New Persona, Death Eater

"Paw."

"Down."

"Spin around."

Under Tom's command, Fluffy moved with nimble precision.

Right now, Fluffy didn't look like the fierce three-headed dog from before at all—just an obedient pet.

"So that's it," Tom mused inwardly. "The 'Animal Friend' persona does make it easier for me to bond with beasts. I just wasn't using it right before..."

[Innate Divine Strength +2 progress... +2... +1...]

[Animal Friend +1... +2... +...]

The Weasley Twins rubbed their eyes, stunned, making sure they weren't seeing things.

Only Hagrid in all of Hogwarts could play around with a dog this big.

They never thought there'd be another person who could.

"Looks like that rumor about you lifting a boulder for exercise this morning was true."

They'd woken up late and missed it, only hearing about it secondhand. They'd assumed it was an exaggeration—turns out it wasn't.

"Hey! Look, there's a wooden door!" Tom feigned a surprised exclamation.

Following his finger, they saw a trapdoor installed right where Fluffy usually slept.

The twins glanced at the trapdoor, then at the harp nearby. Their clever minds pieced it together instantly.

"So that's it. The school didn't ban this area because of the three-headed dog—they hid something under the trapdoor!"

The twins were intrigued now.

They were both curious what could be so important that the school would stash a dangerous three-headed dog in the castle to guard it.

Now that the dog was tamed, they finally had a chance to see the secret.

"Ugh~" Fluffy whimpered as they moved toward the trapdoor.

Its job was to guard that door. If someone broke through, it feared disappointing its master.

"Relax, we're not going down. Just taking a look from up here." Tom patted its head reassuringly.

He was curious too—who among his companions was down there right now?

Since the harp was playing, someone had already gone down.

Could it be Quirrell?

He lifted the trapdoor. Below was a dim darkness, faintly lit by what seemed like a Lumos spell, just enough to make out some shapes.

"A huge Devil's Snare?"

Fred had barely muttered this when the light beneath the Devil's Snare suddenly stopped.

"Who's there?"

A voice came from below—one every student at Hogwarts knew and feared.

"It's the old bat!"

"If he catches us out after hours and trespassing in a restricted area, we'll lose a hundred points for sure."

The twins, usually fearless, chickened out now.

No matter who caught them sneaking around, it absolutely couldn't be Snape.

The figure holding the light source—Snape—passed through the Devil's Snare, his lower body turning into a plume of black smoke as he rose straight up toward the trapdoor without a broom.

"Fast flyer!"

The twins grabbed Tom and bolted.

But they knew at this speed, Snape—who could fly—would catch them in no time.

"Hold him down, good dog." Tom whispered an order.

"Woof woof woof!!" Fluffy roared and lunged straight.

Tom hadn't entered the trapdoor, so Fluffy could ignore him. But the one who'd already gone down—it had to stop him.

Just as Snape's head emerged from the trapdoor, three furious dog heads greeted him.

"Damn!" Snape realized the danger.

Quick as a flash, he pointed his wand at the magic harp nearby.

Squeak~ groan~ squeak~ groan~

The harp played, screeching out a jarring sound.

Before leaving, Tom had kicked the harp. The massive metal instrument toppled over, its own weight damaging some of its internal magical circuits.

The sound it now produced was like someone sawing wood with a rusty blade—piercingly harsh and grating.

Not only did this fail to put the Three-Headed Dog to sleep, it actually made it more alert.

"Fuck!"

That single curse was Snape's last shred of defiance.

First-floor corridor of the castle.

The three of them looked up, waited to confirm no one was chasing them, and only then let their hanging hearts settle.

"Whew~ I'm exhausted. Let's call it a night for our little outing."

"I agree. No point getting caught by Snape during bed check." Tom replied.

As they parted ways, the twins even patted their chests and promised that if anyone in Slytherin ever dared to bully Tom, they'd step up and give that person a proper taste of what it felt like to have a dungbomb smeared across their face.

Of course, Tom understood perfectly well that this was just a flimsy excuse for them to pull pranks.

He thanked them and separated.

As for what would happen to Snape, Tom wasn't worried at all.

A professor-level Potions Master, and an active Death Eater at that—he'd have ways to deal with a Three-Headed Dog.

One minute later.

At the door to the Three-Headed Dog's room, Snape pressed his back against it, utterly exhausted, holding it shut with all his might.

His black robes were torn to shreds, and a massive bite mark was visible on his calf.

With the last of his strength, he cast a Colloportus on the lock, ensuring the door couldn't be bashed open from the inside, then slowly slid down the wooden panel.

Whoosh—

A flash of red light swept in with a gust of wind.

"Snape, are you alright?" Dumbledore appeared alongside Fawkes.

In Dumbledore's original imagination, the one looking this disheveled right now should have been Tom and the Weasley twins—how had it turned into Snape?

"Thank goodness you're here. I have something to report."

Snape looked as if he'd seen a savior and shouted urgently.

"There's a Death Eater infiltrating the castle. It just ran right past me. You need to find a way to chase it down!"

The Philosopher's Stone was hidden beneath the Trapdoor, and Snape had just gone down to check if the security mechanisms were intact. Halfway through his inspection, he'd noticed the Trapdoor opening from above.

Because the light was dim and the distance was far, he hadn't been able to identify Tom and the others at the time.

Which led him to mistakenly believe that the one opening the door was a Death Eater.

"You must have been mistaken. I didn't see anyone on my way here." Dumbledore immediately guessed that Tom was fine, and continued: "Besides, I think what you saw just now wasn't a Death Eater."

"Not a Death Eater? Then who could it be?"

"It was..." Dumbledore was momentarily at a loss for how to answer.

He knew Snape's temper. If Snape found out the true identity of the trespassers, Tom and the other two would be finished.

Not to mention whether Snape would be willing to deduct points from his own house—in any case, Gryffindor's points were definitely going to be obliterated.

"Allow me to retract my earlier guess. I think what you saw must have been a Death Eater after all."

Dumbledore had recently received news that the vault he'd used to store the Philosopher's Stone had been broken into by an outsider.

This meant that some Death Eater already knew the Stone's location, and that very Death Eater had most likely already infiltrated Hogwarts Castle.

Now he was telling a lie. It would not only put the other professors on high alert but also protect Tom and the others. Perfect.

"Go tend to your wounds. I'll go notify the other professors right away."

Meanwhile.

Tom's dormitory.

Tom had just lain down when his eyes snapped open. A panel suddenly appeared before him.

["Death Eater" +100 progress, Impression Level reached Lv.1, Persona activated, Achievement Points +1]

"What does this mean? Have I really become the Dark Lord?"