Chapter 10: The Dog with Three Heads

Saturday, 9th November, 1991, 11:04 p.m.

At eleven o'clock at night, two figures were quietly making their way up a stone staircase. They walked past dim torches on the wall, and by this light, it was just about possible to make out their faces. A boy, and a girl, no older than twelve. Strange shadows danced across the jagged wall as they passed. They were hardly daring to breathe, and every breath they did take echoed noisily up the stairs. The grimy smell filled their nostrils, but still they trundled on. They had somewhere to be.

It was fortunate for them that nobody happened to be monitoring this section of the castle at this time.

"I'm still not sure about this…" muttered the boy, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

"And yet, here you are," whispered the girl, elbowing him in the ribs for making a noise.

He yelped in pain, and the two of them froze, and waited for a moment… nothing.

They continued on, past portraits lined with sleeping residents: a bard, a princess, a table of monks playing cards, and so forth. They took a practised path up several flights of steps, until, at last, they reached a locked door, different from the rest. Another girl, barely distinguishable from the first, aside from a more muted colour of hair and eyes, looked up, and waved at the green-robed mages.

"You're here,"

…

Monday, 4th November, 1991, 9:27 a.m.

"Hey Ivy,"

"Hmm?" she mumbled, looking up from her breakfast, "Oh, hi Draco! Slept in, I see?"

"Something like that," he answered, grabbing a fork and spearing a few sausages onto his plate, glancing up at the large clock at the head of the Great Hall. "Half nine already?" he groaned. "That's only-"

"Half an hour till first period, yeah yeah…" she said, rolling her eyes.

"I can't eat that quickly!"

"Well get on with eating then!" she exclaimed, poking him lightly with a spoon.

He looked at her with a heavy lidded gaze, "Good job with the Quidditch thingy, by the way,"

"Thanks," she said, winking, "You cheered the loudest, I assure you!"

He blushed, watching her smirk. "Yeah, shuddup, Potter,"

"First smart thing I've heard from your mouth, Malfoy," someone whispered, from behind Ivy.

She jumped, whirling around, and let her features sag. It was Theo.

"Upset about the Quidditch result?" she asked, pointedly, "I wouldn't have thought it was possible for you to support Gryffindor so whole-heartedly, Nott. Almost like you disliked somebody on our team. I can't think who…"

He narrowed his eyes. "Good detective skills, Potty," he said, in the same way others would say the word 'scum'. "Good in the air, aren't you? I wonder how good you are on the ground…"

"Is that a threat?" asked Draco, who had stood up and was now level with Theo.

Theo smiled at him slowly, letting the words sink into Draco, before whispering, in what was little more than a hiss, "Third floor, midnight, Saturday. I think it's time we explore whatever Dumbledore's hiding from his dear students,"

"Morning," said Rose, who, having sensed danger, had walked over to the Slytherin table, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing that concerns the girl who lived, thanks. Just the girl who flew! Even more high than usual!" exclaimed Theo, laughing.

He slinked off to his end of the table, as Crabbe and Goyle laughed.

"When did those idiots stop following you around?" Ivy asked, returning to her food, and smiling at Rose.

"No clue," he answered, turning back to his.

"I'm coming," said Rose, turning to leave.

"What?" Draco asked, stopping her. "What do you mean? He's just inviting us to get ourselves killed! He doesn't need someone famous for that!"

"Oh, honestly, Malfoy," she said, rolling her eyes in something between amusement and incredulity, "He wants a duel! Do you honestly think I spent ten years being trained to defeat You Know Who for nothing?"

…

Sunday, 10th November, 1991, 0:21 a.m.

"Where is he?" asked Ivy, restraining the urge to punch a wall, certain that this would not only damage her hand, but alert a member of staff, or Peeves, to their presence.

"Don't ask me," said Draco, who himself was having difficulty restraining himself against a nearby cupboard. "The idiot invites us to find whatever Professor Dumbledore's hiding in the school to stop us dying painfully, Rose says he wants a duel, and then he doesn't even turn up to the wretched place!" They were standing in a deserted classroom nearby the infamous door on the third floor, making sure to get a good view. Draco had sworn a few times that he saw something biting through that door, but whatever it was had hidden itself in time for the Potter twins to get a good look.

