Chapter 21

After Madam Hooch left with Neville, Malfoy began provoking the Gryffindor students. It was hard for Albert to understand how someone who claimed to have noble blood in the wizarding world could treat others as if they were on the same level as animals.

Malfoy then flew up with Neville's Remembrall and challenged Harry Potter. Hermione tried to stop Harry from flying, but she failed.

After a tense aerial chase, Harry finally managed to retrieve Neville's Remembrall, but Professor McGonagall took both Harry and Albert away.

On their way back to the castle, Hermione was a bit worried. Ron reassured her, "They won't really expel Harry and Albert, right? Harry just made a small mistake, and no normal school would expel someone over something like this. And Albert only saved Neville from getting hurt, so I'm sure they won't get expelled."

"How could Harry do that? Didn't he think about how many points would be deducted before he decided to fly?" Hermione said, frustrated.

Ron stopped and turned to look at her. "I know you can't accept Harry's behavior because of academic pride. But in this case, Malfoy's bullying was truly disgusting, and Harry was just standing up for what's right."

Hermione replied, "You may have a point, but I still can't understand why you all are so reckless. Can't we just let the professors handle it?"

After saying that, Hermione shook her head and walked towards the Great Hall.

Since the flying lesson was the last class of the day, people were already heading out for dinner in the Great Hall at this time.

When Ron slowly entered the cafeteria, he saw Malfoy talking to Harry and Albert, who were already seated at the table.

Hermione was beside them, so Ron walked over and heard her saying to Harry, "You can't be wandering around outside at night." After scolding them for a few moments, Hermione left in a huff.

Ron walked over and sat next to Harry. Albert noticed Ron and asked, "Are you planning to scold us like Hermione? I didn't do anything wrong."

"No, I'm not," Ron denied.

Ron then said, "We can't let Malfoy get away with this. He treated us like animals."

Albert replied, "What do you want to do? Challenge him? Don't you know what Malfoy is like? He's cunning. What will you do after you challenge him? In the end, he'll just leave you at the scene, fetch a professor, and accuse you of bullying him."

Harry looked at Albert and said, "I think Albert's right. That scenario isn't impossible, but if we don't show up, he'll mock us for the rest of our lives."

Suddenly, Harry seemed to think of something. "Albert, I saw how good you were at casting spells when you saved Neville today, and also when you helped him on the train. Why don't you come with us? That way, someone can keep an eye out for any teachers."

Albert considered it. He wasn't too busy today, and he had already finished his scheduled time for reading in the library in the morning, so he would just be bored if he stayed in his dorm all night.

Thinking this over, Albert agreed to Harry's invitation, and they decided to meet in the common room at 11:30 PM.

After all, Albert felt a bit excited. How could he resist the chance to explore Hogwarts at night? It had been one of Albert's ideas since arriving at the school—to discover all the secret and hidden places within it. Besides, even if he got caught wandering around at night, the worst that could happen was losing a few points and getting some detention. Not a big deal.

When he returned to the common room, he saw Neville approaching him. Neville took Albert's hand and thanked him for saving him from what could have been a nasty fall.

At 11:30 PM, when all their dormmates were asleep, Ryan quietly opened the door. Albert saw Harry and Ron stepping out of the door opposite his.

After greeting each other, they quietly walked towards the portrait hole, and the nearest light flickered on.

There was Hermione, sitting in her cute pink nightgown, frowning. "You're really doing this, especially you, Albert. Why did you come with them?"

Albert replied, "Relax, nighttime strolls are part of life at Hogwarts too. Look at the older students—how many of them haven't snuck out at night? Besides, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk, and I just happened to run into Harry and Ron."

"Don't make up lies, Albert. I know you're lying. No ordinary student would leave their room at night; everyone knows the consequences of being caught out of bed," Hermione said sharply.

Albert sighed, "Alright, alright, I'll stay here for ten minutes and then go back to my room. How about that?"

Hermione said, "I know you were in on this with Ron and Harry, so let's follow Harry. He went through that hole."

Hermione followed them through the hole, saying, "Don't you think we should focus on beating Slytherin and winning the House Cup? I can't just watch Harry and Ron lose all the points we've worked so hard to earn in one go."

Albert replied, "It's okay, if you really want to lose points, I'll help you earn them back, I swear."

The two argued while crawling through the passage.

"Fine, I don't care about that," Hermione huffed.

She turned, ready to head back to the dormitory, but found that the portrait was empty. The Fat Lady had left her portrait for a late-night visit, leaving Hermione locked out of Gryffindor Tower. She wouldn't be able to return to the common room until the Fat Lady came back.

"Oh no, what am I going to do?" Hermione asked in panic.

Ron said, "That's your problem. We need to go, or we'll be late."

"Anyway, you've already broken the school rules. Let's stick together; it's safer than standing here alone," Albert suggested to Hermione. Sometimes the best way to avoid blame is to bring the accuser along.

