A Cerberus makes for a great guardian. They are nearly immune to most magic and are invulnerable to any type of force with the loyalty and intelligence of a young Kneazle. Their only weakness is hardly a weakness at all. After all, even a sluggish Cerberus still performs its duty with canine vigilance. And if you are the type to give away the tune that lulls the magnificent creature to sleep, then leave the Cerberus be - you are a troll who doesn’t deserve its company.

-Chapter 3, Monsters and Men by Julianne Dreck

……………………………

Stars of vast galaxies looked at the magical castle as a Hufflepuff made his way to the forbidden floor.

Leon opened the door to see Fluffy eagerly waiting for him, his tail thumping against the wall hard enough to crack it.

While visits to Fluffy were few and far, the giant three-headed dog still remembered him.

The Hufflepuff started waving his wand, determined not to give the dog trust issues by going for the trapdoor in front of it.

Music thrummed to life as he played the tune Fluffy was conditioned to. With a yawn that showed off his huge fangs, Fluffy fell asleep, the three heads snuggling against each other.

With the death of the Unicorn still on his mind, he wasn’t able to appreciate the adorable sight in front of him nor was he able to concentrate on his classes.

‘I get my house head ignoring my inattention, but I thought Professor McGonagall would roast me alive.’

While the last half of his first year was adventurous and awesome, it wasn’t going according to his plan.

Levi, his previous earth self, would have shrugged and kept going.. no Levi would have made the Bondugs chase him again for fun, after calculating their top speed and many other parameters for a ‘safe’ ride, but he wasn’t just Levi now.

The childish part in Leon always thought he was a fairy tale hero, the fanfics in Levi’s memory supported it, while Levi didn’t care much for the title of hero, Leon did. And that carried over to their mixed psyche.

Shaking off his irrational sadness, he opened the trapdoor.

‘I can’t believe I am whining because things didn’t go my way.’

With a slap to his cheek, he climbed the broom and descended.

‘Onto the next adventure!’

The excitement of the new adventure didn’t last long as a vine caught him, easily sneaking past his e-item, his enchanted ropes that are supposed to serve as his last line of defense.

But he wasn’t done yet. He could see a swathe of vines writhing below him, and on the walls, reacting to his presence.

“Lumos Solem.” A miniature sun bathed the vines in its light, but the grip on him didn’t loosen.

With a wave of his wand, the sun fired two blistering hot lasers, one toward the vines that were holding him and another toward the massive heap lying below him.

He was hoping to damage the brain of the vines, if they had any.

“You have to be kidding me!” he muttered, the laser did not even leave a mark on the vines.

While they looked just like the devil’s snare with grey skin and white lines- similar to claw marks- on them, he concluded that they weren’t.

Devil Snare was supposed to slither away from light, not shrug off lasers. It was a plant that was mentioned in their herbology class, and no plant in the first-year or second-year curriculum was resistant to fire, not to mention immune to it.

With a flex of his magic, the other laser joined the one trying to burn the vines around him. But there was no change, the vines continued to surround him, painfully slow.

‘What can I do? What can I do?’ Leon racked his brain.

With a crack, his broom was broken, and he was slowly but surely mummified.

‘Even if I know how to apparate I can’t- it’s Hogwarts. And I don’t know any spell that can summon magical fire.’ He knew an ordinary fire wasn’t going to do anything to the vines. After all, his laser didn’t even make them twitch.

Before long the vines covered his face, leaving his eyes for the last.

‘Damn! I really hope the professors have wards here.’ Leon thought it was a safe bet, after all, you can’t answer to parents whose children are mauled by a Cerberus and all the faculty did to prevent that was just an announcement to the teenagers that the third floor was dangerous.

‘Why isn’t anyone rescuing me?’

The vines were so strong that he wasn’t even able to struggle.

“Professor, help!”

Sadly, the vines even muffled his sounds.

As the thought that he was too confident in the common sense of the wizarding world – which he confirmed they had- his vision was slowly taken away, plunging him into darkness.

….

He waited in the pitch-black darkness for the pain to come before the vines loosened and he was hefted into the air.

“What were you thinking, Mr Astraeus?” An unimpressed Hufflepuff head stood in front of Leon with a motherly frown as the vines dangled him in front of her like they were boasting about their prey.

“I dunno, I wasn’t thinking,” he said, averting his eyes.

While Leon expected that his getting caught would be the most probable result, a little part of him hoped to clear the trials.

He hoped that he was in a children’s book where trials that any first-year could solve were meant for a dark wizard who kills and drinks unicorn blood. Where a teen can out-duel a genius dark wizard with decades of experience.

But it was not meant to be.

Professor Sprout shook her head and sighed. “Let’s go now. No returning here, do you understand, Mr Astraeus?”

The vines lifted them through the trapdoor, but their treatment was different.

They made a platform for the professor to stand while he was lifted by his scruff like he was a naughty boy.

The professor started walking as the vines dropped him.

Fluffy was still sound asleep.

“What? No point loss or detention?”

