The next day, Third-Floor Corridor.
Just as Kyle was pondering how to nonchalantly leak his magical golem project to Malfoy, an argument echoed from around the corner of the corridor.
“What do you think they’re doing, keeping a monster that terrifying locked up in the school?” “What’s wrong with you two, don’t you have eyes?
Didn’t you see what it was standing on?” a girl’s voice snapped.
“D’you mean the floor?” a new voice chimed in—a boy’s.
“I wasn’t looking at its feet, I was too busy staring at its heads.” “No, not the floor!
It was standing on a trapdoor.
It’s obviously guarding something!” the girl said crossly.
Before Kyle could figure out what they were talking about, a bushy-haired Gryffindor girl stomped out from around the corner.
Shortly after, two young boys slouched out behind her.
One was the famous Savior.
The other had bright red hair and looked like a Weasley.
The redhead was muttering complaints to the Savior, and upon seeing Kyle—a Slytherin—he actually had the nerve to glare at him.
Very good.
Classic Gryffindor.
Ignoring the kid’s provocation, Kyle looked at the Savior with mild interest.
Although the wizarding world had mythologized the Savior, Kyle’s observations since the start of term suggested Potter was just an ordinary boy.
He liked good food, collected cards from Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans with classmates, and constantly wanted to sneak outside the castle to play.
He hated homework, avoided teachers, and sat in the back row during class.
He wasn’t born with innate wisdom, nor did he display overwhelming magical power.
The legendary immunity to jinxes, walking Patronus Charm, and innate bane of evil were complete nonsense.
At the very least, Kyle had seen Potter hit by Malfoy’s minor jinxes like *Densaugeo* or *Tarantallegra* on more than one occasion.
It seemed the story behind the defeat of the Dark Lord was far more intricate than advertised.
Still, Potter did possess a few unusual talents.
Setting aside his recently rumored stellar performance in Flying Class, Kyle had personally witnessed Potter, while under the influence of *Tarantallegra*, spin and jump while beating Malfoy so hard that his teeth were knocked all over the floor—a testament to his athletic and fighting abilities.
“Teeth all over the floor” was a literal description, not a figure of speech.
The redhead was clearly not a polite kid.
After glaring at Kyle, he rushed ahead carelessly.
Potter followed behind, throwing Kyle a slightly awkward look before running after his friend.
It seemed Potter had already been brainwashed by Gryffindor; even a friendly Slytherin like Kyle couldn’t get a polite smile out of him.
That redhead must have been pouring poison about Slytherin into Potter’s ear.
And that redhead had dared to glare at him—the most severe provocation Kyle had faced in nearly two years.
Bullying a first-year runt was hardly Kyle’s style.
But Kyle recalled that the little redhead had twin older brothers, also in Gryffindor.
Kyle often saw them turning the house upside down, serving as a pleasant spice during his past years at school.
To ensure the twins could continue performing comedy routines for his entertainment, he couldn’t target them either.
But no matter—the redhead family was clearly populous.
It seemed they had another brother currently in his fifth year, also a Gryffindor.
Beating up a fifth-year Gryffindor wouldn’t leave anyone accusing Kyle of picking on someone smaller than him, Kyle mused, rubbing his chin.
Shifting his thoughts away from the redhead family, Kyle returned to the topic of their discussion—or rather, their argument.
Clearly, with the protagonist’s enrollment, the main plot had kicked off.
Since the protagonist group’s movements were restricted to the school, this “monster” had to be somewhere inside Hogwarts.
As for the location, it was bound to be the Forbidden Forest, secret passages, or the right-hand corridor on the third floor, which had just been declared off-limits this year.
Thinking back to what old Dumbledore said at the start-of-term feast: “Anyone who does not wish to suffer a most painful death, do not enter the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side this year!” What kind of thing could cause a student to die painfully?
While likely hyperbole, whatever was in that corridor was certainly not tame or harmless.
Pondering this, Kyle walked toward the stairs.
Initially, Kyle had leaned toward the theory that the Philosopher’s Stone was held by the final boss of the first story arc.
