Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 306 Ron's Little Mood
As Dumbledore said, Cohen did indeed find Harry pacing back and forth next to the second-floor stairwell.

"Cohen, what did they come to? Why is there 'Azkaban' before your name? Can we skip this—"

“I thought you’d really want to participate in the Triwizard Tournament,” Cohen said. “You seem to dream about it all the time…”

“But Professor Dumbledore must be furious,” Harry said uneasily. “I wonder who put our names in there—the whole school probably thinks we’re shameless cheaters now…”

“We’ve already participated, and it’s not like we cheated during the competition,” Cohen said. “Dumbledore and the others decided to follow the rules, so we still have to participate in the competition… It sounds like there was no discussion at all.”

"Huh?" Harry's mouth dropped open.

“And Dumbledore wasn’t upset. Anyway, no matter who wins between you and Cedric, it counts as a Hogwarts victory. Hogwarts has a 2/5 chance of winning,” Cohen said.

“Me and Cedric? And you?” Harry asked.

“I’m from Azkaban,” Cohen said in a very reasonable tone. “Didn’t you see what was written on that note? Now we have no choice but to join the war as a fourth party.”

“But Azkaban isn’t a school!” Harry said. “Isn’t it a prison?”

“Mr. Crouch said this would be announced as a malfunction of the Goblet of Fire,” Cohen explained. “In any case, I’m temporarily under the jurisdiction of Azkaban, which will make the other two school principals feel better.”

“At least…” Harry sighed, “at least we’re not going to face those competitions alone. I can’t even imagine what it would be like if I had to face the Triwizard Tournament all by myself…”

When they arrived at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, the fat lady cheerfully asked the two of them about the warriors.

“Great! Violet said that two champions have suddenly appeared in Gryffindor,” said the fat lady. “So, it’s you two?”

“Nonsense,” Harry said.

“I didn’t!” Violet said angrily in the pale witch portrait.

“This is the password,” Cohen explained to her. “The news about your portraits spread pretty quickly.”

“Of course.” Ovilette puffed out her chest proudly.

As soon as Cohen entered the lounge, he heard cheers and noise suddenly erupt around him.

Fred and George were yelling and lifting Cohen and Harry up, saying something like, "You should have told us you signed up!", but they didn't sound angry; their words were full of excitement.

“Even though it’s not me, we’re still Gryffindor,” Angelina said happily. “You guys have to win the match!”

"How did you do that?" Colin Crevey asked Cohen and Harry with his brother's longing.

While Harry was still explaining over and over that he hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire, Cohen was already feasting on the Honeydukes treats piled up by everyone.

“Life is like a storm; if you can’t fight it, you just have to accept it,” Cohen comforted Harry, who was exhausted from explaining and hadn’t convinced anyone so far. “Want something to eat?”

“I’m tired.” Harry took the chocolate frog from Cohen, still wrapped in the Gryffindor flag that Lee Jordan had tied to him.

“Then let’s go to sleep—alright guys, we need to get some sleep. We have our first project guidance session tomorrow.” Cohen called out to the Gryffindor students who were still celebrating around him. “Get some rest.”

Cohen and Harry ran into Ron on the stairs back to their dormitory. "Ron? How long have you been here?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised, looking at Ron who was leaning stiffly against the wall.

“Oh, so your celebration is over.” Ron forced a smile, very awkwardly and reluctantly. He glanced at the flag on Harry’s body, then at the huge pile of candy that Cohen was holding. “Congratulations.”

"What do you mean? Congratulations?" Harry frowned.

"How did you two manage to cross the age limit?" Ron's gaze darted back and forth between Cohen and Harry. "Invisibility Cloak? Or did you get help from magical creatures?"

“You know the Invisibility Cloak can’t do that—” Harry said.

“Non-human beings can’t vote,” Cohen said.

“That makes sense, then you guys should take me with you…” Ron said, “And Cohen, you saw me come back from the Great Hall last night—you must have already gone to vote, with Harry in tow—”

“I didn’t ask Cohen to vote for me! And Cohen didn’t cast his own vote!” Harry said impatiently. “Can’t you see? Someone else voted—”

"Why would he do that?" Ron raised his eyebrows.

"To expose Cohen, to kill me?" Harry guessed wildly.

“You can actually tell me the truth.” Ron’s eyes were fixed on the ground, his ears slightly red. “It was like this last time at that hotel, and it’s like this again… I thought we…”

“What do you think?” Harry said angrily. “Let me be blunt. Last time at the inn, Hermione took us back in time with the Time-Turner—but the chain wasn’t long enough to take us all with her. What do you think that means? We’ve always been friends. What haven’t we told each other? Even things about Cohen—”

“Yeah, okay…” Ron said skeptically.

“If you really don’t believe me, there’s no need to keep asking,” Cohen said. “Harry is telling the truth.”

There's no point in arguing with Ron now, because Ron is filled with jealousy and anger.

It is an inevitable part of the path of growth.

“You’re even using a time-tamper as a story now,” Ron said. “Is it another time-tamper this time? You know I’m not stupid.”

“But you’re acting like a fool right now,” Harry said angrily. “What do you expect us to do—”

“You guys need to go to bed,” Ron said dryly. “I can’t disturb you, after all, you… have project guidance and interviews to do tomorrow…”

Ron turned and left, and Harry was upset—he thought Ron would trust his friend.

Cohen felt alright, after all, Ron was at an age where it was easy to be suspicious, and he had indeed done those things.

“Incomprehensible,” Harry said angrily.

“He’s just been suppressing his emotions to the point where he couldn’t hold them back anymore; he’ll get better in a while,” Cohen said.

If things don't improve, Cohen can also provide some Dementor-specific assistance.

(End of this chapter)