"What—what on earth is going on?"
Faced with the massive heads of the Three-Headed Dog, the trio's legs turned to jelly. Why was such a vicious creature in the school?
Harry mentally retraced their escape route before gasping in realisation. "This is the fourth-floor corridor?!"
Wayne nodded. "Indeed. More importantly, how did you end up so battered?"
Ron swallowed hard, whispering, "Wayne, can we discuss this outside? That dog behind you—"
"Filch is still prowling out there. We'll talk here." Wayne reached up to scratch one of the dog's heads. Obediently, Fluffy lay down, making it easier for him.
"Look, Fluffy is very obedient."
At his praise, the Three-Headed Dog let out a rumbling purr. The fear in Harry and the others' hearts finally began to fade.
Thinking of Filch outside, Harry grumbled, "Don't even mention it. Malfoy and I agreed to a midnight duel, and just as we were halfway through, Filch showed up. What rotten luck."
Wayne looked surprised. "Malfoy actually went? No, I mean—you duelled Malfoy?"
This was quite a change.
Hermione hadn't joined them, and Malfoy hadn't resorted to any underhanded tricks—he'd genuinely fought Harry head-on.
Judging by the situation, it had probably been a physical brawl.
'Have I interfered so much? Why are things spiralling in such a bizarre direction?'
Since the truth was already out, Harry didn't hold back and recounted the whole story.
When Neville heard the conflict had been sparked by his lost Remembrall, he was deeply moved.
"Wayne, why are you here? And this dog..."
Wayne kept it brief. "I learned a few new spells and came to test them on Fluffy. Seems like they worked well."
Fluffy shuddered.
"Worked well" was an understatement. If they'd kept going, his heads would've been smashed to bits.
As Wayne had said, he'd come to test the effects of his recent prize draw and the boost in his abilities.
Back then, it had seemed like Wayne had the upper hand, but that was only superficial—at most, he'd given Fluffy a few scratches.
This time, to give the Three-Headed Dog enough space to fight, he'd even used an Undetectable Extension Charm to widen the corridor temporarily.
When his old enemy appeared, Fluffy lunged furiously—only to be beaten into a whimpering retreat.
With his increased magical power, upgraded spells, and the aid of Dynamic Perception, Wayne had grown far stronger in just two weeks.
He hadn't even used Dark Magic, just shielded himself with an Aegis Charm, and Fluffy couldn't lay a finger on him.
His offensive spells had also become much more potent—even the simplest Bird-Conjuring Charm could now harm the Three-Headed Dog.
Having achieved his goal, Wayne didn't hold back, making it clear he had no intention of sneaking through the trapdoor and even offering some Murtlap jerky as a treat.
Combined with his Magical Creature Affinity, Fluffy soon turned into a docile lapdog.
He made it sound effortless, but Harry and the others were nearly petrified. Testing spells on such a terrifying monster?
All three of them were academic stragglers and had no idea just how powerful a Three-Headed Dog was, but its menacing appearance and sheer size made it clear it wasn't to be trifled with.
Ron gave a strained laugh. "You have a peculiar idea of fun."
"What's that?" Harry spotted the trapdoor hidden beneath Fluffy and asked curiously.
"ROAR!" Fluffy growled in warning, but Wayne soothed him.
"Easy, we're not going in. They're just curious."
Then he turned to Harry. "I don't know what's inside either, but Fluffy's job is to guard it. Keep asking, and he'll treat you as an intruder."
Harry shook his head like a rattle-drum. "Forget I asked."
Even so, his curiosity only grew stronger—Ron and Neville also stole glances at the trapdoor.
Wayne sighed inwardly. 'This is what Gryffindor is like – terrifyingly curious.'
He pulled out a map and saw Filch's marker had already moved to the sixth floor. "Filch isn't nearby, I'm heading off. What about you?"
Harry sighed in relief. "We're going back too. Hopefully, the Fat Lady has finished her stroll. Thanks for today, Wayne."
"No problem."
After thanking him again, the trio tiptoed upstairs, silently cursing themselves for being so scatterbrained as to forget the map during their nighttime excursion.
Wayne also turned back to dispel the Undetectable Extension Charm before bidding Fluffy farewell and drifting away.
...
On Saturday, the Great Hall was unusually quiet.
Some had left early for Hogsmeade, while others were still sleeping in.
Wayne met up with Hermione and Cho around nine o'clock, and they headed to the library together to work on their assignments.
Of course, it was Cho and Hermione who worked on their homework while Wayne read.
Madam Pince merely glanced at the three of them before ignoring them.
