Chapter 119 Dobby is arguing in the void.
Cohen is burning basilisk blood in the Room of Requirement, and the Earl has agreed to keep an eye on it from time to time—because it doesn't go out much these days.
Back to normal school life, everything has returned to normal—Voldemort hasn't launched another attack in a while, and Cohen feels he might be holding back something big.
The students' discussion about "who is the culprit behind Filch's murder" continues, with some suspecting Lockhart again—but most feel that the situation is different this time, and Lockhart's classes now seem like they're being taught by a Squib.
According to a Gryffindor second-year boy who wishes to remain anonymous and is afraid of spiders, Lockhart has only successfully cast three spells in class.
"Lockhart is a complete bum," Ron whispered to Cohen during Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Harry and Hermione were on stage, acting out scenes from the book with Lockhart. "He's not even as good as Quirrell—"
"Correct, direct, fair, spot on,"
Cohen nodded.
Without Voldemort, Lockhart was truly helpless with the lessons. After the house-elf incident, Lockhart stopped demonstrating his clumsy magic and started reciting long passages from the textbook to impart "knowledge."
(Humor analysis: These books were clearly written by Lockhart himself.)
On stage, they were performing a scene where "Harry the werewolf" attempts to attack "Hermione," and Lockhart steps in and uses a complex Restoration Charm to revert the werewolf to its original form.
"See? Simple and effective! Another village will forever remember me as a hero. I freed them from the monthly fear of werewolf attacks," Lockhart said proudly after the performance, as if it were something he had truly accomplished.
After class, Lockhart even asked them to write a poem about "Lockhart defeating the werewolf Vorga Vorga," making it seem like they were having a bard literature class.
This part was clearly artistic embellishment; werewolves can't be restored to human form by a spell. It might fool young wizards and some who might never have even seen a werewolf—but Lockhart seems to have fooled himself too.
"Unbelievable! Didn't even one person think his book was fake and expose him?" Hermione's expression was terrible as she came down from the stage.
"You were his little fangirl just a week ago," Ron said fearlessly. "I remember at the beginning of the semester, Lockhart's classes were marked with pink hearts on your schedule—"
Ron shut his mouth after receiving a warning look from Hermione.
"If he can't do anything, how could he have attacked Filch?" Harry scratched his already messy hair in frustration. "I've asked around, and they say Lockhart was in Ravenclaw when he was in school, so he's definitely not the Slytherin heir."
"I don't think that line was really left by Lockhart," Hermione said. "It's too stupid. This is not something a bestselling author would do, even if he is—someone who can't do anything. I'm more inclined to think that the Slytherin heir just wanted to divert attention so he could hide more easily."
"But he's the only new professor at the school," Ron asked. "How about we start with the Slytherin freshmen?"
"Who should we kidnap?" Cohen asked, intrigued. "I'll help too!"
"Not kidnapping!" Ron quickly explained. "Don't you think that Slytherin freshman Harper is suspicious? He's a bit too conspicuous for a freshman. Last time I heard him calling my family pure-blood scum—"
"You just want revenge, don't you?" Hermione said, pursing her lips.
"This viewpoint aligns well with that old bastard Slytherin's theory," Ron analyzed. "He could very well be Slytherin's heir…"
"Then Slytherin must be quite vigorous, still able to father so many families after leaving the school," Cohen joked. "Most of Slytherin's students firmly believe in this theory."
Their suspicions shifted from Harper to Malfoy, and finally to Snape.
"Don't be silly, Harry," Hermione said. "You know Snape and Filch are sometimes partners—he often asks Filch for students in solitary confinement to process troublesome potion ingredients, like those from the long-horned toad..."
Despite their suspicions, they took no action. Cohen was also involved—because he too wanted to find out which student Voldemort had chosen as his henchman.
The day of the first Quidditch match of the term arrived quickly: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.
Cohen remembered that in the original story, Dobby had enchanted a ball, intending to break Harry's arm or leg so he could be sent home—but the house-elf's cunning was too simple; no student could escape school so easily.
Madam Pomfrey could set broken bones in a second; Harry wouldn't be sent back unless he died.
Because of Cohen and Lucius's conversation about "resurrecting Voldemort," Dobby still believes that something terrible will happen at Hogwarts this year, so Dobby has most likely already cast a spell on the Quaffle.
But Dobby is clearly arguing in the air, because Voldemort's target is Cohen, not Harry—Voldemort really wants to trap Cohen on his side, but he didn't expect Cohen to have a god-like perspective and spy on him; the scheme to frame him looks ridiculous now that it's been exposed.
"The Slytherin team has faster brooms, this looks like it won't be easy..."
Ron said worriedly from the stands.
His expression matched the sky; dark clouds covered the sky, the air was hot and humid, and thunder rumbled faintly from the clouds.
"Gryffindor trains harder than them," Hermione prayed, crossing her index and middle fingers. "Harry spends almost every weekend training."
After the match began, both teams took to the air, and as the Quaffle was tossed high into the air, they began a fierce struggle.
Harry was being chased by a black flying ball almost ten seconds into the game—each time he narrowly avoided it, which caused Hermione, who had been watching him, to scream.
"Why is that flying ball only targeting Harry?" Ron asked, utterly bewildered. "It's been chasing Harry for minutes."
"They need to call a timeout!" Hermione exclaimed anxiously. "That flying ball is malfunctioning; it wants to kill Harry!"
However, Cohen was watching someone else.
Draco Malfoy seemed distracted, not even noticing the Golden Snitch whizzing past his ear.
Normally, Cohen might have assumed he was restraining himself because of the "evil and cruel Cohen watching," but this was Quidditch, and Lucius was watching from the Board of Governors…
Cohen had a hunch about Voldemort's whereabouts.
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