"He'll turn up," said Rose, who, alone, seemed relaxed, as she leant against the other side of the cupboard, flicking through pages in some Herbology book she was reading for homework. "Our lovely friend Theo, you see, has a reputation to uphold,"

"What, and your training to defeat Lord Voldemort-" Draco flinched, "-helps you know that?" asked Ivy, irritably. She was doubtful that any training Rose had received from her parents and Dumbledore would compare to that of the founders of Hogwarts, and, though she liked Rose a lot, she was finding this insistence that Theo would really turn up highly infuriating. Didn't she realise that the coward would save his own neck at any costs, and certainly not risk it over something this petty?

Ivy tried using some Legilimency, or an altered, more stealthy version, at least. Normally, if one were to have their mind opened, they would see a flood of memories and pain dash through their mind, but she had discovered a workaround to this at the age of eight: simply ignoring the impulse to see anything, and instead focusing on hearing thoughts. She had kept this to herself, since it was much more fun to watch Salazar and Godric bicker without any external help, but she had kept it in the back of her mind for a few years now.

I hope Ivy's okay. The Dursleys really are terrible. I can't imagine being stuck with them for-

Ivy shook her head. It was nice of Rose to be thinking of her, but it wasn't what she was looking for. She looked deeper.

Theo will turn up, I know it. He's not prone to lying-

Bingo. Ivy agreed, he wasn't exactly known for being the best liar… but to be so sure of herself just because of that…?

Someone banged on the door. The three of them nearly jumped out of their skin. Oh no, thought Ivy, we've been caught! But they hadn't been caught, and it wasn't, in fact a teacher, for the door swung open to reveal Theodore Nott, accompanied by none other than Gregory Goyle, an utter thug who was rivalled in weight perhaps only by Dudley.

"Malfoy, sort your face out, you look like a squashed toad," said Theo, lazily pulling out his wand and gesturing behind him, "Sorry I'm late, fanmail, anywho, who wants to check out the dangerous death room? I know I sure do!" he walked back out, grinning from ear to ear.

"That guy has a death wish," muttered Rose, as Draco mouthed 'fanmail!?' to Ivy, as the five of them walked out into the hallway. They followed behind Theo and Goyle, keeping a safe distance, something unnecessary as he had his hand in his back pocket, an unwise place for anyone wanting to pull out their wand quickly.

"Hm…" whispered Rose, sounding disappointed, "It doesn't look like he wants to duel after all. Shame, I thought his head would look nice in the shape of a teapot…"

Draco snorted.

Theo stopped in front of the door, surveying it with distaste, "A bit dated, don't you think?" he asked, sweeping off some cobwebs and turning the shining brass knob gingerly.

He pulled.

Nothing happened.

He pulled out his wand and said 'Alohomora' softly. There was a small, but satisfying click. He held the door open. The room inside was so fiercely dark, coupled with nothing but the moonlight pouring into the castle, that even craning her neck to get a good view of the inside, Ivy could not make out anything inside the room at all.

"Ladies first," he said, coldly.

"To die?" asked Rose.

"Yes," replied Theo, and his words were so strict and clear that neither of the girls for a second thought to protest, though they narrowed their eyes at him as they passed. Once Draco had shoved Theo inside, he closed the door behind him. They were now in complete blackness.

"Lumos," said three people at once, and the wand tips of Theo, Rose and Ivy all illuminated the room around them. It took Ivy a few seconds to adjust to the light, but once she did, she squealed in pure terror. An enormous, three headed, brown dog was lying asleep on the ground, snoring. It was lying upon what looked like a trapdoor.

Though petrified, and sure of the immense damage this creature could do to them all, Ivy was the first to realise that asleep, it could do them no harm at all. She turned around to open the door and get out of there as quickly as possible, when she also realised that it was only making the sound of two snoring dogs. She turned back to it, veeeery slowly.

One of the heads was growling softly, and blinking in the light.

"Nox! Nox!" she squeaked, but it was no use. The other two heads were stirring. She pushed the door open, and they practically fell out. She slammed the door hard, and it made a crunch as head met door, but, miraculously, it only splintered.

"Colloportus!" she yelled, as loud as she could, and there was a sound of several heads bashing against the door, before silence.

She panted heavily, and watched out of the corner of her eye as Theo and Goyle ran as fast as they could down the corridor.

"Cowards," she muttered, turning to Rose and Draco.

"You okay?" she asked, looking them up and down. They didn't seem injured, only shaken.

"Y-yeah… I think so," mumbled Draco, shivering. "You?"

"Yes, I'm- good… never better," said Rose, in little more than a whisper.

They stood up, and began to walk as quickly as their slowest, Draco, could muster towards their dormitories. They had made their way to the second floor when they suddenly heard a triumphant voice.

"Well, what do we have here?"