Infinite Horror: The Strongest Zhongzhou Team

“Wait, Filch is always with his cat, he must be behind us.”

(Filch, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry administrator and custodian, responsible for the daily order of the castle.)
Hermione finished speaking.

The three of them didn't even discuss it.

He stood up, turned around, and ran away.

They plunged headlong into the darkness.

Fortunately, the three were not moving very fast, and the firelight would appear in time as they moved forward.

Otherwise, let alone Filch, even if Voldemort came, the three of them wouldn't dare to advance.

The chaotic footsteps echoed on the wooden planks, creating a moment of silence.

As Harry ran, he said, "Wait, why are we running?"

Ron, panting heavily, said, "Of course we have to run, otherwise they'll find us soon enough!"

"Entering the forbidden area without permission will result in points being deducted, especially since the three of us are all from Gryffindor."

"And don't you two think Filch is very strict?"

Hermione nodded fearfully, recalling the look in his eyes when he looked at her earlier.

As the three figures continued to advance, clusters of flames began to gather on the wall.

The three, worried that the magical flames would give them away, soon discovered it.

After they run some distance away, the first flame closest to the door will disappear again.

Seeing this, the three of them felt relieved and sped up.

Because they would be safe as long as they left the last flame before Mr. Filch came in.

With these thoughts in mind, the three of them quickly passed through the strange passageway filled with cobwebs and various abandoned tables and chairs.

We arrived at the next wooden door.

Compared to the first door, this one looks much more dilapidated, with the metal parts covered in yellowish-brown rust.

The reason the three of them stopped was quite simple.

Harry looked at the tightly locked wooden door with great frustration.

Ron immediately said, "Locked up?"

"Oh, I think we're doomed."

Hermione, at the very back, pulled the two apart, one in each arm.

With a look of disgust: "Shut your mouths and move aside!"

With that, Hermione drew her wand from her robes.

The wand pointed at the lock and shouted, "Alohomora!"

Click.

After seeing a flash of white light, the two dumbfounded people only heard a soft sound.

The wooden door in front of me unlocked itself and then popped open on its own.

Saw this scene.

Harry couldn't help but whisper, "Are we really all first-year students?"

Why are we different from Hermione?

Ron, standing next to him, shook his head: "Don't ask me, even my brother doesn't know this magic."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have locked them in the toilet."

As soon as Ron finished speaking, he noticed that Harry's gaze towards him had changed.

There was nothing Harry could do; he always assumed that Ron was being oppressed by his brother just like he was.

The only difference is that one is a cousin and the other is a biological brother.

But now it seems that this person does have some problems.

Seeing that the two had veered off course, Hermione grabbed them and dragged them into the unknown room.

The three of them turned around as soon as they entered, closed the door, and lay down on it.

After a tacit silence, they began to eavesdrop on the sounds behind the door.

Ron stared wide-eyed and whispered:
"Hermione, the Alohomora is open??"

"How could you?"

Hermione, seeing their puzzled looks, explained:
"The books we were asked to buy when the college was reporting for duty."

"You didn't buy the standard spell manual?"

"Araho Opens, a simple and practical lock-picking spell, which is mentioned in Chapter Seven."

Ron, who was peering through the door, was completely bewildered:
"A standard spell manual? Isn't that meant for freshmen to read and learn about magic?"

"Nobody told me that I could learn the magic on this?"

"And you think you can learn it just by reading books??"

Hermione, startled, asked, "Isn't magic learned by reading books?"

"Otherwise, why would we need to publish magic books and user manuals?"

Hermione's words were perfectly reasonable and there was nothing wrong with them.

But Harry and Ron, both freshmen, felt something was off.

Especially seeing Hermione's "Don't kid me" expression, Ron couldn't help but lower his head in confusion.

"Is that so? Then I'll go back and study it too."

Harry nodded in agreement.

He even regretted not having properly read the books Hagrid had bought for him.

The reason I don't know is because I haven't read the book.

That's the only thought they have right now.