That boss would be a Dark wizard who likely encountered Potter during the summer holidays, got defeated, and lost the Philosopher’s Stone to Potter.
This was the most logical deduction—even though rumors claimed there was only one Philosopher’s Stone in existence, owned by Nicolas Flamel.
But who could guarantee that some ancient Philosopher’s Stone hadn’t been unearthed by a Dark wizard?
Surely a Dark wizard wouldn’t storm Hogwarts carrying the Philosopher’s Stone, right?
Setting aside how much suicidal bravery that would require, the main point was that the Dark wizard wouldn’t even cross Hogwarts’ gates before old Dumbledore knocked his teeth out.
Besides, the assumption made no sense.
Why would a perfectly fine Dark wizard invade Hogwarts for no reason?
To watch a Quidditch match?
Picture it: a Dark wizard carrying a precious artifact, eating hot pot and singing songs, happily strolling along a Hogwarts path, only to get mugged by old Dumbledore before even stepping through the front gates.
If that was the actual plot, it would be a slap in the face to the multi-billion-dollar Harry Potter franchise from his past life.
Kyle instantly discarded that possibility.
Another possibility was that the final boss snuck into the school carrying the Philosopher’s Stone, ran into Potter, and got defeated.
That was equally absurd—motive aside.
That assumed the boss entered through a secret passage, evaded detection by the Headmaster, professors, ghosts, and portraits, and that the secret exit opened right in front of Potter’s face to guarantee an immediate encounter, because otherwise, a portrait in the hallway would pop over to the Headmaster’s office and return with Dumbledore, resulting once again in the boss getting his teeth knocked out.
Even if the boss got lucky and the Headmaster happened to be away on business, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, and the others would still teach the boss a lesson in manners.
Kyle ruled out that idea as well.
But hearing Potter and his friends discussing what the monster was guarding, an incredible thought flashed in Kyle’s mind.
It couldn’t possibly be that the Year 1 plot involved the school storing the Philosopher’s Stone, drawing the final boss’s greed, and then Potter uncovered the Dark wizard’s heist, leading to the boss being dispatched by Potter along with the Headmaster and House Heads?
But thinking it over, setting aside the infiltration issue—why would Dumbledore store the Philosopher’s Stone at school when carrying it on his person made far more sense?
Unless old Dumbledore went senile and lost it himself, who could possibly steal it from him?
That single point was enough to kill the theory.
After much thought, Kyle still leaned toward the idea that the Philosopher’s Stone would only make its appearance during the summer break.
As for the trapdoor Potter mentioned, it was likely some hidden secret in the Forbidden Forest designed to grant the protagonist early-game gear and perks.
Considering a first-year’s depth of knowledge and skill, even a Redcap could be considered a “monster” to them.
In his past life, Kyle loved reading detective novels, which had honed his sharp logical thinking and deductive reasoning.
Based on available evidence, he was confident his deduction was airtight!
As for the third-floor corridor, Kyle actually developed a slight interest.
He hadn’t heard of any professor conducting dangerous experiments, so why cordon off an entire corridor?
Organizing the newly acquired intelligence, Kyle felt he needed to re-evaluate his view of Gryffindors.
Barely first-years, less than a month into term, and they already dared to venture into the Forbidden Forest?
How death-seeking could they be?
At this thought, Kyle felt a sudden surge of sympathy for Madam Pomfrey.
“If Gryffindor’s little lions seek death like this throughout their school years, Madam Pomfrey in charge of the Hospital Wing must be far busier than I imagined,” Kyle mused with a sigh.
Unknowingly, Kyle had walked up to the junction of the third-floor corridors.
Though he was supposed to be heading to the fourth floor for Transfiguration class, his gaze lingered on the locked wooden door in the right corridor.
Though he doubted it contained the monster or trapdoor Potter’s group spoke of, the recent encounter had undoubtedly sparked his curiosity about the forbidden hallway.
Checking left and right to make sure no one was looking, Kyle drew his wand: “*Alohomora!*” The door unlocked and swung open.