Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 177 Tom and Jerry

Cohen felt that it would be fine to leave the cat with Martha.

At least it didn't speak in front of Martha and Edward, which shows that in its heart it was actually willing to make some verbal "sacrifices" in order to stay in Martha's house.

……

"Did its mouth shape just now mean 'I have decided to go with you now'?"

Cohen asked the Earl expressionlessly.

"Sell me to other little wizards," the count said desperately, "torture me but don't take Frondo."

"Don't force me to suck your soul, Dick Cat," Cohen threatened. "It's dangerous to follow a Dementor - especially one like me."

"That's right," agreed the Count.

Mr. Frondo was mumbling something incoherently—Cohen didn't want to cancel the tongue-locking spell (the spell seemed to have undergone some changes in Mr. Frondo's body, and he could still move his tongue)—so he had to be quiet as long as possible.

"It doesn't look like it's afraid at all." The Count made his choice immediately. "I'd rather help you find the Chimera beast in the valley—good luck."

The Count flapped his wings and fled as if he would explode if he stayed with Mr. Frondo for a few more seconds.

"Is it really that scary?" Cohen clicked his tongue.

But... according to Mr. Frondo, the Chimera was hunting near the valley, so what was the reason for the disappearances in this small town?

Suddenly, a child's voice came from behind Cohen.

"Are you talking to your pet?"

Cohen turned around and saw two boys who looked only twelve or thirteen years old.

They were all wearing common Muggle T-shirts, which looked a bit worn and faded from color due to being washed out.

The taller one had short dark brown hair and freckles on his face; the other had blonde hair and looked a little timid.

"We haven't seen you in town." The tall brown-haired boy looked at Cohen suspiciously. "Besides, this is a dangerous area. Adults never let children go here."

Cohen has seen this kind of plot development before!

The Muggle kids would start to think he was a freak, then start doing that American bully street dance, and finally be beaten by the out-of-control Obscurus...

"I didn't see the Monseigneur." Cohen raised his eyebrows. "But I saw the disappearance in the newspaper."

"Because they themselves don't dare to come near here." The brown-haired boy seemed very proud of his courage. "Five adults have disappeared here. My name is Tom, Tom Hall, and this is my brother Jerry."

What cat and mouse combination...

"I know it's a funny name, it's because our dad loves watching cartoons," Tom said nonchalantly. "But then again, if you knew there were missing persons here, why did you still hang around here?"

"Let's have some fun." Cohen looked around. There were indeed no adults around. These two kids might also be looking for the murderer—they were really brave. "My name is Cohen, Cohen Norton."

"Norton?" Jerry, who had been hiding behind Tom, couldn't help but repeat Cohen's last name, but then covered his mouth. "The Norton family south of town?" Tom seemed to be suddenly wary of Cohen, shielding his brother behind him and pulling him back a few steps.

"Yes, the one with the weird old man." Cohen remembered Martha saying that Charleson often threatened Muggle postmen, which led to the Norton family having a bad reputation here. "I'm here for vacation—summer vacation."

"They say..." Tom said breathlessly, "that the disappearances are the work of that queer old Norton man... He's a..."

?

When did Charleson rise from his grave to kidnap Muggles?
"Isn't this rumor too outrageous?" Cohen raised an eyebrow. "My grandfather died on Christmas Day two years ago."

"That's even more possible!" Tom seemed to be more convinced of this theory. "Some people say he knows witchcraft! It's even more likely that he will take revenge on the townspeople after his death!"

"That's even more impossible. If my family did it, they wouldn't stop me from going out." Cohen spread his hands.

"But you're outside now," Jerry whispered.

"We ran away just like you did." Cohen smelled the emotions of the two children, a strong sense of tension and a little fear. They were afraid of being discovered by their elders, so they looked around from time to time.

"how do you know--"

"You're both like thieves, looking back every few steps. You've obviously run away from home. But don't worry, I'm not in the habit of snitching," Cohen said. "But I suggest you go home early. If there really is a murderer kidnapping people everywhere, you two are just adding to the chaos."

"We're not causing any trouble!" Jerry swallowed and said in a low voice, "We're armed, and we'll rescue Dad from that monster!"

He said "Save dad", indicating that they were the children of one of the missing persons.

Cohen understood the ultimate purpose of the two people coming to the park, and the current course of events was becoming more and more like Conan - this gave Cohen a special sense of freshness.

"This is our own business," said Tom. "Are you out looking for the murderer, too? We could go in company—can you handle a knife?"

As he spoke, Tom took out a small knife from his bag - Cohen saw several fruit knives of different sizes in it, as if they were stolen from home.

"Monster?" Cohen took the knife. "How do you know the culprit is a monster and not a murderer or something like that?"

"Because we saw that huge monster the night Dad disappeared..." Jerry said, "Just outside the window, on the side of the road, a big black shadow rushed out along the road -"

"It went south. We thought it was some kind of monster your grandfather raised, or something that turned into a monster," Tom said. "But now..."

Cohen has already explained that the monster is not from the Norton family - but in fact it is from the Norton family, but Cohen does not think that the disappearances were caused by the Chimera beast.

"It could be something else. Sometimes you can't believe your eyes," Cohen said. "There aren't even any streetlights in this town."

"We planned to come here to investigate the situation," Tom said. "Uncle Joel next door had to take care of his sick daughter today, so we were able to sneak out of the house. Whether it's a monster or a kidnapper, they will always leave traces at the crime scene..."

"Why is 'Uncle Joel' guarding you - oh..." Cohen politely stopped talking midway through the question.

“We came all the way from outside the park and just found this little bit of goo,” Tom said. “There it is.”

He turned and pointed toward a cobblestone road.

(End of this chapter)