Three-Headed Dog Fluffy
It had been raining for the past few days, and the roads in the Forbidden Forest were muddy and difficult to navigate. Albert, who was following behind Hagrid, almost fell several times.
"Hagrid, wait a minute." After nearly falling again, Albert finally called out to Hagrid, and under the other's puzzled gaze, walked to the side and got himself a branch.
"What are you doing with this?" Hagrid asked. Then he understood what Albert was trying to do; with the help of Transfiguration, the branch was transformed into a walking stick.
"Now I understand why all the adventurers in novels carry a cane," Albert said to Hagrid with a smile.
"You look like a little old man," Hagrid couldn't help but tease.
"No, no, this is what makes it an adventure." Albert didn't care about Hagrid's teasing at all and continued to follow behind him, with Fang running around the two of them.
The two men and the dog walked a little further, and they were quite far from the school, but Albert felt that he had not ventured deep into the Forbidden Forest Forbidden Forest, but rather was walking around its outer perimeter.
Finally, the two stopped in front of a large oak tree. Albert saw a doghouse, if it really was a doghouse, on higher ground.
"Fluffy." Hagrid put down the bucket, clasped his hands to his mouth, and called out towards the front.
As Hagrid called out to Fluffy, Albert felt himself being watched by something, and a low, childish bark suddenly came from his right.
"Excuse me, Fluffy's a little shy." Hagrid gestured for Albert to step back, then reached out and scooped up the dark figure that lunged at him.
That was a dog, or more precisely, a Three-Headed Dog Fluffy. Wasn't that the Three-Headed Dog Dumbledore used to Protect the Philosopher's Stone in the first challenge?
However, Fluffy is still very small, about the size of a bulldog, and was held in Hagrid's arms like a baby, struggling desperately to break free from Hagrid's embrace.
Fluffy seemed wary of Albert, this stranger. Three heads and six eyes were fixed on him. If he weren't so small, Albert felt he might not be able to stand there so calmly.
"Don't worry, he's Albert, my friend," Hagrid said in a soothing tone.
Albert stared at the Fluffy in Hagrid's hand, his lips twitching as he asked, "Hagrid, is this your... dog?"
"Fluffy is wary of unfamiliar smells." Hagrid held the Three-Headed Dog tightly in his arms with his fan-like hands, not letting it break free.
"I know." Albert took a few steps back, reached out and patted Fang's head, and muttered, "Fang is cuter."
"No, no, this little baby is cute too." Hagrid held Fluffy closer to Albert so that it could smell Albert's scent.
"A little baby?" Albert felt his face twitch. "How old is it?"
"About five months, I guess," Hagrid said uncertainly. "I bought it from a Greece man a month and a half ago at the Hog's Hog's Head Pub in Hogsmeade."
"I remember Three-Headed Dog is a very rare Magical Creatures," Albert asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He was a smuggler," Hagrid said, still a little angry. "Fluffy looked terrible back then, like he could die at any moment, so the Greece guy didn't want to be stuck with him and sold him to me for a relatively cheap price."
The Ministry of Magic is as unreliable as ever.
"The Ministry of Magic is full of useless idiots," Hagrid said discontentedly. "Even if they catch smugglers, they just get rid of them."
Albert suddenly asked, "Does Dumbledore know?"
At that moment, Albert noticed that Hagrid had suddenly become panicked.
"Sigh, never mind, let's bring this up later!" Albert sighed, already knowing the answer from Hagrid's expression.
"Can I feed Fluffy?" he changed the subject.
"Oh, of course." Hagrid put Fluffy down and whispered reassuringly, "Don't be nervous, Fluffy's just sniffing your scent."
"Even though you say that..." Albert reached out and grabbed his wand. He was still worried that Fluffy might suddenly bite him. Even though it was still small, it would be unpleasant to be bitten by a dog of that size.
Fluffy was led by Hagrid, circling around Albert and sniffing around. Sometimes, one of the heads would bare its teeth, but Hagrid would slap it on the head and it would calm down again.
"Alright, sit down, sit properly," Hagrid said to Fluffy.
"Isn't Fang afraid of Fluffy?" Albert asked doubtfully as he fed the Three-Headed Dog. The dog seemed to behave itself while eating, with each of its three heads eating a portion of beef. He wondered what it was like to have three heads on one body.
"They get along well," Hagrid explained. "Before school started, I kept Fluffy in my cabin until he was fully recovered before I let him roam here."
Although Hagrid used a long vine to tie Fluffy up.
"Hagrid, may I touch it?" Albert turned his head and asked.
"This... should be fine, right?" Hagrid said uncertainly.
"I really can't feel at ease with you like this." Albert suppressed the urge to complain and ultimately gave up on the idea of petting the Three-Headed Dog.
He merely teased the little guy with his cane, glanced at the bite marks, and completely gave up on the idea of rubbing the Three-Headed Dog's head.
"Isn't it cute?" Hagrid chuckled.
"Most animals are cuter when they're young." Albert doesn't deny it; if it weren't for the fact that they bite, young Three-Headed Dog are actually quite nice, but...
"Hagrid, have you thought about what will happen when it... I mean, Fluffy, grows up?" Albert took out all the remaining dog food from his pocket and fed it to the Three-Headed Dog. The little guy seemed to really like the biscuits. After Albert fed it, its eyes became much friendlier, at least without the strong wariness and hostility.
"This..."
"As far as I know, Three-Headed Dog can grow to at least the height of an average adult. Once it's fully grown, it could slap me to the ground and bite my neck off with one paw," Albert kindly reminded me. "It will only take a year at most for it to grow so big that vines can no longer contain it."
"Don't worry, I won't let it appear at Hogwarts, and I have a way to easily appease it." Hagrid patted his chest confidently, casually pulled a rough flute from his pocket, put it to his lips and started playing a tune. Fluffy, who had been eating, suddenly became sleepy and quickly fell asleep.
"How did you do that?" Although he knew that music could be used to Fluffy to sleep, Albert still found it incredible to witness it firsthand.
"This is my secret," Hagrid laughed smugly. "It took me half a month to find this brilliant method."
"Alright!" Albert raised an eyebrow and continued, "However, as far as I know, in Muggle Greece mythology, there is a Three-Headed Dog called Cerberus. If you want to get past it, you need to put it to sleep with music."
Hagrid was speechless at Albert's words; he hadn't expected Albert to say such a thing.
In fact, the method for controlling the Three-Headed Dog was indeed learned from the Greece.
"Are there really such accounts in Muggle stories?"
"Yes," Albert affirmed. "However, that's not important. You still need to be careful, and I don't think Dumbledore would allow you to keep this thing. My advice is to send it back to Greece after you've raised Fluffy to adulthood, or keep it deep in the Forbidden Forest."
"This..." Hagrid's face was full of conflict.
"Hagrid, I want to touch it," Albert interrupted Hagrid. "Could you play a recorder to make it sleep?"
"Okay, fine!" Hagrid nodded in agreement and continued playing his flute. Fluffy, who had just woken up, drifted back into a deep sleep.
Albert immediately stepped forward, raised his hand and rubbed the three dog heads. It was a pity he didn't bring a camera, otherwise it would have been nice to take a picture.
"The Three-Headed Dog's brown fur feels quite nice to touch," Albert muttered to himself as he rubbed the three heads in turn.
"Albert likes Fluffy a lot too," Hagrid thought to himself as he watched this.
Once Albert was satisfied, Hagrid stopped playing the flute. While Fluffy was still eating, they quietly left. Fang glanced at Fluffy, then at Hagrid's departing figure, and quickly turned to chase after them.