Cho, bored after writing for a while—unlike Hermione, she wasn't a top student and had only moderate interest in studying—tugged lightly at Wayne's sleeve and whispered:
"How's Ho-Oh been lately? I haven't seen it in days."
Wayne set down his copy of Advanced Potion-Making, looking slightly awkward. "Should be fine? Not just you—even I haven't seen it in a while."
Cho rolled her eyes prettily. "That's a Phoenix! Anyone else would treat one like a treasure. How can you be so careless?"
"Well, it's not that I'm careless. It's just... I made Ho-Oh angry the other day."
"What exactly happened?"
As they spoke, even Hermione couldn't resist leaning in. Thanks to the Muffliato Charm, Madam Pince could see their movements but not hear them, so she turned a blind eye.
Wayne scratched his head sheepishly. "So... I noticed everyone was so curious about the Phoenix that I thought of charging for photo opportunities—one Galleon per shot."
"But Ho-Oh refused, got angry, and flew off into the Forbidden Forest. It hasn't come back since."
Cho stared at him as if he were a monster, taking a long moment to process this. "Wayne, you're obsessed with money! What kind of idea is that?"
Hermione pinched him indignantly. "This is a Phoenix, not some zoo monkey!"
"Ahem, it's not easy supporting a household," Wayne said helplessly, spreading his hands. "It eats massive amounts of herbs every meal. I can barely afford it."
"You still can't do that!" Cho thought for a moment. "How about using my share of the money to buy food for Ho-Oh?"
Not to be outdone, Hermione added, "Mine too!"
Recently, the map sales had earned them over a hundred Galleons each, making them quite well-off.
But Wayne wasn't being ungrateful—this amount really wouldn't last Ho-Oh more than a few days. Still in its growth stage, Ho-Oh required vast amounts of energy, having already consumed two hundred Galleons' worth of food in just the past week.
Hearing how expensive it was to raise a Phoenix left both girls dumbfounded.
...
After lunch in the Great Hall, Cho took her broom to the Quidditch Pitch for Ravenclaw's team practice, while Hermione and Wayne found an empty classroom.
Hermione reluctantly handed her homework to Wayne. "Hurry up and copy."
The little witch was quite unhappy, never expecting that one day she would also aid and abet wrongdoing. Wayne grinned as he took out a stack of parchment and a sky-blue quill.
Under Hermione's astonished gaze, the quill began moving on its own, copying her homework.
"What kind of quill is this? How can it write homework by itself?"
Wayne leaned back comfortably in his chair, stretching lazily before explaining:
"My latest invention—the Plagiarism-Proof Quill."
"Use it to copy homework, even essays, and the teacher won't notice a thing."
"Really? I don't believe it." Hermione's face was full of scepticism as she watched the quill swiftly scribble line after line. Comparing it to her work, she realised the quill wasn't just copying rigidly—it had rephrased many sentences. Though the wording looked different, the meaning remained the same.
Professor McGonagall had assigned a foot-long essay on Transfiguration, and the quill finished copying it in just five minutes.
Hermione read through the entire thing. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it was copied from her essay.
"Want one?" Wayne dangled an identical quill in front of the little witch.
"I don't need it," Hermione declared proudly, lifting her chin. "I'd never copy someone else's homework."
"What about these, then?"
With a flourish, Wayne pulled out a whole handful of quills.
"This is the Dictation Quill—it records everything you say with perfect accuracy."
"This is the Grammar-Correction Quill—it fixes all grammatical errors in your writing."
"This is the Book-Copying Quill—it copies entire books without missing a single word."
"And this is the Fluff-Filler Quill—it can expand a hundred words into a thousand, with absolutely no substance."
Gulp.
Hermione swallowed hard.
Unlike the homework quill from before, these were all incredibly useful. She wanted every single one!
"Want them?" Wayne's tone was like a wolf tempting a little rabbit. Hermione nodded eagerly.
The corner of Wayne's mouth curled slightly as he remarked nonchalantly:
"Ah, practising spells last night left my shoulders and arms so sore… If only someone could..."
For the sake of the quills, Hermione gritted her teeth and obediently stood up, moving behind Wayne. Her small hands settled on his shoulders, gently kneading. Wayne let out a contented sigh.
Though Hermione wasn't exactly skilled, and her hands lacked strength…
But having a cute little girl give you a massage was mentally satisfying enough to feel wonderful.
"Are we done yet?"
"It's only been a short while, just a bit longer."
"My hands are sore."
"Hold on, it'll be over soon."
Half an hour later.
Wayne finally let go of Hermione, who was completely exhausted by now, and handed her one of each type of quill.
"Bastard."
