The wheelchair-bound warrior is speedrunning Hogwarts.

“Vera…it’s watching us…” Harley’s voice trembled as she gripped her shoulders tightly.

"Don't be afraid," Vera soothed softly, continuing to maintain the light of her wand while trying to reach out her other hand and carefully place her palm little by little against its nose.

“Don’t worry, I see you…” The golden circuit in her pupils suddenly spun, meeting Lou Williams’s eyes.

In an instant, through the magic circuit, she seemed to have a strange resonance with the three-headed dog in front of her.

She sensed a kind of consciousness in Vera that she could sense in Louie the Cerberus—chaotic, irritable, yet with a certain simple loyalty.

It was guarding what was under the trapdoor, a task entrusted to it by its beloved master.

"Shh... relax..." Vera murmured softly, the golden patterns of her magic circuits faintly visible beneath her skin. "Good child, you've done very well. Your master will be proud of you..."

The three heads of the three-headed dog tilted simultaneously, and the fierce light in its six eyes gradually faded.

Just as the three-headed dog was about to fall asleep, its right head seemed to suddenly wake up, jolted awake, and opened its mouth wide to approach them.

Harley instinctively stepped in front of Vera, swiftly drawing her wand: "Expelliarmus—"

"No!" Vera shouted, but it was too late.

Harley's disarming spell struck the right side of the head, but it did not cause any real damage. Instead, it completely enraged the beast.

The three-headed dog let out a deafening roar, and its three heads opened their blood-red maws and pounced on them!

Vera didn't have time to think. She blinked hard, grabbed Harley and Hermione's wrists, and simultaneously steered the wheelchair: "Run!"

The three turned and rushed toward the door, the three-headed dog's claws scraping the floor behind them with a harsh sound.

Just as the giant hound was about to pounce on them, Vera suddenly waved her wand, shouting, "Obstacles!"

With the added benefit of the ancient magic Multicast, Cerberus managed to stay suspended in mid-air for a few seconds, buying them a precious few seconds.

The three girls turned and rushed towards the door, but Harley yanked it open, and the three of them almost stumbled out.

"Lock the door!" Vera shouted a reminder.

Hermione reacted quickly, turning around and using a locking charm to firmly lock the oak door.

The next second, a huge crashing sound came from inside the door, and the entire door was shaking.

"Hurry!" Harley pushed Vera's wheelchair, and the three of them ran down the corridor until they were sure it was safe before stopping to catch their breath.

"What...what is that?" Hermione's face turned pale, and her voice trembled. "Why would there be such a monster at school?"

Harley's eyes were filled with shock: "...I've never seen such a big dog, and it has three heads!"

Vera was also trying to calm her breathing, and said softly, "That's a three-headed dog, a magical creature."

"Fantastic Beasts?" Harley's eyes darted around, as if she had thought of something. She turned her head hesitantly. "Vera, you almost calmed it down just now..."

But she still messed things up because of her unauthorized actions.

Harley's voice was filled with self-reproach: "If I hadn't intervened so suddenly..."

Vera shook her head gently and reached out to hold her slightly trembling hand: "It has nothing to do with you. Ordinary comforting words are unlikely to work on three heads at the same time."

The two women stared at each other, while Hermione stood to the side, breathing heavily.

Suddenly, Hermione's eyes lit up: "Wait! Did you guys notice? There seems to be something under the three-headed dog's feet!"

"What is that?" Harley looked bewildered and instinctively looked at Vera for an answer.

Vera sighed and helped explain, "It's standing on a trapdoor, obviously guarding something."

Harry's eyes suddenly widened, clearly deep in thought: "Wait... I remember before school started, when Hagrid took me to Gringotts to get money, we went to an underground vault... He took something, saying it was for Dumbledore's official business..."

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

Vera nodded thoughtfully: "It seems so... anything guarded by Cerberus must be extraordinary."

The three were silent for a moment before Vera spoke softly, "Harley, if I remember correctly, Hagrid invited you to his cabin this weekend, right?"

“That’s right… wait?” Harley answered instinctively, then suddenly realized what Vera meant and looked at her with some surprise.

Vera met her gaze without flinching for a moment, then slightly turned her head away: "If you don't want to, that's fine too. I know you have a good relationship with that hunting ground guard; it was I who shouldn't have let you—"

“No!” Harley quickly explained, “I was just wondering how to ask Hagrid… after all, he’s not always good at keeping secrets.”

Hermione chimed in with suggestions: "We can try to get to the bottom of it indirectly, like by talking about Hagrid's favorite pets..."

Vera nodded slightly: "That's a good idea. But now—"

She glanced at the sky outside the window. "We should go back to the dormitory."

The three girls then realized they were not completely out of danger. They nodded quickly and, under the cover of the invisibility cloak, headed towards the Gryffindor Tower.

Chapter 42 is merely a savior with both strength and speed at the top level.

On their way back, the three carefully traversed the corridors and finally returned safely to the Gryffindor Tower.

When the portrait of the fat lady saw them, her eyes widened in surprise: "Good heavens! What are you three little ones doing running out in the middle of the night?"

"Dragon Scum." Harley panted as she gave the command, and the fat lady reluctantly stepped aside.

Back in 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?"

Harley slumped onto the sofa by the fireplace and let out a long sigh: "Don't even mention it, we almost got caught too... and we encountered something even more terrifying."

"What is that?" Ron asked curiously as he leaned closer.

Vera frowned and interrupted Harley, saying, "It's nothing, just a little unexpected... Why are you alone? Where's Longbottom?"

Ron scratched his red hair and said somewhat awkwardly, "Neville was too nervous. I was afraid he would give himself away, so I sent him back to his dorm first."

At this time, the Gryffindor Sword Saint was just a little kid who was afraid of breaking the school rules.

