Chapter 283: Cerberus and the Fire Dragon
Inside the Forbidden Forest, the trees stood like black sentinels, swaying gently in the wind.
Hagrid was leading a herd of strange horses. They were entirely fleshless, their black coats clinging so tightly to their skeletons that every bone was clearly visible. These were the Hogwarts Thestrals.
"Ah—Sean! Just in time for a bit o' help."
Hagrid was holding the lead ropes for a large group of Thestrals, their blank, white eyes fixed steadily on Sean. Right on cue, Buckbeak the Hippogriff glided down from the depths of the forest. Sean gave the creature a pat on the head before following Hagrid deeper into the woods.
"Every year 'round this time, I gotta make sure these lot are fed right. They've got a big job ahead of 'em, yeh see," Hagrid said. His massive boots crunched over fallen beech leaves and over mushrooms that emitted a faint, ghostly glow in the dark.
"For the carriages?" Sean asked.
"Blimey—how'd yeh know that?" Hagrid's massive face was a mask of confusion, but it quickly cleared once he met Sean's eyes. This boy was as clever and reliable as they came, second only to Professor Dumbledore himself.
"Yeh, that's right. Students from second year up see 'em at Hogsmeade Station. Every year, it's these beauties that pull 'em up to the castle."
As they spoke, Sean and Hagrid arrived at a dense thicket. There, sprawled out on the forest floor, was a monstrous dog so large it filled the entire space beneath the canopy. It had three heads, three pairs of rolling, ferocious eyes, and three noses that were currently twitching and quivering in their direction. It had three mouths, too, with saliva hanging like sticky ropes from its yellowed fangs.
Sean noticed that Fluffy was tethered to a remarkably thin tree. He wasn't entirely sure what the point of the leash was—perhaps it was just psychological comfort, the wizarding equivalent of a "dogs must be leashed" rule.
"Fluffy!" Hagrid barked affectionately, burying his face in the creature's coarse fur. Fluffy let out a low rumble and nudged Hagrid with one of its heads. Sean didn't think it was an attack; it looked suspiciously like a giant puppy acting codependent.
Sean watched quietly, then moved forward to help feed the beast. The System's notifications began to chime in his mind:
[Alert: You have gained the affinity of the magical creature Cerberus (Fluffy) at an Adept level. Proficiency +10]
Give him food, and he likes you. Sean thought. Simple as that.
Fluffy's affinity was already halfway to the Adept rank, and Sean's ritual preparations were nearing completion. His bag contained numerous works by Greek alchemists, who held unique perspectives on the Cerberus. Legend had it that Hagrid had purchased Fluffy from a Greek wizard.
Compared to the ancient Runes of the Germanic peoples, the records found on Ancient Greek papyri were remarkably complete. They contained detailed descriptions of Egyptian "recipes," experiments, rituals, and incantations. Most were written in Greek phonetically transliterated from Egyptian, resulting in strings of meaningless syllables that sounded like magical gibberish—which, in fact, they were.
This tradition of obfuscation had been carried on by alchemists, who intentionally scrambled words and pronunciations to create a mysterious, superstitious system to keep the uninitiated in the dark. This "tradition" had allowed Sean to easily construct the majority of the ritual, as the inspiration he drew from Ancient Greece worked perfectly with Ancient Runes.
"Thanks for the hand, Sean. 'Ere, I've been meanin' to give yeh this..."
Hagrid grinned and pulled a furry book from his massive coat. Unfortunately, he fumbled it. The book hit the ground and immediately scuttled toward Fang's legs, snapping its teeth viciously. Fang let out a series of terrified yelps and bolted into the forest.
"Fang! Get back 'ere!" Hagrid shouted, chasing after the dog.
Hagrid often forgot he was a wizard. By the time Sean used an Impediment Jinx and a Summoning Charm to retrieve the rowdy book, Hagrid was already panting and thanking him profusely.
"Don't know what I'd do without yeh... now—listen closely. Don't be scared o' that thing..." Hagrid rubbed his hands together, looking at Sean expectantly.
Sean recognized it immediately—The Monster Book of Monsters. It contained detailed chapters on Sphinxes, Hippogriffs, and other magical creatures. A leather belt held it shut, and the pages Sean managed to glimpse were all about the habits of the Cerberus.
"People put belts on 'em 'cause they look like monsters. But really, Sean, yeh just gotta stroke the spine, and she'll be as good as gold. A lot o' things are like that in life, I've found," Hagrid said.
The book's green cover featured the title in glittering gold. Sean gently stroked its spine. The book, which had been snapping and fluttering only moments ago, suddenly went limp and lay flat in his hand.
