When Cohen stepped inside, all he saw was chaos—shattered bricks and sticky mud everywhere, the dust clumping together into a soggy mess thanks to the puddles on the floor. Deep in the chamber, the most eye-catching feature, the Slytherin statue, was missing its head. It lay on the ground, surrounded by two basilisks.
It looked almost like the basilisks had beheaded Slytherin himself.
"I know you're pretty mad at Slytherin right now, but this seems a bit much…" Cohen said, staring at the wreckage, unable to hold back his comment.
"Huh?" The old basilisk nudged Slytherin's head toward Cohen with its tail, rolling it over like a ball. "I don't hate him. He was actually pretty decent to me back in the day…"
"'Pretty decent' meaning he let you sleep under the bathroom floor," Sisko pointed out sharply. "And didn't even let you leave. Derrick never restricted me like that—he gave me a cow every three days and even built me a bed."
"You still can't let him go, can you?" Cohen asked Sisko calmly.
"It's just nostalgia for our old friendship," Sisko said, its tone dripping with memories. "But of course, my son's more important now…"
"If you don't hate Slytherin, then why are you kicking his head around like a soccer ball?" Cohen turned to the old basilisk.
The statue's head was massive—considering what the old basilisk had called its "luggage" earlier…
"This is my nest," the old basilisk said, wrapping its tail around Slytherin's head to stop it from rolling. "I've always slept here. Switching to a new spot might keep me up at night…"
"Bed nostalgia," Sisko chimed in cleverly. "I've heard humans talk about it."
"Please don't say something so cutesy with your thousand-year-old body and creaky old voice," Cohen said, covering his ears. "It's too weird."
"Your suitcase has plenty of space inside," Sisko said, slithering closer to Cohen. "Couldn't you find a spot for the old guy to stash his stone head?"
"It'd be a little rude to put it back after it's already been broken off," Cohen replied. "But it's not going in the basement. You can find a spot for it in the plains inside the suitcase yourself."
The old basilisk gave Cohen a grateful nudge, making it feel even more like *Cohen and His Animal Friends*. Cohen opened the suitcase and used a levitation charm to help the old basilisk move the giant Slytherin head inside.
The old basilisk picked a spot behind Cohen's wooden cabin—convenient for popping in to visit Sisko and the little basilisk. It generously invited Sisko to live inside the statue with it ("It's way bigger on the inside than it looks!"), but Sisko declined.
"I'm staying in my son's house," Sisko said proudly.
Now that their deadly gazes were under control, they didn't have to worry about accidentally killing off Cohen's sheep or pigs, so they were free to roam the entire suitcase.
Cohen figured he could introduce them to Hagrid later. Hagrid had probably never seen a live basilisk—Cohen was pretty sure these three were the last ones in all of England. No one sane would try to create a creature that could kill with a single glance—except maybe some members of the Silver Key, who were clearly bored out of their minds and tired of living.
"Don't climb on my bed, and if you're eating sheep or the short pig-things, don't overdo it. Sustainable living, okay?" Cohen warned the three snakes.
"Got it," Sisko and the old basilisk agreed.
"Hungry!" the little basilisk hissed, eyeing the sheep pen eagerly.
"I'll keep it in check…" Sisko said, yanking back the little basilisk as it lunged toward the pen.
"Oh, and one more thing—don't you think it's time to give it a name?" Cohen asked, remembering Dumbledore's words before he left. "Calling it 'little basilisk' all the time feels kinda weird."
"But I've never named another snake before," Sisko said, sounding exasperated. It glanced at the old basilisk.
"I don't even have a name myself," the old basilisk said, shaking its head. "Salazar never bothered with that. He didn't introduce me to any other living things either…"
"First room on the left downstairs is the study," Cohen said, pointing toward the cabin. "Do you know any English?"
"A little?" Sisko replied.
"Grab a dictionary, find a word you like the look of, and we'll settle on a name next time I'm here," Cohen said with a sigh. "I've only ever named my dog before, and that was 'German Mustache.'"
If the little basilisk didn't want to end up as a German stereotype, the naming duty would fall to Sisko.
Cohen had bigger things to deal with—like the last bit of the school term, whatever Allie was up to in the Forbidden Forest, the missing Voldemort, and what seemed like the main storyline lately: the "Silver Key Gathering." Oh, and Rose and Edward, who were sticking around for the banquet.
At the feast, Dumbledore gave a speech about how "the basilisk has been defeated by Harry, Cohen, and Ron, and Hogwarts is safe once again."
Everyone cheered for Hogwarts getting back to normal.
The parents who'd come to visit joined in the celebration too. The adult wizards were hit with a wave of nostalgia for their Hogwarts days. The Weasleys were chatting with the Nortons about old school memories, while Hermione was showing her parents the enchanted ceiling—which blew the Muggles' minds ("It really doesn't leak when it rains?" Mr. Granger still couldn't wrap his head around it. "It looks completely open…").
Since Dumbledore had fixed Cohen's wand with the Elder Wand, Cohen decided not to mention to Rose that a basilisk had swallowed him.
But before the banquet wrapped up, Edward pulled Cohen aside under the pretense of a bathroom break, looking like something was bothering him.
"You don't have to actually drag me into the bathroom just for a private chat…" Cohen said, closing the door to the first-floor boys' restroom and turning to Edward.
"It's to keep your mom from barging in," Edward said seriously, grabbing Cohen's shoulders. "I know this is technically something we should all talk about as a family—you told me last time that a snake claimed it was your dad…"
"It's not dead, and it's not here to break up the family—it's joining us," Cohen said reassuringly.
"And there just happens to be another basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets? Was it not killed?" Edward asked urgently. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you're not keeping a basilisk as a pet."
"Sisko's not dangerous," Cohen said calmly.
"You even gave it a name!" Edward groaned, covering his face. "Merlin's beard, I never should've let you keep that dragon. Now your sense of what's dangerous is completely warped—basilisks—"
"How about I introduce you to it?" Cohen suggested, realizing words alone wouldn't fix Edward's first impression—especially since basilisks *were* insanely dangerous.
"Am I such a failure as a father…?"
(End of Chapter)