The unconscious troll had been the easiest challenge of course, and Fluffy had been almost as easy. He whimpered a bit and tucked his tail between his legs when they’d come into the first room. He didn’t want to come anywhere near Hermione or the others, like he smelled something scary or didn’t want to make them mad. Harry had played some random notes on a little roughly-cut wooden flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas ("A suspiciously useful gift," Theo had whispered), and the Cerberus had gone straight to sleep. He was a big softy, just like Hagrid said! There’d been a discarded harp sitting quietly on the floor near the trapdoor, which made them certain someone was ahead of them in the gauntlet.