Midnight Duels and Three Headed Dogs

"Seeker?"

Neville stared at Harry in shock, jaw dropped. He had joined him at dinner after being given a clean bill of health from Pomfrey, and Harry was now just finishing telling him what happened after he left with Madam Hooch. "Seeker?" he repeated with a little bit of awe. "But we're just first years - first years are never on the House team," he said with a bit of a squeak. "You must be the youngest Quidditch player in... forever!"

"Laini Tyler, my new captain, said I'm the first on in a century," said Harry with a shrug as he attacked the plate of sandwiches. He was extremely hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "She also said I'm not really allowed to tell anyone, and wants me to be a surprise for the enemy or something like that, but I think it's alright to tell you. You're not gonna tell anyone, right?"

"Who would believe me?" said Neville with a shake of his head. "Blimey, I can't believe I missed that - and thanks for standing up for me, Harry." He flushed, a bit embarrassed. "No ones ever done that for me before."

"What are friends for?" said Harry with a grin.

"Well, well, look whose still here - damn it, I was hoping they'd expelled you by now."

Not looking up from his plate, Harry growled. "Just leave me alone, Labelle." And he had been feeling so good, on a high from his new Seeker position, until she arrived.

"What, am I interrupting your last meal?" Labelle taunted, finally forcing Harry to turn and look her in the eyes. She had her lackeys with her, and was glaring at him as she uncrossed her arms and pointed at him. "I hope so - you cost me fifty house points."

"That was your own fault, not mine," shot back Harry. "You're the one that stole my necklace. Besides, what are you going to do about it now?" he asked, shooting a glance at the Head Table, were all the teachers were now sitting, though at the moment none of them were looking their way. Still, Labelle glanced at them and faltered - she knew what would happen if she caused a scene and drew attention to herself.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Suddenly, Draco was at Harry's side, with Crabbe and Goyle right behind him and towering over the group, earning a little 'eep' from Neville in surprise. "Are you bothering my friend," he sneered, "after that horrible display of what you call flying earlier?"

Turning red in the cheeks, Labelle now shot a glare a newcomer, and for a moment Harry swore there were sparks flying between their eyes, like in one of Dudley's cartoons. "And who are you?" she sneered back.

"Draco Malfoy," answered the Slytherin with his chest puffed up. And again, Labelle faltered at his name, but only for a moment before she appeared angrier then ever. "You remember then? No need to ask who you are, Labelle - and like I said, you're bothering my friend. And you can't take on all of us, now can you?" He gestured to their group of five, even Neville, and compared it to Labelle's four. "You're out numbered, and I'm pretty sure out-magicked."

"I can take you, or Potter, anytime, Malfoy!" snapped Labelle.

"Oh really? Are you proposing a Wizards Duel?" said Draco with a raised eyebrow. "You have heard those, haven't you, Labelle, even in your neck of the backwards woods?"

Labelle was almost growling at the Slytherin, and Harry imagined any moment steam coming out of her ears. "Of course! And why not?" she said after a faint pause. "Wands only, no contact. Tonight, midnight. Against you and Potter."

"Fine, I'll be Harry's second then. Whose yours?"

Labelle glanced back at her trio of followers and pointed at the red-head. "Weasley. And where so you want to meet?"

"Trophy room - it's always unlocked," Weasley spoke up. "My brother's sneak in there are the time."

"Right - Midnight, trophy room." Labelle held out a hand to Draco, eyes narrowed. "See you then."

With no hesitation, Draco shook her hand once before letting go, and then the group watched Labelle and her trio march back to the Gryffindor table. Blinking, Harry looked up at Slytherin from his seat. "What did you just do, Draco? What's a wizards duel, and what do you mean, you're my second?"

"A wizard duel is like those crude Muggle duels, except with out the swords," said Draco as he settled next to Harry, ignoring the baffling looks he was getting from other Hufflepuffs. "We bow, and then just shoot each other with spells. And, well, a second's there to take over if you, you know, die," he said casually.

"Die? Seriously?"

Draco shrugged. "People only die in proper duels, you know, when we know more advance spells. Right now all we know is the basic's anyway, not enough magic to do any real damage. The most you and Labelle will be able to do is send sparks at each other, maybe a few minor spells."

"So what do if we can't do any spells?" asked Harry.

"Throw the wands away and start throwing punches instead," said Draco with a roll of his eyes. "It's a bit Muggle, but still, not like we could do anything else. Please, can I punch that annoying Weasley in the nose?"