"In that case, it's getting late, let's go back and rest first," Vera said gently.

Ron looked at her hesitantly, but when he met Vera's dark eyes, he subconsciously shrank back and finally muttered softly, "Okay... then you guys get some rest."

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

Vera had only spoken halfway when Ron quickly covered his mouth, saying, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone this time!"

Seeing his tense expression, Vera smiled and shook her head: "I mean, you'll see the results tomorrow morning."

Ron was taken aback, then his face immediately lit up with excitement: "You mean, Malfoy really—"

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

Ron's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, "Understood! I'll head back to my dorm now!"

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

Once Ron's footsteps faded at the top of the stairs, Hermione let out a slow sigh: "Finally, we got away with it... If more people knew what happened tonight, things would only get more complicated."

"Let's go back to our room first," Vera said softly, glancing around.

They tiptoed towards the stairs of the girls' dormitory, and only breathed a sigh of relief after closing the door.

"Tonight was so exciting..." Harley collapsed onto the bed. "First Malfoy, then Filch, and finally that Cerberus..."

Hermione sat on the edge of the bed, nervously scratching her head: "But thinking about it now, we really shouldn't have gone there... Dumbledore had explicitly forbidden students from entering that corridor."

Vera pushed her wheelchair to the window, letting the moonlight fall on her face: "But we've already gone, and we've discovered something incredible."

She gently guided their thoughts, "The question now is, what exactly did Hagrid bring back from Gringotts? And why does Cerberus need to guard it?"

Harley suddenly sat up straight: "Do you think... Malfoy might have also discovered this secret? He's on the fourth floor tonight too."

Vera shook her head: "Probably not, he had already been taken away by Filch, but..."

She paused for a moment. "We need to stay vigilant. If that thing is really important, there will likely be more people eyeing it."

Hermione looked at the two of them with concern: "Should we tell the professor?"

"Should we tell them we broke school rules by going out at night?" Harley smiled wryly. "We'll get points deducted from Gryffindor."

Vera gently patted Hermione's shoulder: "The best thing to do right now is to pretend we don't know anything. But if we find anything unusual, we can anonymously pass the message to the professors."

Hermione looked like she wanted to object, but in the end she just sighed: "At least promise me you won't go near that corridor again until you know more."

Halle and Vera exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously.

“I promise,” Harley said.

Vera smiled gently, offering no response, but urging them to go to bed and rest as soon as possible.

After a quick wash, Harley helped Vera move to bed, and then she crawled into bed herself.

Although they were mentally exhausted, their minds were clearly still buzzing with excitement about tonight's adventure.

“Vera,” Harley whispered in the darkness, “you really almost tamed that Cerberus, didn’t you?”

Vera was silent for a moment before answering softly, "It's just temporary reassurance. Each of the three heads of the Cerberus has its own independent consciousness, and controlling all three at the same time is not easy."

“But you’re still amazing…” Harley’s voice was full of admiration. “You always know how to handle any situation.”

Vera didn't respond; she simply turned over gently, pretending to be asleep.

The magic circuits were slowly operating within her body; the strange feeling of establishing a connection with Cerberus was still fresh in her memory.

She gently stroked Knox's soft fur in her arms, her thoughts drifting back to what had just happened... the moment when the three-headed dog was about to attack, and Harley stood in front of her without hesitation.

Why could he stand in front of her so easily?

What was Harley thinking at that time?

Vera didn't know, but she knew what was on her mind.

Before this, she had already vaguely realized that Harley was not as harmless as she appeared.

Would a child who has been treated harshly by their family for many years really be able to easily talk about the severe treatment they have suffered while living under someone else's roof?

Vera is no longer a child, but she has been through this stage herself, so how could she not know that children of this age also have extremely strong self-esteem?

This is especially true for young wizards who are able to enter Gryffindor.

From the moment she first met Harley, to on the train and in their daily interactions, she would inadvertently mention the injustice she suffered at the hands of the Dursleys.

If Harley grew up in such an environment, how could she so openly face the pain of her past and tell her peers about it so frankly?

There are only two possibilities—either she is truly naive and completely unguarded, or she is hiding something beyond what she said.

In addition, Harley's usual combativeness doesn't match her stated experiences, especially when Vera asked her if she was good at fighting, she stammered and avoided the topic.

Vera sighed softly and looked at Harley's bed in the moonlight.

Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating Harley's sleeping face. The girl was fast asleep, her black hair disheveled on the pillow, her glasses off, looking completely unguarded.

“Who are you, Harry Potter?” Vera murmured silently.

Author's Note: py: *Miss Oviefia's Book of Sins*

Chapter 43 You're just being stubborn.

For Vera Black, when she stood in front of that door, she knew very well that it was a test for Halle.

At that time, she was fully capable of pulling Harley and Hermione away from there, ensuring they would never have a chance to come into contact with Cerberus, let alone guide them to deduce the existence of the Philosopher's Stone.

But... she also wanted to give it a try.

Like Dumbledore, Vera couldn't fully trust the gender-swapped version of Harry Potter, even though she knew she was the protagonist of the story.

Everything this gender-swapped savior experiences may differ from that of Harry Potter in the original books. With different experiences, their mindset and personality will naturally be different as well.

Not to mention the strange things about Harley.

She needs to re-evaluate the other person before deciding how to get along in the future.

Therefore, pushing open that door was also a test for Halle by Vera.

only…

She remembered Harley's unwavering action in standing in front of her, and the bright, sparkling eyes that the girl always had when she looked at her.

Can appearances deceive us?

Her fingertips unconsciously touched her chest, and she turned her head to look at Harley's sleeping face with a complicated expression.

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

She'll figure it out eventually, no matter what.

Also... she didn't manage to tame Cerberus this time, but at least she gained some experience.