Cohen's soul drifted back to the third floor, where Lockhart was still.
And he had taken down the picture frame during the day.
"You didn't tell me that the Frenzy Charm would make them attack me…" Lockhart complained. "This class could have given me dozens more fans!"
"It has nothing to do with the spells I taught you…" Voldemort scolded. "Your inability to deal with the elves is your own problem, you piece of trash!"
"Aren't there any other spells? I have a class for third-year students tomorrow—I have to show them what I'm capable of—otherwise my reputation will be ruined!" Lockhart said anxiously, ignoring Voldemort's insult. "Damn it, I shouldn't have come to Hogwarts to teach—I was hoping to gain some fame, but Dumbledore requires… a combination of theory and practice…"
"I can teach you…" Voldemort tempted, "but our plan needs to be sped up… don't let Cohen find out…"
"Tomorrow?" Lockhart quickly suggested. "If you help me get through that class, I'll start your plan for you tomorrow—wait, that basilisk you mentioned won't hurt me, will it?"
"Fool." Voldemort was increasingly fed up with Lockhart's stupidity. "If you die, I'll have to find another collaborator… It's not worth it…"
Lockhart readily agreed, then furtively hung the portrait back up.
Cohen lingered a little longer—but Lockhart still didn't reveal who their first target was.
However, he was certain of one thing: the basilisk had indeed come looking for him, not at Voldemort's behest.
But Cohen felt nothing for it—completely different from his first encounter with Ari.
Cohen was certain he had no blood relation to the basilisk, yet it was undeniably actively seeking someone out…
Strange, things are getting stranger and stranger.
Putting aside his troubles, Lockhart and the others are going to act tomorrow, and Cohen needs to prepare his sabotage plan.
Last time he overheard Voldemort planning to write Cohen's name on the wall to frame him, making Cohen the "Slytherin heir" and subjecting him to ostracism.
Cohen couldn't believe that Harry Potter's fate was now his.
Voldemort's intentions were too easy to guess—Cohen was certain he wanted Cohen to completely break with the good guys. Nothing is beyond the power of misunderstanding and false accusation to distort reality; if it is, then the misunderstanding and false accusation weren't done well enough.
Bad thing!
Since Voldemort premeditatedly planned to replace the golden arowana in Cohen's fish tank, Cohen shouldn't blame him for pouring boiling water on Voldemort's money tree…
After his soul returned to his body, Cohen calmly ate dinner and calmly returned to the Room of Requirement to discuss matters with the Earl.
"What?" The Earl stared wide-eyed at Cohen after he made such an absurd request. "What the hell did you say?"
"Is it that difficult?" Cohen raised an eyebrow, looking at the Earl with a "you can't do it, can you?" look.
"Why are you suddenly—no—I mean..." The Earl scratched his head—if his paws could reach his head—"Why do you always come up with something new that I can't even imagine? You already make me do your homework—now you even steal my midnight snack?!"
"I want live field mice," Cohen reminded him, "not dead ones."
"Live..." The Earl tried to understand Cohen's intention in wanting field mice, "You wouldn't be... ugh~"
"..."
Cohen silently drew his wand.
"How many do you want?" the Earl changed his mind. "I'm best at catching field mice—you know, I catch them every time, and I promise to clean their mouths for you."
"If you say another word of nonsense, I'll shove your mouth up your ass," Cohen said fiercely. "Get to work!"
The Earl cursed and flew away.
Cohen collects live field mice so he can use them to become invisible—absorbing the soul of a mouse grants him twenty minutes of invisibility, allowing him to follow Lockhart and cause trouble.
Lockhart would definitely choose a time when Cohen wasn't in class to commit the crime, so he could frame Cohen; otherwise, if Cohen had an alibi, the plan would fail.
And what would Cohen be doing during his free time...? He'd be causing trouble for Lockhart, of course!
Compared to first year, second year students had fewer classes on Thursdays—so Cohen had time to track Lockhart's movements.
But Lockhart waited until after dinner to make his move—he anonymously sent Cohen a letter.
"Such a familiar trick,"
Cohen clicked his tongue. Last semester, using a letter to lure someone away was a suggestion Cohen had given Voldemort—except then the target was Dumbledore, and this time the target was Cohen himself.
"Who gave you the letter?" Harry asked curiously, seeing that Cohen had received a letter before dinner and had been staring at it for a long time.
"Professor Lockhart." Cohen secretly added a signature to the letter under his robes with his wand. Thanks to Hermione getting a signed copy from Lockhart, Cohen was able to perfectly imitate Lockhart's handwriting. "He wants me to go to the third-floor corridor before the dinner ends, saying there's some secret operation."
"Secret operation?" Harry asked suspiciously. "Are you close to him?"
"Not really."
Cohen shook his head and handed the letter to Harry.
"But I plan to go check it out beforehand, see what tricks he has up his sleeve."
Lockhart left the hall before the dinner ended.
The naive Lockhart assumed Cohen didn't know the letter's origin.
The letter even subtly hinted at Voldemort's plan—if nothing unexpected happened, even if Cohen handed the letter over as evidence of his innocence, Dumbledore would still believe Cohen was in contact with Voldemort.
Unfortunately, Lockhart overestimated Cohen's morality. Even if he truly didn't know Lockhart was behind it, Cohen would still have Lockhart's name at the end of the letter.
"Drag them all down with me!!!"
The instant Cohen left the Great Hall, he absorbed the soul of a rat in his pocket; the Death Stalker's Cloak worked wonders—Cohen was now completely invisible.
Cohen quickly found Lockhart, who was outside the third-floor restroom. Voldemort had taught him a spell to exorcise ghosts—Myrtle couldn't interfere with his actions anymore.
Lockhart went into the restroom—and soon emerged, leading the basilisk from the wall.
Lockhart left the restroom—the basilisk followed closely behind from inside the wall.
"Kill…kill…"
Cohen followed closely behind Lockhart.
Their target was…a creature that had already discovered Lockhart.
This gave Lockhart a moment's respite—because he didn't dare actually harm a student.
"Hiss—no, wait, is that it? Hiss—hiss hiss…(Kill it!)" Lockhart recalled the second Parseltongue phrase Voldemort had taught him.
Looking at the only living creature in the corridor besides Lockhart and Cohen, Cohen's lips twitched.
Very well, the first victim is still Mrs. Lorris.
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(End of Chapter)