At that moment, Alvin genuinely didn’t know whether to be impressed or concerned.
A three-headed monster was less than ten feet away.
One wrong move could get them killed.
And somehow, Fred and George still found a way to be funny.
That took talent.
Fortunately, Fluffy wasn’t a particularly discerning music critic.
As the twins’ disastrous rendition of the Hogwarts school song echoed through the room, the giant dog’s hostility gradually faded.
The growling slowed.
Its massive shoulders relaxed.
Heavy eyelids drooped over six enormous eyes.
One head lowered.
Then another.
Then the third.
With a sleepy huff, Fluffy lumbered back onto the trapdoor and settled his enormous bulk over it.
A few moments later, thunderous snores filled the room.
It had worked.
Alvin immediately gestured for the twins to retreat.
Slowly.
Quietly.
And, for Merlin’s sake, without singing anything else.
The three boys backed toward the door one careful step at a time.
Only when they were safely outside did Alvin ease the door shut.
Click.
Then he locked it for good measure.
Only after hearing the mechanism engage did he finally release the breath he’d been holding.
Crisis averted.
Mostly.
When he turned around, he nearly jumped.
Fred and George were standing directly in front of him.
Watching.
Studying.
Like two exceptionally curious researchers who had just stumbled across an entirely new species.
The twins exchanged a glance.
Then, in perfect synchronization, draped their arms across Alvin’s shoulders.
“Dear Lord Gaunt, thank you for saving our lives.” One of them grinned.
“I’m Fred, and this is my younger brother George.” “Absolute rubbish,” the other replied immediately.
“I’m clearly the older one.” Alvin’s eye twitched.
“Lord Gaunt?” Where had that come from?
Refusing to lose the battle of nonsense, Alvin straightened his posture and adopted a solemn expression.
“Gentlemen.” “My name is Alvin Gaunt.” “Headmaster Dumbledore personally assigned me to protect the two of you.” “You may refer to me as your guardian.” To his surprise, both twins suddenly looked alarmed.
“Wait.” Fred blinked.
“Dumbledore knows we’re out here?” George’s confidence evaporated almost instantly.
For all their fearlessness, there were still a few people in Hogwarts capable of making the twins nervous.
Albus Dumbledore was unquestionably one of them.
Alvin rolled his eyes.
“Of course not.” “I’m breaking curfew too, remember?” Understanding dawned immediately.
The twins pointed at him in unison.
“So that was you!” “The noise earlier!” Alvin nodded.
“I was reading in the library.” “Then you two geniuses managed to drag Filch halfway across the castle.” Neither twin looked remotely guilty.
Instead, George leaned forward eagerly.
“What was that spell?” “The one that made you disappear?” Fred’s eyes lit up.
“If we knew that spell, Filch would never catch us again.” That was a deeply concerning thought.
“Disillusionment Charm.” Alvin shrugged.
“You’ll have to do some digging in the Restricted Section.” “That’s where I found it.” The twins exchanged another look.
The dangerous kind.
The kind that usually preceded a terrible idea.
Alvin suddenly felt sorry for the Restricted Section.
After a moment, he stretched and glanced toward the nearest staircase.
It was late.
Very late.
And thanks to the twins, he’d already lost an entire evening of study time.
“Well.” “I should head back.” A smirk tugged at his lips.
“Good night, Lords Weasley.” Fred burst out laughing.
George pointed dramatically.
“You should’ve been in Gryffindor.” Alvin simply waved and turned away.
After everything that had happened tonight, he wasn’t entirely sure whether that was praise or a threat.
As he walked off, he noticed the twins heading in a direction that definitely did not lead toward Gryffindor Tower.
Some things never changed.
By the time Alvin reached Ravenclaw Tower, the castle had grown quiet.
The corridors stood empty.
Moonlight streamed through tall windows, painting pale silver patterns across the floor.
He raised a hand and tapped the bronze eagle knocker.
The eagle’s eyes gleamed.
“Two fathers and two sons go to buy hats,” it asked.
“They purchase only three hats.
Why?” “Because they’re three generations of the same family,” Alvin replied without hesitation.
“A grandfather, a father, and a son.” “Correct.” The door swung open.
