Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 394 "So you're the one spreading rumors that I'm dead, huh?"

"..." Newt seemed relieved. "You don't actually need to break the rules and use magic off-campus during the holidays. I can handle these things—"

"Rolf wasn't even an adult yet, I don't believe he hasn't used magic—"

"Huh?" Rolf asked blankly, seeing the conversation had turned to him, "Me?"

“If I’m not discovered, it doesn’t count,” Cohen said firmly. “If I’m discovered but no one arrests me, it also doesn’t count.”

"You didn't tell your other classmates about this, did you..." Newt sighed. "Don't let the Ministry of Magic's hard-won control over underage wizards fall apart again..."

Children are the most difficult to manage, let alone children with magic wands, who can cause a series of troubles around your home at any time.

“No—” Cohen said, “I’m very obedient.”

As long as you have privileges, that's enough. If others also have them, then your privileges no longer count as privileges.

"So how do we get in—apparition? Or do we just go in stealthily like before?" Rolf asked. "This doesn't look like a place that can house adult griffins..."

From the outside, you can see that the city hall building, like its windows, is divided into small rooms, and a griffin of that size cannot even turn around in those rooms.

"It might have been cut into pieces," Cohen guessed. "Think about it, what would it look like..."

"Keep your voice down, grandson, it looks like it's about to cry," the old water snake warned.

The griffin looked very sad—and it seemed to have suddenly become sad because of Cohen's words.

"Huh? It can understand English?" Cohen's eyes widened.

"Maybe," the old water snake said, somewhat confused.

“It might be hidden in a slightly larger, secluded room—I remember encountering dragon thieves in Romania before,” Newt said. “They hid the dragon's carcass in a hollowed-out building. And many magical creatures aren't actually suited to the Muggle's method of dissection; most of their magic comes from their living bodies, then from their complete corpses, and lastly…”

"It's really scary."

Rolf shuddered at the thought of the terrible fate that would have befallen some of the magical creatures in his box if Newt hadn't rescued them.

“I know that. Every adventure has a basement with a boss room, and then a treasure chest is placed there as a reward for killing the boss.” Cohen nodded.

"It sounds like a Muggle game—and why is the villain in the basement?" Rolf asked curiously.

"Because they like dark, damp environments, and they're poor, they can't afford to rent better houses," Cohen said, stroking his chin. "Of course, it's also possible that this is some kind of universal law, like the ultimate answer to the universe being 42..."

“‘The adventure ends in the basement’ sounds too far from the ultimate answer to the universe,” Rolf said.

"This is an analogy, not a real analogy—"

"Screech!" The griffin cried out, reminding Cohen that he still had important business to attend to.

"Oh, oh, oh—" Cohen quickly pushed the old water snake's belly to get it to work.

Suddenly disappearing under the shade of a roadside tree might have many loopholes and could cause the Greek Ministry of Magic a lot of trouble that would be a huge waste of energy—but these were not things Cohen had to consider. When asked, he would simply say, "It was done by that long-horned water snake you worship."

They successfully slipped into the city hall without being noticed by anyone.

"Dad! A bird that makes a chirping sound stole my ice cream!" a little boy cried to his father, who was holding his hand. "I can't see it, and it even pecked my hand—look!"

As he spoke, the little boy showed his father the red mark on his hand that had disappeared, as well as the fingertips with a little bit of melted ice cream still on them.

“Jacob, you don’t think lying like this will get you another ice cream,” his father said sternly. “You’ve only had it for less than ten seconds. Eating it so fast is bad for your stomach.”

“Sigh, my dad wouldn’t do this to me,” Cohen said with great pity.

“You’re the one who had the griffin steal this ice cream, aren’t you?” Rolf said, his voice sounding tense.

"I don't know. The griffin was really eager to repay me, so it asked that child for it," Cohen said. [Sin Value +1]

[Note: Never forget your original aspiration]
Indeed, having a pet that can understand human speech is much more convenient no matter what—the Earl and the Griffin are the best examples.

Of course, the Earl may not always be so obedient, so he is rated one level lower than the Griffin in the "good pet" category.

"Screech!" After leading them around for a long time, the griffin finally stopped in a corridor on the first floor near the back of a building.

It had already brushed against quite a few people along the way, and every tourist who touched the griffin's wings or tail would look at their hand with suspicion and then at the seemingly empty mass of air.

Newt had no choice but to cast a small Oblivion Charm on each of them to avoid causing any disturbance.

"Is it telling us to go down?" Rolf asked, hearing the griffin slamming its beak against the ground. "Is there a path down there?"

As he spoke, Rolf bent down and tapped the ground with his wand.

"Wait a minute." Cohen had a better method—

He separated half of his soul, stretched it into a long strip, and burrowed downwards.

If there is any hidden basement here, it must be very deep—because Cohen didn't find anything other than the foundation in the first three meters.

Until they reached the fourth meter mark—a mostly dark underground structure illuminated only by two incandescent bulbs appeared.

The basement was empty, with some food bowls in the middle and a drain leading to the city sewers, as if it were for the animals to defecate.

Cohen saw no human figures, only some souls that looked like animals huddled in the darkness.

“Found it.” Cohen said to Rolf and Newt, who were lying on the ground, after withdrawing his soul.

"What?" Rolf asked in surprise, "I didn't even find any hollows—was it buried that deep?"

"I guess it's to avoid being discovered by wizards. The detection spell only extends nine feet in solid matter," Cohen said. "There's no one down there, just some animals. I'll take you down—"

Before Newt and Rolf could react, Cohen grabbed them and slipped into a small room downstairs.

Then, Cohen returned and took the griffin and the old water snake back—

"Roar!"

The moment the three appeared in the room, a deep roar came from the shadows.

“I smell my son’s scent. Don’t panic, Leon.” A calm male voice rang out.

Immediately afterwards, a golden griffin slowly emerged from the shadows, its sharp gaze sweeping over the three of them.

The old water snake recognized it and promptly dispelled its cloaking.

"Screech!" The griffins on Cohen's side swooped down joyfully.

"?" Cohen raised his eyebrows. "Wasn't it said to be dead?"

"?"

The old griffin looked at Cohen, then at his son who had pounced on him, and suddenly understood something.

It pressed down on the baby griffin's head with one claw.