"I don't think this is a good idea," spoke up Neville with a squeak. "Harry, you already lost us points, and you'll get in even more trouble if we get caught!"

"Then we won't get caught," said Draco with a smirk. "Listen, I'll meet you there a quarter till midnight and see if we can go over any spells that might help." He stood and patted Harry reassuringly on the shoulder. "See you later then."

"I still don't think this is a good idea," mumbled Neville later that night as they crept into the Common Room at half passed eleven, with dressing gowns over their pajamas and wands in hand.

Harry had to agree with him a little bit. There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and he felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today. On the other hand, Labelle's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness, he could only imagine him taunting him the next day when he didn't show up. He figured maybe this was worth the risk, this time.

"Whose there?" asked a sudden voice with a yawn.

Both the boys jumped as someone sat up on the couch, blinking in the dim light that came from the charmed windows. It was a girl from their year, Susan Bones, Harry thought she was called, with red hair pulled into a braid and rubbing her sleepy brown eyes. "It's almost midnight," she said with a yawn, setting aside a book she must have been reading when she fell asleep, her nightgown and dressing gown rumpled. "What are you doing up?"

"N-Nothing," stuttered Neville. "Just - um..."

"Oh no - you aren't really going to do that stupid Wizards Duel, are you?" she asked as she stood, rubbing her arms against the slight chill in the air while she slipped her bare feet into a pair of slippers. "Hannah Abbott told me she heard you and Malfoy talk about it at dinner, but I thought she was joking!"

"I told you this was a bad idea," moaned Neville to Harry. "Now she's going to tell on us!"

"No she's not," said Harry, then turned to Susan Bones. "You aren't going to tell on us, are you?" he asked.

Sighing, Susan shook her head. "No, I guess not - Labelle was pretty horrid to you earlier. But I'm coming with you."

"What?" said Harry and Neville together in shock.

"Sure - you're gonna need an excuse if you get caught out in the corridors in the middle of the night," Susan said with a shrug. "You'll just say you found me sleep walking, and since you don't know how to wake me up without harming me, you followed me to make sure I didn't get hurt. And they'll believe it, cause my aunt informed Madam Pomfrey about me sleepwalking when I was younger, just in case. It's full proof." Tossing her braid over her shoulder, she started towards the exit. "Come on, we best be going." Even though she said this confidently, Harry could smell her uncertainty as she lead them out of the Hufflepuff Common Room with her head held high.

They quickly moved along corridors, striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn they had to take Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky, for now it seemed. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room, which Susan had to help them find when they got turned around and almost got lost.

Crystal trophy cases glinted where the moonlight caught them - cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. Draco stepped out from a dark corner when he saw it was them, his crooked smile turning into a frown when he saw Susan. "Whose this?"

"Susan Bones," Harry introduced, and quickly told him about her plan, which he realized won't really work if Draco was found them, but then realized he could hide alone better then the four of them could, and then the three could still stick to their story.

Impressed, Draco raised an eyebrow at Susan. "Are you sure you weren't suppose to be in Slytherin?" he asked.

"The Hat thought about it for a moment," admitted Susan with a shrug.

The minutes ticked by as midnight drew closer, and Draco gave Harry some tips while Susan and Neville watched the two sets of doors, just in case Labelle tried to sneak up on them - the only defense spell he knew was 'Scutum', which was a basic shield that should bounce off weak spells, but since he wasn't sure, dodge if that didn't work, and the tickling charm, 'Rictusempra', which he said his cousins used on him all the time when he was younger.

Finally, the door that Neville was watching opened, and Labelle slipped in, Weasley on her heels, just as the bells rung to tell them in was midnight. "Ready to get your arse kicked?" asked Labelle as they got into position - Labelle and Weasley at one side of the room while Harry and Draco stood at the other, Neville standing near the door so he won't get hit while Susan volunteered to referee the match.

Rolling his eyes, Harry faced Labelle, and then both bowed when Susan told them to, though neither one of them lowered their heads, suspicious of the other.

"Ready? On three - one... two..."

"Sssh!" said Neville suddenly, waving for them to be silent and glancing at the door near him, which lead into the next room. "Wait, I think I hear something!" he said in a high whisper.

Freezing, all the children strained to listen at the scuffling, and Harry could hear mumbling, along with the pungent smell of dirt, cleaning supplies, and... cat!

Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the others to get away from that door. "It's Filch and Mrs. Norris!" he whispered frantically, and everyone eyes widen in horror. Acting first, Labelle and Weasley raced out the room, scurried silently away from Filch's voice and through the other door, and after a second the three Hufflepuffs and Slytherin did the same. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room, and all six of the children froze in the hallway.

"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."

Tugging at Weasleys robes, Labelle forced him to run down the corridor, probably to Gryffindor tower. She stuck out her tongue as she ran, probably delighted that they would get caught.

"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others, motioning for them to go the other way, hoping that it would lead them to basements. Petrified, the four began to creep down a long hallway, full of suits of armor that loomed over them. They could hear Filch leaving the trophy room, and tried to go as fast and as silently as they could.

Suddenly, Neville let out a frightened squeak as he tripped over something unseen, grabbing Draco around the waist as he tried not to fall, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor, the clanging and crashing made Harry not only flinch and cry out in pain, but also fear that the noise was enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Harry yelled as he helped Neville get up, while Susan grabbed Draco, and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following, though Harry could hear him scrambling to catch up. They swung around a corner and galloped down one corridor - then another. Harry, without any idea where they were or where they were going, saw a tapestry flutter in their wake and saw a doorway revealed for a moment. Coming to a sudden halt and getting panicked looks from the other as he turned back, he pushed the tapestry aside and found, to his relief, a hidden passageway.

"Come on," Harry urged, and they ran along the secret corridor for a few minutes before they finally came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room. Hopeful that Filch was a long ways behind them, he collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily not out of exhaustion, but a different kind of pain - his urge to transform had gotten too strong while they ran.

"I think we've lost him," Draco panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering, and Susan was clutching a stitch in her side, wincing. "How the bloody hell did he find us so fast?"

"He knew there was suppose to be someone in there," pointed out Harry. "Someone must have told him. Who though?"

"Not Labelle," said Draco with a shake of his head. "She was there - she could have been caught to."

"Well even Hannah knew about the duel," groaned Neville. "Filch could have hear about it somehow."

"Either way, we've got to get out of here and back to our Houses," said Susan, "before he catches us. Our story won't work if already knew someone was suppose to be out of bed."

In agreement, the four took a moment to breath easy before they moved on again. But apparently, it wasn't going to be as easy as they hoped - they hadn't gotten more then a dozen paces when something came shooting out of a nearby class room.

"Ooh, lookie lookie," said the small floating man with a squeal of delight. "What do we have here?" It was Peeves, the poltergeist that lived to tease and prank students every chance he had - he tried to trick Harry and get him lost during his first day of school.

"Please, be quiet, Peeves," begged Susan. "You'll going to get us in trouble."

Peeves cackled. "Wandering around at midnight? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caught."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves. Please?" said Susan sweetly.

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Just get out of the way, Peeves," snapped Draco, taking a swipe at Peeves.

"Draco, no!" Susan cried.

With a grin, Peeves bellowed. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives. But again, they didn't get every far before the reached the end of the corridor. They slammed into a door and Harry fumbled with it, only to find it was locked. He glanced around at his friends with wide eyes as they hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves' shouts. "It's locked!" Harry whispered frantically.

"Here, let me!" Susan grabbed Harry's wand out his pocket, and mumbled under her breath, "Oh, whats that stupid spell - Alohomo ... Alohomora!" she said, rapping the lock.

To everyone's - including Susan's - relief, the lock clicked and the door swung open and they raced through it, shutting as quietly as they could behind them and then pressing their ears against it, straining to listen. After an episode of Peeves teasing Filch into saying please before he whooshing away cackling, leaving Filch cursing in rage, Harry sighed in relief.

"He thinks this door is still locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be alright - Neville, what's is it?" he asked with a hint of exasperation - Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute. He turned around. "Wha...?"

For a moment, Harry was sure that he had woken up in a nightmare. He had been so distracted by Filch and not getting caught he had failed to notice the elephant in the room - or actually, the monster in the room. All four of the children stared up at the beast looming over them, teeth barred and snapping at them. It was a large dog, a dog that was bigger any werewolf he had ever seen, bigger then even Hagrid, filling the only slightly larger room with its hulking, black furred frame. It stared down at them with not one, not two, but three large heads, all three of them growling, all three with drool dripping down the mouths at the sight of the four children; of the four intruders.

All three heads gave a booming bark, and three children screamed in terror before retching the door behind them open and scrambled to get out, in fear of being eat or torn to shreds by the three headed monster, slamming the door shut behind them.

