Having trespassed into the Forbidden Forest multiple times, the two brothers had, of course, encountered this massive creature before. However, it had only been a fleeting glimpse; back then, Fluffy wasn't nearly as large and would obediently follow behind Hagrid.
Later, Hagrid even asked them to keep it a secret, for which he specially took them for a walk around the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"George, you go out first!" George took out his wand, signaling for Ethan to leave first. They were, after all, third-year students and could resist a little.
Because in just this short while, Fluffy had completely stood up, reaching at least four meters in height, its heads almost touching the ceiling. Its three mouths, drooling, were wide open, and its entire body was tense, clearly a prelude to a ferocious dog pouncing.
Chapter 31: The Twins' Lingering Fear
"Ethan, how did you do that?" Fred and George watched Ethan, who was currently rubbing Fluffy's head, their eyes nearly popping out in surprise.
Just now, Fluffy had pounced over fiercely. George and Fred's Obstacle Curse and Knockback Jinx had absolutely no effect on Fluffy, not even a tiny bit. Just when the two were lamenting that their lives were over.
They discovered that things weren't as they had imagined. Fluffy directly transformed into a licking dog, preparing to use its tongue, almost the size of a person, to lick Ethan, but Ethan sternly refused.
It was really too smelly, and Ethan didn't want to be contaminated by such saliva.
"I've always been liked by animals since I was a kid. I didn't expect that coming to the wizarding world would allow magical creatures to be like this too." As he spoke, Ethan rubbed Fluffy's head fiercely again, causing Fluffy to make happy purring sounds.
"It's really unbelievable. If we didn't know this was Hagrid's dog, we would have thought you raised it."
"Exactly, if Hagrid finds out one day that his dog has been abducted by you, I don't know if he'll cry. He cherishes this three-headed dog quite a bit."
Seeing Fluffy tamed by Ethan, George and Fred stopped trembling and even started joking.
"I can't afford to raise this big guy." Ethan scratched Fluffy's chin and replied.
Just looking at its size, you can tell how much it can eat. This is Hogwarts, not the Muggle world. If it were the Muggle world, Ethan could naturally raise it without any pressure, but Ethan couldn't do it at Hogwarts, unless he went to the Forbidden Forest to hunt.
His own food supply comes from the Flobberworms and the Flutterby Bush, and they don't eat much; one meal can last a long time.
"Didn't the Sorting Hat say that you could also enter Hufflepuff? Maybe you'll become the next Newt Scamander, the author of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' also a legendary wizard."
The brothers had heard a lot about the legend of Newt Scamander.
Wherever there are precious magical creatures, there he is. As long as he shows up, there are no magical creatures that he can't handle. A suitcase that can destroy a city, a man forbidden from entering by the Ministry of Magic of many countries…
Ethan's taming of Fluffy all of a sudden really resembled Scamander. Maybe Ethan is even stronger than Scamander in this regard.
"Hufflepuff, ah, I'm quite optimistic about this house, hehe…" Ethan laughed, preparing to gloss over it. He had a connection with three houses, only Hufflepuff was missing.
"By the way, what's this?" George, who was looking around, discovered a trapdoor where Fluffy had been lying before and immediately prepared to go over and check it out.
"Roar!" Fluffy, who had been obediently lying down, suddenly raised its head and roared angrily at George.
Although it felt that Ethan was very kind and wanted to get close to him, Fluffy still hadn't forgotten its mission.
It was really too painful when that old man beat the dog. As long as it dared to bare its teeth, it would get a beating. Those two weeks were simply not a dog's life. It was still just a newly adult baby.
He also set a few rules for himself: Little wizards can't be hurt, only scared; big wizards should be bitten and not let go; no one can enter the door below.
Fluffy didn't dare to violate these rules at all.
George, who had only taken two steps, froze in place. When he slowly turned his head and saw that Fluffy hadn't pounced over, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm not going in, I'll come back right away!" As he spoke, George raised his hands and retreated step by step.
"Fluffy should be following Dumbledore's orders to guard the things below. If we want to go down, it might turn hostile." Ethan looked at the two seriously. He hoped that the two would stop here.
If these two were insistent on exploring and had to investigate, it might attract Voldemort's attention, which wouldn't be a good thing.
"We're not going down, and we're not curious about what's inside, really!" Fred said with a forced smile.
Just now, they already knew how dangerous a XXXXX-level magical creature was. Their magic had no effect at all. If they angered it, they might really be fed to the dog.
