Dumbledore watched Theodore with an encouraging smile, ready to hear what this little prodigy had to say.
He didn't really think a first-year could offer any useful suggestions, of course. But letting Theodore participate from the planning stage, giving him more chances to gain experience—that seemed like a good thing.
Then Theodore casually suggested giving the three-headed dog a pair of soundproof earplugs.
Dumbledore's smile froze on his face.
???
Who in Merlin's name comes up with something like that?
Right now, the only reliable way to subdue a three-headed dog was its one glaring weakness: it would doze off as soon as it heard music.
If you fixed that weakness with soundproof earplugs, you were pushing this creature's danger rating up several whole tiers.
Of course, purely from a "protect the Philosopher's Stone" perspective, Theodore's idea was… extremely constructive.
But if this was supposed to be Harry Potter's trial run, some kind of "growth dungeon", then having this as the very first stage—wouldn't the Chosen One just get deleted on entry?
"Wouldn't that be a bit too dangerous?" Dumbledore said slowly.
"I mean, if some other students accidentally wandered in here, they might be able to escape using the dog's weakness right now. But if you erase that option, suddenly even escaping becomes difficult."
He was trying his best to nudge Theodore away from that suggestion.
But Theodore only gave him a strange look.
"Why would that be dangerous, Headmaster?"
"Even with earplugs, a first-year student could deal with a three-headed dog just fine."
"Look—just dodge around its attacks while using the Levitation Charm to pull out the earplugs, then whistle a little tune. Done."
"Judging by my impression of Hogwarts' first-years, Harry, Ron and Hermione could all pull that off. It's really not that hard. If this weren't such a sensitive area, I'd honestly suggest using this place for live combat practice in first year."
Dumbledore paused.
Suddenly, he began to wonder if the problem was… him.
Was he just getting old? Too conservative? Underestimating the level of modern first-years?
Now that Theodore said it like that… adding earplugs did still leave a pretty straightforward solution.
And it would test the saviour's adaptability. That was the whole point of a trial, wasn't it?
Dumbledore thought in silence for a moment, then nodded, eyes brightening.
"You're right," he said. "You're absolutely right."
"If Cerberus is going to guard a door, it really should have soundproof earplugs. I'll see to that at once."
"Theodore, you really do have a knack for this 'dungeon design'."
He looked at Theo with open delight.
"Come on, let's have a look at the next stages—see if you have any other ideas."
At that moment, the System screen in Theo's vision flickered, a new message appearing.
[You have unintentionally spotted a flaw in the formation's first layer and suggested a way to patch it.]
[The Southern Extreme Immortal praises your cleverness and calls you a genius of the Dao of Formations!]
Theodore's lips curled in a faint smile.
See, System? I told you.
No one in this world understands formations better than I do.
Following Dumbledore through the door guarded by Fluffy, Theodore dropped into pitch-blackness.
But with Night Vision, he could clearly see the vines creeping toward him.
This was Professor Sprout's contribution: Devil's Snare.
Technically it counted as a dangerous, controlled plant, but even among dangerous plants it barely scraped into the lower ranks.
In the original timeline, Hermione had calmed down for all of two seconds, cast one Fire-Making Charm, and that was the end of it. Devil's Snare hadn't caused Harry and the others any real trouble at all.
Something a single first-year fire spell could handle obviously wasn't going to come close to touching Theodore.
The vines had only just brushed into his aura range when they shuddered violently, as if sensing some immense terror, and shrank away in a hurry.
Dumbledore looked genuinely surprised.
"Devil's Snare seems… awfully afraid of you, Theodore."
"Normally it can be a bit of a nuisance."
Theo just shook his head again, face full of doubt.
"Professor, are you serious?"
"This stuff doesn't even count as fully mature Devil's Snare. It's clearly only been cultivated for a short while. You don't even need Incendio Maxima—any basic fire charm will get rid of it."
"And since this is supposed to be a dungeon, if the first stage is a three-headed dog, shouldn't the second stage be harder, not easier?"
Dumbledore nodded slightly.
