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Chapter 371: That Makes A Lot of Sense
Chapter 371: That Makes A Lot of Sense
Madame Pomfrey was not one to ask many questions, but when Crabbe was carried into the hospital wing with his leg mangled and bloody from being mauled by Fluffy, even the school nurse furrowed her brow in concern.
It was quite a grisly sight, and the scent of blood filled the air.
"Move aside, everyone out!"
Madame Pomfrey ushered all the students away from the bed and began tending to Crabbe's gruesome injury. She cleaned the wound on his thigh with a smoking, noxious purple liquid, then prodded it with her wand. However, the injury showed no signs of healing.
The nurse's expression grew grim.
"Fluffy, the three-headed dog, bit Crabbe," Albert spoke up from the side, having observed Madame Pomfrey's unsuccessful attempts at healing. "Its teeth might be venomous."
Indeed, Albert's guess was correct. Fluffy's teeth were venomous, and this was the primary reason why Crabbe's leg wound refused to heal.
"The three-headed dog?"
Madame Pomfrey turned to look at Albert, who was heading for the door, and then back at Crabbe's leg wound. She couldn't dismiss the possibility that Albert was telling the truth, and her face darkened.
It was evident that Crabbe's wound was inflicted by some kind of bite, and while she had never treated a wizard bitten by a three-headed dog before, it was plausible that the venom in its teeth could hinder the healing process.
This situation was remarkably similar to a werewolf bite.
If that were the case, they had a serious problem at hand.
Madame Pomfrey hurriedly left the room and soon returned with an odorous ointment, which she applied to Crabbe's wound before bandaging it securely.
As Albert exited the hospital wing, he found the other students huddled together, whispering about what had just transpired.
Everyone now knew that Fluffy was guarding something behind a trapdoor.
However, no one knew what it was guarding, and they could only speculate that Professor Dumbledore must have placed something extremely valuable within the school.
After all, if one wanted to hide something, Hogwarts was probably the safest place to do so, aside from Gringotts.
Before they could finish walking down the corridor outside the hospital wing, they spotted Professor McGonagall striding angrily toward them.
And so, the entire group was herded into Professor McGonagall's office.
"Explain what happened!" Professor McGonagall's voice was cold and angry as her eyes swept over the assembled students. "Mr. Anderson, you start."
"Well, it was like this..."
Albert readily explained that he had just been passing by when he met Truman at the corridor entrance. Upon learning that several older students had ventured into the forbidden corridor and hadn't returned for a long time, he decided to follow Truman in to see if they were in danger and needed help.
Fred and the others wore expressions that clearly supported this version of events, especially since they had ultimately rescued the former Head Boy, Crabbe, from the monster's mouth.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall, that's how it happened," Truman chimed in, conveniently shifting the blame to the older students. After all, it was those three who had first entered the forbidden corridor.
If they didn't take the blame, then who would?
"Why didn't you heed the warnings?" Professor McGonagall's anger was palpable. "Didn't you hear what Professor Dumbledore said at the start-of-term feast?"
"Mr. Puitt paid the price for his actions and nearly lost his life."
In the end, Professor McGonagall reprimanded them all. Each of the three houses involved in trespassing into the forbidden corridor on the fourth floor lost ten points.
Of course, Albert and his group were awarded five points each for their calm handling of the situation and rescuing Crabbe.
Professor McGonagall also sternly ordered everyone not to go near the forbidden corridor again.
Naturally, everyone readily agreed, but whether they would abide by this order in the future remained to be seen.
To be honest, Albert was a little disappointed that he didn't receive another Special Award. While he knew that it would be challenging to earn such a reward again, he couldn't help but quip that Mr. Puitt's life seemed rather cheap.
As for the meager points, he had never cared much about them anyway.
"I wonder what Dumbledore could be hiding in Hogwarts Castle," Fred mused after they left Professor McGonagall's office. "And where did they find such a huge dog?"
Fred's adventurous spirit was ignited, and he felt a thrill running through his body.
"That big dog is quite a challenge," Albert interjected, pouring cold water on their excitement. "The Stunning Spell doesn't seem to work on it."
"I think we can take it down," Lee Jordan said eagerly, his eyes fixed on Albert. "Or should I say, you can definitely take it down!"
Not just Lee Jordan, but Fred and George, too, were looking at Albert expectantly, as if waiting for him to give them a definitive answer.
"Naive, too naive," Albert murmured. "If Dumbledore tasked that beast with guarding his treasure, do you think it would be alone?"
"You mean..."
"I admit that a three-headed dog is indeed dangerous," Albert acknowledged. "But for a powerful wizard, defeating, restraining, or finding a way to get past it to enter the trapdoor it's guarding isn't that difficult."
"Like you!"
"Like me," Albert agreed, confident that he could handle Fluffy without resorting to music.
"But what then?"
The three friends fell silent, waiting for Albert to continue his analysis. Sometimes, his predictions were eerily accurate.
"Why did Dumbledore suddenly decide to keep this precious item in the school? This didn't happen last year," Albert posed his first question.
"It's safer in the school?" Fred suggested without hesitation.
"Do you think someone has their eyes on that item?" George followed the train of thought.
"What are you talking about?" Lee Jordan looked confused.
"Yes, that's very possible," Albert nodded. "Remember what happened at Gringotts during the summer?"
"You mean the stuff in the school, the stuff from Gringotts' vaults?" Fred asked, astonished.
"It's very likely," Albert affirmed.
"But the school is safe," Lee Jordan argued.
"Of course, I know that, but Gringotts is also supposed to be safe," Albert countered. "Yet, a Dark wizard managed to break into Gringotts and steal something without being caught by the goblins. What if a Dark wizard breaks into Hogwarts to steal something? While the chance is slim, it's still a possibility if these two incidents are connected."
