Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 350 Fate loves to deceive, so the wise always scoff at it.

"But then again, it seems like no one has made a move against us after all this time."

Harry was a little confused.

"The person who cast our names into the Goblet of Fire... isn't he being a little too calm?"

“Indeed,” Cohen said thoughtfully.

Of course, Cohen wasn't thinking about putting his name in the Goblet of Fire, because that was something he and Voldemort had done.

What exactly does Silver Key, who has never revealed his true purpose, want to do? This is what Cohen is most concerned about.

Karkaroff had said on the night of the Christmas ball that the Silver Key had a plan that "might not succeed".

The Silver Keys group connected to Karkaroff are clearly not on the same side as Rita's boyfriend, Loki, and may even be the ones who instigated the infighting and ambushed Loki to kill him.

Their approach to Karkarov was certainly not just because he was the principal of a foreign school—their plans were definitely also related to the Triwizard Tournament.

Furthermore, what is suspicious is that Karkaroff gave Cohen a perfect score on the first project, which was clearly driven by some kind of obligation—otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have allowed other students to take the first place that belonged to Krum.

In other words, this group of silver keys wants Cohen to win the championship.

It was exactly the same plan Voldemort devised against Harry...

“Then I’ll go find Hermione and learn the Bubble Hair Charm.” Harry helped himself to his feet from the grass, brushing the dirt off his clothes. “Two months… should be enough, right?”

"Considering you've been practicing the Summoning Charm for over a month..." Cohen hesitated to comment on Harry's learning speed. "If you don't want things to get too difficult later on, you can come find me—hmm, that sounds like something a rich woman would say."

After sending Harry away, Cohen planned to do something he usually avoided doing.

Peeping at the divination crystal ball.

This is the most direct way to see the ultimate purpose of the Silver Key—as long as your luck isn't so bad that you can only see some unimportant future events.

Returning to the Room of Requirement from the box, Cohen placed the crystal ball that Martha had given him on the table, and the Earl curiously peered at it from the side.

"Inherited from the water snake?" the count asked. "I've hardly ever seen you use it. If I were you, I'd watch it every day—and then go buy lottery tickets and make a fortune."

“If I could peek into the future at will, I would definitely do it every day.” Cohen pursed his lips, his hand idly touching the crystal ball. “The problem is that what I see is all random, and it always fools me—last time I almost thought I hadn’t saved that dog-man, but it turned out that the Dementor on top of him was myself.”

“That’s useless,” the count commented.

"Why do you keep criticizing yourself?" Cohen said mercilessly.

“Isn’t it because I have a strong sense of empathy?” the count said viciously.

"..." Cohen looked at the crystal ball without saying a word.

"Hmph, you still need to learn more from me about being sarcastic and sarcastic." The Earl saw that Cohen was silent and thought he had won the little argument. "Watch carefully and learn well."

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Seeing Cohen staring at the crystal ball without speaking, the Earl leaned closer and asked, "Are you angry already? Then..."

“No.” Cohen’s expression was not good—or rather, he had never been happy whenever he looked at the “future.”

Cohen pulled out a hand and grabbed the Earl, dragging it towards the direction of the crystal ball.

The mist inside quickly receded to the edge, and the Earl could now see the scene that Cohen had seen.

“Is this thing broken?” The count stared at the screen inside, utterly bewildered. “I don’t believe they would do this to you—especially Edward.”

In the scene, Edward, Rose, and Herbert surround Cohen, their wands all pointed at him, their faces bearing expressions of utterly unfamiliar hatred. Cohen, however, appears to be deeply saddened—though even he himself can't tell if it's genuine or feigned.

“It might be a compound decoction,” the Count said. “Those people with silver keys stole your father’s beard, hair, or something from the sewers. Given their level of depravity, it could also be…”

“I’ll recognize it if it’s Polyjuice Potion,” Cohen said calmly. “If they’re dressed like that, I’ll kill them all before they raise their wands—I won’t play any role-playing games with them.”

“Don’t you often do this?” the Earl said, “like acting alongside Voldemort or something…”

"Voldemort is Voldemort, Edward and his group are Edward and his group, they are not the same."

Cohen pondered,
"no the same……"

Surely it couldn't all be a charade with Edward and the others, could it? Who would they be putting on this for?
Seemingly influenced by Cohen's desire to see what would happen next, the images inside the crystal ball began to move.

No sound could be heard from inside, but Cohen in the scene cast a killing curse on Edward a few seconds later.

The green light struck him, and Edward was sent flying like a rag doll.

If it were a compound decoction, the person should have recovered to their original state after death—but "Edward" here did not.

"It's right... but something's not quite right either..."

Cohen stared at the scene inside the crystal ball, but the video ended there, and the crystal ball returned to its misty state.

"It might be a high-end counterfeit..." the count warned Cohen.

“It’s definitely not some normal counterfeit situation.” Cohen’s brows furrowed deeply.

Cohen had seen this scene before.

The Boggart I met in third grade was the first "thing Cohen feared" it ever found.

Or perhaps he was surrounded by Boggarts?
In the "future" scenario, the surrounding environment resembles an empty Muggle square, and it's late at night with very poor lighting.

The image shows a trophy reflecting a golden light at Cohen's feet—indicating that this occurred after the third event of the Triwizard Tournament.

He got the trophy—which should have been converted into a Portkey and sent to Voldemort.

But Voldemort wasn't in the picture, and neither was Harry.

Has the plan fallen apart?
The moment Cohen saw himself cast the Killing Curse on Edward, he no longer felt that this was the real Edward—even if this Edward wasn't created by someone using Polyjuice Potion.

Since he could see souls, he couldn't possibly harm Edward and the others.

The more pressing question has shifted from "why I was surrounded by Edward and the others" to "how can I get the mission rewards now that Voldemort's plan has failed?"

“Fate always likes to deceive, so the wise always scoff at it…” the Count said slowly to Cohen.

"Where did you copy that from?" Cohen looked up and frowned. "Don't suddenly say things that don't fit your usual persona. I'll think you've suddenly lost your mind..."

“No, I was just saying you’re a little fool,” the Count said. “You don’t really think this future means you and your family will have a falling out, do you?”

“No,” Cohen said. “I just feel like my plans with Voldemort have been ruined, and the only way to salvage the situation might be to kidnap Harry right after the tournament…”

A single mission can cost as much as 5,000 sin points; even if Harry suffers, Cohen shouldn't suffer too.

(End of this chapter)