Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 549 Stay away from anything related to work!
Slughorn looked around and noticed that Cohen had joined the group that was originally drinking.

“Because you’ve been poisoned, Horace.” Flitwick handed Slughorn a cup with some kind of pattern engraved on its bottom. “Dark magic. Any liquid poured into this cup will turn into a short-acting poison. In the seventeenth century, someone used this to commit a series of serial murders—where did you get this cup?”

"What?!" Slughorn looked as surprised as a walrus that hadn't gotten its fish. "This was given to me by Pierce Sinkness—he said it was to thank me for helping him, you know, connections..."

It seems that Slughorn's entire memory after his death has been lost.

"It sounds like there are bad guys in your group," Cohen said to Edward, rubbing his cheeks.

“That Pierce from the Executive Division?” Edward asked. “I’ll look into him—thanks for the information—and Cohen, come here for a second.”

With that, Edward pulled Cohen outside.

“So… I was poisoned, and then you cured me?” Slughorn said to Flitwick with a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much, Felius…”

“It’s mainly Edward’s son.” Flitwick shrugged his little shoulders. “Edward said Cohen has captured your soul, otherwise you would really be dead… It’s terrible, but Horace, you really need to be a little wary of the gifts you receive, especially in these times, our students don’t always grow up to be honest people.”
-
"What did you see earlier?" Edward pulled Cohen into the broom shed next door, stopping Harry, Hermione, and Ron along the way.

The broom shed had only one small window, above which hung a spider dangling from its web. Brooms, mops, and buckets were piled haphazardly in the corner. There was nowhere to sit, so Edward and Cohen had to stand facing each other in the small space.

Death was still following Cohen, but because the space here was rather cramped, he stayed outside.

“An incredibly old man has been following me the whole time,” Cohen said. “And Harry and the others can’t see him—at first I thought he was looking for me, but now it seems he might be looking for Slughorn…”

After hearing Cohen's explanation, Edward reached out to touch Cohen's forehead, but Cohen dodged him.

“I didn’t get brain damage—have I ever had a fever since I was a kid?” Cohen said. “I guess the old man I saw was Death.”

“Death?” Edward’s expression turned strange. “Cohen, maybe it’s some kind of spell causing you to hallucinate? Death isn’t real—it’s just a fairy tale…”

“That might not be the case. He was standing right outside the door,” Cohen shook his head. “And he wanted to say a few words to me. I also saw him abduct Slughorn’s soul earlier, and I was the one who retrieved it—what kind of spell could do that?”

"You snatched Slughorn's soul back from the clutches of Death?" Edward repeated. "So, he's not angry?"

"Looks like he didn't, otherwise he would have fought with me, right?" Cohen said.

"Is he standing right outside the door?" Edward asked again.

“Yes.” Cohen remembered that the Grim Reaper had just left outside the door.

Then, Edward gripped his wand in his right hand and pushed open the door to the broom shed with his left.

"Is he still alive?" Out of caution, Edward transmitted a question to Cohen via the mind-synchronization device around his neck.

Now even Cohen was confused—

The Grim Reaper who had been following him suddenly disappeared again.

【emmmm…】 Cohen pursed his lips. 【He's gone.】 Edward took a deep breath, closed the door again, and then grabbed Cohen's shoulder. Cohen had now grown into a tall young man of over 1.7 meters, less than four inches shorter than Edward.

“Cohen, I know you might have seen something that looked very real,” Edward said, looking Cohen into the eyes. “But I have to warn you, don’t talk to him—”

"Why?" Cohen asked, puzzled.

“Because…” Edward hesitated, choosing his words carefully, “I still believe it’s some kind of spell that influences your mind—”

“But he did take Slughorn’s soul—” Cohen asked, utterly bewildered, “and you know curses and such don’t work on me.”

“Most of the known curses are useless against you,” Edward said to Cohen in a very serious tone. “But there are still a whole host of magical phenomena that the wizarding world hasn’t fully understood yet. We can’t forget to be skeptical just because we believe in the laws of nature—I don’t know how to explain my current feelings to you, but consider this, or perhaps, my…request for you?”

"Alright," Cohen said, sensing something was off. "Although I still find it strange, if there's something you really don't want to tell me..."

“There’s nothing I don’t want to tell you,” Edward said decisively. “You heard that prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, didn’t you? The one that mentioned Harry and Voldemort.”

“I heard you,” Cohen said.

“'Then one of them will let greater darkness hang over the sky.'” Edward repeated the last sentence of the prophecy.

“I’m not going to bring about any darkness.” Cohen blinked. “You know I won’t do things you don’t like.”

Edward simply sighed.

“Okay, I promise you, I won’t say a word to that Grim Reaper,” Cohen promised. “Even if he wants me to be his successor, it won’t work. I hate working.”

“Hmm.” Edward still seemed a little worried. “Remember to write to me if anything happens. Be careful on your way back to school—and, about Dumbledore’s plan to murder himself, maybe you should…”

“I’m sixteen years old,” Cohen said helplessly. “You don’t need to protect me like a baby.”

“Alright,” Edward said. “I really don’t understand what Dumbledore is up to—that’s settled then. I have to go back to the department later and investigate that Pierce properly.”

“That Pierce is one of Voldemort’s men. He either used the Imperius Curse or he’s switched sides,” Cohen said. To Edward’s surprise, Cohen revealed his source: “I have a Death Eater inside me—believe me.”

“It sounds like I'll have to find a new team leader for the Executive Division.” Edward still trusted Cohen's information. “Then…”

“Wait a minute.” Cohen grabbed Edward’s arm and said, “Now that all this is over, I need to ask you some serious questions about the ‘Silent Charm’—what do you mean by ‘I also often teach Cohen’? I only got one sentence: ‘It’s mainly about talent’? Hmm?”

"Huh? This—" Edward scratched his head and said, "Flitwick said you've practiced it very well—which means—"

"Snapped!"

Before Cohen could react, Edward swiftly withdrew his arm, then with a loud bang, he Apparated away.

(End of this chapter)