Charlen escorted the four of them to the entrance of the Gryffindor dormitories and watched them go inside from across the corridor.
By now, the Fat Lady, who had been out wandering, had returned.
“Where have you been?” the Fat Lady asked immediately.
First-years, and in their second week of term no less, out wandering at night—this was highly shocking even by Gryffindor standards.
“Never mind that!
Pig snout, pig snout!” Harry was in no mood to explain things to the Fat Lady.
He blurted out the password and scrambled inside first.
The others only truly breathed a sigh of relief once they were inside.
They collapsed onto the seats in the common room as if they had lost their souls.
For a long time, no one spoke.
Finally, Ron was the first to break the silence.
“What do they think they’re doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?
If any dog ever needed training, it’s that one.
If we hadn’t run into Professor Gold, we’d be dead by now!” Hermione had caught her breath, but her bad temper had returned with it.
“I told you not to go!
Now look what happened—we nearly got killed!
And what’s worse, the professor is definitely going to deduct points from us!
And give us detention!” she said angrily.
“And did any of you even use your eyes?
Didn’t you see what it was standing on?” “The floor?” Harry guessed.
“I wasn’t looking at its feet.
I was too busy looking at its heads.” “No, not the floor.
It was standing on a trapdoor.
It’s obviously guarding something.
And the professor flew up from under that trapdoor, too!” She stood up, glaring at them furiously.
“I hope you’re pleased with yourselves.
We were nearly bitten to death—thankfully Professor Gold promised not to expel us, otherwise I’d rather have been bitten to death today.
Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.” Ron stared at her departing back, his mouth hanging open in astonishment.
“Go to bed, then.
We don’t mind,” he said.
“Who does she think she is?
It’s as if we dragged her along.
And does she really think getting expelled is worse than losing her life?
She’s mental!” Harry didn’t say anything.
The thought of going to Charlen’s office tomorrow afternoon to receive his punishment made him miserable.
Ron, however, took a more optimistic view.
“Don’t worry, even if the professor gives us detention, it’s fine.
Didn’t Hagrid say that if he were still in school, he’d get detention with Professor Gold on purpose?
Oh, right, tomorrow is Friday.
Your Quidditch—” “Quidditch is fine.
I don’t start training until next week.
Tomorrow, Wood and the others need to select new members,” Harry said.
“Alright, let’s go to bed, too.” However, Hermione’s words kept Harry deep in thought long after he got into bed.
That dog was guarding something…
What was it Hagrid had said?
Dumbledore had only gone to rescue those purebloods defeated by Professor Charlen in order to get an important item from him.
An important item…
what could it be?
Early the next morning, Harry poured out everything he had thought of the night before to Ron.
Consequently, they spent a great deal of time speculating about what kind of object would need to be guarded so heavily.
Not only did it require a wizard as powerful as Professor Charlen to escort it, but they also had to bring in such a massive dog to guard it.
“It’s either incredibly valuable, or incredibly dangerous,” Ron said.
“Or both,” Harry added.
In the afternoon, the two of them, along with Hermione and Neville, arrived at Charlen’s office.
However, there was no one inside.
Harry and Ron couldn’t help but recall Hagrid’s words and began to look around the room.
It was an ordinary room with a desk, a few leather chairs, and a large bookshelf.
It looked more like a manager’s office than a place that had been subjected to an Undetectable Extension Charm.
Hermione hadn’t spoken to Harry or Ron since their encounter last night.
Seeing them peering around after entering the professor’s office only made her angrier.
“Can you two please stop looking around?
What would the professor think if he saw you?” “I just wanted to see the reserve Hagrid mentioned,” Harry muttered defensively.
But imagining the scene Hermione described, he quickly behaved himself.
He certainly didn’t want to leave Charlen with any more bad impressions.
Just as they were wondering where Charlen was, he pushed open the inner door of his office and walked out.
“You’ve arrived.
Please, sit.
Have you all had lunch?” “Yes, we have,” Harry and the others replied immediately.
They noticed that Charlen wasn’t wearing his wizard’s robes today.
Instead, he was dressed in simpler, more practical clothing, and there was a bit of dirt on him.
“Then let’s have some dessert.” After Charlen had them sit, he called for Mr.
Mime to bring some sweets over.
A moment later, a Mr.
Mime walked over slowly, levitating four plates in the air.
“Moomoo Milk and some homemade Oran Berry cupcakes.” As Charlen spoke, the four plates bearing the treats floated down in front of Harry and the others.
“Is this…
the Levitation Charm?” Ron asked, his face full of surprise.
They hadn’t even tried using the Levitation Charm in class yet; Professor Flitwick believed they weren’t ready.
“Of course it’s not the Levitation Charm.
It’s psychic power!
Oh, thank you!” Hermione took her treat from Mr.
Mime, not forgetting to correct Ron.
“Hermione is correct.
Mr.
Mime is a Psychic- and Fairy-type Pokémon.
Their powerful mental energy allows them to use telekinesis,” Charlen praised.
But before Hermione could feel too smug, Charlen brought up the events of the previous night.
“Alright, now please tell me why you were still wandering the castle after curfew, and why you went near the fourth-floor corridor, which Headmaster Dumbledore strictly forbade.” Hermione’s face immediately dropped into a scowl.
In the end, it was Harry who spoke up first.
“I’m sorry, Professor, we didn’t mean to.
It was Malfoy.” “Draco Malfoy?” “Yes!
Malfoy said he wanted to have a wizard’s duel with Harry!
I was Harry’s second!” Ron added immediately, looking rather proud of himself.
With the two of them opening the door, Hermione simply went along with the explanation.
“But Malfoy tricked you!
He didn’t show up at all!” Hermione said at once.
“I warned you both, but you were still stupid enough to fall for it!” “So, you wanted to stop them from the very beginning?” Charlen asked.
Honestly, there was nothing wrong with what Hermione had done, though to immature children like Harry and Ron, it certainly felt like meddling.
Next, Neville explained his situation.
Compared to the other three, Neville was entirely innocent.
He had broken his arm during the day, and by the time he was healed, he didn’t know the password, and even the Fat Lady had gone out visiting.
Frightened as he was, he had no choice but to follow Harry and the others as they ran all over the castle.