Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 570 A Rambling Christmas
Ron and Hermione's relationship, which had always been on the verge of developing but never officially becoming a couple, finally took a turn for the better, evolving into a romantic relationship over the next two months.

This not only meant that Cohen had to endure Ron's nagging every time he copied homework, but also had to endure Harry's entanglement as he was drawn back to the Basilisk by the prevailing romantic atmosphere.

Although Cohen prepared a human body for the basilisk in the first place, Harry couldn't stay in the box forever, and the basilisk couldn't wander around outside the box forever—because she wasn't a Hogwarts student.

A week before Christmas, Harry came up with a plan.

“Or shall we ask Dumbledore?” Harry suggested. “He might be able to get her admitted…”

"Sixth grade from the start?" Cohen asked. "And Dumbledore can't decide who gets in; it's the school's decision."

The little basilisk's new body, Cohen, was made to look like a sixteen-year-old student, with little difference in appearance, but it was still too bizarre for him to be a first-year student.

Moreover, the little snake monster can only read English, not write it.

"Everything will be alright after graduation." Seeing Harry's somewhat dejected expression, Cohen patted him on the shoulder. "Also, call him father-in-law."

“She calls you ‘brother,’ so don’t try to take advantage of me,” Harry immediately refused.

“Then call him brother-in-law,” Cohen said.

“Only Cohen,” Harry insisted.

"Fine," Cohen said helplessly. "Are you going to tell Sirius? What if he finds out you like a snake..."

“There’s nothing wrong with a girl named Sophia,” Harry shook his head.

Tomorrow they have to go home for the Christmas holidays, and Harry wanted to take Sophia to Grimmauld Place, but Sissoko sternly refused.

The reason is that Cohen passed through the Privet this Christmas, and Sissoko wanted the family to be together and couldn't allow his daughter to run away.

On the day of the holiday, Cohen and his friends got off at King's Cross Station. Cohen didn't see Edward, but he saw Rose waiting outside the station.

Upon meeting, Rose immediately shoved Cohen's head back to check if the sudden "murder" had caused any terrible damage.

“It was over in less than half a minute.” Cohen twisted his neck in Rose’s arms. “It’s all fine now, Mom…”

“I was terrified when your dad came home and told me about it that day!” Rose said tenderly, rubbing the back of Cohen’s head. “First the Avada Kedavra curse, then the Basilisk, then the Triwizard Tournament and the Ministry of Magic’s mess. I’m worried you’ll do it again this year…”

“This year…” Cohen wanted to say something comforting, that nothing would happen this year or next, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Because Cohen knew that this was a lie, and that he was going to do something next semester that would hurt Edward and Rose.

"Let's go, let's not think about this anymore, let's have a happy Christmas." Rose sniffed and pulled Cohen toward the parking lot.

"Where's Edward?" Cohen asked after getting into the car. "He won't be able to come back for Christmas, will he?"

“He will still be able to come back for Christmas,” Rose said. “But he’s catching up on sleep at home now; he didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

"What did you do last night?" Cohen asked.

“The search, and some discussions with ministers from other countries,” Rose sighed. “He didn’t really need to go to such lengths. It wasn’t his fault for not catching Voldemort; Dumbledore also said…”

Cohen recalled the hunt Dumbledore had participated in before, during which Dumbledore had said he had failed to capture Voldemort…

Is Edward taking the blame upon himself?
“He might listen to you,” Rose said. “You can talk to him when you get back, but remember to avoid your grandmother. Martha doesn’t know about this yet; she thinks all those pursuits were done by Edward’s men.”
-
Upon arriving home, Cohen received a warm welcome from Martha.

She kept trying to get Cohen to try her desserts—but surprisingly, this time Martha's food finally seemed to have normal colors. At least the pies and frosted cakes weren't black.

"Grandma, I ate lunch on the train—I'm going to put my luggage down—"

Cohen decided to flee the living room after eating the third piece of frosted cake. The Dementors might not starve, but they would certainly die from overeating.

"Remember not to wake Ed, your dad just came back to sleep this morning..." Martha whispered to Cohen.

However, Martha's reminder was not very useful, because Edward had already woken up and had just peeked into the living room from upstairs.

"Cohen's back?" Edward looked like he hadn't fully woken up yet. "When did this happen—what time is it now?"

“It’s one o’clock, Ed, go get some more sleep—you can’t work like this…” Martha said with concern.

“I only stayed up all night this one time,” Edward said sleepily, yawning. “Then I realized that staying up all night or not doesn’t really make a difference—or that what I do or don’t do makes no difference either…”

Edward went upstairs again in a daze, and Cohen heard the sound of the door closing.

Cohen followed behind, and after returning his suitcase to his room, he quietly slipped into Edward's room.

Edward hadn't even changed out of his pajamas; he was still wearing the shirt he usually wore under his clothes at work, and he was sprawled out on the bed in a starfish position.

However, someone who has just woken up can't fall back asleep quickly, and Edward saw Cohen the moment he entered.

"You sneak into your dad's room like that?" Edward rolled over on the bed, propped his head up with his hand, and asked Cohen.

"That's because I was afraid of waking you up." Cohen sat down on the edge of the bed when he saw that Edward was awake.

"If you were afraid of waking me up, you wouldn't have come in." Edward shifted his position and sat up. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"When did you become so smart?" Cohen asked, tilting his head.

"When have I ever been anything but smart?" Edward gave Cohen a light tap on the head, annoyed. "Did your mother send you?"

"More or less," Cohen said. "Are you taking the blame for not catching Voldemort upon yourself?"

“No way—” Edward said.

“Work is different from family,” Cohen said. “Catching Voldemort wasn’t your job in the first place—”

“Sometimes work and family are intertwined,” Edward sighed. “Catching Voldemort would be good for everyone. Dumbledore wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble, and you wouldn’t have to go through all that trouble with him.”

“Even Dumbledore couldn’t do it, so there’s no need for you to force yourself to,” Cohen said. “Besides—”

“And what?” Edward looked into Cohen’s eyes.

“Everything will be resolved naturally when Harry comes of age,” Cohen said vaguely after a pause.

"Why?" Edward frowned.

"Anyway, you don't need to worry about this so much." Cohen pressed Edward, who had sat up, back onto the bed. "Sleep more, slack off more, and don't rush into anything—that's right, don't rush into anything involving me either, because nothing will happen to me."

(End of this chapter)