Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying

Chapter 29 Troll

In the girls' bathroom, Hermione was immersed in her sadness when she heard two light knocks on the cubicle door.

"Hermione, is that you?"

"Who are you?" Hermione choked. "Are you here to laugh at me too?"

"I'm Padma Patil." Padma said gently, "Halloween dinner should have started, Hermione. Wade and Michael are waiting for you outside - they are very worried about you."

"You, you guys go to the dinner and don't worry about me! Let me be alone for a while." Hermione said stubbornly, wiping away her increasing tears.

She had been crying for so long that her tears had long since run out, and she was hiding here only because she was sad and didn't want to go out and face other people's eyes. But when she heard her friend's concern and was comforted by someone's gentle words, her tears suddenly welled up again.

Padma put her hand on the door of the compartment and said softly, "Hermione, I know what nonsense Weasley said. But I don't understand why you are sad because of the unfair evaluation of a stupid boy and ignore your friends who really care about you? Everyone says that you are the smartest witch in the whole grade. Can't you tell what is really important?"

Hermione stopped sobbing and didn't speak for a long time.

"Let me tell you a secret - those who slander you behind your back are often doing so because of inferiority and jealousy. You are smarter, better, and better than others, so they will want to hurt you by saying bad things about you. If you are really heartbroken and push all your friends away, then the bad guys will succeed." Padma said, "The best way is to ignore those who slander you, shine your light, and don't pay attention to the shadows in the corners - if you don't feel happy enough, just punch them in the face! After all, you are a Gryffindor lion, right?"

"squeak--"

After a moment, the door of the compartment was pushed open.

Hermione came out with red eyes, her voice still crying: "I'm not the smartest witch - Padma, you are the smart one."

Padma smiled and gave her a hug.

……

Wade and Michael had been waiting in the corridor for a long time, and finally saw the two girls coming out of the bathroom. In fact, they also heard what Padma said to Hermione, but no one mentioned it.

Michael opened his arms, grinned and joked, "Would you like me to give you a big hug, Hermione?"

The brown-haired girl wiped her eyes, hugged Michael with a force that seemed to break his ribs, let go when he was stunned, turned around and hugged Wade again.

"Thanks - sorry," Hermione whispered.

Wade rubbed her head and said nothing.

"No need to apologize, but I can't wait to enjoy my Halloween dinner. I hope they haven't finished their dessert yet!" Michael said, rubbing his belly, "otherwise we'll have to steal some food from the kitchen."

Padma asked curiously, "Where is the kitchen at Hogwarts? Why have I never seen it?"

Michael suddenly became alert: "The kitchen is very hidden. If it weren't for Theo and the others——"

Wade paused, stretched out his hand to block the others, and quickly pulled out his wand with his other hand.

"——What's wrong?" Michael paused and asked in a low voice.

Vader asked, "Didn't you hear the sound?"

Michael didn't answer because they all saw it - a huge, gray-green hand grabbed the wall at the corner, and a wheezing sound came from somewhere invisible.

Everyone's faces turned pale instantly, and Padma groaned, "Merlin - what a monster -"

A huge creature came out from around the corner.

It was twelve feet tall, with its head almost touching the ceiling. It looked to weigh at least two tons, and its skin was as disgusting as a toad. It had a huge body, a fat belly, and a bald head on a short neck with very few hairs. It also exuded a disgusting stench, and its long arms almost reached its knees, holding a stick that looked like a tree trunk.

"Impossible, there's a troll in the castle - in the castle?" Padma's face was pale and her legs were weak. She relied entirely on Hermione to support her body.

The troll lowered its head and saw the people. Cruel excitement flashed in its small eyes. It raised its heavy legs and strode towards them, raising the wooden stick in its hand.

Hermione's hands were shaking as she pointed her wand at the troll, but she didn't know what spell to use.

Michael fired spells one after another: "Petrification! Petrification!"

He had not yet mastered this spell, and the spell fell on the troll like a rhino being hit by raindrops, with no effect. Wade raised his wand, and all the spells he knew flashed through his mind.

He knew a lot of spells, but the troll had a very high "magic resistance" and a strong body, so even the spells of an adult wizard would hardly work on it - this was a creature that, even though it had no brains and no magic power, was still at level XXXX in danger, the same level as the Thunderbird and the Sphinx.

