Chapter 22: Who the Hell Locked the Door?

Harry was at the back of the group, and when the massive abyssal mouth suddenly attacked, he was momentarily stunned. The foul stench blasted against his face, almost making him gag. Just as despair was beginning to overtake him, Ivan's voice suddenly rang in his ear.

"Obstacles ahead!"

Invisible barriers appeared, blocking the savage heads of the three-headed dog in midair. But before long, another huge mouth with sharp fangs tore through the shields Ivan had created with magic.

Fortunately, in that brief moment, Harry had reacted just in time, narrowly escaping the danger. Meanwhile, Ron, shouting "Run!" had already thrown himself onto the door, pulling on it forcefully a few times before realizing it had been locked.

"Who the hell locked the door?!" Ron exclaimed in despair.

Ivan, who had been temporarily holding off the three-headed dog with a combination of a sleeping spell and a petrification charm, couldn't help but roll his eyes. Wasn't it you who locked the door, Ron?

Ron was in a panic, even suspecting that he might die here. Hermione, however, quickly pushed him aside and pointed her wand at the door lock.

"Alohomora!"

With a flick of her wand, Hermione used the unlocking charm to break the lock with force. The group of five rushed out as quickly as they could, and just before the three-headed dog could follow, they slammed the door shut behind them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Once they had distanced themselves, listening to the distant sound of the dog crashing into the door and howling, the group breathed a sigh of relief, especially Ivan, who had been dragged into this situation out of the blue.

Earlier, when holding off the three-headed dog, Ivan had realized his magic level was too low to make much of an impact. The sleeping spell only briefly disturbed the dog's movements, and it didn't even knock it out. If Hermione had been any later with the unlocking spell, he might have been done for—after all, in such a small space, there was nowhere to dodge.

This made Ivan acutely aware of his own weakness. He might be able to handle a first-year wizard like Malfoy, but when faced with real danger, he had no ability to fight back.

"Do you think that monster will break down the door and get out?" Ron glanced back at the door, which was still vibrating, and grumbled.

"No, this door is probably enchanted. Otherwise, it would have broken by now," Ivan explained.

"How could Professor Dumbledore have kept such a monster in the castle?" Harry asked, still shaken. He had never imagined encountering such a terrifying creature at Hogwarts—he had nearly been eaten by it!

Hermione, clearly irritated, reminded them, "I think you all remember that Dumbledore told us when we first started here that there were places we shouldn't be. If we hadn't broken the rules and snuck out tonight, we wouldn't have blindly stumbled into this mess!"

Perhaps due to their recent near-death experience, Hermione's tone was sharper than usual. Harry and Ron immediately knew that she was about to go on one of her long rants, and Neville almost looked like he might burst into tears.

But surprisingly, after venting her frustrations, Hermione didn't seem intent on tattling. Instead, she revealed that she had noticed a trapdoor beneath the three-headed dog and suspected it was guarding something important. However, before leaving, she warned Harry and the others that whatever was under there was none of their concern—this was something for Professor Dumbledore to deal with.

Hermione's attitude was hard to decipher, but at least they could be relieved that she probably wouldn't report their rule-breaking to Professor McGonagall.

"Who would have thought Malfoy was so sneaky? He must have told Filch about what happened in the Trophy Room!" Ron was still fuming as they returned to their dormitory, vowing to punch Malfoy the next day.

"Ivan, I wish we had listened to you," Harry said, a bit embarrassed. After all, Ivan had warned them about the possibility of something like this happening earlier in the afternoon.

"Forget it," Ivan waved it off, not caring much. After all, he had never expected Harry and Ron to resist the temptation and stay in the dorm. His bad luck had simply led him to cross paths with them.

"By the way, Ivan, what were you doing in the hallway?" Harry asked, curious.

"Just looking for you guys," Ivan casually replied, not about to admit he had snuck into the Restricted Section of the library late at night to read.

Harry and the others felt a bit guilty, but that feeling didn't last long. Soon, they were discussing the trapdoor guarded by the three-headed dog, speculating about what might be hidden there. Eventually, Harry revealed that he had once helped Hagrid retrieve a package from Gringotts before the school year started.

Ivan didn't involve himself in their conversation. He was already dealing with a newly activated challenge quest, which was enough to give him a headache. He had no interest in meddling with Dumbledore's plans.

The only comforting thought for Ivan was that Halloween, when the mountain troll would make an appearance, was still some time away, giving him a bit more time to prepare.

In the next week or two, Ivan worked hard to improve his skills, spending the rest of his time scouring the library for books on mountain trolls.

"A Guide to Common Magical Creatures", "Dangerous Monsters: A Guide to Taming Them", "The Possibility of Crossbreeding Giants and Mountain Trolls"

He even dug up the book "Walking with Mountain Trolls".

Yes, the author of this book was none other than Gilderoy Lockhart, who would be replacing Quirrell to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts next semester.

Although Ivan knew Lockhart was a fraud who only knew the Forgetfulness Charm, that didn't stop the book's content from being legitimate and informative. This was why Ivan was able to find it in the Hogwarts library.

To be honest, when Ivan saw Lockhart's signature grin on the cover, he didn't want to open it. But since the previous books were all unreliable, like "A Guide to Common Magical Creatures" which claimed mountain trolls had no medicinal value and "Dangerous Monsters: A Guide to Taming Them" which was just full of pointless information about overpowering them, Ivan felt he had no choice.

That book "The Possibility of Crossbreeding Giants and Mountain Trolls" was even more absurd, with diagrams and academic-style writing that made Ivan cringe.

But "Walking with Mountain Trolls" was different. Written as a biography, it provided detailed information on the troll's habits and weaknesses.

For instance, trolls usually had low intelligence, ate anything, and had a massive appetite. The best way to deal with them was to use bait, as trolls were likely to eat it.

Also, their small, pea-sized heads in proportion to their huge bodies made them less stable. If you hit their legs with a powerful spell, it might disrupt their balance, allowing you to run a few more steps before being eaten.

Lastly, the troll's head was a weak point, far more vulnerable than the rest of its body. A heavy blow could knock it out cold.