Hogwarts was vast on every floor.
Dawn walked slowly, glancing around at every turn.
From time to time, he paused to rub his eyes. The magical circuits embedded throughout the castle flickered in complex patterns, and staring at them for too long was rather uncomfortable.
Even so—
It wasn't all for nothing.
At that moment, he stood inside an abandoned classroom, staring up at a picture frame mounted on the back wall.
It was a giant painting of a troll.
Its vacant eyes stared blankly as it scratched its bald head and chuckled foolishly, mouth stretched into a dim-witted grin.
What had caught Dawn's attention wasn't the troll itself, but the dense concentration of magical circuitry carved into the wall behind the painting.
It reminded him of the Room of Requirement—abrupt, out of place.
Dawn guessed that something must be hidden behind the wall. Perhaps it was the room mentioned in the diary.
But the question was—how to get in?
He thought for a moment, then pulled out [The Tales of Beedle the Bard] from his leather wallet and waved it in front of the troll.
The response was the same: the troll just chuckled foolishly.
Frowning, Dawn put the storybook away and pulled out the diary instead.
Still no reaction.
"Could it be that photo it needs?" he muttered, clicking his tongue softly.
He studied the runes etched into the magical circuits on the wall and, recalling the lessons from the past week, identified the rune symbolizing "closure."
After a moment of thought, Dawn channeled his magic into the wall, severing the magical flow.
Click—
Suddenly, the troll in the painting moved. It bent down, dug into the ground, and pulled out a golden key, which it held out in an open palm.
Dawn, sensing something, gently tapped it with his wand.
In that instant—
Ripples like water spread across the stone wall. The painting vanished, revealing a reddish-brown door hidden behind it.
Bingo.
Dawn's eyes lit up, and he carefully pushed the door open.
A strong wave of dust surged out as the door creaked open.
With a quick flick of his wand, a gust of wind swept through, blowing the dust away.
Gradually, the room before him came into view.
From the doorway, it looked about as spacious as a Ravenclaw dormitory room. Apart from the bed and a set of furniture, it even came with its own washroom.
Dawn was about to step in to investigate...
*Boom--!*
A sudden thud rang out from outside the classroom!
It sounded like something massive had crashed onto the floor—the ground even trembled slightly!
Dawn froze.
He instinctively turned his head toward the direction of the sound, though the view was blocked by the wall.
'What just happened…?'
Eyes narrowing, he gripped his wand tightly.
But he didn't rush out recklessly. Instead, he used a Transfiguration spell to turn an old desk into a mirror, which he angled at the classroom entrance.
Reflected in the mirror's surface, the first thing he saw was a massive, brownish-black back that almost scraped the ceiling.
At the far end of the corridor stood a towering beast.
A canine—yet far more monstrous.
It had three enormous heads, each maw split wide open in a grotesque snarl, revealing jagged yellow-white fangs. Viscous drool dripped from their gaping mouths.
"A three-headed dog?"
Dawn was stunned.
Wasn't that thing supposed to be guarding the Philosopher's Stone? Why was it here?
He immediately cast a sound-muffling charm around himself. He remembered clearly—three-headed dogs had incredibly sharp hearing.
"Aaah—!"
Before he could make sense of anything, a sharp scream echoed down the corridor.
Using a Levitation Charm, Dawn adjusted the mirror's angle.
He saw a young boy—clearly a first-year—running out from the direction of the library, pale as a ghost.
He'd seen the three-headed dog.
The boy screamed, frozen in fright.
Quidditch might be the wizarding world's favorite sport, but clearly this kid wasn't a fan. Judging by his solitary habits, he belonged to the minority.
Still, after today, that might change.
Dawn watched silently as the massive dog thundered past the classroom entrance in pursuit.
In that moment, a passing thought flickered in his mind.
"Oh no! Child, run!"
In the mirror, Madam Pince suddenly appeared from behind the boy, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him back.
She waved her wand, casting a flurry of spells at the three-headed beast. Dawn didn't recognize the spells, but it was obvious—they had no visible effect.
Soon enough, both Madam Pince and the beast disappeared around the corner.
Dawn stood still, thinking.
He didn't chase after the commotion, but neither did he enter the newly revealed room.
Instead, he opened the side window of the classroom, grabbed his enchanted robes, and floated out of the fifth-floor window, gliding down to the castle grounds.
He didn't know why the story was suddenly veering off from the original.
But since it involved the Philosopher's Stone, chances were—Voldemort was on the move.
And staying on the near-empty fifth floor, just above the fourth, didn't seem like a smart idea.
Thud!
Landing on the damp grass below, Dawn didn't linger. Guided by the noise from the distance, he identified the direction of the Quidditch pitch and began moving that way while staying hidden.
...
"Look there! Cedric! The Hufflepuff Seeker has spotted the Golden Snitch! He's diving—wow! Will he catch it?!"
"Wait! It's still anyone's game!"
"Cho Chang from Ravenclaw is chasing hard! Merlin's beard, what a brave girl! Let's give it up for Cho!"
The announcer's booming voice echoed louder and louder as Dawn approached the Quidditch stadium.
He didn't head to the packed stands, but instead stood outside the pitch.
Taking a small stone from the ground, he transformed it into a telescope and raised it to his eye, scanning the crowd.
But no matter how he searched, he didn't spot Dumbledore.
Whether the headmaster hadn't come at all—or had already returned upon hearing the news—was anyone's guess.
Dawn quietly pondered the situation.
Voldemort's actions were already diverging significantly from what the original story described—and that was understandable.
This was a real world now. His presence alone was already a butterfly effect.
Anything could happen.
But what Dawn couldn't understand was: what did releasing the three-headed dog gain Voldemort?
What purpose did it serve?
He thought about it for a while but couldn't reach any conclusion. Shaking his head, he decided to let it go.
It wasn't something he needed to worry about anyway.
Since he was already here, he might as well enjoy the match.
But then—
His eyes suddenly sharpened.
Through the curtain of light rain, he spotted something in the Hufflepuff section of the stands. A man wearing a purple scarf, sitting right next to Professor Sprout.
Quirrell?!
Dawn narrowed his eyes, raising the telescope again.
What's going on?
If Quirrell was here at the Quidditch pitch… Then who had released the three-headed dog inside the castle?
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