Among the many recorded successes, Adrian was surprised to find the Dumbledore family name listed.
Then Adrian remembered Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes and the rumors he'd heard about the Dumbledore family bloodline from Crimes of Grindelwald.
Whenever a member of the Dumbledore family desperately needs help, the phoenix will come...
Adrian wondered if this was connected to their fusion with phoenix blood. According to the book's records, the Dumbledore family had taken a relatively ethical approach, even obtaining consent before conducting their fusion experiments. This probably explained why the relationship between phoenixes and the Dumbledore family remained so harmonious.
"Seriously? It cuts off right here?" Adrian had been reading with growing excitement, but just as the book reached the actual fusion methods at the end, the text suddenly stopped. Several pages had clearly been torn out, leaving only useless filler content behind.
Adrian was still puzzling over why his so-called reward was just incomplete information when the system chimed again.
["Blood Origins" has been fully read. Challenge Quest activated.
Challenge Quest: Defeat (or eliminate) a mountain troll
Reward: Bloodline Fusion Potion Formula]
"Challenge quest..." Adrian stared at the notification. He'd always assumed this was some kind of study system, not one that required him to go around killing monsters.
Adrian grew even more curious about who had actually hidden this book here, complete with confusion charms and specialized concealment magic in the Restricted Section. Dumbledore seemed the most likely candidate, the greatest wizard of the century certainly had the authority and motivation to hide Blood Origins. After all, blood fusion was incredibly dangerous, with failure rates that made survivors dozens of times rarer than casualties. This horrifying death toll explained why wizards with special bloodlines never became mainstream.
Then again, it could have been James Potter, Sirius, and their friends, hiding important items definitely fit their style. Or perhaps Tom Marvolo Riddle during his time at Hogwarts... now known as Voldemort.
Various theories flashed through Adrian's mind, but he didn't linger in the library. His brain was already overloaded with new information, and even surrounded by forbidden knowledge, he couldn't muster the focus to read more.
On his way back to Gryffindor Tower, Adrian's thoughts kept returning to the newly activated challenge quest. The target being a mountain troll gave him a serious headache, though he wasn't about to underestimate the creature just because Harry and Ron had defeated one in the original story.
Their victory had relied heavily on luck and coincidence. Without Harry's protagonist luck, they would have been paste on the floor by the time the professors arrived.
From everything Adrian had read, mountain trolls were genuinely dangerous opponents. They were massive, incredibly strong, and had natural resistance to magic. Even adult wizards had to exercise extreme caution when facing them.
Adrian sighed. If he hadn't just learned that fusing with magical creature blood could enhance his magic talent, he'd never consider facing such a monster in his first year.
As Adrian navigated the silent castle corridors, the ease of his earlier infiltration made him increasingly wary. Something felt too convenient about tonight.
Sure enough, just as he emerged from a secret passage, a blue, fast-moving blur suddenly collided with him.
The sensation was like being dunked in ice water. Adrian shivered violently and spun around to find an ugly ghost wearing a ridiculous hat leering at him, Peeves the Poltergeist.
Peeves looked absolutely delighted, clapping his hands and shouting at the top of his ghostly lungs, "Look what I found! Another little student out of bed! Come quick, there's one more here!"
"Petrificus Totalus!" Adrian's reflexes kicked in, sending a blue-gray light that struck Peeves square in the chest. The poltergeist was knocked back slightly but just laughed maniacally.
"Ha! Useless, you can't hurt me!" Peeves circled Adrian triumphantly, clearly planning to drag him somewhere unpleasant.
Seeing that ordinary spells were ineffective against Peeves, Adrian wasn't discouraged. Ghosts weren't immune to all magic, and he happened to know a particular spell that specialized in targeting spirits.
"Mortificus."
Just as Peeves was making rude faces and gestures, a purple light shot from Adrian's wand tip. Peeves immediately changed his tune, screaming in terror as he fled into a distant classroom. Even from far away, Adrian could hear the poltergeist's panicked wailing:
"No, Barrow, let me go! I swear I didn't do anything wrong! And Nearly Headless Nick, put down that axe, we can talk about this!"
Satisfied with Peeves' reaction, Adrian checked his system's magic panel and noticed the Mortificus spell had somehow reached Level 2 during his recent practice sessions. No wonder it had worked so well.
Just as Adrian finished dealing with the annoying ghost, rapid footsteps echoed from the distance. Then he remembered Peeves had been shouting about finding "another" student before fleeing. By the time Adrian thought to retreat back into the secret passage, it was too late. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville came rushing around the corner.
The group looked as surprised to see Adrian as he was to see them, but this clearly wasn't the time for explanations. Harry hesitated for less than a second before grabbing Adrian's arm.
"Adrian, run! No time to explain, Filch is right behind us!"
Adrian barely had time to mention the secret passage before Harry dragged him into another corridor, forcing him to run along with the group.
As they ran, Adrian felt a growing sense of déjà vu. When Harry led them straight toward the forbidden third-floor corridor, Adrian realized exactly what was happening.
"Quick, get inside before Filch catches us!" Harry and Neville practically shoved the reluctant Adrian through the doorway while Hermione slammed it shut behind them. Even Ron, who usually avoided effort, helped lock the door securely.
"There, Filch can't get in now," Harry said, breathing heavily with relief.
"Right, except now we can't get out either," Adrian muttered, staring at the locked door before sighing as he looked deeper into the corridor. "Honestly, I think facing Filch would have been the better option."
Harry didn't understand Adrian's meaning at first, but then he felt something wet and sticky drip onto his shoulder. He looked up to find three massive heads staring down at him, foul breath washing over the group from gaping mouths lined with yellow, muddy drool that occasionally splattered on their robes.
"AHHHHH!" The next second, Hermione and the others spotted the three-headed dog, and their terrified screams shattered the night's silence...