Chapter 80: Can't even get through the door yet want to get ahead
Fluffy slowly stood up, its several yellow eyes fixed on the two Wizards in front of it, and a considerable amount of viscous fluid dripped from its three massive dog mouths.
With its breathing, a foul odor rapidly spread through the room.
"Aaron, I think we need to run, fast," Hermione said nervously.
"You're right." Aaron began to back away. He was less than a meter from the door, but at that moment, it felt like the most dangerous distance in the world.
Woof! Woof! Woof... No sooner had he finished speaking than Fluffy let out a deafening roar.
Bang!
Before it could pounce, the two quickly retreated, slamming the door shut and blocking a huge dog head from coming through.
"That was thrilling!" Aaron let out a heavy sigh of relief. "I genuinely admire Hagrid now; he actually managed to tame such a ferocious creature."
"Thrilling?" Hermione was instantly furious. "I should have stopped you just now.
Do you have any idea we almost died? Being bitten to death by a dog would absolutely be the biggest joke since Hogwarts was founded."
"My apologies!" Aaron gave an awkward laugh. He also felt he had been a bit thoughtless.
He knew how to calm Fluffy down but came without any preparations.
"Now, can you tell me why you had to go in there and look?"
"Dumbledore has left the school," Aaron said. "In other words, Hogwarts is no longer as safe as you imagine. You-Know-Who could pass through the trapdoor at any moment."
Hermione's pupils widened slightly. "That's truly terrible news. Do Harry and the others know?"
"I told them, just about ten minutes ago.
But what's worse is that Hagrid told a stranger how to get past Fluffy not long after the school year started."
"What?" Hermione immediately panicked. "So, You-Know-Who has already made all the preparations and is just waiting to act?"
"Exactly. He will definitely act before Dumbledore returns."
Just then, Harry and Ron also arrived, both out of breath and looking rather pale.
"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!" Aaron curled his lips, playfully remarking, "Let me guess, Professor McGonagall didn't believe you, did she?"
"No." Harry nodded in disappointment. "Not only did she not believe us, but she also gave us a severe scolding.
Thank you for the calming potion; otherwise, I might have talked back to the Professor."
"You're welcome.
If it were me, I wouldn't believe you either, and I might even deduct several points as punishment.
Firstly, the Philosopher's Stone is a school secret; how would you know about it?
Secondly, how would you know someone was going to steal it?
Thirdly, the Philosopher's Stone is heavily protected, with almost every Professor having designed a charm for it.
You can't expect a busy Professor to specially inspect it based solely on your word, can you? That would involve dismantling all the charms.
Most importantly, even Professor McGonagall might not know how to bypass all the charms.
The Cerberus guarding the trapdoor alone isn't easy to get past. You pestered Hagrid for half the semester, and he only accidentally let it slip today, didn't he?"
"But... if the Professor won't help us, then no one can help us," Harry said worriedly.
"There's always a way.
At least the trapdoor is still safe for now." Aaron shrugged. "We still have some time before You-Know-Who acts."
"Yes, there's still time." Harry suddenly thought of something, a glint flashing in his eyes. "As long as we get the Philosopher's Stone before Lord Voldemort does."
"Pfft!" Aaron scoffed, then saw the three Gryffindors' puzzled expressions.
"Ahem! Don't misunderstand.
I'm also professionally trained; no matter how funny it is, I won't laugh, unless I can't help it.
Hahahaha..."
"Aaron." Hermione tugged his sleeve. "You should at least try to be a bit more restrained!"
"Is there a problem with my plan?" Harry asked, a little annoyed.
"No problem, no problem at all." Aaron's expression gradually became serious. "It's just incredibly foolish, making one unable to help but laugh."
"What do you mean?" Ron said, unconvinced. "You'd better explain yourself clearly."
"Heh! So there's more than one idiot." Aaron rolled his eyes speechlessly, then pointed at the wooden door. "Go on in! I won't stop you."
"No, Fluffy will bite us to death," Hermione said anxiously.
"That's my point.
You can't even get past the trapdoor, yet you want to get the Philosopher's Stone before You-Know-Who.