He wanted to hit himself as the words left his mouth.

“Getting swallowed by the vines without knowing they won’t kill you is punishment enough in my opinion, do you want more punishment, Mr Astraeus?” She asked, turning to face him.

He quickly shook his head. As they exited Fluffy’s room, he couldn’t help but ask.

Leon wanted to see how powerful the traps that were supposed to stop Voldemort were.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

So, he pleaded, using his cute face that still had some baby fat. “Can I see what type of trial is next?” He pleaded with his house head, the woman had a reputation for being kind, so he was hopeful.

“And what type of vines are that? They look like Devil’s snare but obviously they are not.”

“I saw how quickly they identified them, good job.” She ruffled his hair. “But they are different. I bred them, especially as a counter for a dark magical fire.” Professor Sprout muttered after hearing his request.

She stared at him for a second before waving her wand in his direction.

“Fine! We can see three more trials, then we will go back.”

“Thank you, professor.”

The duo turned back.

The vines readily formed a staircase, letting them walk down.

“Is that dark fire spell easily cast by anyone, professor?” Leon asked as he followed. “After all, you created a magical plant only to counter it.”

“It was a spell feared by all when it was invented, not for its power but it was easy to use and very hard to control, comparatively. With time many wizards and witches formed a counter to it. It is still feared by everyone, mainly because it becomes a huge public hazard if there isn’t anyone nearby that is capable of stopping it.”

‘I guess we are talking about Fiendfyre.’

“With enough time and preparation, there are few things that are capable of vexing a Wizard or a Witch, Leon.”

The Hufflepuff agreed with that sentiment, this world’s wizards are the most versatile, and powerful too, if they have information and time in their hands.

The professor and the student left the vines behind and were greeted by an army made of rock.

‘Wow!’ Leon’s eyes widened as he saw rows upon rows of rock soldiers.

Shield bearers made the first row followed by spearmen, archers, and magical creatures made of rock littered the corners of the room and the roof.

As they stepped on the floor, the soldiers raised their shields as the archers nocked their arrows.

There were nearly a hundred different statues, ready to battle.

“They aren’t just rock soldiers, Mr Leon. Minerva incorporated rituals and wards in this room with the help of our Ancient runes and Arthimacy professors. You have to find the set of rules the soldiers follow, for every set of rules you break, they become more powerful, nearly indestructible.”

With a wave of her wand, the soldiers hustled to the side, making way for them.

A door formed as they reached the end of the hall.

The next room was empty.

Four uniform walls stared back at Leon as he tried to catch anything special.

“Why is there nothing, professor?”

Professor Sprout patted his head and waved her wand, smiling.

A dust cloud rose towards the roof before it was blown apart like many invisible objects rammed into the dust cloud.

“Brooms that move with such speed that they can’t be seen with the naked eye. And of course, your professor Flitwick charmed each broom with different surprises that stack.”

Again, a door formed on the wall in front of them, this time his house head held his shoulder as the door swung open.

The duo was greeted with deafening roars. Dozens of Trolls decked in full plate armor littered the room.

Two Trolls taller than Hagrid were fighting, ramming their spike mace.

Runes shone with magical brilliance on every part of the armor, the maces broke the sound barrier as the two Trolls fought.

“These are adult trolls, your DADA professor and Care of Magical Creature professor bribed - lured- them to act as protection and of course, we provided them with the enchanted weapons.”

Professor Sprout let Leon watch the duel between trolls, which he did with his jaw on the floor.

“Let’s go, Leon,” the professor nudged him and turned back, making him follow her silently.

‘This, this is power!’ Leon thought as they made their way back, crossing the invisible and jet-like brooms, the rock army, and the magical vines.

‘And I am striving towards this power, and am making great strides too!’ That thought made Leon let out a genuine smile filled with excitement and anticipation. It was his first heartfelt smile after the fiasco of his Hufflepuff trial.

“I will see you in class, Mr Leon. And you will be spending all of your free time with me, learning herbology, until the end of this year. We can’t have a Hufflepuff who is average in Herbology can we.” Professor Sprout teased him and walked away, dropping the bomb as the door closed on Fluffy.

An awkward cough, jostled Leon from his thoughts.

“Oh! Hi, Hagrid!”

He met the gaze of the 12-foot gentle giant.

“How did you know, Fluffy’s song, Leo?” he asked, rubbing his head.

“Well! When we were frying bugs for browtruckles in the evening, you played your flute, do you remember?”

Hagrid nodded his head.

“I asked if you knew any other tunes as you played a single one the whole time.”

Hagrid nodded again.

“I know bred Cerberi has a tune they sleep to, instead of the general drowsiness that affects the species when confronted with music. And you have Fluffy…”

“Ha! I understand! You are a clever boy, Leon. Clever, but afraid of Bowtruckles.” Hagrid let out a booming laugh.

“How can you blame me, I read they gore the eyes of anyone who damages a tree,” Leon shivered at the thought of fast-moving, camouflaged stickmen coming for him. They were the perfect counter to the first-year wizard- small, agile, unseen, and deadly.

