From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

“Remember what we agreed on, Harry?” Hermione was still trying to fill in the gaps. “'We’re not here to find the Philosopher’s Stone, we’re here to duel Malfoy…' Use that to keep Malfoy calm, and after receiving Ron’s signal, put on the Invisibility Cloak and go into the room with the three-headed dog… That three-headed dog can’t see through your Invisibility Cloak, right?”

“No, that’s not right!” Harry suddenly interrupted in a low voice. “Nobody in the castle knows that the Philosopher’s Stone was hidden in that room except for us. All I have to do is tell Malfoy, ‘I just want to do it again where I beat you last time, this time without any helpers or witnesses, just the two of us.’ Haha, he’ll be trembling with fear!”

“Although Professor Victor has taught dueling to several years, we’re still a long way off! Harry, you have to watch out for his magical dragon,” Hermione said worriedly. “Think about Neville’s hat and hair!”

“I don’t actually have to duel him,” Harry laughed optimistically.

"No need to duel with anyone, Scarface Potter?" Another voice suddenly came from the end of the corridor; it was Malfoy.

The trio hiding in the Invisibility Cloak and Ivy, concealed within the Disillusionment Charm, watched as Malfoy emerged from around the corner, his expression shifting from smugness to utter astonishment.

"What the hell!" Malfoy stared blankly at the empty corridor. "I clearly heard Potter's voice! But there's not a single person here!"

It seems Malfoy's intention was to startle Harry, but he didn't expect that while Harry and the others were discussing how to deal with Malfoy, they hadn't taken off their Invisibility Cloaks. They reasoned that Malfoy, arriving from the Slytherin dungeons, should have been even slower. Just like the duel in the Prize Room last term, Malfoy was late last time.

“There’s no one here. Maybe they’ve run away.” Malfoy didn’t come alone. Although he left behind Goyle and Crabbe, who would only get in his way, that didn’t mean he would come to the appointment on his own.

Malfoy wasn't the only restless student among all the first-year Slytherin students.

The trio hiding under the invisibility cloak covered their mouths. It wasn't Ivy they expected; instead, it was another troublesome Slytherin figure—Cassandra.

Last semester, Cassandra and Malfoy both wanted to get along with Ivy. No, it would be more accurate to say that ever since they witnessed Ivy's triumphant display in the Slytherin common room, sweeping aside a group of upperclassmen, there wasn't a single Slytherin who didn't want to be on good terms with him.

But very few people succeed in doing so. After inviting Ivy to Malfoy Manor for Christmas and presenting her with Voldemort's Horcruxes and seven Nimbus 2001s, the Malfoy family has essentially made contact with Ivy.

Thanks to this relationship, Malfoy's status in Slytherin rose accordingly. Although everyone believed it was thanks to his father Lucius, as members of Slytherin, no one would openly show their contempt for Malfoy, except for Cassandra.

This girl was even braver; not only did Ivy leave a dark magic mark on her, but she also inadvertently became Ivy's contract sorceress. This close connection with the Slytherin became the source of her arrogance. Although she was always as docile as a lamb in front of Ivy, she became much more aggressive in front of other Slytherins, her sharp tongue and meanness almost identical to Snape's.

"So this is your dueling game?" Cassandra said with a haughty smile, glancing sideways at Malfoy. "You got played by a few Gryffindors? I remember someone came here to show me 'how to defeat the famous Harry Potter,' not to stare blankly at an empty corridor."

Malfoy's face quickly darkened, but he wouldn't admit it was his own defeat. Instead, he blamed it on his opponent's weaknesses: "I never imagined that Gryffindor, who always boasted of their bravery, would actually be nothing but cowards."

Harry almost couldn't resist lifting the Invisibility Cloak and rushing out, but Hermione stopped him, gesturing for him to observe the situation a little longer.

"Where are you going?" Malfoy asked. "Now that Scarface has acted like a coward, we'd better hurry back to the dorms. I think they've gone to find the professor!"

Cassandra clearly wasn't planning to leave empty-handed. In fact, ever since she obtained a portion of Ivy's power, she had been eager to experiment with it, and the corridor that Dumbledore and the professors had set up was the perfect place for her to wreak havoc.

"Let them do as they please, but I won't leave empty-handed." Cassandra walked to the end of the corridor, where there was a closed door.

"Wait!" Malfoy stepped forward to stop her. He vividly remembered the warm, smelly three-headed dog in that room. "Are you crazy! You have no idea what you're going to face! You'll die!"

“No.” Cassandra didn’t turn around or stop. “Dumbledore has already removed the truly deadly thing from inside, he said so himself.”

“But…” Malfoy frowned. Thanks to his boasting in the common room, almost all Slytherins knew he had a duel with Potter that night. That meant everyone knew Cassandra had gone on her night stroll with him, and if he went back alone, he could only imagine what kind of venom those little snakes would spew.

“If you’re scared, just hide under the covers like a sheep, or remember your mother’s warm embrace. I won’t laugh at you.” Cassandra’s words were already sarcastic.

