After the Ministry of Magic's food delivery officer left, the Dementors began distributing the food from the chests to the various cells—this would allow the prisoners to live a little longer, and then they could enjoy their happiness for longer.
Cohen hoped that Norbert in his chest could also learn to be self-sufficient, instead of lying in his hole and eating everything in sight.
Even Dementors know which is better, a full meal or a full stomach!
After nightfall, on a moonless night, Cohen secretly skimmed along the dark sea back to shore.
Circling back to where he had come from—Montgomery Nott's holiday cottage—Cohen found the lights still on in his house.
"Knock knock knock!"
Cohen knocked on his door—the bald old man huffed and puffed as he arrived in his pajamas.
"One day of sightseeing and it's over?" Montgomery still had a smiling expression; he was clearly a seasoned veteran.
"My friend lied to me; he went on a trip to France," Cohen blurted out the lie. "Never mind, I'm going back."
"Children's plans always change quickly. Want to stay with me for a few days?" Montgomery asked warmly after leading Cohen into the house.
Why did everyone seem to have ulterior motives?
Cohen looked at the bald man with disbelief—he fit his stereotype of an old British man perfectly.
"No, I plan to go straight back. I don't usually stay overnight," Cohen refused.
Montgomery didn't try to persuade him further—a wise decision, because if Cohen sensed something was wrong, he would defend himself. Cohen knew that boys needed to protect themselves when they were out in England, especially.
After returning to Wiltshire via Floo Powder, Cohen went straight to Malfoy Manor.
Lucius was still in the hall, seemingly waiting for Cohen—a trip to Azkaban wouldn't take a whole day.
"Got it."
Cohen pushed open the door and entered. Lucius immediately rose from his armchair to greet him.
"The Lestrange family's vault?" Lucius had his own plans—although most of the main members of the Lestrange family were in France rather than England, the Lestrange family in England still possessed extremely wealth…
It wasn't that Lucius enjoyed petty theft—he just wanted some reward after taking such a great risk…
"Yes." Cohen could tell from Lucius's tone that he wanted to plunder some unexpected wealth from the Lestrange family's vault, but Cohen didn't care.
If he really needed money, he could go to Hagrid, or borrow Norbert's "mattress," sell some unicorn hair, or perhaps some dragon scales, dragon blood, and octopus venom.
Making money in the wizarding world was too easy, especially for Cohen, a "beast fanatic" of the Forbidden Forest.
"The evidence in Gringotts is Bellatrix and Rodolph's wands, both hidden behind the fireplace at Lestrange Manor in England," Cohen said.
But Lucius's expression seemed… somewhat strange.
"What's wrong?" Cohen asked.
"Lestrange Manor was destroyed," Lucius said oddly. "After they were imprisoned in Azkaban, some people who held grudges because of… the past destroyed it."
It was understandable—Bellatrix, that madwoman, had done countless evil deeds under Voldemort, so it was normal for her to have many enemies. It would be strange if her house remained unscathed after Voldemort's downfall and everyone's capture.
However, Cohen didn't believe the wands were destroyed as well—because in the original story, Bellatrix retrieved her original wand after her escape.
There must be some kind of protective magic remaining there.
"Take me there tomorrow, we'll find it," Cohen said. "Then go to Gringotts to get the cup, and this plan will be over."
"That's how it should be…" Lucius cautiously agreed.
As for the question of where to stay for the night, Lucius suggested that Cohen stay in the guest room, and Cohen agreed, but returned to his small box-like cabin for the night.
He couldn't sleep in a new bed; his own nest was always more comfortable.
Besides, he needed to introduce the little Dementor to the Count and the others, lest it suddenly appear and startle the Count again.
"You actually brought a Dementor with you?!" The Count stared wide-eyed at the little Dementor Cohen released from his pocket.
"It insisted on following me; I couldn't possibly hurt its feelings, could I?" Cohen said logically. "Don't worry, it won't hurt you. Look, it doesn't even suck your soul when it sees you."
Cohen pointed to the little Dementor floating around beside him.
"And the little black cloak is cute—if it doesn't stick its hands out from under its robes."
"Cute? You call this thing cute? I knew it—you've finally become like the other Dementors…" the Earl said hoarsely, "You're all blind."
"I've decided to call him Mick. Since it calls me Dad, let's call him Mick Norton!" Cohen ignored the Earl's complaints.
"How touching, the affection between Dementors. Would you kiss the same person on the lips?" the Earl said sarcastically.
"You seem to be used to this, aren't you?" Cohen raised his eyebrows at the Earl, seeing that he still had the interest to make sarcastic remarks. "You can still tell jokes."
"I can't feel happy anymore," the Earl said fiercely. "I used to be happy like this! Now I'm not happy at all! You can't keep it here, I'll die!"
[Actually, I feel okay]
Ari wasn't that disgusted with the little Dementor, and her emotions were unaffected.
On the contrary, Ari actually quite liked it.
"I knew only you, Earl, would object," Cohen sighed. "This is just a heads-up; it'll be kept in my camel-skin pouch and won't live here."
He tucked Mick back into the pouch, and after a long day, Cohen left the study and went upstairs for a good night's sleep.
The next morning, Cohen got up.
Hungry Norbert was throwing a tantrum on the floor—making a huge racket, but Cohen ignored it. After all, it had devoured the entire flock of sheep.
He wanted that painful experience; hunger would teach it a lesson.
He'd let it go hungry for a few days, then find it new sheep to toughen it up.
If that didn't work, he'd get a dragon. Dragon eggs were plentiful; if its willpower wasn't strong enough, there were plenty of new baby dragons to keep as pets.
[Ding! Sin Value +10]
[Note: Looks evil from every angle, but doesn't seem like a villain. How did it do that?]
Besides, it couldn't beat Ari—Cohen didn't need to worry about it eating the Earl and Ari.
"Those who are favored are always fearless. Little dragon, do you want some owl food?"
The Earl flew outside early in the morning, smugly showing off his breakfast to Norbert, making Norbert's mouth water.
Hmm, quite a family atmosphere.
Cohen left the box satisfied.
Next, he needed to go to Lestrange Manor to find the wand.
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(End of Chapter)