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Harry Potter: I Get Stronger by Taking Loans - 59
🕑 Added 2025-10-03 19:05:06 +0000 UTCChapter 59: Peculiarly Styled Qilin, Three-Headed Dog Blood Obtained
At Leo's command, the flames in the room instantly receded like a retreating tide. Aurelius padded to Leo's side, eyes vigilantly fixed on the three-headed dog Fluffy.
But the target of this vigilance looked utterly miserable. The three-headed dog's originally black fur was now charred even darker, with patches smoking faintly. Some of the Qilin's purifying fire still clung stubbornly to its body, small flames continuing to burn and crackle. The searing pain made the massive creature's body shake and tremble continuously.
Patting Aurelius's neck gently, Leo indicated to extinguish the remaining flames first.
After the fire died away, those wounds became starkly visible. The purifying fire's temperature was devastating—places on the three-headed dog's body with little flesh were burnt nearly through, white bone gleaming beneath blackened tissue.
In just two or three seconds, the originally fierce and violent guardian beast had been utterly defeated, reduced to whimpering for mercy.
Fluffy struggled painfully to turn over, ignoring the agony wracking his body to expose his relatively soft and vulnerable belly—the ultimate canine sign of submission.
Seeing this display, Leo understood the three-headed dog had completely surrendered. The injuries needed treatment. Even with this magical creature's formidable constitution, wounds of this severity would be extremely difficult to self-heal.
After all, this was Hagrid's beloved pet—Leo had only needed to ensure it wouldn't attack him again. He had no intention of actually killing it.
After brief consideration, Leo signalled for Aurelius to treat Fluffy's injuries.
Receiving his master's instruction, Aurelius walked toward the prostrate three-headed dog with measured steps.
Seeing the Qilin approach, Fluffy's body trembled involuntarily, but he didn't dare move, instead sticking out his tongue with an ingratiating, almost pathetic smile across all three heads.
The little Qilin looked down at the three-headed dog with regal condescension.
"Ptui!"
A glob of transparent saliva shot from Aurelius's mouth with surprising accuracy, landing directly in the mouth of Fluffy's middle head.
Witnessing this scene, Leo couldn't help but freeze in place. Wait—why did this look so much like a llama spitting?
Qilin saliva's healing effects were indeed remarkably potent, but just spitting it out directly like this—the visual presentation felt extraordinarily undignified!
Previously he'd collected Aurelius's saliva in containers and only dispensed small amounts when needed. Just now the little Qilin had simply spat out a mouthful, and it had flown directly into Fluffy's gaping maw.
Leo looked at the three-headed dog and found it actually appeared... to be enjoying the experience?
The scorched fur on Fluffy's body rapidly sloughed off like dead leaves, replaced by new growth that came in glossy and lustrous. Those grievous wounds deep enough to expose bone also began knitting closed, though perhaps because the injuries were so severe, the regeneration proceeded slightly slower than expected.
Aurelius returned to Leo's side, proudly raising its head like a knight expecting praise. "Master, I healed it well."
Leo actually wanted to suggest that dispensing healing saliva could be done with more dignity—after all, this was a divine beast. But thinking again, no matter how dignified the presentation, it was still spitting. How sophisticated could that really appear?
Shaking his head, Leo walked toward a trapdoor set into the floor. No, to be more precise—a pitch-black hole, since in the earlier inferno, the wooden door panel had already burnt completely to ash.
This time Fluffy made no move to obstruct, simply crouching to the side with his tongue lolling out, panting heavily as if he'd completely forgotten his guardian duties.
After being thoroughly beaten, Fluffy was no longer as impulsively aggressive as when first disturbed. Also sensing the natural affinity radiating from Leo and Aurelius, this three-headed dog had genuinely become as docile and obedient as an oversized household pet.
Peering into the hole, Leo found it completely empty below—no Devil's Snare or any other defensive measures visible. That made sense. Dumbledore probably hadn't placed the Mirror of Erised down there yet, so he hadn't arranged any protective challenges or trials.
