Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 94: Boring Levels and Rearrangements

With fireballs hovering above their heads, the two passed through a tunnel filled with demonic nets and arrived at the third level.

The place was filled with winged keys, and there was a flying broomstick next to it. It was obviously a challenge set up after Harry showed his Quidditch talent, based on his flying ability.

Vaughn didn't even have the desire to comment on this level; he simply uttered a single interjection:

"Tsk!"

In the later chessboard levels, he didn't even use any interjections.

Dumbledore was eager to hear the "user's" feedback: "Vaughn, what do you think of these two levels? I've been thinking for a long time about how to balance Harry and the others' individual strengths with the inherent power of the levels themselves."

"In the flying key challenge, I invited Phoenix (Professor Flitwick) to imbue those keys with the 'Volley of Arrows' spell. If you don't follow the rules and use your flying broom to grab the correct key, you will be attacked by them."

"This giant chessboard formation originates from an ancient magic called 'Stone Slabs Emerge,' which is Minerva's favorite. It can temporarily bring these giant stone sculptures to life. I invited Minerva to set up an endgame, which I'm sure will satisfy Ron greatly."

"There are two more challenges. One is a troll, which will test Harry and Miss Granger's fighting abilities, and the other is potions, which will test their logical thinking and courage."

After saying this, Dumbledore smiled at Vaughn, seemingly waiting for his praise.

But what he got in return was Vaughn's expressionless face. Vaughn looked at his head covered by a soft hat, as if trying to guess what was inside.

He offered a "tactful" assessment: "To be honest, Albus, these levels are really boring!"

Dumbledore's smile stiffened slightly, and he couldn't help but explain, "You mean it's not difficult enough? Vaughn, you have to understand, they're not meant to protect anyone, they're just a test for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They're only 12 or 13-year-old wizards, it's too difficult..."

"No!" Vaughn interrupted him. "It's not about whether it's difficult or not, it's about whether it's interesting or engaging enough. Take the Flying Key, for example. What are you testing? Harry's flying skills? Didn't he perform well enough in Quidditch?"

"And what about the Devil's Web, which goes even further ahead? Besides Hermione, what do you expect Harry and Ron to learn? That the Devil's Web is afraid of fire for the rest of their lives? How many times in their lives will they even encounter the Devil's Web?"

"The chessboard puzzle is the same. Harry and Hermione are terrible at chess; they can't help at all. In this puzzle, only Ron is somewhat useful. Are you trying to urge Harry and Hermione to study wizard chess properly in the future? Or are you trying to use this final deadlock to pull off a sentimental act?"

"The troll level is even more ridiculous. I suspect it was set up by Quirrell. It's basically pointless."

Vaughn looked at Dumbledore and said mercilessly, "Albus, haven't you noticed? While you have indeed paid attention to the characteristics of each of the three, your design of each level focuses too much on one of them and neglects the other two..."

"You're not testing Harry, Ron, and Hermione individually; you're testing a team. What's the point of these so-called challenges other than letting them show off their well-known strengths? A test should verify not only their strengths but also their weaknesses and the problems they have with each other, so that they can learn and grow."

These words left Dumbledore speechless.

He was initially quite proud of his design, but after Vaughn's series of questions, he looked back and realized it really didn't make much sense.

Old Deng fell into deep thought. After a moment, he didn't say much, but led Vaughn through the "worthless" troll level and the potion level surrounded by demonic fire.

It wasn't until the potion challenge that Vaughn gave a few words of positive feedback: "It's somewhat interesting, a logic puzzle, but I dare say only Hermione could come up with the correct answer. The potion for the next challenge, which only requires two doses, is more of a test."

"Did the professor cast a spell to ensure there's only enough for two people?"

Finally hearing a positive comment, Old Deng cheerfully replied, "It wasn't Severus. I set the rules here, allowing only two people to cross the wall of fire. The method is to find the correct potion and drink it. No other methods are allowed, and the amount of potion is only enough for two people."

"This is both to ensure that only Harry faces Quirinus alone, and to prevent Quirinus from accidentally ruining the potion as he passes by. Under the rules, even if he does ruin it, the potion will be restored and wait for the last person."

Vaughn vaguely remembered this kind of magic that set rules.

Of course not in this lifetime; he is not yet exposed to such advanced magic.

It is a memory of the original work from a previous life.

The magic Voldemort used to hide the Slytherin locket in the cave he visited as a child was similar.

He placed the locket in a glass container and filled it with a poison that made people wish they were dead. Anyone who wanted the locket had to drink all the poison; pouring it out or taking it directly wouldn't work.