Albert looked around to ensure no one was eavesdropping before lowering his voice. "Regardless, this doesn't disprove the fact that Dumbledore has something valuable hidden in the school, guarded by a dangerous three-headed dog."
"Why do you think these incidents are connected?" Lee Jordan wanted to say that these were all just Albert's speculations, but he ultimately chose to remain silent.
"Coincidences exist in the world, but not in such abundance." Albert spoke meaningfully.
The trio didn't quite understand, so they could only continue listening to Albert's analysis.
"What do you think qualifies as a precious treasure to Dumbledore?" Albert posed his second question.
"Galleons, precious and expensive magical items?" Albert shook his head. "No, no, none of those. Dumbledore is actually quite wealthy. After all, he's the greatest wizard in Britain and has lived for a century. Money wouldn't be a rare commodity for him, so Galleons or so-called precious and expensive items wouldn't be considered treasures to him. I dare say Dumbledore wouldn't care much about those things."
"Then what do you think is hidden in the school?"
"I don't know." Albert shook his head. "But one thing is certain: that treasure must be extremely valuable."
As they listened to Albert's analysis, the trio couldn't help but agree that he made a lot of sense.
"So, if something so precious is hidden in Hogwarts Castle, do you think it would only be guarded by a single three-headed dog?"
"You mean there might be other safeguards?" The trio immediately understood what Albert was implying.
"The professors in the school might also be aware of this, but they don't know what it is," Albert continued to guide them. "Perhaps Dumbledore would inform them that he needs to keep a precious item in the school and ask them to use their specialized magic to protect it. For example, that big dog."
"You mean that huge dog might be a guard dog owned by Professor Kettleburn, who teaches Care of Magical Creatures?"
"Yes, that's a possibility." Albert nodded.
"You're amazing. You've effortlessly deduced so much information." Fred and George were envious of Albert's intellect.
Even Lee Jordan had to admit this. If it weren't for Albert's step-by-step analysis, he wouldn't have understood any of it.
After all, how much time had passed since they encountered that huge dog?
As the group walked through the moving staircase to the third floor, Albert lifted the tapestry, intending to take the shortcut they usually used to the Gryffindor Tower. However, they stumbled upon a pair of students passionately kissing in front of them.
Albert pretended he hadn't seen anything and quietly backed away, but he bumped into Fred, who was standing behind him, intrigued by the scene and struggling to hold back his laughter.
Okay...
The protagonist of this scene was none other than Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain, Oliver Wood, and his date was an older student from another house, someone they didn't recognize.
Albert gestured to the trio to quietly leave without disturbing the couple.
The three boys snapped back to reality and smiled at Albert, quietly slipping away from the secret passage to avoid interrupting the romantic moment.
"I never would have guessed," Fred whispered as Albert lowered the tapestry. He was clearly trying to hold back his laughter, his lips pressed together in a thin line.
"Alright, stop teasing him," Albert said, also suppressing a smile.
"Absolutely not," George immediately replied, sneaking another laugh.
"It's just too perfect!" Lee Jordan couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.
As they walked away, the three boys finally burst into laughter, drawing curious glances from passersby.
Albert glanced over his shoulder, pretending he didn't know them.
"No loitering or laughing loudly in the corridors!"
An irritated voice rang out from the nearby corner. It was Filch, and he was in a foul mood. No wonder, as he had just spent a considerable amount of time cleaning the frog brains off the wall.
"Stop laughing," Albert muttered, glancing at Filch and pushing the trio's shoulders to urge them to leave quickly and avoid any trouble with the caretaker.
"Who's Wood's girlfriend? Do you know her?"
The topic of Wood's girlfriend successfully diverted their attention, and it wasn't until they returned to the common room that they were able to refocus their conversation.
As soon as Albert opened the dormitory door, he spotted Tom lounging in the sun on the balcony. Hearing their footsteps, Tom turned his head, his ears twitching slightly before he resumed basking in the sun.
"You think there might be... something else guarding the treasure under the trapdoor..." George trailed off as he closed the door behind them.
"Other measures to protect that precious item?" Albert finished George's sentence.
"Yes, that's what I mean."
"Of course, and there might be more than one." Albert suddenly looked the trio up and down. "Are you planning to steal something from Dumbledore?"
"We're just curious," Fred mumbled.
"We wouldn't dare steal from Dumbledore," Lee Jordan quickly added, nodding to emphasize his agreement.
"Even if you wanted to, you probably couldn't take it away." Albert smiled. "Do you think Dumbledore would just leave the treasure there with only a few security measures in place? I'm sure that even if you somehow managed to take the treasure hidden under the trapdoor, he would find you for tea before the next day."
Perhaps in Dumbledore's and the other professors' eyes, it was difficult for strange individuals to infiltrate Hogwarts, but they would still remain vigilant.
"I think this might be another great adventure. Missing out on it would be a lifetime regret."
"Yeah!"
The trio hoped that Albert would join them on this adventure. After all, the punishment for getting caught would likely be a mere deduction of points or a short detention, which they didn't really mind. Moreover, with Albert's help, the chances of getting caught by the professors were slim.
After all, their roommate was incredibly reliable.
What the trio didn't realize was that their idea played right into Albert's hands.
In fact, as soon as Albert had entered the forbidden fourth floor, a series of tasks had been triggered on his mission panel.
Among them was the "Game of Brave" task, which challenged Albert to navigate through a series of obstacles set up by the Hogwarts professors, find the hidden treasure, and reap rich rewards: 15,000 experience points, 2 skill points, +15 favorability points with each of the trio, +15 favorability points with Dumbledore, and an unknown skill.
(End of Chapter)
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