Only one was left behind, frozen on the spot. Harry couldn't move for a moment as the three headed dog advanced on him, still growling. He had always been taught that when confronted by an big werewolf, and Alpha, he had to show them respect. So slowly, he laid on the ground, curling up on his side and whining to show he was scared. He imaged if he had his wolf ears and tail they would be lowered in fright.

Answering with its own whine, filled with confusion, one of the dogs three heads leaned forward, snuffling as examined him. Each exhale was a blast of hot air that ruffled his hair,which smelled of meat and other things that Harry didn't want to think about. For a moment, he wondered what the monster smelled - did it smell the wolf that clung to him, like Fang smelled? Did it smell the faint scent of his forest home, and his werewolf family? Or did it smell only the human in him, of the humans he'd been around for almost the last two weeks? He hoped it was the former.

As the beast continued to sniff him out, Harry heard a soft call out from the other side of the door. "Harry?" Susan called carefully. "Are you still in there? Are you alright? I hope he's alright - I thought he was right behind us."

"I think we found out the reason why this place is out of bounds - I can't believe you left him in there," drawled Draco, and though he tone sounded easy, Harry heard a hint of worry. "He's probably going to get eaten - Ow! Did you just punch me, Bones?"

"Oh no - but he just became the new Hufflepuff Seeker, he can't get eaten!" said Neville shakily, and then realized his mistake. "Oops."

"He did what?!" said Draco shrilly.

"I'm fine, guys," Harry said slowly as the other two heads not sniffing him began to growl at the door. "But please, don't come in." He didn't want to think of what would happen if the three-headed dog was interrupted in its examination of him.

After another few long moments of silence, the dog head above him finally gave a bark, startling Harry before it leaned down further to, his surprise, gave him a long lick, which started at his chest to up into his hair. Harry laughed at the gesture, not only out of relief, but at the sensation that felt like being scrubbed with a wet but soft towel of sandpaper. "Hey, come on, stop that!" he said with more laughter as he scrambled into a sitting position, holding out his hands in a weak attempt to protect himself while he continued to be licked. "Oi!" The other two heads leaned over him, one with its nose in his hair while the other nudged his side. "Come on, quit! I'm not a toy!"

"Oh look, they've started eating him now," drawled Draco. Then there was a thud, and he spoke up again, trying to hold back his amusement. "Oh look - Longbottom fainted."

"I'm alright!" laughed Harry as one of the heads took his dressing gown in its teeth and gently tugged at it. "I'll be out in a minute. You're friendly, aren't you?" he said to the creature, whose tail wagged happily as he scratched the head in front of him. "You just want some attention. But I've got to get going. I'll be back," he said as the three heads whined at once. "I promise."

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, the dog gave him a final lick before sitting back with a thud, its still wagging tail thumping against the ground. Harry glanced behind it, something sounded... odd. Like it was hitting wood, even though they were in a stone room.

Finally, he saw it - a large trapdoor in the center of the room, like the one he had used not even a full day before. Is that why the dog was suppose to be there, to protect it?

"Harry, you're alright!" said Susan with relief as he finally came out of the room. "And you're... wet?" She touched his robe with the tips of her fingers and grimaced, drawing back to reveal the drool that still clung to her fingers and held like a thread to his dressing down. "No, just slimy. Gross."

"I got a bath," said Harry with another laugh as he tried to wipe some of the drool off his face. "Come on, we've all got to get back to the Common Room. Help me wake up Neville."

"Oh, wait a minute there - I can't go back to your Common Room," protested Draco as Harry and Susan knelt next to Neville and tried to wake him up. "I'm a Slytherin!"

"The House of Hufflepuff is welcome to anyone and everyone," spoke up Susan without even looking at him. "Plus, the dungeons are farther away, the basement is a lot closer, and Filch is still searching for us. Do you really want to risk getting caught because you want to sleep in your own bed?"

"...Fine," mumbled Draco reluctantly. "But I am not sleeping on the couch, you understand?"

Twenty minutes later, the group were sitting in the Common Room together, with the fire burning, blankets wrapped around them, and mugs of warm cocoa in hands, thanks to a house-elf that popped in and out before anyone had a chance to thank it. Draco lightly admitted that this was a bit nicer that his Common Room, but he still wasn't going to sleep on the couch.

The subject at first was Harry edition version of why he didn't get eaten by a monstrous three headed dog, but he made it quick and easy - he basically said he was really good with dogs, but that wasn't the important part.

