Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 289 I've never felt happy being an evil god
"Dark Mark..."

"Mr. Weasley said hoarsely."

When the Dark Mark first appeared, many officials in the box had already Apparated away—now only Cohen, Weasley, Harry, the two ministers, Bagman, Crouch, and the terrified Quidditch players remained.

"Arthur, take your children and get out of here right now." Mr. Crouch seemed to have regained his Auror instincts from over a decade ago, and he began to give instructions methodically.

After all, the minister seemed to be terrified by the assassination attempt and the Black Demon Mark in the sky.

"Blink!" Crouch called for his house-elf, and with a bang, a little elf wearing a tea towel appeared fearfully in the private room.

It's very high up here, and Crouch's little sprite, Sparkle, is afraid of heights—but Crouch doesn't care.

"Go and inform the Aurors to check the occupant registration and magical traces in the lower-level boxes—and all of you..."

Mr. Crouch turned to the stunned Quidditch players and said:
"Back at camp, our Aurors will ensure the protective charms around the camp are in place—"

“We need to get our people out of here immediately, Cornelius.” The Bulgarian minister glared at Fudge. “Your British Ministry of Magic’s security measures are terrible—”

“Of course, they can just leave,” Mr. Crouch said calmly. “I believe Bulgaria can come up with a safer way to check 100,000 spectators one by one with 300 people in half an hour.”

The Bulgarian minister and his team members angrily Apparated away from the scene.

“Actually, I don’t think the Aurors can be of much help, Barty,” Arthur said breathlessly after Apparating several times to take all his children away. “It’s chaos down there, a group of Death Eaters are marching—over at the camp—we can only—”

“No, no…” Fudge looked at the Dark Mark in the sky, then turned his gaze to the others still in the box—it couldn’t be Voldemort returning; it could only be someone with ulterior motives trying to rebel.

Without a doubt, Fudge's first suspect would be Cohen.

Or Sirius Black? Slandering Sirius Black might be more readily accepted by public opinion...because he has a criminal record...

"Does anyone know that attacker?" Mr. Crouch's voice drowned out Fudge's rambling.

But it's obvious that this person doesn't know anyone.

“I—I sold him a ticket—” Bagman said, his face pale. “He’s a friend of Moody’s—who would have thought this guy would be…”

“Edward, Sirius, what are you two still doing here?” Mr. Weasley urged the only two non-Ministry of Magic members in the box. “Hurry up and take the children to a safe place—”

“Just in case the minister starts to suspect us,” Sirius said mercilessly to Fudge. “If my ears haven’t been ruined by those Dementors, was the minister just reciting his list of suspects?”

"This is a premeditated political assassination and an anti-government riot," Mr. Crouch declared, completely disregarding Fudge's situation and his own position as Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, rather than Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

But Cohen, who had been watching from the sidelines, realized his intention—this man's excitement meant…

Mr. Crouch's long-awaited opportunity to take the stage has arrived.

“The attacker was just a tool; the mastermind wouldn’t risk their life after arranging the tool,” Crouch said on Fudge’s behalf.

“Let’s go, let’s go…” Arthur whispered, pulling Sirius and Edward along. “We need to quickly add some protection to your tents. The area is sealed off, and there are still some Aurors who weren’t scared away checking on the remaining personnel and chasing the Death Eaters—”
-
Cohen and Edward returned to the camp, which was in complete disarray, with trampled tents everywhere and the nearby forest set ablaze by the Death Eaters, illuminating the sky like the dawn.

The wizards who could Apparate had all fled, while the remaining wizards who had come with the Portkeys were scurrying around like ants on a hot plate, trying to find Ministry of Magic personnel and have them take them away.

Fortunately, it seems no one has made a move on the Cohen family's tent.

“Thank goodness…” Edward breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled Cohen back to their tent. Along the way, they had seen many empty tents that had been destroyed by the Death Eaters during the march. “There are still old photos of Martha in the tent. If I had lost them, she would have nagged me to death.”

"There's a riot outside, and you're concerned about photos? Interesting..." Cohen seemed quite pleased with Edward's growing "Cohen-like" demeanor. "Slow down, there's—"

Cohen was about to remind Edward that the Chimera seemed to have crawled out of the box and was hiding in front of the door, but before Cohen could finish speaking, Edward had already plunged headfirst into the lion's invisible, fluffy mane.

