"So, let me get this straight," Michael said for the third time since last night, as he, Harry and Padma waited outside of their first Transfiguration lesson. "You and Padma went to your duel, won, and then had to run from Professor Snape. But, there was a Cerberus in one of the classrooms."
"Correct," Harry replied as the classroom door opened.
Professor McGonagall sat at the front desk, and watched as everybody sat. Once everyone was seated she spoke, "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." Her eyes went from student to student, eyeing them with suspicion. "Anyone misbehaving in my class will leave, and they will not return. You have been warned."
With that, the Professor waved her hand over her desk, and to the astonishment of the class, it turned into a live pig. The pig gave a loud oink as Professor McGonagall transformed the desk back to its original state.
After the Professor gave the class a variety of notes to take, including the Transfiguration formula, they finally got started with the practical element.
A matchstick was placed in front of them, and they were tasked with transforming it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, Harry had succeeded in turning the matchstick silver, Padma had turned hers to metal, and Michael's had not changed much to his chagrin.
The three departed for their next lesson, Charms, and the three were greeted by Professor Flitwick. They sat in their usual spots, and began to take notes on their next spell, Lumos, the Wand-Lighting Charm. By the end of the lesson, the room was full of light bursting from everybody's wands.
At lunch, the three sat together as they filled the plates. Speaking in soft whispers, Michael asked, "What's the plan for tonight?"
"We go to the library to brainstorm," Harry whispered back. "We need to find out why the school has the need for a Cerberus. Hermione's meeting us there, since she already knows about it as well."
Michael nodded thoughtfully. Padma interrupted though, "Defence Against the Dark Arts is next," she announced excitedly.
By the end of the class, every student agreed he was a joke. His room stank strongly of garlic, and Professor Quirrell wore a turban that he claimed was a reward from a Turkish Prince for killing an Inferi, something Padma explained was akin to a zombie. The class itself was not as practical as anybody hoped, instead Professor Quirrell stuttered his way between the different types of ghosts.
The last class of the day was History of Magic, taught by Professor Binns, a ghost. Harry expected to learn about the founders of the school, or about various important figures, but instead Professor Binns droned on about the life story of Elfric the Eager while the majority of the class spoke to one another or passed notes.
When the lesson ended, Harry, Padma, and Michael decided to forgo their evening meal to head straight to the library. "Get books on creatures," Harry instructed, and the two others nodded and went off.
Harry made his own way through the library, grabbing books that looked like they could be about creatures. Eventually, the three returned and found a table, dumping their hauls on it. They all grabbed books at random and skim read the articles on the Cerberus.
"Look." Michael pointed at his section. He turned the book around and Padma read it aloud.
"The three-headed dog, known commonly as the Cerberus, is a creature commonly found in Greece. It was often used as a guard dog in medieval ages. It has now been outlawed due to its violent tendencies. The soft melodies of music are often enough to force the beast into a deep slumber," she said.
Hermione walked to the table, joined by Neville, much to Harry's surprise. "Sorry we're late," she said flustered.
Harry raised his hand dismissively. "No problem, we got here early," he reassured. "Nice you can join us Neville," he added.
Neville immediately blushed a deep pink. "Last night I heard Hermione ranting about you and the dog, so I asked what she was talking about. She told me what happened, and I offered to help. It's better than listening to Ron talk to Dean and Seamus about flying lessons and Quidditch."
Harry shrugged. "If Hermione trusts you, then so do I." Hermione beamed, and Neville's face turned a bright red. When the two Gryffindors were seated Harry spoke in hushed tones again. "Now, we're trying to research the Cerberus. We've found out they used to be used as guard dogs, which means it is likely to guard something. The only problem is, we don't know what."
The five students sat in contemplation for a few minutes. "You know, there was an attempted break in at Gringotts," Neville said hesitantly.
Hermione and Harry's eyes widened in realisation. "We talked about it on the train here," Hermione said. "One minute." She ran to the librarian, a thin woman with parchment like skin called Madam Pince, and returned with a newspaper in her hand.
She slammed the paper down and Harry read it. "Gringotts Break-In Latest. Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts Goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day." Harry placed the paper back on the table, and allowed everybody to read the article for themselves. "So, we know the dog is guarding something. Somebody broke into Gringotts to steal something. The 'something' was moved the same day. Logic would say the 'something' that was moved from Gringotts was moved to Hogwarts to be protected here."
Everybody nodded in agreement. "We should keep meeting here, to discuss this," Hermione decided. The group nodded again.
"How's everybody finding Hogwarts?" Harry asked, now that they had found all they could about the Cerberus.
A collection of groans was heard. "Professor Quirrell is useless," Padma complained.
"I know!" Hermione said indignantly. "All he did was talk for a lesson, and then he got distracted when Seamus asked him about his turban."
"Better than Snape," Neville muttered darkly. "I swear he has it out for Gryffindors."