This is the most interesting part of all the levels I've seen tonight, in Vaughn's opinion.

Moreover, their target for tonight was also under Dumbledore's spell.

The two drank the potion, passed through the purple wall of fire, and arrived at the last room. The spacious room was completely empty except for a mirror standing in the center of the room.

Vaughn looked around a few times. "This is the abandoned classroom where the Mirror of Eris used to be... I remember it was originally on the fifth floor. Did you move the entire classroom here?"

Dumbledore smiled mischievously: "That's right, it's a little privilege of being the headmaster. Remember when I said that Hogwarts wouldn't refuse the headmaster's trivial requests? Its staircases can be moved around, and so can the rooms."

Damn it!

Old Deng got away with it.

Vaughn admitted he was a little envious. This castle, which had existed for a thousand years, was the greatest treasure and secret of the entire Hogwarts, and the privileges of the Hogwarts headmaster were more numerous and important than he had imagined.

Ignoring Vaughn's sour expression, Dumbledore walked to the Mirror of Erised and stared into it.

A moment later, Vaughn saw with his own eyes a blood-red, translucent stone, like crystal, fall out of nowhere into Dumbledore's slightly open palm.

With a complicated look in his eyes, Dumbledore glanced at the Mirror of Erised again, and before it could be bound by the rules of magic and resume its function, he pulled down the dust cover to cover it.

He turned around and handed the blood-red stone in his hand to Vaughn.

"He can lend it to you for a week, so, Vaughn, it's time for you to fulfill the terms of the deal."

Taking the wondrous alchemical artifact, Vaughn ignored the information that popped up on the system panel before his eyes, and replied with a smirk, "You've hit the jackpot, Albus. I'm going to redesign all the levels!"

Dumbledore's eyes lit up slightly. "Oh, may I hear your thoughts?"

"Don't rush, we can talk slowly. I believe you will be very satisfied with my idea. Of course, given that my magical abilities are far inferior to yours, you will have to help me."

"No problem," Dumbledore replied readily.

But seeing Vaughn's smile, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

Harry and Ron felt like they were being driven crazy.

Since Vaughn returned and started catching up on her studies, Hermione has shown tremendous enthusiasm for studying. The blank pages of her diary, which records her study plan, are rapidly thinning, while the pages filled with writing are visibly thickening.

Even more terrifying, as March progressed, one day Hermione suddenly exclaimed in horror, "There are only 10 weeks left until the exams!"

She not only pushed herself even harder, but also started making study plans for Harry and Ron!

The two had protested before, but Hermione retorted confidently, "You don't want to fail your exams and have to repeat a year, do you?"

At the prime of their youth, even a poor student has a sense of pride; no little boy wants to lose face like that.

So, night after night, they could only bury themselves in heavy homework and terrifying revision plans.

Fortunately, Hermione doesn't always have time to supervise them; she spends two hours with Vaughn every day.

That was the only chance Harry and Ron could relax and give their wound-up brains a break.

As for Vaughn, he became mysterious again.

Nobody knows what he does. Everyone only sees him in class, and he disappears as soon as get out of class is over.

Harry believes Vaughn may be developing a new potion.

Because his current condition is exactly the same as when he was developing the wolfsbane drug last year.

Ron, however, disagreed: "Don't be silly, Harry. That guy wouldn't be that diligent. He only spent two months developing the Vaughn beauty line, and then played around with it for a full six months!"

Then, that afternoon, Peeves, who had been away for a long time, set his sights on Ron again.

"Poor, stupid Weatherby, why does he always talk bad about the Great Demon King behind his back? Of course, Mischievous Ghost likes it. He'll say a few more; he still has many pranks he hasn't used yet, hee hee ha ha ha!"

Peeves grinned merrily, throwing some kind of paint at Ron, who scrambled to cover his head and ran away, all the while somersaulting in mid-air in the classroom.

It now enjoys working for Vaughn because when Vaughn gives it orders, the other ghosts don't stop it, and even the Blood Man Barrow, which it fears most, turns a blind eye to its pranks.

Mischievous Ghost Grandpa can unleash his mischievous talents to the fullest.

For two days in a row, Ron was driven to the brink of madness, twice falling victim to badmouthing Vaughn behind his back. After that incident, he looked at everyone in the common room as if they were informants.

The only people he never doubted were Harry and Hermione—they were his friends, how could they possibly harm him?

Ron thought naively and foolishly.

Besides the heavy workload of homework and review every day, the trio also kept an eye on Lou Williams.

