Wheelchair War God Speedruns Hogwarts: Chapter 21

"Vera... it's looking at us..." Harry's voice trembled as her fingers gripped Vera's shoulder tightly.

"Don't be afraid." Vera soothed her softly, maintaining the light at the tip of her wand as she carefully reached out with her other hand and slowly pressed her palm against its nose.

"Don't worry, I can see you..." The golden circuits in her pupils suddenly rotated as she met Fluffy's eyes.

In that instant, through the Magic Circuit, she seemed to form some strange resonance with the Three-Headed Dog before her.

She could sense Fluffy's consciousness—chaotic, violent, yet carrying a kind of simple loyalty.

It was guarding whatever lay beneath the trapdoor. That was the task its beloved master had given it.

"Shh... relax..." Vera murmured softly. Golden patterns from the Magic Circuit flickered faintly beneath her skin. "Good boy, you're doing very well. Your master would be proud of you..."

All three heads of the Three-Headed Dog tilted at once, and the vicious glint in its six eyes gradually faded.

Just as the Three-Headed Dog seemed about to fall asleep, the head on its right suddenly appeared to wake up. It jolted, threw open its jaws, and lunged toward them.

Harry instinctively stepped in front of Vera and swiftly drew her wand. "Expelliarmus—"

"Don't!" Vera shouted, but it was already too late.

Harry's Disarming Charm struck the right head, but it did no real damage. Instead, it completely enraged the beast.

The Three-Headed Dog let out an earth-shaking roar. All three heads opened their blood-filled maws and pounced at them!

Vera had no time to think. She blinked hard, grabbed Harry and Hermione by the wrists, and controlled her wheelchair at the same time. "Run!"

The three girls turned and rushed for the door, the Three-Headed Dog's claws scraping across the floor behind them with a piercing screech.

Just as the giant dog was about to pounce on them, Vera swung her wand sharply. "Impedimenta!"

With the boost of Ancient Magic: Multicast, the Three-Headed Dog was successfully halted in midair for several seconds, buying them precious time.

The three girls dashed for the door. Harry yanked it open, and they practically tumbled out.

"Lock the door!" Vera called out.

Hermione reacted quickly, turning and casting a Locking Charm that firmly sealed the oak door.

The next second, a tremendous impact sounded from inside, and the entire door shook.

"Go!" Harry pushed Vera's wheelchair, and the three of them raced down the corridor, only stopping to catch their breath once they were sure they were safe.

"Wh-what was that thing?" Hermione's face was deathly pale, and her voice shook. "Why would there be a monster like that in the school?"

Harry's eyes were still filled with terror. "...I've never seen such a huge dog before. And it had three heads!"

Vera was trying to steady her breathing as well. "That was a Three-Headed Dog. It's a magical creature."

"A magical creature?" Harry's gaze drifted for a moment, as though she had thought of something. She hesitantly turned toward Vera. "Vera, you almost managed to calm it down just now..."

But she had ruined it with her reckless action.

Harry's voice was full of self-reproach. "If I hadn't suddenly attacked..."

Vera gently shook her head and reached out to hold Harry's faintly trembling hand. "It had nothing to do with you. Ordinary calming methods would have had a hard time working on all three heads at once anyway."

The two looked at each other while Hermione was the only one beside them, breathing rapidly.

Suddenly, Hermione's eyes lit up. "Wait! Did you notice? There seemed to be something under that Three-Headed Dog's feet!"

"What thing?" Harry looked utterly confused and instinctively turned to Vera for an answer.

Vera sighed and explained, "It was standing on a trapdoor. Clearly, it was guarding something."

Harry's eyes suddenly widened as she thought of something. "Wait... I remember, before school started, when Hagrid took me to Gringotts to withdraw money, we went to an underground vault... He took something out and said it was Dumbledore's business..."

"You mean Hagrid brought that thing to Hogwarts?" Hermione frowned.

Vera nodded thoughtfully. "Looks like it... Whatever needs a Three-Headed Dog to guard it must be extremely important."

The three fell silent for a while before Vera finally spoke in a quiet voice. "Harry, if I remember correctly, Hagrid invited you to visit his hut this weekend, didn't he?"

