Lucius chose to trust Cohen.
The diary was given to him by Voldemort; no one else could possibly know it.
And the golden cup in the Lestrange vault… even Lucius hadn't heard of it. If it wasn't someone on Voldemort's side, it was even less likely they would know.
Choosing to help the Dark Lord after hearing rumors was a great deed, and even if the rumors were wrong, he could justify saying he was too hasty and trusted the wrong person—but if he had chosen not to help the Dark Lord after hearing rumors… Lucius could already see himself buried in the Malfoy family cemetery.
"Of course I can get into the Lestrange vault for you—if there are any items that can prove your identity…" Lucius said, taking sides, "But Azkaban…"
Although he had heard that Cohen had absorbed some of the Dementors' "bloodline," he still looked like a human…
"I need to find someone—"
"No need for connections." Cohen raised his eyebrows. "Isn't returning to Azkaban like going home for me?"
As he spoke, Cohen gave Lucius a high-level Dementor shock.
A massive, decaying figure in a black robe replaced the dark-haired boy who had stood opposite Lucius, and warmth seemed to be drained from the air and from his very soul.
Lucius gasped, instinctively taking a few steps back, bumping into a cabinet behind him and nearly knocking over a vase.
A chill ran through his lungs, and he felt as if his breath had frozen.
Terrible memories were flooding his mind uncontrollably.
"Stop, stop!" Lucius cried out hastily, "I know—I know—"
Dark wizards like him had no way to deal with Dementors; generally, those creatures didn't bother them—they were usually allies of Dementors, not food.
He also knew all too well that the Dementors, those repulsive creatures, attacked directly at the soul…
"I almost forgot, you don't know the Patronus Charm," Cohen said, reverting to his original form. "I'm about to leave. Good luck with the cooperation." "
Yes, good luck with the cooperation," Lucius said hoarsely.
The cooperation with Lucius went smoothly, and both sides were very satisfied with the outcome.
Cohen obtained Voldemort's diary, and Lucius received Cohen's promise.
"Everything will be alright," Lucius comforted the worried Narcissa as he saw Cohen off. Narcissa was worried about the Dark Lord's resurrection failing, their help for him being exposed and leading to their entire family being sent to Azkaban, and also worried that the Dark Lord would settle old scores with them after his resurrection—back then, to protect Lucius, the pillar of their family, they had to spend a fortune and expose many Death Eaters.
They had no way to have it all; choosing the wrong path would mean total defeat.
Cohen, who had already left, didn't care much about the Malfoy family's troubles and pressures—getting the Horcruxes and improving himself was the right thing to do.
After Voldemort used Quirrell's soul to strengthen himself, Cohen realized that his next goal couldn't just be to raise his soul strength to 40 points.
Voldemort should already have 50 points now; the tag he saw before showed [40+10]. It's possible that stolen souls aren't very stable for Voldemort, but Cohen preferred to prepare for the worst.
The good news is that the Philosopher's Stone theft plan at the end of the school year didn't cause a falling out between Cohen and Voldemort. Cohen did exactly what he was supposed to do: get the Philosopher's Stone, feign death, and let Voldemort try to steal it—Quirrell could touch Cohen, and Cohen didn't have a sacrifice spell on him.
Voldemort's failure was simply because he was scared away by Dumbledore.
If he asked why he failed, Cohen had a reason to say, "What kind of team did I lead?" Voldemort's Sorcerer's Stone team! They already had the Sorcerer's Stone, and there were only three of them left. Cohen even faked his death and lay on the ground, but Voldemort, upon seeing Dumbledore, acted like a son seeing his father, refusing to take a few steps to snatch the Sorcerer's Stone before running away.
Could this plan succeed? It couldn't. He didn't have the ability, you know?
After losing the Sorcerer's Stone, next would be the Chamber of Secrets, then the Goblet of Fire, then the Order of the Phoenix, then the Deathly Hallows, and what's next? Nothing left to lose.
I suggest Voldemort first understand the core belief behind this resurrection. He retreats at the slightest difficulty and then blames others for not trying hard enough? He has no shame…
This combination of moves is flawless. Cohen directly stands on the moral high ground, pointing fingers, making Voldemort feel pathetic.
But who knows when we'll face Voldemort again? Cohen's immediate priority is to go to Azkaban.
According to Voldemort's memories, Azkaban is an island in the North Sea, located in northeast England—but Malfoy Manor is in Wiltshire in southwest England, and Cohen didn't really want to fly across the entire UK in Dementor form; it would be too conspicuous.
So Cohen's first step was to go to a friend of Lucius's—the family had a holiday cottage in Yorkshire, which happened to be connected to a private Floo network, which he could use freely.
Cohen arrived at Lucius's friend's house—a chubby, bald collector named Montgomery Nott.
He was also an old man from a pure-blood family, but he didn't seem as sinister.
After showing Lucius's letter of introduction and explaining that he was visiting Yorkshire, Montgomery warmly welcomed Cohen inside and led him to his Yorkshire residence using Floo Powder.
"Ah, you can go this way if you're going back to Wiltshire. I'll be vacationing here for a while—I'm getting old, I need to rest properly…" Montgomery said to Cohen with a smile. "By the way, could you mention it to Lucius when you get back? I still can't get enough of that bottle of mixed throat-locking madness potion he's kept for over fifty years. I can raise the price to six hundred Galleons this time."
Suffocation, excitement… Wizards are really something else, even their potions are so potent! After agreeing to mention it to Lucius, Cohen left Montgomery's holiday cottage.
It was close to the beach, but Cohen didn't plan to take off directly from there, because Montgomery would see him.
After circling around a cluster of buildings, Cohen slipped into what appeared to be the ruins of a monastery, a tourist attraction. Using the ruins as cover, Cohen transformed back into his Dementor form, wrapped in his suitcase, and flew towards Azkaban.
Luckily, Dementors have cloaks to conceal the suitcase, otherwise, a Dementor carrying a suitcase would be too conspicuous.
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(End of this chapter)