The Three Monsters Wreak Havoc at Hogwarts

The Three Monsters Wreak Havoc at Hogwarts—at that moment, three monsters were roaming through the basement corridors, wreaking destruction everywhere.

They knocked over suits of armor, smashed statues, tore up portraits, and more. Even the wall torches and braziers got whacked with clubs.

The people in the portraits screamed and fled. A few ladies and madams, too panicked to care, hiked up their skirts and ran for their lives, exposing their underwear.

Honestly, wizarding-world portraits were incredibly detailed. They even had layers? They painted that too! So lifelike!

Anzu silently perched on a high relief sculpture beyond the reach of the firelight, while Ted observed the monsters through his eyes.

The three monsters were completely different from one another.

The first looked like a modified Troll, standing three and a half meters tall—larger than an ordinary Troll by a full size. Its front was pale yellow, while its back was dark bluish-black. It was covered in wart-like protrusions, resembling crocodile hide, only with larger lumps. It looked incredibly thick-skinned and tough.

Its head was only about the size of an ordinary person's, even slightly narrower than its thick neck, making its head, neck, and shoulders look triangular.

That made it look extremely hard to hurt! But it also made it seem incredibly cumbersome. The angle at which it could turn its head was restricted, making it very inflexible. It could only turn about sixty degrees to either side, giving it a limited field of view! It carried a huge club and smashed things everywhere. A full suit of armor by the wall was sent flying more than three meters by one swing, dented all over. Then it stomped on it! This thing's combat power had to rival several adult wizards, though judging by its behavior, its intelligence was still as low as ever.

Ted used Appraisal Technique on it through Anzu and got the following result:

Modified Troll

Level: Level 6 Troll / Level 2 Modified Magical Creature

Attributes: Strength 17 Constitution 14 Dexterity 4 Intelligence 3 Perception 4 Spirit 4 Charisma 3 Luck ??
Talent: Troll Blood (Green)

Skills: Giant Strength lv2, Magic Resistance lv2, Rapid Healing lv2, Roar lv2.

...

Evaluation: A Modified Troll infused with blood from an otherworldly troll. Its combat power has doubled.

Its total level was 8. That was already the combat level of an ordinary Auror. Most adult wizards could only run; they had no chance of beating it.

Of course, Intelligence 3 was a crippling flaw. It was barely any smarter than a somewhat clever beast!

If there had only been one monster like this, Ted would not have worried at all. After all, the upper limit of strength was determined by intelligence. No matter how powerful something was, if it was stupid, it was still useless.

Anzu tucked his long beak beneath his wing. My God! What smells so awful? Ted hurriedly cut off his connection to Anzu's sense of smell. Even in those few seconds, his stomach churned, and he nearly retched.

Seeing Ted clutch his chest, Hermione asked with concern, "Ted, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Not dead yet."

He did not know whether Trolls had always smelled this bad or whether Professor Quirrell had made it worse through modification. Either way, the stench itself was practically an area-of-effect attack.

Right, there were still two other monsters.

The second monster looked like some kind of insect, a cross between a spider and a praying mantis. It had a spider's lower body and eight legs, but the upper body of a mantis, with a long neck, a triangular head, and two massive blades.

With its neck raised, it stood one point seven meters tall and measured roughly two and a half meters long. Its coloring was strange, a mixture of yellow, green, and gray, like camouflage.

Out in the wild, it would probably have been difficult to spot, but inside the castle, it was still rather conspicuous.

Spider Mantis Bug

Level: Level 4 Giant Insect / Level 1 Modified Magical Creature

Attributes: Strength 9 Constitution 8 Dexterity 7 Intelligence 3 Perception 5 Spirit 4 Charisma 4 Luck ??
Talent: Camouflage Color (Green)

Skills: Blade Slash lv2, Climbing lv2, Compound Eyes lv2.

...

Evaluation: Two insects forcibly pieced together and enlarged through magic. If it can survive, that counts as a success.

This monster was much weaker. At level 5, its combat power was equivalent to that of an ordinary wizard who had just graduated.

Of course, that was only on paper. Many wizards went through seven years of school without seeing much combat. Once they panicked, no matter how many spells they knew, they would not be able to cast them.

Though Hogwarts had produced Dumbledore and Voldemort, it was also known as the "Great Britain Intermediate College of Magic." With Defense Against the Dark Arts being what it was, it was normal for graduates to be weak in combat.

But this half-spider, half-mantis was different. Just looking at its appearance and compound eyes, one could tell it was a cold, merciless hunting machine.

It would not hesitate or feel fear. Its actual combat power was much greater.

The last one was much smaller, a four-legged beast.

It clearly resembled a canine, like a dog or wolf, standing eighty centimeters tall and measuring one and a half meters in length.

But its front legs were long and its hind legs short. It walked like a gorilla, bracing itself on its arms, and it had tiger-like stripes on its body.

