Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 588 The Despicable Old Man Attending His Own Funeral
Dumbledore was right.

Although everyone is heartbroken, no one has suffered any real harm except for the Death Eaters—the few Death Eaters on the rooftop fought their way through the Aurors' encirclement to reach the top.

And Harry needs to grow up. With Sirius, Dumbledore, and Cohen around, Harry isn't really any different from the Harry of a few years ago.

"Where do you plan to go next?" Dumbledore asked softly.

“There’s something bad to deal with in Greece. I’ll come back to deal with Voldemort after the end of July,” Cohen said.

"Do you need any help?" Dumbledore asked with concern.

“No, unless you know how to find a Horcrux belonging to a dark wizard who lived more than two thousand years ago and whose whereabouts are unknown anywhere in the world,” Cohen said dryly.

"Who?" Dumbledore asked.

“Helpo,” Cohen said, “the guy who invented Horcruxes.”

"He's been missing for over two thousand years. Hasn't he died?" Dumbledore paused. "...How do you know that?"

“It’s complicated to explain, but if you want to help, you can look up everything about him for me,” Cohen sighed.

“Yes,” Dumbledore said.

After an unknown amount of time, Harry, who was lying on "Dumbledore's body," was finally pulled away, and Professor McGonagall led the other students who had been watching back into the castle.

Hagrid was in charge of moving the body away. As he held Dumbledore's body, he kept sobbing and shedding large tears.

Although Hagrid was heartbroken, he was the last person who could reveal the truth, because his ability to keep secrets was far from excellent.

If news of Dumbledore's survival gets out, Voldemort might not show his face for who knows how long.

Just like Cohen said when he was preparing Voldemort's corpse, he could hide until Dumbledore died and then resurface, at most a hundred or two hundred years.
-
After Dumbledore's death, all classes were suspended.

The atmosphere was initially quite somber, but when Dumbledore pulled Cohen to stay and watch his own funeral, Cohen found himself completely unable to empathize with the grief.

“Who wants to watch their own funeral!” Cohen said angrily.

"Shhhhhhh."

Dumbledore, who had been transformed into an ordinary old wizard by Polyjuice Potion, hissed repeatedly. They were now mixed in with the crowd preparing to attend the funeral, identified as Malcolm Hammond and Ian Hammond, a wizarding grandfather and grandson from Manchester.

“I’m returning that puppet to you,” Dumbledore said to Cohen in a low voice, “but it must first be buried in its grave…”

“Actually, we don’t need to pay it back now…” Cohen had an idea pop into his head.

"Hmm?" Dumbledore asked, somewhat puzzled. "Don't you cherish them?"

“It’s true that I cherish them, because I only have these two,” Cohen said, “but they’re still useful just sitting there, look—”

Cohen winked at the newly built white tomb in the distance.

“I made a fake wand and put it nearby—that way, someone will definitely come digging for it later.” Cohen patted the old wand tucked in his pocket. “Then the corpse will suddenly jump up—”

What a nasty grave joke.

"..."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment.

"If I really die, you won't really... "

“Pretty much,” Cohen said. “Don’t you think this is—ouch!”

Cohen was grabbed by the ear by Dumbledore and cried out, attracting the attention of many people.

Just as Cohen was about to explode in anger, Dumbledore casually added:
"Now I'm your grandfather." Damn it, what kind of monster possessed this old man after he died?

"Just you wait, from now on I'll drag a unicorn to your grave every day to eat the flowers there," Cohen muttered menacingly, rubbing his ear.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, hummed a tune without a care in the world, as if teasing Cohen was a very pleasant thing.

They would have breakfast at Hogwarts first, and then head to the Black Lake for the funeral.

Dumbledore even made Fawkes prepare to sing a sad song, which Fawkes agreed to, though he was certainly somewhat reluctant.

Hogwarts' Great Hall had never seen so many visitors before. A whole bunch of Ministry of Magic officials were there. Edward, Scrimgeour, Arnold, and Arthur sat next to Professor McGonagall. Only Dumbledore was missing from the faculty section, but it seemed much emptier.

The professors all changed into their best clothes.

Slughorn wore a magnificent bright green robe with silver embroidery, Professor Sprout changed into a clean robe free of mud, and his hat was without a single patch. Even the caretaker Filch wore an old-fashioned suit and tie.

The student tables were also lengthened and were packed with people, most of whom were clearly not students.

The people were a mixed bag; some were ragged, while others were neat and presentable, as if all the wizards in England had crowded together here.

Dumbledore and Cohen sat on the Gryffindor side, right next to Harry and the others.

Harry didn't eat a single bite, staring blankly at the Daily Prophet next to his plate.

The first version above features a photo of Cohen, with the words "Most Wanted Criminal" printed in bright red font below.

Next was an interview with the Minister of Magic. Edward did exactly what Cohen asked, publicly admitting Cohen's crimes and putting him on the wanted list.

To Cohen's surprise, Edward also mentioned the Dementors' betrayal in the interview—but in reality, Cohen didn't actually try to get the Dementors to leave. Edward could still command the Dementors because they knew nothing about it.

Even without the Dementors, Edward seemed to be sitting firmly in his position as minister. Cohen could see Scrimgeour and Edward talking privately on the teachers' table. Edward was still giving orders, while Scrimgeour would nod every now and then as if replying "received".

“Harry, you need to eat something,” Hermione urged Harry, placing two pieces of bread with jam on his plate.

“I’m not hungry,” Harry said, his gaze still fixed on the photo in the Daily Prophet.

“Eat something, Harry,” Ron urged. “Maybe Cohen has something else to hide—”

“But he certainly wouldn’t hide it from his parents,” Harry said. “I just asked Mr. Norton, and he said Cohen attacked him…”

“But Mr. Norton came back alive,” Hermione said astutely. “You said Cohen killed that werewolf Greyback on the top of the tower because Greyback was threatening Mr. Norton.”

“I don’t know, I have absolutely no idea what Cohen wants—” Harry said irritably, scratching his head.

"Perhaps he's experiencing some mental issues?" Ron guessed. "You know, so many different kinds of beings mixed together in one person... sigh..."

“But I think we should still keep our sights on Vader,” Hermione said. “Now we’ve found the last Horcrux, and Dumbledore told you about the plan, didn’t he, Harry?”

“Yes,” Harry said, his voice trembling with mixed emotions. “I said it last night.”

Destroy the Horcruxes before fighting Voldemort, then defeat Voldemort head-on.

“It doesn’t sound complicated,” Ron said.

“It’s not that complicated,” Harry said. “But how am I supposed to destroy that thing?”

Cohen, who had been listening in, had an idea.

It's time to let the little basilisk go out and explore with Harry and the others.

(End of this chapter)