Hermione's eyes widened slowly as she seemed to understand something. She trembled and said, "So, that—"
"That's right," Wade said. "It's Harry Potter."
"—Death quota!" Hermione exclaimed at the same time.
The two stared at each other in shock.
"—Harry Potter?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"...I said it was a joke," Wade said helplessly.
The two stared at each other again.
Hermione frowned as she began to piece things together.
"No wonder..." she said softly.
"Percy—Percy Weasley, the Gryffindor prefect, a fifth-year student—he once said that whenever there was a place students weren't allowed to go, Professor Dumbledore would explain the reason.
But this time, he just said not to enter the corridor on the right side of the third floor without giving a reason."
"If it was known that a three-headed dog is hidden there, even the Weasley twins wouldn't dare to go looking for trouble, let alone a first-year like Potter." Wade said, not surprised.
"Vague warnings are meant to attract curious Gryffindors—Dumbledore probably left some sort of test there."
He remembered that in the first year, Harry Potter had played a real-life adventure game where he and his friends solved each challenge using their intelligence and skills, and in the end, Harry defeated the final boss, Voldemort, with "the magic of love."
The seven Harry Potter books, each thicker and darker than the last, but the first one was still filled with childlike wonder, and even the plots and schemes seemed innocent and charming, with Voldemort delivering experience points to Harry Potter.
"How could he do that!" Hermione's fear immediately turned to anger. "It could have been deadly! Is it acceptable to put students in danger like this? Or does he not care about Harry Potter's life at all?!"
"Did you get hurt by the three-headed dog when you accidentally stumbled in?" Wade asked in return.
"Not exactly. But that's because it—ah—"
Hermione had a sudden realisation, as if the fog had cleared and the truth was revealed.
"I guess—just a guess—maybe Dumbledore has put some restrictions on the three-headed dog, so it won't actually attack intruding students, just scare them.
But if someone tries to do something more, the three-headed dog won't just stand by." Wade speculated.
"I saw it standing on a trapdoor," Hermione said. "It must be guarding something."
"If our guess is correct," Wade concluded, "Harry Potter will definitely know what it's guarding."
...
The progress of the matter seemed to have slowed down. Perhaps because Hermione was still upset with Harry and Ron and wasn't communicating much with them, she hadn't received any further updates.
However, Wade wasn't too concerned about it. He knew that everything was under Dumbledore's watch, so there was really nothing to worry about.
Compared to Harry Potter's adventures, Wade was more concerned about his progress in Charms.
In a recent practice session, he discovered that he could see the guiding lines for casting spells not only when guiding others but also when practicing in front of a mirror. This discovery significantly sped up his practice.
So, Wade set aside some time to specifically practice Potions—there were always many ordinary materials available for students to practice with on the shelves behind the Potions classroom.
However, due to Professor Snape, most students, including Slytherins, were reluctant to enter the dungeon classroom outside of class.
During his free time, Wade practiced Potions, with Snape turning a blind eye and occasionally pointing out his mistakes with a sarcastic tone. Overall, as long as one wasn't too sensitive, there was still a lot to learn from him.
At such times, Wade was glad he was a Ravenclaw—if he were a Gryffindor little lion, he might have been kicked out by Snape on the first day he entered the Potions classroom.
One afternoon, Wade successfully brewed a batch of wound-cleansing potion, which received a "barely usable" evaluation from Professor Snape, and he was instructed to take it to Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary—the Quidditch match was approaching, and the infirmary was getting busy.
When Wade returned to the Umbrella Room, he found everyone excited and gathered around Theo. Even Hermione had put down her book and was saying:
"I want three feet of parchment, five bottles of ink. I heard there's a shorthand quill that's very useful; if there are any, I'd like to buy two—"
Theo was taking notes rapidly, while Michael loudly exclaimed, "Oh, come on, Hermione. I know you love studying, but how boring would life be if it were only about studying!
You should buy yourself something fun! Honeydukes' candies are amazing! I recommend the Exploding Bonbons—they fill the whole room with bubbles the color of bluebells, almost every girl's favorite.
The Fizzing Whizbees are also a hot product, and there's Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks. It's almost impossible not to have a drink."
"Well—" Hermione hesitated for a while and said, "Then please get me some candy! No cockroach clusters or any weird stuff!"
Although she couldn't bring the candies back to the dormitory—since that would likely lead to questions and possibly some sour gossip from other girls—she could leave the candies in the Umbrella Room and share them with her SSC partners.
"What are you all talking about?" Wade asked curiously as he walked over.
"You're finally here, Wade! We've all been waiting for you!" Neville said excitedly. "This is the first weekend to Hogsmeade, and students from third year and above can go."
"I know!" Wade said. "But what does that have to do with us first-years?"
Wade had, of course, heard of Hogsmeade, the only village in Britain that is entirely inhabited by witches and wizards, and said to be very unique and interesting, just a short walk from Hogwarts.
However, Hogwarts rules state that only third-year students and above can visit on certain Saturdays, and only with a guardian's signed permission. So, Wade and the others would have to wait at least two years before they could go to Hogsmeade.
"It wouldn't have anything to do with us," Michael said excitedly.
"But Theo mentioned that—a third-year Hufflepuff student—said he could help lower-year students buy things they want from Hogsmeade, and even made a list of items from the village. Theo and Ryan said they could add the things we want too."
Wade took the list and looked through it while asking curiously, "Who's doing this? Does he not mind the trouble—or is he trying to make a profit?"
Ryan shook his head, "No, Cedric isn't doing it for money."
Wade was surprised. "You said his name is Cedric?"
"Yes," Ryan said. "Cedric Diggory, the top student in third year, and nearly every Hufflepuff likes him."
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