Voldemort was a bit confused as to why Cohen wanted to know how to make transformation spells work over a larger area, but he taught him anyway.
With the help of the second most powerful Dark wizard of the century (Cohen considered himself the first), Cohen quickly made two stone tablets, one for Carlton Grey and one to keep for himself. This was because "discussing Dark arts" with this woman was definitely not enough through letters alone.
But what was strange was that after Carlton accepted the tablet, she used the excuse of "being busy" to put off their discussion until after Christmas.
This year's Christmas was destined not to be peaceful—because Voldemort planned to make his first attempt to steal the prophecy on Christmas Day. But this time, Voldemort would surely fail, because Cohen was going to be an inside man.
In Dumbledore's office.
"That's right, Voldemort plans to possess Nagini to steal the prophecy on Christmas," Cohen said.
If Voldemort succeeded now, how could Cohen and Harry legitimately destroy the Ministry of Magic and blow up that tank of brains? Cohen wasn't sure how much of a threat those things posed to him, but they probably weren't very lethal, as Cohen was only sixty percent Dementor, and just having a way to deal with "non-existence" wasn't very effective. But since the brains were a bit dangerous to other Dementors, it was best to destroy them all at once.
"Voldemort told you this?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes," Cohen said. "You should get ready as soon as possible. By the way, is that prophecy really that strategically important to you?"
"..." Dumbledore gave Cohen a long, hard look, then said slowly, "I will handle it, Cohen. Thank you for the reminder."
The way Dumbledore looked at him gave Cohen a bad feeling.
The prophecy was clearly about Harry and Voldemort, so why was Dumbledore being so secretive with him, Cohen?
Cohen knew the second half, and he also knew that it would be useless to Voldemort even if he knew it, because Voldemort and Harry could never both live. With the grudge of killing his parents, Harry would definitely fight him to the death.
Or... was the prophecy not just about the two of them, but also about Cohen?
Originally, Cohen didn't want to look at his crystal ball again—his prophecies were always full of cyber scams, just like his own personality. But now, this situation made Cohen feel a strong urge to take another peek.
After returning to the common room, Cohen found the crystal ball in his trunk, wiped it off, and began to touch it randomly.
Soon, the mist inside dissipated, and a dim scene appeared.
It looked like a room with an empty archway.
Then there was Cohen, Harry, and the others...
Wait a minute—
Cohen noticed an unfamiliar grey-haired figure, hanging high in front of the archway, like a suffering Jesus.
Rose had brown hair, Edward had blonde hair, and Herbert's hair was almost completely white. None of the important people in his life had grey hair.
Maybe it was a Death Eater, or maybe it was something the Ministry was using to study brains...
He didn't see the prophecy, nor did he see anything valuable.
Cohen put it back in the trunk, feeling bored.
No...
Cohen suddenly stopped.
Grey hair.
Didn't the Count say that the "Carlton Grey" his wife saw had grey hair?
So this person, who was possibly a member of the Silver Key, was taken down by Cohen? What kind of hatred was so deep that he had to hang her in the Ministry of Magic?
Cohen felt it was unbelievable. It wasn't his style to do this kind of chuunibyou-like torture ritual. He usually just sucked the life out of Silver Key members because there were too many of them, and torturing each one would be too much trouble.
But no matter what, it was a good thing that a Silver Key member was dead.
—
October and November passed by quickly, with no action from Voldemort, no action from the Ministry of Magic, and nothing happening at Hogwarts.
It was as if it were the calm before a storm; the days were too peaceful to be real.
Until just before Christmas.
"You'll have to stay at school for Christmas," Edward said to Cohen after their last Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
"Are you all coming to school?" Cohen asked.
"Emmm..." Edward scratched his head. "Herbert will be coming to keep you company. I have some things I need to take care of—the same reason I told the class I'm leaving."
"Oh," Cohen raised an eyebrow.
He understood, they all understood. Business is business.
A family has who knows how many Christmases to celebrate, but Cohen only had a few years left at school. It's a well-known fact that a father's position in the world only really matters when their child is still in school, for bragging rights. Once Cohen graduated, the effect would be gone.
"Wait—why is Herbert able to spend Christmas at school?" Cohen asked. "Is he taking over for you?"
"He's complaining about having too much free time," Edward said. "And as soon as he thought about coming to see you at school, he immediately agreed."
"You have to tell him not to do any of that 'Cohen, your uncle loves you so much' stuff again," Cohen said seriously.
"I promise he won't," Edward said, but the uncontrollable smile on his face made Cohen feel uneasy.
"You should have never come to Hogwarts! You've been corrupted!" Cohen said, glaring at him.
"Nonsense. You said it yourself, Hogwarts doesn't corrupt people," Edward said with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, alright, I have to go pack my things soon. I'll have Dumbledore pay you the rest of my salary directly, to make up for what you lost this summer."
"I smell guilt. You're not doing this to make up for my lost summer; you're just trying to make up for the guilt from your wicked 'prank on my son' plan with Herbert," Cohen said, twitching his nose.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I have to go pack my clothes, and then maybe I can have dinner with your mum. You know, it's our wedding anniversary..." Edward said with a wide smile.
"I don't believe that. Your wedding anniversary is in January," Cohen said.
Cohen was determined. He had to stop their wicked plan before Herbert's first class.
Edward left before dinner, and Herbert arrived at Hogwarts almost seamlessly before dinner.
During the feast, the students were all talking about the Christmas holiday and the new professor. Then, Dumbledore began another round of introductions.
"Cohen, look!"
"You said that three months ago," Cohen said. He swore he wouldn't look up this time.
"No, I mean—" Fred's words were cut off.
"Cohen, look up! Your uncle is waving at you," Dean said.