"Rhyming non-stop—what, are you prepping for exams or something?"
"Cohen!" Harry quickly tugged at Cohen's sleeve, whispering, "Don't provoke it—"
But the Sphinx didn't seem angry at all. It simply smiled at them, patiently waiting for their answer.
"Are you good at solving riddles?" Cohen turned to Harry.
"Isn't this usually Hermione's thing?" Harry mumbled, confused.
"Well, we can't exactly drag Hermione over here right now, can we…" Cohen sighed. "I mean, I could brute-force it… but then I'd just look like some brainless ordinary Dementor…"
"Let's try a more peaceful approach…" Harry muttered, attempting to process the riddle. "What was it again? Can you repeat it?"
The Sphinx kindly recited the riddle once more.
"A deceiver from hell…" Harry repeated.
"Demon," Cohen said casually. "Or maybe ghost—but definitely not me."
"Demon… uh, wait, we're not saying that's the answer—" Harry quickly added when he noticed the Sphinx slightly shift at the word, worried it might attack them.
"And something kept inside the head," Cohen continued. "If it's an earl, then it's probably full of dirty thoughts."
"Would a riddle actually have 'sex' as the answer…" Harry twitched, clearly struggling.
"Think about it—the front of a turtle, the back of an alligator." Cohen said matter-of-factly. "Both parts… kind of resemble… you know."
"Stop filling my head with weird stuff!" Harry covered his ears in frustration. "The front of a turtle… Tur— The back of an alligator… tor… wait, what else did the riddle say?"
"Something everyone distinguishes in their daily lives," Cohen recalled. "The biggest difference between people…"
"Gender, or… sex?" Harry stammered. "Ugh! It really loops back to that weird stuff you said!"
"It's come full circle in the strangest way…" Cohen rubbed his chin. "But wait—it actually makes sense… oh, man!"
"What?" Harry looked up at him.
"Man! And woman—put them together: demon, man, and the 'tor' from turtle and alligator…"
Cohen paused.
"De… man… tor… Put it together—it's Dementor?!" Harry's eyes widened.
"Did we just spend all this time only to realize I might have a species identity issue?" Cohen clicked his tongue.
"Correct," the Sphinx said cheerfully. "No wonder—you're the child of the Chimera."
"You know that Chimera?!" Harry was stunned.
"Please don't tell me you're another one of my relatives…" Cohen's face darkened.
"No," the Sphinx laughed. "I just used to enjoy discussing riddles with the goat part. He was quite good at solving them. But he left Greece eighty-two years ago."
"He's staying at my place now. Want to meet him after the competition?" Cohen offered, thinking the Sphinx might be looking for him.
The Kind-Hearted Dementor Who Shelters Heartbroken Magical Creatures Fleeing from Greece
"No need." The Sphinx smiled. "I'm not very fond of his lion head. It always leaves me smelling like sulfur. But do send him my regards."
"Will do," Cohen nodded.
"So, shall we… move on now?" Harry asked cautiously.
"Of course." The Sphinx stepped aside to let them pass.
Harry whispered a quick thanks as Cohen dragged him along—because Cohen had just noticed Cedric emerging from another path, having caught up to their pace.
After a few more twists and turns, they encountered a dense golden mist blocking their way.
Cohen walked right through it without issue, but something strange happened when Harry tried.
From Cohen's perspective, Harry seemed to freeze the moment he stepped inside, his limbs stiff, unable to move.
Cohen quickly reached in and pulled him out.
"I felt like the entire world flipped upside down in there!" Harry said, still shaken. "It felt like if I took another step, I'd fall into the sky!"
"Probably some modified hallucinogenic potion vapor," Cohen guessed, glancing back at the golden mist. "Classic Snape trick—actually, this whole setup feels a lot like the obstacles from the Sorcerer's Stone."
"…Which way do we go now?" Harry asked, staring at two parallel paths ahead. Their Directional Charm didn't work here, since both paths led in the same direction.
Cohen used his Stand to scout ahead.
"Good news—both paths lead to the same place," Cohen said.
"How do you know—never mind, forget it. So, either one will take us to the finish?" Harry's eyes lit up, but then he remembered Cohen's usual pattern: good news is often followed by bad news. His face tensed. "There's not bad news too, right…?"
"Not exactly bad news. One path has Dementors, the other has Acromantulas," Cohen said. "Pretty tough opponents either way."
"…" Harry didn't speak, but all the tension on his face vanished.
"…"
They stood there for a moment.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Harry asked, a little nervously.
"Let's take the Acromantula path," Cohen said.
"I thought you'd pick the Dementors—you can talk to them, can't you?" Harry asked.
"That's exactly why I'm not picking that path." Cohen sighed.
He could already hear a Dementor down the left path muttering about bringing its kid home, and he really didn't feel like getting roped into that conversation—especially since Cedric and Krum were only about three walls away from catching up. They needed to save time.
So, they chose the right path.
"I remember Hagrid had us ride one of those Acromantulas once…" Harry reminisced about their first encounter with an Acromantula. "It shouldn't be too hard to deal with, right?"
"That was Aragog. He was old and not very aggressive by then," Cohen shook his head. "I doubt he'd ever leave the forest again—he's an old spider, can't handle much anymore…"
The spider's soul wasn't nearly as strong as a young one—it definitely wasn't Aragog.
Finally, after rounding two more hedge walls, they came face to face with the Acromantula.
It was crouched in the shadows, its large pincers clicking ominously.
Harry gripped his wand tightly, ready for a boss fight.
Cohen, however, didn't even draw his wand—
Because Cohen wasn't the challenger.
The spider was.