To properly study the Patronus, Cohen even borrowed several books from the library.
Back in the Room of Requirement, Cohen nestled by the warm fireplace and began a new round of spell research—practice was indeed much more interesting than theoretical lessons; no wonder Harry and Ron weren't interested in studying.
The Earl was glad Cohen hadn't let Ari out of his pocket again.
"Phew…can we keep her with Hagrid from now on?"
"If the centaurs in the forest don't bother it." Cohen didn't think this suggestion was very good; centaurs wouldn't allow extremely violent and evil creatures to infiltrate the forest—including Ari, who didn't resemble a "normal unicorn" at all.
Cohen wasn't worried about Ari's safety; he mainly didn't want to slaughter all the centaurs—who knew what the Forbidden Forest would look like after Ari's curse fully erupted? Cohen's sin points would increase significantly, and Dumbledore's anger points would also increase significantly.
And that means Cohen can't go to the Forbidden Forest for a feast, where there are other creatures' souls to eat, like werewolves.
"It's not safe for it to stay here!" Seeing that his subtle hints weren't working, the Earl bluntly told Cohen, "It wants to kill me!"
"That's because you talk too much. What could it possibly want from you? To pierce your wings? To tear your mouth apart?"
"I feel like it wants to tear my prostate apart," the Earl said with reasoned suspicion. "The direction it's aiming..."
"If you keep talking, I'll be the one tearing your prostate apart." Cohen gave the Earl a dangerous look.
After chirping like a squirrel to shoo the Earl away to its own nest on the other side, Cohen began studying the books.
Miranda Goshark's *Ancient Spells Deciphered* provides a detailed introduction to the Patronus Charm, offering more historical record and source research compared to Cohen's *The Complete Book of Positive Magic*.
The Patronus Charm is the most famous and powerful defensive spell known to wizards.
It's an extremely complex and difficult-to-cast incantation that summons a semi-materialized positive force—the Patronus.
It can repel Dementors and Voldemorts, creatures with no other means of defense.
Cohen himself experienced it firsthand; it really does make him dizzy—though it doesn't actually kill you—well, that's just bad luck.
In this book, Miranda Goshark also concludes from historical experience that only those with pure hearts can summon a Patronus, citing a famous example in the magical world—the dark wizard Ratchidon suffered a backfire while attempting to use the Patronus Charm, and the maggots that conjured it devoured him.
Most dark wizards either suffer the same fate as Ratchidon or fail to make the spell work at all, like firing a blank shot.
Cohen didn't quite agree with the book's theory that "people with negative personality traits cannot summon a Patronus"—because Umbridge could summon a cat-shaped Patronus, so she couldn't be considered "without negative personality traits."
Therefore, some rules couldn't be understood that way; they should be understood as "people who rely on extreme negative emotions to unleash dark magic cannot generate purely beautiful memories." Their happiness was built on pain, bullying, and slaughter.
Cohen felt completely incompatible with these three words—when he killed people or animals, it was to release them; whether it was eating their souls or using the Avada Kedavra curse, there was no pain at all. Wasn't that much more humane than plucking their fur and making barbecue?
But this also made Cohen realize the pitfalls in his memory selection. Perhaps he shouldn't have chosen memories of Edward being bullied by Rose—nor should he have chosen memories of stealing the neighbor's child's lollipop.
They might be happy, but they weren't pure enough.
"Patron Saint!"
Cohen adjusted his memory selection—for example, the kind where he agreed to stay with Herbert… the emotions he felt from Herbert, and the emotions Rose and Edward felt when they saw him off.
A denser white mist emerged from the tip of Cohen's wand, seemingly trying to coalesce into a massive creature—but resistance remained. This time, Cohen felt it; it was resistance originating from his own soul.
To describe it, it was like having just defecated and then trying to touch it—the brain was urging the hand to touch it, but the hand was desperately resisting.
Cohen's body was casting the spell, while his soul was resisting, unwilling to fully release the cherished memories.
Cohen was currently in a superposition of wanting to cast the Patronus Charm yet not wanting to.
"I'm going to name this phenomenon Cohen's Law."
Cohen abandoned this attempt at casting the spell; he couldn't make the Patronus materialize no matter how hard he tried.
"Damn it, a Dementor learning the Patronus Charm, how could I have such a dream..." The Earl froze in his nest like an owl statue, staring straight at Cohen.
The most terrifying thing was that Cohen actually released a non-physical guardian spirit,
and maybe... Cohen had his eye on it the moment the count spoke—if his own soul instinctively didn't want to release positive emotions... could he use someone else's?
Cohen could absorb them!
"What are you doing!"
The count trembled involuntarily because of Cohen's excitedly sinister gaze. Usually, when Cohen had this expression, he would either have all his feathers plucked or be forced to do nonsensical things like "go and poop on a student's head"...
"You, cast a guardian spirit spell." Cohen rubbed his hands together.
"Are you crazy?" the Earl asked, bewildered. "I can't resist hitting you with that thing—you know how despicable you are in my eyes, as much as that perverted old man who stole Grindelwald's underwear..."
"You were the one who said you were going to steal Grindelwald's underwear that day, weren't you? I was listening outside the window—Dumbledore would definitely pluck all your feathers if he knew you said that." Cohen stared lifelessly at the Earl. "Stop rambling and hurry up."
"Alright, alright..."
the Earl smacked his lips in agreement, flapped his wings and flew to the table, grabbing his wand with his claws:
"Exhortation—"
Just as the Earl's joy surged, Cohen spoke—slurp
~
This time, Cohen didn't swallow the sweet emotion directly, but immediately released it...
"Exhortation Guardian!"
A huge creature squeezed out from the tip of Cohen's wand, initially looking quite like the smoke of a non-physical Patronus—but when it fully unfolded its form...
"Damn you, Dementor Guardian!"
The count, suddenly devoid of joy, cursed aloud in shock at the scene.
Join p4treon for advanced chapters..
Need support for study..
[email protected]/Horizons685
(End of Chapter)