After seeing the musical instrument, Albert turned to the three of them and said,
"Listen carefully, don't make a sound while I play this instrument. Agreed?"
Hermione nodded. "Alright."
Albert looked down, and sure enough, the dog was standing right above the trapdoor that led to the lower floor. This had to be one of Dumbledore's tests for Harry.
He assumed that Dumbledore's plan had been to send Peeves to lure them here. As the headmaster, Dumbledore had the authority to command the ghosts of Hogwarts to drive away any student who ventured too close to this room. So, when Albert noticed that Peeves hadn't tried to get rid of them, he suspected that Dumbledore had instructed the ghost to let Harry pass if he saw him sneaking out at night.
Then Albert began to play the instrument. It resembled a violin, but was much larger and longer, making it easier for Albert to handle.
As he played, he watched the dog slowly grow drowsy. He kept playing until the beast slumped to the ground, fast asleep.
At that moment, the lock clicked open. It turned out Harry had turned the handle. Without hesitation, they slipped out and shut the door behind them. Thankfully, the dog remained asleep under the effect of Albert's music, and the four of them rushed up the staircase toward Gryffindor Tower.
They dashed through the eighth-floor hallway and reached the common room entrance, where the Fat Lady had returned to her portrait. She eyed the embarrassed group curiously, clearly wondering how they'd ended up in such a state.
But no one wanted to talk. Instead, they used the password, entered the common room, and Albert collapsed onto one of the sofas.
For a while, no one spoke. Then Ron broke the silence.
"Why would the school keep such a dangerous beast inside the castle? Aren't they worried something might go wrong?"
Hermione took a deep breath and stood up.
"Didn't you see where it was standing? Right above a trapdoor. It must be guarding something."
She turned to face the three boys.
"I hope you're grateful for what happened tonight. We could've been bitten to death—or worse, expelled from school! Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."
Given the circumstances, it was understandable that Hermione was upset. That night's misadventure had almost cost them their lives.
After sitting in silence a few more minutes, the three boys headed upstairs, said their goodnights at the dormitory door, and went to bed.
Albert felt a dull pain in his hand. He had gripped his friends tightly in the rush to escape, which left him sore. Skipping his nightly wash, he changed clothes and slipped into bed.
The next morning, Albert caught sight of Malfoy's stunned expression at breakfast when he realized Harry Potter was still at Hogwarts.
Harry and Ron seemed to be whispering about something, but they'd stop talking whenever Albert came near. He guessed they were beginning to piece together what the giant dog had been guarding beneath the trapdoor.
On another note, Hermione had stopped speaking to Albert altogether. While this disappointed him a little, it also gave him time to mingle with other students in the courtyard.
Several classmates even mentioned they felt more at ease now that Hermione wasn't always sitting beside Albert. It seemed Hermione still had some trouble with social interactions.
A week passed, and after Harry received a Nimbus 2000 from the school, he scolded Hermione. That gave Albert the perfect chance to apologize to her—he knew it was his fault that Hermione had left her room that night.
Eventually, she forgave his recklessness, and the friendship between them slowly mended.
The weekend came again.
Early that morning, Albert yawned and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. He'd been reading Advanced Potion-Making the night before, which had cost him a good night's sleep.
Still, despite the physical fatigue, he felt mentally energized. He was making real progress through the material. In fact, the books seemed surprisingly easy to memorize—likely because his mind was more mature than his body's age.
He even found himself smiling at breakfast, having just recalled an entire passage from A History of Magic, thinking perhaps he had developed a talent for memorization.
Hermione, sitting beside him, noticed his grin and gave him a puzzled look.
"What on earth's gotten into you? Were you wandering the castle again last night?"
"No, nothing like that," Albert replied quickly. "I was just remembering a joke Ron told me. That's all."
After assuring her multiple times that there was nothing to worry about, the two of them headed to the library to study together.
Life at Hogwarts was returning to normal. Albert studied quietly and attended classes as usual.
Among his lessons, he found himself particularly drawn to magical plants during Herbology on Wednesday. He even offered to stay behind and help clean up, just to spend more time with the curious flora.
