The three of them huddled closely under the invisibility cloak, moving carefully through the corridor.
Along the way, Harry explained to Hermione and Ron the details of his dream.
"I'm starting to believe you now," Hermione said. "No one could remember a dream that clearly."
Finally, the three arrived at Professor Westeros's office door. The panel on the door still displayed the message: Please knock, thank you.
Harry dutifully knocked twice on the panel. However, once again, there was no response.
The words on the panel changed to: No one here, please come back tomorrow.
Seeing this, the three exchanged a glance.
"There's no time left. Let's go check the situation on the fourth floor," Harry said immediately.
Meanwhile, in the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid and Adrian were hurriedly walking in a particular direction.
Just moments ago, they had heard noises coming from there—judging by the sound, it was probably centaurs.
"Quickly! Just ahead!"
Hagrid's enormous body cleared the path in front of Adrian, pushing through the undergrowth with a rustling sound.
Finally, the two arrived at the scene. They saw a tall figure standing with its back to them.
From the reddish-brown tail, it appeared to be the centaur Ronan.
From a distance, Adrian could see something bloody and mangled in front of Ronan.
When the two approached...
Hagrid exclaimed, quickly moving forward.
Indeed, it was a unicorn.
Adrian looked at the unicorn's corpse with a pained expression.
So, Voldemort had found an opportunity after all...
The unicorn's body had withered in a bizarre manner, its silvery-white hide clinging tightly to its skeleton, forming horrifying wrinkles.
"By Merlin!" Hagrid's voice trembled. "Its blood has been drained completely! Who could have done this?"
At this point, Ronan, who had been standing quietly nearby, finally spoke, his tone even more melancholic than before: "It was already when I arrived a few minutes ago... Poor creature... May the stars guide you."
Then, Ronan looked up at the sky before lowering his head again.
He began to paw at the ground nervously, his reddish-brown tail swishing anxiously: "The paths of the stars have become chaotic. We should have noticed earlier... but it's too late..."
Hagrid ignored Ronan, crouching before the unicorn's body and examining it.
Clearly, the unicorn was completely dead, beyond any possibility of saving.
A moment later, Hagrid stood up again with reddened eyes and said to Adrian: "I need to inform Professor Dumbledore, Adrian. Please look around the area, the culprit might still be nearby. This definitely wasn't done by any creature from the Forbidden Forest."
After Hagrid left, only Ronan and Adrian remained at the scene.
To be honest, being alone with Ronan made Adrian feel somewhat uncomfortable.
He could see the disgust in Ronan's eyes—directed at all humans, not specifically at him.
"I'm going to look around," Adrian said to Ronan. "Would you like to come along? Or would you prefer to stay here? The culprit might return."
However, Ronan didn't answer. Adrian could only shrug and turn to leave.
The centaur's cold attitude was expected.
Just then, Ronan's melancholic voice reached Adrian's ears: "That person has already left the Forbidden Forest. You won't find him."
Adrian looked at Ronan in surprise, asking: "How do you know?"
Ronan raised his head again and said slowly: "The Dark Lord—I believe that's what you call him—he is already close to his goal."
Adrian was even more surprised; the centaurs knew more than he had imagined.
"Did you know that the Dark Lord would do this?" Adrian couldn't help asking.
Ronan shook his head, then continued gazing at the sky, his dark red mane gently waving in the night breeze.
"The stars cannot tell us everything," his voice was somewhat deep. "Everything is uncontrollable, unfathomable—that is destiny. Go now, sir, you know what you should do. You are also one of those stars."
Adrian fell into deep thought.
In the original story, Voldemort wouldn't make his move on the Philosopher's Stone until the end of the school year.
But from what the centaur was saying now, Voldemort had acted ahead of schedule.
The plot had changed dramatically!
Moreover, Adrian couldn't be certain whether Harry would enter the room on the fourth floor tonight.
Adrian muttered quietly, then quickly headed toward the castle.
Inside the castle, Harry and the others had already reached the corridor on the fourth floor.
When they arrived at the door to that room, they found the lock had already been opened.
Clearly, someone had beaten them to it.
The three pushed the door open cautiously and entered.
The scene inside made them forget to breathe.
The three-headed dog, Fluffy, lay on the floor, its enormous body motionless, its three heads drooping and all six eyes tightly closed.
"Is... is it dead?" Hermione's voice trembled as she hid behind Harry and Ron.
Harry held his wand in his hand, carefully approaching one of Fluffy's heads to check the nose.
After a moment, Harry withdrew his hand.
He couldn't feel the warm air of breathing. "It's not breathing," Harry looked at Hermione and Ron, his voice shaking. "It really is dead."
Ron gasped, saying: "Merlin's beard! Who could kill a three-headed dog?"
Hermione summoned her courage to move closer, observing Fluffy before saying: "There are no wounds on its body. How was it killed?"
"Never mind that," Harry walked to the trapdoor. "We need to hurry, or if Voldemort gets the Philosopher's Stone, it will be too late."
Harry took a deep breath, gripped the edge of the trapdoor, and opened it.
A stream of cold air rose from below, carrying a musty odor.
"It's very dark down there," Harry said in a low voice. "I'll go down first and have a look."
"Wait!" Hermione grabbed Harry's sleeve. "I think we should inform the professors first."
"There's no time. You go notify the professors, and I'll go down first." Harry waved his wand and cast a levitation charm on himself: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Harry felt his body become somewhat lighter, which would help cushion his landing.
Then he slowly slid through the door.
"Wait for us!" Ron, seeing this, quickly ran to the trapdoor and looked down.
However, Harry had already disappeared.
"What should we do?" he looked anxiously at Hermione.
Hermione sighed, saying resignedly: "In any case, we can't abandon Harry. It's certainly dangerous down there."
With that, Hermione, like Harry, cast a levitation charm on herself and Ron.
You can read more chapters on: