It was a dog with three massive, terrifying heads!
Alice wasn't even sure you could still call that thing a dog.
Six glowing eyes from those three heads locked onto the four little wizards in the room. You could practically feel the hot, stinky breath blasting in Harry and the others' faces. It—or they—were panting, drooling, staring at the four of them like they were a midnight snack.
Hermione and Ron were a half-second behind, but they finally clocked the monster too.
From Alice's ghost-like viewpoint, all four of them looked frozen in shock. She racked her brain for a way to help.
After all, Harry and the gang were only in this mess because they'd tried to "save" her—even though the whole thing had been a setup.
The three-headed dog let out a furious roar that rattled the walls. Alice was so glad she was in soul form right now—her senses were dulled, so her eardrums didn't feel like they were exploding.
Harry's crew? Not so lucky. They got sprayed with dog slobber right in the eyes and looked half-deaf from the roar.
Gotta get them out, Alice thought—then caught Harry's hand frantically groping for the doorknob in her peripheral vision.
Oh. Looks like I don't need to do anything.
Harry moved fast. Just as the beast started closing in, he yanked the door open. The four of them bolted out like bats out of hell, sprinting straight for the Gryffindor common room on the eighth floor.
Even if they'd dodged the dog, getting caught by Filch was still not on the bingo card.
Once they were gone, Alice relaxed and turned her full attention to the dog—and the trapdoor underneath it.
It was clearly guarding something. The floorboard was a trapdoor, and Alice had a gut feeling it led to some kind of secret space.
That trapdoor gave her the same vibe as Dumbledore's office—dangerous, powerful, hidden.
Her All Souls Banner started heating up, confirming her hunch.
It whispered to her that down below the trapdoor was something big—a treasure that might even rival the banner itself.
It couldn't tell what, exactly—but Alice knew: if Dumbledore was hiding it at Hogwarts, it wasn't just some shiny trinket.
Too bad she probably wasn't destined to snag it.
…Or was she?
Knowing Harry and his little detective squad, there was no way they'd let a giant three-headed guard dog slide. They'd figure out it was protecting something—and they'd dig until they knew what.
All Alice had to do was trail behind quietly and watch the chaos unfold.
She suddenly felt like some kind of puppet master and shook her head, shoving the thought down.
Her invisible lurking was making the dog twitchy. It could sense something watching from the shadows, but its eyes couldn't spot a thing.
It growled in frustration. Alice figured that was her cue to bounce before the barking brought a professor running.
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It was getting late. Even though the All Souls Banner had recovered a bit and soul-traveling Alice wouldn't be wiped out tomorrow, she still wanted some shut-eye.
Good sleep = good vibes.
But before sliding back into her body, she had one last errand.
She drifted into the Slytherin third-year boys' dorm, followed Theodore Nott's tip, and zeroed in on Dilshati Bode's bed.
She released the old man's ghost from the banner, used it to put a scare-hex on Bode, then floated away like a boss.
Bode jolted awake, eyes flying open—to see a creepy, blank-eyed ghost strangling him.
"GURK—GURK—GURK!"
He thrashed, feet kicking the mattress like a fish on dry land. Finally, the noise woke his roommates.
One guy opened his eyes, saw the ghost pinning Bode down, and let out a blood-curdling scream:
"AAAAAHHHH!"
The scream echoed through the entire Slytherin dorms, waking kid after kid.
As soon as the yelling started, the ghost vanished—leaving only a red ring around Bode's neck as proof it wasn't a nightmare.
---
The next morning, Alice woke up to her "adorable" dormmates huddled together, cracking the door open and eavesdropping on the common room chatter, looking terrified.
"What happened?" Alice asked, pulling on her robes.
Pansy flinched. "People in the common room are saying… last night, in one of the third-year boys' dorms, some new ghost attacked a student."
Alice put on her best shocked face. "No way. That actually happened?"
Millicent nodded, still pale. "Yeah. Dumbledore and Snape showed up. Look—even the Bloody Baron's here."
Alice followed her finger. Sure enough—Dumbledore, Snape, and the silver, grim-faced Bloody Baron were questioning Dilshati Bode.
The Baron's usual blank stare was gone. He looked dead serious (pun intended).
He examined the marks on Bode's neck and said, "Definitely ghostly energy… but not a ghost. Weird. Why would something like this happen?"
Dumbledore added, "According to Bode, he woke up to soul-deep pain in his head—then felt the chokehold."
Snape raised an eyebrow. "So this mystery ghost has soul-manipulating powers?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I can't say for sure. I'm no expert in soul magic."
That made Snape and the Baron go quiet. They were all thinking the same name—a true master of souls—but none of them said it out loud.
"Could it be…" Snape started, then stopped.
Dumbledore gave him a look. "Severus, I don't think we're there yet. He wouldn't… not now. It doesn't make sense."
The two professors and the ghost fell silent.
Dumbledore turned to the Baron. "I'll need your help these next few days. Keep an eye on anything weird in Slytherin—especially soul-energy fluctuations."
The Baron nodded. Internal Slytherin drama? Not his problem—every snake had to fight for their spot.
But outside forces sneaking in? He'd protect his house.
Still… souls?
The Bloody Baron's gaze drifted across the room—and locked eyes with Alice for a split second.
Could it be her?
That little first-year who seemed way too interested in souls?