After all, he had always been fascinated by magical plants—especially since he used to see them in movies during his past life. Albert had an insatiable curiosity and loved to examine anything that sparked his interest.
Professor Sprout was delighted to see his enthusiasm. As a teacher, it was always rewarding to see students genuinely enjoy the subjects being taught.
She told Albert that if he ever had questions about magical plants, he was welcome to visit her office anytime.
That evening, after finishing their homework, Albert noticed a group gathering around the fireplace in the common room. The Weasley twins seemed to be showing off something new.
Just as Ryan stood to take a look, the common room door swung open and Hermione walked in.
She scanned the room, then made her way straight to Albert.
He remained seated as she sat across from him, glancing around nervously. Most of the students were too focused on the twins' antics to notice the quiet conversation unfolding in the corner.
Hermione opened her school bag and pulled out a thick, ancient-looking book bound in some sort of reptilian leather. The faded golden title read: Rare Magical Beasts of Europe.
"Look what I found," she said, flipping to a specific page.
There, in fine detail, was an illustration of a three-headed dog. The artist had captured it remarkably well—it even seemed to shift slightly on the page, almost alive.
Albert took a glance and instantly recognized it. It looked exactly like the beast they had encountered in the trapdoor room.
Below the image was a description:
Three-Headed Dog
A magical creature with regional mythological origins, believed to be a remnant of the legendary age. With three heads, it has superior awareness, resistance to unconsciousness, panic, and sleep spells. Possesses excellent night vision, venomous claws and fangs capable of inflicting nearly unhealable damage. The heads take turns resting, making ambushes ineffective. Its mythic blood gives it great resistance to both magical and physical attacks.
"Why are you showing me this?" Albert asked. Then, as if realizing something, he added, "I swear I won't take a risk like that again. We were lucky to escape unharmed."
Albert considered himself fortunate. Had he been alone, he could've defeated the creature, but with his friends at his side, using his full strength would have endangered them.
"That's good to hear," Hermione replied. "But that's not why I brought this book. Look here."
She pointed to a line near the bottom of the page.
It is said that a three-headed dog can be tamed by a powerful master. Once trained, it will follow only their commands, making it the ideal and most loyal guardian.
"That day in the trapdoor room," Hermione continued, "we saw that the beast was guarding something. What kind of object would be important enough to justify keeping such a dangerous creature in a school?"
Albert was genuinely impressed by Hermione's deductive skills. He already knew what the dog was guarding—he'd watched the series in his past life—but Hermione had figured it out just by reading.
He realized then that Hermione hadn't yet become the top student she was destined to be. But clearly, she had the curiosity and brilliance needed to get there.
If Albert hadn't already known the answer, he too would've gone digging for information by now.
In the original story, Hermione wasn't very popular in Gryffindor and had no one to discuss these things with. But now that Albert was here, she had someone to talk to.
Seeing him fall silent again, Hermione asked, "Don't tell me you're not at all curious about the three-headed dog and that trapdoor. What's going through your mind?"
Albert replied, "That night, after we returned to bed, I overheard Peeves talking to Filch. He mentioned something about the dog guarding a stone. I didn't catch the full name, but he said it was important to Dumbledore."
He chose not to say "the Philosopher's Stone." He didn't want to stray too far from the original plot. Albert wanted events to unfold naturally, in ways he could influence and control.
"Still," he added, "I find it strange that Hogwarts, a school, is being used as a vault. Why would anyone store treasures here?"
Hermione's eyes lit up.
"I think I've got something. I subscribe to The Daily Prophet, remember? During the summer, there was a report about a break-in at Gringotts. The vault in question had already been emptied earlier that day. Do you think… whatever's hidden at Hogwarts might be what they took out of the vault?"
Once again, Albert was amazed by her insight. In the original tale, Dumbledore had hidden the Philosopher's Stone at Gringotts until Voldemort attempted to steal it.
Gringotts was said to have the highest level of magical security—yet even that wasn't enough to stop Vol
demort's return…
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