"Maybe…" Cohen had a feeling the silver key just wanted to show him something.
"We can have a look around!" Harry said eagerly, fists clenched in excitement. "I brought the Invisibility Cloak!"
"And maybe uncover the secrets of this inn," Ron added, just as intrigued.
"But aren't we not allowed to use magic outside of school?" Hermione said nervously. "And… I'm not sure Dumbledore would really accept us leaving just because we stuffed a permission note under his door..."
"You actually left a permission note?" Cohen raised an eyebrow. "Then you're good—seriously, Dumbledore will handle it. You're free to do whatever you want now."
"So what were you planning to do, Cohen?" Harry asked.
"Planning?" Cohen quietly pulled his pillow off the bed. "Sleep. That's the plan."
"Where are you going?" Harry asked, confused as Cohen clutched his pillow and headed toward the door. "I don't think we should split up..."
"You don't have to split up. This room is yours now—just you three," Cohen said, glancing at the chimera beasts. "Yeah, you lot too. You're safer here together."
"Then where are you going?" Ron asked in surprise.
"Next door," Cohen replied as he opened the door with pillow in hand.
"But isn't that where Mr. Burton is staying? Isn't that… weird?" Harry looked uncomfortable.
"Come on, it was so obvious..." Cohen said, exasperated. "It's Edward in disguise. What did you think that whole 'go ask my dad for it' bit was about? Why else would he pretend to get so offended?"
"Oh!" Ron was surprisingly quick for once. "You're trying to pocket the Galleons for yourself—so jealous..."
"Goodnight!" Cohen raised an eyebrow and waved to the chimera beast. "Try to survive the night."
Cohen, hugging his pillow, knocked on Edward's door.
"What is it—" Edward cracked the door open and spoke in a low voice.
"I'm sleeping with you tonight," Cohen said bluntly.
"What, do I need to pay or something?" Cohen tilted his head.
"Don't be dramatic..." Edward grumbled as he yanked Cohen into the room.
"Are you in danger?" Edward asked urgently once he confirmed the silencing charms were still active.
"The only one in danger tonight is you," Cohen said, shrugging. "Harry's with the chimera beast, so they're covered."
"Chimera beast?!" Edward looked shocked. "Didn't you leave your case behind?!"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it won't show up," Cohen said, deflecting blame. "Harry and the others had it lead them here from Hogwarts—how else do you think they managed to track me all the way here in just one day without getting caught? I'm taking the left side of the bed."
"Fine, I'll take the right. Don't hog the covers," Edward replied. "Honestly, I've got a gut feeling something dangerous might happen tonight—"
"I'll protect you," Cohen said simply.
The "danger" Edward had sensed never arrived—at least not in their room.
By 8 a.m. the next morning, the two were still peacefully asleep.
"I think I heard something..." the chimera beast said gravely, waking Edward and Cohen. "People arguing—"
"Really?" Cohen was already dressed and headed to the next room to check.
Edward quickly got up and threw on his clothes to follow.
When Cohen knocked on Room 207's door, it was Hermione—already awake—who answered.
"Harry, Hermione, Ron..." Cohen peeked inside. "Lion, goat, snake… great, everyone's still here."
"What's going on?" Harry and Ron asked sleepily. "Did something happen?"
"The chimera said it heard arguing. We're going to check it out," Cohen explained.
"Rrgh…" the lion grumbled into the blanket—it was hungry.
"You could catch a crocodile in the lake," Cohen suggested. "And let me know if there really are crocodiles in there."
"Rrgh?" The lion tilted its head.
"You've seen them before," the goat head said. "Over by the Nile—you ate five of them in one go. Those lizardy things."
"Rrgh!" The lion's eyes lit up, and the water snake immediately cloaked itself with magic—no way could they risk frightening Muggles just by walking outside.
Once the chimera beast left, the rest headed down to the lobby via the stairs.
There was definitely a commotion going on—and the shouting was getting louder.
"We only spoke to you yesterday!" the younger Beatrice sister screamed at Mr. Raven, her face streaked with tears. "She's dead! It must've been you—you're a murderer!"
She lunged at Mr. Raven, trying to rip off his mask.
"Take off that ridiculous mask! I'll see you in court! You're going to pay for what you did to my sister!"
"Miss, I have no idea what happened to your sister," Mr. Raven said calmly, easily restraining her. "As far as I recall, I gave you excellent service last night—and if I remember correctly, you complimented my skills."
"Shut up, you twisted—!"
"What's with all this shouting so early in the morning?" Mr. Oldon grumbled, emerging from the stairs in a suit. "Has society really sunk so low that people yell such indecent things in public?"
"What happened?" Oldon's son came downstairs too, equally annoyed.
"My sister is dead!" Beatrice screamed. "He did it!"
Her trembling hand pointed straight at Mr. Raven.
"Ah—!" Hermione gasped and covered her mouth.
"That's a very serious accusation, miss," Mr. Raven said smoothly. "But I can assure you, I followed all your instructions last night. After you were satisfied, I left peacefully. I never re-entered your room."
"Someone died?!" Young Oldon jolted fully awake.
Everyone turned to glare suspiciously at Mr. Raven.
The strange, masked attendant certainly seemed suspicious.
"I told you something was off about this place!" Oldon whispered to his son. "Trust your dad—"
Young Oldon looked confused, then turned to Cohen and the others.
"What about you lot? Do you know anything about this? What's going on?"
"No clue," Edward replied. "We just came down too..."
He also eyed Mr. Raven warily and moved protectively in front of the kids.
To get to the bottom of it, the group agreed to check the Beatrice sisters' room and examine the body.
They pushed open the door to the older sister's room.
The door was ajar. Everything looked normal—no signs of a struggle or blood.
Beatrice lay in bed, as if sleeping peacefully. The blanket had been pulled back—probably by her sister when she tried to check.
Cohen stepped over and examined the body carefully.
"There's some white residue on her lips… she drank something..." he said thoughtfully, mimicking a detective.
"That's, uh—" Beatrice's younger sister looked embarrassed and hesitated, glancing at the kids nearby.
"Oh~" Cohen nodded knowingly.
"What's this?" Ron said, pulling a crumpled note from under the bed. "'One dies, the other receives enlightenment'..."
Support me by leaving a comment, voting, and visiting my at ilham20