"Roar?"

The lion affectionately gave Edward a "wild face wash" with the fur around its head, making Edward's nose itch and causing him to sneeze.

"Someone wants to burn your tent down." After Cohen and Edward entered the tent, the Chimera deactivated its invisibility and spoke to Cohen with its goat head.

"Thanks," Cohen said.

"—" Edward kept making a sniffling sound in the bathroom, because a few strands of the lion's mane had just gotten into his nostrils.

"Is that minister dead?" the longhorned water snake asked Cohen in snake language.

【No.】 Cohen shook his head. 【I think this is about enough. Whether Fudge lives or dies doesn't matter. Perhaps we should give them a 'reminder' to let the Ministry of Magic know that the attack wasn't just carried out by the remnants of the Death Eaters, but also by the Silver Key…】

[This will make the Ministry of Magic take the Silver Key organization seriously... very clever.] The goat also started using Parseltongue, since Edward was the only one in the room who couldn't understand it.

"How long has this lion been without a bath!" Edward emerged from the bathroom, wiping his wet face and trying to expel the stench from his nostrils by snorting. "Why does it smell like rotting flesh..."

"It probably bit some spoiled rabbits; the little basilisk left quite a few dead rabbits in the box," the goat explained for the lion. "If you don't mind, I can help you clean it up."

“Alright, alright, I really can’t stand this smell anymore—” Edward said, his nose flaring repeatedly. “Cohen, shall we just go home? It’s too chaotic here, especially since you can Apparate…”

"I'm still a minor," Cohen yawned, feigning sleepiness. "Let's run tomorrow. There are lions guarding the gate, so nothing will happen... I need to sleep now..."

“No one will break in,” the goat assured Edward.

But whether anyone will actually go out is another matter.

"Okay, go to sleep." Edward saw that Cohen looked sleepy, ruffled his hair, and helped Cohen to the upper bunk, then lay down on the lower bunk himself.

"No licking people's faces at night," Edward suddenly stood up and sternly reminded the lion.

"Roar..." The lion dejectedly lay back down on the ground.

Although Edward rationally wanted to keep watch, Cohen heard him snoring softly before midnight.

After his soul quietly drifted out of his body, Cohen left the tent.

The most urgent task now is to find the remaining members of Silver Key and confirm their next steps.

Fudge is definitely not out of town yet. If the Minister of Magic fled the scene immediately after the accident, leaving tens of thousands of viewers who can't Apparate but are forced to stay with the Death Eaters who are causing trouble, then tomorrow's Daily Prophet will be in an uproar.

After more than an hour, the Death Eaters had also disappeared. It was clear that Voldemort had not found any servants who could be called “loyal.” The old-timers with Death Eater experience watching the match were so frightened that they immediately Apparated and fled the moment the Dark Mark appeared.

Those who could continue to live comfortably in the wizarding world after Voldemort went unpunished were inevitably betrayed.

Upon arriving at the Silver Key's camp, Cohen floated inside as an invisible spirit. The four remaining people in the tent all shared the same bald appearance, and they had used up their last bit of Polyjuice Potion.

“This is our last chance,” said the bald leader, Number Three. “Rivers is dead, but the Lord will accept his soul. He won the Lord’s mercy with his loyalty…”

Cohen didn't comment on that statement—Cohen didn't even have the appetite for that bald pervert's soul, and he died so quickly that Cohen had to rush out of the private room and chase after him in the air to catch up with his flying corpse.

"The Aurors are now protecting the Minister of Magic's tent; all we have to do is break it open—"

"Later, you guys will stage a fake attack in front of the minister's tent to distract the Aurors. I'll go in wearing this..." As he spoke, Number Three waved a cheap invisibility cloak in his hand.

This is made from the hide of an invisible beast. Its effects will only last for less than a month after it is created, and will gradually weaken over time.

Number Three looked like he had used a distorted illusion spell when he put it on. Cohen felt that his illusion spell was more effective than this invisibility cloak.

“After I go in… you know what to do,” Number Three said.

"Call out the name of the Lord!" the remaining three bald men said in unison.

"wrong."

Cohen's Dementor form suddenly appeared from the air behind them, speaking in a low, indifferent voice.

Skipping over their frenzied worship upon seeing him, Cohen continued:
“You should call out not for me, but for the silver key.”