"Why?" Ron whispered urgently.

"At least two people can keep an eye on the entire corridor. If the night guard really shows up, we'll have a better chance to avoid getting caught," Albert explained.

"Fine," Harry agreed. "But please, keep quiet, or we'll get caught before we even get there."

After ten minutes of intense walking, they reached the trophy room on the third floor, where several medals gleamed under the moonlight.

Harry and Ron entered the trophy room, while Albert and Hermione stayed by the door, occasionally poking their heads out to check the hallway.

As time passed, Albert noticed a cat jumping down the staircase in the corridor, followed by a limping figure—it looked like Filch.

Albert patted Hermione on the shoulder, her eyes widening in nervousness. They slowly retreated into the trophy room and warned Harry, then the four of them tiptoed towards a door away from Filch, moving along a hallway filled with suits of armor.

However, they didn't move quickly to prevent Filch from hearing them, but it seemed like Filch had noticed something, as his footsteps grew closer and closer.

Finally, Ron, in his nervousness, accidentally knocked over a suit of armor. The clattering sound echoed through the corridor.

The four of them stopped caring about hiding and sprinted down the hallway as fast as they could.

After climbing up and down stairs and racing through several corridors, they finally had to stop, unable to run any farther.

Bent over and gasping for breath, Ron asked, "Where are we?"

Albert looked around, his heart pounding, realizing they were near the Charms classroom on the fourth floor. The forbidden area guarded by the three-headed dog was close by.

"We're outside the Charms classroom," Hermione informed Ron. "Sure, my concerns were justified, but do wizards from pure-blood families generally lack trustworthiness in duels?"

"Definitely not," Ron replied. "Only Slytherin snakes would do something like that. The Weasley family would never stoop so low."

"The Weasley family? I think I might have met one of them. Arthur Weasley, a Ministry of Magic official who introduced me to the wizarding world, was very helpful. He's a truly kind and decent man."

"Thanks for the compliment to my dad," Ron said, smiling warmly at Harry. "It seems like we lost him," Hermione said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I told you before…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Harry interrupted, "We need to get back to the dormitory quickly. We can't stay here any longer."

From the look on Harry's face, it was clear he thought Hermione was right, but he didn't want to admit it in front of her.

As they started to move, a door in the corridor suddenly opened, and Peeves floated out, cackling with glee when he saw them.

"Troublesome first-years, wandering around at midnight. Tsk, tsk, tsk, you're going to get caught!"

Just as Hermione was about to step forward and plead for mercy, Albert grabbed her arm and pulled her along, shouting at Harry, "It's Peeves! Pleading with him is useless. Run!"

Harry was still in shock, but Ron reacted quickly, grabbing Harry's arm and dragging him along the corridor. At this point, none of them bothered to stay quiet; they sprinted down the hallway as fast as they could.

Peeves' voice echoed behind them, "Students out of bed! They're in the Charms corridor!"

The four of them bolted to the end of the corridor, only to find the door there was locked. Filch's footsteps echoed from the corridor behind them.

"We're done for!" Ron whispered, as they all desperately pushed against the door.

Albert knew what lay beyond this door—the room with the three-headed dog. He was torn between two terrible options: stay and be caught by Filch, or enter the room and face a dangerous creature.

Albert made a decision. "Step back."

The three of them complied, and Albert pointed his wand at the door and muttered, "Alohomora." The door clicked open easily, surprising the others.

Ron exclaimed, "Wow, Albert, that's amazing! Ever since I saw you in Diagon Alley, I knew you were strong."

Albert didn't respond to Ron's praise. Instead, he quickly grabbed all three of them and pulled them into the room before Filch could see them.

The trio barely realized what was happening until they found themselves being unexpectedly dragged into the room by Albert, the door slamming shut behind them.

Filch, although diligent, wouldn't bother anyone during regular hours. But after curfew, he showed no mercy to anyone caught sneaking around.

Lured by Peeves, Filch grumbled angrily when he couldn't find anyone. In the end, he had no choice but to leave.

Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, the door is shut. I think we're safe in here."

Albert quickly shushed him, "Quiet, Harry. Keep your voice down."

Hermione, surprised by Albert's behavior, asked, "Why do we need to talk quietly?"

Albert pointed behind her. "Look behind you, and you'll see why."

The three of them turned around to see a massive three-headed dog standing before them.

They were staring into the eyes of a beast so large it filled the entire space from floor to ceiling. It had three heads, three pairs of menacing eyes, three noses, and three mouths drooling as if it hadn't eaten in days.

They froze in place, with all six of the dog's eyes locked onto them.

Albert remembered that the dog would fall asleep if it heard music. At first, he thought knowing this weakness would make dealing with the creature easy. But now, faced with such a monstrous being, he realized it was impossible to sing.

Fortunately, as Albert glanced to his right, he spotted a musical instrument in the corner of the room.

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I'm going to merge three chapters into one long chapter.