Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 25 Three-Headed Dog

After a sprint, Xilun finally pushed open the classroom door a second before class started and answered the roll call when the professor called on him.

Yes, although he was a ghost, Professor Binns would take attendance every class, and no one knew how he recognized those students.

It's also possible that he doesn't know him, but it's just out of professional habit.

When his name was called, Xilun slumped onto the table, his eyelids drooping and his vision blurring.

Sunlight streamed in through the gridded windows, the strands of light intertwining and appearing as if wrapped around magical runes, the silver unicorn tail.

The weather was perfect, neither too hot nor too cold, and with Professor Ghost's unique voice sounding like it was infused with a hypnotic potion, it would be a real shame not to go to sleep.

But some people think differently.

Xilun vaguely heard someone talking. He didn't want to pay attention, but the other person was too persistent and kept talking, and the voice was getting louder and louder.

"Did Professor McGonagall really put you on the Gryffindor team?"

"You're really amazing!"

"Did you notice the look in Malfoy's eyes? He's completely dumbfounded."

"That's a Nimbus 2000, the fastest broom."

"Harry, can I ride it for a bit? Just ten minutes."

The sounds, like a hundred Cornish elves, buzzed around Siron's ears, and he hesitated for a moment whether to let Ron be quiet for a while.

However, at this moment, the two suddenly changed the subject.

"Is he asleep?" It was still Ron's voice.

"He should be asleep by now," Harry said. "I heard Neville say that Siren has been busy with something these past few days, and he's been going to bed in the early hours of the morning. He probably did yesterday too. Remember? When we came back last night, his dorm light was still on."

"He's really...working hard," Ron muttered.

"Never mind all that, as long as he can't hear it," Ron said, seemingly lowering his voice.

"Yesterday was really thrilling. I never expected Malfoy to be such a scoundrel. He was the one who proposed the duel, but he didn't show up in the end."

"I suspect that Filch was the one who brought us here. Otherwise, why would it be such a coincidence that he just happened to appear on the floor where we are?"

"It was my oversight," Harry said. "I didn't expect Malfoy to be so despicable."

"They're all despicable," Ron scoffed. "We almost got eaten by that three-headed dog for supper... But thinking about it now, it was pretty thrilling, we actually escaped from the three-headed dog."

"Why do you think Dumbledore would keep such a dangerous magical creature at the school?"

"Didn't Hermione say it was to guard something?"

"Oh, don't mention her to me." Ron said impatiently. "She's not right in the head. She thinks being fired is worse than being bitten to death by Cerberus."

"Hmm... I think she makes a lot of sense." Harry seemed to be somewhat supportive of Hermione.

"You're crazy too," Ron said, but didn't continue the conversation.

"Then tell me what it's guarding."

"I don't know," Harry said, then lowered his voice again, "It could be... something from the vault in 713?"

"The one that got robbed at Gringotts?" Ron unconsciously raised his voice.

"Keep your voice down," Harry quickly reminded him, waiting for Ron before continuing, "Yes, that's right. Hagrid took something from the vault, and now Hogwarts has a room guarded by Cerberus. Isn't that obvious enough?"

Gudong!

It sounded like someone was swallowing.

"That must be something very important," Ron said. "I guess it's gold."

"Probably not," Harry said. "I saw it once; it was a dirty little bag. If it were gold, it wouldn't be worth bringing it back to school and having Cerberus guard it."

Ron mumbled something, but his voice was too soft to hear.

Harry didn't hear it either.

"What did you say?"

"Um... I mean, what do you think is in there?"

"I don't know either. Something that big might be a diamond," Harry thought of an answer that seemed more likely to him.

"Huh? What's that?"

“A kind of jewelry,” Harry explained. “A jewel more precious than gold. Aunt Petunia has a necklace with a tiny bean on it, smaller than a bean, which she treasures and only wears on the most important days.”

"That must be very expensive," Ron said. "But Muggle jewels might not be that valuable to wizards; goblins are very good at bargaining. If you ask me, it might be the Chocolate Frog recipe; that's the best chocolate."

"But why is the Chocolate Frog recipe kept at Hogwarts?"

"Perhaps someone asked Dumbledore for help."

……

The two chattered away beside them, getting more and more excited.

Xilun roughly understood.

They had arranged a wizarding duel with Malfoy yesterday, to take place late at night, but were stood up.

Malfoy didn't go; they only waited for Filch. To avoid being caught, the two of them, along with Hermione who came to stop them, hid in the forbidden room, where they saw a three-headed dog guarding the trapdoor.

Furthermore, Harry believed that what Cerberus was guarding was related to the Gringotts vault that had been robbed previously.

Hmm... Cerberus...

Siron was instantly wide awake, opening his eyes to see Harry and Ron looking terrified.

"You, you're not asleep?" Ron's voice trembled.

"I should say I couldn't sleep because you guys were making so much noise." Xilun yawned. "Next time you're telling a secret, remember to keep your voice down."

Harry and Ron's faces flushed red and then paled, as they looked at Siron with a mixture of embarrassment and hesitation.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret," Xilun said directly, guessing what they were worried about.

"Thank you, thank you."

"It's alright," Xilen waved her hand. "But there's one thing I'm curious about: did you really go into that room?"

"What?"

"It's that room on the fourth floor that's off-limits."

"Ah, yes, that's right," Harry said, and Ron nodded in agreement.

Seeing that Xilun seemed very interested, the two gradually lowered their guard.

Eleven years old is the age when they like to show off, and they were no exception. When Xilun pressed them for details, they told him.

"It seems there's a reason why the headmaster wouldn't let us go in there; the three-headed dog inside is ten feet tall."

Ron gestured with his hand to an exaggerated height, as if to show how thrilling his experience yesterday really was.

"That's amazing," Xilun clicked his tongue.

"We were just lucky; we don't want to experience that again."

Despite saying that, the excitement and lingering desire that unconsciously appeared on their faces showed that they wished they could experience it again.

"So how did you get in?" Siren asked casually. "Didn't you run into any professors along the way?"

"No," Harry said after thinking for a moment. "We were being chased by Filch for a long time, and we had no choice but to hide in that corridor."

"Yes, we had no idea which floor it was beforehand."