Though Cohen was less than thrilled, Old Water Snake was positively ecstatic at the mention of "getting closer." It wasted no time wrapping itself around Cohen's body like a python mid-hunt.
"Why can't you just stay in the trunk?" Cohen muttered through gritted teeth. "Didn't you just say you were heading back in there?"
"When there's danger, this is how I protect my kid," Old Water Snake replied.
"Do you have to sound so proud about it…?"
Cohen struggled to free his arm from Old Water Snake's coils and hit the flush valve.
He could practically feel his endurance leveling up after dealing with Old Water Snake's weight.
After a whirlwind of compression and spinning, Cohen landed in a place that felt both familiar and strange—a bustling square that looked like a marketplace. He and Newt were spat out from a fountain in the center.
Cohen recognized a few iconic landmarks, like the temples of the Acropolis, but they weren't the hollow ruins with just a few columns standing.
In the wizarding world, they were whole—looking just as they did in ancient Greece.
The sky here was different too. Unlike a normal sky, the one above Cohen was a deep blue, speckled with brilliantly bright stars—and, even more magical, a "sun" shining just as brightly as the stars.
Either some spell had created a massive dome over the area, or this wasn't even on the surface world.
"Hey, can you get off now…?" Cohen said, patting the invisible Old Water Snake's body.
To the passing Greek wizards, Cohen probably looked like a chubby kid who moved awkwardly despite being skinny.
"Πρπειναδωνανγιατρ? (Need a healer?)"
A passing wizard asked Cohen kindly.
"No, thanks," Newt answered for him, stepping to Cohen's side. "He's just not used to this kind of travel."
"You're British?" The wizard perked up, dramatically spreading his cloak to show off his wares, switching to fluent English. "Here for a holiday? Need sunscreen or beast-repelling incense? There are plenty of odd and dangerous magical creatures around here. You and your grandson might want—"
"I'm not his grandson," Cohen said, letting out a long breath after finally shaking off the clingy Old Water Snake.
"We're good, thanks," Newt said, his face souring.
"I know that guy," Old Water Snake hissed in Cohen's ear. "Bit him once 'cause he kept sprinkling stinky stuff near my nest. Come on, little grandson, give that annoying wizard a good chomp for me—"
"Don't make me kick you out of this family," Cohen warned dangerously.
Even if it was an enemy, Cohen wasn't about to start biting people—it wasn't exactly classy. Still, seeing how much Old Water Snake disliked the guy, Cohen let it get away with a sneaky tail-trip as petty revenge.
Over the next few hundred meters, they ran into at least three more vendors, all pitching similar stuff—sunscreen, maps, lodging, beast repellents. Cohen and Newt turned them all down.
Especially the beast repellents. To Cohen, they smelled like lion dung.
"That's not a real sky. It's different from the ceiling in Hogwarts' Great Hall," Newt said, noticing Cohen's fascination with the non-blinding sun above. "Ancient Greek wizards used a permanent, powerful inversion spell to flip this place beneath the Acropolis. The stars and sun up there are just weather charms."
"Looks a lot like the sun Dumbledore put in my trunk," Cohen said, nodding. "Pretty creative. It's like something out of a Van Gogh painting."
"You'd love the Netherlands, then," Newt said, reminiscing. "Everything there feels like it's straight out of an oil painting…"
They made their way to the entrance of the Erechtheion, its grand doors wide open, welcoming worshippers and, more often, tourists eager to see Greece's ancient statues.
Like their Egyptian counterparts, Greek wizards had magic deeply tied to their myths.
"A lot of Greek wizards take their legends seriously," Newt warned Cohen before they went in. "Best not to argue about whether their myths are real."
"Will they fight you?" Cohen asked.
"No, they'll just nag you for days until you completely agree with them," Newt said, shivering as if recalling a bad memory, looking a bit weary.
"Why'd they have to inherit that from ancient Greece…" Cohen said, facepalming.
Getting in was a breeze—there weren't even guards or wardens.
No wonder Old Water Snake could so easily sneak into Poseidon's temple up north to steal live fish offerings.
Despite claiming to be scared, the moment they stepped inside, Cohen noticed Old Water Snake instinctively slithering toward its old haunt—where a fresh batch of offering fish had been placed, looking like some octopus-d dolphin hybrid.
"Even when you're being hunted, you still go back to steal again?" Cohen muttered, shaking his head. "We should just call you 'Incorrigible.'"
"You don't get how good these wizards are at picking fish!" Old Water Snake hissed temptingly. "They're delicious! Come on, little grandson, use that trunk of yours to cover for me. I'll grab that octo-dolphin, and back in the trunk, we'll split it—one leg each…"
"Newt!" A red-robed old man came bounding over excitedly when he spotted Newt. "You're finally here! Is this Rolf? He looks a bit different from a few days ago—"
"This is Cohen, a friend's kid," Newt said. "Rolf's probably off by the Aegean coast looking for a 'Python'—some girl's convinced that shape-shifting snake exists. Cohen, this is Frik, the priest from the Greek Ancient Magic Research Union I told you about."
"Youth is wonderful… so full of energy…" Frik said, ruffling Cohen's hair. "I heard hissing just now—thought it might be… ugh, never mind. This whole thing's driving me up the wall…"
"What's that?" Newt asked. "Something about a snake?"
"About a very ancient, very magical horned water snake," Frik said, stroking his long white beard. "For ages, the folks at the sea god temples have been honoring it, but because of poachers, we've been trying to get it to settle here safely…"
"Don't tell me…" Cohen muttered under his breath.