Drunken unicorns wandering around the Forbidden Forest were obviously dangerous.
So Hagrid immediately became extremely busy.
He rushed around preparing sobering potions while muttering nervously to himself the entire time. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no experience treating intoxicated unicorns and genuinely did not know whether ordinary human sobering potions would even function properly on them.
Under such circumstances, Hagrid no longer had the energy to object when Cohen suggested temporarily moving Ali into the trunk.
After accepting several large crates of raw meat and the remaining barrels of butterbeer Hagrid prepared for Norbert, Cohen carried everything back toward the eighth floor of Hogwarts.
It was time to pack properly inside the Room of Requirement.
At this rate, the unicorn herd of the Forbidden Forest would probably spend the next several weeks recovering from alcoholism.
Cohen was even considering forcing Ali through rehabilitation as well.
[Don't even think about it...]
Ali lay collapsed in the corner of the room while drunkenly resisting the idea.
[This is my only hobby... can't I just... enjoy life a little...?]
Then she immediately fell asleep again.
"Snrrrk..."
"So she turned the entire unicorn herd into alcoholics?" the Count asked curiously while tilting his head. "What kind of drink tastes that good?"
"Stop having dangerous thoughts," Cohen warned immediately. "I genuinely can't imagine what horrifying nonsense you'd say after drinking."
Judging from the Count's increasingly interested expression, the warning achieved absolutely nothing.
Fortunately, Cohen did not possess much luggage.
Besides a collection of jars and bottles stolen from magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest for future resale, most of his belongings consisted of books and Edward's giant chessboard.
"Oh right."
Cohen suddenly discovered a blue gemstone sitting forgotten inside one cabinet.
"What's this again?"
"The apology gift from the Malfoys," the Count reminded him. "Looks like some sort of protective talisman. Though honestly, do you really need one?"
Cohen vaguely remembered Lucius Malfoy forcing Draco back to school early after Christmas specifically to apologise.
The Malfoys had also invited him to visit Malfoy Manor sometime during the summer.
Naturally, Cohen agreed instantly.
After all—
Azkaban existed nearby.
"You can have it."
Cohen casually tossed the gemstone toward the Count.
The runes carved into the surface did possess defensive properties somewhat similar to Protego. Unfortunately, Cohen would soon learn the Shield Charm himself once his soul strength improved further.
And more importantly—
No defensive charm in existence protected against Patronuses.
The inventors of the Shield Charm probably never imagined someone might need protection from anti-Dementor magic specifically.
Most of the sweets stored inside the Room of Requirement had already been eaten, so Cohen simply moved the remaining belongings into the new house within the trunk.
He also stole several quilts from the Room of Requirement and placed them across the upstairs bedrooms.
Now all that remained was waiting for the end-of-year feast...
And the train home.
As expected, Gryffindor won the House Cup without suspense this year.
Without Harry and his friends losing massive amounts of points for wandering around at night—and without Quirrell secretly deducting and adding points whenever convenient—Gryffindor dominated the rankings with a solid lead of 510 points.
As a result, the additional 150 points Cohen received from his "Special Contribution Award" lacked the dramatic comeback atmosphere from canon entirely.
"Look at Malfoy's face," Ron whispered gleefully during the feast. "Slytherin won for six years straight, and the streak immediately died after he arrived."
"The Special Contribution Award doesn't even come with prize money?"
Cohen sounded genuinely disappointed.
He held absolutely no emotional attachment toward the House Cup itself. It wasn't like the winners received literal mountains of gold.
But giving students a trophy and nothing else still felt incredibly stingy.
Realistically speaking, nobody voluntarily visited the trophy room to admire historical winners anyway.
There wasn't even contact information attached.
The final exam results arrived the following day.
Harry and Ron passed successfully.
Both remained deeply grateful for Cohen's improvised History of Magic strategy.
"Seventy-two points!" Harry exclaimed excitedly while staring at his report card. "That's brilliant!"
