Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 258 We're practically family, I'll help you with your health.
Although Fred and George were extremely curious about this, Cohen and the others remained tight-lipped about "who Harry was secretly working with."

“Too bad the map is with Harry,” George sighed.

“Otherwise we wouldn’t need to be so anxious…” Fred said dejectedly. “But Harry always tells us—he can’t keep this relationship a secret forever, can he?”

"Pfft—" Ron spat out a mouthful of soup.

"Ron!" Hermione slapped Ron.

When dinner was over and the three of them were walking back to the lounge, they passed the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, and Lupin peeked halfway out from behind the door.

"Cohen, can you come here for a second?"

“Okay.” Cohen could roughly guess Lupin’s thoughts.

Dumbledore or Sirius must have told him about it; Lupin was probably looking for Cohen for Peter's sake.

After entering Lupin's office, Lupin closed the office door.

"Why does every Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher have to take me to their office—it's like you guys would give me a 90% participation grade on the final exam..." Cohen complained.

"Your Defense Against the Dark Arts grades weren't very good before?" Lupin asked with concern. "My exam plans for this semester should be relatively simple—"

"That's not important." Cohen was a master at controlling his score, so he definitely didn't care about the score. "What do you want from me? Let me tell you beforehand, I don't know how to make wolfsbane medicine."

“It’s not about the wolfsbane potion—of course, Professor Snape really doesn’t intend to make it for me, citing a shortage of materials,” Lupin said cautiously.

"It's because of Sirius." Cohen understood Snape's mindset—with Dumbledore around, he couldn't openly retaliate against Sirius, so this desire for revenge naturally spread to Lupin. "Then why are you looking for me?"

“Peter Pettigrew,” Lupin said, “Dumbledore says he’s locked up with you, and I want to see him.”

“Killing him can wait until after the trial,” Cohen said.

“I don’t want to kill him, I just want an explanation.” Lupin closed his eyes. “We used to be friends, why would he kill James without hesitation…”

“Cheer up, maybe he never really considered you guys his friends,” Cohen comforted him. “He’s short and timid, and if he didn’t hang out with you, it wouldn’t just be Snape who got bullied at school.”

"..." Lupin fell silent. "Our behavior in the past was indeed very bad, and James and I both realized that."

“But Sirius doesn’t seem to have changed at all,” Cohen said. “Some people are stuck in the past and don’t want to move on. Harry is his only hope of becoming normal again—so don’t kill Peter now, don’t be impulsive.”

Cohen didn't want to see Harry's hopes dashed, because Harry truly considered Cohen a close friend.

Friends are a good thing, like family, they can constantly remind Cohen to retain his humanity.

“I know,” Lupin said in a deep voice. “I won’t act impulsively.”

When Cohen returned with the box and arranged for Lupin to meet Peter, it's hard to say whether Lupin was satisfied with Peter's weak explanation.

“You’ve never considered me a friend! Remus!”

Peter, who became hysterical upon learning that he was about to be taken to court, said sharply,

“And James, and Sirius! You're all so high and mighty! And me? I can only follow you around like a shadow… You always make fun of me—did you ever consider my feelings when you were fighting the Dark Lord?! I just wanted to live! I just wanted to hide with my family! But you insisted on dragging me into your…” “You joined Voldemort’s ranks willingly,” Cohen said with disgust. “I’ve seen too many people like you who like to find excuses for doing bad things. If you’re a coward, just run away. What’s so great about defecting to the enemy? You just like to be a fence-sitter.”

“We never considered you a friend,” Lupin said calmly to Peter, who was huddled in the basement. “James always saved a gift for you, Sirius often stood up for you, and I always made time to help you whenever you needed me, whether it was with your studies or your life—even when there was a suspected mole in the Order of the Phoenix, we never doubted you.”

“But, but…” Peter looked even smaller, like a mouse. “I’ll die—I’ll die here—we’ll all die—it was so terrible…even if, even if we escape…”

“Even if you escape, he will kill you because you were once connected with us, right?” Lupin’s eyes were filled with suppressed anger, and his voice was icy. “So you’ve been feeding him information bit by bit to please him, just because of your cowardly worship of the strong…”

“I…I’ve never had as much courage as you…” Peter said, trembling.

“I’ve never wanted to become a werewolf and bite someone like this before. You’re the first person to make me feel this way, Peter—” Lupin said through gritted teeth.

"Alright, alright." Cohen pulled Lupin away—it felt like the man was about to bite him any second, even though it wasn't a full moon yet. "Don't touch him—and don't talk to him."

Leaving the basement, Lupin took a deep breath.

"Feel sorry."

“After the trial, I’ll have the Dementors sneak him out, and you can take your revenge as you please, okay?” Cohen said.

"What if he commits suicide?" Lupin suddenly asked. "If he commits suicide, what will Sirius do...?"

“Then I’ll have to go with Plan B.” Cohen pushed Lupin out of the house. “Alright, our meeting is over. If you stay any longer, the little basilisk will get restless—it loves to eat furry canines.”

Lupin showed only brief surprise upon seeing the two basilisks that Cohen kept, but the little basilisk had many other thoughts about him—if the basilisks could drool, the little basilisk probably would have soaked the floor with its drool.

Cohen had never heard of the idea that a werewolf's scent could lure a basilisk.

After fulfilling Lupin's wish, Cohen returned to his dormitory with the box.

However, there were surprisingly many people looking for Cohen today.

For example, there was a line of unknown wandering spirits following Cohen, whose soul strength was marked as 40+10.

"What are you doing here now?" Cohen asked in a low voice as he turned into an empty classroom.

Voldemort attached himself directly to the surface of an old table.

“Peter has failed… I need your help…” Voldemort’s bloodshot eyes bulged on his wooden face, filled with malice towards Peter. “His body…”

“I almost got caught trying to help you—they thought I was a mole!” Cohen said viciously.

“I know…I know…” Voldemort said darkly, “Once I get the body, you will be richly rewarded—I can help you overthrow the Ministry of Magic…”

“That would just turn into violent rule again, and it won’t last long.” Cohen shook his head. “But we’re like brothers, so I’ll help you one more time. Wait a week, and I’ll get your body fixed up—”

"Oh, by the way, what type do you want? Someone who looks a bit grotesque or someone who looks normal?" Cohen suddenly asked.

(End of this chapter)