"Evil Side Quest (5/7)"
5. Torment and kill a Hogwarts professor; the reward will be based on the degree of their suffering.
Reward: 0–10,000 Sin Points, Ancient Magic
"Ding! Goodness Side Quest has progressed."
"Goodness Side Quest (5/7)"
5. Prevent Voldemort from obtaining the prophecy orb about 'the Dark Lord's demise and rebirth.'
Reward: 5,000 Goodness Points, Dementor Mind Synchronizer blueprint.
Has the System gone haywire? Why are there two "Goodness Side Quests"?
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"Now, dears, I need you to deliver this to Professor McGonagall." Umbridge pulled a piece of pink parchment from her handbag, quickly scribbled something on it, then sealed it with a spell into a tiny scroll. She handed it to Harry, carefully avoiding Cohen.
Hermione looked at Cohen and Harry with a worried expression, her mouth opening as if to speak, but she held back.
Cohen and Harry walked straight out of the classroom.
"She thinks she can frighten us?" Harry's chest was still heaving, a clear sign that the phony, pink toad had him thoroughly riled up. "A sanctimonious, disgusting, pink toad full of lies!"
If he had been the only one with detention, Harry might have been miserable, but with Cohen by his side, it was a different story entirely.
"She thinks she's won," Cohen said nonchalantly. "Didn't you see that smug, triumphant look on her face? She's quite pleased with herself."
"Pleased about what?" Harry asked, intrigued. "You told her the Ministry hadn't managed to keep the Dementors locked up—she should be furious!"
"She thinks the Ministry can finally get rid of this ticking time bomb," Cohen explained to Harry. "Now they can pin it on me. Since I found out about the Dementors' escape without any word getting out from the Ministry, it's easy for them to spread the rumor that 'Cohen incited the Dementors' escape,' and turn all the blame on me, given who I am."
"Oh?" Harry's eyes widened. "What are we going to do? Maybe you can say you were just guessing—or..."
"No, that was my intention from the start—to get the word out," Cohen stated.
"But everyone will think you're a dark wizard as bad as Voldemort! You'll be expelled!" Harry exclaimed. "No—or I'll say it was me. I'll say I was the one who told you, seeing as I'm already considered a 'lunatic'..."
"The Ministry of Magic isn't a single, unified block," Cohen said, shaking his head. "The fact that the news about the Dementors' escape didn't get out doesn't mean there aren't people inside the Ministry who wanted it to."
"You mean... Mr. Crouch?" Harry seemed to have a sudden realization.
"Mr. Crouch has been waiting for this explosive news to be revealed by someone outside the Ministry," Cohen explained. "You have to break something to build something new. The more unstable the current regime becomes, the sooner he can push for a new emergency election."
"Oh!" Harry suddenly understood. "But why wouldn't Mr. Crouch just spread the news himself?"
"Because he needs a clean paper trail," Cohen said. "If the news comes from him, do you think all the officials with vested interests in Fudge's leadership would still support him?"
"Hmm..." Harry nodded, pretending to grasp it all.
"But none of that has anything to do with our little toad," Cohen said as they were still a corridor away from Professor McGonagall's office. "She's going to regret ever trying to be in the same room as me."
"So I get to watch the show?" Harry's eyes lit up.
"Can't say for sure," Cohen replied.
Given the old connection between Harry and the little basilisk...
When they arrived at Professor McGonagall's office, Harry handed her the letter.
Just as they expected, Professor McGonagall's expression was very serious.
"Have a biscuit, you two." Professor McGonagall gestured to a box of checked biscuits on her desk. "Did you really yell at Umbridge?"
"I didn't; my voice stayed at a steady fifty decibels," Cohen said.
"Well, I might have yelled a bit..." Harry admitted, his lips pressed together.
"And you told her that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and that the Dementors have escaped?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"That's correct," Cohen said.
"Yep," Harry nodded.
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, but she didn't scold them.
"You must be careful," she said, her usual no-nonsense and severe tone replaced by one of grave concern. "Being insubordinate in Dolores Umbridge's class could cost you much more than a few House points and a detention, especially you, Cohen."
"I understand, Professor McGonagall," Cohen said.
"Understood," Harry said, still a bit annoyed, but having listened to Cohen's explanation, he gave a stubborn nod.
He didn't want to see Cohen become an enemy to everyone.
"You will have detention with her every evening this week," Professor McGonagall said. "Starting tomorrow at five o'clock."
"Wait—every evening?!" Harry suddenly remembered something. "But the Quidditch tryouts—Professor, couldn't you..."
"No," Professor McGonagall said. "She is your teacher, and she has every right to give you detention. Remember this, from now on you must be extremely cautious around Umbridge..."
---
"Can you make it so she's too scared to give us detention before Friday?"
After they left Professor McGonagall's office, Harry asked Cohen with an air of desperation.
"Letting her keep us for even one more day would show a lack of confidence in my methods," Cohen said. "You're welcome to share any good torment ideas you have with me, and I'll see if I can use them when I give her detention."
"Well, I've got a few things to say... wait, you're giving her detention?" Harry asked.
"Well, that's what it will look like in the end," Cohen said matter-of-factly.
Now, Cohen was already pondering what kind of "torment" would earn him the highest reward after he'd finished her.
Ten thousand points...
He wondered if the Ministry could send a few more?
After delivering the letter, Harry instinctively thought about going back to class, but at Cohen's suggestion, they decided against it. Instead, they found an empty classroom and just chatted until class was over.
Just as Cohen predicted, when they found Ron and Hermione in the crowded corridor, their school bags had already been packed up and brought out for them.
"What took you so long?" Hermione asked, sounding worried. "What did Professor McGonagall say? Did anything happen?"
"No, Cohen and I just didn't want to go back to her boring class," Harry said, taking his bag.
"The whole school is talking about it," Ron said. "They started passing notes to me and Hermione even before class was over, asking if the news about the Dementors was true and if all the prisoners had escaped."
"What did you say?" Cohen asked, a bit curious.
"I said I believe it's all true," Ron said cleverly. "That way they wouldn't think my dad let the news slip—Umbridge was watching me the whole time."