Once she had the items, Hermione angrily bit Wayne on the shoulder. Seeing him grimace in pain, she smugly released her little fangs.
"See if you dare boss me around again."
"Miss Granger, this is biting the hand that feeds you," Wayne grumbled, rubbing his shoulder.
This Hermione had sharp teeth—it stung quite a bit!
"What are you talking about? I don't understand."
Quickly stuffing the quills into her pocket, Hermione gathered her homework and skipped out of the classroom.
"I'm going back to drop off my books. Meet at the castle entrance later!"
'There'll come a day when you fall into my hands.'
Wayne muttered under his breath as he watched the little witch disappear into the distance.
...
At exactly two o'clock, the two arrived at Hagrid's Hut, only to find they weren't the only guests.
Harry and Ron were there, too.
Their injuries hadn't healed yet—Ron had one eye swollen larger than the other, while Harry sported two black eyes and a split lip.
Hermione, who had been busy with the map and her homework lately, had completely forgotten about Harry's duel with Malfoy.
Seeing them battered and bruised, she finally remembered and said angrily, "You went through with that duel against Malfoy!
"If you'd been caught, how many points would've been deducted from Gryffindor? Professor McGonagall would've been furious!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she got.
Ron couldn't help but mutter, "We didn't get caught, did we? Besides, Malfoy went. If we hadn't, who knows how he'd have mocked Gryffindor."
At least he had the decency not to mention running into Wayne the night before.
Just as Hermione was about to say more, Hagrid quickly stepped in to mediate.
"Alright then, seein' as they weren' caught, let's jus' move on. Malfoys've always bin a nasty lot—Ron, yeh'd know tha' better'n most."
"Too right," Ron agreed with a nod.
Somehow, every time they went to Diagon Alley, they'd run into the Malfoys. And his dad and old Malfoy were always at each other's throats, unable to stand one another.
Just like Harry and Malfoy.
With Hagrid's interruption, Hermione couldn't press the matter further. She could only sulk and take a sip of tea.
Then, Hagrid handed Wayne a bulging, much larger boomslang skin bag than the last one.
"Wayne, check everythin's there, will yeh? Let me know if anythin's missin'."
Wayne didn't stand on ceremony and opened it right away. Inside were mostly animal pelts and a few vials of fluid.
The most valuable item was the Acromantula venom—Hagrid had given him a whole pint.
"This is more than enough. Thanks, Hagrid."
The half-giant scratched his head sheepishly. "Don' mention it. Tha'—"
Wayne knew what he wanted. With a thought, he summoned Ho-Oh.
As soon as it appeared, the temperature in the room rose noticeably.
Hagrid trembled with excitement, reaching out to touch it, but Ho-Oh dodged disdainfully and instead perched on Hermione's shoulder. It was still upset with it's owner and had no intention of snuggling up to Wayne.
Harry and Ron were also observing Ho-Oh.
"Is this your Phoenix?" Ron said excitedly.
"Yes, its name is Ho-Oh."
"It's so beautiful..." Harry nodded in agreement.
Hermione shot a smug glance at Wayne and, well-prepared, pulled two basil leaves from her pocket—leftovers from Herbology class, which she had saved for this moment.
Ho-Oh disliked confined spaces and didn't stay long. After Wayne produced some dittany, the bird reconciled with him, nuzzling his cheek affectionately before flying off.
The entire visit lasted less than fifteen minutes.
Yet Hagrid was thoroughly satisfied, enthusiastically serving cakes and sweets to everyone.
And, of course, including his infamous rock cakes.
The group unanimously ignored the rock cakes, focusing instead on the sweets and chocolate cake.
Though the chocolate cake was overly sweet, it was far preferable to the tooth-shattering rock cakes.
During the conversation, Harry and Ron tactfully avoided mentioning the previous night's events.
To them, Hermione was terrifying. If she found out they'd not only duelled Malfoy but also trespassed into the area Dumbledore had declared off-limits, their day would be ruined.
Harry watched in disbelief as Wayne cheerfully munched on a rock cake. "Wayne, are your teeth made of iron? How can you even bite into this?"
While Hagrid went to heat the tea, Harry stared in shock as Wayne continued eating the rock cake with apparent relish.
"I used a Softening Charm," Wayne said matter-of-factly. "Want to try? It's actually quite nice."
With a light tap, the cake's crust became noticeably softer.
Harry: "..."
'Of course. I'm just useless.'
He reluctantly picked up a piece and took a bite. "Not bad."
"By the way, I've invented some new gadgets recently. Fancy buying any?"
"What are they?" Harry perked up with interest.
Under Hermione's murderous glare, Wayne produced the Plagiarism-Proof Quill.