By dinnertime, Cohen still hadn't seen Harry. He seemed to have been in the common room all day.
"Where's Harry?"
At the table, Ron, with two chicken legs stuffed in his mouth in a completely illogical way, mumbled,
"I ddn't si hem tedai..." "
Probably in the dormitory. I've been practicing spells in the empty classroom all day and haven't seen Harry."
Cohen slowly ate his Christmas dinner—of course, he hadn't touched the turkey on the table at all. It was awful; even with lots of sauce, it couldn't mask its straw-like texture. It didn't
taste as good as... beef stew with potatoes.
Many seats in the faculty section were empty. Only Snape and Dumbledore were talking; the other professors had probably all gone to Hogsmeade for a few drinks.
Cohen glanced at Quirrell's seat; it was empty. Quirrell was probably playing cards with Hagrid in the Hog's Head pub, wearing a hood.
There were very few students; only a handful sat at each house table, as most students had chosen to go home for the holidays—but Cohen noticed a platinum-blonde boy at the Slytherin table.
Why wasn't Malfoy home?
Cohen was puzzled—because this guy had specifically mentioned in Potions class before Christmas that "some people have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because their families don't want them."
This was originally meant for Harry, but because Rose and Edward weren't spending the holidays with Cohen this year, Cohen was mistakenly targeted…
So Malfoy received a small punishment from Cohen; after being dragged into the toilet by Cohen, he wasn't happy all day—Malfoy's hands were even shaking while eating.
Moreover, Cohen saw Malfoy leave the school with the rest of the group, so why was he returning so quickly?
"I'll bring some back for Harry; he must be starving."
Ron, who had eaten and drunk his fill in a flash, planned to pack some for Harry, since he hadn't seen Harry at lunchtime.
"Cohen, are you going back to your dorm? Fred caught a red Christmas elf—though I think it might be a goblin in disguise."
"I'm not full yet." Cohen took a sip of pumpkin soup. "You go back first."
He said this because Malfoy was also looking in Cohen's direction, and Cohen could see the anxiety on Malfoy's face.
This meant that Malfoy was waiting for an opportunity to be alone with Cohen; the kid still couldn't let go of that pride, for some unknown reason.
It wasn't until almost everyone in the Great Hall had left, even Dumbledore and Snape, that Malfoy reluctantly walked towards Cohen.
"You… um…"
Malfoy's eyes darted towards Cohen,
"My dad asked me to come and apologize to you."
"Oh."
Cohen instantly understood why Malfoy had suddenly come over.
"I said I'm sorry," Malfoy repeated, seemingly considering it a rare occurrence.
"I said it," Cohen echoed.
It seemed Lucius wanted his son to build a good relationship with Cohen—after all, Lucius had considerable connections in the wizarding world and was certainly aware of Cohen's existence as "the Dark Magic experimental subject that the Ministry of Magic couldn't kill even after risking their lives ten years ago."
That's why Draco hadn't dared to speak ill of Harry or play any tricks in Cohen's presence for the first six months; he hadn't been able to hold back his mockery during Potions class.
But children often don't understand social etiquette, especially when it comes to having to swallow their pride and appease others.
Cohen's reaction was clearly not what Lucius had expected of Draco.
Malfoy took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry."
"That's the third time you've said it." Cohen was getting impatient. "Just tell me, is your father planning to give me something?"
"How do you know—what did you put on me!"
Malfoy asked in horror. He remembered what Cohen had done to him the day before the holidays. It seemed like he had used some kind of spell or curse; all he could think about that day were terrifying, desperate things…
"I know everything." Cohen didn't launch into a tirade in the Great Hall. "Last time you verbally attacked both me and Harry, so I punished you a little—this apology is to put that matter behind us. If you don't get to the point, I'm going back to my dorm."
"Wait, I have something else to say—" Malfoy quickly said as Cohen got up to leave.
"My dad wants to invite you to Malfoy Manor—anytime is fine."
"Why would I go to your house?" Cohen was reluctant. "Besides, I don't have much free time during the school year—"
Suddenly, Cohen thought of a plan.
A plan to go to Azkaban.
Although Rose and Edward would absolutely not agree to Cohen going there, nor would they easily let him leave for those lame excuses…
Lucius was different!
The more extreme and evil Cohen acted, the more Lucius would see him as a potential candidate for the next Dark Lord—if he could use a trip to the Malfoys' house as an excuse…
"What about summer vacation?" Malfoy asked urgently, Lucius giving him a death order. "Do you have any plans for summer vacation?"
"No plans for summer vacation, but you'll have to find a reason to get my parents to let me go to your place—just a heads-up, they probably don't want to have any contact with your family," Cohen said calmly. "If you can't think of a good way, you can tell your father about this."
Finally, Malfoy left a small gift box, saying it was an apology from his father, Lucius, to Cohen.
The conversation ended quickly—Malfoy had hoped to restore his relationship with Cohen (even though there had never been any friendship between them), but Cohen's cold attitude made Malfoy think that an "apology" was useless.
Their relationship seemed entirely based on an exchange of interests.
Malfoy ran away as if his life depended on it, while Cohen planned to throw the gift into the Room of Requirement and go back to his dormitory to sleep.
Studying was inherently against the grain, and dying halfway through was quite common—
practicing magic today was already the limit of Cohen's Christmas holiday plans. For the rest of the day, Cohen intended to resolutely avoid opening any books, either going to play with Hagrid or running around with the Weasley brothers.
Cohen opened the gift box in the Room of Requirement; inside was a lake-blue gemstone, intricately and densely engraved with patterns, resembling some kind of magical item.
"Trying to get close to a Dementor is a bit too stupid,"
the Earl scoffed at the Malfoy family's behavior after hearing Cohen's rough explanation.
"Dementors are cold, especially little brats like you—"
"Their family has always made a living by taking sides."
Cohen said noncommittally,
"From a family business perspective, this behavior is quite reasonable. If it were me, I would also choose to cultivate a good relationship with 'Cohen,' this evil creature that can't be killed no matter what. It's a pity Malfoy wasn't properly influenced and educated."
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(End of Chapter)