"Professor Snape," Hermione corrected, "is just strict. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. The problem is Ronald, he yells at Professor Snape whenever he feels like it."
Michael shrugged. "Snape was fine towards the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. He was a bit weird with Harry though."
Harry agreed, and thought back. Professor Snape had a problem with Gryffindors and Harry. All Harry wanted to do was to find out why.
The group knew their session was over and when Harry returned to their Common Room, there was a letter waiting for him, a large untidy scrawl reading his name. Harry opened it and looked at the writing. It read
Dear Harry,
I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come to my hut around three. I want to hear about your first week. Send an owl, or drop off a letter with your reply.
Hagrid.
Harry wondered why the groundskeeper would want to talk to him, but accepted it and made a mental note to send his reply the next day. Harry showed the note to Michael and asked, "Want to come?" Michael shrugged, then nodded.
Friday came around, and Harry and Michael made their way to Hagrid's at quarter to three. They made their way across Hogwart's grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden hut that bordered the forbidden forest. A crossbow and workman's boots were outside the shack, and Harry was reminded of Batman's ally, the Green Arrow.
Harry knocked on the door, and a loud barking was heard from outside. "Back, Fang. Get back," Hagrid's voice said from behind the door. The door cracked open and Hagrid's large and hairy face appeared as he pulled the door open further.
He let the pair in, struggling to keep a hold of the collar of an enormous black dog. Harry and Michael exchanged a look, both having the same thought. Hagrid liked dogs, he might know about the Cerberus.
Harry looked around the one room cabin. Meat hung from the ceiling filling the room with a scent of almost cooked meals, a kettle was boiling on the open fireplace, and in the corner of the room was a giant bed with a patchwork quilt covering it.
"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, releasing Fang who immediately leapt on Michael, licking his face. Like Hagrid, the dog was not as intimidating as he seemed.
"Thank you. This is Michael," Harry replied to Hagrid, who was pouring the kettle water into mugs and putting rock cakes onto a plate.
Hagrid glanced at Michael. "Ravenclaw?" Hagrid asked curiously. Michael nodded, and Hagrid turned back to Harry. "Surprised you were Ravenclaw," he admitted. "Thought you'd be Gryffindor like yer parents."
Harry shrugged meekly. "If I was raised by them, maybe I would have been. But I wasn't, and there's no point thinking about it." Harry bit into the rock cake, and found it too solid to bite through, but he pretended to be enjoying it as Michael told Hagrid about Professor Snape.
"He seems to have a big problem with Harry," Michael explained. "He's overly demanding of Harry, but fine with the other Ravenclaws. And Neville, you know Neville Longbottom, said that he seems to also dislike Gryffindors."
Hagrid waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense, why would he have it out fer anyone?" Harry noticed that Hagrid had refused to look either of them in the eye when he spoke. "Anyway, who else yer met 'arry?"
Harry could tell that Hagrid had changed the conversation subject on purpose, but allowed it. "Michael and Padma from Ravenclaw. And then there's Neville and Hermione from Gryffindor. We all have weekly study sessions." Harry eyed Michael and silently urged him to play along.
"Oh yes," Michael said unconvincingly. "We are trying to study magical beasts at the moment."
Hagrid didn't clock on to the ploy, instead leaning forward with excitement. "I love these beasts. Most are scared of 'em, but not me, I think they're misunderstood."
"Really?" asked Michael. "What beasts do you know of?"
"Most of 'em," Hagrid said proudly. "There's Dragons, I always wanted one of 'em. And there's Manticores and Acromantula. Whole bunch more of 'em, you'll learn about 'em in yer third year."
"So," Harry started, "do you know anything about Cerberuses."
"Course I know about 'em. I ruddy well got one."
"You own a Cerberus?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Aye. Bought 'im off a Greek chappie in The Leaky Cauldron."
"Where do you keep him?" Michael asked.
Harry nodded and added, "It can't be the forest, that would be too dangerous for students." Hagrid paused, as though realising he should not have said that, and remained silent. "You're not keeping him at Hogwarts, are you?" Hagrid's eyes widened in shock. "Say, in the third-floor classroom that's out of bounds to students."
"How do you know about that"? Hagrid asked loudly.
"We found him by accident," Harry explained. "We were hiding from Professor Snape, and we ended up in the Cerberus' room."
"Fluffy," Hagrid interjected. "His name is Fluffy. Who else knows about this?"
Harry and Michael looked at each other before Harry responded, "Me, Michael, Padma, Hermione, and Neville."
Hagrid sighed. "Can they be trusted?"
Harry nodded. "What is Fluffy guarding? We saw the trapdoor."
Hagrid shook his head vehemently. "Not my place to tell. Whatever is in there, is between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."
Harry recognised the name from his chocolate frog card from the train ride, only a few days ago. "Flamel," Harry repeated. "Dumbledore's alchemy partner?"
Hagrid's eyes widened again. "I should not have said that."