"For Voldemort's sake, I'll protect you," Cohen said kindly. "That's why I came to find you today, you dumb rat."
"That's wonderful—" Peter said, bursting into tears of joy. "You're so good—thank you..."
"Let's go, I'll take you to a place where Sirius Black won't be able to catch you," Cohen said, opening his trunk. "Get in."
"But isn't this..." Peter knew Cohen had a trunk full of dangerous creatures—he was clearly hesitant.
"They all listen to me and will protect you from Sirius Black's attacks," Cohen said. "Even Hogwarts isn't as safe as my trunk."
"Then... then that's really great..." Peter followed Cohen timidly into the trunk.
The terrifying Chimera was crouching outside Cohen's house, but it didn't pounce over.
"Roar!" the lion's head roared, wanting to nuzzle Cohen but also afraid of getting double-teamed by Cohen and the goat head.
"Whoa there, showing some complex emotions," Cohen said with satisfaction. "Looks like you're getting smarter and smarter after following me."
[That's because the goat told it that if it keeps randomly pouncing on people, it won't get any food,] the Horned Serpent said. [It's starving now.]
Peter fearfully took a few steps away from the giant beast.
"Don't worry, you don't have to live next to it. You can live in my house," Cohen said, pointing to his wooden cabin. "I even specially built a new room."
This new room referred to the basement, because Siscok was bringing the lively and active baby Basilisk, so Cohen had given up the idea of letting the Basilisk live in the basement.
Now it came in handy—the basement could serve as Cohen's private prison.
"Ahhh!!!"
As soon as he entered, Peter Pettigrew was startled by the two Basilisks, one big and one small, coiled up in the living room.
[Daddy brought food back again!] the baby Basilisk, Sophia, said happily.
[That's not your daddy, *I'm* your daddy. He's your older brother—how many times do I have to tell you before you get it...] Siscok said lazily.
"Don't be afraid of the Basilisks either, they're smarter than you," Cohen said. "See that basement over there? You'll be staying there."
"I... I..." Peter wanted to refuse, but given the current situation... refusing Cohen's arrangements seemed like a death wish.
"Better than being hunted down every day, right?" Cohen said happily.
Yeah, right!
Peter Pettigrew screamed inwardly.
Outside, he was being hunted down by Sirius Black every day; here, he was being watched menacingly by two Basilisks in the house—especially the smaller one, which clearly looked like it wanted to eat him.
"Then... after the Master is resurrected... will I be able to leave?" Peter was already trying to find some hope for himself.
"Leave?" Cohen said as if he'd heard a joke. "I don't think so."
"Wha... what?" Peter asked, his breathing becoming rapid.
"It's so safe here, you can be a rat here for a long time. No one will come to kill you, isn't that exactly what you want?" Cohen said.
Then, Cohen turned to Siscok and the baby Basilisk and said:
"This person will be living in the basement from now on. If he tries to escape the house, just eat him."
Cohen used English here.
"What!" Peter's eyes widened.
[Understood.] Siscok, who had been lying on the ground, raised his head and slowly crawled over to Cohen and Peter. He flicked his tongue, memorizing Peter's scent. [What is this—a prisoner, right?]
[Correct,] Cohen hissed. [Alive or dead doesn't matter, I have two different arrangements.]
[Daddy! Can I just eat him now?] the baby Basilisk asked curiously, also moving closer.
[You heard Cohen,] Siscok educated. [We have to wait until this person tries to escape before we can eat him...]
"I want to get out of here!"
Peter frantically transformed back into a rat and scurried, trying to leave the room.
But how could a rat outrun a snake? The baby Basilisk happily opened its mouth wide and pounced on the fleeing rat, scaring Peter into transforming back into human form in a panic, trembling as he hid behind Cohen.
"Alright, all settled. Hope you enjoy your stay," Cohen said to Peter in a friendly tone. "Oh, right—"
With that, Cohen manipulated the "fake Peter Pettigrew" he had made yesterday to come downstairs, then adjusted some facial details based on Peter's real appearance.
Now it looked exactly the same.
"What are you going to do!"
Peter looked at this "other self" that looked like a puppet and said in horror.
"Someone has to take your place, right?" Cohen's smile looked like the devil himself in Peter's eyes.
"But I'm still useful... you can't..." Peter said. "I'm still useful to the Dark Lord..."
"You might have been a little useful to me and Voldemort before," Cohen said, having had enough fun.
Under Cohen's control, the fake Peter transformed back into a rat. It was completely indistinguishable from Peter—even the process of Animagus transformation was exactly the same, because Cohen had just watched the real Peter transform several times.
"But unfortunately, not anymore."
---
Taking the fake Scabbers back to the dorm, Cohen tossed it into Harry's pile of snacks, letting it continue to play the part of the rat.
Now he could safely go and enjoy student life—he didn't need to think about causing any more trouble until Christmas arrived.
"Bang!"
The dorm door was suddenly thrown open, and Harry and Ron squeezed in, looking terrified.
"Cohen! It's over—Hagrid's gone mad!" Ron shouted.
"He said he wanted to ask you again if he could borrow the Chimera..." Harry said breathlessly. "He's even written out the lesson plan..."
"Isn't that simple?" Cohen said. "I can just refuse."
"You can't do that..." Ron wailed. "Hagrid has another magical creature prepared for the next lesson..."
"What is it?" Cohen asked curiously.
"An Acromantula," Harry swallowed hard. "Hagrid even gave it a name—Aragog. I've only seen it in *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*..."
"How did Care of Magical Creatures turn into Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Cohen was actually quite curious to see Aragog displayed—though he wondered if Aragog still remembered Cohen as the "enemy who wiped out his kind."
"It's terrifying. If he uses that next lesson, I'm dropping out," Ron said firmly. "Just looking at that thing behind the hut makes my skin crawl, let alone touching them—Hagrid actually wants us to touch them—"
"Actually, you could choose to skip class," Cohen said rationally. "I remember the leader of the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest can talk, so it probably won't be particularly dangerous."
"Your Chimera can talk too," Ron said sadly. "Compared to the Acromantula, the Chimera looks downright adorable."