"Has it really gotten this serious?"
Cohen's eyes widened. When faced with such a "dangerous" topic, he could only bring up an even more dangerous one to ease the tension.
"I thought finding a relative of the Chimera was already a pretty big deal..."
"A Chimera?" Dumbledore said, as if expecting it.
"Yeah, and I even introduced it to Edward. Since the goat head in the middle could speak English, Edward reluctantly accepted it—just like that Basilisk, Siskok," Cohen said.
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities," Dumbledore said gently. "When I was young, I encountered a poor soul deeply affected by a blood curse. Even though she would transform into a terrifying giant snake, it didn't diminish the purity and kindness of her spirit."
"But that brutal experiment at Borgin and Burkes didn't just tear apart the flesh of many creatures," Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly, "it also tore apart many souls... Dementors were never meant to coexist with other souls—any part of them is an insatiable maw for a soul."
"But I feel pretty normal right now?" Cohen asked.
"So far, there haven't been any incidents," Dumbledore said. "That's why I brought you here at this time—we must prepare for the worst-case scenario and ensure we are ready before that worst outcome arrives."
"Makes sense," Cohen nodded. "I definitely don't want to end up as one of those silly, clumsy Dementors in Azkaban, working as an unpaid prison guard..."
"Have you communicated with the Dementors?" Dumbledore asked. "On the train? Or at school?"
"Yeah, they communicate through a consciousness network. One on the train noticed me and said I looked too skinny, wanting to give me an extra helping," Cohen said. "The Dementors today were the same; they tossed Neville my way, meaning they wanted to give me a snack..."
"What do you make of that?" Dumbledore asked.
"What do *I* make of that?"
Cohen raised his wand.
During his first year, Cohen could only produce some silvery mist with this spell—Dumbledore had witnessed it himself next to the Mirror of Erised.
At that time, Dumbledore thought Cohen couldn't conjure a real, effective Patronus because Cohen's silvery mist had a strange quality of slowly sinking in the air...
But things were different now—
A silver unicorn sprang nimbly from the tip of Cohen's wand. It landed on the floor of the Headmaster's office, circled Cohen a few times, and finally lowered its head to nuzzle Cohen's shoulder, just like a real unicorn.
Dumbledore remained silent for a long moment, his deep blue eyes fixed on the beautiful creature.
Knock-off Patronus, old timer!
Cohen felt that if he revealed his Dementor Patronus, Dumbledore would short-circuit. So, he chose to put on a show for Dumbledore with a fake spell, portraying a scene of being in darkness but still yearning for light.
It seemed the performance was very successful. Dumbledore's eyes looked a little moist; the old man always seemed particularly "human" at times like these.
Cohen waited for Dumbledore to say that line—
Damn it, so impatient! He really wanted to say "Always" when Dumbledore asked, "Has it always been this way?"...
"Cohen, when did this start?" Dumbledore asked softly.
"Since the first time I encountered a herd of unicorns," Cohen lied, his voice becoming increasingly natural. "Before that, my Patronus Charm could only produce smoke—and it looked really weird. I even thought it was because of my..."
"Your origins are not important. Having the courage to confront your own 'origins' is even more difficult, but you have proven that you can do it, Cohen. This is something many self-important wizards cannot achieve," Dumbledore said gently. "Hold on to your heart..."
Dumbledore also wanted Cohen to stick to his idea of unifying the magical world—that's what Dumbledore meant by "Hold on to your heart."
"But what if I can't do it one day?" Cohen suddenly asked. "I read in a book that the Patronus can only be conjured with pure, positive emotions, but you just said that my soul might be influenced by the Dementors' souls..."
"Nicolas is preparing an alchemical artifact for you," Dumbledore said. "Hopefully, it will limit the Dementor part of your soul. It should be ready around Christmas. Nicolas said he gave you a key; you can go see him after Christmas."
"Whoa—" Cohen's mouth formed an "o."
Although Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel both cared about him...
It was already too late! His soul was already entirely shaped like a Dementor!
However, Dumbledore and the others were clearly overthinking it. Cohen didn't feel like his intelligence had decreased—there was still a clear difference between him and those Dementors.
Or perhaps... maybe Dementors themselves weren't purebred. The Sorcerer's Stone had made Cohen's soul "pure," but no one had ever said that the "Dementor" species itself was pure. In fact, no one had ever figured out where Dementors came from or how they were born.
After conveying Nicolas Flamel's message to Cohen and repeatedly reminding him not to let his heart lean towards the Dementors, Dumbledore let Cohen go.
Harry was still recovering in the hospital wing, but the good news was that the Slytherin team hadn't caught the Golden Snitch either. The match had been forced to stop due to the Dementor incident.
Cohen was too lazy to go downstairs, so he returned to the Room of Requirement.
"I saw a whole bunch of Dementors running onto the Quidditch pitch," Count said curiously as soon as Cohen entered. "What happened? What happened?"
"There were too many delicious emotions on the pitch; they couldn't resist," Cohen said. "Dumbledore used a bling-bling Patronus to chase them away."
"Were you also chased out by that bling-bling Patronus?"
Count said gleefully.
"I think your bald head looks pretty shiny too," Cohen retorted fiercely. "Don't think that just because a bird is racist, it won't be criticized—"
Under Count's repeated questioning, Cohen briefly told him what had happened after Dumbledore took him away.
"I clearly remember your Patronus being a bloody Dementor!" Count looked at Cohen suspiciously.
"I can also make it an owl," Cohen said. "But that would make it too easy for people to suspect my relationship with you, which is bad. So, I chose a unicorn. People who have a Basilisk or a Chimera as their Patronus don't seem like good guys. Rose and Edward are even worse; a human as a Patronus just sounds weird."
"That's terrifying," Count clicked his tongue. "Dumbledore is over a hundred years old, and you're still bullying him."
"Where did you see me bullying him?" Cohen retorted. "This is called a win-win... Forget it, you'll understand when you're my age."
Count tilted his head, looking at Cohen.