Chapter 2: Brother, you… smell so good!
Cohen certainly wasn't foolish enough to directly reveal to his adoptive father that he wasn't human, especially since his parents hadn't shown any suspicion towards him.
Do you know how rare it is for a protagonist to have parents who are still alive? Adoptive parents count as parents too!
And Edward, with his free-flowing explanation style, successfully made Cohen “understand” what the world of magic was like.
As well as Dumbledore's admonition to the couple: never reveal their Wizard identity in front of Harry Potter.
“You know, for so many years, you never had a magical outburst, which made your mother and I think you were just a Muggle—a normal child,” Edward sighed. “I didn’t even dare to take out my wand at home, afraid that if you saw magic, you would…”
“So that’s why you’ve always relied on Mom’s work to support yourself?”
Cohen earnestly asked his first question.
Edward, who was waiting to answer his son’s questions about the magical world and trying to rebuild his image as a towering father, was momentarily stunned.
“Well… you know, the magical world has very strict rules. It’s best not to use too much magic in the Muggle world—especially if Muggles see it—I mean—wait, aren’t you curious about magic at all? Like, letting me show you how to conjure a bouquet of flowers, or make pears tap dance?”
Edward fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his wand. The entire living room was instantly thrown into chaos by runaway fruits and golden birds flying everywhere. His standard wand movements and silent casting level proved that Edward was not a third-rate Wizard.
Cohen confused.jpg
Is the average soul level of a Wizard really only a dozen points?
In Edward’s opinion, his magic seemed to have left Cohen dumbfounded.
“How about it? Do you want to learn this magic?” Edward ruffled Cohen’s hair, trying to mess up Cohen’s neatly combed hair.
“We’ll learn these at school later, right?” Cohen really couldn’t pretend to be interested in these. Compared to these flashy, decorative magic tricks, he hoped to learn more practical things. “You know, I prefer reading. Maybe you can just give me the textbooks, and I’ll learn by myself.”
Although the specific plan for Muggle parents was completely ruled out, this didn't mean Edward and Rose could safely get through these seven years.
The happy childhood plan ended early. Now, the “First Three-Year Plan for the Complete Annihilation of Lord Voldemort and His Remnants” was beginning.
For this, Cohen needed to quickly acquire more goodwill and sin points in the relatively peaceful first three years to improve his magic level and soul integrity, because if Cohen didn't interfere, Lord Voldemort would resurrect in the fourth year.
Of course, Cohen definitely wouldn't let the plot develop like this. If it came to that, Harry and the protagonists would certainly be fine, but it would be hard to say for himself and his parents, three completely non-existent bystanders.
Hopefully, Lord Voldemort, whose soul is shattered like paper in a shredder, can be sucked to death by Cohen, who has 100% soul integrity.
Also, collecting Horcruxes. After all, Lord Voldemort’s soul fragments are also an extremely unstable factor, and Cohen can eat them like dessert without any mental burden.
“Of course there are textbooks. Your mother and I both have old textbooks at home—” Edward was relieved to hear Cohen’s words. Cohen really liked reading, and wanting to understand magic from books was also a correct choice. It was indeed a bit unsafe for a young Wizard to start practicing magic immediately.
After all, no young Wizard reacted as calmly when first exposed to magic as they would to hearing that dinner would be lamb instead of beef.
“What kind of look is that? Of course we won’t give you old textbooks…”
Noticing that Cohen’s expression was gradually resembling Rose’s, Edward quickly explained.
Since the magical world knowledge popularization session was over, and Cohen appeared exceptionally calm with no questions needing answers, Edward handed the letter to Cohen.
“Keep the letter safe. Tomorrow I’ll take you to Diagon Alley to buy a wand and school supplies—perhaps you should also invite some friends over for your birthday party tonight?” Edward stood up with satisfaction, tucking his wand back into his pocket. “Dad needs to prepare the ingredients and birthday cake.”
“Oh, and don’t mention magic to your friends, especially Harry next door.”
—
Good news: Harry and “Cohen” knew each other before Cohen transmigrated.
Bad news: In the month or so since Cohen transmigrated, Harry hasn't been let out by the Dursleys at all, so Cohen hasn't been able to see what level of Lord Voldemort's fragment Harry has.
“I must consider if this is my only chance to see Lord Voldemort’s fragment for the entire month of July.”
Cohen stood at the entrance of Number Four, Privet Drive, contemplating how to invite Harry out from the Dursleys under the pretext of a birthday party—most likely he'd have to bring Dudley along, otherwise the Dursleys would think “the Cohen family is also a freak family.”
Even when dealing with the Dursleys as a Muggle family before, these two pure Muggles weren't exactly neighbors one would want to associate with, especially Petunia. She would often peek over the fence at Edward's trimmed lawn and spread dark, heavy rumors about it in the community—though Edward's strangely trimmed, mouse-shaped lawn was indeed a bit unconventional.