Every day, they would take a little time to pass by the door guarded by Lu Wei, press their lips against the door, and listen to the thunderous snoring of the huge three-headed dog inside.

On one occasion, they even ran into Dumbledore there. The old headmaster had just come out of the door, and he was covered in sweat from exhaustion, his usually clear and bright eyes looking somewhat listless.

He seemed a bit neurotic, constantly muttering complaints to himself when no one was around.

"I'm over a hundred years old, how can you order me around like this? You've assigned me all the heavy work, and what have you been doing?"

"Yes, I invited you, but I only wanted you to participate. I didn't know your redesign would be so massive..."

"Oh—yes, that's a fantastic idea, absolutely brilliant! The problem is, I'm the one doing such a massive undertaking, right?"

Hiding in the corner of the corridor, the trio looked at each other, watching the seemingly insane old principal stagger away, arguing with the void.

They certainly didn't think Dumbledore was crazy.

"Maybe he's with someone who's used the Disillusionment Charm," Harry thought of his Invisibility Cloak.

Ron, however, had a different focus: "What do you think Dumbledore is doing? It sounds like he's discussing some kind of project with that invisible man."

"They might be redesigning the mechanism protecting the Philosopher's Stone!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly.

Upon hearing this, Harry and Ron's eyes lit up.

Yes, it's very possible that Fluffy was guarding the entrance to the mechanism, and that's where Dumbledore came out.

What else could the "engineering" that Dumbledore just mentioned be besides the mechanism to protect the Philosopher's Stone?

This made the two of them breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Whether Snape was the Man in Black or not, the Man in Black certainly existed.

He was likely a professor who participated in the design of the Philosopher's Stone mechanism.

These days they've been keeping an eye on Lu Wei, wary of the black-robed man whose identity is still unclear, who might suddenly break through the barriers and steal the Philosopher's Stone.

Now, seeing Dumbledore redesign the mechanism, they finally felt somewhat relieved.

Unfortunately, things don't always go according to their wishes.

Two days later, when they returned to that corridor, the trio were surprised to see...

Dumbledore brought several professors with him as well.

Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Snape, Professor Quirrell, and Hagrid.

Fearing discovery, the trio dared not approach. They overheard Dumbledore say a few words to them before leading them into the room guarded by Fluffy.

It seems that the plan is to allow professors to continue participating in the design of the mechanism.

The three returned to the Gryffindor common room with heavy hearts.

There were other people in the lounge, so Ron could only lower his voice and say irritably, "Has Dumbledore gone senile? Didn't he realize that the man in black was one of the professors? If he was going to redesign the mechanism, why did he involve them again... I'm not targeting Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, but... but Snape..."

He was so anxious he was pacing back and forth. These adults really never give him a moment's peace of mind.

Harry and Hermione were at a loss for words.

They discussed it for a while and decided to find an opportunity to remind Hagrid again.

And this opportunity soon arrived; the next day, Harry received a text message from Hagrid:

"It's about to hatch!"

I received the text message from the owl while I was having breakfast this morning.

So, for the rest of the time, Harry and Ron were restless and even considered skipping their morning classes to rush to Hagrid's hut.

But Hermione firmly disagreed.

"You're happy to leave, but have you thought about who will make up for the points you lost because of your absences and truancy?"

Ron was very unhappy with her attitude; he glared at the Slytherin students sitting opposite him.

"Vaughn didn't come today either. Oh, in fact, he didn't come to class yesterday either. Why don't you say anything about him?"

Harry, who was standing nearby, nodded subconsciously, and then Hermione stomped on his foot hard.

Harry grimaced, but dared not utter a sound.

Hermione lowered her voice and snapped, "If you can add 30 points to Gryffindor's score every day, I'll stop bothering with you!"

Harry and Ron were dejected. Losing 30 points a day was easy for them, but gaining points would be a pipe dream.

Ultimately, the two of them weren't thick-skinned enough to shamelessly shift the blame onto others. However, throughout the entire class, they stubbornly tried to reason with Hermione and appeal to her emotions.

"How many people in the wizarding world have seen a dragon hatch? I bet we'll never have that chance again in our entire lives. Remember my brother Charlie? He's never seen a dragon hatch in Romania. The mother dragon won't let you unless you kill her."

"Yes, Hermione, what a rare opportunity! We... we can even treat this as a social practice, you could even write a paper about it."

To convince Hermione, Harry told nonsense that he himself didn't believe.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him: "Do you want the professors to arrest us all? Also, keep your voice down, look over there..."