"That's right... wait?" Harry answered instinctively before suddenly realizing what Vera meant. She looked at her in surprise.

Vera met her gaze without hesitation, then turned her head slightly. "If you don't want to, that's fine. I know you have a good relationship with that gamekeeper. I shouldn't have asked you to—"

"No!" Harry hurriedly explained. "I was just thinking about how to ask Hagrid... After all, he isn't very good at keeping secrets sometimes."

Hermione chimed in with a suggestion. "We can sound him out. For example, we could start by talking about the pets Hagrid likes..."

Vera nodded lightly. "That's a good idea. But for now—"

She looked at the sky outside the window. "We should head back to the dormitory."

Only then did the three girls realize they had not completely escaped danger. They hurriedly nodded and headed toward Gryffindor Tower beneath the cover of the Invisibility Cloak.

Chapter 42: Just a Savior with A Ranks in Strength and Speed

On the way back, the three carefully made their way through the corridors and finally returned safely to Gryffindor Tower.

The Fat Lady's portrait widened her eyes in surprise when she saw them. "Heavens! What are you three little ones doing sneaking out in the middle of the night?"

"Dragon Scum," Harry panted, giving the password. The Fat Lady reluctantly moved aside.

When they returned to the common room, the fire in the fireplace had already gone out, leaving only faint embers.

"You're finally back!" Ron poked his head out from behind an armchair, his face full of worry. "I've been waiting for you! How did it go?"

Harry collapsed onto the sofa beside the fireplace and let out a long breath. "Don't ask. We nearly got caught too... and we ran into something even scarier."

"What thing?" Ron leaned closer curiously.

Vera frowned and cut Harry off. "Nothing. Just an accident... Why are you the only one here? Where's Longbottom?"

Ron scratched his red hair awkwardly. "Neville was too nervous. I was afraid he'd give us away, so I had him go back to the dormitory first."

At this point, Gryffindor's future Sword Saint was still just a child afraid of breaking school rules.

"Since that's the case, it's late. We should all go back and rest first," Vera said gently.

Ron looked at her as though he wanted to say something, but when he met Vera's dark eyes, he instinctively shrank his neck. In the end, he merely muttered, "All right... You girls should get some rest too."

"By the way, about what happened tonight..."

Before Vera could finish, Ron quickly covered his mouth. "Don't worry! I won't tell anyone this time!"

Seeing his grave expression, Vera smiled and shook her head. "I mean, by tomorrow morning, you'll see the result."

Ron froze, excitement immediately appearing on his face. "You mean Malfoy really—"

"Shh." Vera pressed a finger to her lips and gave him a mysterious smile. "You'll find out tomorrow."

Ron's eyes sparkled as he nodded repeatedly. "Got it! I'll go back to the dormitory first!"

He climbed the stairs quietly, not forgetting to turn back and give them a thumbs-up.

Once Ron's footsteps disappeared at the top of the stairs, Hermione slowly let out a breath. "We finally fooled him... If more people found out about what happened to us tonight, things would only become more complicated."

"Let's go back to our room first." Vera glanced around and spoke softly.

They quietly headed for the girls' dormitory stairs. Only after closing the door did they finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Tonight was way too exciting..." Harry flopped straight onto the large bed. "First Malfoy, then Filch, and finally that Three-Headed Dog..."

Hermione sat at the edge of the bed, nervously clutching her hair. "But thinking about it now, we really shouldn't have gone there... Dumbledore explicitly forbade students from entering that corridor."

Vera wheeled herself to the window and let the moonlight fall across her face. "But we did go, and we discovered something incredible."

She gently guided their thoughts. "The question now is, what exactly did Hagrid bring back from Gringotts? Why does it need a Three-Headed Dog to guard it?"

Harry suddenly sat upright. "Do you think... Malfoy might have discovered this secret too? He was on the fourth floor tonight."

Vera shook her head. "Probably not. Filch had already taken him away by then. But..."

She paused. "We need to stay vigilant. If that thing is really important, more people might be after it."

Hermione looked at the two of them worriedly. "Shouldn't we tell the professors?"

