Chapter 19: Encounter in the Forbidden Area (Part 2)

"Alohomora!" A young girl's voice rang out from beyond the door.

The door suddenly swung open, then quickly shut.

Jane and Draco stood dumbfounded.

Equally shocked were Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, now face-to-face with them.

Harry finally understood why the fourth-floor corridor was forbidden - they were facing a monstrous three-headed dog. It appeared to be some kind of guard dog, its three pairs of yellow eyes glancing at them. It should have lunged at them with savage barks - but it didn't.

Instead, it looked content and gentle, covered in fragrant shower gel and white foam, with a lamb chop hanging from one mouth - Harry recognized it from dinner.

Jane sat astride its back while Draco stood beside it, equally covered in foam, holding a large brush as he stared at them blankly.

"We... you... it..."

Ron's trembling finger pointed first at himself, then at Jane and Malfoy, then at the three-headed dog, having apparently lost the ability to form coherent sentences.

Hermione's face was bright red, hardly daring to breathe, eyes fixed unblinking, afraid of startling the beast.

Neville had collapsed to the floor, pale as a ghost, mirroring Draco's earlier state of mind.

Seeing their shocked expressions, Draco sprang back to life, immediately going on the offensive:

"Ha! Scared speechless, Potter?"

"Never seen a three-headed dog before? Don't tell me you're afraid?"

"If such a sweet, gentle puppy has you and your lackeys wetting yourselves, Potter, maybe you should scurry back to your lion's den!"

He was triumphant, nose in the air, showing no trace of his earlier tearful terror.

He felt incredibly satisfied, especially grateful to Jane for giving him this chance to show off.

Malfoy's familiar taunts snapped Harry and Ron back to their senses, quickly regaining their fighting spirit:

"Looks like you're the scared one! Too afraid of Filch to show up at the trophy room, weren't you?"

"Using us to distract Filch while you sneak into forbidden areas - how underhanded."

Draco felt a moment of guilt but quickly recovered his righteousness:

"Such a shame Filch didn't catch you. He'd have chained you up and flogged you to death."

The situation grew more tense as both sides squared off.

Harry and Ron had drawn their wands, with Draco following suit - a fight seemed imminent.

"Excuse me—" a clear voice called from above. All five looked up to see Jane lounging casually on the three-headed dog, regarding them with an expressionless face.

"May I remind you that there's a three-headed dog right here - surely you're not planning to start throwing spells around?"

She gracefully leapt down from the dog's back, picking up the remaining shower gel:

"You'd better help out, or I can't guarantee you'll leave here alive—"

She thrust the shower gel into Harry and Ron's hands and snatched the brush from Draco to give to Hermione.

They all stared at her in disbelief, Harry's gaze particularly wounded.

But Jane paid no attention to their emotional states.

Plus four helpers, ha!

She relaxed, stepping aside to direct the four in washing the dog.

...

In the Gryffindor common room.

Harry's group stumbled through the entrance, collapsing onto the sofas.

Neville was still trembling, looking as if he might never speak again.

"She definitely... belongs... in Slytherin!"

Ron gasped for breath, still shaken: "Evil, cunning snake! Did you see her with Malfoy? Close enough to sneak into forbidden areas together!"

Harry felt terrible. He wanted to defend Jane but had no grounds to.

After all, she could command that monster to do her bidding. The way she sat atop the three-headed dog giving orders looked no different from a Dark witch.

She and Malfoy just stood there, laughing as the dog toyed with the four of them.

"She must have been coerced by Malfoy," he heard himself say.

Ron stared at him in shock, grabbing his shoulders as if to shake him awake:

"Wake up, Harry! What spell has she put on you?"

Hermione, having finally caught her breath, heard Ron and Harry's exchange and burst out angrily:

"You lot would have been either eaten by that dog or expelled if we hadn't run into Jane—"

"For a Slytherin, not having the dog tear us apart is pretty decent - what more do you want from her?"

Harry and Ron gaped at her in astonishment.

"Merlin's beard! She must have hexed you both!"

Ron clutched his head in frustration, shouting at Hermione.

But Hermione stood up, glaring at them furiously:

"What were your eyes doing? Under the dog's belly... there's a trapdoor. It's guarding something."

"Jane is clearly the dog's master - she's protecting whatever's behind that door!"

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs, disappearing into the girls' dormitory.

Harry and Ron stared after her, carefully considering her words.

And found them making perfect sense!

"Mate, am I going mad, or is she actually right?" Ron muttered.

He wasn't alone - Harry felt the same way.

She must have been there to stop Malfoy from getting through the trapdoor, and ended up saving the four of them in the process.

He felt guilty for his suspicions.

After all, he knew Hagrid had removed a small, grubby package from Gringotts - it must now be below that trapdoor, with the three-headed dog as its guardian.

They had misjudged Jane!

"It was a tiny two-inch package, when Hagrid picked me up..." He told Ron everything about the package that had been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts.

Now both boys were consumed with guilt.

"We need to apologize to her," Harry said firmly.