"Well, shouldn't you have found a Slytherin student to replace?" Cohen pursed his lips. "Blending into an unfamiliar House is just going to make you easier to spot..."
"Because I don't want my son to be expelled," said Hopkins.
What a perfectly valid reason.
So, making other people's sons unable to go to school is fine, right?!
"You really don't treat me like an outsider, do you?" Cohen sighed. "I do have a place I could hide you – it just depends on how brave you are..."
"As long as the professors in the school don't find out, my bravery can hold out until the Dark Lord's plan is finished – are you suggesting I sneak into the Gryffindor dormitories...?" Hopkins rubbed his chin. "I could time it carefully in the mornings and evenings to avoid being seen by other Gryffindor students..."
"No," Cohen shook his head. "I'm not planning on putting you in a common room. There are so few people in each House, I guarantee Professor McGonagall would be there to catch you the second you walked in."
"Then the place to stay is..." Hopkins looked at the steady expression on Cohen's face, and for some reason, his confidence started to dwindle.
It couldn't possibly be an empty broom cupboard that Filch or someone else might stumble upon and catch him in, could it...
"Wait here for a bit, I'll be right back."
Cohen told Hopkins to stay put while he went off for a moment to fetch Hopkins's "temporary accommodation."
Originally, he had intended to put the man in the Room of Requirement, but Cohen wanted to keep a closer eye on this fellow's actions – such a reckless Death Eater, Cohen had a feeling he might mess up the whole plan.
Voldemort's resurrection going wrong was a minor issue; if it messed up Cohen's standard annual income of sin points and quest rewards, that would be a problem.
Since Cohen hadn't seen an Animagus form mimicker in the System Store, and was too lazy to spend a whole month holding a single Mandrake leaf in his mouth – being unable to speak properly for so long was just too torturous.
Back in the common room, the other Gryffindors were excitedly discussing Professor Moody's first lesson of the year – Fred and George had the good fortune to experience it on the very first day of term.
"Moody!" Fred said. "He's really cool, isn't he?"
"More than cool!" George said wistfully.
"Absolutely brilliant!" Lee Jordan said excitedly. "We had his lesson this afternoon."
Harry and Ron gathered around the two of them, eagerly asking about the content of Moody's class.
But Fred and George just kept playing mysterious, muttering things like "Never had a class like it," "He's seen everything," and "He's the top Auror," which made Harry and Ron's curiosity itch.
"It can't be that mysterious..." Hermione said helplessly from the side. "You're acting like he took you along to kill a bunch of Dark wizards during class..."
"You don't understand, little Hermione," Fred shook his head solemnly. "You'll understand when you have his class – his lessons are completely different from anyone else's..."
"Cohen was interviewed, he definitely knows Moody's style," Ron said crossly when he saw Fred and George weren't willing to reveal anything, and then he spotted Cohen slipping into the common room.
"Don't ask me, we're not close," Cohen immediately replied. "Isn't Moody's class on Thursday? You'll find out then."
"Are you going out again tonight?" Harry asked, seeing Cohen heading towards the dormitories without having showered, and looking puzzled. "Want to play a game of Gobstones?"
"I need to go manage the Blast-Ended Skrewts, I hope other little animals don't eat them," Cohen fabricated an excuse, specifically replacing "little Basilisk" with "little animals" to avoid the others in the common room hearing.
"If there's any animal that likes to eat Blast-Ended Skrewts, I hope it eats the remaining two hundred-plus Hagrid has too..." Dean said hopefully, still with a bandage on his hand from a burn mark left by a Skrewt in Hagrid's class.
"Would any animal really like to eat that... vile..." Harry got goosebumps – the thought of the slimy, greyish-white meat of a Blast-Ended Skrewt being bitten into made him feel a bit sick.
However, as for whether the Blast-Ended Skrewts would ultimately have the right to survive, Cohen had to make a decision based on the little Basilisk's wishes.
If the little Basilisk found the Blast-Ended Skrewts interesting, they could continue living in the box – until the little Basilisk lost interest in them.
"She hasn't spent the whole afternoon biting this Blast-Ended Skrewt, has she?"
Cohen asked Sissoko somewhat disbelievingly as he entered the box to check the situation.
[Already bitten it six thousand three hundred and thirty-seven times.] Sissoko said, full of sleepiness. [Six thousand three hundred and thirty-eight—]
"I didn't expect them to be so resistant to venom..." Cohen's mouth twitched as he watched the little Basilisk and the Blast-Ended Skrewt engaged in an endless cycle of 'you bite me, I'll explode a bit'.
[Just let her play.] Sissoko coiled himself into a heap, watching the little Basilisk from afar. [She wasn't even using her teeth, nor venom... How much venom can a snake this small have anyway...]
Although in Sissoko's eyes the little Basilisk was still a "tiny little thing," compared to a human, the little Basilisk's size was already that of a giant snake.
"Someone will be coming in to stay for a while later, keep an eye out and don't scare him too much – he'll be helping me with some dirty work later, he can't lose his nerve now," Cohen reminded Sissoko.
[Your new friend?] Sissoko instantly perked up.
"Someone under Voldemort, temporarily cooperating with me," Cohen said. "But if he tries to attack the unicorns or causes trouble on his own, you can scare him a bit and teach him a lesson – if you really can't stand him, killing him is fine too, I have a backup plan anyway."
[Voldemort... is that the one who got the old Basilisk driven out of the castle?]
Sissoko glanced in the direction of the little Basilisk, saying somewhat absentmindedly,
[I'll do my best.]
Carrying the box, Cohen left the dormitory and quickly returned to the empty classroom where Hopkins was waiting.
Hopkins's face wasn't looking good now, and there were cold beads of sweat on his forehead. In the time Cohen was gone, his mind had conjured up all sorts of terrible endings, including but not limited to Cohen returning and saying creepily, "I've found a good place for you to rest, go rest in my stomach," a Dementor-like ending, or a betrayal ending like "Professor Dumbledore, this is the person, he's a Death Eater in disguise."
But to his surprise, Cohen didn't bring anything back except for a box.
"This is..." Hopkins asked, staring at the box in Cohen's hand.
"Temporary accommodation, borrowing it for you to stay in for a bit," Cohen said. "There are some of my family members inside, they won't hurt you – as long as you don't cause trouble first."
"Family members, huh..." Hopkins patted his chest as if relieved, but suddenly thought of something wrong.
Weren't Cohen's parents Edward and Rose?
Had those two come to Hogwarts with Cohen?
"Wait, your mum and dad are in there?" Hopkins's eyes widened.
"Not human," Cohen said.
"Phew..." Hopkins breathed out – thank goodness, not human.
Wait!
Not human?!
"Do you or do you not want a place to stay?" Cohen said impatiently, and before the man could try to run, he yanked open the box and quickly dragged him inside.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Hopkins, who hadn't reacted yet, tumbled inside, yelling in panic because of the sudden feeling of weightlessness, until he landed with a thud, and the screaming stopped abruptly.
But after a moment, Hopkins's screams started to echo faintly from the opening of the box again.
"..."
Cohen had originally planned to just close the box and go back to the dormitory, but the man was screaming with such dramatic ups and downs that it made Cohen a bit curious what the little Basilisk, who had just been biting the Blast-Ended Skrewt, had done to him in such a short time...
Entering the box, Cohen immediately saw Hopkins lying not far away, and the little Basilisk wildly circling a patch of ground, chasing after the Blast-Ended Skrewts.
It looked like Sissoko had finally stopped the little Basilisk from continuing to torture the Blast-Ended Skrewt that had been bitten all afternoon, and redirected the little Basilisk's target back to playing a chase game with the Skrewts.
The little Basilisk was happily having endless fun – but for Hopkins, who had just entered, it wasn't so "fun."
Just as he was about to approach the only spot that felt somewhat safe inside, a wooden cabin (the castle wasn't finished yet, with a bunch of Inferi-like figures on it), he was startled by Blast-Ended Skrewts suddenly darting out from a blind spot.
He had dodged them already; those Blast-Ended Skrewts were still too small, for him they were just like a bunch of tiny, kitten-sized beetles crawling on the ground.
But he forgot the reason why these wildly running strange young creatures were scrambling in one direction – and the next second, he was knocked to the ground by the little Basilisk's tail.