Ethan shook his head helplessly. As expected of Gryffindor.
"Ethan, since today's adventure didn't yield any results, should we retreat?" Being with Fluffy was too stressful, and they didn't want to stay here at all.
"Yeah, let's go then!"
"Fluffy, see you next time!"
After saying hello to Fluffy, the three turned around and left. The moment they closed the door, Ethan clearly heard George and Fred breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ethan, thank goodness you were here today, otherwise George and I would have been in trouble." Walking in the narrow corridor, Fred recalled the scenes just now. It was really like walking through the gates of hell.
If they had listened to Ethan from the beginning and checked the situation before going in, it wouldn't have been like this.
"Bravery is not recklessness. Don't put yourself in danger." Ethan looked at Fred and said seriously. The twins' ending wasn't good. One lost an ear, and one lost his life, which made many fans feel a little sad.
Hopefully, today's events can remind them to be more vigilant in the future.
"We know. If Fred is reckless again in the future, I'll kick his butt hard." George put his arm around Fred and said to Ethan with a smile, but he seemed to have forgotten that he was the first one to rush in.
"That's how it should be!" Ethan said with a smile.
"Ethan, this is for you." Fred took out a piece of parchment from his pocket; it was the Marauder's Map.
"This is your guarantee for night trips."
Ethan didn't take it but asked curiously.
This thing has a significant role at Hogwarts.
Fred said with a confident look: "We dare to say that few people are more familiar with Hogwarts than us. We know all kinds of secret passages and paths. Now, even without it, Filch can't catch us.
Besides, aren't you going to the eighth floor? You'll definitely need it later.
You saw us use the password 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' in that abandoned classroom before."
Having said that, Ethan didn't act coy and directly accepted the Marauder's Map.
Chapter 32: The Room of Requirement
After separating from Fred and George, Ethan came to the eighth floor of Hogwarts Castle alone, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls.
He stood in front of this wall and walked back and forth three times, silently chanting in his heart, 'I need a place to hide things!'
Just as Ethan stopped, a smooth door appeared out of thin air on the wall.
Without the slightest hesitation, Ethan slipped inside.
As Ethan entered, the door began to become thin, then disappeared without a trace. From the outside, it was quiet, as if nothing had happened.
Ethan, who had entered, found that it was exceptionally large and messy, like a junk room, with all sorts of things.
After a simple tour, Ethan realized that he might have made a big profit this time.
Over the millennia, countless students at Hogwarts have hidden things here. It's undeniable that there are many discarded items, but there are also many valuable things. It's just unknown why they didn't take their collections away.
Just on the bookshelf by the wall, Ethan found thousands of books neatly stacked or scattered on the ground. Under the protection of magic, they had not decayed. It's very likely that these were hidden by Ravenclaw students. Ethan had some guesses as to why they were hidden.
Ravenclaw, literally translated as Raven's Claw, means a greedy plunderer, implicitly meaning an extreme thirst for knowledge.
In order to achieve their goals, they often resort to any means. This can be glimpsed from the two graduates 'Quirrell' and 'Lockhart'. One dedicated himself to Voldemort for knowledge and power, and the other plundered other people's 'knowledge' for honor and money.
These hidden books can basically be said to be either forbidden books or books obtained by irregular means, and their value is extremely huge.
He opened the box with the Undetectable Extension Charm and used the Summoning Charm to collect the books one by one. Sorting them out would have to wait until he had time.
Next was Ethan's treasure hunt: strange and incomprehensible alchemy tools, decorations that were unknown whether they were pure gold or gold-plated, jewelry, Galleons, and Sickles.
There were even more than one potion counter, filled with quite a lot of bottled and canned things. It was unknown whether those things soaked in unknown liquids had expired.
In addition, Ethan also found dozens of flying brooms. Except for the latest models, all the others were available. He just didn't know if there were any wizards in the wizarding world who collected these antiques. (Quidditch became popular in Ireland in the fourteenth century, and flying brooms would only be earlier.)
Whoosh!
Because of the noise Ethan made, a series of small things suddenly channeled out from a pile of old tables, chairs, and benches.
They had iron-blue skin, were about eight inches tall, and flew in the air, emitting extremely harsh chattering sounds.
Ethan recognized this thing: Cornish Pixies!
A mischievous little thing that likes to play pranks.
He just didn't know who hid these things here, and