The Three-Headed Dog

After a frantic sprint, Silvan finally pushed open the classroom door one second before class began and answered when the professor called his name.

Yes, even though he was a ghost, Professor Binns took attendance in every class. No one knew how he recognized the students.

Or perhaps he did not recognize them at all and was merely acting out of professional habit.

Once his name had been called, Silvan slumped straight onto his desk. His eyelids began to droop, and his vision blurred.

Sunlight streamed through the latticed windows, threads of light intertwining like silvery unicorn tail hair wrapped around ancient runes.

The weather was just right, neither cold nor hot. Coupled with the ghost professor's unique voice, which seemed laced with a sleeping potion, it would have been a terrible waste not to sleep.

But someone did not see it that way.

Half-asleep, Silvan heard someone talking. He had not wanted to pay attention, but the other person was too persistent, going on and on, their voice growing louder and louder.

"Professor McGonagall really let you join the Gryffindor team?"

"You're amazing!"

"Did you see Malfoy's expression? He looked completely stunned."

"That's a Nimbus 2000, the fastest broom there is."

"Harry, can I ride it? Just ten minutes."

The voice was like a hundred Cornish pixies buzzing around Silvan's ears. He was starting to wonder whether he should make Ron quiet down for a while.

But then, the two of them suddenly changed the subject.

"Is he asleep?" It was still Ron's voice.

"Probably," Harry said. "I heard Neville say Silvan seemed to be busy with something these past few days. He doesn't go to bed until dawn, and it was probably the same last night. Remember? When we got back last night, the light in his dormitory was still on."

"He's really... working hard," Ron muttered.

"Forget that. As long as he can't hear us." Ron seemed to lower his voice.

"Last night was really dangerous. I never thought Malfoy was such a coward. He was the one who suggested the duel, but in the end, he never showed up."

"I think he was the one who led Filch there. Otherwise, how could it have been such a coincidence that Filch appeared on the very floor we were on?"

"It was my oversight," Harry said. "I never thought Malfoy could be so despicable."

"His whole family is despicable," Ron said mockingly. "We almost got eaten as a midnight snack by that three-headed dog... But thinking about it, it really was exciting. We actually escaped from a three-headed dog."

"Why do you think Dumbledore keeps such a dangerous magical creature at school?"

"Didn't Hermione say it was guarding something?"

"Oh, don't mention her." Ron sounded a little impatient. "She's out of her mind. She actually thinks getting expelled is worse than being bitten to death by a three-headed dog."

"Um... I think she has a point." Harry seemed to be taking Hermione's side.

"You're mad too," Ron said, but he did not continue the topic.

"Then what do you think it's guarding?"

"I don't know," Harry said, lowering his voice again. "Maybe... the thing from Vault 713?"

"The one Gringotts was robbed for?" Ron raised his voice without realizing it.

"Keep it down," Harry hurriedly reminded him. Only after Ron quieted down did he continue, "That's right, that one. Hagrid took something out of the vault, and then Hogwarts suddenly had a room guarded by a three-headed dog. Isn't that obvious enough?"

Gulp!

It sounded like someone swallowing.

"Then it must be something really important," Ron said. "I bet it's gold."

"Probably not," Harry said. "I saw it once. It was a dirty little package. If it were gold, it wouldn't be worth bringing all the way back to school and having a three-headed dog guard it."

Ron mumbled something, but his voice was too low to make out.

Harry had not heard him either.

"What did you say?"

"Ah... I said, what do you think is inside?"

"I don't know either. Something that size could be diamonds." Harry came up with an answer that seemed more likely to him.

"Huh? What's that?"

"A kind of jewelry," Harry explained. "Jewelry that's more valuable than gold. Aunt Petunia has a necklace with one tiny stone on it, smaller than a bean, but she treasures it dearly and only wears it on the most important occasions."

"That must be expensive," Ron said. "But Muggle jewelry might not be worth that much to wizards. Goblins drive hard bargains. If you ask me, it might be the recipe for Chocolate Frogs. That's the best chocolate there is."

"But why would the recipe for Chocolate Frogs be at Hogwarts?"

"Maybe someone asked Dumbledore for help."

The two of them chattered beside him, growing more and more animated.

Silvan had more or less figured it out.

They had arranged to have a wizard's duel with Malfoy at midnight yesterday, only to be stood up.

Malfoy had not come. They had only encountered Filch, and to avoid being caught, the two of them, along with Hermione, who had come to stop them, hid in the forbidden room. Inside, they found a three-headed dog guarding a trapdoor.

And Harry believed that whatever the three-headed dog was guarding had something to do with the Gringotts vault robbery.

A three-headed dog...

Silvan was wide awake at once. He opened his eyes and looked at Harry and Ron, whose faces were full of terror.

"Y-you weren't asleep?" Ron's voice trembled.

"You could say you made it impossible for me to sleep." Silvan yawned. "Next time you're discussing secrets, remember to keep your voices down."

Harry and Ron's faces alternated between red and white as they looked at Silvan, wanting to speak but hesitating.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it secret." Silvan guessed what they were worried about and said it outright.

"Th-thank you."

"No problem." Silvan waved a hand. "But there's one thing I'm curious about. Did you really go into that room?"

"What?"

"The forbidden room on the fourth floor."

"Oh, yes, that's right," Harry said, while Ron nodded in agreement beside him.

Seeing how interested Silvan looked, the two of them gradually let down their guard.

Eleven was exactly the age when children loved to show off, and they were no exception. As soon as Silvan asked, they told him everything.

"It seems the headmaster had a reason for not letting us go in there. The three-headed dog inside was ten feet tall."

Ron stretched out his hand to indicate an absurdly exaggerated height, apparently trying to show just how dangerous his experience yesterday had been.

"That's incredible." Silvan clicked his tongue.

"We were just lucky. We don't want to go through that a second time."

Though they said that, the excitement and lingering thrill unconsciously showing on their faces made it clear that they would love to experience it again.

"So how did you get in?" Silvan asked casually. "Didn't you run into any professors along the way?"

"No." Harry thought for a moment. "Filch chased us for a long time, and we had no choice but to hide in that corridor."

"Right, we had no idea what floor it was beforehand."