[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
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"Harry, are you sure you can play music for real?" Ron, hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, asked hesitantly as he spoke to Harry in the corridor on the fourth floor. The latter held a strangely shaped flute in his hand, a Christmas gift from Hagrid.
Harry really had no musical talent. Although his playing wasn't terrible, it was certainly not good enough.
According to Hagrid, a music was necessary to put the three-headed dog to sleep.
Although Ron had seemed quite excited when he decided to stop Snape from stealing the Philosopher's Stone, as he was about to face the three-headed dog again, he didn't back down, yet he still appeared a bit weak.
This was definitely not because Ron was shy or lacked courage.
In fact, Harry, Hermione, and Neville also felt their legs weaken at that moment.
Harry tried to comfort him: "I think it's fine. I practiced all afternoon." But his words didn't sound convincing, especially when his voice trembled a little.
However, there was no other way at that moment. The all-powerful Hermione turned out to be tone-deaf and didn't know how to play any musical instrument. Ron was also tone-deaf and couldn't even whistle properly. As for Neville, well, let's not talk about him.
"Hey, I know, you played well this afternoon." Ron spoke the truth, but still sounded a bit hesitant, and his reasoning was very valid: "But can you still play well facing a three-headed dog?"
Ron's concerns were completely justified. When someone is extremely nervous and scared, all kinds of mistakes are likely to happen.
"Ron, if you're scared, you can go back to bed now," Hermione said roughly. Of course, she was also scared, but Ron's behavior at that moment made her a little irritated.
After all, the fear of that thing becomes more obvious the more people talk about it.
"I-I'm not scared." How could Ron Weasley, the toughest chatterbox in the world, admit he was scared at that moment? He had to grit his teeth and endure: "Come on, let's go."
After some mental preparation, the four of them approached the door. However, the door was open.
Behind it, they could hear soft, melodic sounds and loud snoring.
The four of them exchanged glances, and Neville opened the door. He saw a harp in the corner, playing slowly by itself. It was obviously enchanted, something Hermione couldn't do.
The three-headed dog, Fluffy, was lying there, snoring loudly as it slept.
"Snape got here first." Harry reacted immediately. "And he's already asleep. But he shouldn't be here for long, so we need to hurry."
Without having to face the three-headed dog, or rather, without having to face the awake three-headed dog, Ron's courage immediately returned to his body. He went to the door, opened the trapdoor, and even dared to lift the dog's paw that was resting on it, which made Harry's heart race.
Harry had prepared himself mentally before deciding to come here to stop Snape. Snape's enormous black magical flames were truly terrifying. But thinking that Voldemort could be resurrected if Snape obtained the Philosopher's Stone, Harry gritted his teeth and persevered.
Then he discovered that Ron, Hermione, and Neville were all more reckless than he was, with Ron being particularly reckless.
After opening the trapdoor, Ron quickly glanced down, gritted his teeth, and jumped first. After a moment, Ron's voice came from below, indicating it was safe.
Harry and the others quickly followed. After all, no one knew how long Snape's magic would last. It would be embarrassing if the harp stopped playing after a while.
Ron's voice came from below quite clearly, and Harry hadn't expected such depth beneath the trapdoor. He felt that the height of the fall was definitely greater than four floors, although the height of each floor in the castle was exaggerated.
But considering this was the wizarding world, Harry didn't find it strange.
In fact, Harry had seen more than once how professors relaxed in classrooms and transformed a room that was originally just large enough for the students to sit in a circle into a room large enough for an American football game.
After a while, Harry and the others stopped sliding. When they looked up again, they saw a light the size of a thumb. That was the entrance to the hole from which they had descended. They landed on something soft, which saved them from injury.
"What is this?" Ron suddenly exclaimed.
It was dark, and Harry couldn't see anyone else. He could only feel something beneath him, slowly twisting.
"Is it a plant?" This was Neville's voice. "Was it placed here specifically to slow down the fall? But why use something like this?"
"Wowww." It was Ron's voice again, but this time muffled.
"No!" Hermione's voice could be heard.
This time there was no need to ask what had happened, because Harry also felt numerous vines extending from the thing beneath him, trapping him without him noticing, slowly tightening.
"It's Devil's Snare!" Neville's voice came. "Everyone, don't move, relax. It will loosen if you relax your body. The more you struggle, the tighter it will get."
"Ah, it's Devil's Snare." Hermione immediately responded when she heard Neville's words. The two of them stopped moving and talking almost at the same time.
But when the two of them stopped moving, Harry and Ron, who couldn't see anything around them, became even more anxious.
