Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 489 Edward, the Sneaky Dog
Quite a few fifth-year students went home early today, fifteen in total from all four houses—but even so, the Hogwarts Express looked almost empty.

Cohen occupied a private compartment all by himself and slept all the way to London in the car.

However, since it was a weekday, Edward, who usually picked up Cohen, did not appear at King's Cross Station; Rose drove instead.

However, the scene Cohen had imagined—being questioned by Rose about the "Ministry of Magic bombing incident"—did not occur.

Rose answered Cohen's call as usual and asked him about his situation at school and whether he was nervous during the exam.

It was so normal that Cohen felt it was very abnormal.

Rose was either furious or she was indifferent to Cohen blowing up the Ministry of Magic.

Either...

"Have you heard about what happened at the Ministry of Magic?" Cohen asked tentatively.

“Your father told me,” Rose sighed. “He was much braver this time than usual, but I… well, nobody wanted him to run into this mess so early in his term, first Fudge’s mess, and then Voldemort breaking into the Ministry of Magic to steal the Prophecy Orb.”

Not a word was mentioned about Cohen!
Cohen's eyes lit up.

It seems Edward didn't tell Rose anything.

In other words, the story Edward had Arnold tell Cohen that "if you don't do well on the test, you won't be able to comfort your mother" was actually made up by Edward.

“But now that he’s started working,” Rose said with a smile, “I have more time to spend on life and taking care of you—I’m planning to cook you a big meal for lunch today, just like he did.”

"Really?" Cohen was quite expectant.

……

"...Never mind, it's okay..."

Looking at the chaotic mix of unpalatable, distinctly British food on the table, Cohen couldn't bring himself to put his fork down.

Who invented the dish of stuffing a fish into a pie?!

There are also kidney pies and spherical sausages made from an unknown meat.

It's so evil, all these things are so evil.

The house-elves at Hogwarts must have been criticized for not serving such dishes for five years.

Rose might be able to cook, but it's somewhat unlikely that Rose would actually cook.

“Next time, let Edward and Dobby do this,” Cohen said.

However, Rose seemed to think Cohen was overreacting.

"Is it that bad?" Rose asked doubtfully, then scooped up a spoonful of the sticky green substance in front of Cohen and ate it, making Cohen's face contort. "I still followed the recipe."

To avoid upsetting Rose too much, Cohen ate some sausage rolls—one of the few foods on the table that didn't look so sinister.

Fortunately, Rose eventually realized the problem from the plate of fish jelly and very directly threw the plate of fish jelly, which she had only touched once, into the trash can, deciding that she would never again follow that famous chef's recipe to make any dishes she hadn't made before.

"When will Dad get off work?" Cohen asked, lying on the sofa after lunch.

The television was showing a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. "It used to be five o'clock—but lately he seems to be busy again," Rose said casually, glancing at the morning newspaper. "It might be later, and he doesn't tell me what he's busy with."

Cohen sat up alertly.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

“It’s nothing, I’ll ask him myself tonight,” Cohen said. “He borrowed my Chimera Beast last time and still hasn’t returned it to me.”

“That might be a bit difficult. That Chimera has become your father’s new mascot,” Rose said with a smile. “But you can urge him on. I haven’t seen Chimera appear in the newspapers lately. People are obviously more concerned about Voldemort’s movements than a talking Chimera.”

Life did become somewhat monotonous after Edward left home.

It's not that Rose isn't good at taking care of children, but if you decide to be with a mother like Rose, you're unlikely to experience much beyond the norm, because Rose is just too cautious when it comes to children.

Edward, on the other hand, did not treat the children as minors when he was "taking care" of them, nor did he treat them as human beings (not really).

Cohen began to think that making Edward a minister wasn't all good things.

At 7 p.m., almost two hours had passed since Cohen and Rose finished dinner, and Edward still hadn't returned.

"Isn't he going a bit too far?" Cohen asked suspiciously. "I don't think other ministers would work this much overtime."

“It’s a special time, I understand,” Rose said. “Did you enjoy your stay at Blake’s last time?”

“It’s alright,” Cohen said. “I sleep in bed, and when I’m hungry I go to the kitchen to find something to eat. I’m easy to take care of—why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

"Because I'm planning to go to the Order of the Phoenix to see if I can help. I can't just ignore the threat of Voldemort and lie at home all by myself," Rose shook her head. "Besides, you need some friends you can talk to. You've seemed a bit down all day."

“Not really…” Cohen said, “It’s nice to be lying here quietly—it feels like he’s back.”

Just seconds after Cohen spoke, the door was slowly pushed open—and Edward peeked into the house like a thief.

"Ha, you're all in the living room," Edward said guiltily. "Have you eaten? How did Cohen do on his OWL exam?"

“Cohen said the test went okay, so it must have been alright,” Rose said. “Have you eaten? I’ll have Dobby make you some late-night snacks.”

"No need, I've already eaten—I've been to quite a few places today, I'm going to take a shower first." Edward hurriedly hung up his coat and rushed upstairs.

“There’s a problem.” Cohen narrowed his eyes.

“I bet he’s secretly dragged a few other ministers out to play games again,” Rose said knowingly. “When he comes back from work, he’ll complain to me for at least an hour, wanting me to take his place at work the next day.”
-
In the bathroom on the second floor, Edward was humming a song while showering—when he finished showering and reached out from behind the curtain to grab the towel on the sink but couldn't reach it, Cohen kindly handed him the towel.

“Oh, thank you—no—Cohen?” Edward’s surprised voice came from behind the curtain.

Immediately afterwards, he quickly wrapped the towel around his body and then pulled open the curtain.

"I'm taking a shower!"

“I smell a woman,” Cohen sniffed. “You went to the nightclub—”

Edward immediately rushed forward and covered Cohen's mouth.

(End of this chapter)