She's Just a Savior with A-Athleticism / Keep Talking Tough

"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, keeping her wand lit as she cautiously extended 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 began to spin as she met Fluffy's eyes.

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

She could sense Fluffy the Three-Headed Dog's consciousness—chaotic, violent, yet carrying a certain simple loyalty.

It was guarding whatever lay beneath the trapdoor. This was the task its beloved master had entrusted to it.

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

The Three-Headed Dog's three heads tilted at once, and the ferocity in its six eyes gradually faded.

Just as the Three-Headed Dog seemed about to fall asleep, its right head abruptly seemed to snap awake. 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 caused no real harm. Instead, it completely enraged the beast.

The Three-Headed Dog let out a deafening roar. All three heads opened their gaping 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 turned and rushed for the door, while the Three-Headed Dog's claws scraped 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!"

Enhanced by Ancient Magic: Multicasting, the Three-Headed Dog was successfully halted in midair for several seconds, buying them precious time.

The three girls rushed for the door. Harry yanked it open, and all three of them practically stumbled out.

"Lock the door!" Vera shouted.

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

The next second, a massive impact came from inside, making the entire door shake.

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

"W-what was that thing?" Hermione's face was deathly pale, her voice trembling. "Why is there a monster like that in the school?"

Harry's eyes were still full of lingering fear. "...I've never seen such a huge dog. And it had three heads!"

Vera was also trying to steady her breathing. "That was a Three-Headed Dog, a magical creature."

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

But she had ruined it with her rash action.

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

Vera gently shook her head and took Harry's trembling hand. "It wasn't your fault. Ordinary calming methods would have had difficulty affecting all three heads at once anyway."

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

Suddenly, Hermione's eyes lit up. "Wait! Did you notice? There seemed to be something beneath 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, clearly deep in thought. "Wait... I remember, before term started, when Hagrid took me to Gringotts to withdraw money, we went to an underground vault... He took something away and said it was Dumbledore's business..."

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

Vera nodded thoughtfully. "It would seem so... Anything that requires a Three-Headed Dog to guard it must be extremely important."

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

"That's right... wait?" Harry answered automatically 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 groundskeeper. I shouldn't have asked you to—"

"That's not it!" Harry quickly explained. "I was just thinking about how to ask Hagrid... After all, he isn't very good at keeping secrets sometimes."

Hermione also started offering suggestions. "We can probe indirectly. 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 return 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 Invisibility Cloak.

Just a Savior with A-Rank 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 stared at them in surprise. "Good heavens! What are you three little things doing out in the middle of the night?"

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

When they returned to the common room, the fire in the fireplace had 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 was it?" 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 told him to 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 go back and rest first," Vera said slowly.

Ron looked 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... then get some rest."

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

Before Vera could finish, Ron hurriedly 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, you'll see the result tomorrow morning."

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

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

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

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

Once Ron's footsteps disappeared at the end of the stairs, Hermione slowly let out a breath. "We managed to fool him... If more people find out what happened to us tonight, things will only get more complicated."

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

They quietly walked toward the girls' dormitory stairs, only finally breathing a sigh of relief after closing the door.

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

Hermione sat at the bedside, nervously clutching her hair. "But thinking about it now, we really shouldn't have gone there... Dumbledore clearly 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 extraordinary."

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

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

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 truly important, more people may have their eyes on it."

Hermione looked at them worriedly. "Shouldn't we tell a professor?"

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

Vera gently patted Hermione's shoulder. "The best thing to do now is pretend we know nothing. But if we notice anything unusual, we can send the professors an anonymous message."

Hermione looked as though 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 look and nodded at the same time.

"I promise," Harry said.

Vera smiled lightly without responding, merely urging them to get into bed and rest soon.

After washing up briefly, Harry helped Vera transfer onto the bed before climbing under her own blankets.

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

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

Vera was silent for a while before answering softly, "It was only temporary calming. Each head of a Three-Headed Dog 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 answer. She merely turned over lightly and pretended to be asleep.

The Magic Circuit slowly circulated within her, and the strange sensation of connecting with the Three-Headed Dog remained vivid in her mind.

She gently stroked Nox's soft fur in her arms, her thoughts drifting back to the moment when Harry had unhesitatingly stepped in front of her just as the Three-Headed Dog was about to attack again.

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 what she herself was thinking.

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

Could a child who had endured harsh treatment from her family for years really speak so easily about the cruel life she had suffered while living under someone else's roof?

Vera was no longer a child, but she had once been that age. How could she not know that children at this age had very strong pride?

Especially young witches and wizards who could enter Gryffindor.

From the moment she had first met Harry, then on the train, and even during their daily interactions, Harry would casually mention the unfair treatment she had received from the Dursleys.

If Harry had grown up in such an environment, yet could still face her past wounds so calmly and openly tell a peer like Vera about them, then there were only two possibilities—either she was truly so naïve that she had no guard at all, or she was hiding something beyond those words.

Moreover, the combative side Harry usually displayed did not match the experiences she described. Especially when Vera had asked whether she was good at fighting, Harry had hesitantly avoided the subject.

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

Moonlight slipped through the gap in the curtains and fell over Harry's sleeping face. The girl was already sound asleep, her black hair scattered messily across the pillow. Her glasses had been removed, and she looked completely defenseless.

What kind of person are you, Harry Potter? Vera murmured soundlessly.

Author's note: Promo: "Miss Ovephia's Book of Sins"

You're Just Stubborn

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

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

But... she had wanted to test her too.

Like Dumbledore, Vera could not completely trust this gender-swapped version of Harry Potter, 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 all the strange things about Harry.

Vera had to reevaluate her before deciding how they would interact in the future.

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

It was just...

She remembered Harry's unhesitating movement as she stood in front of Vera. She remembered the girl's always-bright eyes whenever she looked at her.

Could appearances deceive?

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

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

No matter what, she would figure it out.

And... though she had failed to tame the Three-Headed Dog this time, at least she had gained some experience.