Hogwarts' Golden Glory

The moment the music stopped.

The ears on the middle head of Lou Williams suddenly stood up.

Its wet nose twitched, exhaling hot breath that smelled of rotting flesh.

"It's all over, it ...—"

Ron stammered as he backed away, crushing the half-eaten flute on the ground. "It's waking up!"

Just as the three-headed dog was about to pounce,

"Scatter!" Harry grabbed Hermione and rolled to the right.

They barely escaped the bite from the middle head.

Ron's robe was caught on the left canine tooth.

The sound of tearing fabric was particularly jarring in the enclosed space.

Hermione said, "I remember there was a hypnotic spell in a book—"

"It's too late!"

Harry watched as Fluffy's hind leg muscles tensed, a preparatory movement for a dog's attack.

Kane Malfoy suddenly pulled a lacquered wooden music box from his dragon-skin robe.

The box is inlaid with exquisite landscapes of Jiangnan in mother-of-pearl, which gleam with the luster of mother-of-pearl in the dim room.

"What is this...?" Hermione's question was interrupted by the sudden sound of music.

The music box emitted clear and melodious sounds of string and wind instruments, and a distant folk tune echoed in the stone chamber:

"The moon is bright, the wind is still, and the leaves are rustling against the window."

Lou Williams' three heads froze simultaneously.

The dog on the left tilted its head, and a rare look of confusion appeared in its eyes;

The ears on the right head rotate like radar, capturing every note;

The most ferocious head in the middle slowly lowered itself, resting its chin on its front paws.

"The crickets chirp and sing, just like the sound of zither strings."

The melody of the piano is beautiful, carrying the unique flavor and emotion of Northeast China.

Louie's tail unconsciously slapped the ground in rhythm.

The three gaping maws yawned in unison, revealing drool dripping from between their gleaming fangs.

Ron's jaw nearly dropped to the floor: "This...this is..."

"Northeast Lullaby"

Kane placed the music box next to Rue's paw.

Long, slender fingers gently traced the gold-stamped "Made in China" lettering on the box.

"One of China's lullabies."

Shockingly, this three-headed dog was something even giants dared not provoke.

At this moment, it was as docile as a domesticated mongrel.

The head on the left began to gently nudge the music box with its nose.

The one on the right squinted its eyes contentedly.

And the one in the middle—most chillingly—was actually trying to hum along.

It emitted a strange sound somewhere between a wolf's howl and an off-key erhu.

"The secret of harmony between Yin and Yang lies hidden within the rhythms of music."

Kane crouched down and pointed to the intricate brass mechanism inside the music box. "The pentatonic scale corresponds to the five elements, and this frequency can stimulate the hearing of canines."

Hermione leaned closer to examine them, noticing the patterns engraved on the brass gears: "Why are there patterns engraved on these gears...?"

"The 24 solar terms pattern and the winding mechanism are made using traditional techniques by watchmakers."

Kane slammed the lid shut, but the music didn't stop.

"It was specially made last year."

Ron stared in disbelief: "How many Galleons would that cost?"

Lou Williams was now completely prone on the ground.

Three heads huddled together, six eyes half-open and half-closed.

The head on the left even drooled with emotion, which formed a small puddle on the ground.

"The piano music is soft and melodious, the cradle sways gently~"

As the song drew to a close, Kane took the opportunity to open the trapdoor.

A musty, eerie wind surged from below, and wriggling devil's web vines could be vaguely seen.

Just as Harry was about to jump, the music box suddenly made a soft "click" sound—the clockwork was about to run out of wind.

Louie's ears immediately perked up.

Kane calmly turned the emerald knob at the bottom of the box, and the internal mechanism clicked and reset, seamlessly switching the music to another folk song:

"Rock-a-bye baby, rock-a-bye to Grandma's bridge, Grandma calls me her good baby~"

This time it's a Jiangnan nursery rhyme in the soft Wu dialect, with the pipa's timbre like rippling water.

Louie froze as if under a spell, all three pairs of dog eyes simultaneously clouded with drowsiness.

The fiercest head struggled to lift itself, but ultimately couldn't resist the lullaby of agricultural civilization rooted in its DNA, and fell asleep with a "thud" on its front paws.

"Let's go quickly." Kane leaped into the passage first, his black robes billowing like crane wings. "Otherwise, Lou Williams will wake up again in a while."

When the last person disappeared under the trapdoor.

You can faintly hear Lou Williams humming along in his sleep.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm~"

Darkness enveloped the four of them.

Only the tip of the wand emitted a faint light, illuminating the damp stone wall.

Potter could feel his heartbeat was so loud it almost drowned out all other sounds.

They had just jumped down from the trapdoor guarded by the three-headed dog Lucas and were now sliding down a steep stone passage.

"Where does this passage lead?"

Ron Weasley's voice trembled in the darkness.

"I don't know, but it's definitely not a good place."

Hermione Granger gripped her wand tightly and replied, "Otherwise, they wouldn't have used such a dreadful three-headed dog to guard it."

Kane remained silent.

Harry noticed that even under such tense circumstances, Kane remained unusually calm.

Suddenly, Harry felt a void beneath him, followed by a feeling of weightlessness—

"what!"

"Be careful!"

The four people fell into a soft and elastic object almost simultaneously.

Harry felt like he had fallen into a giant net.

Immediately, something wriggled around him and wrapped itself around his limbs.

"What is this?" Ron cried out in terror, already struggling.

"Don't move!" Hermione suddenly shouted, "It's a devil's vine! The more you struggle, the tighter it wraps around you!"

Harry immediately stopped all movement.

He felt the slippery vines wriggling on his body, but they didn't tighten further.

By the faint light of the magic wand.

He looked around and saw that they had fallen into a large clump of deep purple vines.

The vines, covered with tiny thorns and suckers, were moving slowly.

"Stay still," Hermione whispered. "The devil vine will think we're harmless plants and then loosen its grip on us."

Harry held his breath and felt the vines begin to loosen slowly.

"Where did Kane go?"

It seems they haven't heard Kane's voice at all.

Before he could answer, Ron's panicked voice rang out.

"I...I can't..." Ron's voice was filled with obvious panic. "These disgusting things are touching me...I can't..."

"Ron, calm down!"

Harry warned in a low voice, but it was too late.

Ron began to struggle violently, writhing like a fish that had been caught on a hook.

In an instant, the Devil Vines tightened rapidly like an enraged swarm of snakes, their thick tendrils wrapping around Ron's neck and chest.

"Help...me..." Ron's face flushed red, his eyes bulged, and his fingers futilely scratched at the vines wrapped around his neck.

"Ron!" Harry wanted to help, but any movement would only get him entangled as well.

Hermione was so anxious she was almost in tears: "Ron, stop struggling! Please!"

But Ron was consumed by fear and was completely unable to follow instructions.

His struggles grew weaker and weaker, and his lips began to turn purple.