Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 358 Seemingly Relatives, But Actually Not Close at All
After the project was over, Cohen retrieved his stretching charm bag from Harry and then secretly slipped back into the lake in a secluded spot.

Edward was responsible for keeping watch for Cohen by the lake.

The students are all rushing back to the castle to ask the "hostages" what exactly happened underwater; no one is going to go to the lake, and they can't hook up with the mermaids anyway.

"It feels like they're doing something illegal or criminal..." Edward frowned and hid behind a bush that had been magically transformed.

“Because it’s illegal and criminal.” Cohen turned into a basilisk—simply because the basilisk’s dark green scales are less likely to be spotted on the grass. “You need a license to keep longhorn water snakes, but I don’t think anyone in my family would be willing to get one. It’s too much trouble, so we might as well just ignore the law.”

Cohen went underwater, and Edward didn't wait long on the shore before Cohen returned with a bag in his mouth.

"Did you receive it?" Edward asked.

After reaching the shore, Cohen transformed back into human form, clutching a heavy bag of camel skin.

"Stop shaking it, it's going to fall apart..." the old water snake said sullenly.

“Go back to the castle first. If anything happens, remember to have the Earl come and tell us,” Edward said. “Would you like to come out for dinner tonight? I’m planning to personally host a celebratory feast to celebrate your first place.”

"Really cooked by yourself?" Cohen raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wouldn't cook anymore after you got house-elves."

“That’s why this victory celebration is so important.” Edward smoothed Cohen’s slightly damp hair. “And I need to take a shower later; the water isn’t exactly clean…”
-

The journey back to the eighth floor was anything but smooth. As soon as Cohen stepped into the castle, he was surrounded by a large group of unfamiliar students, all of whom were Ravenclaw and Slytherin students.

They were eager for Cohen to tell them what happened underwater, because the other warriors and hostages were surrounded by others and they couldn't squeeze in.

"Enter the mermaid village, rescue people, and surface," Cohen replied somewhat impatiently after several groups of onlookers had passed through.

"I didn't kill the giant squid. If you don't believe me, you can jump into the lake right now and see—it will definitely throw you back to shore..."

"And there were no killer merfolk—"

"Is it too outdated to ask me about my relationship with Azkaban now?"

"No, my dad isn't a humanoid Dementor, and neither is my mom—"

"There might be some connection, but I didn't threaten the merfolk with 'I'll lock you up in Azkaban'..."

"Mermaids aren't pretty. If you're suppressing your true nature, go find the eight-eyed giant spider. It has a big mouth—"

"Alright, alright, I'm in my dorm now, I'm going to sleep." Cohen stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady on the eighth floor.

This group of people are getting too close to me, especially those gossipy girls. We're just ordinary classmates, but they're being so close to me that they have no sense of boundaries.

And after Cohen stopped, several people hit him because they couldn't brake in time.

The result was that they fell down, while Cohen remained motionless.

After a commotion, they scattered hastily like birds and beasts.

“Which of you dropped something?” Cohen said to the last few girls who had gotten up, pointing to a stack of booklets on the ground. “It might also belong to your friends…”

However, the contents of these pamphlets caught Cohen's attention.

It's the Hogsmeade Student Part-Time Job Handbook—Hogsmeade even has this?

“Mrs. Snelling’s hair shop…” Cohen picked it up and glanced at it.

"Ah, it's mine!" A third-year Ravenclaw girl, her face flushed, quickly snatched the handbook from Cohen's hand before squatting down to collect her scattered handbooks.

Cohen looked at her hair, which was clearly trimmed—but certainly not for style, since long hair was more fashionable among the girls at Hogwarts.

"Working so hard to earn money?" Cohen clicked his tongue. "No, no, these are flyers..." The girl ran away, her ears turning bright red.

The wealth gap at Hogwarts...

Cohen sighed, thankfully he was on the rich side.

Once everyone had left, Cohen no longer needed to go into the lounge to avoid attracting attention.

He turned directly into another corridor, returned to the Room of Requirement, and poured the old water snake out of the camel skin bag.

"Ugh...," the old water snake said, still feeling dizzy. "Where am I?"

"Another snake?" the count asked, tilting his head. "Where did this one come from?"

“A relative of the Chimera Beast,” Cohen replied casually.

Then, Cohen walked to the table where the boxes were placed and opened the lid of one of the boxes.

This is where I keep my things—the Chimera Beast is in the box, I'll take you to see it.

"You boiled her into wine?!" The old water snake was sobered up immediately after Cohen opened the box and smelled a faint smell of alcohol.

"I'm not that cruel..." Cohen said helplessly, showing it the deep entrance inside the box. "The inside is bigger than the outside."

"Wow, a wizard's trick!" the old water snake exclaimed. "My daughter can do it too—or some other part of her..."

"You're talking about a daughter... is she your biological child?" Cohen asked as he pushed the old water snake inside.

"Is it important?" the old water snake asked, glancing at the ground. "The one I hatched is my daughter! The other two heads are... byproducts."

“Now you have company, aren’t you happy?” Cohen said to the count who followed him in. “This snake has also hatched a strange egg, and it seems quite pleased with it.”

"Please, don't make me recall anything unpleasant..." the count said dryly.

"The Chimera is over there." Cohen looked around and found the Chimera's location—it was kicking a ball of yarn in front of the castle, the goat making the ball very large to satisfy the lion's instinct to hunt giants.

【Ah…】The old water snake suddenly hesitated, and did not rush over as Cohen had expected for a touching father-daughter reunion—no, maybe father-daughter-son, or father-son-child…

"What's wrong?" Cohen asked. "Not this one?"

"No, that's not it..." the old water snake said awkwardly.

Before the old water snake could rush over to recognize it, the Chimera Beast had already noticed the familiar figure in the distance.

Its tail circled around to the goat and said a few words, then the goat went up to the lion and muttered a few words.

The lion, pushing the ball of yarn, strode quickly toward Cohen, all three heads turning to look at the old water snake.

Haha! I've come to see you all!

The old water snake spoke as if acting.

[From Greece to some unknown place! We flew all that way, aren't you excited?]

"Roar?" The lion roared in confusion.

"Who's chasing us now?" the goat asked.

"Where have you gotten yourself into trouble again?" the long-horned water snake's tail seemed to have gotten used to, and it said lazily.

(End of this chapter)