Chapter 22: Who the Hell Locked the Door?
Harry was standing at the very back of the group. When the gaping maw of the abyss suddenly loomed over him, he was momentarily stunned.
The putrid breath on his face almost made him retch. Just as despair began to spread through his body, Ivan's voice suddenly rang in his ear.
"Impedimenta!"
Invisible barriers formed, blocking the Three-Headed Dog's snarling head in mid-air. But in the next second, the barriers that Ivan had maintained and constructed with his Magic Power were torn to shreds by another mouth filled with fangs!
Fortunately, in that brief second, Harry managed to react in time and narrowly escaped.
Ron, after shouting "Run!" at the top of his lungs, had already flung himself at the door, pulling at it with all his might, only to realize it was locked.
"Who the hell locked the door!" Ron exclaimed in despair.
Ivan, who was using Stupefy and Petrification Charm to temporarily restrain the Three-Headed Dog, rolled his eyes. The door was locked by you, wasn't it?
Ron panicked, even suspecting he might die there. Hermione pushed him aside and placed her wand on the lock.
"Alohomora!"
With one Opening Spell, Hermione forcefully broke the lock. The five of them quickly escaped, and before the Three-Headed Dog Fluffy could come out, they managed to close the door again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After putting some distance between themselves and the door, they could hear the faint sounds of crashing and roaring from afar, and the survivors all breathed a sigh of relief, especially Ivan, who had been inexplicably dragged into this mess.
While restraining the Three-Headed Dog Fluffy, Ivan had realized that his low Magic level made his spells ineffective. The Stupefy spell could only affect the Three-Headed Dog's movements, not bring it down.
If Hermione had opened the door any later, he might have been in serious trouble, as there was no place to dodge in such a confined space.
This experience made Ivan acutely aware of his own weakness. He might be able to handle a first-year Wizard like Malfoy with ease, but in the face of real danger, he had no means of resistance.
"Will that monster break through the door and come out?" Ron glanced back at the still-rattling door and complained.
"It won't. The door is probably specially made, or it would have broken by now", Ivan explained.
"How could Professor Dumbledore keep such a monster in the castle?" Harry was still shaken. He had never imagined encountering something so terrifying at Hogwarts, let alone almost being eaten by it!
Hermione reminded them sharply.
"I think you should remember that Dumbledore told us not to come here when we first arrived. If we hadn't broken the rules and come out at night, we wouldn't have ended up here in a panic!"
Perhaps due to the recent brush with death, Hermione's tone was much sharper than usual.
Harry and Ron knew that Hermione was about to launch into a long lecture, and Neville was almost in tears.
To their surprise, after venting her frustration, Hermione had no intention of reporting them. Instead, she revealed that she had seen a Trapdoor under the Three-Headed Dog, and she suspected it was guarding something.
However, before leaving, Hermione warned Harry and the others that whatever was down there had nothing to do with them and was something Professor Dumbledore should handle!
Hermione's attitude left Harry and the others somewhat puzzled, but they were relieved that she was unlikely to tell Professor Mcgonagall about their rule-breaking tonight.
"I never thought Malfoy would be so devious. He must have been the one who told Filch about what we were doing in the trophy room!" Back in the dormitory, Ron was still fuming and vowed to give Malfoy a beating the next day.
"Ivan, we should have listened to you from the start", Harry said, somewhat embarrassed. After all, Ivan had already warned them about this possibility earlier in the afternoon.
"Let it go", Ivan waved it off, not really caring. He had never expected Harry and Ron to resist the temptation and stay in the dormitory. This time, it was just his bad luck.
"By the way, Ivan, why were you in the corridor just now?" Harry asked curiously.
"Looking for you guys, of course", Ivan replied casually. He couldn't tell them that he had been sneaking into the Restricted Section to read books in the middle of the night, could he?
Harry and the others felt even more ashamed, but this feeling didn't last long. They quickly set it aside and started discussing the Three-Headed Dog and the Trapdoor it was guarding, speculating about what might be hidden inside. Harry then mentioned that he had gone to Gringotts with Hagrid before the start of the term and retrieved a package.
Ivan didn't join in the conversation. The newly activated challenge task was already giving him enough headaches, and he had no interest in getting involved in Dumbledore's plans.
The only thing to be grateful for was that the Halloween troll incident was still a ways off, giving him some time to prepare.
Over the next couple of weeks, Ivan worked hard to improve his strength and spent the rest of his time frantically searching the Library for books on trolls.
Common Magical Creatures in Detail, Guide to the Dark Creatures, On the Possibility of Crossbreeding Giants and Trolls
Even Travels with Trolls was dug out by Ivan.
Yes, the author of this book was none other than Gilderoy Lockhart, who would be taking over Professor Quirrell's position as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher next term.
Although Ivan knew that Lockhart was a fraud who only knew the Forgetfulness Charm, this didn't detract from the book's content, which was both genuine and professional. This was why he had been able to find it in the Hogwarts Library.
To be honest, when he saw Lockhart's smiling face with perfect white teeth on the cover, Ivan didn't want to open it.
But what could he do? The content of the other books wasn't very reliable. Common Magical Creatures in Detail only mentioned that trolls had no medicinal value and that none of their parts were tasty, from their brains to their bodies.
Guide to the Dark Creatures described trolls as creatures that could be subdued by Wizards using greater power.
Wasn't that just stating the obvious?
If he had the power to defeat a troll, why would he be flipping through books?
The book On the Possibility of Crossbreeding Giants and Trolls used detailed academic illustrations that made Ivan squirm.
In contrast, Travels with Trolls provided a detailed account of troll behavior and weaknesses in a biographical style.
For example, trolls are generally unintelligent, have a huge appetite, and will eat anything. Therefore, using bait to lure them is a good strategy, as there's a high probability they will eat it.
Additionally, trolls' small heads on their large bodies make them unstable. A powerful spell aimed at their legs could knock them off balance, giving you a chance to run a few more steps before being eaten.
Finally, a troll's head is a weakness, being much more fragile than the rest of its body. A strong blow could render it unconscious.
(End of Chapter)
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