Harry Potter: Magical Memories

"It's fine." Harry waved off her apology, causing the girl to look at him wide eyed. "Honestly, I'm not that surprised you acted like that. I get the feeling you're used to being at the top of your class."

Hermione blinked.

"Yes, that's right. How did you know?"

"You mean aside from that fact that you're always carrying a book around?" Harry asked dryly. Hermione had the good grace to blush. "It's just how you act. You're very studious. Every time we're in class you are the first one to raise your hand and you always have the correct answer. You're also one of the first to get the spell we're working on right."

"Not recently I'm not," Hermione muttered.

"Yes, but that's just because other people have accepted my help and you didn't," Harry said, earning a surprised look from Hermione. She probably thought he hadn't heard her last comment. "I also get the feeling that the reason you try so hard to be the best is because you don't have a lot of friends." Hermione flinched. "I imagine you were picked on for your intelligence as a child. You were probably very lonely, and so you found solace in books and getting good grades. They were your sanctuary, a place where you could immerse yourself in knowledge and forget about the world, for a little while at least. Am I right?"

"I... yes," Hermione's eyes, which already showed surprise had gone almost impossibly wide during Harry's tirade. "How did you... how could you know that?"

Harry gave her a mysterious smile and tapped his temple with his middle and index finger.

"Elementary my dear."

Herimone blinked. Then blinked again. Then she gave another for good measure. Her expression soon shifted from stunned to amused. Her lips twitching in a small smile.

"Sherlock Holmes fan, I take it?"

"I am a fan of many stories," Harry informed her, "but yes, Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorites."

Harry paused, then smiled.

"In either event, thank you for the apology. I accept, and hope that you won't deny my help when I give it."

"I won't." Hermione determined, before her expression shifted into one of shyness. "I also wanted to thank you for saving me from that troll the other day. Had you not found me, I..." she trailed off, shuddering as the realization of just how close she had come to death hit her.

"You're most welcome," Harry said solemnly.

An awkward silence ensued, for Hermione at least. The girl fidgeted, as if not sure whether to continue speaking or leave. Harry studied the girl intently as she looked down at her shoes, then back up at him, worrying her lower lip.

"Well," she started nervously, "well, I guess I should be leaving then..."

"Hermione," Harry said before she could turn around. The bushy-haired student looked at him, blinking. "Would you like to join my friends and I during our study sessions?"

Hermione blinked several times in rapid succession, as if her mind was trying to process what he meant. Then she gave him what had to be the most grateful smile he had ever seen.

"I would like that," she said softly.

XoX

Midnight arrived. The stars had come out, a sprinkling of tiny lights painted on a velvety black canvas overhead. Surrounded by the myriad of twinkling lights was the moon, whose beams of light shone through the many windows of the third floor corridor that Harry found himself walking through well after curfew.

Not that anyone could actually see him. He was currently invisible to the naked eye.

Though perhaps invisible was an overstatement. It wasn't as if he had actually become invisible, merely used the disillusionment charm to blend in with his surroundings. His body had taken on the exact color as the stone walls and floor, his form was nothing more than a slight distortion only the keenest of eyes could spot. To further enhance the illusion of being invisible, as well as to make sure Ms. Norris couldn't sniff him out if she wandered near, he had added a scent deadening charm.

Truly, magic was a wonderful thing.

It had taken him a while to find the spells needed to sneak around Hogwarts undetected, and a little longer still to actually learn said spells. He'd been forced to put his Transfiguration studies on hold in order to learn them.

Harry moved through the corridor silently, his feet making little noise as he walked. He stopped in front of the very first door on the right. Something lay beyond this door. Harry could hear what sounded like heavy panting coming from the other side along with, growling and snuffling. It sounded like a dog, a very large dog. Or perhaps a really loud dog. What's more, the panting sounded like it was coming from more than one dog. Harry could make out three distinctly different pants, which he noticed due to how they were all slightly off rhythm with each other.

Creaking the door open just a smidgen, Harry carefully peaked inside. The creature standing in the center of the room was definitely a dog, though perhaps in its barest classification. It was large, easily ten times his size. Dark black fur covered its entire frame, blacker than the darkest of nights and blending in with the near pitch black darkness of the room. Paws almost as tall as Harry and with claws that looked like they could cut through steel were attached to powerful front and hind legs. A large tail hovered behind its back.

It also had three heads.

Cerberus. That was the name of the creature. Harry had never seen a Cerberus before, though he knew about them. It was said that they were the guardians of the Underworld, that all those trying to pass through Hade's realm would find themselves being viciously mauled and eaten by this creature.

So this was what Dumbledore had hidden up here. A Cerberus of all things.

Harry slowly closed the door before the creature could notice him and made his way back towards his dorm, silently contemplative. What could Dumbledore possibly be thinking in bringing such a powerful and dangerous creature to Hogwarts? Honestly, as if the troll hadn't been bad enough now there was a large three-headed dog hidden inside of the school!

Rubbing his chin in thought, Harry contemplated this. There had to be a reason for Dumbledore allowing a Cerberus into Hogwarts. And he would bet all the money in his vaults that the reason had something to do with the trap door the beast was standing over.

Now all he had to do was find out what was so important that Dumbledore felt the need to bring a three-headed dog into a school full of children.

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