Its lower half was grayish, transitioning to golden yellow on its upper body. It also had a short, sharp horn growing from its head.

What needed particular attention was its large mouth. Its steel-like teeth gleamed coldly. If it bit something, it could turn even iron armor into a sieve.

Unnamed Horned Beast

Level: Level 3 Magically Bred Magical Creature

Attributes: Strength 6 Constitution 6 Dexterity 6 Intelligence 3 Perception 5 Spirit 4 Charisma 4 Luck ??
Talent: None.

Skills: Claw Attack lv2, Pounce lv2, Bite lv2.

...

Evaluation: The concept is completely unclear. Its creator attempted to use certain methods to create a new magical creature, but it does not seem to have much value.

This monster was far weaker and had no particularly distinctive abilities.

Even Appraisal Technique had not given it a name. Or rather, it had no original form, unlike the first two, which had been modified from existing creatures.

This thing had been forcibly created from nothing, somewhat like a Basilisk?

But because its creator had not named it, it could only be called an Unnamed Horned Beast.

In fact, there were many similar cases. In the wizarding world, many magical creatures were the products of wizards' experiments.

However, the vast majority of species could not withstand the test of time. They died out after only a few generations, or even just one.

For example, the Blast-Ended Skrewts Hagrid would later create through crossbreeding. If they had no value and could not reproduce on their own in the wild, they would quickly go extinct.

Ted decided to call this monster the Quirrell Horned Beast!

Because there was no need to think about it—it was definitely connected to Professor Quirrell!

"Well? Did you see what they are?" Harriett could not help asking.

Ted held out his hand. "Hold my hand. I'll let you see what I saw."

His friends were all bewildered. You secretly practiced some magic we don't know about again?

Five hands piled atop Ted's hand. Using Mind Power, Ted transmitted the images he had seen through Anzu's eyes to them.

This was a new ability Ted had recently developed through studying Anzu.

The connection between a magical pet and a wizard ran far deeper than many people imagined.

A wizard could even cast spells through a magical pet.

For example, Dumbledore could do many things through Fawkes the phoenix.

Ted had also discovered that his connection with Anzu was gradually deepening. They could understand each other without speaking.

During one meditation session, he had even established a connection with Anzu that allowed him to hear what Anzu heard and see what Anzu saw.

His ability to share mental images with his friends had been developed from that.

For now, they still needed to touch hands. In the future, perhaps they would be able to transmit information merely by meeting each other's eyes.

It was somewhat like Legilimency! The three monsters appeared before his friends' eyes.

"Gulp..." Jerry swallowed.

"This seems a little dangerous?" Ron grimaced as well. The moment he saw the Spider Mantis Bug's legs, his own legs went weak.

Neville was even worse. "Shouldn't we just go back?"

Looking at that massive club, almost as tall as he was, he worried he would never get another chance to be scolded by his grandmother! Harriett disagreed. "We have to at least try! We don't have to fight them head-on. We just need to hold them back and buy the professors some time!"

Hermione calmly asked, "Hold them back with what? The Fire-Making Charm? The Cutting Charm? I'm afraid our spells don't have that kind of power."

That was good news. At least they had not gotten carried away and imagined they could turn the tables and kill the monsters.

At their age, they were at the stage of thinking: In a rage, my fist could punch through steel plates; with a sliding tackle, I could rip open a tiger's belly; I could dodge bullets with swift footwork; what was so hard about playing dead to kill a bear?

Ted was still quite relieved to see everyone being so calm.

Everyone looked at Ted. Without question, Ted was the strongest fighter among them.

They had seen Ted during practice. With a single Cutting Charm, he could cut off a training dummy's head.

Then he could repair it with a Mending Charm and cut it off again. He was practically a torture king!

If Ted said they had no chance, they would definitely turn back.

Ted thought for a moment. "How about this... I remember there's a Secret Passage nearby? Even if we really can't beat them, escaping shouldn't be a problem."

The Weasley Twins spent all day searching for magical puzzles and such, and they had found quite a few Secret Passages and hidden mechanisms.

There happened to be one in a nearby basement. If things truly went badly, they could hide inside, and the monsters would have no way to reach them.

Ted had decided to take this risk only after analyzing the situation.

Of the three monsters, the Quirrell Horned Beast did not actually have much combat power. It was stronger than a wolf, but not by much.

A normal fifth-year wizard could handle it easily as long as they did not panic.

The Spider Mantis Bug was much more dangerous, mainly because it was agile and highly lethal.

But because it had no magical abilities, it would not actually be a problem if they knew enough spells.

The most troublesome one was the Modified Troll! Its sheer size alone was enough to give anyone a headache.

And with its naturally Magic Resistance skin, ordinary spells would have a hard time affecting it. It was like a magical Armored Car charging recklessly forward.

Ted and the others, meanwhile, were armed with pistols. It would be difficult for them to deal with it.

The only fortunate thing was that its intelligence was truly low. And it did not possess any innate magical abilities—its body odor did not count...