Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 415 Absenteeism? There are no surveillance cameras in the magical world.
A short while later, a sweating Neville also found their way there.

"Um...can I sit down?" Neville's round face was full of nervousness.

"Come in, Neville. Why are you sweating so much?" Hermione opened the door wider for Neville, who was carrying things in both hands.

“I can’t find any carriages anywhere, and I see your place is almost full too…” Neville said, looking down.

“Maybe it’s because the three of us are rather thin.” Cohen pointed to the seat next to Harry, where there was just enough room for one person to sit on the side where the boys were sitting.

After Neville took his seat, they began to talk about the rumors that had circulated during the summer vacation.

“My grandmother doesn’t believe a word of what the Daily Prophet says,” Neville said, shaking his head. “She says if Dumbledore says the Man from the Dark World has returned, then he has.”

“Not everyone can tell the difference between a harassing horsefly and a sap dragonfly,” Luna said abruptly.

“But they don’t exist,” Hermione said, frowning.

“They just look alike,” Luna said stubbornly.

The scenery outside the window changes rapidly, sometimes with dark clouds and sometimes with bright sunshine.

Cohen guessed that the cloud-covered mountain was where the Dementors were currently gathering—because there was a fleeting glimpse of a mountaintop castle there.

"Guess what I got for my birthday?" Neville was about to show everyone what was inside his bulging backpack.

“You’re so happy, it must be some kind of plant,” Cohen said.

“It is indeed a plant!” Neville said with a gleam in his eyes, then pulled a small potted plant out of his bag—it looked more like a single decorative piece than a “potted plant.”

It was a small, gray cactus planted in a pot, covered with boil-like growths.

“My Uncle Algi got it for me from Assyria; you might not even find it in the Hogwarts greenhouse,” Neville said. “I really want to take it to Professor Sprout right now…”

When it came to what was new during the summer vacation, Harry and his friends didn't have much to say, because they spent most of their time with the Order of the Phoenix, and things related to the Order of the Phoenix couldn't be talked about.

“Cohen went to Greece for a trip,” Harry said. “He saw a lot of interesting magical creatures.”

"Greece!" Luna's eyes lit up. "Will there be horned snorkels?"

“No, but there were griffins, longhorned water serpents, and chimeras,” Cohen said, “and a bunch of weird fish—but I didn’t see a hydra; the weather was too good during my trip, and it only shows up on rainy days.”

“Rolf wrote to me saying he had found some shadowy figures that looked a lot like the horned snorkeling beast,” Luna said.

"He didn't even tell you about running into me?" Cohen asked in surprise, but thinking about it, it made sense—Rolf was probably already thinking about how to win Luna's heart, so naturally he would have forgotten about Cohen.

Is being a good bro just about dumping your girlfriend once you've gotten her...?

“Maybe the parchment was too short,” Luna recalled, tilting her head. “He wrote a whole page of magical creatures and even sent a deer antler…”

Cohen knew this, because it wasn't a deer antler, but an old antler that the old water snake had dropped into the temple, which Rolf probably took.

“Cohen!” Hermione suddenly realized something terrible. “We should be in the prefects’ car—it’s been half an hour already!”

"Huh?" Cohen's eyes widened. "Can't I choose a different carriage? Sitting with a bunch of strangers feels like being in prison..."

"Pfft—" Harry and Ron looked at Cohen with amusement, and even nudged him. "We'll leave you some snacks later. When you come back, tell us who the prefects of the other houses are."

Urged anxiously by Hermione, Cohen had no choice but to leave his seat.

“Why are we going to a separate carriage? School hasn’t even started yet,” Cohen asked.

"We're going to receive instructions from the student council president, and then patrol the corridors from time to time to see if there's any disorder." Hermione recited the contents of the letter from Hogwarts. "Oh no, we're too late..." "It's okay, Dumbledore was all smiles when I was late, what kind of airs can the student council president put on me?" Cohen said nonchalantly.

When they arrived at the class monitor's car, it was already empty.

A row of cushioned chairs surrounded a round table with a note on it that read, "Patrolley the carriages every half hour and escort the first-year students of your respective colleges to the lounge after the banquet."

"It looks like nothing big has been missed," Cohen said.

“There’s an attendance sheet!” Hermione said in a horrified tone. “Look! We’ve already missed classes since the start of the semester!”

Cohen noticed what Hermione was pointing to: a form tucked under a book on the table called "New Principles of Numerology".

The list shows the names of eight prefects from four houses. Except for Cohen and Hermione, the other six names have checkmarks next to them.

Cohen took out his quill and quickly added two checkmarks after their names.

"!" Hermione stared at Cohen with an incredulous look.

“Now no one will be absent,” Cohen said nonchalantly. “Anyway, there are no security cameras here.”
-
After inspecting the train, Cohen and Hermione returned to Harry's compartment. It looked like the snack cart had just been there, as the table was piled high with food.

"How did you get back so quickly?" Harry asked, his mouth still full of chocolate frog.

"Because we missed every step that needed to be explained." Cohen stretched. "We got there too late, and there was no one left."

"Do you know who the prefects of the other colleges are?" Ron asked curiously. "Maybe there's some kind of list or something?"

“The Ravenclaws are Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil,” Hermione said. “The Hufflepuffs are Ernie and Hannah…”

“I bet Malfoy is one of the Slytherins,” Harry said.

“That’s right,” Cohen said. “And Pansy Parkinson.”

“How can that Pansy Parkinson be a prefect?” Ron said indignantly. “She looks like she’s drooling like an idiot all the time.”

"It's already quite difficult for a child born from inbreeding to be of normal intelligence; you can't expect them to be exceptionally bright." Cohen said.

Ginny and Luna burst into laughter.

“By the way, Ginny, where’s your owl?” Ron asked. He didn’t see Ginny’s owl; there was only an empty cage on her box.

“Sarah went to deliver the letter,” Ginny said as she packed her schoolbag.

"Who are you going to deliver the message to?" Ron frowned and grabbed Ginny's hand as she tried to stuff it deeper into her bag.

“Can’t I have a pen pal?” Ginny retorted, snatching the letter from Ron’s hand. “You’re starting to sound more and more like Mom. Owls are for delivering letters, not for keeping in cages as statues.”

“That’s right,” Cohen said.

“I’m your brother!” Ron said angrily. “I have to keep an eye on things for you and make sure you don’t associate with any shady wizards!”

“I never associate with shady wizards!” Ginny said, her face flushed. “Besides, who I associate with is none of your business, Ronald Weasley!”

Cohen saw a name flash by on the piece of paper Ginny had stuffed into her bag: Carlton Gray.

The name was unfamiliar, and it didn't even sound like someone from Hogwarts.

(End of this chapter)