With the suitcase in hand, Cohen didn't leave through the main entrance. Running into Filch again would be a disaster—Filch would no doubt try to pin some mischief charge on him and probably demand to inspect the case.
He really should've rigged the suitcase with a dual-system setup like Newt's. It'd save him a ton of hassle.
Slipping out through the courtyard exit, Cohen made his way back to the Forbidden Forest without running into anyone—not even Hagrid, who was probably off watching the Quidditch final.
The roar of the crowd echoed from the pitch, while the forest stayed eerily quiet.
Cohen stepped back into the unicorns' bush-walled enclosure and found them all waiting for him obediently. It kinda felt like facing a herd of lambs ready for slaughter.
"One by one, follow me inside," Cohen said, opening the suitcase and climbing in first. "I need to introduce you to some of the other creatures in there so you don't end up fighting later."
[*How do we get in?*] the unicorn leader asked Ari.
[*Just dive right in,*] Ari replied, then plunged headfirst into the case.
The unicorns followed her one after another, while a few centaurs watched偷偷 from a distance.
"Are you really letting the unicorns leave with that wizard kid?" Bane rumbled in his deep voice. "Firenze, Ronan, don't you think…"
"Last night, Uranus crossed Mars, Bane," Ronan said gloomily. "The unicorns will be safer there than in the forest…"
"That kid's never harmed the forest," Firenze added. "At least the Acromantulas haven't crawled out of their pits since he showed up, and the Thestrals say he saved one of their foals."
"He gives me a dangerous vibe," Bane countered. "He doesn't seem like a wizard, or even just a unicorn. He's not like anything. Ever since he got here, Mars has been unnaturally bright."
"You can't just focus on Mars, Bane," Ronan advised. "The stars have a lot to say. Beyond war, there are plenty of hopeful signs too. The unicorns will be fine."
---
"Norbert, come check out the unicorns!"
Cohen led the unicorn herd to Norbert's cave and shouted inside.
"*Roar…*"
Norbert let out a lazy growl and lumbered out of the cave.
"This is Norbert, a Norwegian Ridgeback," Cohen introduced to the unicorns. "It spends most of its time in there, coming out every now and then to eat sheep. Don't freak out if you see it grabbing one."
[*It's a kinda dumb female dragon,*] Ari explained to the herd. [*Eats, sleeps, sleeps, eats. If it gets groggy and tries to bite you, just ram it.*]
"*Roar?*"
Norbert glanced at Cohen, then at the circle of unicorns that looked kinda like that fierce one from before.
"These aren't food, got it?" Cohen warned Norbert.
"*Roar…*"
Norbert squatted obediently.
"Alright, back to sleep," Cohen waved it off.
"*Roar!*"
Norbert happily flicked its tail and scampered back into its den.
[*Ooh, is that a dragon?*]
A young unicorn stared curiously at Norbert's retreating figure.
[*Don't try climbing into its mouth, Uri!*] the leader warned. [*Have you already forgotten what happened last time you messed with that werewolf?*]
[*Can we poke its butt then?*] another young unicorn asked. [*It doesn't look like it'd kick us like the centaurs…*]
"You lot surviving this long is honestly thanks to the centaurs going easy on you," Cohen said, shaking his head. "Next up are the sheep and the Puffskeins here. Stay away from the Puffskeins—they carry plague. Though I guess unicorns probably don't catch plagues. Still, no getting close. I don't know any vets, so if you get sick, you're on your own to heal."
[*Ooh, Puffskeins!*] Uri, a young unicorn who preferred anonymity, was brimming with curiosity about everything.
"Then there's the basilisks—relax, their stares won't kill anymore. I made them glasses," Cohen said, leading the unicorns toward the statue head where the old basilisk lived. "They're smarter than Norbert—well…"
He paused, spotting two basilisk heads—one big, one small—peeking down from the second-floor window of the wooden house.
"The littlest one's not too bright. Try to steer clear of it."
The old basilisk slithered out at Cohen's call, and after its convincingly "gentle" performance, the unicorns' wariness of the giant snake eased up a bit.
"How'd you manage to snag so many unicorns?" Sisoko asked, sliding down from the upper floor with little Sophia—the basilisk duo literally slithered out the window. "Got a favorite yet? When am I getting grandkids—"
"Shut up," Cohen groaned, replying in Parseltongue while covering his face.
"Daddy brought food!" Sophia's eyes gleamed as she stared at the herd of "horses." "Furry snakes! With pointy things on their heads!"
"Those are unicorns," Sisoko corrected her. "Not food."
[*I remember the big one, but where'd this little one come from?*] Ari gave Cohen a weird look. [*…*]
[*Picked it up somewhere,*] Cohen said quickly, cutting off any chance of Ari thinking he'd spawned this dim-witted snake himself.
Sophia slithered off Sisoko's head and curiously approached a golden foal.
The little unicorn hid behind its parents, half-scared, half-intrigued by the massive snake in front of it.
"Friend?"
Sophia tilted her head at the foal.
The little unicorn mustered some courage, stepping out from behind its parents to slowly approach Sophia. They bumped noses.
"You'd better keep an eye on her," Cohen warned Sisoko. "Or some snake's ending up with seventy-seven holes poked in it."
"You mean her?" Sisoko asked, worried.
"No, I mean you," Cohen said. "You're the guardian snake here. You're responsible for what she does."
"…"
The good news? Sophia didn't think "friend = tasty." Even though she and the foal didn't speak the same language or share a species, they seemed to hit it off just fine.
Which made the unicorn-basilisk dynamic…
"Weird as hell," the Count remarked from the rooftop, having watched the whole first meeting between the unicorns and basilisks. He followed Cohen out of the suitcase. "You wouldn't dare write this in a fantasy novel—unicorns hanging out with basilisks?"
"That's how fairy tales work," Cohen shrugged. "As long as they don't start popping out Blast-Ended Skrewts, I'm fine with it."
"What kind of twisted fairy tale has *that*?!" the Count screeched.
"*Who Let This Dementor Into Hogwarts!*" Cohen said. "Once I graduate, I'm writing a whole series like that. It'd be a crime not to share all these wild school stories."
(End of Chapter)