Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 328 The Repulsive Toad Woman
“This is insane.” Ron shook his head. “Go look at Cohen’s score—Harry, you lost several points just for breaking an egg—Cohen destroyed the dragon and the egg together. I wonder what the judges will do…”

"I guess I'll lose some points too," Cohen said nonchalantly, since he had already achieved his goal.

Whether it was the dragon eggs or the buzz generated, the results of this competition were exactly what Cohen had expected.

After leaving the tent, they arrived at the edge of the enclosure.

Five judges sat in raised gold chairs, preparing to score Cohen.

“Each person’s score will not exceed ten,” Ron explained to Cohen. “The woman in the pink dress is the Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic—she’s here to score in Fudge’s place, but my dad says he’s always had a run-in with her…”

The scoring has begun.

The first was Mrs. Maxim, who raised her wand into the air, and a long silver ribbon emerged from the tip of the wand, twisting to form a "9".

“Only one point deducted!” Ron patted Cohen on the back happily. “She only gave Harry eight points—probably because your spell was so amazing—I’d never even heard of it.”

“It would be strange to have heard of it, because it’s a Greek incantation,” Cohen said in a low voice. “I learned it from a goat.”

“It must be very difficult,” Harry said awely. “I’ve been learning spells from the Goat for so long and I haven’t learned many…”

“I must learn this sometime,” Ron said, hooking his arm around Cohen’s shoulder. “It’s so cool—that spell can even swallow a fire dragon.”

With many people around, Cohen planned to explain to Ron later that the spell's teleportation range was actually very small—and that the destination was Cohen's box.

The second was Mr. Crouch, who also gave Cohen 8 points.

"There's hope! He gave Harry nine points—but now you're even!" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "As long as Karkaroff doesn't have a meltdown—that nasty jerk gave Krum ten points, but only four for Harry..."

"Karkaroff?" Cohen narrowed his eyes and looked at Karkaroff. "How did Krum obtain the golden egg?"

Harry's use of the Eye Disease Curse was novel to the audience, which suggests that Krum used other methods before Harry.

Krum's methods were most likely taught to him by Karkaroff—so the only reason for the change in the plot, which was unlikely to change otherwise, could be Karkaroff.

“He also used a very special spell,” Ron said. “It looked like he created an illusion for the dragon—but he went a bit overboard, and the dragon almost charged into the stands, so most of the judges deducted some points.”

The third was Karkaroff, whose wand spewed out a score that Ron couldn't believe.

"Ten out of ten?!" Ron looked at Cohen, then at Karkaroff in the distance, and said in disbelief, "Cohen, you wouldn't happen to be some... distant relative of his, would you?"

"Forget it, I have absolutely no connection with Bulgarians." Cohen frowned.

When I was playing for the Warriors, Karlov was trying to dissuade me. How come he's helping me now?
Given Karkaroff's previous reluctance to make eye contact with Cohen, Cohen could only suspect the silver key.

However, Karkaroff, being such a coward, probably didn't join this organization voluntarily. It's more likely that he wanted to use the silver key to escape the Death Eaters' pursuit—because back then, to avoid imprisonment, he revealed the names of a bunch of Death Eater colleagues.

"You really got first place this time!" Ron said excitedly, shaking Cohen. "First place!"

“Don’t get excited, I feel like there’s a twist.” Cohen pressed Ron down. “How could that be? What low score could Dumbledore possibly give you?” Ron said. “That woman from the Ministry of Magic was pretty neutral, even though she only gave Harry a seven—but that’s still better than Karkaroff’s four.”

The result clearly disappointed Ron.

The fourth referee was Umbridge, who proudly flicked her wand to spell out a large "1".
Not just Ron, but most viewers felt that Umbridge's rating was somewhat unfair.

"One point?!" Ron shouted along with the crowd in the stands, "You disgusting toad-woman! That damned bitch—"

“That’s not right!” Harry was also angry—even though Cohen was actually his rival, Harry never seemed to think of it that way. “Why should she only give you one point? This is obviously targeting you!”

“It was expected,” Cohen said calmly.

It would be really strange if Umbridge gave herself a normal grade—like hearing that she would adopt a centaur cub and take good care of it.

It's racial discrimination.

Cohen is also quite prejudiced against humans, especially the person named Dolores Umbridge who wears pink clothes and has a disgusting expression on her face.

Things that Cohen discriminates against generally don't last long.

The audience's indignant shouts did not deter Umbridge in the slightest; she seemed completely deaf to them and showed no remorse for her rating.

Finally, Dumbledore also raised his wand and gave Cohen a nine out of ten.

"You and Krum are tied for first place!" Ron exclaimed, almost jumping for joy. "The Gryffindor champion got the highest score! Merlin's bastard!"

"Would Merlin really have a ***..." Cohen's lips twitched a few times. "Wasn't he a legendary wizard? Why does it feel like he committed some terrible crime that his descendants are slandering him every day..."

After the scoring was finished, Cohen and Harry returned to the champions' tent, and soon after, Mr. Crouch arrived.

“You all did a wonderful job,” Mr. Crouch said. “Don’t be alarmed by the loss of the dragon or the eggs—”

Because Harry seemed a little worried about having to pay for breaking the dragon egg.

“These are the costs already deducted from the competition.” Crouch glanced at Cohen and Harry, and continued, “The second project will begin at 9:30 a.m. on February 24th next year, and you can rest for a long time. However, you still have some issues to consider. The golden egg you received can be opened—see the seam on it? After opening it, you will get a clue to the next project.”

All five nodded. Krum kept glancing at Cohen and Harry, clearly preoccupied with their private discussion later.

"Alright, is there any other question?" Mr. Crouch asked. "If not, you can go back now."

"Zizi-"

After Mr. Crouch left, Krum made a slight noise toward Cohen and Harry, then pointed to the right outside the tent, indicating that they should go into the nearby forest to discuss the issue of "Harry and Hermione being just friends."

(End of this chapter)