Cohen's grades remained consistently around ninety in every subject.
Naturally, this only became possible because Hermione somehow achieved absurd scores exceeding one hundred and twenty in nearly every exam, allowing Cohen's seventy-percent plagiarism strategy to function flawlessly.
Everyone involved simply wanted to survive without being caught.
That counted as success.
Alongside the report cards came official warnings reminding students not to perform magic during the holidays.
Of course, the entire thing was basically a bluff.
The Ministry could not actually determine who cast magic within a household. They only detected magical activity within a broad area.
And since Cohen lived with wizard parents, nobody would care if he cast spells constantly during summer.
Wizarding families simply never informed children about this loophole because controlling young wizards became impossible afterward.
Ironically, this loophole would have benefited Harry tremendously if the Nortons had not moved near Privet Drive.
But Cohen had absolutely no intention of informing him.
He could already imagine emotionally unstable teenage Harry discovering unrestricted spellcasting and immediately transforming the Dursleys into decorative furniture.
At that point, Cohen's relationship with Harry would evolve from classmates into prison boss and inmate.
So Cohen selfishly decided to enjoy the privilege alone.
Early the next morning, they boarded the Hogwarts Express.
By afternoon, the train finally arrived back at King's Cross Station.
"Are you all visiting my house this summer?" Ron asked eagerly before everyone separated. "You've all got invitations. I'll write properly!"
"Definitely," Harry said hopefully. "Assuming the Dursleys let me leave. What about you, Cohen?"
"I'll probably be busy at first," Cohen replied thoughtfully. "But not for too long."
Hermione regretfully declined because her parents planned to travel around France during the summer.
She promised to visit next time instead.
One by one, they passed through the barrier separating Platform Nine and Three-Quarters from the normal station.
Families waited outside.
Rose stood nearby discussing newspaper layouts with the Grangers while Vernon Dursley maintained maximum possible distance from all nearby wizard families.
In the past, Vernon would have forced awkward conversations onto strangers proudly.
Now?
The moment he realised actual wizard children existed nearby, survival instincts finally activated.
Despite their obvious discomfort, however, the Dursleys still came to collect Harry.
Meanwhile, Edward and Rose behaved far more like proper parents welcoming their child home.
Edward immediately started carrying luggage while Rose crouched down, pulled Cohen into her arms, and kissed him repeatedly.
"In public!" Cohen protested while struggling desperately.
"That's not fair," Edward complained jealously. "Your mother never greets me like that."
"You're forty-two," Rose replied coldly. "Stop competing with children."
After loading everything into the car, Cohen settled into the back seat comfortably.
Edward immediately launched into excited conversation.
He had apparently prepared a massive welcome-home dinner, enough snacks to feed Cohen for half the holiday, and several brand-new sandbox game systems he wanted to demonstrate later that afternoon.
Meanwhile, Rose still needed to work.
"Otherwise you and your son will starve," she said dryly after Edward suggested she simply take the day off.
Then suddenly—
Edward remembered something.
"Oh right, Cohen. Are you interested in travelling this summer?"
Cohen immediately became suspicious.
"What kind of travelling?"
"You know," he continued, "the sort where exhausted children get dragged around tourist attractions by adults, forced to take miserable family photographs, and then politely declare afterward that the trip was wonderful?"
Edward looked offended.
"No! One of my old classmates is organising a wizarding world tour for young wizards this year. Quite a few Hogwarts students might attend."
He sounded increasingly enthusiastic.
"There won't be any parents involved. No adults supervising constantly either. Your mother and I thought maybe you'd enjoy relaxing for a while. Of course, if you'd rather stay home, we can decline immediately..."
Cohen froze.
Sudden overseas travel.
No adult supervision.
Organised by Edward's mysterious old classmate.
This sounded incredibly illegal.
Human trafficking.
"Yeah," Cohen answered immediately.
"I'm in."
....
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