The Yule Ball hadn't even reached its midnight intermission yet, but Cohen and Harry had already left the event.
Harry went straight back to the Gryffindor common room, while Cohen had to escort Xisoko, the Little Snake Monster, and the Unicorn back to the Room of Requirent.
The room had to be expanded twice its usual size just to make space for their original forms—especially since the Little Snake Monster was now nearly half the size of Xisoko.
"Being a snake really is better," Xisoko groaned, stretching comfortably in his serpent form. "And not having any dangling parts feels a lot less awkward too."
"If there's no more balls, and you still want a human body, I'm turning you into a man," Cohen said flatly. "It's way too weird hearing you speak Parseltongue in a girl's body."
"Will I get to see Harry again?" the Little Snake Monster asked dreamily. "He's such a good person!"
"He's a little perv," Xisoko grumbled. "You're not allowed to get close to anyone who starts touching your tail the mont they see you."
"You're the bad one!" the Little Snake Monster pouted and turned her head away from Xisoko.
"I'm just trying to protect you from creeps—wait…"
Xisoko was just about to rant more when he suddenly paused.
"What… what did you just call ?"
Wait a second—did she just call him Dad correctly?
"Hmph!" the Little Snake Monster huffed without answering.
"You were getting it wrong on purpose just to annoy ?!" Xisoko exploded.
"Take your family drama inside," Cohen said, shoving both snake monsters and the unicorn into the suitcase. "Also, don't let that pudding pile up. It'll get soggy. Go share it with the other baby unicorns."
He closed the suitcase lid.
He still had to interrogate Rita Skeeter tonight. It was already suspicious enough that Karkaroff might be tied to the Silver Key, but Rita suddenly acting unafraid of Cohen scread of outside influence too—likely the sa group.
After sealing off the Room of Requirent, Cohen dumped a small glass jar onto the table—inside it, a beetle rolled out.
"**Awaken.**" Cohen pointed his wand at the overturned beetle and cast a spell.
Its first reflex was to struggle and flip itself over, freeze montarily, then dart straight for the door—only to smack into an invisible wall.
"Run if you want," Cohen said with a cold smirk. "I enjoy playing with my food… when I'm not especially hungry."
The beetle flew frantically around the periter, bouncing off the invisible walls several tis, before finally collapsing on the floor like it had given up.
Then—flash! A burst of white light.
The beetle rapidly expanded and reshaped itself into a disheveled woman.
Rita Skeeter's previously well-coiffed waves were now a tangled ss. Her face was pale, and she adjusted her askew glasses with a trembling hand.
"You… how did you figure—"
"Turning into sothing else won't help you hide from ," Cohen said coolly. "I understand humans better than most of my kind. And who told you I don't hurt non-humans?"
"…" Rita stayed silent, but Cohen saw her fingers twitching—her wand was behind her back, gripped tight.
"Gryffindor, were you?" Cohen asked. "Still this bold after my 'warning'? Asking Hagrid about ?"
"Ravenclaw," she muttered, barely focusing.
"Didn't seem all that smart," Cohen said. "Just tell —who's backing you now?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rita blinked innocently. "But whatever you're planning—this is illegal detention—"
"Oh no, Azkaban," Cohen said mockingly. "Shall I ask the Dentors to give you a little extra attention? Trust , they go too easy on inmates most of the ti."
"You're the one illegally holding here," Rita stated firmly. She still didn't cast a spell, waiting for a mont—when Cohen's wand lowered.
"You expect Dentors to do what to ? Hug ? Tuck in at night?" Cohen chuckled darkly. "You can still talk because I allow it. But if you keep refusing to answer… I'll stop being polite."
"I already told you—I don't know what you're talking about. Let go and I'll—"
Cohen deliberately shifted her wand away from Rita.
Just as expected, Rita saw her chance.
*"Expecto Patronum!"*
A huge silver beetle—the size of a human head—shot out from her wand, barreling straight at Cohen.
The fact that she could use the Patronus Charm was surprising… but only just.
She planned to use the Patronus to buy ti. While Cohen dealt with it, she could dart through the anti-Apparition barrier and escape the Room of Requirent. If she found anyone in the castle, Cohen wouldn't dare act rashly—not with Dumbledore around.
But what happened next made her stomach drop and her hands go cold.
**"Fun. Expecto Patronum!"
Cohen's voice rang out again—but what ca from his wand was no ordinary creature.
It was a silver Dentor.
Rita's eyes went wide. She tried to cancel her spell, but it was too late.
Cohen's Patronus snatched hers in a skeletal hand, and a jolt of icy energy shot from the tip of her wand through her body. It felt like her joy—her will—was being leeched away.
"You like playing with Patronuses?" Cohen said. "Is that what the Silver Key told you? That Patronuses could beat ?"
The Dentor-Patronus pulled back its hood, exposing a mist-shrouded face as it sucked out strands of silvery smoke from Rita's magical projection.
"You… what are you?!" Rita gasped.
Even the Patronus Charm couldn't stop him?
"What can stop you then?"
"I hate being called a monster," Cohen growled. "Especially when I'm just the result of sothing you people made… and now you can't stand the sight of ."
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