The five of them pressed against the door, holding their breath, listening to the sounds outside.
Filch's footsteps grew closer, accompanied by Madam Norris's meows.
"Damn brats, I know you're in here!" Filch cursed from outside the door, pulling hard on the doorknob.
The door didn't budge.
Seeing that he couldn't open the door, Filch assumed no one was there and walked away, muttering curses.
As the footsteps faded, the five of them finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Great, he's gone," Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Let's hurry back to the dormitory," Hermione whispered.
Just then, Neville spoke tremblingly:
"Guys, look behind you."
The four of them slowly turned around and instantly froze.
A giant Cerberus was staring at them ferociously, each head as big as a bucket, its six eyes gleaming in the dark.
Sharp teeth protruded from its mouth, and saliva dripped down.
"Ah ah ah ah!"
Except for Charlie, the other four let out earth-shattering screams.
Charlie's eyes widened, a stampede of thoughts in his mind.
Which scoundrel said Dumbledore wouldn't leave danger in the Castle!
Faced with this situation, Charlie almost instinctively pulled out his wand.
"Incendio!"
Blazing flames instantly ignited before him, forming a wall of fire.
Charlie didn't directly attack the Cerberus; he was afraid of enraging the huge creature, only wanting to block it with fire.
Charlie wanted to shield the others in front of him, but when he looked back…
Damn it, where are the people?
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville had all run off, not even a shadow remaining.
"Oh, you treacherous lot!" Charlie couldn't help but curse.
Just as Charlie also wanted to run, he noticed that although the Cerberus looked fierce, it remained motionless.
Does this thing not bite?
A bold idea popped into Charlie's mind.
"Billy!" he called softly.
With a pop, Billy appeared before Charlie.
"Mr. White, does Billy need anything?"
Ever since he gave Billy a Galleon half a month ago, this House-elf really had been at his beck and call.
Even every morning when Charlie woke up, there would be a steaming hot breakfast by his bed.
"Get me a piece of meat, a fresh one," Charlie whispered.
Billy immediately vanished and returned in less than ten seconds, carrying a large piece of beef.
Charlie took the beef and cautiously walked towards the Cerberus.
"Come on, big doggy, choo choo choo."
He didn't know if dogs in another world would respond to "choo choo choo," but he'd try it first.
The two side heads of the Cerberus instantly changed expression, drooling all over the floor.
Only the middle head still maintained a fierce expression on the surface, but its rapidly wagging tail had already betrayed it.
Charlie couldn't help but laugh:
"Isn't this just taken care of?"
"I knew old Dumbledore was still reliable."
"Your Majesty bribes the treasury guard, acting absurdly. tyrant points +1."
...Meanwhile, Harry and the other three ran a good distance before stopping, only then realizing someone was missing.
"Where's Charlie?" Harry asked, panting.
"Oh no, we left him behind!" Ron's face turned pale.
Hermione wanted to inform a Professor: "We should go find Professor McGonagall immediately!"
Ron pouted: "By the time a Professor arrives, Charlie will probably be nothing but bones."
Harry clenched his fist, guilt flashing in his eyes: "We left Charlie behind, we must go back and save him!"
With that, he ran back.
Hermione reached out, wanting to say something, but stopped herself.
Gritting her teeth, she followed behind Harry.
At this moment, she no longer lectured; a companion's safety was more important than rules.
Ron and Neville exchanged glances; although both were scared to death, they still followed.
"Merlin bless, I hope Charlie is still alive," Neville said, trembling.
The four returned to the door of the room and cautiously walked forward.
Strange chewing sounds came from inside, crunching loudly.
Harry's face instantly turned pale, and he froze on the spot: "It's over, Charlie he…"
Ron covered his mouth, his eyes full of fear: "Oh my, Charlie isn't making a sound, only that dog is gnawing on his…"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Although Hermione was also scared to death, she was more rational.
She would never make a judgment lightly before seeing the truth.
With trembling hands, she gently pushed open the door a crack and secretly peeked inside.
The next second, all four of them were stunned.
They saw the giant Cerberus comfortably lying on the ground, all three heads buried in a large piece of beef, gnawing with relish.
And Charlie?
