The Three-headed Dog's Weakness

The Hogwarts Express was fairly empty, with few people in each compartment. Compared to the crowds returning to school at the start of term, far fewer students were going home for the Christmas holidays.

In one compartment, Hermione wore a conflicted expression.

She clutched a crumpled piece of parchment covered in densely written notes copied from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Magical Creatures Compendium, and A Study of Ancient Magical Creatures.

Three-headed dog.

Music.

Sleep.

Hermione had circled these three words heavily several times in red ink.

Hermione bit her lower lip, her brows knitted into a knot.

During the summer holidays, she had read a great many books on Magical Creatures and discovered Fluffy's weakness.

But now she did not know whether she should tell Charlie and the others.

She did not want Charlie and the others to break the rules and go exploring.

Their last night-time excursion had already been dangerous enough. If they were caught, they might actually be expelled.

Just then, Charlie boarded the train with his luggage, checking each compartment to see who was inside.

He wanted to find a compartment with someone he knew or one that was empty.

When he saw Hermione, he pushed open the compartment door and walked in.

He glanced around at the compartment. Seeing the conflicted expression on Hermione's face, he raised an eyebrow.

"Constipated?"

Hermione's face instantly flushed, and the parchment nearly slipped from her hand.

"No!"

She hurriedly shoved the parchment into her pocket, her voice going shrill.

"Now that you mention it, I think I know why Professor Snape always picks on you."

Charlie sat down across from Hermione, completely at ease.

"He's a pervert. It has nothing to do with me. I'm a respectable person."

"By the way, do you like my Christmas present?"

Hermione's anger faded. She was almost used to Charlie's outrageous behavior by now.

Those notes had helped her immensely, especially the section on Transfiguration. Charlie had written them in even greater detail than the textbook.

The key points for casting each spell, the angle at which to swing the Wand, and even the common causes of failure had all been clearly marked.

"You must have put a lot of thought into it, right?"

Charlie nodded seriously.

"That's right. I prepared the gift especially for you. I'm glad you like it."

[The system has detected Your Majesty seriously talking nonsense and fooling a young girl. Tyrant Points +2]

Charlie ignored the system.

Hermione was deeply moved, but she also felt somewhat guilty.

Charlie had put so much thought into his gift, while she had only given him an alarm clock.

Although she did think Charlie needed an alarm clock, since he was always arriving late to class by the skin of his teeth.

But in terms of value, an alarm clock was clearly not on the same level as Charlie's notes.

That made her feel too stingy.

Hermione made a decision in her heart. She took a deep breath and said:

"You always wanted to see what's underneath Fluffy, didn't you?"

Charlie was instantly drawn in, his body leaning forward.

"You know how to deal with Fluffy?"

"I read several books on Magical Creatures during the holidays."

As she spoke, she pulled one large volume after another from her luggage.

"This is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

"And this is..."

Watching Hermione introduce them like cherished treasures, Charlie's scalp went numb. She had read this many books in a single summer.

She was practically a superhuman.

"I found out that a three-headed dog falls asleep when it hears music."

"Music..."

"Will any kind of music work?"

"The book says soothing music, something like a lullaby."

"Although a three-headed dog looks fierce, it's actually very easy to hypnotize."

Charlie nodded. This really was a pleasant surprise.

Although he already knew that the Philosopher's Stone was beneath it and was not interested in the Philosopher's Stone, breaking Dumbledore's rules would surely earn him plenty of Tyrant Points.

He slapped the table, making the teacup jump.

"Hermione, you're amazing!"

Hermione suppressed the corners of her mouth as they curled upward and raised her head slightly.

"I knew you couldn't handle it. Consider this my Christmas present."

She paused.

"But Charlie, I don't want you to go adventuring."

"Professor Dumbledore set the rule himself. He won't let us go there."

Charlie did not listen at all. He was already planning his route for the night-time excursion.

He looked at Hermione, his eyes shining.

"Are you going?"

"No."

Hermione refused without a second thought.

Charlie narrowed his eyes and looked Hermione up and down, his gaze full of suspicion.

"Really not going?"

He pointed at the parchment in Hermione's hand.

"You did all that research and still aren't going?"

Seeing Charlie's doubtful look, Hermione inexplicably grew irritated.

"I'm not going! If I do, I'll jump from the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower!"

Charlie's expression grew even stranger, as though he were watching an old general with a chessboard full of pieces on a stage.

The train slowly pulled into Hogwarts Station. Charlie and Hermione got off and returned to their respective dormitories to change into their school uniforms.

Charlie had just changed when he heard the bells ringing from the Great Hall.

"Just in time for dinner."

He hurried toward the Great Hall.

Today was the final day of the Christmas holidays, so dinner was exceptionally sumptuous.

The long tables were covered with all kinds of food: roast turkey, honey-glazed ham, cream of mushroom soup, pudding, and every sort of pastry imaginable.

Charlie walked over and sat beside Ernie.

"Charlie, long time no see." Ernie excitedly grabbed Charlie.

"How were your holidays?"

"Not bad. I spent them with my family." Charlie picked up a sausage.

"What about you?"

"I went to Germany to visit my aunt, but I thought her house was boring." As Ernie spoke, he pulled a stack of parchment from his pocket.

"Thanks for the Christmas present, Charlie. Your notes were really useful. Here, your holiday homework."

Charlie took the homework and set it aside.

Ernie and Hermione had handled all of Charlie's holiday homework. Hermione had already given him her portion on the train.

At the teachers' table, every professor was in their seat. Classes would begin tomorrow, which meant their holidays were ending as well.

The four Heads of House chatted as they ate.

"Oh, did you hear? A first-year Wizard gave me a Christmas present this year."

Professor Flitwick showed off to the other professors.

"What a coincidence. I received one too. It couldn't have been Charlie, could it?" Professor McGonagall smiled knowingly.

"He gave me a huge amount of catnip. My cat spent the entire holiday sniffing it."

In truth, she had spent the entire holiday sniffing it too, but she naturally could not say that aloud.

Professor Flitwick wiped his glasses, deeply moved.

"That child is so thoughtful. He knew it was inconvenient for me to stand on books during class."

"I received one too."

Professor Sprout smiled the most brightly. Her own student was so considerate, which naturally reflected well on her House.

The three professors laughed as they talked.

"That's very unusual." Professor McGonagall sighed.

"First-year Wizards are usually afraid of us. Very few of them think to give their teachers presents."

Dumbledore listened to the three of them, his blue eyes thoughtful behind his glasses.

The last student to be loved by all the professors had been Tom Riddle.

He turned to look toward Charlie. The black-haired boy was chatting and laughing with his classmates, looking sunny and cheerful.

Back then, Dumbledore had also sat at the teachers' table, listening to his colleagues praise Tom and watching Tom enjoy the adoration of his classmates.

Oh, damn this déjà vu.

However, Dumbledore would not form an opinion of Charlie because of this. People were different.

He had been able to see the evil in Tom's heart back then, and now he could see the innocence in Charlie's. Well, the innocence was a little strange, but Charlie was not a bad person.

This was not a spell that allowed him to peer into people's hearts, merely the skill of recognizing people possessed by a hundred-year-old man.

Professor Flitwick turned to Snape.

"Severus, did you receive Charlie's gift?"

The air instantly fell silent.

Snape expressionlessly cut the steak on his plate, his black eyes sweeping coldly around the table.

"No."

His voice was terrifyingly calm.

Professor Flitwick realized that he had said the wrong thing. Embarrassed, he closed his mouth and pretended to focus on the food on his plate.

Snape cast a cold glance toward Charlie.

Charlie happened to look up to drink his soup and immediately sensed that someone was watching him.

He turned his head and met Snape's black eyes.

Charlie instantly broke into a brilliant smile and even waved at Snape.

Snape's face darkened further.

"Strange." Charlie muttered under his breath.

"Professor Snape's hair is still so greasy. Why doesn't he use my thirteen-in-one shampoo?"

"Does he not like it?"

Dumbledore watched everything from the sidelines and could not help laughing. It seemed that not every professor liked Charlie.