"Quit Drinking?"
Edward felt the whole world had become unfamiliar.
That dragon looked like a dog, which could be attributed to its upbringing—but was this strange black unicorn actually an alcoholic?
No, that wasn't the point. The point was, how did Cohen come into contact with all this stuff at school?
"What exactly did you do at school?!"
"Eating, sleeping, attending classes, exploring the castle, raising pets—very ordinary."
Cohen recounted his first-year life:
"Going to Hogwarts and not doing these things is like becoming Minister of Magic but not taking advantage of subordinates. It shows a lack of life pursuit and vision, an inability to understand the benefits of pragmatism, only seeing the laziness and comfort of lounging in the common room. That's where your level is stuck; such a person is destined for a relatively unsuccessful life..."
"Stop cursing." The more Edward listened, the more he felt Cohen was talking about him.
When Cohen suggested Edward move in to help take care of Norbert and Ari, Edward immediately refused.
"If I don't sleep in the bedroom at night, Rose will only have one guess: that I'm dead," Edward said cautiously.
"Good man, Mom really trusts you. I thought she'd have two guesses: dead or he's found another woman," Cohen praised.
"The ending is the same," Edward said dryly.
"…"
—Although
Edward couldn't be Cohen's free labor, he could still help him in other ways.
For example, he could use some unicorn wool provided by Cohen to exchange for money, and then use the money to buy a large flock of sheep and grass seeds to keep in Cohen's chest to provide Norbert with food for a long time.
The timing of everything coincided with Rose's work hours, and this secret affair behind his wife's back rekindled Edward's youthful passion.
"You guys are so fucking weird,"
the Earl remarked one July night after Edward had cleaned his blood-stained hands and sneaked out of Cohen's bedroom with a sense of elation.
"I feel like your dad's enjoying some weird sensation."
"It's easy to understand. Think about it: if you got together with one of the female owls at school and she forbade you from seeing any other owls, and then Hedwig came to you tonight asking if you wanted to fly around together," Cohen said rationally. "You'd definitely say yes, and you'd even imagine what would happen if the female owl at school found out, that kind of morally reprehensible thrill…tsk tsk tsk…"
"Edward just chose a way to experience the thrill of courting death without dying."
"Thrilling." The Earl's eyes lit up, but then dimmed again. "But I haven't gotten together with any of the female owls at school yet…"
"You may not be with any other owls, but Hedwig is," Cohen teased. "Morality is a human rule; you're an owl, owls don't need to be moral."
"Great idea!" the Earl exclaimed excitedly.
"Remember to bring your eggs back!" Cohen reminded him warmly after the Earl flew away.
Finally, he got the Earl out of the way, lest he get bored and try something funny.
Cohen discovered that ever since the Earl saw Ari so engrossed in alcohol, he had been eager to try alcoholic beverages. He would even try to get some when Edward had a few sips in the evening—but Edward would always chase him away with the excuse that "birds can't drink alcohol."
July was a bit of a struggle for Harry next door. While the Dursleys didn't know he couldn't use magic outside of school, he could only scare Dudley with his wand. The Dursleys weren't much nicer to him; at most, they didn't dare push him too far or criticize his parents in front of him.
Because Cohen was Harry's classmate, the Dursleys also began to distance themselves from the Nortons.
Rose was the editor of The Times, so Mr. Dursley didn't adopt the same harsh attitude they showed other wizards, but instead chose to ignore the family like a coward, forbidding Harry from all requests to play next door.
July, however, passed quickly for Cohen. He was busy every day, and a pasture had been built in his box for raising sheep.
The pasture Cohen created with Transfiguration couldn't provide food for the sheep, but thanks to the magical fertilizer, the newly planted real grass grew incredibly fast, even accelerating the sheep's reproduction rate.
This made Cohen suspect that something strange had been added to the fertilizer.
However, since these sheep were for Norbert, it didn't matter if they were all magic and hard labor; dragons' stomachs weren't that fragile.
Compared to Norbert, Ari was much easier to raise.
Cohen discovered that she actually ate grass, and butterbeer was just a snack for her—
"Then you can eat grass," Cohen instructed, "You need to learn to follow your instincts."
[Follow your instincts, my foot! I want butterbeer!]
Unfortunately, the plan to get Ari to quit drinking hadn't been effective; perhaps it wasn't a physical addiction, but a psychological one.
Just when everything was moving towards sustainable development, good news arrived.
On July 30th, Lucius sent a letter via the house-elf Dobby.
"Sir...your letter!"
the little elf with two large, bat-like ears said in a high-pitched voice. It looked dirty and instinctively wanted to run away upon seeing Cohen—no different from other house-elves.
Unfortunately, delivering the letter was Lucius's order, and it had to obey.
After delivering the letter to Cohen's room, it fled in a panic, fearing Cohen would steal its soul.
Lucius had coordinated with Cohen in the letter, reminding him in advance about the "little wizard tour" at the end of the month. His son Draco would also be going, and he had bribed the relevant people so that there would be two different Portkeys for the little wizards to choose from; he and Draco could simply choose the same one.
The letter was carefully worded; if Cohen preferred to go on the tour, he could simply ignore the letter.
He also apologized for Draco's past offenses and promised further compensation after Cohen arrived at Malfoy Manor
. "They're quite perceptive," Cohen clicked his tongue. "Who can outdo them? They're such opportunists."
"These spineless cowards aren't even as tough as me," the Earl chimed in. "I never submit to your power."
"Oh, so how's your rekindled romance with Hedwig going?" ohen countered.
The Earl turned his back to the moonlight, remaining silent.
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(End of this chapter)