Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil

Chapter 165 Defeating the Giant

Deep within the dark underground corridor, a muffled, heavy low-frequency rumble slowly pierced the damp air, drawing ever closer from afar.

Accompanied by the rough scraping sound of a giant heavy object dragging on the ground, an enormous black shadow slowly emerged from the shadows around the corner of the passage, completely exposed to the dim corridor lights.

This was a giant cave monster covered in a thick, rough, gray skin. It stood twelve feet tall, with a thick, muscular body. The monster stood in the middle of the corridor, its small head slowly turning, its cloudy little eyes aimlessly scanning its surroundings, seemingly trying to sluggishly discern its environment and search for a space and target to enter.

A moment later, its gaze locked onto an open doorway ahead. The doorway was spacious and open, with a dark and deep interior, and the overall space was large enough for its massive body to pass through.

After confirming that it was safe to enter, the giant slowly moved its feet, bowed its head, and clumsily crawled into the room step by step.

Harry and Ron endured the stench that filled the air, held their breath, and crept along the wall to the doorway, peeking inside.

"Great, it went in by itself!" Ron said in a low voice. "Now's the time to close the door and lock it inside!"

The two dared not delay, and crept closer to the heavy solid wood door. At the same time, they pushed inward with force, and the heavy door slowly closed. With a crisp click, the door was completely locked.

But just as the door lock clicked shut, an extremely shrill scream, piercing through the throat, suddenly exploded from inside the room. The sharp sound pierced through the door panel and entered the ears of the two people.

That was Hermione's voice.

"Hermione!" Harry cried out in a low voice, his face turning deathly pale.

Ron's expression instantly crumbled, and endless panic and regret welled up in his heart.

The suggestion to lock the door was his own idea, which now seems incredibly foolish.

"Oh no—" Ron's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice trembling noticeably, "This—this is the girls' restroom!"

Only then did the two belatedly realize the fatal mistake they had made.

With her mind solely focused on trapping the troll, she completely overlooked the purpose of the room, effectively locking Hermione and the raging troll together in a confined space.

The two disregarded any danger, frantically fiddled with the lock, and yanked open the heavy door, rushing into the bathroom without a care.

The sight inside sent chills down their spines, and panic gripped their hearts.

Hermione huddled in the innermost corner of the slumber room, her body stiff and tense, trembling uncontrollably, her face deathly pale. She was completely terrified by the monster before her and couldn't even manage a basic dodge.

The giant monster was taking clumsy, heavy steps, inching closer and closer to the corner of the wall.

Its rough, hard surface is comparable to granite. Every time it raises its hand and swings the stick, it can smash the door panels and porcelain countertops of a room, scattering broken porcelain shards and wood chips everywhere.

Those small, cloudy eyes, though dull and lifeless, gleamed with a dangerous, almost aggressive light, fixed intently on the only living person they were targeting.

Ron gritted his teeth, mustered all his courage, and shouted loudly to attract the troll's attention. At the same time, he grabbed a broken faucet that had fallen off at his feet and smashed it down on the back of the troll's head with all his might.

This is the only item he can easily grab at the moment that has some weight.

"Hey! You stupid monster!"

A dull metallic clang suddenly rang out as the hard faucet slammed into the giant's thick scalp, producing only a crisp crack and failing to cause any real damage.

But the sudden impact and noise successfully interrupted the giant's movements and completely attracted its attention.

The giant clumsily twisted its massive body, letting out a low growl from deep in its throat. With anger at being offended, it transferred all the killing intent originally aimed at Hermione to the two boys who had suddenly caused trouble.

Seeing that his plan was working, Ron immediately bent down to pick up the scattered pieces on the ground and continued to throw them at the giant to harass it.

Harry immediately followed suit, grabbing a loose brick and throwing it with all his might. Unfortunately, his aim was off, and the brick missed the troll's head, only lightly hitting the troll's thick belly before bouncing to the ground.

Taking advantage of the moment when the troll's attention was diverted, Harry immediately called out to Hermione to evacuate, but the troll's enormous body completely blocked the exit in the corner, leaving no room for escape.