She looked across at them, and Harry and Ron then noticed that Malfoy had been eavesdropping the whole time. Now that the trio had discovered him, he was not ashamed at all; instead, he gave them a cunning and meaningful sneer.

This made Harry and Ron somewhat uneasy, and even though Hermione later agreed to visit Hagrid's hut after class, they weren't as happy as they had imagined.

After class, the three hurried to Hagrid's cabin, discussing how much Malfoy had actually heard.

But they weren't mind readers, so of course they couldn't reach a conclusion. In the end, Hermione said, "Anyway, we have to persuade Hagrid later. The dragon can't stay with him, otherwise he'll be finished if someone finds out."

Harry wholeheartedly agreed, while Ron was less than pleased, though he knew Hermione was right.

The three jogged to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Hagrid was already waiting at the entrance. He greeted them warmly and glanced behind them a few times.

"Where's Vaughn? Didn't he come with you?"

"Uh, we didn't see him, Hagrid."

"What a pity, I specially sent him a letter along with it, he loves dragons so much!" Hagrid felt sad that Vaughn couldn't witness the dragon egg hatching, thinking of how Vaughn had stared at it intently.

But then he cheered up and quickly ushered the three of them into the hut: "You've come at the right time, it'll be out soon."

Hagrid had taken the dragon egg out of the fire and placed it on the table. The dark shell had cracked open, and a thin membrane held the cracked shell together. It seemed to be breathing and wriggling, and you could see something moving around inside.

Several people carried chairs and eagerly crowded closer to watch.

Suddenly, with a crisp cracking sound, the dragon egg split open, and a thin, sticky substance flowed out, revealing a skinny, small "lizard" in front of them.

It looked ugly—that was Harry and Hermione's first impression—its thin, less than a foot long body was practically just skin covering its bones, looking wrinkled, though its wings were strong, making it appear unusually large and deformed in contrast to its small size.

Perhaps because it was newly born, it hadn't yet gotten used to being surrounded by air. The little dragon struggled on the table for a few moments, raised its head (which had no horns yet, only two small protrusions on its skull), and sneezed.

A string of sparks suddenly shot out from its long, large nostrils!

"oh--"

Two little boys and one big boy exclaimed in surprise. Hermione, who had been reluctant to come over, forgot her insistence at this moment. She took out her notebook, and the quill pen flew across the page as she recorded the dragon's physical characteristics, its cries, and that it could breathe fire at birth.

She even drew a sketch of it. Actually, she misses the camera at home now and should have brought it to Hogwarts!

Surrounded by onlookers, the little dragon opened its bulging eyes, which were orange-red and looked like lava.

Hagrid couldn't help but gently extend a finger and pat the little dragon's head.

But the newborn creature grabbed it in its mouth and bit it hard with its sharp teeth.

Hagrid felt no pain at all. He squealed with delight, "Merlin, did you see that? It recognizes its mother! Oh—little darling, this is its mother's finger, not food… Look at this strong young man! He could breathe fire right after birth and he can even tear apart his prey!"

"...Young man..."

Hermione, who was making notes, paused at the section on the dragon's gender and decided to leave it blank for the time being, because as far as she knew, Hagrid had no idea how to tell the gender of a dragon.

Every day he reads books about how to raise dragons to be big, strong, fierce, and powerful!

From this perspective, the Greek who sold Hagrid the dragon egg was indeed to Hagrid's liking; the Norwegian Spinosaurus was even more ferocious than described in the books.

Hermione wasn't Hagrid; she knew that this newborn little creature didn't see Hagrid as one of its own kind, but rather as food!

She jotted down Little Dragon's temperament in her notebook, then nudged Harry, signaling him not to forget what they had agreed upon before they came.

Harry suddenly realized, hesitated for a moment, and was a little embarrassed to speak.

Hermione glared at him, then turned to Hagrid and said, "Hagrid, do you know how fast a Norwegian Spinosaurus grows? We've read about it in books; it can become a gigantic creature in just two months. Your little hut simply can't hide it..."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard Hagrid suddenly shout angrily, "Who's out there?!"

Hagrid hurried to the window and looked out.

Hermione and Harry initially thought Hagrid was interrupting, but when they saw Hagrid's suddenly pale face by the window, Harry realized something was wrong and quickly went over to him.

Along the stone path that stretches from the cottage to the mountaintop, a white-haired figure runs wildly toward the castle.

Even though they were quite far apart, Harry recognized him at a glance.

Draco Malfoy!

The entire Hogwarts was second on his list of most hated things; he would never forget it even if he turned to ashes.

Harry's face also turned pale.

Oh no, Malfoy saw a dragon!

(End of this chapter)