Now that the boy had said it aloud, he had to admit that the difficulty curve… was somewhat flat.
"What do you suggest, then?" he asked.
Theo had been wanting to get his hands on a few biting cabbages and mandrakes for a while now.
They'd probably be useful for alchemy—or, well, "pill refinement".
But thanks to generations of Herbology professors guarding their greenhouses against Gryffindors like dragons hoarding gold, he'd never had a chance to get any from Sprout.
Now, finally, he had a legitimate opening.
"Multiply the Devil's Snare by ten," Theodore said crisply.
"And then seed biting cabbages and mandrakes in among them."
"Don't look at me like that, Headmaster. They're not that hard to deal with. Neville handles them all the time in Professor Sprout's greenhouse. See? He's still alive and well."
"He even explained to us how to deal with both plants quickly. It's not complicated."
Dumbledore hesitated.
Well… that was true. Neville did part-time work in the greenhouse.
Clearly the child had a talent for Herbology if he was already handling biting cabbages and mandrakes.
If Theodore was this confident, then Harry and the others, working together, ought to be able to handle such plants as well.
If not, then just Devil's Snare on its own was indeed too simple and wouldn't temper them properly.
After deliberating for some time, he nodded.
"All right. Very well."
"I'll ask Professor Sprout for some biting cabbages and mandrakes."
He cleared his throat and added:
"But Theodore, if you get the chance, do bring two pots of juvenile biting cabbages and mandrakes up to the common room. Let your classmates and roommates get familiar with them."
"If some particularly bold student does wind up here, I'd rather they didn't meet a horrible end."
Theo's eyes lit up.
Plan: successful.
Dumbledore led him onward.
After the shocks of the first two stages, the Headmaster felt he'd grown a little more resistant. The little wizard's ideas were indeed astonishing, but he now believed there was nothing Theodore could say that would truly faze him anymore.
A few moments later, Dumbledore realised he'd been… overly optimistic.
"Headmaster, this whole room full of flying keys is way too simple," Theo said. "You even provide brooms?"
"Fine, fine, if it's a flying trial you have to give people something to fly on, I'll allow it. But the way the stage is designed just doesn't work."
"Listen to my idea: let's add some puzzle elements. And expand the map a little while we're at it. If you can fly and the arena is still this tiny, it feels cheap."
"Let the challengers fly and solve puzzles at the same time. They have to pick out specific keys that match certain riddles, then follow different branching paths to plug those keys into mechanisms at the ends of those paths. Only after slotting the right keys into the right locks does the real door to the next stage open."
"Oh, and we'll need penalty mechanics too. Let's add some fake doors."
"But we can't be too cruel—we should trigger a hint when a key is shoved into a fake door, so the challenger knows it's not the right one."
Dumbledore was already a little dizzy.
This complicated?
He found himself asking, almost against his will:
"And… what sort of hint did you have in mind?"
Theo answered without hesitation.
"A line of glowing magical text appearing on the door."
"It would say: 'Cannot be opened from this side.'"
"What do you think? Isn't that design fun?"
"Oh! And can we add some sudden ambushes from dark creatures around certain corners? That way the challenger has to keep their nerves taut the whole time."
Dumbledore drew a deep, steadying breath, eyes wide.
"That's quite enough, Theodore Ashbourne. You are far too extreme!"
The System text flickered in front of Theodore's eyes again:
[As you tour the Southern Extreme Immortal's formation, you repeatedly offer astonishing insights. The Immortal is both delighted and alarmed.]
[He is delighted that your mind is indeed flexible, your talent extraordinary, and that you show such instinctive understanding of the Dao of Formations.]
[He is alarmed because, though your suggestions certainly increase the formation's power, they make it far too lethal, too ruthless—walking the razor's edge, giving the formation a "slay all directions, chained killing array" flavour.]
[If, in future, anyone asks whose disciple designed such an array, it would greatly harm the Southern Extreme Immortal's reputation.]
[Thus, the Southern Extreme Immortal quietly makes a decision in his heart: once this array is perfected, he must never let you study the Dao of Formations, lest Heaven itself strike him for it!]
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