When the two of them finally went to see it, they would experience for the first time the malice and unevenness of the world.

Sometimes the difference between people is greater than the difference between a person and a dog.

And that's when the three main characters entered the third floor, where the "main storyline" would unfold.

What they don't know is.

A group of people are watching them from an unknown place.
-
"Mr. Felzy is gone; he probably thought the door was locked."

Through the keyhole, I watched as the people and cat disappeared outside, and the flames went out.

Hermione and Ron both breathed a sigh of relief.

But it was at this moment that the two suddenly felt that something was missing.

Ron strained to see through the crack in the door while groping and waving behind him.

"Harry, Harry, what are you doing?"

"Why aren't you making a sound? Come and see."

Then Harry's extremely low and trembling voice came from behind the two of them:

"Didn't either of you think about why the door was locked, or why the third floor is a restricted area?"

Gudong!

After saying this, Harry swallowed hard.

Even so, it couldn't hide Harry's trembling at that moment.

That's why Ron Hermione turned his head in confusion.

But after turning around, before the two could even see what was in the dimly lit room, they were already on their way.

A wave of hot air with a fishy, ​​foul smell rushed towards me.

He blew it directly at the two of them.

The sudden gust of air blew their hair all over the place.

When Hermione and Ron opened their eyes, they saw a black head as big as themselves.

And then there was that enormous body that occupied the entire room.

His chin immediately dropped to his chest.

However, Harry seemed to have known they would do this all along.

They stretched out their hands, one on the left and one on the right, and covered their mouths.

That's why no sound came out in the end.

However, the enormous creature in the room had already been awakened by the three little ones.

After slowly standing up.

Three black dog heads, each the size of a door panel, stood side by side in mid-air, looking down at the three of them.

And he bared his teeth.

A tongue covered in thick, fleshy barbs, and teeth as thick as an adult's thigh.

This time, even Harry couldn't hold back.

The three of them also had excellent teamwork.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

"Ah!!!" The three of them shouted and turned around at the same time. Hermione pushed open the door and ran out.

The good news is that it's the door they're looking for.

For this black three-headed dog, only one head could stick out.

The three of them worked together and, despite the difficulty, managed to close the door and lock it again.

This in-and-out action terrified the three children, who were only twelve years old.

After all, this was the first time they had ever seen such a strange creature.

Although I had heard before that there were centaurs, unicorns, phoenixes and fire dragons in the magical world.

But you only know when you actually see it.

One's own imagination will always remain just that—imagination.

The oppressive feeling of being face-to-face with them terrified the three of them, rendering them incapable of thinking.

After closing the door, the three of them slumped on the steps, watching the constantly spinning and jumping staircase, leaning on each other.

They had all forgotten how they escaped.

It took Ron a long time to catch his breath before he felt like he was alive again.

"Too, too dangerous!"

"No, it should be said that it's too scary."

Harry chimed in, "But the question is, why would a school have something like this?"

"Isn't this a bit too dangerous?"

"I feel like if he had been any slower, he could have eaten all three of us in one bite."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry: "The third floor is forbidden territory."

"It was clearly stated at the opening ceremony that we are not..."

"No, it was the two of you who brought me in."

Ron whispered from behind, "But you opened this door, we won't..."

Harry nodded beside him.

Hermione was stunned when she heard this, and a nameless anger suddenly welled up inside her.

I wanted to open the door and throw those two unreliable male classmates in to feed the dogs.

Perhaps he noticed the emotion in Hermione's eyes.

After saying those words, Ron covered his mouth and knelt down.

Hermione then let them go.

The three waited a while longer, and only after confirming that no one was around did they cautiously walk out from the third floor.

Ron said, "I don't think I saw its feet just now; I was too busy looking at its head."

"Perhaps neither of you noticed, but it has three heads."

Harry shook his head: "No, we saw it, and we saw it very clearly."

"The middle head almost bit me."

"Oh, and I also saw that there was a door behind it."

Harry said, "There's definitely something wrong with that huge three-headed dog standing in front of that gate."

