The next morning, Ryan yawned as he made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast. He hadn't slept well the previous night, still too excited from yesterday's events.
Despite his physical exhaustion, his mind was still buzzing with excitement, and he found himself smiling unconsciously while eating.
His unusual behavior didn't go unnoticed. Hermione, who was sitting next to him, raised an eyebrow. "What exactly did you do over the weekend? One moment you're lost in thought, the next you're staring blankly into space, and then you start grinning to yourself. Are you sure you're okay?"
Ryan quickly reassured her that he was fine. After some persistence, Hermione finally let the matter go, and they went to the library for self-study in the morning.
With the start of the new week, life returned to normal. Ryan focused on his studies, determined to fully master the two new abilities he had recently acquired before attempting to travel to other worlds again. He understood that rushing things would only lead to failure. Before seeking new powers, he needed to apply and perfect the ones he already had.
One particular class that caught his interest was Herbology. During Wednesday's lesson, Ryan found himself fascinated by magical plants. He even volunteered to stay after class to help clean up, just so he could spend more time with the plants. He knew that hands-on experience was the best way to integrate Crazy Dave's knowledge into his practical understanding.
Professor Sprout, seeing Ryan's enthusiasm, was delighted. As a teacher, nothing was more rewarding than seeing a student genuinely passionate about the subject.
"If you ever have any questions about magical plants, feel free to come to my office anytime," Professor Sprout told him warmly.
This was an unexpected bonus. Not only was Ryan improving his knowledge, but he was also building a good relationship with his professor.
However, mastering his mechanical abilities was proving to be much more difficult. The wizarding world had a spell for repairing almost anything, making practical application nearly impossible. Fortunately, that particular skill wasn't of much use in this world, so he could afford to put it on hold for now.
A Mysterious Book and a Three-Headed Dog
That evening, after finishing his homework, Ryan noticed a large crowd gathered around the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. The Weasley twins seemed to be demonstrating one of their latest tricks, drawing the attention of nearly everyone.
Ryan was about to stand up and join the fun when the common room door opened. Hermione climbed in from the outside, looking around the room as if searching for someone.
Spotting Ryan, she walked straight toward him, her expression serious. He sat back down as she took the seat across from him, glancing around nervously. Most of the students were too distracted by the twins to notice them.
Hermione set her bag down and pulled out a thick, old-looking book. Its cover was made of some kind of reptilian leather, and the title, written in faded gold lettering, read: The Rare Fantastic Beasts of Europa.
"Look what I found," she said excitedly.
She flipped to a specific page and turned the book toward him. Ryan's eyes landed on a detailed illustration of a three-headed dog. The artist had done an impressive job—the creature looked almost identical to the one they had encountered on the fourth floor.
Beneath the illustration was a description:
"The three-headed dog is a magical creature with a unique regional bloodline, believed to be a relic from the age of mythology. Due to its three heads, it has enhanced detection abilities and strong resistance to stunning, confusion, and unconsciousness. It possesses exceptional night vision and its claws and fangs are laced with venom, capable of inflicting unhealable wounds. Additionally, its multiple heads allow it to stay alert at all times, making it extremely difficult to ambush. Its mythical bloodline grants it a high resistance to both magic and physical attacks."
Ryan glanced up at Hermione. "Why are you showing me this?"
Hermione didn't answer immediately. Instead, she pointed to a small note at the bottom of the page.
"A three-headed dog can be tamed by a powerful master. Once tamed, it will only obey its master's commands, making it one of the most suitable and loyal guardians."
Ryan frowned.
"We saw a trapdoor under the three-headed dog that night," Hermione said in a hushed voice. "That means it's guarding something. What could be so important that the school would take such a big risk and keep a dangerous creature like this inside Hogwarts?"
Ryan was taken aback. When did Hermione become this curious? In the original timeline, she hadn't shown much interest in this mystery until after becoming friends with Harry and Ron.
Then it hit him—Hermione was a scholar at heart. Naturally, after barely escaping from the jaws of a giant three-headed dog, her curiosity would be piqued. If Ryan himself didn't already know the answer, he would also be looking for information about the creature.
In the original story, Hermione had struggled to make friends in Gryffindor, leaving her with no one to discuss her theories with. Now, with Ryan as a friend, she was more open about her thoughts.
Hermione snapped him out of his thoughts. "I don't believe for a second that you're not curious about the three-headed dog and the trapdoor. Tell me—what do you think is down there?"
Ryan hesitated. He knew exactly what was hidden under the trapdoor, but he obviously couldn't just tell her. How would I even explain knowing that?
After a brief moment of thought, he carefully replied, "Based on what we read today, we can be certain of one thing: the dog is definitely guarding something important. Otherwise, they wouldn't need such a powerful creature as a guard."
He paused, then added, "However, Hogwarts is a school, not a vault. Why would they store valuable treasures here?"
Hermione's eyes suddenly lit up. "Vault… I think I remember something!" She quickly continued, "I subscribe to The Daily Prophet, and I recall reading about a break-in at Gringotts over the summer. The article said that the vault that was targeted had been emptied just hours before the attempted robbery. What if the item from that vault was moved to Hogwarts?"
Ryan looked at her, genuinely impressed. She actually figured it out on her own.
Hermione misread his surprised expression. "What? Do you think my theory is too far-fetched?"
Ryan coughed and shook his head. "No, I think your guess is very reasonable. After all, Hogwarts is probably the safest place in the wizarding world—apart from Gringotts—especially with Dumbledore as headmaster. But if someone was bold enough to break into Gringotts, they might also be daring enough to try something at Hogwarts."
Hermione's excitement quickly turned into concern. "Then… what should we do?"
Ryan waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry. We have the greatest wizard of this century watching over the school. Even if something happens, it's not up to a couple of first-year students like us to deal with it."
Hermione still looked slightly uneasy, but she nodded, accepting his reasoning.
As they closed the book, Ryan couldn't help but marvel at how quickly things were diverging from the original storyline. Hermione was already getting involved much earlier than expected. This world might be changing faster than I thought…
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