The next second, the troll raised its arms high, and the thick wooden club, carrying heavy wind pressure, slammed down directly towards Ron's head!

Ron froze in fright, instinctively backing away, but tripped and fell, barely avoiding the fatal blow.

The heavy wooden stick slammed into the ground, instantly cracking the floor tiles and sending shards of stone flying everywhere.

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, his heart leaping into his throat.

In a moment of crisis, Ron suddenly remembered the small ball that Punis had given him earlier.

He hurriedly reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a black smoke ball, then used all his strength to smash it straight at the giant's face.

After a low, booming sound, a thick cloud of black smoke exploded, instantly enveloping the giant's entire face and completely blocking its vision.

The giant, its vision completely taken away, instantly descended into chaos, its furious roars echoing throughout the entire bathroom.

Like a wild beast out of control, it wildly swung the thick wooden stick in its hand, smashing the surrounding washbasins and cubicles. Broken building materials flew everywhere, and high-pressure water jets sprayed from broken water pipes, turning the entire washroom into a mess in an instant.

"Now's the time! Run!" Harry yelled at Hermione in the corner.

Hermione remained stiff, gripped by fear, frozen in the corner, unable to move.

"Trap it with the glue ball!" Harry shouted immediately, quickly pulling out a yellow glue ball from his pocket, aiming at the troll's giant foot on the ground, and throwing it forcefully.

The yellow ball exploded the moment it hit the ground, and a ball of highly viscous gelatinous liquid quickly spread out, firmly sticking to the giant's single foot and temporarily fixing it to the ground.

The giant, whose movements were restricted, became increasingly enraged, struggling desperately with all its might. The thick gelatinous material was stretched and deformed, making a taut friction sound, clearly indicating that this restraint would not last long.

Ron immediately followed suit, throwing the remaining yellow rubber balls in his hand one after another. Multiple clumps of rubber adhered to the troll's feet and legs, further slowing down its movement and temporarily fixing its other foot to the ground.

Without hesitation, Harry threw out all the remaining test balls from his pocket. A series of explosions followed, and thick black smoke once again enveloped the troll, completely blocking its vision and space to move.

After throwing the object, Harry ignored the flying debris and sprinted towards the corner, trying to get Hermione out of danger.

However, the giant's wildly waving wooden stick still covered the entire corner, with bricks and tiles flying everywhere. The two were instantly trapped in a dead end and unable to break free.

On the other side, Ron continued to retreat, dodging the giant's frenzied counterattack.

The two relied on the experimental tools provided by Puni to temporarily restrict the giant's movements, but they had no ability to resolve the crisis.

The giant struggled more and more fiercely, and the gelatinous restraints kept loosening, threatening to break free completely at any moment.

In order to buy time, Ron could only keep throwing rubber balls to reinforce the restraints, but the number of items he carried was limited, and they were quickly exhausted in a short time.

After the last black smoke bomb was thrown, he completely emptied all his pockets.

"Harry! I've used up all my tools! I can't control it anymore!" Ron's voice was filled with barely concealed panic.

The billowing black smoke slowly dissipated, and the view gradually became clear, revealing the giant monster's enormous form once again.

Covered in sticky glue, it was completely enraged, letting out a deafening roar of fury. With all its might, it tore the glue binding the ground apart.

The giant, having broken free of its restraints, abruptly changed direction, staring intently at Ron, who had just gotten up from the ground and had nowhere to retreat. With heavy footsteps, it charged straight at him!

A sense of crisis instantly surged within Harry, his expression changed drastically, and he watched helplessly as the enraged troll rapidly approached Ron, unable to stop it in time.

A deadly crisis is looming.

Just as the troll broke free of its gelatinous restraints and was about to pounce on Ron in a life-or-death moment, a series of rapid and steady footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the Allied Cleansing Chamber, breaking the chaotic situation inside.

"What kind of riot is going on here!"

Professor McGonagall appeared at the door with an extremely stern tone. Her hurried words had barely finished when Snape followed closely behind.

Quirrell, whose figure was frail, followed at the back, his shoulders trembling and his sobs coming in fits and starts, his panicked state evident.