Then, what greeted him was a cycle of "being crawled on by a bunch of Blast-Ended Skrewts" → "being smacked hard in the face by the little Basilisk chasing the Skrewts with its tail" → "being crawled on by a bunch of Blast-Ended Skrewts."
Well, that's what happens when the little Basilisk is herding the Blast-Ended Skrewts in circles...
Sissoko should have stepped in to stop the little Basilisk, but he seemed to have been completely hypnotised by the little Basilisk circling – he was coiled up next to the cabin, sleeping soundly.
[Calm down, calm down.] Cohen felt that if the little Basilisk smacked him a few more times, Hopkins might die, so he stepped forward and stopped the little Basilisk, who was about to make another circle and smack Hopkins with its tail again.
[Daddy!] The little Basilisk burrowed towards Cohen's arms – completely oblivious to the fact that its head was already about the same size as Cohen's.
[Didn't Sissoko tell you a human was coming to stay for a while?] Cohen pointed in Hopkins's direction. [He's almost dead from you whacking him with your tail...]
[Oh, was there a person?] The little Basilisk finally noticed there was a person here. [I thought it was a rabbit hole...]
[You and Sissoko are doing this on purpose, aren't you.] Cohen saw through the little Basilisk's poor acting in an instant.
And Sissoko's too – no snake snores, that was clearly abnormal behaviour learned from the ridiculous fairy tales the goat often told.
[Son, you're here!] Sissoko, looking like he had just woken up, quickly crawled towards Cohen after lifting his head and seeing him.
"Slap!"
He didn't forget to give Hopkins, who had finally managed to get up, one last smack with his tail.
I thought it was a speed bump
Go tell Cohen
We're all trying our best to live
I'm trying this hard, how are you still alive?
The Blast-Ended Skrewts scattered in all directions immediately after the little Basilisk stopped. Lacking sight, they could only rely on distinguishing the residual scent in the air to get away from this terrifying creature – which was very difficult, as the air everywhere had a similar smell.
"Ugh..."
Hopkins lay on the ground, whimpering, with red snake-tail marks on his face.
Cohen tsk-tsked and shook his head.
[Daddy won't be mad at us, right...?] The little Basilisk asked Sissoko worriedly.
[Don't say it now...] Sissoko pressed the little Basilisk's head down with his tail and whispered.
[I can hear you.] Cohen said helplessly. [I won't be mad at you, I said if you really don't like him, killing him is fine. I don't care much about whether Death Eaters live or die – they should have died fourteen years ago.]
[I'm just a bit upset about what their leader did to the old fellow.] Sissoko nudged Cohen's shoulder with his head.
If Hopkins weren't useful to Cohen, he wouldn't have just been smacked in the face with tails by two Basilisks – Sissoko would have taken a more extreme approach.
After all, in Sissoko's eyes, Dark wizards were now equated with those who had stolen his child.
Leaving the little Basilisk to continue chasing the Blast-Ended Skrewts, Cohen walked over to Hopkins and looked down at his condition.
Although he looked pitiful, the actual injuries shouldn't be too severe – at least his eyeballs were still there and hadn't been smacked out.
"Ugh..."
Hopkins started crying uncontrollably the moment he saw Cohen again – every time he had tried to get up just now, he had been smacked back down with a tail. That feeling of helpless frustration... it was too tormenting.
And why were both snakes smacking the same side of his face?!
"You're crying already? The Polyjuice Potion only changed your appearance, didn't it?" Cohen said, frowning.
"You try it with an adult!" Hopkins shouted despairingly. "Two giant snakes! And they kept smacking the same side of my face! Ow!"
Cohen poked Hopkins's already swollen right side of his face with his wand, making Hopkins cry out in pain.
[If I apologise, will he feel better?] Sissoko said next to Cohen.
"That snake is still here?!" Hearing the hissing sound coming from behind Cohen, Hopkins felt his breathing suddenly stop.
"If a Basilisk wanted to bite you, you'd already be dead," Cohen reached out and pulled Hopkins up.
When Hopkins got up and saw Sissoko in front of him, his legs went weak, and he almost fell back to the ground.
"Didn't I say my family lived in the box earlier?" Cohen pointed towards Sissoko. "These are them – don't worry, they won't eat you, as long as you stay quiet here. Also, remember to get up early tomorrow morning, Gryffindor has class at nine, you need to be out before I go to class."
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