"Quirrell? Cohen?"
Harry felt his heart stop—a suffocating sensation spread from his throat throughout his body.
"I thought… Snape…"
Harry felt his words faltering. Quirrell's bald head after removing his turban, and that familiar yet terrifying face on the back of his head…
No, the Earl said Cohen was kidnapped.
Yes, Cohen was kidnapped…
"Hiss—" Harry winced as he clutched the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
Quirrell didn't speak, because he instinctively wanted Cohen to speak.
But Cohen didn't speak either, because he was now in advanced acting mode—the 99-point soul strength "wind" had followed Harry in.
Dumbledore had returned and was watching the drama unfold.
"You are…" Harry met Voldemort's gaze through the mirror's reflection, the scar on his forehead burning with pain.
"Voldemort," Cohen said, standing next to Quirrell and introducing him to Harry. "So he's the one who's trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone."
"Cohen, come here quickly—let's do it together—" Harry urged Cohen urgently. "They're bad guys!"
"Harry…you don't think I forced your friend to stand on my side, do you…" Voldemort seemed to enjoy the bewildered look on Harry's face.
"Your friend Cohen…has been on my side for a long time…"
"Impossible!" Harry retorted with great courage. "You can't hurt my friend!"
"Cohen…go…go…grab him…use him…" Voldemort sneered.
Dumbledore was still observing, and Cohen did as Voldemort instructed—otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten the Philosopher's Stone.
"Cohen, don't…" Harry pleaded, watching Cohen point his wand at him—
Cohen knew far more spells than Harry, and Harry had no way to counter them.
"I'm sorry, Harry,"
Cohen said kindly.
"Immediately bind him!"
A rope, like a snake, shot out from the top of Cohen's wand and tightly bound Harry.
"Cohen! We can't help him!" Harry said anxiously.
"Who are you planning to defeat with words?"
Cohen asked Harry calmly, pulling him in front of the mirror.
To Voldemort, this was a mockery of Harry's overconfidence—but to Harry and Dumbledore, who was hiding nearby, it seemed as if Cohen wanted to tell Harry that two young wizards couldn't defeat Voldemort with brute force…
"Look in the mirror, can you take out the Philosopher's Stone?"
Cohen gave Harry a push, and as Harry stood in front of the mirror, he released the bindings from his body.
"What did you see?" Quirrell asked Harry anxiously. "Tell me, what did you see!"
"I… I saw myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," Harry lied. Cohen noticed something heavy had fallen into Harry's right trouser pocket. "I won the House Cup for Gryffindor…"
"Liar!" Voldemort shrieked. "He got the Philosopher's Stone! Take it!"
Quirrell pounced on Harry, trying to grab the Stone from him—
Harry was knocked to the ground, but Quirrell, as the aggressor, was in pain; his hands blistered as if burned after touching Harry.
"Ah!!! Master—I can't hold him—my hands—"
Quirrell screamed in pain, forced to release Harry and move aside.
"Cohen!" Voldemort demanded of Cohen—but Cohen was actually going to do just that anyway.
Cohen grabbed Harry and pulled the Philosopher's Stone from his pocket. "No—Cohen, you can't—"
Harry tried to resist, but he was clearly no match for Cohen, who had grown up healthier than Harry.
[Ding! Harry Potter has been prevented from obtaining the Philosopher's Stone. Evil side quest (1/7) is complete. Sin value +1000. Reward "Mourning Frost" available.]
After obtaining the Philosopher's Stone, Cohen suddenly had an extremely strange feeling.
The Philosopher's Stone in his hand… seemed to have an inexplicable connection with him.
It was as if he could absorb it into his body like a soul—if Cohen wanted, the stone could gradually merge with his body; it was now embedded in Cohen's palm.
The plan had changed; now Cohen had a more morally superior "Philosopher's Stone theft plan."
"Run," Cohen whispered in Harry's ear while they were grappling.
"But—" Harry tried to say something, but Cohen had already gotten up from the ground.
"Quick… Cohen, give me the Philosopher's Stone…" Voldemort said.
But Cohen didn't move.
Harry took a deep breath—he had to escape with the Philosopher's Stone with Cohen.
The plan was a success, and Cohen could see a palpable sense of relief throughout the room.
Harry was relieved that his friend hadn't betrayed him; Dumbledore was relieved that Cohen hadn't actually helped Voldemort; and Voldemort was relieved that Cohen had helped him retrieve the Philosopher's Stone from Harry.
Everyone had won at this moment, and Cohen felt the system should award him 10,000 points of goodwill.
"For you?" Cohen didn't walk towards Voldemort. "Dream on."
"Cohen, run!" Harry reached the door and turned back to urge Cohen—the flames at the door had disappeared sometime earlier.
Voldemort wasn't surprised—Cohen had previously said he would use the Killing Curse on him to clear his name.
"Kill him!" Voldemort roared at Quirrell.
Cohen rushed towards the door—if Quirrell wasn't an idiot, the Killing Curse would definitely hit.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"No!" Harry watched as the green light struck Cohen's back—just like the scenes in his nightmares where his parents were killed by a green light.
Dumbledore, standing nearby, didn't believe the spell could harm Cohen—he had personally witnessed a one-year-old Cohen withstand hundreds of Death Curses and survive.
As Quirrell shifted his focus to Harry, who was blocking Cohen's "corpse," Dumbledore materialized from the room's entrance.
Voldemort's smug expression, which had previously suggested he had succeeded, froze instantly. In less than half a second, he detached himself from Quirrell's body—the Philosopher's Stone was unimportant; escaping was the most important thing now.
Abandoned by Voldemort, Quirrell immediately fainted—his soul and body had been devoured by Voldemort for too long; after Voldemort's departure, he would soon die.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry, already in tears, pleaded upon seeing Dumbledore finally appear. "Please, save Cohen—he just—Quirrell cast a spell on him…he's not moving…"
Harry didn't know what Avada Kedavra meant, but Cohen's body had already cooled to a freezing temperature.
Dumbledore cast a Sleeping Curse on Harry to prevent him from becoming too grief-stricken—he needed to check on Cohen's condition, why Cohen hadn't gotten up yet.
"Cohen, get up. Voldemort is gone. Nothing can hurt you."
When Dumbledore realized that Cohen seemed to have truly been killed by the Avada Kedavra Curse, he felt a sense of things spiraling out of control.
Cohen was now just a dead, soulless corpse; Dumbledore couldn't find any sign that Cohen was still alive.
Cohen, floating nearby in an invisible spirit form, was observing Dumbledore's expression.
This was the first time Cohen had ever seen Dumbledore so terrified.
join p4treon for advanced chapters...
[email protected]/Horizons685
Chapters updated at p4treon.
(End of Chapter)