I'm Curious, Severus

He did not use any spell. He merely extended a finger and gently nudged the lock's core structure with a thread of True Essence too faint to detect.

"Click."

With a faint sound that only he could hear, the lock's internal structure was temporarily "deconstructed."

He pushed the door open and walked inside.

Beyond the door was a spacious room. Its only furnishing was the Trapdoor in the center of the room, leading underground.

And...

Guarding the Trapdoor was that colossal beast.

A gigantic hound with three heads, twice as robust as an adult bull.

It was lying on the ground, its three enormous heads facing different directions as it slept soundly.

Its thunderous snores rose and fell throughout the room, forming an eerie, three-dimensional surround sound.

Its fur was coarse and stiff, like countless steel needles, while the knotted muscles beneath its skin brimmed with explosive strength. The air was thick with the pungent, rank odor of a large carnivorous beast.

[Species: Cerberus (degraded hybrid)]

Lin Yuan's Spiritual Sense database instantly provided an analysis.

[Strength: Equivalent to an early Foundation Establishment-stage demon beast. Strengths: A powerful physical body, strong recovery, three heads capable of attacking simultaneously, and no visual blind spots. Weaknesses: Low intelligence, easily hypnotized by sound waves of specific frequencies, imperfect coordination between the three consciousness cores, and simple movement patterns.]

[Overall evaluation: An excellent physical barrier, but a terrible magical guardian.]

Lin Yuan's expression did not change in the slightest.

He even thought the big fellow looked somewhat endearingly foolish while asleep.

He did not approach, much less try to awaken it with music.

That was the "protagonist's" way of clearing the level—inefficient and full of variables.

He simply stood quietly in the shadows, his eyes half-closed.

The next moment, his vast and refined Spiritual Sense transformed into an invisible probe, ten thousand times thinner than a spider's thread. Without making a sound, it bypassed the sleeping three-headed hound, pierced straight through the heavy Trapdoor, and spread toward the deeper underground space shrouded in darkness.

The first level.

[High-density, highly active plant-based magical energy detected. Identified as: Devil's Snare. Traits: Hates light, loves moisture, and possesses powerful physical strangulation capabilities. Energy structure: Chaotic and primitive. Core: A mother plant possessing a faint instinctive consciousness.]

[Solution: Incendio, or any spell involving intense light. Alternatively, directly use Spiritual Sense oscillation to destroy the consciousness core of the mother plant. Time required: 0.1 seconds.]

The Spiritual Sense probe continued downward.

The second level.

[Large quantities of metal constructs detected, enchanted with flight and tracking spells. Identified as: Flying Key Swarm. Core: A "real" key mixed among them, with slight differences in material and enchantment.]

[Solution: Spend time capturing it physically, or directly lock onto the "real" key with Spiritual Sense and draw it over from a distance. Estimated time required: 1.2 seconds.]

The third level.

[Large alchemical golem formation detected. Identified as: Wizard's Chess. By simulating warfare, it tests an intruder's logical thinking and tactical planning abilities.]

[Solution: Follow its rules and play a match; the odds of victory depend on one's chess skill. Or... simply bypass the board by flying over it from the ceiling. Alternatively, use a sufficiently powerful attack spell to blast that "king" chess piece into fragments.]

The fourth level...

The fifth level...

Layer after layer of defenses were rapidly dismantled before Lin Yuan's Spiritual Sense, which saw through everything, and at least three highly efficient solutions were formulated for each.

"...I see."

When his Spiritual Sense reached the final level and found that empty room, along with the Mirror of Erised in its center that could reflect the deepest desires of the human heart, Lin Yuan slowly withdrew his Spiritual Sense and opened his eyes.

The corners of his lips curved into a meaningful smile.

"This is clearly a... 'room escape' game room specially designed for first-year students, filled with educational value."

"Dumbledore... what exactly are you plotting?"

This discovery interested Lin Yuan more than the Magic Stone itself.

He did not linger. He turned around and left the room as silently as he had entered, casually restoring the door's lock to its original state behind him.

When he returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Ron were enthusiastically recounting to a group of older students how they had "heroically" defeated a twelve-foot-tall Troll and "incidentally" rescued Hermione.

Hermione stood to the side. Though somewhat embarrassed, her gaze toward the two boys held a warmth called "friendship" for the first time.

The golden trio had officially joined forces that night.

Lin Yuan merely watched everything calmly, then found a corner to sit in. He picked up a copy of Advanced Runes Explained and continued his own "cultivation."

It was as though the top-level reconnaissance mission deep into the tiger's den had been nothing more than an ordinary stroll after dinner.

On the afternoon before Quidditch Match Day, the sky over Hogwarts was as gloomy as though someone had overturned a bottle of ink.

The atmosphere in the Headmaster's Office was even more oppressive than the weather outside.

The flames in the fireplace burned quietly, casting the portraits of the former headmasters on the walls in alternating light and shadow.

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his enormous desk, his fingers interlaced. Behind his half-moon spectacles, his deep blue eyes calmly watched the black-clad figure standing opposite him.

Severus Snape.

"Sit down, Severus." Dumbledore's voice was as gentle as that of a kindly elder.

Snape did not move. He merely said in his characteristically oily yet icy tone, "No need, Headmaster. I still have a cauldron of Shrinking Solution to supervise. It is at the most critical stage."

"Oh, really?" Dumbledore smiled, a hint of all-seeing insight in that smile. "I thought all your energy recently had been devoted to studying that bottle of... 'glowing blue paint.'"

Snape's body suddenly stiffened.

"I hear," Dumbledore continued unhurriedly, picking up a Fizzing Whizbee and putting it into his mouth, making his voice slightly muffled, "that our mysterious Mr. Lin has recently become a regular visitor to the Forbidden Section. And on the permits in his hand is your flamboyant signature."

He raised his head. The blue eyes behind his spectacles finally sharpened.

"I'm curious, Severus. What kind of reason could possibly make you issue a pass to a Gryffindor—and not merely a Gryffindor, but a first-year newcomer—that even most seventh-year students dream of obtaining?"

It had come.

Snape's heart sank. He knew this day would come sooner or later.

His waxen-yellow face remained utterly expressionless, but the hands hidden beneath his wide sleeves clenched unconsciously.