Daughter of a Criminal

Secrets of the Third Floor

Ann came down to dinner late. She entered the Great Hall and walked over to the Gryffindor table with the rest of the Gryffindor students. Ron didn't even notice her, so Ann crept up from behind him and scared him.
"Boo!,"Ann shouted. Ron jumped and looked frantically around to see who did that
"Bloody hell. You scared me!," Ron said as Ann sat down next to him.
"Why are you late," Ron asked her, still shaken up with fright.
"I was in detention with Malfoy," Ann said
"That git," Ron said
"I know,but I'm fine," Ann said, deciding to not share a piece of her life with her best friend for the first time. After they finished eating dinner, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ann left the Great Hall together and climbed up the marble staircase to the Gryffindor tower. As they turned a corner to go up a staircase, Harry, Ron, and Ann didn't notice that a railing started to pull in. Hermione looked and saw the railing move. She then was concerned. She was gonna say something, but she just kept walking behind everyone else.
"I'm telling you," Ann whispered to keep Hermione from hearing her.
"It's spooky. She knows more about you than you do," Ron added
"Who doesn't?," Harry asked the two. Suddenly, the staircase began to shudder and rotate. All four grabbed the railings of the staircase.
"What the…," Ann said as she grabbed Ron's arm to stabilize herself. Ron screamed and Hermione gasped.
"What's happening?," Harry asked in a panic.
"The staircases change, remember?," Hermione said. Eventually the staircase stopped in a new location. In front of them was an unfamiliar door that Harry, Ron, Ann, and Hermione have never seen before.
"Let's go this way," Harry said.
"Before the staircase moves again," Ron added, shoving Anns arm away from him. Everyone except Ann went up the stairs to the door. They climbed up the staircase terrified as to what may be behind the door in front of them. Harry opened the door and everyone walked into a dark, creepy room.
"Does anyone feel like... we shouldn't be here?," Harry asked them.
"Yeah you think!," Ron said, looking around the room horrified. The room was filled with cobwebs and creepy looking statues that made Ron cringe.
"We're not supposed to be here," Ann said.
"This is the third floor. It's forbidden," Hermoine added. Suddenly, a flame ignited on one of the tall stone pillars.
"Let's go!," Harry shouted. But, at that moment, Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, came running in and meowed, which made them jump. Mrs. Norris was a scrawny, dust-colored creature. Mrs. Norris meowed again as she looked up at them with bulging, lamp-like eyes like Filch's.
"It's Filch's cat!," Ron panicked.
"Run!!," Harry yelled. Everyone ran the other direction away from Mrs. Norris. As they ran, flames popped up from the pillars as they passed.
"Quick! Lets hide through that door!," Harry told them. They all ran to the door at the end of the corridor. Harry grabbed the handle and pulled, but it wouldn't open.
"Hurry, Harry!!," Ann said, looking back to see if anyone was coming.
"It's locked!," Harry yelled.
"So?You're a bloody wizard!," Ann shouted.
"Oh, move over!" Hermione said, pushing them aside and pointing her wand at the door handle.
"Alohomora," she said. The door suddenly unlocked and opened. Hermione pulled open the door and everyone clambered inside. Ron quietly shut the door behind him.
"Alohomora?," Ron asked her.
"Standard book of spells, chapter seven," Hermione said.
"Quiet!, I think I hear Mr. Filch coming," Ann shushed them. Filch came into the room with his lantern. Mrs. Norris looked up at him.
"Anyone here, my sweet?," Filch said as Mrs. Norris meowed. Filch looked up and down the hall to find no one there.
"Come on," Filch said to Mrs. Norris. Filch and Mrs. Norris left, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ann hiding in the room.
"Filch is gone," Hermione announced.
"Phew, that was close,"Ann said.
"Too close. Probably thinks this door's locked," Ron added.
"It was locked," Hermione said.
"And for good reason," Harry said as he stared at something that was fast asleep. Ron, Hermione, and Ann turned to stand with Harry. There was a monstrous dog sleeping in front of them. It had three heads, three pairs of rolling, mad eyes, and three noses twitching and took up the whole space between the ceiling and floor as they got up. It wasn't until they noticed Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ann that it growled, yawned, and growled some more. All four of them screamed.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!," The four bolted for the door. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ann were breathless when they made it back to the Gryffindor common room. "Did you see that?" Ann asked terrified,
"The thing had three heads... THREE!!," Ron added
"What do they think they're doing??,"Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school," Ann asked them.
"You two don't use your eyes, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?," Hermone asked them
"I wasn't looking at its feet!! I was a bit preoccupied with its heads. Or maybe you didn't notice, there were three!!," Ron said
"Yeah, and you probably didn't notice that it was trying to kill us!!," Ann added. "It was standing on a trap door," Hermione told them.
"A trap door?," Harry asked,
"What trap door? I didn't see a trap door!!," Ron added
"If you looked you would have seen it," Heremoine said
"Wait… that means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something," Ann realized
"Exactly," Hermoine agreed.
"Guarding something?," Harry asked, confused.
"What could that thing possibly be guarding?," Ron asked .
"How should I know? Plus I'm not going back there," Ann said,
"Now, if you three don't mind, I'm going to bed before one of you comes up with another clever idea to get us killed... or worse, expelled!," Hermione said, turning to leave and shutting the door of the girls' dormitories behind her.
"She needs to sort out her priorities!," Ron said. Harry nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I'd take expulsion over getting killed any day," Ann added before walking after her friend.