With a long rope hanging from his shoulder, Leon left the abandoned classroom under the cover of his stealth combo.

He chose the staircase point, one of the three Hogwarts has, which is further from the great hall, and climbed it.

The third floor drew near as the moving staircase, well, moved.

‘Damn it! Why isn’t it stopping?’

Unlike in the canon, it seems Dumbles didn’t want students entering the third floor.

‘Or is it Hogwarts… nah, I think I read too many fanfics.’

He descended again; the rope was back up for a situation like this. After all, he does remember, Rose and Hermoine saying the staircase didn’t stop on the third floor.

Leon quickly knotted the rope and made a foothold.

As the third floor grew near, the rope became alive and snaked towards the third floor’s roof, like it was swimming in the air.

A sticky spell on the end of the rope made sure it stayed attached to the roof.

Leon jumped from the staircase, his feet on the rope’s footholds and hands clutching the rope.

Without a hitch in his breath, Leon began searching the third floor.

‘The extreme sports did come in handy; Amelia can suck it. Hmm! She did say I will die because of my love for them. Meh! She can still suck it.’

After a quick tempus, Leon got to work.

Excitement thrummed his Leon’s veins as he quickly eliminated the abandoned classrooms before moving towards a cupboard door.

Just as he reached within 3 meters of the door, he got his breath knocked out of him.

His legs became weak, he collapsed onto his knees as sweat poured down his face.

A wild, brutal presence smothered him, Leon felt like he was tossed into an abyss and an ancient, dreadful, beast was watching him.

His lizard brain took control.

‘Stay still, stay still, the predator will lose interest if you stay still’ it said.

‘Bullshit!’

Leon argued and commanded his body to move but it didn’t, slowly his thoughts became sluggish as he fought to control his body.

‘No… way..’

He collapsed on the floor, face first, and laid still. His heaving chest was the only thing that differentiated between him and a dead body.

He didn’t know how much time he lay there imitating a corpse, but a low growl snapped him out of his artificial stupor.

The untamed presence was still bearing down on him, but it had no focus. Like the beast was sleeping.

Leon crawled away from the door and leaned against the wall, his body trembling in fright.

“Tempus,” he muttered.

7 minutes, seven whole minutes, that was the time he spent like a vegetable, unable to think about anything, only with a fleeting impression that he was alive.

“Bullshit!”

Leon remembered the first time; he tried tightrope walking.

His legs gave off just as he looked down. He tied so high, humans were even smaller than ants.

Of course, he tried again. While he liked the adrenaline the extreme sports gave him. It didn’t mean he would climb on top of a rope in the sky without any safety equipment… at least the first couple of times.

But the fear he felt back then can’t even be called fear when compared to what he experienced just now.

“A ward, a ward must be the reason. A fear ward to teach a lesson to the troublemakers.” He tried to convince himself, but deep down he knew what he felt was the raw presence of a magical creature far above him in the food chain.

Leon wanted to curl up in a corner and not think about it.

He didn’t want to think about the creature, staying in the Hogwarts, that could kill him with its intent alone.

And curled up he did.

He stared at the door as he slowly calmed down, the mind doing its work, making him forget the extreme terror he felt, slowly making space for indignation.

Anger at how powerless he was, resentment at Dumbledore for allowing a creature like this to stay in Hogwarts- irrational emotions coursed through his body.

And he let them. He let his emotions run wild, letting them spend themselves before getting them under control.

He cracked a smile as he remembered the traps laid out by the professor further in.

There wasn’t much difference between the Cerberus and the professors, both could kill him with their gaze or intent alone.

Not to mention the magical and political nuke that Dumbledore was.

Did that mean he hated them?

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No.

He revered them on a certain level of his mind. No, he revered the power they wielded.

The power that made them impervious to getting chained, either by human needs, family, or society.

He loved that magic made him free- independent from others in almost every way possible.

He loved that he could stretch reality to its limits.

He loved the way magic worked and loved to see every form it took and find its rules.

And he would be stupider than a rock if he let a little fear douse his curiosity and love of magic.

Even if the fear is caused by a creature with canines longer than his head and a presence powerful enough to kill him.

He will be back.

Leon stood up and dusted himself.

After casting his stealth combo he left the third floor, vowing to return.

Leon spent some time near the lake eating the food he took from the kitchen.

And 10 minutes before curfew Leon stood in front of his house entrance, his mind still full of thoughts regarding the Cerberus.

‘I felt Fawkes's presence too, maybe in the canon, Dumbles used a ward to restrict Fluffy’s presence. After all, he built the traps, to get Voldy and Harry in the same room and see what happens. Or to get Harry in the room and see if Voldy reveals himself.’

Seeing a Troll and feeling Fluffy's presence supported his theory.

One was a 7-X beast and another a 3-X. It didn’t make sense to just have a single Troll guard the philosophers stone when multiple can do a better job.

Leon believed there were two sets of traps designed for the *stupid* brave first years and another for the dark lord.

Even Hermione, the brightest witch of their age, didn’t notice the trial answers were already spoon-fed to them in their classes and looked like they were designed for a good flyer, chess player, and a bookworm.

‘Maybe it was because she was young.’

Leon just ignored it as a novel being a novel in his previous life, but it was his reality now.

The Hufflepuff entrance opened after Leon dispelled his spells.

The common hall had some people lounging around but they ignored him, so he took off to his room not noticing Susan frowning at him.

The Bones Heir sat in a corner of the common hall, alone, with a book in her lap.

