Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 331 Dance Partner Challenge? There are plenty of options then.

"Only you know what the lion is roaring about." ("Roar..." the lion roared in frustration.)

Cohen said,
"But wasn't I the first thing it saw when it was born?"

“Animals with magical powers can often easily distinguish their own kind and relatives, such as your relationship with unicorns, or your relationship with us,” the goat said. “It smelled the scent of its kin—so it’s understandable that it wanted to bring them back. But I do wonder why it didn’t take its mother with it when it left.”

“Because its mother was chained up,” Cohen said, rubbing his forehead. “The portal just happened to break the chains—and I don’t think it probably thought that at the time; it just thought I had a constant supply of food.”

Just like in response to what Cohen had just said, the old dragon left the cave, climbed straight to the sheepfold, stretched out its head and grabbed four or five sheep, then climbed back into the cave—it even took the time to raise its head towards Cohen, as if to greet him.

"Why does it act like it's been here for ages!" Cohen's eyes widened. "It wasn't like this to me yesterday!"

"We've given it some training," the long-horned water snake said. "Now it recognizes all the animals here—including you."

"Sissoko and Ari also made great contributions," the goat said modestly. "And the old basilisk, it was the first time it had gone out in so long and it encountered a stranger, which gave it quite a fright."

"It's still alive?" Cohen said in surprise. "I thought it had died in the rush—"

"Hmm?" the goat politely expressed its confusion.

"As expected of a thousand-year-old snake." Cohen politely refrained from mentioning the snake monster's year-long indulgence of desires. "It's in excellent health."

"Snoring..." Norbert started snoring on his back, shifting his bottom uncomfortably.

“Let’s get some stones and let it build a new hole by itself,” Cohen said. “I feel like I’m being taken advantage of, which is really upsetting—so I can’t let it have it too easy.”

“I know that,” the goat recalled. “Humans call this emotion jealousy.”

"I'm not jealous that a dragon is living a more comfortable life than me," Cohen lied, unwilling to admit it.

Now most of the work in the box has been handed over to the goat, including even the work on those undead.

The goat was happy to help Cohen build the castle for his amusement, and Cohen only needed to borrow some rare and unique books from the Hogwarts library from time to time for it.

As November arrived, a number of stressful things began to come one after another.

For example, Hagrid's task in his Bombtail course is to help Bombtails in their pregnancy period maintain emotional stability.

This was difficult for Cohen because these pregnant blasting snails were extremely sensitive. If Cohen got within three meters of them, they would start spewing flames and flee at top speed, even if they crashed into walls or wooden planks with their bellies full.

Cohen's range of extracting emotions is two meters, which means that these blasting snails have successfully found a way to avoid being harmed by Cohen—that is, to harm themselves before Cohen can harm them.

This made Hagrid nervously pull Cohen away and ask him to watch from a distance.

"Then why don't I just move around freely?" Cohen asked Hagrid from a distance.

Hagrid waved to Cohen, it was unclear whether he meant "no" or "go," but since there was no further explanation, Cohen took it as a sign that he was free to move around.

For several weeks afterward, Cohen was granted the privilege of not attending the Conservation of Magical Creatures class—without being put in solitary confinement or having points deducted. This led many students to ask Cohen how to make the Blasttail escape.

During a Transfiguration class on Thursday, Lavender Brown deliberately chose a seat near Cohen and whispered to him if there was some special perfume that could repel the Bombtail.

“I never use perfume.” Cohen felt that saying he used perfume would make him seem like he had body odor—although white people generally have body odor, his was noticeably less strong than Edward’s.

Perhaps it's because my body is actually a "corpse"...

It's already quite surprising that there was no stench of a corpse.

"Concentrate, concentrate! Miss Brown, you've almost strangled your guinea fowl!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Professor!" Lavender exclaimed, quickly letting go of his hand and immediately trying to turn it into a guinea pig.

The lesson wasn't difficult; turning a non-magical creature into another non-magical creature was at least simpler than turning a fire lizard into an ice bat.

But what Professor McGonagall announced near the end of class was the real challenge.

“I have a few words to say to you all.” Professor McGonagall put the students’ guinea pigs into cages. “The Christmas ball is coming soon. It’s a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and a great opportunity for us to interact with foreign guests.”

"The dance is only open to students in their fourth year or above. Of course, you may also invite a younger student if you wish."

Professor McGonagall's words made several students laugh, as if inviting students younger than themselves was something very funny.

“You will need to wear your formal gowns. The ball begins at eight o’clock on Christmas Eve,” Professor McGonagall reminded you. “While this ball is meant to be a relaxing event for you, I will be very distressed if any Gryffindor student brings shame to the school in any way.”

“Every warrior needs a partner, Norton and Potter.” After most people had left the classroom, Professor McGonagall stopped Cohen and Harry. “You two need to bring your partners to the ball.”

"Huh?" Harry blushed and hurriedly said, "I don't dance—"

“You must dance, both of you,” Professor McGonagall said. “That’s exactly what I was going to tell you. Traditionally, the ball is started by the warriors and their partners.”

"I don't dance—I can't—"

Harry seemed to want to decline.

“You heard me,” Professor McGonagall said in an unquestionable tone, “and Mr. Norton—”

“I have someone in mind.” Cohen nodded—which surprised Harry immensely.

Professor McGonagall nodded in satisfaction and left the classroom.

"What?!" Harry's eyes widened. "When did you get a dance partner? You're not really going to dance, are you—who did you choose?"

“It’s just dancing, not a date.” Cohen raised his eyebrows. “Don’t be so nervous… and I bet people who dance together now don’t end up together.”

(End of this chapter)