[Chapter Size: 1700 Words.]
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"How did the troll get in? Hogwarts should have a magical barrier for defense, shouldn't it?" Harry asked hesitantly in a low voice as he followed the crowd.
"It is possible to use trolls as teaching tools in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, but..." Ron seemed a bit hesitant as he said this.
Harry understood what he meant, and judging by Professor Quirrell's performance in class, the likelihood of that being the case was practically zero.
"Wait..." Harry suddenly stopped and looked at Ron hesitantly. Ron also stopped, and his face grew grim. They both remembered.
"Hermione!" they whispered almost simultaneously.
"Damn it, she doesn't even know about the troll. Seriously, why is that girl always getting into trouble?" Ron complained, not caring who was more likely to get into trouble.
Harry shot Ron a look that said, "How could you say that?" They shared a tacit understanding and immediately understood each other.
Why didn't Hermione know about the troll?
Why wasn't she in the Great Hall!
Why was she crying in the bathroom?
Because of what Ron said.
"We have to find her!" Harry said firmly.
"Yeah, hurry up, don't let Percy catch us," Ron said, offering no ridiculous objection, and it was clear he thought the same as Harry.
They did as they said. They crouched down and made their way against the crowd toward the stairs leading to the basement. Before they even left the auditorium, they bumped into Neville, who took a moment to react.
"Harry, Ron! Where are you two going?" Neville looked at the two of them sneaking around and suddenly felt like they were plotting something again, definitely not a good thing!
"Neville..." Ron was a bit conflicted. He and Neville hadn't spoken much recently. If they didn't all live in the same dorm, their situation might be similar to Hermione's.
"Let's talk while we walk." Harry said, not overthinking it. He grabbed Neville and quickly walked toward the stairs, explaining as they moved, "Hermione is in the bathroom downstairs. The troll is there too. We have to save her."
"Huh?" Neville was obviously stunned for a moment, and by then, Harry had already dragged him along. It took a while for him to respond, and he asked confused, "Why is Hermione in the basement bathroom?"
Harry didn't bother to explain any further. He ran furiously, reaching the stairs. Just as he was about to descend, Ron suddenly shouted, "Someone!"
Instinctively, Harry and the other two immediately hid behind a nearby statue. Luckily, the statues in the corridor were large enough, and Harry and his friends, who were only first-years, were small enough.
Additionally, the only lighting in the corridor came from torches, which weren't very bright at the moment, so the three of them, hidden in the shadow of the statue, were easily overlooked.
Indeed, their goal was achieved. The people who passed by them didn't notice and quickly rushed up the stairs. Yes, up the stairs.
"Snape?" Without looking closely, the three of them could tell that the person who had just passed was Snape, as he was always dressed in a black robe and smelled strongly of various potions.
"Why is he going up the stairs? Isn't the troll in the basement?" Neville said, somewhat confused.
"Who knows? Don't worry about him," Harry casually replied. He pulled Neville and Ron from behind the statue and hurried down the stairs toward the basement.
"Hey, hey, Harry, wait, wait..."
Harry didn't stop until he reached the basement. At that moment, Neville finally said what he'd been wanting to say, but couldn't because he was running:
"Why don't we tell a professor?"
Harry: "…"
Ron: "…"
Yeah, why? Why didn't we go to a professor?
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance.
"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Harry and Ron both seemed embarrassed.
"You didn't even give me the chance to speak," Neville seemed offended.
Harry wanted to say more, but suddenly his nose twitched: "Do you smell that?"
Without Harry saying anything, Ron and Neville's expressions changed slightly as a foul stench reached them from afar.
Immediately afterward, there was a loud thud, the sound of a pair of huge feet stomping on the ground. Along with it, there were low buzzing sounds and muffled heavy breathing.
Ron pointed toward the end of the corridor in the distance and saw a huge black figure slowly walking there. It was a troll!
"It looks like it came from the classroom," Harry seemed quite unhappy.
"That direction leads to the bathroom!" Ron's voice trembled a bit.
"It's too late to look for a professor now, let's go," Harry said excitedly, grabbing his wand and running in that direction.
As best friends, Ron was as reckless as Harry and also grabbed his wand, following him. Neville hesitated for a moment but decided to follow.
As they ran down the long corridor, they saw a scene that made their hair stand on end.
