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BFH# Chapter 57: Hermione's Transformation
🕑 Added 2025-02-03 08:27:59 +0000 UTCWhen a troll appeared in the hallway outside the dungeon classrooms, the scene was nothing short of spectacular. Its enormous gray body filled the entire corridor, and a pungent stench assaulted their senses, causing Harry and Ron to cough violently as they fled.
But they didn’t dare to stop running. In a flash, they dashed into the girls’ bathroom.
“The key’s in the lock! Quick, lock the door!” Harry shouted as soon as he burst in.
“Is that even necessary? The troll probably doesn’t know how to open doors, right?” Ron grumbled.
Even so, his hands moved quickly, locking the door, pulling out the key, and slamming the door shut just as the troll’s heavy footsteps approached.
“Phew!”
Ron let out a breath of relief but immediately stepped back a few paces to distance himself from the door.
At that moment, the three people in the girls’ bathroom were all visibly shaken. Despite two of them being boys, there was no time to worry about such details. Harry’s chest heaved as he stood by the sink, while Hermione’s face turned pale, her eyes fixed on the door.
That… was that a troll?
One of those notoriously aggressive creatures that frequently caused injuries to wizards?
She bit her lip, her gaze nervously glued to the locked door, which quivered under the troll’s heavy footsteps.
Before long, the weighty footsteps grew louder, accompanied by guttural grunts and the scraping sound of enormous feet dragging across the floor.
Then, everything fell silent.
The three of them held their breaths, frozen in place.
"........."
"........."
Time seemed to stretch endlessly. It was as if the troll hadn’t noticed them. The corridor outside returned to an eerie stillness.
“Do you think it’s gone?” Harry whispered, barely audible.
But in the very next second—
BANG!
With a single resounding thud, the wooden door to the bathroom shuddered under the impact, cracks spreading instantly across its surface.
BANG!
BANG!
The door endured two or three more strikes. Chunks of plaster from the nearby walls crumbled and fell, and the latch was jarred loose, tumbling to the floor with a metallic clang!
The door wouldn’t hold for more than one or two more hits.
Realizing this, Ron and Harry turned pale, fumbling helplessly. Hermione trembled violently with each impact, barely restraining a scream.
“...We need to hide behind the sinks. Quickly.”
Hermione’s face was ghostly white, but her voice was clear and composed, startling even herself.
And yet, the words kept flowing as she opened her mouth again.
“Ron, Harry, you two hide in the stalls on either side. I’ll stay behind the sinks. When the troll comes in, it’ll spot me first, but the sinks will block its way. While it’s smashing the sinks, we’ll have a brief window to act.”
“We need to cast spells together.”
“T-together?” Ron stammered in disbelief. “But we barely know any spells!”
“You do,” Hermione said, trembling but firm. “Remember the Levitation Charm we practiced this afternoon? If you get the wrist movement right and stretch the ‘gar’ sound, you’ll be able to cast it properly.”
“This is our only… our only chance.”
“Hermione’s right.”
After a moment, Harry’s expression hardened with determination.
“I’ll also use those jinxes we learned earlier. All we need to do is distract the troll and buy some time. Even if we can’t escape, we just have to hold out until the professors arrive.”
“...Alright, let’s do it!”
Clenching his teeth, Ron agreed.
He and Harry exchanged a look, then quickly moved to find hiding spots in the stalls on either side.
But after taking two steps, Ron noticed that Hermione was still sitting where she was, her face so pale it seemed she might faint.
“Hey, Hermione, don’t worry. We’ll follow your plan, and we’ll make it out of here!”
Ron ran over and pulled her to her feet.
He couldn’t quite figure out why Hermione’s actions didn’t match her earlier calm voice, but he chalked it up to her putting on a brave face—there was no shame in that. After all, both he and Harry were terrified too.
This was a troll, smashing down the door!
If they got hit squarely by one of its blows, they might not even make it to St. Mungo’s!
They’d be dead on the spot!
If that happened, they’d go down in Hogwarts history as the first students to die from a troll attack.
Ron yanked Hermione up. She still looked frightened, but she finally seemed to snap out of it.
Her lips parted slightly, and a soft voice escaped:
“...Thank you. Go now. I’ll be fine.”
Ron gave her a quick nod and darted behind the door of an open stall nearby. A few feet away, Harry also steadied himself, wand in hand, taking a deep breath.
But they didn’t know that Hermione was trembling so much she could barely keep her teeth from chattering.
She was terrified.
Never in her life had she been in a situation where she had to fight, let alone face mortal danger. She’d always excelled academically, so no one ever bullied her. Her parents never put her in harm’s way.
But now…
She glanced down at the shell necklace hanging around her neck. The golden glow from the shell pulsed faintly, flickering like something alive.
“I can do this.”
Recalling the words the shell had spoken for her earlier, Hermione felt a trace of calm return to her panicked mind.
...Yes, she knew the Levitation Charm. She also knew Transfiguration and the Fire-Making Spell. She’d practiced them at home and never failed. She just needed to think—think about how to use them effectively.
Taking a few deep breaths, Hermione gripped her wand tightly.
...
BOOM!
A few seconds later, with another deafening crash, the bathroom door gave way completely. Splintered wood flew everywhere, scattering across the room.
The troll’s enormous, foul-smelling body loomed in the doorway, its bulk nearly swallowing the flickering candlelight.
Sure enough, upon entering, the troll’s small, dull eyes locked onto Hermione, who was huddled in the far corner.
It began moving toward her, its rough, leathery feet scraping against the floor.
As it advanced, its hulking body smashed against the sinks, breaking them away from the walls. Large chunks of stone tumbled to the ground, blocking its path.
The troll glanced down at the debris with its tiny head, lifted a massive foot, and stomped hard—crushing the stones to dust as if they were tofu.
And Hermione shouted:
“Now!”
The three of them raised their wands simultaneously—
“Incendio!”
“Wingardium Leviosa!”
“Serpensortia!”
