Demigod Trap

Harley quickly returned to the spot where she had climbed out of the castle and used a spider silk thread to enter the building.

The curse she had cast earlier was still tracking her, guiding her toward the location of the unknown demigod.

Harley crept forward silently. It was already past two in the morning, and even Filch, the caretaker responsible for night patrols, had returned to his office.

The further Harley went, the more she felt the direction was off. The demigod's location seemed to be on the fourth floor.

If Harley remembered correctly, that direction led to the forbidden area, a place Dumbledore had explicitly forbidden students from entering during the opening feast.

Of course, this seemed to have only stoked the students' rebellious nature. Many Gryffindor students had tried to goad Harley into going on an adventure there with them.

The Weasley twins, in particular, brought it up repeatedly, as if failing to break school rules wasn't enough to prove one's courage.

Even students from other houses were curious about what lay within the forbidden area.

Hannah had once discussed with Harley whether the forbidden area hid precious spells, speculating that it contained mysterious magic that could conjure a sumptuous feast if cast.

To this, Harley could only roll her eyes; as expected of a Hufflepuff whose dormitory was right next to the kitchens.

However, Harley wasn't particularly interested in the forbidden area. She wasn't someone who enjoyed breaking rules; she only did so when she was certain the payoff would be significant.

And now, clearly, the potential harvest was great, so Harley was willing to bear the risk of breaking the rules.

Still, Harley felt a flicker of curiosity. That severely injured demigod had likely parasitized someone and lurked in Hogwarts to steal something.

Harley felt a stir of desire for a treasure that could catch the eye of a demigod.

But it was only a stir, for Harley had to stay at Hogwarts for a long time until she recovered her strength.

Under these circumstances, stealing a treasure hidden by the headmaster was clearly an irrational act.

Harley quickly arrived outside the fourth-floor corridor, encountering Peeves along the way.

Come to think of it, this infamous ghost, who had tormented generations of young wizards, seemed to have never caused Harley any trouble.

Not only that, but sometimes when it saw Harley, it would look terrified and quickly flee far away.

This was clearly abnormal, as Peeves seemed to fear only the Slytherin house ghost—the Bloody Baron.

Harley was clearly not close with the Bloody Baron, so it was unlikely that he had warned Peeves.

However, Harley had no desire to investigate; as long as Peeves didn't come looking for trouble, it didn't matter.

Arriving outside the fourth-floor corridor, the door was already standing wide open.

Inside the room was a Three-Headed Dog, its three heads drooping and motionless, as if it were fast asleep.

However, its sleeping posture was very strange, pressed tightly against one side of the wall. Beneath its body, a trapdoor was now more than half exposed.

Harley vigilantly drew her wand, her hair floating behind her as she stayed on guard against an attack from the Three-Headed Dog.

But when she stepped forward to examine it closely, she realized that the Three-Headed Dog was already dead.

"A clean job. There are no signs of a struggle; it must have been a one-hit kill.

The fur on this Three-Headed Dog is intact, unlike the smooth cuts on a unicorn. Was it a soul attack or something else?"

Harley didn't rush to open the trapdoor, instead carefully studying the state of the corpse to collect useful information.

"Does that demigod possess a one-hit kill method? That's not easy; this Three-Headed Dog has such thick fur and likely possesses strong magical resistance itself."

Harley secretly noted this information, reminding herself to be wary of the demigod's instant-death attacks.

She didn't believe she had the same powerful defenses as the Three-Headed Dog. If she were hit by such an attack, Harley would have no choice but to expend the Magic Mirror or her wand.

Harley glanced at the Three-Headed Dog, resisting the urge to dissect it. Such a powerful creature, still retaining residual spirituality, would surely make for a fine sealed artifact or magical item.

However, this was the forbidden area Dumbledore had mentioned, and this dog was surely his pet.

So, it was better for Harley not to invite unnecessary trouble.

Harley cast a curse at the trapdoor, black flames burning it precisely until it turned into nothingness.

Then, Harley looked down into the deep, dark hole and waved her hand.

The room's door was pulled shut by flexible silk threads, and the room was soon filled with them.

A Magic Mirror was stuck to the threads, serving as Harley's final line of defense.

Harley then slid down along the threads, using her dark vision to scan her surroundings.

On the ground was a pile of black ash, clearly the remains of something that had been incinerated.

In the corner, Harley found one or two curled, trembling vines—they appeared to be the Devil's Snare that Sprout had mentioned in class.

It seemed that mysterious demigod was exceptionally violent, burning the Devil's Snare to ash; the remaining bits of vine were so terrified they would likely suffer from eternal psychological trauma.

Harley didn't linger, moving quickly forward along the only stone corridor.

The stone corridor was deathly quiet; she could even hear the sound of water dripping slowly down the walls and the rustling of wings at the end of the passage.

At the end of the corridor was a brightly lit room with a high, vaulted ceiling.

In the air, many small birds, as dazzling as gemstones, flapped their wings and flew about. Several broomsticks stood against the wall.

It seemed this room was designed for intruders to use the brooms to catch a specific bird and use the magic on it to open the door on the opposite side.

However, Harley didn't need to go through such trouble now. That door had been hacked to pieces, the cuts perfectly smooth.

Thus, Harley enjoyed the benefits left behind by the trailblazer, passing through one barrier after another—

Destroyed Wizard's Chess pieces and a lifeless troll.

It wasn't until the final barrier that she was barely delayed for a few minutes.

It was unclear who had set up that particular challenge. In the room, there was a table covered in various bottles and a riddle.

The doors at the front and back of the room were wreathed in flames of different colors.

According to the riddle, the intruder was supposed to deduce which Potion would allow them to pass through the flames to continue their intrusion.

However, Harley didn't waste time on such deductions. After all, the black flames ahead and the purple flames behind were merely ordinary fires with their colors altered.

In essence, they were just common flames. Therefore, Harley, favored by the Black Flame, only needed to coat her body in it to pass through.

The reason Harley paused was that she was reflecting on the barriers she had just passed.

Aside from the three-headed giant dog in the first room, which looked somewhat intimidating, the second room contained Devil's Snare that first-years learn about, the third was likely about flying to catch a small bird, and the fourth was playing chess...

Why were these barriers either solvable by a first-year student or designed with obvious clues left for the intruder?

It was getting more absurd by the second! Was this really a restricted area?

A vague guess formed in Harley's mind—Professor Dumbledore had obtained a treasure and knew someone wanted to steal it.

So, he had deliberately set up traps that even first-year students could pass, all to lure that unknown demigod into a trap.

Therefore, this restricted area was nothing more than a demigod trap.

Thinking of this, Harley looked at the black flames and hesitated, feeling reluctant to continue forward.

Although she already possessed many outstanding qualities, they could all be explained away as being a genius. However, if she displayed power that was too overwhelming, it would be difficult to explain.

But then, she reconsidered; since she had already made it this far, it was highly likely that she was already being watched by Professor Dumbledore.

So, Harley decided to keep going, at least to secure whatever benefits she could get her hands on first.

(Thanks to Nine-Tailed Flame Fox for the tip!)

(Thanks to Book Friend 20220318160717382 for the tip!)