They left the deep forest and reached Hagrid's stone hut. Dried game and hams hung from the ceiling beams. While Hagrid busied himself in the kitchen, Sean began flipping through The Monster Book of Monsters.
Regarding the habits of monsters and how to gain their trust, it was actually more detailed and profound than Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It even contained remedies for being bitten by a Cerberus. Sean predicted he would be able to unlock the Cerberus Biscuit within the week.
Lately, he had been pondering a specific problem: how to survive a Basilisk's gaze.
Closing his eyes? That was the last resort, but Sean preferred a more elegant solution.
In the original story, Mrs. Norris had survived because she had seen the Basilisk's reflection. This proved that a reflection could weaken the power of the gaze.
If I create an alchemical device that uses multiple reflections, would the Basilisk's gaze lose even its power to petrify?
And if I create a Cerberus Biscuit, does a three-headed dog get three 'chances' against the gaze?
For an alchemist, there were always more solutions than problems. Of course, Sean also had his final trump card: using several Biscuit transformations—like a Fire Dragon, a Cerberus, and a Thestral—to distract the Basilisk while he ended the fight quickly.
By the time they left the hut, the sky had darkened. Hagrid led Sean back up the sloping lawn, holding his lantern high and following the stone path to the castle.
"...Diagon Alley's been a madhouse lately," Hagrid rambled. "There's a new shop, folks say it's run by a 'Miniature Dumbledore.' I thought, blimey, who could be better'n the Headmaster? But then I heard they sell biscuits that turn yeh into magical beasts, and I figured, well, maybe he is better'n Merlin..."
Hagrid was enjoying the chat. Usually, he was alone in the forest, but with Sean around, he found he had a lot to say.
"I don't think he's better than Merlin," Sean said.
"Yeh, I s'pose I didn't either..." Hagrid petted Fang's head while pulling a few boxes of Kneazle Biscuits from his pocket. "I heard he's a student at Hogwarts, Sean. I bet yeh know him... great wizards always stick together. Yeh probably helped him out, too. Yeh were the first alchemist to manage the animal transformation, after all."
Hagrid looked at him with wide eyes. "If yeh ever see that 'Hormone' fella, could yeh tell him I'd really like an invitation? Just one... Merlin's beard, I never dreamed I'd see the day I could turn into a dragon."
"Is one enough?" Sean asked, remembering Hagrid's previous failed transformation.
"Yeh know him?!" Hagrid's beard twitched in shock.
Sean nodded.
"Merlin's... can yeh... could yeh..." Hagrid was too excited to form a sentence.
"The shop is out of stock," Sean said.
"'Course, I know. Once a month... I can wait..." Hagrid watched the sunset hitting the tops of the beech trees, his heart swelling with joy.
"I happen to have a few here," Sean added.
"Invitations? Yeh can't transfer 'em, dear boy. And besides, isn't it one per person...?" Hagrid trailed off, confused. Then, he saw Sean flick his wand. A black blur shot out of a castle window, cutting through the golden twilight.
When the box landed in Hagrid's hand, his face turned as red as the setting sun. Inside were several Fire Dragon Biscuits—the experimental kind that hadn't even been numbered yet, still warm and pulsing with a low, draconic flame. In the shop, their value exceeded a thousand Galleons.
"Yeh mean... yeh have some o' these...?" Hagrid whispered, though his "whisper" was still as loud as a thunderclap.
Back at Hagrid's hut, Sean found himself invited back inside. Hagrid was currently bellowing out Christmas carols, his voice getting louder with every mug of eggnog he downed.
"I'M GONNA TRANSFORM!" Hagrid suddenly roared, making Sean jump.
"Oh—sorry. Didn't mean to startle yeh." Hagrid sheepishly covered his mouth with his hand.
Sean was holding a magical camera Hagrid had dug out of an old trunk. He was going to record the transformation for research. He was fascinated by Hagrid's transformations; they were always unique—the Kneazle Hagrid had turned into was the size of a large dog.
Is it the result of eating too many biscuits, or the effect of his giant blood? As a dedicated alchemist, Sean wasn't about to miss the chance to observe.
"It's all thanks to yeh," Hagrid said, looking at Sean with watery, shining eyes. "Can't believe it... what a brilliant lad. This has been me dream... exactly what I always wanted..."
Without another word, he shoved seven biscuits into his mouth at once. He sat on his chair for a moment like a well-behaved toddler before Sean quickly dragged him outside.
Outside the hut, they ran into someone quite unexpected.
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