windkaze
patreon
BFH# Chapter 58: The Unfortunate Troll
🕑 Added 2025-02-05 18:41:37 +0000 UTCThe troll faced three simultaneous spells. The first was a dazzling flame from the front, causing it to stumble back. The second was a hissing black serpent slithering around its feet, diverting its attention.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Ron launched his final attack—
With a flick of his wand, a broken section of pipe from the floor floated shakily upward, turned, and dropped directly onto the troll's head.
Thud!
The impact of the pipe against the troll's skull produced a dull sound.
The troll howled in pain but didn’t lose consciousness. Clearly, the pipes and faucets at Hogwarts were far too flimsy to pierce the thick skin of a troll.
While screeching, the troll began flailing its wooden club wildly, smashing restroom stalls and tiles, sending debris flying in all directions.
The young wizards were forced to retreat into the farthest corner to avoid the destruction.
“We need to lure it further from the door; we can’t escape with it so close!” Ron shouted during the chaos.
“We need to confuse it more!” Harry added.
“Are you mad? If it gets any more confused, we’ll be squashed along with the girls’ bathroom!”
…
Ron and Harry attempted to strategize amidst the storm of shattered wood and stone, but it was futile.
The troll soon recovered from its dizziness. Its small beetle-like eyes glinted with fury before it stomped on the black snake slithering around its feet.
Hermione’s burning spell had merely singed its eyes briefly, offering no further effect. Even her attempt to transfigure another pipe into a spear ended in failure—the troll tore it apart with ease.
This wasn’t just due to the troll’s massive size, which kept it out of range for most spells, but also because trolls, classified as XXXX-level creatures, possessed a unique skin resistant to certain types of magic.
The three were quickly cornered, and the troll loomed closer with every step.
...Just as the professors had warned, inexperienced wizards should never attempt to face a XXXX-level creature.
This was the only thought Hermione could muster in her blank mind.
Yet, as she stared in horror at the approaching troll, unable to think of any spell to counter it, she suddenly heard a strange song.
The melody had no lyrics, but it exuded an ethereal, dreamlike quality—a mysterious and otherworldly aura, like a dense fog suddenly descending over the area.
She felt the seashell pendant on her chest grow warm.
The song grew louder, and a golden light began to shine brighter, catching the attention of Harry and Ron. At the same time, Harry noticed something peculiar—the troll’s small eyes seemed to widen, faint traces of golden light flickering within them.
If the troll’s steps hadn’t visibly slowed, Harry might have thought he was imagining things.
This is our chance!
The thought flashed through Harry’s mind, prompting him to raise his wand at the troll. In that instant, all the spells he’d learned raced through his memory...
There were only five, and one of them—a Transfiguration Charm—he hadn’t mastered.
Determined, he steeled himself and quietly uttered:
“Imperio!”
No light burst forth from his wand, but both Harry and the troll froze momentarily.
Closing his eyes, Harry tried to sense the troll’s mind—if the tiny, pitiful orb he felt could even be called a mind. He reached out to it, pouring all his strength into conveying one clear command:
“Knock yourself out... Knock yourself out!”
He practically screamed it within his mind.
At some point, Harry felt a strange sensation, as if something had flowed out of his wand. A heavy thud immediately followed.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw the troll sway on the spot before collapsing face-first onto the ground with an earth-shaking crash, causing the entire room to tremble.
A large lump was visible on the troll’s head.
The singing stopped, as did Ron’s frantic attempt at a Levitation Charm. The three stared blankly at the unconscious troll.
“What just happened?” Harry asked hesitantly.
“Didn’t you see? Good heavens, the troll knocked itself out!” Ron’s expression shifted from shock to delight. “Was it so dazed by all the hits it couldn’t tell its head from ours? Or did one of our spells finally work? Harry, what did you cast?”
“You didn’t hear my incantation?”
“I caught part of it—‘Im’-something—but Hermione’s singing drowned you out.”
Hearing this, Harry sighed in disappointment, while Hermione quietly clutched her seashell, removed it, and slipped it back into her pocket.
Before the trio could fully process what had happened, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor.
Moments later, Professor McGonagall burst into the devastated girls’ bathroom, followed by Snape, Quirrell, and Professor Vector.
Quirrell took one look at the troll and collapsed onto a toilet, clutching his chest and sobbing.
Snape examined the troll with a calculating expression, while Vector entered slowly, arms crossed, standing silently beside Quirrell.
Professor McGonagall’s pale face turned to the three students.
“Explain yourselves. What on earth were you playing at?”
The trio flinched simultaneously.
“You’re lucky it didn’t kill you. But why weren’t you in your dormitories where you belong?” she demanded. “If I’m not mistaken, Percy escorted you away earlier, correct?”
Before anyone could answer, Snape’s cold gaze fell upon Harry.
“Indeed. Tell us, Mr. Potter, has our famous savior grown so confident that he believes himself capable of defeating a troll?” he sneered.
“I didn’t,” Harry replied, staring at the floor.
“Don’t blame them, Professor. They came to help me.”
Hermione suddenly stepped forward from the corner, though her movements were unsteady.
“Because you got separated? I instructed Percy to let the professors handle that. They could have returned to the dormitory,” Professor Vector said.
“It wasn’t like that,” Hermione said weakly, lowering her head. “Harry and Ron heard the commotion and came to help.
“Harry distracted the troll with a snake, Ron hit it with a Levitation Charm, and in the end, the troll knocked itself out. If they hadn’t come, I might have been eaten alive.”
Professor McGonagall scrutinized Hermione for a moment before sighing. “Miss Granger, you foolish girl. Did you really think you could take on a mountain troll alone?”
Hermione lowered her head further. Harry and Ron tried to look as if they had rehearsed the story, but their shock was evident—Hermione lying for them? That was as surreal as Snape handing out candy on Halloween.
Except, of course, that had never happened.
Snape interrupted in his usual drawl. “Really? Odd... This troll bears traces of Dark Magic.”
Peering at the troll’s lifeless eyes, he grimaced and muttered, “It might not survive.”
Quirrell let out a loud wail, nearly fainting on the spot.
Meanwhile, the trio exchanged anxious glances, feeling uneasy—not because of the mention of Dark Magic, but because of the idea that the troll might not make it.
Even if it had almost crushed them, the thought stirred a hint of guilt.
Snape merely cast them a disdainful glance and said no more.
The four professors exchanged looks, each wearing a different expression, but all remained silent. Finally, Professor McGonagall spoke, waving dismissively.
“Miss Granger, your actions will cost Gryffindor five points. I’m very disappointed in you. But since you seem uninjured, you may return to the common room. The feast is still ongoing.”
Hermione nodded and left with her head down.
Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron.
“While few first-years could face a fully grown troll, I can’t reward you for recklessness. You’ll each earn Gryffindor five points.”
“I’ll inform Professor Dumbledore about this. You may go.”
Grateful for their reprieve, Harry and Ron followed Hermione out. Their camaraderie seemed instantly strengthened by their shared ordeal—there’s nothing like battling a twelve-foot troll to forge bonds.
However, Harry noticed Hermione walking unsteadily, as if her legs were about to give out.
As they neared the door, he whispered, “Are you okay?”
Hermione gripped the seashell tightly and replied in an oddly sharp voice, “I’m fine.”
