Edward hardly got any sleep that night. Of course, anyone would find it kind of hard to sleep after a monstrous three-headed dog nearly biting their head off, but Edward had other matters keeping him awake besides sending thanks to the heavens that he was still alive (not that he wasn't grateful about that little fact, mind you.) For instance, he wondered why his school suddenly decided that keeping a giant three-headed dog, fangs and all, in the corridor was a good idea. He recalled that odd announcement from Dumbledore at the start of term. At least he knew now that the forbidden tag on said corridor was well-justified, but getting that itty bitty piece of knowledge didn't make getting this close to biting the dust feel any better. He definitely saw his life (which was currently only a few months' worth of memory, but still) flash before his eyes in a few seconds there. He considered it a safe bet that the dog obviously wasn't being kept there as a secret pet, or he would have to seriously question the sanity of whoever its owner was (unless the thing belonged to Dumbledore, in which case it would serve as concrete evidence that the Headmaster really was off his rocker like the rumor insisted.)

But giant dog asides, what troubled him the most were his friends' expressions after he had knocked the thing out. The memory made his stomach squirm uncomfortably and caused his throat to close up. He hadn't known that he could take on the dog, but his friends were right next to him and they were definitely going to be killed and he just had to do something, so he had directed every bit of magic he could grasp at that moment into blasting the dog away. Reacting to his will, the magic had come to his aid with a vengeance, filling him with so much exhilaration at the sensation of power and control and a strong feeling that everything was right back where it belonged that at the moment, he almost laughed out loud. Edward had expected at least stronger resistance, considering the dog was so huge, but it was flung away as easily as a book would have been. The moment he stared down at the unconscious (or dead, but he hadn't checked) form of the dog, all other emotions inside him were overwhelmed by unease and dread. Magic had always come to him so naturally, so easily that he had never really questioned it before, especially since he knew that there was a whole society where such a miraculous thing as magic was considered commonplace. Even when he found out that he wasn't quite similar to everyone in the magic society as he had thought at first, with the way wandless and non-verbal magic came to him so easily at a level that other witches and wizards had to spend years learning and may still not be able to match, with his difficulty in wielding magic through wand and even his ability to sense magic, he still believed that he was the same as them, that although he was slightly different, at the end of the day he was still just another wizard.

Had he been deluding himself into wishful thinking that he was still normal? He did somewhat enjoyed standing out for being good at what he do, the times he received praises and points for answering questions correctly in classes for instances, since isn't it only normal to desire acknowledgement when you did your best at something? However, this kind of difference where he was able to blast away that giant dog with nothing more than a wave of his hand seemed to cement that he was something very abnormal, unnatural. Something ... inhumane.

Edward turned to his side and hid his head in the pillow, trying to drown out the furious pounding of his heart. He was scared.

"I found out something about that dog."

That morning Hermione, who had spotted Harry and Ron when they were about to leave the common room, marched straight to them and dragged them towards the armchairs, proceeded to deposit them into one before slamming a book as large as their head onto the table. Harry was surprised that she was even talking to them. That night, after the stunt they pulled, Hermione had haughtily given them a lengthy "I-told-you-so" speech before turning her nose up at them and stomped back to the girl dormitory, leaving Harry and Ron to drag the still unconscious Neville into his bed before getting into their own. They had been really stunned, first by the dog and later by Edward's magic display. Harry had always known that Edward was really good at magic, but to be able to do something like that when most of the first years Harry knew were still struggling with the Levitation spell was impressive.

"Blimey, Harry! Did you see how he threw that dog away? I can't believe a first-year can be so powerful. Did you know he could do something like that?" Ron had exclaimed as the two of them made their way to the boy dormitory last night, supporting Neville between them.

Harry had never witnessed Edward's magic on that scale, but staying with the Dursleys did not help his magic judging skill, so he hadn't thought of the things Edward could do as abnormal at all.

While Harry was contemplating the enigma that was Edward and his magic, Ron was marveling at the size of Hermione's leather-bound book that was titled "Magical Creatures and Their Natural Habitats". It could probably be used as a weapon due to its sheer thickness. Even if one spent all night reading without any sleep, to be able to find any wanted information among all these pages seemed an unfathomable feat to the boys. Was fast-reading a superior magic skill commonly acquired by nerds, Ron wondered.

Hermione leafed through the pages until she came upon a one with illustration, then she pushed the book under their noses. A black-and-white picture of the dog they encountered last night can be seen there and it was really accurate for being hand-drawn.

"Cerberuses, the three-headed dogs usually associated with hell, are known for their great size and immunity to magic. Their strength can be comparable to that of a small giant and they are usually very vicious. Cerberuses are extremely rare and are normally used for guarding treasure vaults, since they are impervious to most common offensive spells," Hermione read aloud while tracing the lines with her fingers, and then she looked up at them expectantly.

Harry was the first to react.

"So it was put there to guard something?"

"Of course it was!" Hermione waved her hand at him impatiently "Didn't you see the trap door beneath its feet?"

"I was a little busy watching for its heads." retorted Harry.

"You just weren't paying enough attention. But that's not the point!" Hermione slammed her hand onto the page, looking both exasperated and excited.

"What are you trying to say?" asked Ron

"See this? Cerberuses are immune to most spells! Even if there were a dozen experienced wizards, I don't think they would have been able to affect it at all. But that Hufflepuff blew that dog away without saying a single word!"

"His name is Edward." said Harry.

Hermione continued her rant.

"We don't learn non-verbal spells until year six and few wizards can truly master it. And while levitation charms can be used on normal objects with great size, to be able to lift a creature that should be impervious to such spells will require an unbelievable amount of magic. And Edward isn't even winded! This is just impossible! I don't think even the Headmaster is that powerful! I don't think even You-Know-Who is that powerful!"

Hermione finished her speech, her face flushed red and panting slightly from lack of air. Harry and Ron were both struck dumb at her exclamation. Edward managed something that even Dumbledore and the Dark Lord could not have done? Just who exactly was Edward? Did they ever know him at all? Harry found himself wondering that question all day.

Beta: Flyinglovegood123