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Yeah! Here's the new chapter!
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I started prowling the castle as soon as I exited the Room of Requirement, intending to record the passages I saw that weren't on the Marauder's Map on my parchment.
I started from the lowest floor which was the ground floor and went up, and the whole way was easier than the first time, as I already knew where to look.
As I passed one of the many third-floor passageways, I stopped in front of a hallway.
This hallway was the only place I didn't take a deep look at on my first exploration, as this was the so-called forbidden hallway.
But this time I planned to pass him. And I even planned to enter the room where Fluffy, the Cerberus who guarded the trapdoor, was, for no other reason than to take a peek at him and the safety of the Philosopher's Stone.
The forbidden corridor was like any other corridor in the castle. It had some windows, some armor and paintings, and some classrooms. Nothing that interesting... If you don't count the large amount of magic that leaked from one of the doors.
When I arrived in front of this door, I immediately knew that this was where the Philosopher's Stone was being kept... or at least it would be kept, as I didn't know when it was placed in the Mirror of Erised.
I looked at the doorknob and tried to open it, only to, not-so-surprisingly, find it closed. I then pulled my wand from its holster and was going to throw an {Alohomora} at the door, but just as I was about to cast the spell, something came to mind.
'Hmm, I know Headmaster wouldn't be so foolish as not to put some form of protection or alarm on the door, as it's easily opened with a simple first year spell... And obviously your warning at the beginning of the year ended up making the students curious and wanting to see what was in the hallway... So there must be some ward or spell here,' I mused, scratching my chin in thought.
I then activated my Magic Vision and looked towards the door, and in it I actually found some wards, with the magical signatures of Headmaster, and unexpectedly from Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.
That information aside, I started looking at the wards trying to decipher what their function was.
'Hmm... This is a 'sun' rune, and that is a 'star' rune... and when together with that 'Stone' rune they form a ward of... I know! This is a monitoring ward!' I thought, using my knowledge of runes and wards that I read in books. I then put the no to my chin and with a frown I started to think, 'But monitoring what? A ward like this can have many different monitoring functions' I commented to myself.
I then went back to looking at the runes, 'Well... If I count those two connections and that third rune, which intersperses with that line... This must be a magical signature record ward' I determined, nodding with his head satisfied, 'So let's see who's been snooping around in this room—!!'
'Hell! There must be 15 different magic signatures here!' I exclaimed in my mind, shocked, staring openmouthed at the doorknob, 'How did the teachers still think this place was safe?!'
'Wait... One of the magical signatures is from Granger, which was to be expected. But these other two signatures I know…' I thought with narrowed eyes, 'Fred and George Weasley, what were you thinking when you came to the forbidden corridor that was supposed to give a slow death to the invaders… Without me! '
'When I find them, you'll have to give me a very good explanation...' I promised in my mind, and on the other side of the castle a pair of red-haired twins felt a shiver down their spine.
'Well... I don't think I can do much to improve security as teachers are likely to be suspicious, so meh' I shrugged, "Then let's go in" I said out loud, throwing an {Alohomora} at the door handle.
I then started to open the door slowly, and as soon as I opened it a little, I could feel feelings of confusion and caution coming from inside the room.
Poking its head into the room, what I came across was a huge three-headed dog, with the three of them looking at me and growling menacingly.
"Grrrr"
I then looked over at the Cerberus, and with eyes sparkling with excitement I said happily, "Hi puppy!" and I fully entered the room without fear.
Fluffy then looked at me confused, the middle head leaning cutely to the side.
And using the connection to send positive feelings to him, I approached with confidence, but demonstrating that I wasn't a threat.
I also saw the trapdoor he was protecting, but I decided to ignore that for now.
When I got in front of Fluffy, I reached out my hand in an attempt to pet him, only he was too tall and I couldn't reach him.
Fluffy then sniffed my hand, and realizing I wasn't a threat, he licked my hand and lowered their heads for me to pet, which I did immediately.
"Who is the cute scary dog? It's you!" I cooed, lying down on one of Fluffy's giant heads.
"Grrr" he growled. Not a threatening growl, but a satisfied.
After that, I played with the big cerberus for a while, but in the meantime I was using my senses to try and feel deeper into the trapdoor, like a radar.
*Riiiing!*
"Sigh... Sorry big boy, but I'll have to leave" I said as soon as I heard the bell ring, signaling lunch time. And as soon as I said that, Fluffy whimpered, ducking her head.
"No need to be sad. I'll stop by to see you again" I said to cheer him up. Which worked, as he lifted his head with his tail wagging happily behind him.
"Well... Then I'll be on my way" I said getting up from the floor and giving him one last pat on the head. And as soon as I got to the door, I turned to him, "And next time I come here I'm going to bring you a big piece of steak" I said smiling.
"Woof!" the three heads barked. And with that I left the room, waving goodbye to the big dog.
After leaving the room, I took one last look at the door. And wandless, I cast a stronger locking spell, one that would probably stop even fourth years.
'I think having the Headmaster and the teachers know that I walked into this room and tightened security isn't as bad as having them know that I killed a troll without a hitch.'
Satisfied with my work, I started down towards the Great Hall for lunch.
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After lunch and notifying Terry and Anthony, who for some unknown reason were blue and pink and looking sullenly at each other, that I was going to spend the rest of the day walking around, I continued to prowl the castle, marking each corner I passed on my parchment.
By the time dinner came, I had already passed the fourth and fifth floors, and all that was left was the sixth and seventh floors and the grounds outside Hogwarts.
And if all went well, I would have this map complete shortly after the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match, which was supposed to take place in two weeks' time.
End.
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(End AN: Have you seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse or Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Trailer? I'm just as excited for this movie as I am for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
I cheered like crazy for the first Spider-Verse movie to win the Oscar for best animation, and apparently I will cheer again :)
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapters!)