Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 500: Dumbledore lasted 0 seconds during the "Should we resurrect Ariana?" event.

Upon hearing Cohen's words, Dumbledore stopped in his tracks and stared directly at Cohen, as if searching for the word "joke" on Cohen's face—but Cohen's expression was anything but a joke.

"..."

"..."

Dumbledore remained silent for a long time, as did Cohen.

Whether or not Ariana is saved depends not only on Dumbledore, but also on Ariana herself.

"Cohen, what are you planning to do to get her back?" Dumbledore asked softly.

“I used some methods I’ve used many times. Last time, I helped a cursed girl get a healthy body, but that requires the other person to have a real soul—theoretically, the dead shouldn’t have a soul returning, but I did see the soul of the little girl you were calling for just now,” Cohen said. “But only for a moment—she appeared when you put away that ring.”

If Cohen is telling the truth, then it means that the ghosts summoned by the Resurrection Stone are not actually the souls of the dead who have truly returned.

Cohen had read the story of the three brothers in "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". The second brother, who obtained the Resurrection Stone, summoned the girl he wanted to marry but who had unfortunately died young. However, the girl was sad and indifferent, and although she returned to the human world, she did not truly belong here.

Ultimately, the second of the three brothers was driven mad by his hopeless longing and committed suicide so that he could truly be with her.

No matter how you look at it, this stone seems like a tool used by Death to lure people to their deaths—and coincidentally, those who used the Resurrection Stone did indeed meet this end.

Cohen suddenly understood why he had seen emotions in Harry that resembled Lily's during their third year.

"Those who love us will never truly leave; they will always live with us..."

Dumbledore murmured to himself as if he had grasped something.

"But what if...Ariana doesn't want to come back?"

“Then she won’t come back to see you in the end, right?” Cohen said. “I don’t think the ‘thank you for saving my brother’ line was said by the phantom…”

And then there's that line, "You still have things to do."

Cohen found it increasingly strange.

The Ariana summoned by the Resurrection Stone seemed to be struggling between wanting to lure Dumbledore to his death and not wanting him to die; she seemed both real and fake.

The good news is that Cohen doesn't need to consider this difficult decision. Cohen feels that if Edward or Rose were dead, he would definitely use any means he could find to resurrect them without hesitation—unless Edward and Rose really don't want to come back.

“I may need some time to think about it,” Dumbledore paused, then said, “or… ask her what she wants.”

……

When something important happens, the person involved often suddenly becomes dazed and dull, to the point that when they realize what has happened, they seem like a completely different person.

Cohen knew he wouldn't have to wait long for a reply, but he didn't expect Dumbledore to reply so quickly.

No sooner had Cohen been returned to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place than he appeared with a letter still wet with ink, carried by Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes.

Give it a try

#Dumbledore lasted 0 seconds in the "Should we resurrect Ariana?" event, you should try it too!#
Cohen saw Fox still standing on the stair railing, looking him up and down with bright eyes, seemingly waiting for Cohen's approval.

"You mean—"

Fawkes touched Cohen's arm with his tail feathers, and then a flash of fire appeared. Cohen and Fawkes vanished from the spot. In the blink of an eye, Cohen was in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore was still clutching the Resurrection Stone, and Ariana was opposite him, making it look like the headmaster was talking to a student.

"She agreed?" Cohen asked.

“She said when it’s all over,” Dumbledore said, his voice trembling slightly. “Cohen, I need you to confirm whether it was Ariana who said it, or the voice of guilt in my heart.”

Cohen looked toward Ariana's ghost.

“Not now,” Cohen said. “Wait a minute—now it is—”

Cohen saw a label suddenly appear—indicating that the phantom had now been replaced by the real Ariana.

Ariana's appearance suddenly became much clearer, although it still seemed as if she were looking through a veil.

Her soul seemed to appear and disappear, as if she couldn't stay on this side for long.

“Ariana…” Dumbledore said, “I want to ask…whether you would like to…”

Dumbledore seemed to have suddenly lost his normal language abilities, and he couldn't get the questions he had prepared out smoothly.

“When it’s all over,” Ariana said. “Not now.”

"Not yet..." Dumbledore murmured, lost in thought.

"Does that mean you'll be willing to come back once Dumbledore has fulfilled his responsibilities?" Cohen suddenly asked.

Ariana smiled at Cohen, then quietly looked at her brother.

“I understand, Ariana.” Dumbledore closed his eyes.

“Alright, she’s gone now.” Cohen saw the tag disappear—but that was good news for Dumbledore, at least.

Ariana is willing to come back.

"You don't mean taking on the responsibilities you're supposed to take, do you?" Cohen asked after Ariana disappeared. "When did that become your responsibility?"

“I have many responsibilities to bear.” Dumbledore sat back down in the chair behind the long table, “but I have shirked them many times… I understand what Ariana means…”
-
In his youth, Dumbledore was shirking his responsibility to care for his younger siblings. After his father's imprisonment and his mother's death, he was filled with resentment and pain, feeling trapped by his family and wasting his life. This led him to meet Grindelwald and embark on a revolutionary plan "for the greater good," wanting to abandon his family and search for the Deathly Hallows.

Later, what he evaded was the responsibility of confronting Grindelwald—he was afraid of the truth, afraid of learning from Grindelwald who had cast the spell that killed Ariana in their first melee…

However, all of this is temporarily irrelevant to Cohen, because he will soon be able to escape the responsibility of "staying at home during the summer vacation".

"Is finding an abandoned tower in Austria as difficult as the probability of you giving birth to your own child?" Cohen asked the Count.

They were flying through the clouds, with the Count held under his cloak by Cohen, who had transformed into a Dementor, to help him orient himself.

"Didn't you say you were here?"

“So many years have passed!” the count retorted. “Who remembers exactly where that old man lived…”

(End of this chapter)