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Chapter 14: Cerberus
Chapter 14: Cerberus
"We are now at the Charms classroom door", Liam said to Ron. "As I suspected, but do Pureblood Wizards generally act so dishonorably when it comes to duels?"
"Absolutely not", Ron retorted. "Only the Slytherin snakes might do something like that. Our Weasley Family would never stoop so low."
"Weasley Family? I think I've met one. The Ministry of Magic official who guided me to the magical world, Arthur Weasley, helped us a lot. He's a truly kind and enthusiastic person."
"Thank you for your kind words about my father", Ron said, giving Liam a friendly smile.
"It looks like we've lost him", Hermione wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "I told you..."
Before she could finish, Harry interrupted her, "We need to get back to the dormitory quickly. We can't stay here any longer."
Judging by Harry's expression, he probably thought Hermione was right, but he didn't want to admit it in front of her.
They had just stood up when a door down the corridor opened, and Peeves floated out, letting out a delighted scream when he saw them.
"Naughty first-years, wandering around at this hour. Tsk, tsk, tsk, naughty, naughty, you'll be caught."
Hermione was about to step forward to plead, but Liam pulled her and ran forward, shouting to Harry, "It's Peeves. Begging won't help, run!"
Harry was still a bit stunned, but Ron reacted and grabbed him, running down the corridor. At this point, they no longer cared about hiding their footsteps and sprinted as fast as they could. Behind them, Peeves shouted, "Students not sleeping, in the Charms corridor!"
The four of them reached the end of the corridor and found the door at the end was locked. Meanwhile, Filch's footsteps could be heard coming from the stairwell behind them.
"We're done for!" Ron whimpered. They pushed at the door in desperation, and Liam braced himself for capture, finding Filch more merciful compared to Cerberus.
"Move aside", Hermione suddenly rushed to the door. She snatched Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!" The lock clicked, and the door opened.
Liam's face changed dramatically, and before he could say anything, Hermione dragged him inside.
He realized, somewhat bitterly, that girls at this age mature faster than boys. He was unexpectedly pulled into the room by Hermione, and the door slammed shut behind them.
Peeves, being Peeves, respected only the professors and Nearly Headless Nick. He led Filch on a wild chase but found nothing, leaving Filch cursing and ultimately giving up.
Harry gasped, "He must think this door is locked. We're finally safe."
"I don't think so, look behind you", Liam's voice trembled.
The Three-Headed Dog, Fluffy, likely with Hellhound blood, stood before them.
They were face to face with the monstrous eyes of the Three-Headed Dog, which filled the space from ceiling to floor. It had three heads, six pairs of vicious, rolling eyes, three noses twitching and quivering in their direction, and three drooling mouths. The saliva, like sticky ropes, dripped from its yellowed teeth.
It stood motionless, all six of its eyes fixed on them.
Liam knew that this dog would fall asleep as soon as it heard music. At first, he thought that knowing this weakness would make dealing with the dog easy. But once they were there, he realized that it was impossible to sing when facing such a massive beast.
His gaze swept down and, sure enough, a door leading to the basement was being stepped on by the dog. This must be Dumbledore's test for Harry. The fact that Peeves had deliberately herded them in this direction today was suspicious.
At the very least, the headmaster should be able to command the ghosts of Hogwarts. If he truly didn't want anyone to reach this place, he could have ordered the ghosts to steer nearby students in other directions. Thinking about the obstacles in the original story, aside from the final Mirror of Erised, the others seemed too trivial to be used against the Dark Lord. And those obstacles just happened to align with the strengths of the three intruders—wasn't that a bit too coincidental?
Fortunately, this was just the beginning of the main plot, and they didn't have to worry about being considered as candidates for the role of the hero, at least not like Neville in the original story.
At that moment, the door lock clicked open, and it was Harry who had turned the doorknob. They quickly exited, closed the door behind them, and were relieved that the dog was chained to the wall and couldn't chase them. Then, the four of them ran as fast as they could up to Gryffindor Tower.
On the way, Liam discreetly returned the Sunlight Crystals he had put in his pocket before they left to the emporium. He had prepared them just in case, hoping that the Sunlight Crystals' flash would give them time to escape.
They made it to the dormitory door on the eighth floor without any trouble. The Fat Lady was already back and curiously asked the disheveled group what had happened.
But no one felt like talking. After using the password to open the door, they stumbled back to the common room and collapsed onto the sofas.
The four of them remained silent for a while before Ron broke the silence, "Why would the school keep such an aggressive beast inside the castle? Don't they fear something might go wrong?"
Hermione, who had caught her breath, stood up. "Didn't you see it standing over a trapdoor? It must be guarding something."
She glared at the three boys. "I hope you're grateful for today. We almost got bitten to death—or worse, expelled from school. Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."
As an innocent bystander who was dragged into this, Hermione's anger was entirely understandable, especially considering how close they had come to losing their lives.
After a few more minutes, the three of them climbed up to the dormitory, wished each other goodnight at the door, and returned to their respective rooms.
Liam felt aches all over his body, so he didn't bother with washing up. He stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed.
Lying there, he reflected on his actions today. He had indeed been rash, and the most important thing was that his strength was still lacking. Even though he knew what would happen next, he was powerless to change it.
With this realization, he made a firm decision. He had always been afraid to face the unknown world, which was why he hadn't opened the door to the New World in the emporium. It seemed he couldn't avoid it any longer.
After setting this new goal, Liam turned over and slowly drifted off to sleep.
(End of Chapter)
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