Alvin stepped inside.
Then stopped.
Someone was waiting near the entrance to the girls’ dormitories.
Watching him.
Cho Chang.
The two stared at each other.
“Cho?” “Alvin?” They spoke at the same time.
Then Alvin frowned.
“What are you doing up?” Cho blinked.
“I forgot my Quidditch training guide.” She lifted a book as evidence.
Then her expression shifted.
A moment later, suspicion appeared in her eyes.
“Wait.” She narrowed her gaze.
“Why are you only getting back now?” “Where have you been?” Alvin hesitated.
For all of three seconds.
Then gave up.
There wasn’t much point lying.
So he told her everything.
The library.
The Weasley twins.
Filch.
Peeves.
The forbidden corridor.
Fluffy.
The entire adventure.
When he reached the part where he deliberately frightened Fred and George with the falling helmet, Cho laughed so hard she nearly doubled over.
When he described the three-headed dog, however, the amusement vanished from her face.
By the time he finished explaining their escape, she looked both relieved and fascinated.
“That is amazing.” Alvin blinked.
“…What?” “That’s incredible!” Cho’s eyes sparkled.
“You’ve been at Hogwarts for two days and you’ve already gone on a secret midnight adventure.” “I’ve been here for over a year and nothing like that has ever happened to me.” She pointed accusingly at him.
“Next time, you’re taking me with you.” Alvin stared.
For a moment, it felt as though he had just discovered an entirely new side of her.
Beneath the polite, studious Ravenclaw exterior lurked a surprisingly adventurous spirit.
Then again…
Future Quidditch Seekers probably weren’t known for making cautious life choices.
A laugh escaped him.
He reached over and ruffled her hair.
“Deal.” Cho immediately brightened.
“But not anytime soon,” Alvin added.
“Most nights I’m just reading.” “Trust me.
Ancient Runes are considerably less exciting than giant guard dogs.” Cho accepted the explanation, though the disappointment on her face was obvious.
The two chatted for a while longer before finally returning to their dormitories.
The next morning, Alvin joined the Ravenclaws on their descent toward the dungeons.
Their first Potions lesson awaited.
The further they descended, the colder the castle became.
The air carried a faint scent of damp stone and old magic.
Along the way, they crossed paths with a group of Gryffindors heading in the same direction.
Harry noticed him immediately.
“Morning.” “Morning.” Alvin returned the greeting with a nod.
Before either could continue the conversation, Ron and several other Gryffindors pulled Harry away.
Not that Alvin minded.
Maintaining a healthy distance from the center of Hogwarts’ future chaos seemed like a sensible life decision.
As the students continued down the winding staircases, Alvin reflected on one of the year’s unusual changes.
For reasons known only to fate, Hufflepuff had accepted an exceptionally large number of first-years.
Large enough that Hogwarts had been forced to adjust several schedules.
Some classes were now taught separately.
Potions, however, remained unchanged.
Today, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin would all be sharing the same classroom.
Which meant one thing.
Severus Snape.
Wonderful.
Remembering that he hadn’t used his daily draw yet, Alvin opened the system interface.
System.
Daily draw.
A familiar notification appeared before his eyes.
[Ding.] [Congratulations.] [Reward Obtained: Potions Knowledge (Purple)] Alvin’s eyebrows rose.
Another Purple card?
His luck was surprisingly good today.
The knowledge package dissolved into streams of information.
Recipes.
Techniques.
Brewing theory.
Ingredient interactions.
The flood of experience settled naturally into his mind.
Combined with the Potions knowledge he had acquired previously, Alvin estimated that his understanding now rivaled that of a talented fourth-year student.
Not bad.
Especially considering who was waiting at the end of these stairs.
Alvin still remembered the look on Snape’s face during the Sorting Ceremony.
Becoming the first student in centuries to reject Slytherin House had probably done little to improve their relationship.
There was a very real chance Snape would decide to make an example of him during class.
Fortunately, the system had delivered exactly what he needed.
The timing couldn’t have been better.
A faint smile appeared on Alvin’s face.
For once, the Card System had shown remarkable consideration.
Perhaps it wasn’t completely useless after all.