‘How can I see the Cerberus?’

Leon sprawled on his bed, trying to think of a plan.

‘It needs food, so Hagrid will have to do some trips. If I were him, these food trips would be done in the middle of the night, a significant amount of time after curfew.’

Leon read that most of the magical creatures didn’t require much sustenance.

A Cerberus will get an itch to hunt after 3 days of not eating anything, and the itch isn’t strong either.

There were already books on why and how magical creatures like Giants and such can sustain themselves. And one such book was already in his read-later pile.

So, he ignored the dietary wonders of the magical creatures and concentrated on his problem.

‘Hmm! I can’t an keep eye on Hagrid every second of the night. An alarm or trespassing spell that can notify me when Hagrid leaves his hut will do the trick. Hmm! I will have to search the library.’

Slowly, Morpheus embraced him as he went through backup plans in case the plan with Hagrid didn’t pan out.

………………

Days went by as he scoured the library for the alarm spell, but he was not met with much success.

But Leon was progressing nicely in the mind exercises, at least.

He could feel the Un stage just out of his reach, a single step would let him reach it.

‘Soon.’

After the classes, just like the previous days, he went to the library and started to browse through the racks.

Every version of the general spell book and household charms didn’t have it. So, he has only one option left.

Grimacing, he turned towards the librarian, Madam Pince.

She was eyeing him as didn’t settle down even after 15 minutes.

“Can I ask where the trespassing spells are? I need something that will alert me if someone goes through my bag.”

Madam Pince looked at him like she didn’t believe him.

“Spells like those come under privacy hazard classification. You will need a professor’s signature to read any book that falls under that section.”

“Thank you!”

Leon left, leaving the snorting librarian behind.

‘Yeah! I don’t think of a good reason that will make a professor sign, without causing further issues.’

‘I don’t need my protective puffs thinking someone is messing with me. Or professors keeping a closer eye on me to look after me to ‘save’ me.’

Leon slowly walked towards his dorm, lost in thought, and entered his room.

The lamps flared to life, halting him in his steps.

‘That’s it! I think it's possible.’

Leon ran back to the library and started browsing the Lumos section.

He quickly found the household spell that looked promising.

‘Orbs of light will warmly welcome you, dispelling the darkness in your house.’

It was the intro of the spell.

Assd

Leon let out a long sigh after he read the spell’s description.

He wanted to enchant the staircase point or the path outside Hagrid's house. So that orbs of light will be created in his room, letting him know that Hagrid is on the move.

With his assumption that Hagrid carries tons of meat, it was a perfect plan. But while this reality was quite magical, it still cruelly snuffed his ‘brilliant plan’.

The household spell didn’t have that much range. The range and maximum intensity of the spell were clearly mentioned.

He quickly searched for any other spells that could turn his plan into reality.

Alas, there were no such spells.

‘I have to create a variation myself.’ Leon's eyes brightened at the chance of creating a new spell.

He certainly couldn’t create a trespassing spell.

He wouldn’t know where to start even with the spell incantation, not to mention more abstract things like wand movements.

His first original spell was variant too. Creating spells wasn’t as easy as knowing words in Latin.

Spell creation was a separate and highly complex profession.

Not every Latin word works in a spell, he was only able to create his variant with the help of a guide for spell variants.

He combed through the book and after countless trials and errors, his first original spell was born.

The trials and errors were huge as he had to match wand movements with the incantation. Again, some movements don’t mesh well with some words.

Without a strong base and predictable variables, he couldn’t create a new spell.

‘Someday.’ Leon muttered as he began reading every Lumos variant ever recorded.

…………………

Days passed as the Un stage evaded Leon, similar to his original Lumos variant.

The Lumos spell wasn’t created to be used as an alarm, so he was having little difficulty.

Time passed and it had Leon standing in front of the quidditch field as Susan dragged him, quoting he was burying his head in books a little too much these days.

He and Susan sat, ready to cheer for Hannah.

The stand was full. Every Hufflepuff member was present to witness the tryouts.

Susan made Hannah reach the field early and stand in the field, wanting her to accommodate to, questioning, stares of others.

An intense look from the Bones Heiress stopped Hannah’s whining, turning them into pitiful whimpers.

Leon couldn’t do anything but pat her shoulder and send her off.

So, when Leon and Susan reached the field, Hannah was making conversation with a guy, with Diggory hovering around them, standing at the edge of the field.

A Bulky guy walked into the field followed by four other Hufflepuffs. While his arms didn’t bulge with muscles, they got solid definition like he put in some work.

The Hufflepuff captain stood in front of his potential teammates and let out a kind smile before starting to bark orders like a military sergeant, his earlier smile absent.

“Form a line. First years at the start of the line. You will go first. Chaser and Beater. The tests will be conducted for those positions in that order. We only have two openings, keep that in mind.”

“And this will be your team if you get selected.” He gestured towards the Hufflepuffs standing beside him.

“Seeker, Keeper, Beater, Chaser, Chaser.”

He pointed at himself and moved his finger along the line, not taking his eyes off the examinees.

“Isn’t being bulky for a seeker is detrimental?” Leon poked Susan whose eyes were glued to Hannah after they sat.

“No, it depends on the chosen terrain.”

“What? Chosen Terrain?”

Susan explained still not taking her eyes off her friend.

“Terrains like Weightless rocks, Forceful winds, and such are chosen at the start of a quidditch match. Bulky seekers have their advantages.”

Leon looked at Susan, gobsmacked.

‘What’s she talking about?’