Chapter 42: Final Challenge Begins
Chapter 42: Final Challenge Begins
As Liam ran, he asked Harry, "What happened? Why did you suddenly jump up and scare us?"
"I just remembered something", Harry said, his face turning pale. "We need to find Hagrid right away."
"Why?" Hermione panted, struggling to keep up.
"Don't you think it's a bit strange?" Harry said as he hurried down the grassy slope. "Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, and a stranger just happens to have a Dragon Egg in his pocket? How many people walk around with a Dragon Egg? It's against Wizard law, you know! And don't you think it's too convenient that they found Hagrid? Why didn't I think of this before?"
"What are you planning to do?" Ron, who was lagging behind, puffed out, but Harry only ran faster across the grounds toward the forest, not answering.
They found Hagrid doing chores at his cottage. After a series of questions, Harry learned that Hagrid had won the Dragon Egg in a card game with a suspicious person. Under Harry's persistent questioning, they discovered that the three-headed Fluffy's greatest weakness was that it would fall asleep upon hearing music. Hagrid had been induced to reveal this weakness to the suspicious individual while under the influence of alcohol.
Harry then headed for the castle, with Liam and the others trailing behind. In the cold entrance hall, Harry stopped.
"We need to tell Professor Dumbledore that a suspicious person has found a way to subdue Fluffy", he said. However, it was clear that none of them knew where Professor Dumbledore's office was.
At that moment, Professor Mcgonagall appeared. Harry approached her and expressed his concerns and warnings. However, Professor Mcgonagall did not believe him. She told Harry that although Professor Dumbledore was not at the school, the Philosopher's Stone was well-protected and there was no need for him to worry.
After Professor Mcgonagall left, they encountered Professor Snape, who gave them another stern warning.
Later, Harry tried to monitor the room where Fluffy was kept and Professor Snape, but Liam stopped him. After all, as first-year students, trying to spy on a professor and a forbidden area was not only dangerous but also futile. Even if they discovered something amiss, they wouldn't have the means to stop it. Moreover, as a professor, Snape had countless excuses and spells to avoid or evade students, making simple surveillance ineffective.
After hearing Liam's reasoning, Harry had to abandon his immature plan.
Finally, Harry decided to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone before it was stolen, ensuring that the thief would find nothing.
Liam was extremely impressed by Harry's creative thinking, akin to the story of Sima Guang breaking the vat. He believed it was a good strategy to achieve the greatest benefit with the least cost and was worth a try.
However, Hermione and Ron opposed the idea, arguing that it was too dangerous and could result in their expulsion.
At this point, Liam tried to persuade Ron and Hermione, "This isn't about whether we get expelled or not. It's about the peace of the entire wizarding world—just the thought of it gives me goosebumps, but I'll keep a straight face—and our friend Harry's life. That's far more important than school. Besides, we're protecting school property, and the professors won't expel students for that reason."
"We?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised.
"Of course", Liam shrugged. "Can we just stand by and watch you go on a dangerous mission alone? You should share the credit for saving the world with us as well."
Hermione and Ron also nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, thank you all. But I’m afraid my Invisibility Cloak might not fit all four of us", Harry said, a bit excited.
"Don’t worry about that", Liam said. "I recently learned the Disillusionment Charm, and it should work well enough. So your cloak only needs to cover three people."
With their resolve set, the next step was preparation. After dinner, the four of them gathered in a corner of the Common Room, away from prying eyes. Recently, the house members had mostly ignored Harry, which made their preparations easier.
The corner became quiet as everyone lost interest in talking, except for Hermione, who was muttering spells under her breath.
Finally, it was around nine o’clock. Everyone was tired from the exams and headed back to their dorms to sleep. The Common Room was left with only Harry and his friends.
"We can get the Invisibility Cloak now", Ron said. Harry ran upstairs to fetch the cloak, while Liam pulled out a rough-looking canvas belt from his backpack and fastened it around himself. The belt had two canvas pouches stuffed to the brim and a row of small glass vials.
"When I first received my Hogwarts acceptance letter, I thought the training for Wizards would be like in the Dragon and Dungeon card game, requiring real combat and many adventures. So I made this. But it turns out the Wizarding world isn’t much different from the Muggle world."
Liam adjusted the belt as he explained to Ron and Hermione, who were staring at him in amazement.
By then, Harry had come back down, pausing for a moment at Liam’s appearance before pulling out the Invisibility Cloak.
"We should put on the Invisibility Cloak here and see if it can cover all three of us. If Filch sees a pair of feet walking by themselves—"
Once Liam confirmed it was fine, Harry and the others put on the cloak, walking a few steps ahead, while Liam cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself and followed about five meters behind.
As they left the room, everyone was on edge. They were about to do something significant and felt that every statue, every Black Shadow could be a patrolling professor or Filch.
They encountered Mrs. Norris, who seemed to notice Liam. However, thanks to the Disillusionment Charm, she didn’t detect anyone. She just turned her head and then lay down again.
At the staircase leading to the fourth-floor corridor, their biggest crisis appeared—Peeves. Fortunately, Harry had a quick wit and mimicked Nearly Headless Nick’s voice, scaring Peeves away.
But Liam thought that, as a Hogwarts poltergeist who had been around for centuries with Nearly Headless Nick, it was unlikely that Harry’s hastily imitated voice could fool Peeves. He suspected that Peeves had been instructed by Professor Dumbledore. After all, in this school, only the headmaster could command Peeves.
After Peeves was gone, they reached the fourth-floor corridor a few seconds later—the door was already ajar.
It seemed that even though they had made the decision to retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone early, they were still too late. Professors had much easier access to the castle after curfew than they did, sneaking around.
(End of Chapter)
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