Chapter 124 Your chance to skip the final exam is here!
At a quarter to ten o'clock, Cohen, who had just brutally murdered another field mouse, arrived in stealth form at the corner of the corridor outside the school hospital.
Myrtle's restroom wasn't far away.
Unsure if Colin could still use the camera to block the view, Cohen needed to step in and protect him to ensure no one actually died in this series of plans.
Otherwise, even the King of Heaven couldn't save the Basilisk—even if Harry didn't kill it, Dumbledore would; Dumbledore wouldn't allow a Basilisk that had just killed someone to continue living in Hogwarts Castle.
The potion Cohen was researching to make it resist Parseltongue's commands was secondary; the most crucial thing was finding a way to block its Death Stare.
...
Cohen heard footsteps coming upstairs, and as he rounded the corner, he saw Colin carefully carrying a camera, the kid also holding a large bag of snacks.
What a good fanboy—so touching.
The old Basilisk had arrived, and Cohen could see its soul wandering through the pipes through the wall.
Malfoy didn't have the courage and ability of a young Voldemort; he dared not bring the Basilisk along.
"Click—"
Just before Colin reached the school hospital, the wall behind him opened.
The stone bricks rotated rhythmically, like the wall at the entrance to Diagon Alley, expanding from a crack into a large hole, with dark green scales sliding inside.
"What—?"
Colin heard the strange noise behind him and exclaimed, trying to turn around to see what was going on.
Cohen, who was already next to Colin, quickly "helped" him raise his camera the instant he was about to turn around and see the old Basilisk—the pose was a bit intimate, but not a big deal. Colin
met the Basilisk's gaze through the camera, and that one look was…
Kid, your final exam exemption is here!
[Ding! Goodwill Value +100]
"Hiss—"
A hissing sound came from the camera. The old Basilisk didn't leave, but slowly crawled towards Colin, whose body was stiff as stone.
"Sissoko's child…you're here?"
The old Basilisk hissed at Cohen behind Colin. It couldn't see, but it could smell him with its forked tongue.
"Go back!" Cohen whispered. "We'll talk later, someone's coming!"
The old Basilisk obediently scurried back into the wall, and the bricks were pieced back together.
Cohen heard footsteps and immediately darted towards the other side of the sound.
"Mr. Crevy, why—"
Cohen heard Professor McGonagall's scolding voice from across half the corridor, but the scolding had to be interrupted before it could finish—because Professor McGonagall found Colin motionless, exactly like Filch.
After a gasp, Professor McGonagall whispered some incantation, probably to inform Dumbledore.
Cohen didn't turn around; he was still invisible and already around a corner, so no one would notice him.
The Chamber of Secrets incident had begun—Cohen saw Harry's soul through the side wall of the school hospital, and… another small house-elf soul.
Dobby was probably confessing the truth to Harry; Cohen had secretly placed half of his soul inside the wall to eavesdrop on how Dobby was telling Harry about that "horrible and deadly evil plan."
"You mean, some students are helping Voldemort?"
Harry, sitting up in bed, asked Dobby, his face pale,
"Trying to resurrect him?"
"Dobby can't say…"
Dobby stammered, trembling.
"Dobby's a bad elf! Dobby's a bad elf!"
He then began searching for a tool to punish himself.
"Stop!" Harry grabbed Dobby with his still-intact left arm. "Who wants to resurrect him? What does this have to do with the Chamber of Secrets? Tell me—"
The hospital door opened, and Harry quickly released Dobby's hand, scrambling back to his bed and pulling the covers over himself.
Dobby vanished with a dull thud; Hogwarts's Apparition spell had no effect on house-elves.
Obeying its master's orders, it couldn't reveal any useful information. It seemed Cohen wouldn't need to bother explaining this to Harry.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore placed the stone Colin on the bed next to the feigning-sleep Harry.
"Another attack…"
Dumbledore said.
"This time it's a student…"
————————
Back in his dormitory, Cohen slept soundly.
One student adds 100 goodwill points; one hundred students add 10,000!
The students would get the chance to skip the final exams, and Cohen would get a reward—it was a win-win plan, but it was destined to be anything but smooth sailing—because the school would have to shut down once the number of students exceeded three.
The following Sunday, everything was still calm; news of Colin's disappearance circulated only in the Gryffindor tower. Harry told Cohen, Ron, and Hermione everything he had heard from Dobby the previous night.
"You mean someone wants to resurrect Voldemort?"
Cohen asked innocently.
"Why does Voldemort come back every year? Is it some kind of Hogwarts tradition?"
"Who in the school would want to help him resurrect?" Hermione frowned. "That house-elf Dobby who's been bothering you started preventing you from returning to school back in the summer, didn't he?"
"No need to even think about it," Ron said firmly. "It's definitely the Malfoys—I guessed the house-elf was from the Malfoys when Fred and I picked Harry up from school last time. They've always been close to dark wizards; my dad seems to have mentioned that the Malfoys were followers of the old Victoire."
"I was wondering why the Malfoys seem so withdrawn this semester…" Harry seemed to agree with Ron, "They haven't bothered us much—"
"Do you want to be bothered?" Cohen's lips twitched.
However, the discussion of suspects didn't lead to Cohen. Cohen's "daredevil" rescue of Harry last semester was still too dazzling; it was hard to imagine Harry's reaction when he saw Cohen in the Chamber of Secrets again.
(Why is it always you?) "
Cohen, where are you going?" Harry asked as he saw Cohen get up to leave the common room.
"To go see Hagrid about Norbert," Cohen said. "And to fix up my trunk a bit more. I've decided that from now on, I'll hide in it whenever I'm in danger, so at least I'll have a dragon to protect me."
"Genius!" Ron exclaimed enviously. "Can I come with you from now on? If we encounter the monsters in the Chamber of Secrets, we'll have somewhere to escape..."
"You need to be careful that the danger doesn't come from another monster, Ron," Hermione said. "Have you forgotten? Norbert is almost an adult. Dragons are dangerous creatures too. They won't turn you to stone, but they can burn you to a crisp."
Ron insisted that dragons were safer than Gorgons (the Gorgons in Greek mythology; anyone who saw their faces would turn to stone), while Hermione thought he was just impatient because he hadn't yet faced a ferocious adult dragon.
But they still wanted to go with Cohen; after all, Cohen had raised Norbert for so long without incident, so perhaps dragons weren't as scary as they imagined...maybe.
P.S. My semester exams have started, so I've updated fewer chapters recently. Once my exams are over, I'll update more chapters. Thank you for your support!
If you enjoy the story and want early access, you can read 50+ advanced chapters on P@treon:
[email protected]/Horizons685
Your support helps me continue creating and sharing the story, especially while I focus on my semester studies.
~_~
(End of Chapter)