Asking about their souls seemed too suspicious. Before Cohen thanked her and prepared to leave with Hermione, Professor McGonagall gave them each a bird transformed from a teacup.
"Their magic will last until lunch, Mr. Norton, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall reminded her. "Perhaps observing its gradual transformation back to its original form over time will help you better understand the principles of Transfiguration."
Cohen wondered if Hermione would spend the entire morning studying the teacup bird, but his own certainly wouldn't need to be observed all morning.
Hermione had to go to the library, so they parted ways on the second floor.
Cohen headed up the stairs—but his destination wasn't the Gryffindor Common Room on the eighth floor, but a less-traveled corridor also on the eighth floor.
There was a huge tapestry depicting trolls beating a foolish wizard with clubs. In the East, there was Gong Mingyi playing the lute to a cow; here, there was Barnabas trying to teach the trolls to dance.
Across from the tapestry was a bare castle wall, but that soon ceased to be the case.
Three times, Cohen paced back and forth in front of it, repeating in his mind:
"I need a room where I can be isolated and monitored."
"I need a room where I can be isolated and monitored."
"I need a room where I can be isolated—and monitored.
It felt as if he didn't need to repeat it so many times…
Before Cohen could even think about it a third time, the door to the Room of Requirement appeared.
Glancing around, and making sure no living creature had passed through, Cohen pushed the door open and stepped inside.
He found himself in a small, heavily carved room, seemingly only half the size of Cohen's quarters.
The intricate runes, like some kind of magical spell, were carved into the wall. Without any glittering special effects, they still gave off a solemn and solemn atmosphere.
Cohen couldn't understand them, but he was deeply moved.
In the center of the room was a round table with a lion's paw base, flanked by several red-upholstered armchairs. A warm fireplace crackled, and the room felt... "safe."
Somehow, there was a single bed in the corner—if it weren't for the severe detention he'd face if he was caught staying out all night, Cohen might have actually chosen to stay here...
Throwing his schoolbag aside, Cohen pulled up an armchair and sat down at the table, placing the small teacup bird Professor McGonagall had given him on the table.
The bird was much quieter than the Count, having remained silent throughout the journey in Cohen's pocket.
[Soul Strength: 3]
Each creature Professor McGonagall casually transformed possessed three points of Soul Strength, and Cohen could use this to test whether a magical soul could serve as an effective snack.
If so... he could free up the Sin Points he'd previously spent on Soul Fragments to purchase other "black shop" items.
"Slurp~"
The soul was so small that Cohen felt as if he'd slurped down half a finger's worth of noodles.
The teacup bird had successfully transformed back into a normal teacup, devoid of any trace of magic.
[Cohen Norton]
[Race: Dementor/Human/? /? /?
Soul Integrity: 11.6% Special
Ability Unlocked: Spirit Shaping (1/10)
Soul Strength: 11.6
Current Goodwill Value: 1107
[Current Sin Level: 477]
After consuming the nearly headless Nick, Cohen saw his soul integrity flicker, but it didn't change.
But now, after consuming this magical soul, Cohen's soul integrity has changed!
It's only 0.1%, but this is just a teacup bird that Professor McGonagall casually conjured with Transfiguration!
Is magic considered a soul? Or... is there something in common between wizard magic and souls?
Or... is Cohen not really a "soul monster," but simply a "magic monster"?
Either way, this is good news. Cohen now has a good idea—transform those small objects himself, then absorb their souls, transform again, absorb again—trading magic for soul integrity, just like using time to level up in a game.
But Cohen was clearly a little too optimistic about his Transfiguration skills.
He tried to replicate Professor McGonagall's teacup bird, following the spells and hand gestures in his copy of The Complete Book of Positive Magic. There was no doubt he could create a bird that looked identical to the previous one.
However, even though it hopped around and chirped, he couldn't detect any soul in it.
"Even if a soul only lasts for a second or two..." Disappointed, he withdrew his magic. He'd stumbled upon Professor McGonagall, a master of transfiguration, who could easily transform into a soul as powerful as a monster, even with all his might, he couldn't defeat it.
Should he go ask Professor McGonagall for a bunch of small animals?
Given that Nick's soul fragments plus a teacup bird could increase soul integrity by 0.1%, McGonagall would only need eight or nine hundred small animals for Cohen—assuming the soul requirements for subsequent soul integrity increases didn't increase incrementally.
Think about it. Cohen returned to Professor McGonagall's office and asked,
"Professor, can you give me some more transformed animals?"
"Oh? Some? How many do you want?"
"Not many, maybe eight or nine hundred to start—"
"Eight or nine hundred? Do you think you're eating them?!"
He knew he'd be kicked out of Professor McGonagall's office.
But asking for them frequently wouldn't be a good idea. It would make Cohen look like some kind of animal addict...
When God opens a window for a person, he always locks both the window and the door when they need some fresh air.
But Cohen didn't care.jpg
Cohen didn't intend to go back to waste his life in games with Harry and Ron. Since Transfiguration wasn't an option for the time being, he decided to go somewhere with a wide variety of magical creatures where Cohen could use "self-defense" as a conscientious excuse to absorb the souls of dangerous magical creatures.
"Cohen, where are you going?" Passing the Gryffindor common room, Cohen ran into Harry, who had just emerged.
"Let's go to the Forbidden Forest. Wanna join us?"
Harry, the troublemaker, the evil attractor, Potter, had come to him on his own. Cohen felt it wouldn't hurt to bring Harry along; maybe he could attract some better-quality critters there.
"Oh, to the Forbidden Forest..." Harry didn't realize what the word meant at first—
"What! Forbidden—"
"Shh!" Cohen covered Harry's suddenly raised voice, as a student had just come around the corner from the end of the corridor.
"But didn't the Headmaster say we can't go there—" Harry, a newcomer to Hogwarts, still had a shred of respect for the school rules. "Breaking the rules right after you start..."
"Cooped up in the castle all day like it's work, it's bound to turn into a jerk," Cohen said, spreading his hands. "Then I'll go alone. We'll have plenty of opportunities to go together later."
No way, no way, there really couldn't be a young Gryffindor wizard who was afraid to go to the Forbidden Forest?
Everyone knew that the student mortality rate at Hogwarts in the fifty years before Harry's arrival was no more than 1%. While students were strictly prohibited from entering the Forbidden Forest, there was actually little there that could truly threaten young wizards—those benevolent or neutral magical creatures, like unicorns and centaurs, would often lend a hand in times of crisis.
However, Cohen felt he might not be able to enjoy the help of creatures like unicorns—that scene felt absurd, like Voldemort falling and being lovingly helped up by Dumbledore.
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(End of this chapter)