Chapter 34
"What about that, you see," Harry whispered, "Snape managed to bypass Hecate." Seeing the half-open door, they became more alert, fully aware of the challenge ahead.
"If any of you want to leave now, I wouldn't blame you," Harry said. "You can take the invisibility cloak with you—I don't need it anymore."
"I won't back down," Albert declared firmly.
"Don't be foolish," Ron said sharply.
"Let's go together," Hermione urged.
Harry pushed the door open.
As the door creaked, a low growl immediately echoed in their ears. Although the huge dog couldn't see them, its three noses twitched wildly as it sniffed the air.
"What is that thing at its feet?" Hermione asked quietly.
Ron answered, "It looks like a harp. It's the same instrument we saw when we first entered this room. Snape must have left it behind. Apparently, it wakes the dog up once the music stops."
"Oh, I remember now," Hermione said. "It's the instrument Albert played that put the dog to sleep."
Harry was about to take out the harp Hagrid had given him, but Albert had already reached for it, playing a melody he had always loved in his previous life.
The moment the music started, the giant dog's eyes slowly drooped, its growling ceased, and it swayed on its knees before finally collapsing to the ground in a deep sleep.
The sound came from the harp Albert played.
"You can play for one minute before the dog wakes up," Albert told Harry and the others. "That way, we can relax a bit and free our hands for other tasks."
"Incredible," Hermione looked at the fallen dog in amazement. "The books say the three-headed dog is incredibly powerful and fears no one. But now it's been put to sleep by a small harp. So what's a dragon afraid of? Could something ordinary take one down, too?"
"Well, now is not the time to ponder that," Harry said. "The dog will wake soon. Let's take this chance to get through."
With that, Albert approached the trapdoor and opened it.
Darkness stretched below the door—no light, no foothold.
Albert cast a Lumos spell to illuminate the area and peered down. Luckily, he knew what lay beneath from the original story.
He turned and crawled into the pit, gripping the edge with his hands, and said to Harry and the others, "I'm the best at the Hover Charm, so I'll go down first. If I run into trouble, come find the professor quickly and come rescue me."
After saying this, he let go and fell to the bottom of the cave. The drop was considerable—at least four or five stories. Mid-fall, Albert cast a Floating Charm on himself to slow the descent. Finally, he landed on something soft, which he recognized as Devil's Snare.
Before Harry and the others descended, Albert coated a knife with a potion that suppresses magical plants (a bit he had taken when helping Professor Sprout). Using the faint glow from the entrance, he swiftly cut twig-sized branches and placed them into the crystal potion bottle he carried. Thanks to the potion's effect, the Devil's Snare didn't react excessively.
Having done all this quickly, Albert suddenly felt his ankle caught in the Devil's Snare.
He immediately shouted upward, "There's a large Devil's Snare down here. It can absorb the shock from a fall, but you need to prepare a fire spell, or you'll be in trouble if you get tangled."
No sooner had he finished speaking than three people fell almost simultaneously. Albert bent to the side, hoping to avoid being hit. Still, a black shadow came rushing toward him, forcing him to cast the Floating Charm again. Fortunately, the magical shield softened the blow, and Albert only felt his arm drop slightly.
Two loud thuds later, everyone landed safely.
From above, a voice called down from the black shadow. "Sorry, Albert. Are you okay?"
That had to be Hermione.
Albert made a sound, and the tip of Hermione's wand began casting blue flames. The vines recoiled from the warmth and light, loosening their grip. The twisted plants shriveled and trembled, and the entangling strands unwound automatically.
"Albert, please scout ahead first. It'll be too difficult to confront these things suddenly," Ron advised while eyeing the retreating vines.
"But why did Hermione get caught?" Albert asked.
"Are you sure I'd catch anyone closer than myself?" Hermione replied with a smirk.
Before Albert could respond, Harry pointed in one direction and said, "Go that way."
Following that path, they found a stone corridor—clearly the only way forward.
There was no choice. The four stepped out of the Devil's Snare and began walking down the passage. The corridor was silent except for their footsteps and the slow drip of water along the walls.
Albert even wondered if they had reached the bottom of a lake.
As they proceeded deeper, a new sound emerged—a faint rustling and ringing from the far end of the corridor.
It sounded like a swarm of golden coins fluttering on wings. They kept moving toward the sound until they arrived at a brightly lit chamber with a high vaulted ceiling. Countless small birds, sparkling like jewels, fluttered throughout the room. A heavy wooden door stood on the opposite side, matching perfectly the descriptions of dungeon entrances in adventure tales.
"These birds won't attack us, will they?" Ron whispered.
"I'll try," Harry said, halting the group. He covered his head with his hands and dashed toward the wooden door.
When Harry reached it, the birds showed no reaction. It seemed they would not take the initiative to attack those below.
Seeing this, Albert and the others emerged from the tunnel, walked through the chamber, and stood before the door.
They tried to open it, but neither pushing nor pulling worked.
Hermione tried to dispel the magic on the door again—but failed.
Albert pulled a steel rod, about the length of a palm, from his pocket. One end was flattened. He began prying at the door's cracks, hinges, and locks—without success.
Finally, he used the rod to smash the wooden door and surrounding walls.
He turned to Harry and said, "There must be protective magic on this door and the walls; otherwise, we wouldn't have left a trace breaking through the wood and stone."
Harry carefully looked up at the birds above and said, "It seems we can only open this door by following the requirements set by the level's designer."
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