Just as Harry was lost in his thoughts, Adelaide's ears twitched slightly, and she alertly pulled Cho Chang aside to hide a bit further away.
"My dear Madam Norris, sniff around; I have a feeling there are many little mice running rampant in the Castle tonight."
A low, raspy voice drifted over, accompanied by the sound of light footsteps.
Hermione, standing by the door, was clearly terrified, her face turning as pale as a sheet; at the thought of being caught by Filch and potentially losing points or even facing harsher punishment, her heart rate suddenly accelerated.
She turned and rushed into the Trophy Room, roughly grabbing Harry and Ron by their collars, then signaled for Neville to follow with a fierce glare.
The four of them took advantage of the fact that Filch hadn't spotted them yet and tiptoed out through the back door of the Trophy Room.
Before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, Neville's robes were suddenly snagged by a nearby suit of armor—from Adelaide's vantage point, she could clearly see that the armor had moved slightly as Neville passed, catching his robes with its scabbard.
This caused Neville to lose his footing and fall directly onto the armor.
"Clang! Crash!"
A massive noise echoed through the silent Castle, as if the entire building had been startled awake by the sudden sound.
Adelaide couldn't help but cover her ears and eyes, unable to bear the sight.
"Run!"
Harry let out a desperate roar and sprinted down the corridor at full speed as if his feet were on fire; Ron, not yet having reacted, heard Harry's shout and instinctively dashed forward with him.
Harry and Ron's antics instantly sent Hermione's blood pressure skyrocketing—
"Those two idiots, what's the point of just running away themselves!"
Hermione cursed inwardly, then hurriedly helped the fallen Neville up and pulled him along to chase after Harry and Ron.
Seeing this, Adelaide quickly pulled an improved dungbomb given to her by the Weasley Twins from her pocket and threw it onto the floor—this improved dungbomb was a great item, as you didn't have to worry about getting your hands dirty when using it.
Holding her breath, Adelaide took Cho Chang's hand and quickly chased after the Gryffindors ahead.
"Stop— gag—"
Filch had intended to shout a few warnings for show, but before he could finish, he was nearly knocked unconscious by the stench of the open dungbomb Adelaide had dropped.
The foul odor made his stomach churn, leaving him unable to do anything but retch repeatedly.
Madam Norris was even more provoked by the stench; she scratched frantically at the floorboards with her claws, seemingly trying to bury the wretched dungbomb to escape the offensive smell.
Harry scurried through the Castle like a headless chicken, leading the others around a door pillar and into the stairwell—but unfortunately, they arrived just as the stairs were slowly shifting; fearing Filch would catch up, he had to give up on going upstairs and ran straight toward the opposite side.
Harry ran through corridor after corridor on the fourth floor, encountering some unexpected situation at every junction—either a door was locked or they ran into Peeves; Adelaide watched as Harry hurriedly fled toward the Forbidden Corridor on the fourth floor and slammed hard into a locked door.
"It's over."
Ron looked ready to cry in despair; at this point, neither he nor Harry cared about making noise and attracting Filch as they pounded desperately on the locked door.
"Move over—"
Hermione impatiently pushed the two useless boys aside, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"
The lock clicked open, and they all piled inside, slamming the door shut.
Cho Chang took a few steps forward curiously, but Adelaide held her back and shook her head, then signaled for her to stand against the corridor wall.
About ten seconds later, Adelaide heard a deafening roar from inside the room, and then the door burst open again as Harry and the others rushed out even faster than they had arrived.
Once Harry and his group were completely out of sight, Adelaide finally led a bewildered Cho Chang cautiously toward that door.
Adelaide pushed the door open gently, the hinges letting out a faint creak; Cho Chang followed nervously behind Adelaide, and when she saw the figure inside the room clearly, she couldn't help but gasp—it was actually a massive Cerberus!
The Cerberus's keen sense of smell detected the arrival of strangers; it whipped its heads up, its three hideous faces baring sharp fangs as it roared toward Adelaide and Cho Chang.
Adelaide immediately began to hum a lullaby softly; under the soothing melody, the Cerberus's roars gradually subsided, and its bared teeth slowly retracted; finally, as if under a spell, it slowly closed its eyes, slumped to the floor, and drifted into dreamland.
Adelaide's lullaby did not stop; while continuing to hum, she quickly drew her wand and cast five silent Stupefy charms in a row at the Cerberus.
Only after confirming that the Cerberus would not wake up for a while did Adelaide finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Cho Chang's eyes were wide, her face filled with an expression of utter disbelief.
She stammered to Adelaide, "A-Adelaide, i-isn't that a Greek Cerberus? I heard it's a very rare creature, and its weakness is that it falls fast asleep upon hearing music... Why is there such a dangerous animal inside Hogwarts Castle!"
"I'm not too sure either... Look, there seems to be a Trapdoor under its feet!"
The Trapdoor was pinned down firmly by the Cerberus's large paws; after a strenuous effort, Adelaide and Cho finally managed to move the paws just a little bit.
Taking the opportunity, Adelaide quickly reached out to push open the Trapdoor; with a "creak," the Trapdoor was opened.
Beneath the Trapdoor was a pitch-black, bottomless hole.
Adelaide waved her wand and cast a Fiendfyre; a raging fire erupted from the tip of her wand, instantly transforming into a giant Fire Raven that flew straight into the black hole.
The Fire Raven descended rapidly through the darkness and soon reached the bottom; through the firelight, Adelaide could vaguely see a dense patch of Devils Snare below.
Because the shaft was too narrow, Adelaide struggled to control the Fire Raven perfectly; during its descent, it accidentally ignited the Devils Snare climbing the walls.
Devils Snare, being a highly flammable plant, ignited the moment it touched fire; in the blink of an eye, the Fiendfyre burned through a vast area of the Devils Snare.
Seeing this, Adelaide realized something was wrong and hurriedly withdrew the Fiendfyre, but it was too late—the Devils Snare quickly turned to ash in the sea of fire, and was ultimately completely wiped out.
"Oops!"
Adelaide cried out in frustration, knowing she had gotten into trouble.
She quickly closed the Trapdoor again, then pulled Cho Chang along as they fled the fourth-floor corridor at top speed, returning to the Ravenclaw Common Room, pretending she had never been out for a night-time excursion tonight.
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