The giant monster was over five meters tall, with lumps all over its body, and it looked disgusting. Its skin was grayish-blue, like the color of rocks.
Compared to its enormous body, the troll's head was disproportionately small, with a large mouth, a big nose, and small eyes, making it look ridiculous.
But at that moment, the big idiot was using a piece of wood in its hand to smash a wooden door before entering. Almost at the same time, a high-pitched female voice came from the bathroom. It was Hermione!
"Hermione!" Harry shouted, running toward the girls' bathroom, with Ron right behind him. This time, even Neville didn't hesitate and ran ahead.
When Harry and the others reached the broken door of the bathroom, they saw Hermione huddled in the corner, and the troll slowly walking toward her.
"Stupefy!" Harry waved his wand without thinking, and a red light hit the troll.
Harry only knew two offensive spells, and Stupefy was relatively advanced. But the spell was cast hastily and hit the troll in the back.
There was thick ground and stone debris around, and the magic caused sand and rubble to scatter everywhere, but it didn't cause any obvious damage.
But there was still an effect.
The troll stopped and slowly turned around. Its tiny eyes, just slightly larger than black beans, rolled before landing on Harry, who was standing in front with his wand in hand.
"Hermione, run, get out of there!" Harry shouted, waving his wand again, but still, nothing happened.
This time, though, the wand was waved, but no light came out.
Although he had mastered the spell, he wasn't particularly skilled with it. Due to his nervousness and excitement, the magic failed immediately because he wasn't paying attention to the details.
However, his shouts and actions were enough to draw the troll's attention, and it began moving toward Harry.
At that moment, Hermione suppressed her fear and carefully crept along the edge. But after taking only two steps, she accidentally stepped on a broken door panel, making a cracking noise.
The sound was so close that, though not loud, it still attracted the attention of the giant monster. When it turned, it saw Hermione crouching in the corner and crawling. It immediately let out a low roar, swung the piece of wood in its hand, and aimed it at Hermione.
Most people would probably be so scared they'd freeze, their hands and feet turning to jelly at this moment.
But Hermione was worthy of being in Gryffindor, a girl known for her courage. Although she screamed, she still took two quick steps with fear and dodged the attack.
"Hermione!" Ron shouted anxiously, looking around, grabbing a piece of the broken door from the ground, and throwing it at the troll.
Ron had never learned offensive magic. Even if he had, given his success rate with magic, he wouldn't have used it in that moment.
Ron's strike had an unexpected effect, and the piece of wood hit the troll's face. If it had hit the troll directly, with Ron's small arms and legs, the troll probably wouldn't have felt it.
But this time, it struck the giant monster's face! Though the troll was tough, it couldn't help but look at it.
At that moment, something happened that surprised Harry and Ron. Neville rushed toward Hermione almost at the same time the troll looked at Ron.
He quickly reached Hermione, grabbed her, and ran.
This wasn't an act of cowardice, but it was certainly a bit reckless.
The giant monster's attention was immediately diverted to them. However, Harry cast another spell at that moment, and a red light shot out from his wand. This time, it didn't fail.
Moreover, having learned from the previous lesson, Harry aimed the magic at the troll's face.
The troll was hit by a stunning spell to the face and suddenly seemed a bit dazed, staggering back a step.
Ron suddenly came to his senses and waved his wand to cast a levitation charm.
His wand, which usually had a strong personality and wasn't very obedient, was very cooperative this time, and the magic worked smoothly without any issues.
The troll had been stumbling, and with its large foot slightly raised, it was lifted by the spell. Suddenly, it lost its balance and fell onto its back.
With a loud crash, it was like a small mountain falling to the ground, and Harry and the others felt the floor shake slightly beneath their feet.
"Roar!" The troll was angry. Harry's stunning spell had only stunned it for a moment, but the fall sobered it up. But when it fell, its head hit the wall, and a large blood bubble appeared at the back of its head.
Even with its giant physique, it hurt a lot.
Whether they were ordinary people or wizards, there's a saying that beasts are more dangerous when injured. This theory applied perfectly to trolls.
The troll got back up, stretched its strong legs, roared, and waved its huge club while running toward Harry and the others.
However, at that moment, the four small wizards, who had been together, seemed to have a telepathic connection and raised their wands simultaneously.
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