On the fourth floor of the castle…
Neither the Weasley twins nor Cedric realized that, in their haste to escape, the door, which had been left ajar, had quietly swung shut.
The sound of the door closing cut off Fluffy's growls, and silence settled over the corridor once more.
Inside, Hagrid's three-headed dog stood, each of its noses sniffing eagerly toward something in the corner. Fluffy edged closer, inch by inch, until it looked like its nose was about to touch the spot when, suddenly, an arm shot out of thin air.
The arm, apparently irritated by Fluffy’s curiosity, smacked one of its heads.
“Ooh!” Fluffy whimpered softly but didn’t seem angry; instead, he wagged his tail and, with all three heads, eagerly moved closer. He recognized that voice and that scent. It was the person who could understand him and always had tasty jerky on hand when they met.
Fluffy approached joyfully, the three large heads nudging each other in anticipation.
“Alright, Fluffy… settle down.”
With a sigh, Kyle pulled off his invisibility cloak, patted Fluffy on one of his massive heads, and took three large bags of treats from his pocket, placing them on the ground. There was plenty for all three heads, so no one would need to fight over it.
Fluffy instantly lowered his heads and began to devour the treats. This jerky was the best thing he’d ever tasted, though Hagrid never made him anything like it.
As Fluffy ate, a clatter of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.
“Clang…” Someone tugged frantically at the door.
“Oh no, it’s locked,” came Ron’s panicked voice from outside. “We’re doomed! We’re finished!”
“Come on… hurry!” a gruff voice urged.
Kyle glanced at the door, frowning, and pulled his invisibility cloak back on.
The lock clicked, and the door swung open. A second later, four frightened young wizards burst in, quickly shutting the door behind them and pressing their ears against it.
After a moment, Ron whispered, “He thought it was locked, so… maybe we’re okay…”
“Ron, I have a bad feeling about this.”
Harry took a deep breath. “Remember those growls we heard earlier? I think they came from this room… Neville, what’s wrong?”
Harry turned to find Neville tugging at his sleeve, his face suddenly pale and glistening with sweat.
Without needing to ask, Harry soon realized what had made Neville so terrified.
He had seen the Three-Headed Dog.
Having been interrupted during his meal, Fluffy was not pleased. All three heads fixed a furious gaze on the young wizards and emitted a growl that shook the room.
Ron and Neville froze in terror. Their minds screamed at them to run, but their legs refused to obey.
In that tense moment, Harry reacted the quickest. He reached behind him, found the door handle, and, with Hermione's help, dragged Ron and Neville out of the room.
Fluffy didn’t pursue them, merely letting out a couple of warning growls before turning back to his meal.
But Harry and his friends weren’t aware of that. Just like the other students who had fled before, they ran from the fourth floor without looking back, finally coming to a stop, gasping for air, in front of the Fat Lady’s portrait.
"Where have you all been?" asked the Fat Lady, glaring at them. "What day is it today? Including those two earlier, there are now six little wizards out for a midnight stroll!"
“Pig Snout, Pig Snout…”
“Pig Snout” was the password. The Fat Lady didn’t ask anything else and swung forward, allowing them to stumble into the common room. They collapsed shakily into the armchairs.
For a long time, no one spoke—especially not Neville, who looked as though he might never speak again.
“That was strange…” Hermione, who had calmed down first, finally broke the silence. “Did you all notice that the dog was eating?”
“Yeah, it almost ate us,” Ron replied, still shaken. “It was probably figuring out how to eat all of us in one gulp.”
“What are you even looking at?” Hermione snapped. “I mean, it was already eating before we went in, and it was eating three meals, meals in packaging.”
“What does that prove?” Harry asked.
“Does no one here think?” Hermione said, exasperated. “Remember the growling we heard on the way in? That means someone else had been in that room before us, and they gave the Three-Headed Dog food to keep it calm. Whoever it was must have had a reason for doing it.”
“You’re overthinking it. We should be grateful to him,” Ron said, patting his chest. “If he hadn’t brought that food for the Three-Headed Dog, we’d all be…”
“Didn’t you notice where the Three-Headed Dog was standing?” Hermione interrupted.
“On the floor?” Ron answered, shrugging. “I wasn’t looking at its feet, I was looking at its heads. And if you didn’t notice, it has three heads.”
“Not the floor, the trapdoor. It’s obviously guarding something.”
“Guarding something?”
“Yes!” Hermione got to her feet and glared at them. “If you two don’t mind, I’m going to bed now… before one of you comes up with a brilliant plan to get us killed—or worse, expelled!”
Ron stared at her retreating back, his mouth agape. “Which is worse, she really ought to figure that out…”
On the other side of the castle…
After Harry and the others had left, Kyle lifted his invisibility cloak again. He walked over to Fluffy and tried to open the trapdoor under the enormous dog.
At first, Fluffy pressed down firmly on the trapdoor, refusing to let Kyle through.
It was only when Kyle took out one of Fawkes’s feathers that Fluffy reluctantly moved his paw aside.
“See? I told you I’m here on behalf of Dumbledore, but you wouldn’t believe me,” Kyle said, putting on a stern face. “As punishment, you’re not getting any Murtlap jerky next time.”
At this, Fluffy grew frantic, rolling around on the ground and whimpering. Then he looked up at Kyle with all three heads, each giving him the most pitiful look it could muster.
If it were a tabby cat giving him that look, Kyle would have caved instantly. But Fluffy was far too ugly for that approach, and one look at those faces just made Kyle’s head throb.
To get some peace—and spare his eyes—Kyle sighed and pulled out a large bag of Murtlap-dried rat meat, tossing it aside. Fluffy bounded over, delighted.
Ignoring him, Kyle opened the trapdoor himself and took a look down. But it was pitch black down there, and he couldn’t see a thing.