First thing the next morning, Seamus slipped out of the dormitory before anyone else was awake.
Harry was completely baffled. "If he thinks spending too much time with us will turn him mad, why doesn't he just ask Professor McGonagall to switch dorms?"
"Maybe he already has," Cohen suggested. "Neville's dormitory isn't full yet."
"Don't take it too hard, Harry," Ron said reassuringly. He was in the process of putting on his socks, mistakenly putting his left sock on his right foot. He quickly realized socks don't have a left or right, awkwardly pulled on his shoes, hoping Cohen and Harry hadn't noticed.
"Do you think that toad woman will be absolutely furious today? I mean, after what happened last night…" Ron asked.
"We still don't know exactly what happened to her. Like Cohen said, she really does seem to have some sort of mental affliction," Harry replied.
When they arrived in the common room, the usual notice board, where all sorts of school announcements were displayed, was completely covered by a huge advertisement.
GALLEONS GALORE!
Is your pocket money not quite covering your expenses?
Fancy earning a bit more gold?
Please contact Fred and George Weasley, or Cohen Norton, in the Gryffindor common room for simple, almost painless extra-curricular temporary work.
(Apologies, all work undertaken at the job-seeker's own risk.)
"Guess what I saw on this flyer?" Hermione's voice floated from behind them as she calmly posed the question.
"Galleons galore?" Ron ventured.
"Part-time jobs?" Harry offered.
"Maybe Fred and George?" Cohen replied, feigning innocence.
"It's your name!" Hermione said, her face stern. "You're a prefect! How can you be involved in their shenanigans? Professor McGonagall has warned us countless times not to put things on the notice board; it confuses the new students!"
Hermione stepped forward and ripped the notice down. Beneath it, a notice announced the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year in October.
"Only third-years and above go to Hogsmeade, so it's not like the new students would be confused—" Ron tried to defend Cohen and the twins.
"That's not the point! We need to talk to Fred and George later – and yes, Cohen, you need to be there too, and you need to act very, very regretful about this blatant rule-breaking…"
"But I'm not regretful at all," Cohen said, widening his eyes and speaking with utter sincerity. "Good boys aren't supposed to lie—"
Hermione pressed her lips together, glaring at Cohen.
"Fine," Cohen conceded with a sigh. "I'll try to convince them to stick the notice somewhere else."
"Honestly, recruiting subjects might already be against the rules—" Hermione was about to try and persuade Cohen not to get involved at all, but her words were cut short by a bombshell dropped by Harry.
"Hermione, did you hear about last night?" Harry asked. "That new Ministry professor, Umbridge, was absolutely furious…"
"What?" Hermione asked, suddenly alert. "What happened? I haven't heard a thing…"
On the way to the Great Hall, Harry and Ron, adding their own colourful embellishments, recounted Umbridge's forceful entry into their dormitory to inspect Cohen's belongings the previous night.
"Don't look at me; I didn't do a thing," Cohen said, holding up his hands.
"I know it wasn't you," Hermione said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
She was almost certain it was Cohen's doing, but since Cohen hadn't been exposed, she wasn't about to cause trouble.
---
## Rumours and Quidditch Trials
The journey to the Great Hall was filled with many listening ears.
"She's definitely going to target you even more now, Cohen," Hermione observed. "I bet she said, 'I knew it was you.'"
"You guessed right," Cohen nodded.
Hermione was about to offer a few more warnings, but a group of chattering girls passed them, so Hermione quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.
"Have you two fallen out with Seamus?" Hermione randomly picked a new topic. "I remember you always used to leave the dormitory together…"
"He thinks Harry's a liar, Dumbledore's a senile old lunatic, and Cohen and I are idiots for believing madmen and liars," Ron summarized Seamus's opinion.
"And then I used my newly acquired authority to really lay the pressure on," Cohen added. "Sometimes, a Prefect badge comes in handy."
"You want absolutely no part of the responsibilities, but you'll seize every single opportunity to misuse power, won't you?" Hermione sighed. "It's much the same with the girls; Lavender thinks along the same lines."
"…" Harry remained silent, but Cohen could see he was feeling quite down. Ever since they got back on the train, those suspicious gazes hadn't left him.
"Remember what Dumbledore said at the end of last term?" Hermione reminded them. "About He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: 'He uses methods of conflict and hostility so cleverly. We can only fight him to the end by showing equally unbreakable friendship and trust.'"
"You remember that?!" Ron asked, incredulous.
"Because I listened carefully, Ron," Hermione said, a touch sharply. "But He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has only been back for two months, and we're already fighting amongst ourselves. Everything is just as he wants it."
"Actually… I don't think this was part of Voldemort's plan," Cohen interjected. "This is simply a chain reaction caused by the Ministry of Magic's refusal to admit Voldemort has returned…"
Upon arriving at the Great Hall, they found a place to sit. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table, but to Cohen's surprise, Umbridge wasn't there either. Cohen had expected the woman to be staring at him all day, looking for a slip-up.
"Hagrid's still not back," Harry said, gazing at the teachers' table. "Dumbledore hasn't said how long that Professor Grubbly-Plank will be staying either."
"Dumbledore certainly won't predict things that are hard to predict," Cohen said, taking two slices of bread, putting a steak in the middle, and spreading some sauce. "Hagrid will come back when he's finished his work; no need to worry."
"Good morning," a tall, dark-skinned girl with long braids walked over to them. "How was your summer?" She looked radiant, as if something wonderful had happened.
"Hello, Angelina," Harry greeted her.
"Guess what? I've been chosen as the Gryffindor Quidditch team Captain!" Angelina announced excitedly. "Oliver's gone, so we need a new Keeper. Tryouts start Friday at five o'clock. I'm hoping all the team members can make it, Harry, can you?"
"Of course," Harry nodded.
After Angelina left, Harry asked Cohen and Ron: "Are either of you interested?"
"No," Cohen refused decisively. "Don't even try to pressure me; I know if I joined, you'd be pressuring me every day."
"Um… probably not, actually," Ron said, looking embarrassed. He really wanted to join the Quidditch team, but he didn't have money for a broom.
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