Malfoy pursed his lips, his face pale. He had never been a courageous child; the only reason he hadn't left was because of his pride. He muttered to himself, "If anything were to happen to me, Dumbledore could forget about staying at Hogwarts! You know, my father is a member of the Board of Governors!"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. She had originally wanted to get some information from Malfoy about what was in the room at the end of the corridor, but all Malfoy did was boast about how brave he was and how shameless Scarface Potter was. Apart from the three-headed dog behind the door, she knew almost nothing about the place.

“Shut up. Bragging won’t help at all. If you’re not planning to go in, then wait here. But if the professor catches you, don’t you dare betray me.” Cassandra didn’t know what she was capable of; besides her Arcane Blast and Cruciatus Curse, she didn’t have much else to rely on. Malfoy, at least, had the magical ceramic dragon Ivy had given him, which together made up half a combat unit—it should be somewhat useful. After all, Malfoy could attract Cerberus’s attention with his roars, and the dragon could breathe fire.

"..." Malfoy's mind was filled with the three-headed dog behind the door, and he had no energy to argue. He reached into his robe and rubbed his hands for a while before pulling out a nightcap.

At his soft call, a small, shiny black dragon emerged from his nightcap.

Cassandra nodded to herself. This was exactly the effect she wanted from bringing Malfoy out; aerial units were truly remarkable.

The two Slytherins and one dragon were gradually approaching Harry and his friends' location, and none of the three knew what to do, as this was all outside their plans. It could be said that, apart from luring Malfoy here, everything else was beyond Harry's control.

The Gryffindor trio carefully moved to the wall, afraid of accidentally bumping into the Slytherins in the corridor. The Invisibility Cloak only made them appear to disappear; it didn't actually eliminate their collision volume.

Fortunately, there were no serious incidents, and both sides passed safely.

But Harry felt he couldn't just watch them go through that door, so he made a bold decision: he left the Invisibility Cloak with his two friends and dashed out.

"Hey!" Harry called out, and the two Slytherins, who were already extremely nervous, turned around abruptly, almost letting out a scream.

"Potter! What are you playing at?" Malfoy growled. "We're on a night patrol, are you trying to summon the professors on night watch?"

Ha, the professor is watching right here.

Ivy almost wanted some popcorn, but she didn't expect these little wizards to be so interesting.

"I'm here for a duel. What, is it that the esteemed Malfoy is too afraid to face me alone and has brought a helper along?" Harry tried his best to calm himself down, but when he saw the little dragon tilting its head on Malfoy's shoulder, he couldn't help but think of Ron's poor finger that had been bitten by Norbert.

“I don’t have time to play children’s games with you,” Cassandra said irritably. There had been too many unexpected events today. She just wanted to test her abilities, but she couldn’t even find a suitable target. “You’ve wasted too much of my time. If you’re not going in, Malfoy, then I’ll go by myself.”

Malfoy was actually happy to see Harry appear, because he finally had a reason not to face that damned Cerberus. Even the three-headed Scarface Potter was much cuter in his eyes than Cerberus.

But Malfoy's joy came quickly and went even faster.

Because Harry said, "Yes, our duel is just child's play. So, Malfoy, do you dare to play something more interesting with me?"

Cassandra curled the corners of her lips; things were starting to get interesting.

Malfoy, however, stared wide-eyed, desperately trying to stop Harry from saying anything more with his eyes.

“Let’s see who gets through the room at the end of the corridor first!” Harry said.

Malfoy closed his eyes in agony, but Cassandra laughed. What was wrong with having another cannon fodder? She never thought the famous Harry Potter was a true dark wizard; his escape from Voldemort was just good luck.

"Do you dare? Is the valiant young master Malfoy just a coward who talks big but doesn't deliver?" Harry continued to provoke.

“Fine…you just wait and see…” Malfoy said reluctantly, but his demeanor was far weaker than Harry’s.

“Did you think I’d leave you to face both of them alone? Two Slytherins? Harry?” Another voice rang out in the corridor. It was Ron, his face flushed, standing there clearly.

“Ron!” Harry exclaimed in surprise, then immediately became worried, “You don’t have to come with me on this adventure…”

"Great! So Scarface Potter has a sidekick too!" Malfoy seemed to have suddenly found his courage again, because in his eyes, the Weasleys, as pure-blood scoundrels, were obviously inferior people. Their family was so poor that they were practically wearing the same pair of pants, so he absolutely could not appear worse than Ron.

“Harry doesn’t need any followers!” Hermione emerged from under the Invisibility Cloak at some point and stood next to her friend. “You, Malfoy, are more like Miss Worley’s follower.”

Malfoy began to regret not bringing along the cumbersome Goyle and the dim-witted Crabbe; at least those two wouldn't be any less impressive than the skinny monkey from Gryffindor.

