after hurried run, Robert finally pushed open the classroom door just a second before class started and managed to answer the roll call when Professor Binns called his name.
Yes, even though he was a ghost, Professor Binns took attendance every class, and no one truly understood how he recognized the students. Perhaps he didn't actually recognize them at all—it might have just been a professional habit he never dropped.
As soon as his name was called, Robert slumped onto the desk. His eyelids began to droop, and his vision started to blur. Sunlight streamed in through the grid-patterned window, threads of light intertwining like strands of silver unicorn tail hair tangled with glowing runes.
The weather was perfect—not too cold and not too warm—and with the ghost professor's monotonous voice, which always sounded like it had been steeped in sleeping potion, it would have been a waste not to take a nap.
But some people didn't agree.
Robert vaguely heard someone talking. At first, he ignored it, but the voice grew louder and more persistent.
"Professor McGonagall actually let you join the Gryffindor team?"
"You're amazing!"
"Did you see Malfoy's face? He looked stunned!"
"That's a Nimbus 2000! The fastest broom ever!"
"Harry, can I ride it for a bit? Just ten minutes?"
The voice buzzed in Robert's ear like a hundred Cornish Pixies throwing a party. He debated whether he should tell Ron to lower his voice for a while.
But then the two suddenly changed the subject.
"Is he asleep?" It was still Ron's voice.
"He should be," Harry replied. "Neville told me Robert's been busy with something lately. He only sleeps at dawn. Last night too—when we came back, his dorm light was still on."
"He's really... working hard," Ron muttered.
"Never mind. As long as he can't hear us, it's fine."
Ron seemed to lower his voice slightly.
"Yesterday was crazy," he continued. "I didn't think Malfoy would chicken out like that. He's the one who suggested a duel, and then he didn't even show."
"I think he tipped off Filch on purpose," Harry said. "Otherwise, how else would Filch just happen to be on that exact floor?"
"I was careless," he admitted. "Didn't expect Malfoy to pull something like that."
"The whole Malfoy family is rotten," Ron said bitterly. "We nearly ended up as a midnight snack for that three-headed dog… But still, it was kind of thrilling. We actually got away from Fluffy."
"Why do you think Dumbledore keeps something so dangerous at school?"
"Hermione said it's guarding something."
"Oh, don't talk about her," Ron said, annoyed. "She's insane—she actually thinks getting expelled is worse than getting eaten by Fluffy."
"Well... she has a point," Harry said.
"You're mad too," Ron muttered, but didn't continue.
"So what do you think it's guarding?" he asked instead.
"I don't know," Harry answered, lowering his voice again. "Maybe... the thing from vault 713?"
"The one that got robbed at Gringotts?" Ron's voice jumped.
"Keep it down!" Harry quickly shushed him before continuing. "Yes, that one. Hagrid took something from that vault, and now there's a forbidden room at school guarded by Fluffy. Isn't it obvious?"
Gulp.
It sounded like someone swallowing.
"It must be something really important," Ron said. "My guess? Gold."
"Doesn't seem like it," Harry said. "I saw it briefly. Just a grubby little package. Doesn't look like gold. If it were gold, it wouldn't need a giant three-headed dog guarding it."
Ron said something under his breath, too quietly to catch.
"What was that?" Harry asked.
"I said... what do you think is inside?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe a diamond?" Harry guessed.
"Huh? What's that?"
"A gem," Harry explained. "Worth more than gold. My Aunt Petunia has one in a necklace—tiny, smaller than a bean—but she treasures it. Only wears it on the most important occasions."
"That must be expensive," Ron said. "But Muggle jewelry probably isn't worth much to wizards. Goblins always drive the price down. Maybe it's the Chocolate Frog recipe. That chocolate is amazing."
"But why would the Chocolate Frog recipe be hidden at Hogwarts?"
"Maybe someone asked Dumbledore to keep it safe."
...
The two of them chatted away, more and more excited.
Robert, lying beside them, had already pieced together what happened.
Last night, they'd planned a wizard's duel with Malfoy. But Malfoy hadn't shown up, and instead, they'd run into Filch. Trying to escape, they—and Hermione, who'd tried to stop them—ended up hiding in the forbidden room and found a trapdoor guarded by Fluffy.
And now Harry suspected what Fluffy guarded was connected to the vault that had been robbed at Gringotts.
Fluffy...
Robert was no longer sleepy. He opened his eyes and stared straight at the startled Harry and Ron.
"You... you weren't asleep?" Ron's voice trembled.
"I should be asking you two why you were talking so loud when someone's trying to sleep," Robert said, yawning. "Next time you're talking secrets, maybe whisper?"
Harry and Ron flushed red, then turned pale, and stared at Robert like they wanted to say something but didn't know how.
"Don't worry. I'll keep your secret," Robert said directly, guessing their concern.
"Th-thank you."
"No problem," Robert said with a wave. "But I am curious—did you really go into that room?"
"What?" Ron asked.
"The one on the fourth floor—the one that's forbidden."
"Yeah, that one," Harry confirmed, and Ron nodded as well.
Seeing Robert so interested, the two of them slowly lowered their guard.
After all, eleven-year-olds love to show off.
As soon as Robert asked, the story poured out of them.
"I guess the Headmaster had his reasons for making that room off-limits. Fluffy is at least ten feet tall!" Ron gestured wildly to show how huge the dog was, clearly trying to convey the sheer excitement and fear from the experience.
"That's insane," Robert said in admiration.
"Pure luck we made it out. Wouldn't want to go through that again."
But even as they said that, the thrill and excitement still shimmered on their faces, as if they were itching to experience it all over again.
"How did you even get in?" Robert asked casually. "Didn't any professors spot you?"
"No," Harry replied after thinking a moment. "Filch was chasing us for a while. We just picked a door and ran through it."
"Yeah, we didn't even know which floor we were on."
Robert nodded slowly, as if just curious.
Inside, though, he was rapidly connecting the dots.
They hadn't known in advance about the forbidden room.
They'd just been running blindly and ended up stumbling into the very place the Headmaster had warned students to avoid.
A room with a magical creature guarding something extremely valuable—something that had once been stored in a high-security vault at Gringotts.
Robert's mind raced, filing this information away.
The mystery was getting deeper, and now he had a personal lead.
He would need to find Ryan later—he might have insights Robert didn't.
But for now, he played along, pretending to be just another curious first-year.
"Sounds like you two had one wild night," he said with a chuckle.
"You could say that," Harry grinned sheepishly.
Ron looked like he wanted to boast a little more but managed to stop himself.
"I wouldn't try anything like that again, though," he added. "Too risky."
Robert smiled. "Yeah... sounds like it."
But in the back of his mind, questions were already forming. Who had robbed the Gringotts vault? What was in that grubby package? Why was it now at Hogwarts?
And above all—why did Dumbledore think a giant three-headed dog was the best protection?
He glanced at Harry and Ron, who had resumed whispering to each other, and leaned back in his seat.
The sunlight hadn't changed, and Professor Binns was still droning on in the background.
But for Robert, everything felt different.
Something was happening at Hogwarts.
And now... he was part of it.
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