Hogwarts, i am Dementor

"Harry's just desperate for family, you have no idea what he mutters about in his sleep every night," Cohen said. "He can barely even see his relatives in his dreams..." 

"This is all because of me..." Sirius said guiltily. 

"So you've got to figure out a way to clear your name and give Harry some family warmth as a normal person," Cohen lectured. "Even I, a Dementor, have more heart than you. Can you really stand by and let your godson keep getting bullied by the Dursleys? And then be an orphan his whole life..." 

"Stop, stop..." Sirius said, covering his face. 

"Find a chance to explain everything to Harry," Cohen said. "Next time, I can bring Harry out here, and you can tell him what happened in the past, and about Peter – hand Peter over to the Ministry of Magic, and your name will be cleared." 

"So you mean let Peter live...?" Sirius seemed like he still didn't want to let Peter off the hook that easily. 

"I'm on good terms with the Dementors in Azkaban," Cohen said, raising his eyebrows. "Whatever torture you'd like, I can have them do it. Of course, no after or becoming a Star Fury or anything like that, Dementors don't have—" 

"As long as he dies... as long as he dies..." Sirius quickly interrupted Cohen from continuing – that kid picked up words from who knows where. 

Wouldn't want Edward to say something like, "Sirius corrupted my son" later on. 

The thought of being able to live a normal life with Harry in the future seemed to bring a glimmer of hope back into Sirius's heart. 

"Just hang out here for a few weeks," Cohen said. "Try not to starve in the meantime—" 

"I won't starve," Sirius said, retreating further into the cave. 

"And try not to actually get involved with Boo-Boo for food – Harry would be so grossed out—" 

"Can you just shut up already? Go find that dog! You're supposed to be walking it, and you've lost it!" 

Sirius covered his head, urging Cohen to leave with a helpless expression. 

After being scared off by Cohen and Black's sudden fight, Boo-Boo had been hiding in the bushes next to the Shrieking Shack, and Cohen found it easily. 

For Boo-Boo, one was its owner's friend, and the other was its doggy love, so it was hard to decide who to help. 

"Come on, you two aren't going anywhere, don't even try," Cohen said, picking up Boo-Boo's leash, which was dragging on the ground. "There are so many good dogs in the world, why did you have to pick this one?" 

"Woof!" Boo-Boo turned its head to the side, as if disagreeing with Cohen's words. 

After strolling back to Professor Kettleburn's house with Boo-Boo, Cohen received a large bag of assorted Honeydukes sweets from Kettleburn. 

"Thanks," Cohen said politely. 

"You deserve it," Kettleburn said with a smile. "I'm still waiting for my new prosthetic leg to arrive, so I really can't take Boo-Boo out myself..." 

"Speaking of which, are wooden prosthetic legs really that fragile?" Cohen asked curiously. 

"Ah... well, regular prosthetic legs can actually last a long time..." Kettleburn said. "The one Dumbledore gave me was quite useful – it's just that these wooden ones are so easy to set on fire – you know how dragons can't always control when they breathe fire, and every time I visit them at the dragon sanctuary, I get set alight a few times..." 

Well, that's a life. 

Cohen didn't know what to say. Luckily, Norbert wouldn't dare breathe fire at him, and none of his body parts were made of wood. 

Time quickly came for them to leave Hogsmeade. Because of Sirius Black wandering around nearby, the village had a curfew at night, and visiting Hogwarts students had to leave around five o'clock. 

Harry couldn't come this time – because the Weasley twins had also come to Hogsmeade to buy things, and Harry hadn't had a chance to ask them about the secret passages yet. 

But the good news was that the relationship between Ron and Hermione seemed to have thawed a bit. Although Ron hadn't agreed to buy Hermione a quill as a peace offering at the time, it looked like he eventually did. In addition to the several large, thick books at the bottom, Hermione's shopping bag had two new quills at the top. One was a simple and elegant pure white, and the other was much more flamboyant, like it had been plucked from a rainbow bird. 

"Ron, this quill is a bit too flashy," Hermione complained to Ron, but she looked quite happy. "Just imagine what the professors will say when I use it in class..." 

"Like Snape: 'Are you planning to throw that quill into your Sleeping Draught as a feather from a Flobberworm, Miss Know-It-All?'" Cohen suddenly appeared behind them. 

"You scared me! Cohen!" Hermione jumped, startled by Cohen's sudden appearance. 

"Are you two friends again?" Cohen asked. 

"Sort of, almost," Ron said, scratching his head. "Hermione apologized too—" 

"I bought Crookshanks a cage," Hermione said, holding up a square package in her other hand. "It has magic to prevent pets from running around, so Crookshanks won't chase Scabbers anymore – so that someone doesn't keep telling other people that I 'just don't care about other people's pets.'" 

"I only said that to Lavender because I was really angry at the time," Ron defended himself. "And you really did look like you didn't care at all whether that cat ate Scabbers or not. I never saw you try to keep it locked up..." 

They followed the crowd back to Hogwarts. Hermione and Ron had bought Harry a bunch of candy and prank toys. Since there was also the Halloween Eve feast that night, the joyful mood from shopping and the upcoming feast made the Dementors along the way practically drool – even though they don't actually have saliva. 

But Harry didn't look happy when he received the gifts at the feast. 

"Professor Lupin pulled me into his office for tea this afternoon," Harry said. 

"Why?" Ron asked, surprised. 

"Did you get into trouble?" Hermione asked worriedly. 

"Did he pull a Snape on you?" Cohen asked with his usual suspicion. 

"Why are you guys getting more and more ridiculous...?" Harry said, covering his face. "It was just tea, and then Snape came in and gave Lupin a potion..." 

"He drank it?" Ron said incredulously. "It could have been poisoned!" 

"Snape probably wants to poison Lupin," Cohen reasonably speculated. "But he probably wouldn't do it in front of Harry – Harry, why don't you ask Fred and George about the secret passages sooner? Next Hogsmeade weekend, I want to take you somewhere—" 

"Sirius Black is still out there!" Hermione reminded them in a low voice. "Harry can't sneak out!" 

"I've got the Invisibility Cloak," Harry said, looking forward to Hogsmeade. "Don't worry." 

The Great Hall was decorated with hundreds of pumpkins with lit candles, and bats with orange streamers flew across the ceiling – the atmosphere was perfect. The students enthusiastically discussed their trip to Hogsmeade, and the feast was lively. 

The final act was a performance rehearsed by the school ghosts. Nearly Headless Nick reenacted the scene of his own beheading – with the Bloody Baron, covered in blood, as his co-star. 

But Cohen's attention was drawn to something else under the table. 

Ron's rat, Scabbers, scurried onto Cohen's lap with a crumpled-up little ball of paper, and after dropping it, hid in Ron's pocket next to Cohen. 

Ron and Harry were both watching the performance, and no one was paying attention to Cohen. 

Cohen unfolded the note. 

[Help, body, ten o'clock, your secret room] 

Was Little Voldy asking for help? Or was this a note sent by Peter?