After the task was over, Cohen got his Undetectable Extension pouch back from Harry, then slipped away to the lake where no one was around.
Edward stayed behind to keep watch near the shore.
Most students had rushed back to the castle to interrogate the "hostages" about what had happened underwater. No one was lingering by the lake—they couldn't even chat up the rmaids if they wanted to.
"This feels like we're doing sothing illegal…" Edward muttered, hiding behind a magically conjured bush with a frown.
"That's because it is illegal," Cohen replied, transforming into a Basilisk—mostly because the creature's dark green scales made it easier to blend into the grass. "You need a license to raise a Horned Serpent, but honestly, no one in my family would bother going through the paperwork. Too much trouble. So I figured, why not just ignore the law?"
Cohen dove underwater. He wasn't gone long before he resurfaced, dragging a bag between his teeth.
"Got it?" Edward asked.
Once Cohen was back on shore, he turned back into his human form, holding a heavy sack made of Graphorn hide.
"Stop jostling … I'm falling apart here…" grumbled the old water serpent from inside.
"You go ahead to the castle," Edward said. "If anything cos up, have the Count let us know. Want to go out for dinner tonight? I'm thinking of cooking us a proper victory feast—to celebrate your first place win."
"Cooking yourself?" Cohen raised an eyebrow. "I thought once you had house-elves, you'd never lift a spatula again."
"That's what makes it special," Edward said with a grin, running a hand through Cohen's damp hair. "Also, go shower. The lake's not exactly sanitary…"
---
The trip back to the eighth floor was anything but smooth. As soon as Cohen stepped into the castle, he was sward by a group of unfamiliar students—mostly Ravenclaws and Slytherins.
They were desperate to hear what had happened underwater. With the other champions and hostages already surrounded by crowds, this was their best shot.
"We went into the rmaid village, rescued the hostages, then surfaced," Cohen said, growing impatient after repeating the story to several rotating groups of onlookers.
"No, I didn't kill the giant squid. If you don't believe , feel free to jump into the lake yourself—it'll still toss you back to shore…"
"And I didn't kill any rmaids, either—"
"Yes, the Azkaban rumors are way outdated now—"
"No, my dad's not a humanoid Dentor, and neither is my mum—"
"I guess there's so connection, but no, I didn't threaten the rmaids with Azkaban—"
"rmaids aren't attractive. If you're really into weird creatures, go find an Acromantula. They've got huge mouths—"
"Alright, alright, I've reached the dormitory. I'm going to sleep."
Cohen finally stopped in front of the Fat Lady's portrait.
The crowd had gotten way too close—especially so of the overly curious girls. For re classmates, they were far too touchy-feely.
Several of them even bumped into Cohen when he stopped walking, failing to brake in ti.
Of course, they were the ones who fell. Cohen didn't move an inch.
After the commotion, the group quickly dispersed in embarrassnt.
"Soone dropped sothing," Cohen said to the few girls still picking themselves up. He pointed to a stack of small pamphlets on the floor. "Might belong to you—or your overly friendly friends…"
But sothing on the pamphlets caught Cohen's attention.
A Hogsade Student Job Guide? Since when was this a thing?
"Madam Snailing's Hair Boutique…" Cohen picked one up and gave it a look.
"Oh, that's mine!" a flustered third-year Ravenclaw girl quickly snatched it out of his hands before crouching to gather the rest.
Cohen glanced at her hair. It had clearly been trimd recently—not for style, though, since long hair was more popular among Hogwarts girls.
"You're working that hard for money?" Cohen asked, clicking his tongue in surprise.
"N-No! They're just flyers…" she stamred, ears turning bright red as she hurried away.
The wealth gap at Hogwarts…
Cohen sighed. At least he was on the fortunate side of it.
With everyone gone, there was no longer any need to pretend to enter the common room.
Instead, he slipped down a side corridor and headed for the Room of Requirent. Once inside, he pulled the old water serpent out of the Graphorn hide bag.
"Ugh…" the old snake groaned, woozy. "Wha… where am I?"
"Another snake?" the Count tilted his head. "Where'd this one co from?"
"Chira's cousin," Cohen answered casually.
He walked over to the table holding his trunk and flipped open the lid.
"This is my storage room," Cohen explained. "The Chira's inside the trunk. I'll take you to her."
"You turned her into booze?!" the old serpent cried out in horror as a faint whiff of alcohol hit him.
"I'm not that cruel…" Cohen replied dryly, showing him the magically expanded space inside the trunk. "It's bigger on the inside."
"Oooh, wizard tricks!" the old snake exclaid. "My daughter can do that too—or at least, part of her can…"
"When you say daughter… you an biologically?" Cohen asked as he pushed the snake inside.
"Does it matter?" the serpent said with a sideways glance once he landed. "I hatched her, so she's my daughter! The other two heads are just… accessories."
"Well, now you've got company. Happy?" Cohen turned to the Count who had followed him in. "This snake hatched a weird egg too—and seed quite pleased about it."
"Spare ," the Count muttered flatly. "That brings back so bad mories…"
"The Chira's over there." Cohen looked around until he spotted it—it was batting a giant ball of yarn in front of the castle. The goat head had enlarged the ball to satisfy the lion's instinct to hunt big prey.
"Ah…" the old water snake hesitated, not rushing over for an emotional reunion like Cohen had expected. Actually, he wasn't even sure if it was father-daughter, father-son, or… sothing else.
"What's wrong?" Cohen asked. "Not the right one?"
"No, that's her…" the serpent said shyly.
Before it could approach, the Chira had already spotted the familiar figure.
Its tail whispered sothing to the goat, who then mumbled to the lion.
The lion rolled the yarn ball away and padded over, all three heads locking eyes on the old snake.
"Ha! I ca to see you all!" the water serpent declared dramatically.
"All the way from Greece to… wherever this place is! Flew a long, long way. Happy to see ?"
"Rrr?" the lion growled questioningly.
"Who's chasing you this ti?" the goat asked suspiciously.
"What ss did you cause now?" the snake tail muttered lazily, clearly used to this routine.
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