Sitting in the armchair, Ivy was almost laughing hysterically. The scene before him was just too dramatic. If the next plot was students from the two academies seeking cooperation while fighting against each other, it would be exactly the same as the superhero movies in Hollywood twenty or thirty years from now. Those superheroes with world-destroying power are no different in essence from these little wizards.

If Ivy hadn't spent several days studying magic and stayed up all night for several nights, he might have been tempted to continue reading.

But now, he's tired, so he has to do what a professor should do!

Surely no one really wants to watch a few junior wizards who can't even cast a third-ring spell bravely embarking on a beginner's tutorial at Hogwarts, right?

Really? Really?

There are actually people who like to watch it.

A large, bony hand landed on Ivy's shoulder. He turned around and saw Dumbledore, who was also under the Illusion Charm.

The white-bearded old man smiled and shook his head at him, silently stopping him from doing so.

Chapter 130 Passing Through the Trapdoor

Sitting in the large armchair, Ivy closed her eyes in anguish.

He should have thought of that sooner!

Because of Trelawney's prophecy twelve years prior, Dumbledore always believed that Harry was qualified and had the right to confront Voldemort. Although he was unaware that Voldemort had possessed Quirrell and infiltrated the school, he still prepared a challenge to remind Quirrell of his happy times at Hogwarts and to test Harry in the process.

However, now that Voldemort and Quirrell have died at Ivy's hands by some twist of fate, the challenges set up by Dumbledore and the professors have become useless. That's why, after the final exams, he announced that the room behind the trapdoor would become an extra bonus item for the House Cup.

The fact that Dumbledore was able to come here to stop Ivy's actions shows that he was fully aware of Harry's plan from the beginning. Those kids certainly didn't expect to avoid the portrait on the wall when discussing the plan.

Perhaps Dumbledore was waiting outside the Gryffindor common room for Harry and the others to pass through the portrait of the Fat Lady; otherwise, how could he have arrived so quickly?

Logically speaking, Ivy had no interest in participating in the Savior training program, nor did he think that a few junior wizards could pull off any impressive tricks. Under normal circumstances, he would definitely ignore Dumbledore.

But who told him to swallow the Philosopher's Stone that Nicolas Flamel had entrusted to Dumbledore? As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to be grateful," and "He who takes another's gift is bound to be obliging." Ivy had essentially taken and eaten his food, so it was only right that he be polite to that white-bearded old man, Dumbledore.

“I’m going to open the door…” Harry said, placing his hand on the door at the end of the corridor and swallowing hard.

"Are you really sure? There's a Cerberus inside!" Malfoy tried to hide the tremor in his voice, but everyone else could clearly hear it.

Ron, in particular, said: "Come on, Malfoy! If you're too scared to go in, go back to sleep. I promise no one will know about this."

“Who would believe Weasley’s big mouth? Besides, I was just offering a friendly reminder!” Malfoy’s pale cheeks flushed slightly, and he looked extremely angry.

"How much more time are you going to waste?" Cassandra shook her head impatiently and pushed open the tightly closed door amidst the gasps of the young wizards.

"No—" Malfoy blurted out, but only got halfway through his sentence, because everyone was surprised to find that the three-headed dog, which had almost filled the entire room, was gone.

"Where exactly is this Cerberus you're talking about?" Cassandra drew her wand and stepped into the room first.

“Perhaps Professor Dumbledore took it away…” Harry looked around the floor and found that apart from a few dog hairs stuck in the cracks in the floorboards, the only thing left in the room was the trapdoor on the floor.

“It seems our real goal is to get through that trapdoor.” Hermione reached out and knocked on the trapdoor, beckoning a few boys, “Come and give us a hand.”

"Yugadimurleviosa!" A standard levitation spell was cast, and the door knocker on the trapdoor stood upright as if an invisible hand was pulling it open.

"I thought you were the best witch in the first year! Why do you have to do even this little thing yourself?" Malfoy flicked his wand, and the trapdoor slammed to the ground with a thud. It seemed that Cerberus had taken away his fear, and his arrogance and conceit had returned.

“Hermione is definitely the best witch in the first year! Her final exam scores are definitely better than yours!” Ron, who always unconditionally supports his friends, naturally retorted.

Seeing that the young wizards were about to start arguing again, Cassandra watched for a while at the dark entrance of the cave, then uttered, "Flash!"

A tiny light suddenly appeared at the tip of the wand. Cassandra extended the wand, which was shimmering with a soft light, into the cave entrance, but the light emitted by the spell was still insufficient to illuminate the entire darkness, and she still could not see anything.

“…Hey!” Harry stopped Ron and Malfoy from getting into a fight. “Our duel is to get through Dumbledore’s challenge, not to punch each other!” If Malfoy didn’t have that fire-breathing dragon on his shoulder, Harry wouldn’t mind beating him up right now, since no professor was watching anyway.

"Hmph, fine." Malfoy snorted. "I've opened the door, so let's see how Weasley deals with this bottomless abyss."

"Then you'd better watch out!" Ron shoved Malfoy aside with his shoulder and was the first to jump down.