“Only when you are trying to cut down the tree or harm it! Otherwise, they are peaceful and harmless little buggers.”

Hagrid left, patting Leon with a booming laugh and mumbling about learning more music.

“We will be starting tonight, itself, Mr Leon. You will be coming to Greenhouse-A after dinner, buckle up. The headmaster isn’t happy with our little tour.” Professor Sprout’s message ended with a sigh; her voice magically drifted into his ears.

….

Leon entered the greenhouse under the moonlight. Greenhouse-A was where the harmless magical plants aka the plant's first year’s study were stored.

Professor Sprout was waving her wand at a plant, focused.

“Hello, Professor.” He greeted her, making her turn towards him.

“Good! Leon, start with double checking the tools used by the first years and if they repotted the plants correctly.”

So, he did just that and made sure everything was in order.

“Done, Professor.”

“Go to row 4 and gather the floating seeds.”

“Done.”

“Row-6, repot the vampire vines, you learned how.” She assigned another task, without bothering to look at him.

“Done.”

“Row-1-” “Professor!” “Yes?”

“I generally practice my spells, new ones, and old ones too, do you mind if I complete my day’s practice now?” Leon asked, hopefully.

“I mean, all the chores you gave me can be completed by a flick of a wand by anyone older.”

“Fine! You can practice whatever you want, but you will be getting an extra hour of practice in herbology too. I will prepare a special schedule for you tomorrow!” His house head kindly smiled at him, before going back to her work.

The little tour reignited the fire in him, the fire which was getting used to his new magical world. The fire that let him practice for hours on end with feeling bored.

Shivering with excitement at the memory of the Trolls decked in magical armor, Leon practiced.

…………………….

Days went by as Professor Sprout, true to her word, made him revise their herbology lessons.

Leon got his friends to come with him too.

They revised for coming exams when he practiced his spells, and their house head allotted them work that was essentially herbology revision.

While Susan looked suspicious about them suddenly being under the supervision of a professor, she didn’t dig into it and decided to wait until next year, under the professor's orders.

Leon was more worried about her asking him why he didn’t take her than her having a breakdown like last time.

The first year in Hogwarts changed Susan Bones, she got more hardworking and more intense.

“You will get invited next year, Susan. Curses are less flexible as most of them are offensive and the forest isn’t a place where a first year should be on offensive.”

The trio sat by the lake, on account of their exams starting tomorrow their house head gave a free day to Leon.

Hannah was sleeping on the grass, her flying practice coupled with long hours of revision made her perpetually tired.

“I guess.” She responded with a sigh.

“Come on! You know more curses than I do and you learn them as quickly as I do. Next year.. I bet you will get your trial next year and you did say your aunt got her first trial in her third year.”

Susan hummed at him; her tone less somber than before as she too lay on the grass.

With a wave of his wand, he let a peaceful tune he recorded play out.

Professor Flitwick also led a magical music club in which Leon sat once as they practiced, waiting for the professor. So, he learned a thing or two about magical music.

Just as he was about to copy his friends and lie down on the cool grass, a thought struck him.

“Hey! What about the duel you promised me?”

Susan smiled fondly and tossed some leaves at him.

“I thought you forgot about it,” she said.

“How can I? When Miss Bones challenged me with fiery confidence? I was looking forward to it before we got sidetracked with trials and whatnot.” Leon joined his friends on the grass.

“It took me more time than I thought to prepare for your style, and I didn’t want to end the year with one of us feeling bad. So, our duel is going to be the first thing next school term. You are going to sing me praises with stars in your eyes.”

“Arrogant much, Ms Bones?” he asked in a faux voice.

“It’s not arrogance when it's the truth, Mr Astraeus,” she winked at him. “And I am going to my aunt’s help this summer, you are so going down.”

“I doubt it. But we shall we see.” Leon hummed, letting silence swallow them as they enjoyed the beautiful evening.

“Now, I think about it. Do you wanna come to our house this summer? My aunt wants to meet you and what better time than in the holidays.” Susan asked.

“So, she did find my mind spell traces, huh!”

“Duh! The spell was the first thing she asked me about the second she saw me, but don’t worry, I explained everything to her. And House Abbot doesn’t have any sorcerers, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Hmm! Do you think other than heir rings, Hogwarts has protections in place for other mind spells?”

“Of course!”

“Can you guess what type?”

“…. Wards, I guess. I dunno how they work, though.”

“Maybe they have house elves watch us?” The sudden voice surprised the duo.

“Hannah, when did you wake up?” Susan nudged her friend, exasperated at the sudden surprise.

“Just now. And Timmy always knows when I want something… so he does shadow me, right?”

Leon slowly closed his eyes as Susan and Hannah started to talk, their topic slowly moving away from house elves to Quidditch to their summer vacation.

……………….

Word count: 3K

A/N: I tried to be subtle about the reasons why Professor Sprout gave him the tour and why Leon jumped headfirst into the third-floor trials. Was I too subtle?

As always, comments and reviews are welcome.