On Monday morning, Harry dragged Cohen to stand guard at the entrance of the Charms classroom, waiting for Cedric to show up.

Since Cedric was always surrounded by people, Harry originally planned to use a little spell to pop open Cedric's bag, hoping to create a chance for them to talk alone—

Because whenever Harry was near any of the other champions—aside from Cohen—students around them would start quoting Rita Skeeter's articles to mock him.

But Cohen stopped Harry from destroying someone else's property.

"Manners. Have some manners," Cohen said, wagging a finger in front of Harry's face. "Watch and learn."

He promptly pinned Harry against the wall and strode straight toward Cedric.

"Isn't that Cohen Norton? Who's he looking for?"

"Obviously Cedric. Maybe he wants to ask how to survive the first task…"

"Wait, no, look at him—he looks like he's going to beat him up—"

"No way, the task's tomorrow. He wouldn't—"

"!"

All the gossip immediately died the moment Cohen approached Cedric with a menacing aura. With the reputation of being linked to Azkaban and a "family full of dangerous criminals," Cohen had become something of a terrifying outlier at Hogwarts.

Especially since there were rumors going around that he frequently visited the Headmaster's office because Dumbledore suspected him of some illegal activity.

"Oi, oi." Cohen used a street-thug tone as he addressed Cedric. "You. Come with me to the bathroom. We've got something important to discuss."

"Uh?" Cedric responded politely, confused.

"You're using force now?!" Several Hufflepuffs tried to stop Cohen from dragging Cedric away.

Maybe Cedric trusted his own abilities, or maybe he just didn't believe Cohen would actually lay hands on him—after all, this was a guy who had won a Special Services award in his first year.

Cedric held his friends back.

"Go ahead to class without me," he told them. "I'll be fine."

"Let's go, let's go—" Cohen yanked Cedric away toward the nearby boys' bathroom and casually waved at Harry still hiding in the corner.

By the time Harry made his way over—face bright red—Cohen sighed dramatically and shoved Cedric into the loo.

Despite Cedric's insistence, the Hufflepuff crowd didn't actually leave for class. Instead, they crowded around the bathroom door.

Inside.

"Heheheh…"

Cohen slammed the door shut and cast a Muffliato spell to seal the room from eavesdropping.

He scanned the stalls with a glance—his ability to detect soul signatures told him no one else was hiding in there.

"So, what's this important thing?" Cedric asked, a bit uneasy, inching back.

"You'll find out soon enough…" Cohen said in a creepy tone.

"Cohen, you don't have to be so into the role…" Harry muttered, covering his face.

"Sorry, first time kidnapping a fellow student. Still working on my style," Cohen said, switching tones instantly. "You wanna tell him, or should I?"

"I'll do it…" With no crowd watching and Cohen's spell muffling all sound, Harry was much more at ease now. "Cedric, the first task—it's dragons."

"What?" Cedric blinked at him, then at Cohen, as if trying to figure out whether this was a joke. "Come again?"

"Dragons. Five of them," Harry said nervously. "Each of us will face one. We probably have to get past it or survive its attacks or something."

Cedric's gray eyes began to fill with fear.

"Are you sure?" he gulped.

"We saw them ourselves," Harry said.

"Maxime and Karkaroff were there too. They'll tell Fleur and Krum," Cohen added.

"Why are you telling me this?" Cedric still looked doubtful.

"Because we're morally upright people," Cohen said shamelessly.

"Because it's only fair," Harry added. "It wouldn't be right if you were the only one who didn't know…"

"Th-thank you." Cedric muttered a thanks, though he still looked a little skeptical—understandably so. It's not every day your competition comes to warn you about an impossible task the day before.

"Is that it?" Cohen turned to Harry. Sirius had written to Harry that morning with a strategy for dealing with dragons, and Cohen wasn't sure whether Harry would share that too.

"That's it," Harry nodded. This text is hosted at NoveI-Fire.ɴet

"I'll… head to class then?" Cedric said, making his way to the door.

Cohen lifted the soundproofing spell, and Cedric opened the door—only to come face-to-face with a balding middle-aged man he didn't recognize.

"Sorry—wait, are you from the school?" Cedric didn't recall ever seeing this man.

"I'm looking for Cohen—ah, there you are." The man looked over Cedric's shoulder and waved at Cohen.

"Isn't that…" Harry recognized him—he'd seen this guy at Cohen's place during the summer.

"The guy trying to steal my mom!" Cohen immediately identified Arnold.

"?"

"?"

"?"

Even Cedric, who was in a rush to get to class, paused in curiosity.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class? Get going," Arnold urged Cedric, not wanting Cohen to give him another weird label in front of more students.

"We've got Herbology too," Harry reminded Cohen.

"You might be late, though," Arnold told Cohen. "Harry, head to class. Cohen's coming with me."

"You seriously came all the way here just to get me out of Herbology?" Cohen said suspiciously. "Did my dad owe you money, or did you get caught hooking up and now you're using me as an excuse?"

"You think I've got that much time on my hands?" Arnold sighed.

"Just come with me."

Harry, while incredibly curious, knew class was starting in ten minutes and figured Cohen would fill him in later anyway—so he didn't follow.

Arnold led Cohen down the stairs, through the Great Hall, out the castle, and across the grounds toward the Forbidden Forest.

Rumors of "Cohen being taken away by the Ministry" began spreading like wildfire.

"Two good news and one bad news. Which do you wanna hear first?" Arnold asked as they crossed the lawn.

"Let's go with the two good ones," Cohen said, though he already had a good idea what they were.

"Your parents are here. Especially your dad—he showed up full of excitement and set up a tent right outside Hogwarts," Arnold said. "And your uncle's here too. I've been assigned to oversee the visit."

"Then I don't need to hear the bad news," Cohen muttered, face twitching.

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