Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 444's title implies a rather cruel plot.

Soon, Cohen's roll of parchment was filled with names—the top one being "Cohen Norton." Edward had originally intended to use this method to boost the event's popularity, but the current buzz seemed to make such a move unnecessary.

“Hermione, even though you say it’s bad, you still wrote your name on it, didn’t you?” Ron said with a wicked grin.

“I’d like to know why Professor Norton said, ‘You’ll learn it pretty much once you’ve played with it,’” Hermione said, tilting her head back. “I can still do my homework.”

“Cohen, did your father really say that?” Harry asked Cohen.

“I did mention it. It's probably just some wizarding-style modifications made to the sandbox, like adding wands and spell systems…” Cohen said. “Now it really is like training at Hogwarts…”

Something feels a bit dangerous...

However, this project was signed off by Dumbledore; the danger lies with Dumbledore, but the problem is not significant.

If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. Dumbledore is several inches taller than Edward, so he should be the one to hold it up.

At noon, in the Gryffindor common room, Cohen saw the Earl's wife return and was still rubbing against the Earl affectionately.

It has already delivered the letter to Carlton Gray, and according to the Earl's relayed testimony, his wife saw a fair-skinned, beautiful, gray-haired woman with large breasts—

"Can you say something that will pass censorship?" Cohen said with a long face.

“Alright, alright, the letter was received by a gray-haired woman; she's Carlton Grey,” the Earl said. “Your wish has been dashed; it's not the kind of muscular man you're looking for—”

"So you think that even if you don't live to see the next day because of spreading rumors, you'll still have offspring to inherit your genes after you have a wife?" Cohen looked at it with a dangerous gaze, and the Earl immediately shuddered.

“I was talking about my wife—my wife—” the count changed his words, “you wretched owl, you’ve been secretly lusting after me…”

The mother owl stared at the count with a puzzled look, then resumed her affectionate interactions with him—it seemed she had gotten used to it.

However, the information we retrieved was crucial.

Carlton Gray is a woman, not the adult male wizard that Ginny thought she was.

Then her letter to Ginny becomes even more suspicious—why would a woman seduce a little girl? She couldn't possibly be a lesbian, could she?

If it's the silver key, how can you get information about Cohen from Ginny? Ginny and Cohen had met less in the first four years than Cohen and Mr. Flando had met.

If Carlton Gray were to reply to his letter of friendship, Cohen planned to use his intellect to extract information.

If Carlton Gray didn't reply, Cohen planned to use a method of force devised through intelligence to extract information.

There should be no secrets before the future leader of the Dementor Empire.

Even before Carlton Gray's reply arrived, there was news from Hagrid—on Wednesday afternoon, Hermione happily told them that the door to Hagrid's cabin was open.

"Where has he gone? He hasn't even written us a letter." As soon as Herbology class ended, Harry eagerly dragged them across the field and ran towards Hagrid's hut.

“Secret missions certainly don’t write to us, that would be too unsecret,” Cohen said. “I smell blood—it might not end well.”

“What?!” Harry’s eyes widened. “Who could hurt him—I mean, isn’t Hagrid a half-giant…”

"You can even smell blood?" Hermione asked Cohen in surprise. "I can't smell anything—"

“I have a basilisk father, that’s easy to understand,” Cohen said. “Although I don’t rely on my tongue—there’s also the smell of dragon meat and balsam juice.”

“That sounds like something for cleaning wounds and relieving pain.” Hermione quickly went through her knowledge of those two things in her mind. “Hagrid must be in trouble.” “At least he’s back at Hogwarts, isn’t he? It’s safe here,” Ron reassured her.

They hurried to Hagrid's door and peered into the hut.

Hagrid was facing away from the door when Awful noticed Cohen and the others arriving and started barking happily at them.

"Who is it? Oh, it's you guys. Come in quickly... The door opened by itself..." Hagrid hurriedly welcomed them in. The room was covered with blood-stained gauze and a bucket of greenish chunks of meat.

Hagrid's hair was a mess, with blood clots on it.

His left eye was swollen shut, and he had many injuries on his face and hands, but he didn't seem to be seriously hurt.

A thick black travel cloak was draped over the chair, and a huge backpack leaned against the wall. Hagrid looked like he had just returned.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked worriedly.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing…” Hagrid shook his head, “I just tripped and fell…”

“You’d have to jump off a cliff to get this badly injured,” Cohen said.

He knew Hagrid had gone to the giants' side—and Hermione guessed it the next second.

"It was the giants who hit you, wasn't it, Hagrid?" Hermione asked softly.

“Huh? Who told you that—I didn’t say—no—no giants—” Hagrid said in a panic.

“I guessed…” Hermione apologized.

"Is it just a guess..." Hagrid looked at them sternly, but doing so made his eyes start to hurt. After a cry of pain, he took another piece of dragon meat and put it on his face.

“I’ll go and burn the giants to ashes for you,” Cohen said.

“Don’t be foolish, Cohen, they’re ruthless…” Hagrid sighed. “Professor Dumbledore doesn’t want you involved either. You’re our secret weapon—um…should I not have used that word…”

“I’ve heard it a second time,” Cohen said dryly. “But I can understand.”

“Tell me about school, and about your summer vacation—Cohen, didn’t you go to Greece?” Hagrid said.

"They made a mess of the Greek Ministry of Magic, but they did manage to rescue the griffin's father from last semester. Yes, that's right, the little guy was always going around saying his dad was dead and then looking for other animals to eat," Cohen explained to Hagrid's surprised look. "I don't think there's a single animal in Greece with a normal personality..."

"Have you seen Hydra?" Hagrid asked. "I've always been curious about how it lives..."

“No, the weather was too sunny those days, the Hydra didn’t come to the shallow waters at all,” Cohen said. “But I brought back a scorpion, a leopard cat, a two-headed lynx, and three golden sheep—tell us what you encountered in France if you want to see them.”

Cohen remembered that the book said Hagrid was more seriously injured—but Hagrid only suffered minor scratches.

Fighting giants is not just about getting bruised and battered.

"Harry, did anything happen to you?" Hagrid quickly changed the subject.

“I was attacked by a Dementor.” Harry teased, and continued, watching Hagrid’s horrified expression (“Didn’t Cohen stop it?”), “Tell us your story, and we’ll tell you ours.”

(End of this chapter)