Although Wade felt that there was definitely something wrong with this classification when he first watched "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", but now facing this monster that is taller than a house, he still feels suffocated.

"boom!"

A bucket suddenly hit the troll on the head, and Harry appeared from nowhere and yelled at them, "What are you standing there for? Run!"

Michael woke up as if from a dream, turned around and ran with the two girls. But Wade stepped forward and pointed his wand: "Flocks of birds!"

A large group of chirping birds flew out from the tip of the wand and fluttered into the troll's face. The simple-minded troll was immediately attracted by the attention. He purred in his throat and clumsily drove the birds away with his palms as big as a palm fan.

Seeing that it worked, Michael and the others also shouted, "Flocks of birds!"

But their spells had no effect; only a spark flew from the tip of the wand, briefly attracting the troll's attention.

The dozen or so birds released by Weed surrounded the giant monster, and the giant roared and uttered terrible roars, smashing the surrounding decorations with a wooden stick, but it had no way to deal with the nimble birds. But as time went on, the number of birds was rapidly decreasing.

Michael shouted, "This spell will only hold him back for ten seconds at most!"

Vader waved his wand vigorously: "Flat slide!"

The floor under the troll's feet suddenly became very slippery, and it fell unexpectedly. Its huge body hit the ground heavily, and the whole floor seemed to shake. The wooden stick in its hand also flew out.

Hermione, who looked like she might faint at any moment, mustered up her courage, stretched out her wand, and shouted, "Wingardium—Leviosa!"

The stick flew up high and then fell down, hitting the troll's forehead with a clang. The troll shook his head, struggling and roaring to get up. Hermione gritted her teeth and manipulated the stick to hit the second, third, and fourth times...

The troll finally fainted from happiness.

Hermione stopped panting and turned to see several people looking at her in shock and awe.

"What's wrong?" The girl blushed slightly. She pretended to be calm and looked at Padma and said, "Well, you are right - it really feels good to punch it."

Padma was stunned and speechless - is this what I taught her?

She was a little afraid to look Wade and Michael in the eye.

"Harry - troll! There's a troll in the castle - get back to the dormitory! Troll -"

Ron rushed over yelling, and then his voice stopped abruptly. He took a breath of cold air at the scene in front of him and asked blankly: "What happened?"

Chapter 30 Professors

Ron held his face and screamed, "You killed a troll?!"

Harry looked at everyone and saw that no one seemed to want to pay attention to Ron, so he said, "No, Hermione knocked the troll unconscious." After a pause, he added unconsciously, "Using the Levitation Charm."

The reason for the conflict between the two in the Charms classroom was that Hermione tried to teach Ron how to use the Levitation Charm correctly, but her attitude hinted at "instruction", which made Ron even more dissatisfied.

"-Hermione?" Ron was really shocked. He muttered, "How-how is this possible? That's...that's a troll!"

Hermione snorted loudly. She held her wand, staring at the motionless guy on the ground with excitement and fear, as if something in her blood had awakened.

Padma poked her head out from behind Vader and whispered, "Is the troll dead?"

"No." Wade looked at the troll's slightly rising and falling chest and said, "He was just knocked unconscious."

"Oh - that's good." Padma patted her chest.

Suddenly there was a flurry of footsteps - Professor McGonagall rushed over first, her face pale; closely following was Professor Snape, his black robe fluttering behind him; then came Professor Flitwick, his small stature running very fast, but still failed to catch up with the two people in front; last came Professor Quirrell, who saw the troll's big, calloused feet head-on, and immediately clutched his chest and sobbed, as if he was about to faint.

Snape glanced quickly at Harry, who was standing there dumbfounded, and bent down to check on the troll. Professor Flitwick shrieked in his characteristically thin voice, "Oh, Merlin! Children, are you all right?"

"We're fine, Professor," Michael said excitedly, "except for the stench of the troll that nearly vomited us."

Professor Flitwick patted his arm happily and praised loudly, "Well done! First year - defeated a giant monster! I dare say not many people can do this! How did you defeat this big guy?"

"Hahaha, this is all thanks to everyone." