"Give me your paw."
"Sit."
"Turn around."
At Tom's commands, Fluffy obediently performed each trick.
At that moment, Fluffy was nothing like the ferocious three-headed dog from before. He was more like a well-behaved pet.
"So that's how it works. The 'Animal Friend' persona really does make it easier for me to get along with beasts. I was just using it wrong before..." Tom marveled inwardly.
["Innate Divine Strength" +2 progress... +2... +1... ["Animal Friend" +1... +2... +...
The Weasley Twins rubbed their eyes. Despite their shock, they confirmed that they weren't seeing things.
The only person at Hogwarts who could play around with a dog this big was probably Hagrid.
They never expected there to be another person who could do it.
"So the rumor about the boulder you used for training this morning was true."
They had gotten up late and hadn't witnessed it themselves, so they'd only heard it from others. At first, they'd thought it was an exaggeration. They hadn't expected it to be true.
"Oh! Look, there seems to be a wooden door over there!" Tom cried out, pretending to be surprised.
Following his pointing finger, they saw a trapdoor where Fluffy had been sleeping.
The twins looked from the trapdoor to the harp nearby, and their clever little heads immediately put the pieces together.
"So that's why! The school didn't make this place off-limits because of the three-headed dog. They hid something under the trapdoor!"
Now the twins were interested.
They were both curious about what the school was protecting so fiercely that it had hidden a dangerous three-headed dog in the school building.
Now that the three-headed dog had been tamed, they finally had a chance to see the secret for themselves.
"Whimper..." Fluffy let out a low whine when he saw them about to touch the trapdoor.
His task was to guard the trapdoor. He was worried that if someone broke in, he would disappoint his master.
"Don't worry. We're not going down. We're just having a look from up here." Tom patted the dog's head and comforted him.
He was also curious about who their companions were down there at the moment.
Since the harp nearby was playing, that meant someone had already gone down.
Could it be Quirrell?
They lifted the trapdoor. Below was dark, but someone seemed to be using the Lumos Charm, so they could just barely make out what was there.
"That's a huge Devil's Snare!"
Fred had barely murmured the words when the light beneath the Devil's Snare suddenly stopped.
"Who's there?"
A voice came from below, one familiar to every student in the school and enough to fill them with fear.
"It's the old bat!"
"If he sees us not only out after curfew but trespassing in a forbidden area, he'll take a hundred points from us!"
The usually fearless twins lost their nerve.
It didn't matter who caught them out after curfew. They absolutely couldn't let Snape catch them.
Snape, holding up the light, passed through the Devil's Snare. His lower body turned into a cloud of black smoke, and he rose into the air without a broom, heading straight for the trapdoor.
"He's flying so fast!"
The twins grabbed Tom and immediately turned to run.
But they both knew that at this speed, Snape would catch up to them in no time.
"Stop him, good dog," Tom ordered softly.
"Woof, woof, woof!" Fluffy barked furiously and charged straight at him.
He could ignore Tom, who hadn't gone through the trapdoor, but he had to punish the person who had gone down.
Just as Snape poked his head up through the trapdoor, he was greeted by three furious dog heads.
"Damn it!" Snape realized he was in trouble.
He reacted swiftly, immediately pointing his wand toward the nearby Magic Harp.
Screech~ creak~ screech~ creak~
The harp played, emitting a piercing sound.
Before leaving, Tom had also kicked the harp. The huge metal harp had fallen over, and its own weight had damaged some of the magical circuitry inside.
The sound it made now was as shrill and unpleasant as someone sawing wood with a rusty saw.
This didn't make the three-headed dog fall asleep. If anything, it only made him more alert.
"Fuck!"
That curse was Snape's last act of defiance.
The corridor on the first floor of the castle.
The three of them looked back and, after confirming that nobody had followed them out, finally let out their held breaths.
"Phew, I'm exhausted. Let's call it a night."
"I agree. We'd better not let Snape catch us when he checks the dormitories later," Tom replied.
Before they parted ways, the twins thumped their chests and promised that if anyone in Slytherin ever bullied Tom, they'd step in and make sure the culprit got to experience what it felt like to have a Dungbomb splattered in their face.
Of course, Tom knew they'd only come up with that lame excuse so they could pull a prank.
After thanking them, he went his separate way.
As for Snape, Tom wasn't worried.
A Potions Master at professor level, and an active Death Eater to boot, would know how to handle a three-headed dog.
A minute later.
At the entrance to the three-headed dog's room, Snape leaned against the door, looking utterly exhausted.
His black robes were torn to shreds, and there was a huge bite mark on his calf.
With the last of his strength, he cast Colloportus on the door to make sure it couldn't be knocked open from the inside. Only then did he slowly slide down the door.
Whoosh—
A red blur swept in with a gust of wind.
"Snape, are you all right?" Dumbledore appeared with Fawkes.
In Dumbledore's original imaginings, Tom and the Weasley twins should have been the ones looking disheveled. How had it turned out to be Snape?
"Thank goodness you're here at last. I have something to report."
Snape seemed to have spotted his savior and hurriedly called out.
"A Death Eater broke into the castle and just ran past me. You have to find a way to catch him!"
The Philosopher's Stone was hidden beneath the trapdoor. Snape had gone down to check that the protective enchantments were intact, but halfway through his inspection, he noticed that the trapdoor had been opened from outside.
Because of the dim light and the distance, he hadn't been able to identify Tom and the others.
As a result, he'd mistaken them for Death Eaters.
"Are you sure you saw someone? I didn't see anyone on my way here," Dumbledore said. He immediately realized that Tom was safe, then continued, "Besides, I don't think the person you saw was a Death Eater."
"Not a Death Eater? Then who could it have been?"
"It was..." Dumbledore didn't know how to answer for a moment.
He knew Snape's temper. If Snape found out who had really trespassed, Tom and the other two would be done for.
Never mind whether Snape would really deduct points from his own house. Gryffindor would definitely lose a mountain of points.
"Allow me to take back my earlier guess. I think what you saw just now must have been a Death Eater."
Dumbledore had recently received news that outsiders had broken into the vault where he had previously stored the Philosopher's Stone.
That meant a Death Eater already knew where the Philosopher's Stone was. The Death Eater must have infiltrated Hogwarts Castle by now.
He'd just told a lie. It would make the other professors more vigilant while protecting Tom and the others. It was perfect.
"Go get your injuries treated. I'll notify the other professors."
Meanwhile.
In Tom's dormitory.
Tom, who had just lain down, suddenly opened his eyes as a panel popped up.
["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?"
Before you continue