"They seemed to be discussing something with Arnold," said Sirius, his brow furrowed. "In a tent outside the grounds."
Cohen's heart gave a sudden lurch.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, puzzled by the sudden change in Cohen's expression. "I bumped into Dumbledore on my way in—he asked about that too. He's probably gone to check on them already, so no need to worry."
But Cohen didn't respond. He simply bolted out of the room.
"Hey, Cohen—what's going on?" Harry called out, alarmed, and took off after him.
Sirius, still not fully grasping the situation, instinctively followed, and the chain reaction left the others standing around in confusion.
"I'll go take a look. Molly, stay here with the children," said Mr. Weasley, looking just as bewildered, but concerned enough—especially since it involved Edward and Arnold—to trail behind them.
As soon as Cohen got outside, he considered flying straight to the pitch to find Edward and the others. But Harry grabbed his arm in a panic.
"Cohen, what are you doing?!" Harry gasped, eyes wide. "They're just running a bit late—it's not that serious!"
Cohen did stop, but not because Harry had grabbed him. He had caught sight of four figures walking toward the castle through a window.
The tall one with the long beard and hair was unmistakably Dumbledore. The other three—Cohen could sense it—were really Edward, Rose, and Herbert.
So… they weren't kidnapped after all?
Cohen's heart, which had been thudding painfully a moment ago, began to settle. Nico's research had clearly worked. It had been a long time since Cohen had felt this anxious—possibly not since four years ago.
"It's nothing," Cohen said, letting go of the windowsill.
"You looked like you were about to jump out—" Harry swallowed nervously and lowered his voice. "I mean, I know you can fly, but doing that at school might not be the best idea…"
"They're almost at the blind spot of the castle's view." Cohen frowned as he watched the group outside.
But Arnold wasn't among them. Given his relationship with Edward, he should've been part of the "family and friends spectator group."
So, while Edward was safe, something still didn't feel right.
"Is there something wrong with Arnold?" Sirius asked quietly, stepping beside Cohen.
"It's complicated," Cohen replied, shaking his head. Explaining the prophecy all over again would be pointless—what mattered now was whether Edward would be safe during the tournament.
Maybe he should just stash him in the trunk now and be done with it…
Moments later, Dumbledore arrived in the corridor outside the meeting room, accompanied by Edward, Rose, and Herbert.
Edward looked slightly pale, but Cohen couldn't detect anything wrong with his soul.
Rose adjusted the collar of Edward's brown formal robes, while Herbert wasn't looking at Edward at all—instead, he kept staring at Cohen with a thoughtful expression.
"The meeting room should be open to everyone," Dumbledore said, surprised at the crowd gathering in the hallway. "Arthur, could you go fetch Barty? He needs to be informed of something. Harry, Cohen, you two should be inside, taking part in the interviews."
He stepped aside to let Edward and the others lead Cohen back in.
"Why did you come out here?" Rose asked, throwing an arm around Cohen's shoulder. She was wearing a light lavender gown today, though the hem still had a few traces of dirt that the cleaning charm had missed.
"Where did you all go? You gave me a scare," Cohen said.
"It's nothing." Edward rubbed his nose awkwardly, looking a little out of it. He tugged absentmindedly at the front of his robes.
Herbert gave Cohen a friendly pat on the back and nodded toward the meeting room door.
A photographer peeked out through the half-open door, looking puzzled.
"Are we starting or not? The Minister's speech just ended—it's time for photos."
Cohen paid little attention to the group photo or the reporters' questions for Edward and the others.
What he really wanted to know was: what had just happened to them?
Had the future already… arrived too soon?
——
After the interviews, Cohen refused to return to the lounge and insisted on following Edward and the others back to their tent.
"Nothing happened—Arnold just got sick suddenly," Edward lied clumsily.
"Suddenly sick? Do you even hear yourself?" Cohen replied dryly. "What, did he have a spontaneous heart attack in the middle of a chat?"
"Don't worry about things here—just focus on the tournament," Herbert tried to reassure him.
"Let me guess," Cohen said bluntly, "You touched the Triwizard Cup and got transported somewhere strange, met a fake version of me, and then that imposter hit Edward with a green curse? Edward knows that I know."
"?"
"?"
Rose and Herbert both turned to look at Edward.
"Told you we couldn't hide it from Cohen…" Edward muttered.
"I saw it in the crystal ball," Cohen said. "Now, can you tell me what really happened? I've already spent months dreading this moment."
Edward sighed and glanced at Rose, then at Herbert.
"Wait, I'm telling the whole story?" Edward asked.
"You're the fastest at making stuff up," Rose replied, nudging his shoulder. "My brain's still a mess—I thought you were dead…"
"Alright, alright…" Edward scratched his neck, then began explaining what had happened that evening.
It had started when Arnold approached them after dinner about an issue with the Triwizard Cup.
"Looking back, it was odd," Edward admitted. "The Cup shouldn't have had anything to do with us or our families before the event… but then Arnold started talking to me and—uh…"
"What exactly did he say?" Rose asked through pursed lips. "That made you trust him immediately?"
"Just small talk, small talk," Herbert interjected, trying to downplay it. "At most, he used it as an excuse to chat."
But when Herbert looked at Edward, his glare clearly said: If you ever sneak off with my sister again, I'll break your legs.
"I think I get it now…" Cohen said, twitching at the corner of his mouth. "So then?"
"Then the Cup took us to this empty, eerie place," Edward explained. "We ran into someone pretending to be you—but I recognized right away it wasn't the real you, thanks to what happened last time. Still… I got hit with the Avada Kedavra curse."
"I thought I could dodge it, honestly, but my stomach wasn't cooperating and I turned a little too slowly…"