Cohen believed this was due to a bad impression left on Petunia when Lily used to turn teacups into mice at home.
“Hello, Mr. Dursley, I’m Cohen from the Nortons!”
After the door opened, Cohen politely bowed to Vernon Dursley, who opened it, and then watched with his own eyes as Dursley’s pig-liver-colored face turned from red to white, then from white to red again.
Clearly, the Dursleys’ discussion about the Norton family had progressed to confirming their Wizard identity—perhaps they had already unilaterally confirmed it. The Dursleys were like startled birds when it came to “magic and Wizards,” as if even a slight contact with magic would lead to their family’s ruin.
But since Cohen’s mother, Rose, was the business section editor-in-chief for The Times, Dursley clearly dared not openly slight this family—otherwise his drilling company might receive some unfavorable reviews.
“Hmm—humph?”
Dursley’s extremely complex thoughts finally materialized into a strange, unintelligible grunt.
“Today is my birthday, and I’d like to invite a few friends from here to come over to my house. My father has prepared a lavish dinner.” Cohen took Mr. Dursley’s grunt as an agreement to continue speaking.
“Dudley can go. I heard you’re also going to Smeltings, and as future classmates, it’s certainly good to strengthen your relationship—” Mr. Dursley visibly relaxed upon hearing it was a birthday party invitation and readily agreed. But suddenly, his rarely-used brain thought of something, “Wait, you said ‘a few friends’ from here?”
Harry wasn't considered a Dursley child.
“I remember there’s also a child named Harry here. Why not let him join the party?” Cohen pressed.
“We don’t have a child named Harry here!” Mr. Dursley said angrily. “He moved away!”
“But I’ve seen him. It wouldn’t be abuse, would it? My mother loves children, if—” Cohen threatened in a serious tone.
“Alright… but I must warn you, he’s clumsy and easily gets into trouble, and he’s very dangerous. If you still don’t… well, alright.” Mr. Dursley grumbled a warning, but seeing no sign of Cohen changing his mind, he had no choice but to shout up the stairs behind him:
“Harry! Go to the birthday party! Damn it, hurry up!”
A stumbling sound, and a thin, bespectacled little boy ran out from the broom cupboard under the stairs.
“Cohen?!” Harry exclaimed happily.
This was clearly something Mr. Dursley didn’t want to see. Harry being happy made him unhappy.
“You go with him first, Dudley will come over at dinner time,” Mr. Dursley snapped at Harry. “Don’t cause any trouble.”
His last sentence sounded as if he was expecting Harry to cause trouble, as if he was convinced that Cohen inviting Harry to the dinner party was a mistake.
“I promise I won’t cause any trouble.” Harry said this to Cohen after leaving the Dursleys.
But Cohen’s mind was clearly not on Harry’s promise.
【Soul Strength: 7 (Sacrifice Protection)】
【Soul Strength: 40】
Harry had two distinct labels on him.
It was obvious without thinking that the one labeled “Sacrifice Protection” was Harry’s own soul, an ancient spell cast by Lily with her life.
And that thing with a soul strength of 40 points was Lord Voldemort’s soul fragment.
What a tough bone to chew!
But even if it couldn’t be absorbed, this powerful soul fragment was still emitting a sweet, cloying aroma, practically a delicacy in the eyes of a Dementor.
“Co… Cohen… why are you looking at me like that…”
Harry swallowed, instinctively taking a step back.
“Brother, you smell so good!—No, I just zoned out for a moment, thinking about what to eat tonight.” Cohen was only attracted by that tempting Lord Voldemort fragment for a brief moment, and instantly reined in his desire, appearing normal.
So annoying, forty points. At least twenty-nine more soul fragments from the Sin Shop, which is twenty-nine thousand sin points.
Equivalent to stealing lollipops from twenty-nine thousand children!
It’s a long and arduous journey. I hope the teachers and students of Hogwarts are ready.
“Cohen, thank you for rescuing me. I’ve been cooped up at the Dursleys for a month already…”
At Cohen’s house, Harry repeatedly thanked Cohen while frantically eating Edward’s homemade apple pie, which was clearly overly sweet.
“Thank my dad. If he’d set my birthday in October, you might have been locked up until the end of the holidays.”
At the mention of the holidays ending, Harry’s mood visibly dropped.
Cohen was already the only one willing to talk to Harry without minding the “freak” label, but when this holiday ended, Cohen would go to the same school as Dudley—Smeltings, while Harry would go to another public school, Stonewall High. Dudley had used this to tease Harry for a long time.
“Cheer up, it’s not like we’ll never see each other again.” Cohen, who knew what the future held, waved his hand indifferently. “Be careful, there’s still dinner tonight. Don’t fill up on apple pie.”