Finally, Cohen emptied his schoolbag to allow the Earl inside, then took him to Professor Kettleburn. Professor Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher and animal lover, sternly reprimanded Cohen for casting a spell on an owl.
"Which house are you from?"
Professor Kettleburn's graying beard trembled in irritation, like a sieve. This old professor, known for his eccentric temper but always kind to his students, now adopted a grave expression.
"I'm from Slytherin..."
Cohen replied without blushing or beating his heart—after all, he wasn't taking Care of Magical Creatures right now, and he wasn't even wearing his school uniform today.
"Ten points deducted from Slytherin! Bad boy, if I see you again..."
[Sin Points +10]
The battle for credits between houses is often this simple, unadorned, and effective.
Professor Kettleburn lovingly lifted the bald Earl and placed him in his soft, fluffy nest—the Earl even glared furtively at Cohen.
He rummaged through his medicine box and finally dropped a grimy potion onto the Earl's head.
With just one drop, the Earl's feathers began to grow wildly, and within seconds, he was back to his original, glossy, furry self.
Cohen lost count of how many times he had to promise Professor Kettleburn before being released. By the time he hurried back to the Room of Requirement to retrieve his textbook and then to the History of Magic classroom, Professor Binns was already hypnotizing the young wizards with his monotonous lecture.
Cohen, hunched over his waist, tiptoed around the side of the classroom to the back row, where Harry and Ron were sleeping—as expected, the poor students always hit it off.
Hermione, on the other hand, listened intently in the front row even when Professor Binns' lectures sounded like a whining vacuum cleaner.
Cohen had no time for fooling around (referring to History of Magic class). History of Magic held no use to Cohen—he didn't believe knowing the date of the goblin rebellion or the reasons for the failure of the Werewolf Code would help him in the future.
So, Cohen spent the entire class studying the book he'd borrowed from the library, The Power of Sorrow, which contained some fascinating theories.
It argued that a wizard's emotions were the most important source of magic. The stronger the emotion, the wilder and more intense the magic—conversely, the "fewer" a wizard's emotions, the more peaceful and weaker their magic.
Desire was an emotion, hatred was an emotion, anger was an emotion, fear was an emotion...
and "love."
(Even the most apathetic wizard was a conductor, fully engaged in his performance when casting a spell.)
But there was one exception: the prisoners of Azkaban.
Their every emotion had been devoured by the Dementors, leaving only despair. Most prisoners struggled to cast even the most basic "Alacho Opening" spell. Even upon returning to the normal world, they would need time to recover and regain their original strength—permanent brain damage was a possibility; such "accidents" were not uncommon.
"So impressive?"
Cohen hadn't realized he was so capable—in fact, he hadn't even attempted to eat another person's emotions. After all, with the soul, a large, "delicious" thing, right in front of him, it was hard to notice anything else edible on someone's body.
It was like forcing someone to lick the frosting on a Christmas pudding without allowing them to take even a bite of the jelly.
Overwhelmed, Cohen stole a glance at his two sleeping "brothers" beside him.
Shouldn't it be okay to try to eat a bite of emotion? Harry had been bitten so many times by Dementors in his third year without any effect...
After careful examination, Cohen discovered that the soul was indeed surrounded by a mysterious, ethereal fluid substance. These were the manifestations of "emotions"—and Cohen could draw these "emotions" at will, without even moving his mouth.
The effect diminished with distance, but the area covered almost the entire History of Magic classroom.
Cohen didn't immediately attack the entire classroom—it felt like Dumbledore would rush in and send Cohen flying with his phoenix-shaped Patronus, then brutally unleash various spells against evil creatures.
He chose between Harry and Ron—but Ron's emotions were clearly stronger now, perhaps he was having a sweet dream.
"..."
Cohen inhaled a small wisp of Ron's emotion. It was probably "Happiness+," but Cohen felt quite happy after inhaling it.
Cohen shuddered, his entire body tingling.
Ron, however, was different. He was trembling slightly, his expression as if he were in a nightmare.
Hey, this emotion seemed... quite powerful.
No wonder other Dementors prey on emotions before souls; it was all thanks to the skill and composure of the older generation of artists.
"..."
Cohen couldn't help but draw another wisp of emotion—Ron was dreaming anyway, and all sorts of emotions were pouring out of him.
Ron's trembling intensified.
"..."
Sorry, Ron, I can't help but gulp again.jpg
[Sin Value +30]
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Ron awoke from his nightmare and quickly covered his mouth as the entire class stared at him in confusion.
"Mr. Fabre, is there something wrong?" Professor
Binns, standing at the podium, raised his head unsteadily and looked at Ron, who had just called out. However, due to Professor Binns's poor memory, he hadn't even pronounced Ron's name correctly.
"No, nothing, Professor..."
Ron, with red ears, tried to squeeze himself under the table.
The class's instantly lively atmosphere only lasted for a few seconds, because Professor Binns immediately started his dry lecture again.
"Ron? What's wrong?" Harry asked Ron curiously, because Ron was now hugging his upper body with his hands, as if he was very cold.
Then, Harry looked past Ron and saw Cohen pretending nothing happened.
"Cohen? When did you come? We almost thought you skipped class-"
"How could I skip class in the first week? I just accidentally lost the Earl's feather..." Cohen explained with a little embellishment, and then asked Harry about Ron's situation with "concern."
"It's horrible..." Ron felt as if he was still in that nightmare. "I was dreaming that I became a Gryffindor prefect and joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team..."
"And then?" Harry asked puzzledly, "Isn't this good news?"
"I don't know why, but the dream suddenly became strange - it was as if all the happiness in the dream suddenly disappeared - the prefect's medal turned into a spider covered in thorns - even the broom under my butt turned into a spider leg that was still moving..." Ron said with lingering fear, "and..."
"I feel like I'm still in that dream now -"
Ron shuddered coldly.
[Ding! Special Ability Unlocked: Emotional Absorption (1/10)]
Brother, your efforts are meaningful.
Cohen also followed Harry and patted Ron on the back comfortingly. Although it was not the time to smile, he seemed to be unable to control the corners of his mouth.
Then reward Ron with a new set of wizard chess as a reward for Christmas.
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(End of this chapter)