Your courage is commendable, but if you go out later, don't say you know me; it'll make my intelligence seem very low."
"That Cerberus can't stop us; a little music is all it takes to calm it down."
"Then... where's the music?" Aaron asked playfully.
"Uh..." Ron paused, then said awkwardly, "We haven't had time to prepare it yet."
"Well, there you have it. You want to go in without preparing anything; that's just asking for death.
Unless you plan to serenade a ferocious Cerberus.
Don't be ridiculous; that'll only make you die faster.
And..." Aaron paused slightly, then said seriously, "Even if you had prepared music, it probably wouldn't work. Fluffy is just a guard.
There's a second challenge, a third challenge, and even an Nth challenge after that.
Are you confident you can get through the charms designed by the Professors?"
"This..." Harry suddenly felt a surge of dejection and helplessness, and the scar on his forehead began to burn again. "Hiss!"
"Harry?" Ron asked, looking at him worriedly.
"I'm fine." Harry rubbed the scar on his forehead, giving a wry smile. "But we really don't have much time; we need to come up with a way to stop Lord Voldemort as soon as possible."
Aaron hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "I suggest you don't do anything unnecessary. The waters beyond that door are too deep; you can't handle them."
"I know, but it's better than sitting around waiting to die.
Lord Voldemort definitely won't let me go. It's either stop him or die a little later than now.
I don't want to die, and I don't want to join the Dark Lord, so there's no other choice."
"If you trust me," Aaron reassured, "I'm confident I can stop You-Know-Who."
"You?"
Not just Harry, but even Hermione and Ron didn't believe him.
"How do you plan to stop him?" Harry asked.
"That's none of your concern. In short, I'm confident, just leave everything to me."
Aaron appeared very confident. Since accepting the system's mission, he had been waiting for this day.
Harry and the others were completely unprepared, but he was thoroughly prepared and could easily go solo without the three Gryffindors.
If the mission hadn't required him to play a significant role in eliminating Lord Voldemort, he wouldn't mind carefully planning and then quietly being a qualified 'old six.'
"How confident are you then?" Harry asked.
"Conservatively, about sixty percent," Aaron slightly understated his chances of success. He was confident he could disrupt Lord Voldemort's plan, but eliminating him might be difficult.
After all, he was the Dark Lord; who knew what unknown trump cards he might have?
"Only sixty percent?" Ron asked, eyes wide, clearly not very satisfied with that success rate.
"You think that's too little?
Why don't you try then?"
Ron immediately fell silent. He knew his own capabilities.
If it were him, let alone sixty percent, he wouldn't even have ten percent confidence; the probability of being taken out in one move was unusually high.
"This is too risky." Hermione shook her head, then looked at Aaron. "Do you have a plan?"
"The plan is... confidential.
In any case, you can trust me, and you must trust me," Aaronsaid, then walked out of the corridor on his own.
After Aaron left, the three looked at each other.
"I think Aaron seems pretty confident, so maybe..." Rondidn't finish his sentence, but he believed Harry and Hermione understood what he meant.
"No," Hermione said immediately.
"I also don't think it's reliable to leave it to him alone." Harrysighed deeply. "I'm still sticking to the original plan: getting the Philosopher's Stone before You-Know-Who."
Back in the common room, the three gathered around a table.
On the table was an ordinary flute; playing it could calm Fluffy.
"Harry, what do you plan to do?" Hermione asked. "We have no idea what charms are behind the trapdoor."
"We still have to try, to do our best!
We'll act tonight, once the other students are asleep."
"Tonight?" Ron opened his mouth. "Since we don't know what's behind that door, why don't we act sooner?"
"We need to do some preparations," Hermione said, exasperated. "At least we need to rest up; otherwise, we'll probably run out of energy halfway through the charms."
Grumble!
Ron's stomach unseasonably rumbled. He said somewhat sheepishly, "I was too rushed earlier and didn't have time for lunch.
But this just goes to show that what you're saying makes a lot of sense."
"Heh heh!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "I need to review the spells I've learned as quickly as possible; who knows, they might come in handy."
"And the Invisibility Cloak," Harry reminded her. "We can't act at night without it."