He was leisurely sitting beside the Cerberus, stroking its middle head.
"Good dog, Third Young Master, truly a good dog."
Charlie's voice came out, his tone as gentle as if praising his own pet dog.
Seeing this, the two side dog heads also leaned over and rubbed Charlie's arm with their heads, as if acting spoiled.
Charlie chuckled and stroked the other two dog heads.
"Good boys, all good boys."
Harry's eyes widened; he could hardly believe what he was seeing.
"Charlie! You're alright!"
He was so excited he almost rushed in, but Ron pulled him back.
That dog didn't attack Charlie, but they couldn't be sure about the four of them.
Charlie heard the sound, turned around, and saw the four returning, feeling quite relieved.
After all, this showed that these guys hadn't really abandoned him; they still had a conscience.
The Cerberus also noticed the four people at the door, but only glanced at them before continuing to gnaw on the meat.
Anyway, Hagrid's task was to guard the trapdoor beneath it, so as long as these Young Wizards didn't come in, it would be fine.
As Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, a new question arose in her mind.
"Charlie, where did you get that meat?"
"magic, of course," Charlie replied casually.
Ron's eyes lit up.
"Charlie, you can conjure food!"
But Hermione wasn't so easily fooled; she frowned and said:
"No, Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration explicitly states that food cannot be created out of thin air through Transfiguration."
Charlie was helpless; a Young Wizard who knew so much was truly not cute.
"Alright, you're impressive."
"It was brought by a House-elf from the Castle."
"But compared to this, don't you think we should focus on something more important?"
He pointed beneath the Cerberus.
"Like, the trapdoor under Third Young Master's backside."
Although Hermione was very interested in the House-elf Charlie mentioned, the Cerberus matter was clearly more important.
Everyone followed his finger and indeed found the Cerberus lying on a wooden trapdoor.
Harry blinked.
"What could be under there?"
"Who knows," Charlie stroked his chin, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes.
"But since Dumbledore went to such lengths to have Third Young Master guard it, there must be something good underneath."
At this moment, the Cerberus seemed to understand their words, speeding up to devour the large piece of beef completely.
It let out a satisfied burp, then straightened up, all three heads looking straight ahead, as if it hadn't been eating meat just now.
"Third Young Master," Charlie patted its hind leg.
"Could you move aside? I want to go down and look."
The Cerberus acted as if it hadn't heard, remaining completely still.
"Don't pretend, I know you understand," Charlie continued to persuade.
"Just a quick look, I'll be right back up."
The Cerberus still ignored him.
Charlie gritted his teeth and pulled out his wand:
"Do you believe I'll hit you with a Stupefy?"
Hearing this, the Cerberus finally reacted; it slowly turned its middle head and looked at Charlie disdainfully.
Given the Cerberus's resistance, even an adult Wizard's Spell would have difficulty knocking it down.
The atmosphere instantly became a bit awkward.
Charlie cleared his throat and silently put away his wand:
"Just kidding, just kidding."
Just you wait, my turn will come!
Harry and the others covered their mouths, stifling their laughter, not daring to laugh out loud.
Charlie couldn't beat the Cerberus, but couldn't he beat them?
Unable to withstand Charlie's persistent coaxing, the Cerberus simply lay down on the trapdoor, burying its head as if asleep.
"You…!"
"You eat and then don't recognize people, you really are a Third Young Master."
Charlie was so angry his teeth itched; he kicked the Cerberus and turned to leave.
On the way back to the dormitory, Hermione started her nagging mode again.
"I told you, we shouldn't have gone out at night!" she said indignantly as she walked.
"This almost got us killed, and even worse, we almost got expelled!"
Ron muttered softly from behind.
"I say, can she not distinguish which consequence is more serious?"
Charlie and Harry heard this and couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright, little Professor McGonagall, stop nagging," Charlie said with a smile.
"My ears are getting calloused."
Hermione turned and glared at the four thoughtless boys, but the title 'little Professor McGonagall' made her feel a little happy inside.
Professor McGonagall was her idol, and she always held herself to Professor McGonagall's standards.
Suppressing her little bit of smugness, Hermione walked on with her head held high.
"Hmph, you thoughtless lot, you don't understand the importance of academics at all!"