Hermione nodded: "If you think about it, you'll know he must be guarding something."

"But this means we have nothing to do with each other anymore, okay?"

"Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to go to sleep, lest you two come up with some plan that will send me to my death."

"Of course, it might get even worse, like being fired outright."

"So Harry, stop thinking about the third floor, and stop trying to figure out if Cerberus is guarding the door, or what's behind the door."

Hermione finished speaking and turned to leave.

However, when they parted ways, Hermione told Ron and Harry a story.

A story about a tree growing in a crack in a wall.

There is a tree growing between two walls near her house.

The trees next to it grew tall and towering because there were no obstacles to block their view.

However, because it has two walls, it was destined to be a deformed existence from the very beginning.

Doesn't it envy it?
It was certainly envious.

It almost blends into the red brick wall.

Its branches strained upwards, even breaking through the stone slab.

Just so that they can grow green leaves and get some sun.

However, it is still too slender and will never grow tall or grow big.

Because sometimes choice is more important than effort.

But it's just a tree; does it have a choice?
Once you land, being alive is equivalent to being alive.

After telling the story, Hermione walked away without looking back.

Harry and Ron watched the man's retreating figure.

"I told you, he's a strange person."

Ron spoke first.

He didn't know how he was feeling, but he wasn't exactly happy.

Do you know why Hermione is afraid of Filch?

"do not know."

"It's because Filch is very strict, especially with someone like Hermione."

"This kind of thing? What do you mean?"

"Harry, do you know about wizarding bloodlines?"

"I've heard Hagrid mention it briefly."

Ron looked at Harry and nodded.

"Pure-Blood is a wizard whose family lineage has no Muggle blood."

"Half-Blood, the offspring of a wizard and a Muggle, such as my father and my mother. My mother was also a wizard, but she came from a Muggle family."

"The third type of Muggle-born is those whose parents are both Muggles, but who awaken magical abilities like Hermione."

"Actually, there is a fourth type, which is the Squib. These are children whose parents are both magicians but who do not possess magical abilities themselves."

“Filch is such a person. He grew up in a magical world, knew magic, and was used to magic, but he could not use magic.”

"Therefore, he was particularly harsh and strict with wizards like Hermione who were Muggle-born, and even supervised their studies and lives."

"It's so that they don't waste this magical talent."

"That's why Filch became the watcher at Hogwarts."

Harry grabbed Ron, and the two went back to the dormitory together.

Another wonderful day has come to an end.

Daybreak.

The entire magic academy was once again enveloped in a strong academic atmosphere.

Herbalism classroom.

Seeing the green smoke suddenly appear in front of him, Neos flew backward.

It was so fast that it left a trail of afterimages.

Li Xiao was stunned for a moment before she came to her senses.

Because he never expected that, under such an absolutely unexpected circumstance, he would actually learn about the strengthening direction of this Nan Yanzhou team captain.

According to the plan, Li Xiao's first class today was herbalism, which is for sixth graders.

And it was right when they transplanted and grafted a kind of herb called Ghost Pear.

An accident suddenly occurred in front of Neos, the exchange student who was also studying diligently.

The pear, which looked no different from a regular pear, began to wither quickly.

Then the withered fruit shrank into a pear core shaped like a human skull.

Immediately afterwards, the withered pear core emitted a puff of green smoke.

The sudden appearance of the green smoke was quite bizarre.

So it's no wonder Neos reacted so strongly.

If it were Li Xiao, he might have already activated his invincible body.

After all, this thing doesn't look like a normal thing.

Professor Pomona Sprout watched the green smoke rise into the air.

Neos, who had retreated ten meters away, smiled and said:
"Don't be nervous, the transplanted Ghost Pear is very sensitive. You must have just touched its tendrils, which is why it withered so quickly. But this green smoke is not poisonous."

"On the contrary, it smells like pear. If you absorb it all right now, it's equivalent to eating a pear. Believe me, the feeling of eating a pear through your nose is very unique..." (End of this chapter)