Midnight, Hogwarts Castle.
"You must be insane!" Hermione kept her voice to a furious whisper, but her exaggerated expression was impossible to hide. "Now look! Filch will find us in no time!"
Not far away, the sound of boots on wooden floorboards grew closer, accompanied by piercing meows. Their location was at the edge of the fourth floor; besides the dark corridor behind them, there were no other paths. She knew that if they were caught by the school caretaker for being out of their common room at this hour, a month of detention would be a light punishment.
Worse, Gryffindor would lose countless valuable points and, consequently, this year's House Cup. Thinking of this, Hermione felt a chill in her heart. If she caused Gryffindor to lose the House Cup, she would never forgive herself.
And all of this was because these two, with nothing better to do in the middle of the night, had decided to participate in a wizard's duel arranged with Malfoy.
Feeling Hermione's angry gaze, Ron felt a pang of guilt but retorted defiantly, "You insisted on following us! And how were we supposed to know that Malfoy would be too cowardly to show up?"
"Why would you two think Malfoy actually wanted to duel you?" Hermione felt like she was about to laugh from anger. "How do you think Filch found us?"
At first, Filch had gone directly to the trophy room door. If they hadn't run fast, they would have been caught red-handed. Although their later exposure was due to Peeves, Filch had definitely received accurate information at the very beginning.
"He never intended to duel you; he just tricked you into coming here and then informed Filch!"
"Stop arguing!" Harry, his eyes darting around alertly, stopped the two from bickering again. He also regretted his impulsive actions, but right now, the most important thing was not to get caught. He looked at the dark corridor behind him. They had never been down this corridor before. From its shadowy appearance, it had to be one of the restricted areas in the castle. But Filch was coming soon; there was no time to hesitate.
Trying to keep his footsteps light, Harry and his two companions entered the dark corridor. Though it was dark, it was not without light. Feeling along the wall, they soon found, under the faint moonlight outside the window, a huge door.
"Could this be the place the Headmaster mentioned at the start of term?" Hermione whispered, a little worried. She had already broken so many school rules tonight.
"It's better than being caught by Filch, no matter what!" Without hesitation, Harry placed his hand on the doorknob. But no matter how hard he pulled, it remained motionless. It was locked.
Filch's footsteps were getting closer, the sound of his boots on the floorboards like a death knell pounding on their hearts. He did not bypass the dark corridor but was walking towards it with a lamp.
Anxiously pushing Harry aside, Hermione stood in front of the door, her wand pointed at the lock. "Alohomora!"
The spell came from the seventh chapter of The Standard Book of Spells. She had learned it in her first week, and Professor Kahn had later given her some tips to make the unlocking sound inaudible.
The door opened silently. Behind it was pitch black, with no trace of light.
"Hurry in!" Whispering, Hermione was the first to step into the darkness. The footsteps behind them left the boys no time to hesitate. They followed her through the door, and with a soft click, it closed, as if it had never been opened.
The sound of boots lingered at the door for a moment, then, perhaps assuming no one would enter here, gradually faded away.
The three young wizards let out a long sigh of relief, all secretly grateful for having escaped. But after the crisis passed, Harry vaguely felt that something around them seemed off. "Why do I feel… like there's some sound?" Could that faint sound be a mouse?
"Sound?" Hearing Harry's words, Hermione hesitated, took two steps forward, and drew her wand. "Lumos."
A point of light streaked from her wand, illuminating everything behind the door—and the enormous creature sprawled on a trapdoor not far away.
The three young wizards' breathing stopped abruptly.
Perhaps the shining light was a bit dazzling, because the large dog with three heads slowly opened its eyes and looked at them. The next second, with a gust of wind, the large dog charged towards Hermione, who was standing at the very front. Its three gaping maws suddenly opened, as if to swallow the little witch whole.
Harry and Ron instinctively wanted to stop it, but what could two eleven-year-old children do against such a giant monster?
It's over. Looking at the three gaping maws, Hermione closed her eyes. I've just experienced the wonder of magic, only to die here? Under the threat of death, she vaguely felt a warm current appear in her left arm, gathering towards her hand.
Something bizarre happened.
In Harry and Ron's view, the three-headed dog, which had fiercely pounced, suddenly stopped. It approached Hermione with some confusion and sniffed gently. Then it ended its attack stance and retreated to its previous sprawling position, its three heads looking at Hermione curiously. They exchanged glances, both seeing deep confusion in each other's eyes.
Hermione, with her eyes closed, had not felt any pain. She opened her eyes in confusion and saw the large dog sitting on the trapdoor not far away. What happened? She looked around, confused, then noticed that the back of her left hand felt a bit warm.
Raising her hand, she saw a bright silver mark appear there. It looked like a somewhat crude stick figure, surrounded by a group of standing or sitting creatures. They were drawn simply, but every one of them showed clear details. After a moment of thought, Hermione remembered that one day, Professor Kahn had touched the back of her hand with his wand. At that time, this mark had also appeared, but it had only glowed for a few seconds before disappearing. Because she had been diligently practicing the Weather Forecast spell at the time, she hadn't paid much attention to it.
Did this large dog suddenly change its demeanor because of this mark?
Looking at the three-headed dog, Hermione cautiously spoke. "Hello?"
"Woof!" One of its heads barked, as if responding to her greeting. But it did not move, still guarding the trapdoor beneath it steadfastly.
Just as Hermione was about to try further, the bright silver mark on the back of her hand suddenly changed, slowly twisting into a line of text: "Don't stay there, go back to sleep quickly."
It was only then that Ron and Harry finally came to their senses, looking at Hermione in disbelief.
"You… you know this monster?"
"Oh my! It's like a docile puppy in front of you!"
Hermione shook her head, somewhat confused, but she knew that the mark must have been left by Professor Kahn. Since the Professor told her to go back quickly, he must have his reasons.
"Filch should be gone now. Let's get out of here first." Saying that, she looked at the three-headed dog again. "Well, goodbye?"
One of the dog's heads nodded, then it lay down completely, returning to the way they had first seen it.
Creeping back, Harry, Ron, and Hermione pushed open the door behind them and exited. But just before Hermione closed it, a cry, as if from a great distance, reached their ears. That cry made all three of them feel their hearts clench simultaneously, and a strange fear washed over them. It was the instinctive fear the body produces when facing a powerful creature.
Hermione's gaze fell on the trapdoor beneath the dog, her lovely brows slightly furrowed.
What on earth is hidden there?
(End of Chapter)
***
[Check Out My Patreon For More Chapters On All
Of My Fanfics!!] [www. [email protected]/meowthtl]
[+300 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]