"Tell them we broke school rules and wandered around at night?" Harry gave a bitter smile. "Gryffindor would lose points."

Vera gently patted Hermione's shoulder. "For now, the best thing to do is pretend we don't know anything. But if we find anything unusual, we can send the professors an anonymous message."

Hermione looked like she wanted to object, but in the end, she only sighed. "At least promise me that, until we know more, we won't go near that corridor again."

Harry and Vera exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time.

"I promise," Harry said.

Vera smiled softly without answering, merely urging them to get into bed and rest soon.

After washing up, Harry helped Vera move onto the bed before climbing beneath her own blankets.

Though they were mentally exhausted, their minds were clearly still buzzing from that night's adventure.

"Vera," Harry asked quietly in the darkness, "you really almost tamed that Three-Headed Dog, didn't you?"

Vera was silent for a moment before answering softly, "I only calmed it temporarily. Each of a Three-Headed Dog's heads has an independent consciousness. Controlling all three at once isn't easy."

"But it was still amazing..." Harry's voice was full of admiration. "You always know how to deal with every situation."

Vera did not respond. She simply turned over gently and pretended to be asleep.

The Magic Circuit slowly revolved within her. The strange sensation from forming a connection with the Three-Headed Dog was still vivid in her memory.

She gently stroked Nox's soft fur in her arms, her thoughts drifting back to the moment just now... when Harry had stepped in front of her without hesitation as the Three-Headed Dog was about to strike back.

Why could she so easily stand in front of her?

What had Harry been thinking at that moment?

Vera did not know, but she knew her own thoughts.

Even before this, she had vaguely realized that Harry was not as harmless as she appeared.

Could a child who had suffered harsh treatment from her family for years really so easily speak of the severe treatment she had endured while living under another's roof?

Vera was no longer a child, but she had gone through that age too. How could she not know that children at this age had extremely strong pride?

Especially young witches and wizards who could enter Gryffindor.

From the time she first met Harry, then on the train, and in their everyday interactions, she would casually mention the unfair treatment she had suffered at the Dursleys'.

If Harry had grown up in such an environment yet could still face her past wounds so calmly and openly tell someone her own age about them...

Then there were only two possibilities—either she was truly so innocent that she had no guard at all, or she was hiding something beyond those words.

Besides that, Harry's usual eagerness to fight did not match the experiences she had described. Especially when Vera asked whether she was good at fighting, Harry had avoided the topic with hesitant evasions.

Vera sighed softly and looked toward Harry's bed by moonlight.

Moonlight spilled through the gap in the curtains onto Harry's sleeping face. The girl was already sound asleep, her black hair scattered messily across the pillow, her glasses removed. She looked entirely defenseless.

“What kind of person are you, Harry Potter?” Vera silently murmured.

Author's Note: PY: "Miss Ophiia's Book of Sins"

Chapter 43: Keep Talking Tough

For Vela Black, when she stood before that door, she had indeed known very clearly that it was a test for Harry.

At the time, she had been fully capable of taking Harry and Hermione away, ensuring they would never have the chance to encounter the Three-Headed Dog, much less guiding them afterward to deduce the existence of the Philosopher's Stone.

But... she wanted to test it too.

Like Dumbledore, faced with this gender-swapped version of Harry Potter, Vela could not fully trust her, even knowing that she was the protagonist of this story.

Everything this gender-swapped Savior had experienced might differ from the original Harry Potter story. Different experiences naturally meant different states of mind and personalities.

Not to mention the strange things about Harry herself.

Vela had to reassess her before deciding how to interact with her in the future.

So opening that door had also been Vela's test for Harry.

It was just...

She remembered Harry's utterly unhesitating movement when she stood in front of her, and the way this girl's eyes always sparkled whenever she looked at her.

Could appearances deceive?

Her fingertips unconsciously touched her chest as she turned, her expression complicated, to look at Harry's sleeping face.

Outside the window, the moonlight was gradually covered by clouds, and the dormitory sank into deeper darkness.

No matter what, she would find out.

And... although she had not tamed the Three-Headed Dog this time, she had at least gained a little experience.