Chapter 13 Dumbledore - Volunteers Step Forward

Tewell keenly sensed some movement near the staircase not far away.

If it were a patrol administrator or a professor coming, he could just hide inside.

But if it were someone with the same goal, that wouldn't work.

After a second of thought, Tewell decided it was safer to stay near the door, glancing around.

There was a recess behind one wall. He moved towards it.

As his body pressed against the wall, it gradually elongated to each side, covering Tewell inside, leaving only a semi-transparent membrane over his eyes.

Quite effective Transfiguration. Once everything returned to normal, a furtive figure appeared at the corner.

Though his face wasn't visible in the dim light, the conspicuous large scarf on his head revealed it was Quirrell.

Tewell hadn't expected him to be so eager.

Quirrell's movements were no longer as hesitant as usual disguises; he briskly entered the corridor, immediately noticing its peculiarity.

"Lumos." The wand illuminated, casting light on Quirrell's eager face.

"Alohomora."

The spell opened the door with the magic stone, not much different from the Gringotts vaults being unlocked.

It was like taking candy from a baby. The wooden door opened smoothly, prompting Tewell to silently mock the ease of it.

Quirrell hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and went in. What happened next was beyond Tewell's view.

His Transfiguration could only alter the surface layer of the wall, as manipulating the structure itself, which had load-bearing functions, was beyond his ability.

He figured only Dumbledore in the magical world could achieve such a feat.

However, Tewell didn't have to wait long before he heard the sounds of spellcasting and the snarling of an animal from inside; it must be the three-headed dog.

The legendary three-headed dog was a creature of the underworld, tasked with guarding the gates of hell.

While the magical world's version of the three-headed dog might not be the same, it was still not something an ordinary wizard could handle.

These creatures had strong resistance to magic, making it difficult to leave a magical mark on them.

Combined with their immense strength, energy, and stamina, they were practically invincible in confined spaces.

Wizards facing a three-headed dog usually adopted an attitude of "can't beat it, can't avoid it."

Luckily, Tewell knew the three-headed dog's weakness. Soon, the battle in the room came to an end, marked by Quirrell's hasty retreat.

However, Quirrell's strength surprised Tewell a bit.

The movies hadn't detailed his abilities; he always engaged in close combat with the chosen one, turning to ash without resorting to magic.

Yet, he had just confronted the three-headed dog for a while and emerged with only disheveled clothes, showing no signs of injury.

It seemed his strength was not to be underestimated.

Tewell sighed as he opened the door.

The three-headed dog had barely finished a battle and was about to rest when, to its surprise, it saw someone approaching.

The person even arrogantly gestured for silence.

"Shh."

Then, a harp suddenly appeared before its eyes and began to play automatically.

As the beautiful music began, the three-headed dog's eyelids drooped.

It tried to struggle for a moment but gave up after a couple of attempts, succumbing and collapsing to the ground.

Tewell moved the three-headed dog's feet blocking the trapdoor and, upon opening it, found the interior pitch black, even darker than the corridor outside.

"Glowing and flickering." A bright sphere of light appeared at the tip of the wand and then detached in its brightest moment. With the light brought by the sphere, Tewell saw the entangled vines below. Devil's Snare. Preferring dark and damp environments, it would extend its snakelike tendrils to entangle and strangle anyone who approached, then consume them. But the vines seemed to be very afraid of the glowing sphere; even before the detached sphere approached, the tendrils automatically separated, allowing the sphere to pass through effortlessly. Using the Levitation Charm to propel his body, Tewell slowly passed through the Devil's Snare and reached the ground deep within. Before him was a damp, straight corridor, with the sound of trickling water coming from both sides. He estimated he had reached deep underground. The corridor remained pitch black, but there was a bright light shining ahead. With the Lumos spell, Tewell confidently strode forward.

Each checkpoint guarding the Philosopher's Stone was set up by the professors, and Tewell, being an assistant, obviously didn't have the qualifications to participate. The Devil's Snare was the handiwork of the Head of Hufflepuff House, Professor Sprout. And the next room, was the masterpiece of Professor Flitwick; there was a flock of "birds" shimmering with silver light, flapping their wings and flying around the room. This time, the door to pass through could no longer be opened with magic; someone needed to catch the one correct key to open it. Next to it, they thoughtfully prepared a flying broomstick.

Seeing this, the corner of Tewell's mouth couldn't help but twitch. Over the years, focusing on studying magic, coupled with the fact that he didn't have a talent for flying, he had never attempted a perfect broomstick experience. But he had his own method. Casting a spell directly on the key naturally had no effect, but what if he used magic to grab the key? Tewell looked up and searched for a moment, finding the old-fashioned silver key corresponding to the door in a pile of keys. Waving his wand, a small purple flame flew out from the tip of the wand like a rope, speeding toward his target.

Sensing the ominous aura within the flames, the keys, including the correct one, anxiously scattered in all directions. But the flames, like a living entity, pursued them, wrapping around them and binding them after just a couple of twists. Strangely, the purple flames didn't exhibit any searing heat; they behaved like an ordinary rope, merely binding the keys. With the key in hand, Tewell opened the door to the next checkpoint.

The way this farce was guarded was hard to accept, but it was all part of a plan. Despite knowing it was a trap, Tewell had to step into it. The next room was a giant chessboard, with black and white pieces distinctly lined up on either side, awaiting Tewell's command. The problem was, Tewell didn't know how to play chess. As mentioned earlier, he had devoted his past few years to studying magic, making him extremely unskilled in many things, especially leisure activities.

However, this was within Tewell's expectations. He had come today to confirm the similarities and differences between the checkpoints here and those in the movie. It seemed his mere presence wouldn't alter the setup here.

Time was running out, so Tewell retraced his steps back to his office. However, the chessboard problem still needed to be solved. Violence might be the simplest solution, but it was hard to believe Professor McGonagall wouldn't leave a small warning spell. That would be difficult to explain later. It seemed he needed to learn how to play wizard's chess after all.