"A trap door?" Susan frowned as she stared into his cocoa, watching her marshmallows melt into the drink. "Then you're probably right Harry, it was put there to guard it - but the question is why? What could be so important that Headmaster Dumbledore would risk bringing in a Cerberus into the school?"

"A what?" asked Draco, eyebrows raised.

"Well, its a Cerberus - a creature that Muggles mostly recognize from both Greek and Roman mythology," reeled off Susan like she was reading it from a book in front of her. "It was one of the guardians to the Underworld, and obeyed only Hades, or in the Roman version, Pluto. Though in the myths in usually had a snakes tail, snakes mail, and claws of a lion. It made sure the dead stayed in underworld and the living stayed out. It was even on of Hercules task! That one though is still pretty small - probably just a year old or so - poor thing is probably itching to stretch out its legs and play."

"Wait - that Cerberus is s-s-small?" asked Neville with alarm.

"Yes - most records have fully grown Cerberus' as big as a two story house," said Susan with a nod, and Neville looked faint again.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Draco questioned. "Let me guess, the Hat thought you should be Ravenclaw for a moment?"

Flushing, Susan said, "I like to read, random things really, and it just so happens I read a book Greek mythology books and another on magical creatures. And I still remember them. But still, the question is - what could it be guarding?"

"... Hagrid!" said Harry suddenly.

"The dog's guarding a Hagrid?" drawled Draco.

"No, Hagrid, the groundskeeper - I remember see him at Gringotts Bank the day that it got broken into, the one were nothing got stolen cause the vault was already emptied. And he said that he was on an important mission for Dumbledore! He probably brought whatever was in the vault here!"

"And Hogwarts is probably the safest place in the world to protect something, save for Gringotts!" pointed out Susan. "It's got all kinds of wards on it -

"Oh Merlin, spare us," groaned Draco, earning a glare from Susan. "Or are you going to tell us something about Merlin now that I've mentioned it."

"Shove off, Malfoy."

"But that still doesn't tell us what it is," interrupted Neville before the two could attack each other again. "I mean, it could be anything."

"Yah, but that means we can go talk to someone who does," said Harry with a grin.

"Oh no," moaned Neville, "can't we just forget about the three-headed dog and go to bed?"

"Come on, Longbottom, where's your sense of adventure?" teased Draco. "I mean, I'm not even a Gryffindor and I'm interested in following this thing through. Besides, what could it hurt? it's not like we're trying to fight a dragon - we just want to find out what it's protecting. It could be really valuable."

"Or really dangerous," pointed out Neville.

"Dumbledore's already got a Cerberus guarding it - how dangerous could it be?"

Groaning again, Neville shook his head, but didn't fight the idea anymore.

Yawning, Susan stood up, setting her mug and shrugging off the blanket. "Come on, guys, we'd better get to bed - don't we have Double Potions in the morning?"

"Yah, I've got to get up early so I can sneak back into my House and get a change of clothes," said Draco as he did the same. "So, where am I going to sleep?"

"I guess you can sleep in my bed," said Harry with a shrug. "I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

After saying goodnight to Susan as she trudged to the girls dormitory by herself, the three boys shuffled to Harry's and Neville's shared room - and to their surprise, the room seemed to have grown to accommodate another bed that appeared, with green blankets to match and a set of fresh clothes and even his school bag set at the end of the bed.

"You guys were planning for me to spend the night here, were you?" asked Draco with narrowed eyes.

"This wasn't here when we left," said Harry while Neville shook his head. "Maybe the house-elves..."

"If Susan were here she'd probably say Hogwarts read our minds or something," said Draco, and after a laugh, the three boys settled into their beds and quickly fell asleep, exhausted by the night activities. None of them realized that this would be the first time out of many that the four of them would be together as the best of friends.

Authors Note: And an update - right on time, as promised! Aren't you proud of me? Just a little bit? No? Okay then.

Well at least you can be glad that the next chapter, which will be posted on July 5th, is ready to go save for final editing - I think my schedule for posting is going to stick to the first and third Saturday of the month, but follow my Facebook page - - for any news or updates, and maybe even for some sneak peaks once I get a few more followers. No, that was not a subtle suggestion to follow me, this is;

Please, pretty please, like my page? I will love you all forever and give you hugs and maybe even post Harry Potter related things? :D

*coughs* Anyway, look forward to the next update, and I hope you like this newest chapter of Liberi De Luna! Until next time!