A certain broken Hogwarts

Chapter 59 Cerberus

The locked door at the end of the corridor was wide open, and snow-white papers poured into the space inside, completely blocking it.

A gigantic head emerged from beneath the paper, swaying back and forth to deflect the slapping white paper, then unleashing a deafening roar of fury. Immediately afterward, two more large heads struggled to emerge from beneath the paper, roaring together as if in unison, shaking the entire castle to its core.

"Whoa—" Harry exclaimed in surprise. It was the first time he had ever seen such a big dog, and it even had three heads.

The three-headed dog sniffed hard, its three pairs of fierce eyes fixed on Owen and Harry, who were closest to it. Its three mouths, dripping with saliva, revealed sharp and menacing yellow teeth. It was easy to imagine that it could bite through a person's chest in one bite.

"Maybe it even comes with a rabies package..." Owen sat up from the pile of papers; his Disillusionment Charm had worn off. But actually, whether it had worn off or not was no longer important, because while the professors were cleaning up the white papers in the castle, they didn't forget to use spells to pull the unfortunate souls buried under the papers out of the pile.

The three-headed dog roared furiously, its powerful hind legs pushing off the ground as it lunged forward, but its head was pulled back by the leash around its neck just as it poked its head out of the door. It could only stretch its neck and bark at the door, its sticky saliva wetting the surrounding white paper.

"Ah, excellent." Owen had just lowered his wand when he noticed the white papers beneath him and around him flying out of the corridor as if they had come to life. The papers floated in the air, like white butterflies, drifting out of the castle through the windows.

Irving only managed to grab one of the papers, glancing at the neatly printed, irregular rows of numbers before realizing the corridor was empty again. The three-headed dog slapped the ground with its paws, making a "thump-thump" echo.

Professor Snape waved his wand, and the door slammed shut, slamming the dog's three large heads back in. Then, Owen found himself floating up involuntarily, helplessly being pulled towards the professors. Harry floated beside him, his glasses askew.

With an awkward yet elegant smile, Owen stood obediently at the edge of the corridor, lining up with the other students who had been brought in, while the Weasley twins exchanged knowing glances across the hall, their faces filled with utter despair.

"Is this what you promised, that we would never get caught?" The curly-haired girl rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath.

More and more professors arrived, noticing the situation. Professor Flitwick arranged the pieces of paper into human figures and directed them to dance a graceful waltz as they quickly left the castle. Dumbledore also arrived, smiling as he approached Professor McGonagall, his blue eyes peering curiously through his half-moon spectacles at the numbers on a piece of paper. Quirrell, his head wrapped in a purple scarf, timidly peeked out from the corridor, next to the professor of Muggle Studies.

One by one, the unfortunate souls buried under blank sheets of paper were dragged over by the professors. There were more than twenty young wizards out for a nighttime stroll, trembling in two rows. Besides them, there was Filch and his cat, looking extremely disheveled, both with identical gritted teeth expressions on their faces, their bulging eyes glaring as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"More than twenty students wandering around in the middle of the night? Are the beds in your dorm rooms just for decoration?" After cleaning up most of the white paper in the hallway, Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and roared like an angry tiger, "Twenty points deducted from everyone! Solitary confinement! Not a single one of you is getting away!"

The young wizards, their faces pale, slumped down dejectedly. Owen silently looked up at the sky, while Harry stared down at his toes.

"And who put these papers here?" Professor McGonagall's lips were pressed tightly together, and her stern gaze swept across everyone's faces.

"I..." Owen silently raised his hand, and instantly all eyes turned to him.

Dumbledore's expression was intrigued, yet also thoughtful; Professor McGonagall's nostrils twitched, and her head tilted back slightly; Professor Snape maintained his unfathomable expression, his empty, cold eyes flickering; Quirrell glanced at him quickly, then averted his gaze; Filch bared his teeth, glaring at him as if he had been deceived—Owen had told him he was not a student who would break school rules.

The Weasley twins across from Owen looked at him with awe and admiration. Covering the castle with white paper was not something an ordinary person could do; it was a fantastic prank, and they... wanted to do it too!

"Me too..." Harry raised his hand, bowing his head deeply, and spoke in a barely audible voice. Although he was terrified of being expelled from school, he couldn't be unfaithful.

Snape gave the two men a dark look for a moment, then dismissed the matter with a smooth voice: "You two, solitary confinement for a week."

"Phew—" Harry breathed a sigh of relief and cast a grateful glance at his beloved headmaster. Snape looked deeply into his eyes, and the two gazed at each other with "affection."

"So, this is pi?" Dumbledore looked at Owen with great interest, waving the paper in his hand. He was wearing white gloves.

"Yes, Professor." Owen nodded calmly, glancing at the gloves on the other man's hands.

"That's an interesting idea. Why did you think to ask it?" Dumbledore's gaze was both kind and sharp.

"Curious." Owen flashed a perfectly elegant smile.

"Indeed, it is a magical thing." Dumbledore blinked and said with a smile, slowly folding the paper in his hand.

"Albus, what exactly is that fax machine?" Professor McGonagall asked, frowning. Everyone looked over curiously.

"Ah, you must understand, I am by no means omniscient, Minerva," Dumbledore said with his hands behind his back. "The more you see, the more you will discover how many mysteries this wonderful magical world holds."

"Alright, I think everyone should go back and rest now," he said.

The young wizards, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, hurried to their respective common rooms, marking the end of the night's events.

On his way back to the lounge, Owen casually tossed his wand up and down, the sleek, elegant black wand spinning and tracing arcs in the air before landing steadily in his hand.

He squinted, pondering whether Dumbledore had discovered the problems caused by the Dark Lord's guards.

"Probably not," Owen thought. Melett was able to detect the clues because the cat-like creature possessed an incredibly powerful sense of perception—an innate ability of magical creatures that most wizards could only dream of. Unless Dumbledore had already suspected something and investigated with spells, he would have had a hard time spotting the problem under normal circumstances.

"Actually, being discovered isn't such a bad thing." Owen pursed his lips, his fingers paused, and he held the wand firmly in his hand. Unfortunately, this strange feeling about him probably wouldn't last long.

Nearby, Harry glanced absently behind him occasionally, still lingering over the Mirror of Erised. After a long while, he sighed, "Owen, have you looked into the room where that three-headed dog is? There seems to be a trapdoor under it."

"Huh? You can observe that much?" Owen looked at him in surprise. Wasn't the Savior supposed to be a scatterbrain?

"I'm not blind," Harry said irritably, then added seriously, "Do you remember I told you that Hagrid took something from Gringotts and hid it in the castle? I suspect it's under the trapdoor!"

"Oh." Owen smiled encouragingly. "It would be nice to know what that thing is."

"I'll find out," Harry said confidently, also looking curious. "I can always get the information from Hagrid."

"Then you'd better keep it up," Owen said with a smile. He needed an insurance policy.

(End of this chapter)