“But Lord, we are merely your followers…” Number Four said, trembling, “You…”

"Shut up! This is the Lord's command!" Number Three shouted sternly. "The Lord must have a deeper meaning..."

His mind was already racing, trying to figure out why Cohen had made that request.

Perhaps it's to gather more followers? After all, their Silver Key faction still has too few members...

The Lord deserves more faith.

Number Three remained silent, only offering endless worship and filling in the blanks in his mind.

Urged on by Cohen, they set off.

Cohen appeared to have disappeared into the tent, but in reality, he followed behind in spirit form.

If these people were to do anything that would reveal the name "Cohen," Cohen would immediately devour their souls beforehand.

Cohen's plan is now becoming more or less clear.

Now that Fudge survived the first attack and had fully demonstrated his ability to handle danger, Cohen had an even better chance to bring him down.

Killing Fudge wouldn't ruin his reputation; in fact, with the embellishment of public opinion, Fudge's image would become very upright.

The Ministry of Magic will not lose credibility because of the death of its minister—the wizarding world's dissatisfaction with power stems from the idea that "we are living in fear while the officials of the Ministry of Magic do nothing." When the minister is killed, this reason falls apart, and all the wizards will turn their anger towards the person who killed the minister—the Death Eaters or the Silver Key.

Rather than letting the Ministry of Magic handle Fudge's death as it sees fit, it would be better to let Fudge step down in a way that disappoints the public, thus shaking the Ministry's credibility and making it easier for Cohen to turn around and kill Voldemort after dealing with the villain, thus seizing power as a hero.

Ugh, if only the Silver Key could be a slightly more rational group of believers... that way Cohen could just lead his followers to overthrow the Ministry of Magic and take over the new government.

Unfortunately, the Silver Keys are full of lunatics obsessed with the "Awaken Cohen Project," who on one hand don't want Cohen to have an easy time, and on the other hand shout about loyalty.

Cohen never felt happy being an evil god...

Before long, the four of them approached Fudge's tent, where five Aurors were patrolling without leaving any blind spots.

Cohen offered his followers some small assistance, such as distracting the gatekeeper Auror by manipulating his emotions, which allowed the bald Number Three, wearing a cheap invisibility cloak, to sneak in.

“Barty, what do you think about us announcing that I was seriously injured after being attacked?” Fudge discussed with Mr. Crouch in the tent. “That Dark Mark was definitely a malicious act by the Death Eaters…it has nothing to do with the return of the Mystic—the Mystic is dead—”

“We can’t be so sure right now, Minister,” Crouch said coldly. “You know about the Dementors’ uprising in Azkaban; it’s hard not to connect the two things—”

“I told you, it was definitely one of Cohen Norton’s little tricks,” Fudge said. “I told Dumbledore long ago that this monster couldn’t be allowed to live—that Edward and Rose carrying around a Dark Magic experiment and calling him their son—”

"I didn't see any danger in him."

Crouch's voice rose a few octaves, "Dumbledore said that the child's soul is still Edward and Rose's son, at least his heart is good."

“The heart is good,” Crouch repeated, as if recalling something.

“Then how do we deal with that old hag Rita Skeeter tomorrow—” Crouch interrupted Fudge.

He pushed Fudge under the table and immediately cast a spell at a spot inside the tent.

That was exactly where Bald No. 3 had just been.

The spell struck the vase placed in the corner, and the vase shattered into pieces on the ground instantly.

"Come out," Crouch snapped at the man in the cheap invisibility cloak, raising his hand to unleash several rapid spells.

"Your death is near, dear minister, the sacrifice ordained by the Lord..."

Number Three had rolled into a suitable position and said menacingly to Fudge under the table,

"For the silver key!"

The moment the name "Silver Key" was uttered, his cloak was pulled down by a hand hidden behind his back.

Number Three's eyes instantly turned to confusion and panic.

He could feel the Lord's hand behind him—but why did the Lord remove His invisibility cloak?

Could it be that the Lord...

Without even a moment's grief over Number Three being "betrayed" by the Lord he believed in, Barty Crouch, who had already located the target, reacted the next second.

Crouch's spell struck Number Three, who was completely exposed. Number Three only had time to throw a silent cutting spell at Fudge, which hit Fudge's right ear—instantly drawing blood.

(End of this chapter)