Years later, when Hagrid came deep into the Forbidden Forest to inspect the unicorns' living conditions, he would always remember the afternoon Cohen brought that strange, all-black unicorn who loved butterbeer to his cabin…
But Cohen couldn't be bothered—an alcoholic mother, a gambling father, a brother imprisoned, and a broken him…
In this light, the world had become some kind of dark and twisted place, and Cohen didn't care anymore.
Let it rot, he'd get used to it eventually.
After releasing Ari back into the forest, Cohen returned to the castle alone.
Having perfectly missed dinner, Cohen planned to deliver the vial of unicorn blood directly to Quirrell's office first, then sneak into the kitchen to get some food to take back to the lounge.
That way, he wouldn't have to go out tonight.
Arriving at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on the third floor of the castle, Cohen saw Quirrell's office door open, and people inside were talking—
it was Snape.
He was cornering Quirrell against the office wall, his left hand gripping Quirrell's collar, his right hand hidden under his robe, as if holding a wand.
Quirrell, stammering, looked like a pitiful victim of workplace bullying.
"S-Severus..."
Quirrell mumbled.
"What are you plotting with that student named 'Cohen Norton'?" Snape said coldly. "Dumbledore is suspicious of you—have you even figured out how to get past Hagrid's monster?"
"I—I—but..." Quirrell rubbed his hands, avoiding Snape's gaze.
"I've warned you once, Quirrell." Snape took a step closer. "It concerns the Dark Lord—"
"Who?"
Snape suddenly turned to look at the door.
"Ha, professors, are you chatting?" Cohen greeted them casually.
"How long have you been eavesdropping outside?" Snape appeared before Cohen like a giant bat. "If I remember correctly, you weren't at the dinner party… Mr. Norton."
"That's because I was helping Hagrid take care of the unicorns," Cohen said honestly, winking at Snape—this guy would definitely report it to Dumbledore.
Being able to mingle with unicorns was another strong testament to Cohen's "kindness."
"Unicorns generally don't let male wizards near them," Snape drawled at Cohen. "I guess you know what it means to harm a unicorn, right?"
"Don't talk nonsense, I get along very well with them."
Cohen pulled out the little flower the unicorn cub had given him, and a small golden ball of fur—the unicorn was shedding a bit, probably because it had eaten Hagrid's toffee.
"..."
Snape stared blankly at Cohen for a long while, but Cohen couldn't discern his intentions—Snape seemed to suppress all his emotions deep within his mind, and Cohen couldn't judge him by the emotions surrounding him.
However, the evidence was irrefutable; Snape couldn't very well tell Dumbledore that Cohen had even plundered a unicorn cub...
Snape didn't say anything more to Cohen, turned back and gave Quirrell a deep look, then strode away, his robes billowing.
But after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped—
"Gryffindor, deduct ten points." Snape suddenly turned back and said, "Students are prohibited from entering the Forbidden Forest."
"I was there to help Hagrid take care of the unicorn!" Cohen retorted.
"Hagrid isn't a professor."
Snape chose a reason for deducting points, a reason Cohen strongly suspected was something Snape had prepared beforehand to deal with Harry.
Snape had undoubtedly prepared a whole host of reasons to deduct points, starting from the moment Harry stepped into the Potions classroom.
"You, add those points back,"
Cohen demanded, shoving the vial of unicorn blood onto Quirrell's desk after Snape left.
"You really—how could you…" Quirrell stared in disbelief at the vial of fresh unicorn blood Cohen had produced.
The silvery blood swirled slowly in the vial, like a work of art—but how did Cohen do that?
Would unicorns allow a mere junior wizard to collect their blood? Or…did
Cohen kill a unicorn amidst a horde of centaurs and escape unscathed?
The more Quirrell thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.
At Cohen's insistence, Quirrell added back the points Snape had deducted from Cohen, even adding twenty more, citing "helping the professor obtain rare course materials" as the reason.
Satisfied, Cohen left the third floor, first making a detour to the lower level of the Great Hall on the first floor.
If Cohen remembered correctly, there was a painting of a bowl of fruit in the corridor leading to the Hufflepuff common room…
Cohen's memory was accurate; there was indeed such a painting hanging on the wall of the brightly lit corridor, featuring a particularly vibrant pear.
Cohen reached out and scratched the pear, which made a creaking sound, and the next second it transformed into a green doorknob.
To be fair, the house-elves at Hogwarts were very welcoming to students; as long as they knew the way to the kitchen, no student would go hungry at Hogwarts—
"You don't need to be so afraid of me."
Cohen's lips twitched as he watched the group of house-elves scurrying away like mice seeing a cat after he entered, finally huddling together in a corner.
A few of the more timid house-elves even Apparated away with a sharp cry.
"I just came to find something to eat—"
Cohen immediately realized he had said the wrong thing; his words seemed to have a different meaning to the house-elves.
"The Dementors are eating the house-elves!"
The entire kitchen seemed to have been filled with firecrackers; after a series of crackling sounds, almost all the frightened elves fled.
The creatures of the magical world were still too timid; Cohen was disappointed in their courage.
However, not all the house-elves here deserted.
Cohen noticed one elf in the corner.
It tried to straighten its small chest, its eyes closed, like a warrior facing death—as if staying meant having its soul devoured by Cohen.
"Tingting is fearless...Tingting is loyal...Tingting will protect the kitchens of Hogwarts..."
The house-elf named Tingting tried to numb itself with words as Cohen approached—but Cohen could still see its trembling legs and its throat swallowing saliva, as if death was imminent.
Tingting couldn't help but open its eyes a crack.
It saw the monster with the dark and evil soul approaching.
The monster was right in front of it!
The monster opened its mouth!
It was about to suck its soul away!
"How about some fried chicken and fries?"
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(End of Chapter)