two bloodlines belonged to through Herbert's memories. He could only say that this trip had yielded some results, but not the kind of results Cohen initially sought.
[Race: Dementor/Human/"Nightmare"/?/?]
"Am I acting like an idiot?" Herbert mocked himself.
Because of Legilimency, Herbert essentially watched the long flashback alongside Cohen.
And once some memories were pieced together, previously unnoticed aspects became glaringly clear.
The one who cursed Herbert's son was the Burke family—they had him in their plans all along.
And Herbert was essentially the kind of person who was sold out by the Burke family and still counted the money for them…
"People get cheated because the cheater is bad, not because the person is stupid," Cohen raised an eyebrow. "That's called victim blaming, but it's all in the past… I've devoured all those Burkes."
"You're right…" Herbert said weakly.
Not long after, the Earl flew back, two rabbits hovering beside him—because his paws were gripping his wand, he didn't have time to catch rabbits.
Those two Aurors weren't regular patrollers; they were just passing through, and their sudden disappearance probably meant they wouldn't be able to trace them here.
Cohen, in a moment of kindness, spent the night with poor Herbert. The Earl went out in the middle of the night—he was going to Rose and Edward's to bring Cohen a present. He was supposed to go last night, but the Earl, having just received his wand, was too excited and completely forgot about it.
This Christmas was probably the happiest Christmas Herbert had ever had in his later years; the whole room was filled with joy—Cohen had to restrain himself from eating it all.
The bed was left for Cohen, while Herbert slept on the floor with a bundle of blankets.
[Ding! Kindness +300]
[Note: Congratulations on learning Compassion, you are rewarded with 300 Primogems]
"..."
Cohen was woken up early by the system's announcement.
The sky outside was still overcast, almost indistinguishable from night.
Fortunately, Cohen had a mechanical watch, so he wasn't confused about the time.
7:35,
time to get some rest—
by now, the Earl should have already delivered the present to the Gryffindor common room, and there was no point in Cohen staying outside any longer.
This bed wasn't very comfortable, and Cohen missed his Hogwarts dormitories—at least in terms of living conditions, Hogwarts was far superior to 99.9% of schools.
Herbert was still asleep; Cohen had heard him tossing and turning last night, probably too excited to sleep.
Cohen didn't plan to wake him; if he woke up and saw Cohen was leaving, the guy might even contemplate suicide.
After using a levitation charm to get Herbert from the floor to the bed, Cohen wrote a short letter on a piece of parchment left over from his homework and placed it on Herbert's desk, then placed Herbert's wand on top of it.
[I'm going back, don't kill yourself—I'll come back to see you later.]
"It feels a bit like 'You were great last night, I've left the money on the desk, I'm leaving now…'"
Cohen muttered to himself, exasperated.
But giving Herbert hope was good—when Cohen became the head of the Ministry of Magic, he could have his crimes dropped.
Then they could use public opinion to promote something like "fatherly love spanning more than ten years," which would definitely make those housewives cry their eyes out and also smear Fudge.
Then, Cohen pointed his wand at the snoring Herbert.
"Forget everything."
Cohen didn't erase too many of Herbert's memories, only his memory of Cohen's face and the two Aurors' visit, and he modified Herbert's memory of Cohen's purpose and actions—to prevent the Ministry of Magic from finding out.
Now, Cohen's stated purpose for this trip was simply to see his "biological father," perfect.
And Herbert would probably only remember that his beloved son had returned and would come again.
[Ding! Goodwill Value +50]
The system's announcement appeared again—doing good deeds really adds a lot…
Unfortunately, the goodwill value Herbert provided had already started to decline, indicating that even if Cohen continued to help him in this way, he wouldn't give much more—Cohen had previously called this the system's reward "tolerance."
Just like how the sin points he earned from bullying the Earl had dropped to a mere point each time, or even none at all,
he needed to broaden his methods of earning the two types of shop currencies.
Leaving the cabin and making sure he had concealed his presence, Cohen took advantage of the night and flew back above the thick clouds.
Going back to Hogwarts, I feel that even without looking up Nicolas Flamel's information, Harry would have started ignoring school rules and wandering around at night after getting the Invisibility Cloak—evil seeds are hereditary.
This chapter mainly introduces Cohen's past—if you don't like it, there's nothing I can do; the next chapter will be about going back to school (Amen). (4000-word long chapter)
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(End of Chapter)