Chapter 157: The Phoenix Feather as an Urgent Order
Chapter 157: The Phoenix Feather as an Urgent Order
On the fourth floor of the castle, the Weasley brothers and Cedric hurriedly fled without noticing that the door, which had been left ajar, slowly closed behind them.
"Creak..."
The loud roar emanating from Fluffy was muffled as the heavy door closed, restoring tranquility to the corridor.
Inside the room, Fluffy stood there, his three noses sniffing incessantly at the corner of the wall.
As Fluffy drew closer, about to press his nose to the wall, a hand abruptly extended from the air.
"Smack!"
The hand, seemingly annoyed by Fluffy's actions, balled into a fist and delivered a firm slap to one of the dog's heads.
"Get lost!"
"Wooof!"
Far from being angry, Fluffy wagged his tail and eagerly nudged forward with all three faces beaming.
He recognized that voice and the scent. It belonged to the person who could understand his speech and always brought delicious treats during their encounters.
With delight, Fluffy drew closer, his three large heads nudging affectionately.
"Alright, Fluffy... Back up."
With no other choice, Kyle reluctantly threw off his Invisibility Cloak, patted Fluffy's massive head, and took out three large bags of treats he had prepared earlier, placing them on the ground.
Each of the three heads had its own share, so there was no need to squabble.
Fluffy immediately lowered his heads and devoured the treats with gusto.
These meat jerky treats were the most delicious food he had ever tasted, but Hagrid never made them for him.
As Fluffy enjoyed his meal, chaotic footsteps approached from outside the door.
"Clang!" The door was yanked forcefully.
"It's over, the door is locked," Ron whimpered from outside. "We're done for, we're as good as dead!"
"Oh... Come on over here!" This voice was rough and urgent.
Kyle frowned as he glanced towards the door, then pulled the Invisibility Cloak back over himself.
"Alohomora!"
With a click, the lock turned, and the door swung open.
The next second, four panic-stricken young wizards rushed into the room, turning to close the door and press their ears against it.
After a while, Ron whispered, "He thought the room was locked. I think we're safe now..."
"Ron, I have a bad feeling about this," Harry said, taking a deep breath. "Remember the roars we heard earlier? I think they came from this room... What is it, Neville?"
As he spoke, Harry realized that Neville had been tugging on his sleeve. He turned to find Neville's face had gone deathly pale, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Harry didn't need to ask to know why Neville looked so frightened.
He had seen Fluffy.
Having his meal interrupted, Fluffy was in a foul mood. He glared at the young wizards before him, and his three heads let out simultaneous angry roars.
Ron and Neville froze, standing there dumbfounded. Though their minds urged them to run, their legs trembled uncontrollably, refusing to budge.
Once again, Harry proved to have the quickest reflexes. He felt for the door handle behind him, and together with Hermione, dragged Ron and Neville out of the room.
Fluffy didn't give chase; he merely let out a couple of symbolic barks before resuming his feast of meat treats.
But Harry and his friends didn't know that, just like the students before them, they fled the fourth floor without a backward glance.
They ran all the way to the portrait of the Fat Lady, finally stopping to catch their breath.
"Pig snout, pig snout..."
"Pig snout" was the password, and the Fat Lady swung forward without another question. They stumbled into the common room and collapsed into armchairs, trembling.
For a while, no one spoke, especially Neville, who looked like he would never speak again.
"It's odd..."
Hermione was the first to catch her breath. "Did you notice that the dog was eating something?"
"Yeah, it nearly ate us," Ron mumbled, still shaken. "It was probably wondering how to fit all of us in its mouth."
"What are your eyes for?" Hermione snapped. "I'm saying it was already eating something before we went in—three packages of food."
"So what?" Harry asked.
"Can't you think?" Hermione said impatiently. "Remember the roars we heard on the way there? Someone had already been in that room before us, and they'd brought food to calm the three-headed dog. They must have had a reason for doing that."
"You're overthinking this," Ron said, patting his chest. "We should be grateful. If they hadn't fed Fluffy beforehand, we probably would've..."
"Didn't you notice where the dog was standing?" Hermione interrupted.
"On the floor?" Ron said carelessly. "I wasn't looking at its feet; I was too busy staring at its heads. You might've missed it, but it has three of them."
"Not on the floor, on the trapdoor!" Hermione exclaimed. "It was clearly guarding something."
"Guarding something?"
"Yes!" Hermione stood up, glaring at them angrily. "If you two don't mind, I'm going to bed now... so I don't have to listen to any more of your suicidal ideas. Things could get even worse... we could be expelled!"
Ron stared at her retreating back, his mouth hanging open in shock.
"Which is worse, she should really think before she speaks," he mumbled.
Meanwhile, after Harry and the others had left, Kyle emerged from under his Invisibility Cloak once more. He walked over to Fluffy and tried to open the trapdoor the dog had been guarding.
Initially, Fluffy refused to budge, stubbornly lying on top of the door.
It was only when Kyle took out Fawkes's feather that Fluffy reluctantly moved his paws.
"See, I told you I was sent by Dumbledore, but you didn't believe me," Kyle said flatly. "As a punishment, you forfeit your next batch of Monster Rat Jerky."
At the mention of losing his favorite treat, Fluffy panicked, rolling around on the floor before shuffling over to Kyle with all three of his large heads looking at him pitifully.
If it had been Crookshanks making this expression, Kyle would have had no resistance against it.
But Fluffy was just too ugly to pull off this act; Kyle only had to glance at him and he felt his temples throbbing.
To restore peace and spare his eyes, Kyle casually took out a large bag of Monster Rat Jerky and tossed it to the side.
Fluffy eagerly scampered over to the treat.
Ignoring the dog, Kyle lifted the trapdoor and peered into the darkness below.
(End of Chapter)
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