Turning to regard the three-headed dog, Leo couldn't help but complain internally—so what exactly was Fluffy actually guarding now? An empty hole and some ash?
Speaking of the destroyed door... Leo helplessly extracted an unused iron container, pointed his wand, and transformed it into a replacement door panel to cover the opening. Waving his wand several more times, he applied semi-permanent solidified transformation to secure it properly.
This would suffice for now—he'd replace it with something better next time.
He simultaneously cast cleaning and repair charms to erase all traces of burning throughout the chamber, restoring it to approximate normalcy.
Then Leo withdrew paper and quill, preparing to record comprehensive data about the three-headed dog species. This was considerably more convenient now—Fluffy proved fully cooperative with the examination.
When told to lift his leg, he obediently lifted it. When told to open his mouth, all three heads gaped wide.
Examining Fluffy's teeth closely, Leo discovered those sharp fangs had become remarkably white and clean. The originally coiling dark energy that had wreathed them had completely disappeared.
Apparently because Aurelius's purifying fire could burn away curses and toxins, it had removed the dark magic curse naturally present on three-headed dog fangs.
But sharp-eyed Leo quickly noticed wisps of pale black mist creeping back from the tooth roots, beginning to coil faintly around the canines once more.
It regenerated automatically? This three-headed dog's inherent dark magic—wounds inflicted by those cursed fangs couldn't heal naturally and required specialised potion treatment to mend properly.
Quickly recording this fascinating information, Leo put away his notes and retrieved the iron bottle again, preparing to extract the three-headed dog's blood for his adhesive experiments.
Fluffy didn't resist whatsoever, docilely allowing Leo to collect what he needed. Leo didn't take excessive amounts—roughly enough to brew sufficient adhesive for his current project before stopping.
Having accomplished tonight's objectives, Leo departed the chamber. Before leaving, he even tossed Fluffy an enormous pork rib as small compensation for the inconvenience and injuries.
Just minutes after Leo's departure, two figures hurried toward the three-headed dog's room from another corridor.
"Dumbledore, I've said repeatedly that three-headed dog is dangerously inappropriate for the castle!" Snape's voice was sharp with barely controlled anger. "Potter and his friends got lost and wandered here before. You said someone just entered again—what if something truly catastrophic happens!"
"Severus, don't get so agitated. As far as I'm aware, the situation isn't serious," Dumbledore replied calmly.
Snape looked at Dumbledore with eyes full of storm clouds. The portraits and ghosts throughout the castle served as eyes and ears for past headmasters. Through them, Dumbledore could monitor most activities within these walls. Both incidents had been reported to him by vigilant ghosts.
Snape took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his fury. "Dumbledore, 'the situation isn't serious'—meaning there was indeed a problem, correct?"
Dumbledore nodded gravely. "I know you want to ask if Harry is alright. He was indeed injured at the time, but he's already been completely healed."
Just hearing Harry had been injured made Snape's breath catch painfully, though learning he'd recovered allowed him to quietly exhale in relief. Moreover, Snape had encountered Harry multiple times recently, and the boy seemed perfectly healthy—it must have been only a minor injury.
Still, Snape snorted coldly, "I wasn't asking about Potter specifically. Having a three-headed dog in the school is simply too dangerous for students!"
Knowing Snape's temperament well, Dumbledore paid the protest little mind. Actually, Dumbledore hadn't mentioned that the ghosts and portraits along the corridors had reported Harry's injuries as quite severe initially, yet those three children had somehow managed to flee all the way out of the castle despite this.
Dumbledore estimated they'd sought Hagrid for emergency help, so he'd later questioned Hagrid about the incident. But the half-giant insisted that when he saw Harry that evening, the boy was perfectly fine and had chatted quite happily with Leo and the others.
Dumbledore suspected that Leo must have healed Harry's injuries somehow, making him increasingly intrigued by this remarkably capable first-year student.
Opening the chamber door, everything appeared normal and undisturbed—except that the three-headed dog was contentedly gnawing on what appeared to be an enormous... pork rib?