Harry had no idea what Devil's Snare was and nervously shouted, "Neville, Hermione, what's wrong with you?" But the more anxious he got, the tighter the Devil's Snare seemed around him.
"Don't move." Hermione's voice came from a small distance below them. "Relax! Relax!"
"Harry, Ron, don't get nervous, don't move. Just relax, and it will let you go." Neville also reminded from the side.
Harry gritted his teeth and decided to trust Hermione and Neville. He tried to relax his body as much as possible, regulating his breathing and avoiding any further strain. Sure enough, he immediately felt the vines that were strangling him loosen a little.
As a result, he felt more at ease, and the muscles in his body relaxed even more.
The Devil's Snare released its grip, and then Harry felt his body loosen, and he fell.
Harry fell to the ground, but fortunately, the height wasn't very high, so it didn't hurt.
He looked around and saw two people standing in a cave. Torches lit the walls, illuminating the surroundings. Neville and Hermione were by his side, but they were nervously looking up.
Ron still hadn't descended.
"Harry, Harry? Are you okay? Talk to me." Ron seemed even more anxious. In the light of the fire, Harry could faintly see him, and the Devil's Snare on his body was getting tighter because of his struggle.
"Bright light and fire. The Devil's Snare fears bright light and fire," Neville reminded. He had already seen that Ron definitely wouldn't be able to relax.
"Yes, yes, yes. Oh, I was so nervous, I lost my mind." Hermione slapped her forehead and raised her hand. The wand slipped from her sleeve and landed in her hand. She pointed it at the Devil's Snare above them: "Lumos Solem!"
A fire spell, a relatively advanced magic. Harry could perform it, but not as well as Hermione could.
The magical flame on Hermione's body was much smaller than Harry's, even smaller than Neville's and Ron's. Her soul projection was also a bit smaller, only slightly larger than the other students'. But she had learned and mastered magic faster than the other three.
This was difficult for Harry to understand.
However, it must be due to her magical power and mental strength. Once she fully mastered the magic, Harry's magical effect would be better than Hermione's.
Fire and bright light were, obviously, what the Devil's Snare feared. The trap above their heads instantly shrank. Ron lost his grip and fell suddenly. At the perfect moment, Harry cast a levitation charm to prevent Ron from falling on his rear end like he did.
Although it wasn't a high fall, it wouldn't hurt much, but it was certainly embarrassing.
Ron landed softly and clicked his lips. He looked at the Devil's Snare, which had coiled into a ball, and smiled. "Hey, luckily I wasn't nervous at all."
"Fortunately, Hermione and Neville paid attention in Herbology class." Harry glanced at his good brother, who always acted tough, with a look of disdain.
"It's mostly Neville. When I get nervous, I can't remember anything." Hermione said, slightly embarrassed.
In the exam, she had beaten Neville in every way, but now her reaction was always half a second slower than Neville's. This gave her new ideas about acquiring knowledge.
It's not enough to remember knowledge at the textual level, you also need to fully understand the real things!
"Hurry, let's go, Snape is way ahead of us." Neville seemed quite embarrassed by Hermione's praise. He quickly stopped and gestured for them to keep moving.
Harry and the other two nodded, and the four of them trotted down the cave, looking deeper into it.
The cave had a gentle slope, but it wasn't very obvious. Aside from the footsteps of his companions, Harry could also hear the faint sound of water.
"Where are we? Below the castle?" Ron had a big heart and was still curious about these things.
"Hmm... maybe it's a hidden space created by magic?" Harry, too, was curious.
"Quiet, I think I hear something!" Hermione interrupted the senseless conversation between the two.
…
"This is made for us." Behind a wooden door, Harry and Ron exchanged a high-five.
Right now, the two of them, mounted on two broken broomsticks, easily caught a huge and ugly key in the air and opened the door behind them, which the unlocking charm couldn't open. Both of them felt revitalized, both physically and mentally.
"Actually, Harry, you can do everything on your own. For the youngest Seeker at Hogwarts, this is a piece of cake."
"Same for you, Ron. Catching a key is easy for you."
Ron and Harry were complimenting each other so tacitly in their work that Hermione rolled her eyes when she heard them.
The four of them quickly pressed on, but the next scene surprised them greatly.
"Is this a cemetery statue?" Hermione looked at the tall stone statues and asked in surprise.
"Cemetery? No, no, no, Hermione, this is a wizard's chessboard!" Ron stepped forward, standing in the center of the black-and-white chessboard. At that moment, he looked like a king.
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