The three professors acted almost simultaneously, unleashing several brightly colored and powerful spells that instantly struck the giant's massive body.

The giant monster, which had been struggling and wreaking havoc, suddenly stiffened, its muscles relaxed instantly, and its massive weight lost all support, crashing to the ground with a thud.

The heavy impact of the fall caused the entire bathroom floor to tremble slightly, and the broken porcelain shards, water stains, and debris swayed. The giant monster, now completely incapacitated, could no longer cause any disturbance.

Witnessing the crisis completely resolved, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had been on edge the entire time, finally breathed a sigh of relief, the huge weight on their hearts slowly lifted, and they relaxed.

Professor McGonagall's face was ashen as she glanced at the chaotic scene in the washroom. Broken building materials, waterlogged floors, and scattered debris all testified to the perilous chaos that had just taken place.

She finally fixed her gaze on the three teenagers who looked terrified, and questioned them sternly.

"You three must give me a reasonable explanation. What was your reason for leaving the group without permission, trespassing into the forbidden dungeon, and recklessly causing this chaos?"

Having experienced extreme fear, Hermione was the first to calm herself down. She took a deep breath, suppressed the lingering trembling in her heart, and spoke up to take full responsibility before Harry and Ron could.

"Professor, this has nothing to do with either of them. The fault lies entirely with me. I impulsively stayed in the septic tank alone, recklessly remaining in a dangerous situation. Harry and Ron noticed that I hadn't evacuated in time and risked their lives to find and protect me. If they hadn't arrived in time, I would have been in grave danger."

Harry and Ron both glanced at Hermione, their eyes wide with surprise. They hadn't expected that Hermione, who was always cautious and sensible, would take all the blame upon herself.

Just then, Snape's cold, deliberately sarcastic voice rang out, his critical and targeted tone making no attempt to hide it.

"It seems that Miss Granger was instigated by others and acted rashly, which is why she dared to face a high-level monster alone. It is likely that a student who is eager to gain favor and play the hero secretly encouraged you to make such a reckless move."

Professor McGonagall remained expressionless upon hearing this, inwardly feeling helpless.

She had long seen through Snape's thoughts; this deliberate targeting stemmed from her prejudice against Harry, mixed with years of accumulated grudges.

After years of working together, this obsession should have faded long ago, but Snape could never let go of it and constantly targeted and made things difficult for her, which was truly unbecoming of a teacher.

Hermione raised an eyebrow slightly, instantly understanding Snape's unspoken meaning.

The other party clearly categorized her with the two reckless boys who caused trouble, and denied them both.

But considering that Harry and Ron had just risked their lives to save her, she did not argue, secretly choosing to be magnanimous and forgive them, no longer holding their past mistakes against them.

In the shadows of the corner of the washroom, Puni remained in his illusory form, quietly observing the entire farce.

He silently critiqued the twins' homemade props, forming his own evaluation.

The experimental props performed well in actual combat. The trolls were indeed unable to break free of the gelatinous restraints in the early stages. The only drawback was the limited duration of the effect, which required continuous throwing to replenish it in order to firmly restrict the monster's movements.

His gaze slowly swept over the three professors present, finally settling on Quirrell's headscarf.

Quirrell fainted after delivering the message in the Great Hall, so he should have stayed there to rest and not come to the dungeon with Snape.

Moreover, he was the first to discover the troll had entered the castle, and in the end, he only chose to run back to the Great Hall to inform Dumbledore, without taking any action to stop or restrain the monster, allowing it to run rampant in the dungeon.

Puni's prolonged gaze seemed to pierce through the surface of his disguise, and the invisible sense of being spied on made Quirrell feel inexplicably tense, his body trembling slightly uncontrollably.

He turned his head to look at the empty corridor, a deep doubt flashing in his eyes. He felt that someone was watching him from the shadows, but he could not find any unusual traces.

The controversy eventually subsided, and Professor McGonagall made her decision on rewards and punishments in accordance with school rules.

She first deducted five points from Hermione Granger College for unauthorized stay in a dangerous area and unauthorized lingering in a forbidden zone.

Immediately afterward, under Snape's almost tangible, cold gaze, McGonagall deliberately reversed the decision, awarding Harry and Ron five points each for their excellent qualities of courage in the face of danger, valuing friendship, and risking their lives to save others.

She was secretly pleased, as this opportunity served as a perfect countermeasure to Snape's usual deliberate harassment and arbitrary deductions of Harry's points.

Suppressing a smile, McGonagall deliberately avoided Snape's stiff, expressionless face, and instructed the three to personally lead the escort back to the Gryffindor tower to ensure their safe return to the group.

In addition, she made a preliminary judgment.

The special gelatinous slime left on the troll's body was exactly the same as the strange traces that had appeared in the castle corridor before.

Based on the mischievous behavior of Ron's twin brothers, McGonagall was almost certain that these strange magical items must have come from the Weasley twins. She would then have to go to the Gryffindor common room to verify this information.

Once all the students had left, leaving only the two students and the monster on the field, Snape's face darkened completely. He turned to look at Quirrell, who looked flustered, and spoke in a cold, piercing tone, filled with undisguised sarcasm and anger, like the whisper of a venomous snake.

"Look at the consequences you've caused, Quirinus. The entire Hogwarts community knows about the grave mistake you've made. Guarding the dungeons and dealing with invading monsters were your duties, but you were cowardly and derelict in your post, only seeking help everywhere, making a scene known to all. You'll have to clean up the mess yourself. Don't expect anyone else to make up for your mistakes or clean up your mess."

As soon as he finished speaking, Snape abruptly flicked his black robes, creating a chilling draft, and hurriedly turned and left, heading straight for the cellar, leaving Quirrell alone to face the mess and the giant that had not yet completely lost its life.

Quirrell, who had been timid, fearful and helpless, changed his expression the moment he was alone. His panic and fear vanished, replaced by a deep gloom and restlessness.

He had no patience to wait for the school to use magic to deal with the monster. He raised his wand, and a blinding green light shone from the tip, striking the monster's body and ending its life, thus eliminating any potential problems.

The moment he killed the giant, he keenly sensed a subtle movement in the shadows of the corridor. He suddenly spun around, and a silent crimson spell shot out towards the dark shadowy area outside the door.

The spell struck the empty stone wall, blasting out a few scattered sparks, but yielded no other results.

"Something's not right—" Quirrell stopped in his tracks, muttering to himself, his eyes filled with confusion. "The feeling of being watched just now definitely existed."

He was filled with doubts, and even couldn't help but wonder if Dumbledore was secretly investigating him, but he suppressed the thought as soon as it arose.

The next instant, his body trembled violently and uncontrollably, his aura shifting repeatedly, as if another consciousness hidden within him had briefly awakened and then forcibly subsided, which was extremely bizarre.

Not daring to investigate further, Quirrell immediately waved his wand, casting a series of healing and cleansing spells to quickly sweep away the troll's corpse.

Repair the damaged shower facilities and expedite the erasure of all traces of this incident.

On the other side, Snape was moving swiftly through the dimly lit corridors of the cellar, his black robes billowing in the wind.

As he walked, his steps paused very subtly, his dark, sharp eyes quickly scanning every corner on both sides of the corridor, his nostrils twitching slightly as he caught a faint, unfamiliar magical fluctuation that did not belong to this area.

He did not stop or pause, nor did he look back to investigate. He continued walking as usual, but his pace suddenly quickened.

After quickly arriving at his office door, he pushed it open and rushed in. With his left hand, he swiftly grabbed the invisible trace hidden in the air, dragged it into the room, and slammed the door shut, completely cutting off any outside noise.

The office was dimly lit, and the enclosed space was filled with the rich aroma of various magical potion ingredients, a mixture of bitter, spicy, and eerie scents.

Snape did not light a lamp to illuminate the room. After locking the door, he went straight to the desk, which was piled with potion manuscripts and experimental equipment but was neatly arranged, and sat down in the high-backed chair.

He touched his fingertips together, gently supporting his chin. His deep gaze, like a bottomless pool of ice, was fixed on the empty area in the center of the office, his aura cold and oppressive.

"Mr. Lestrange."

Give me an explanation.

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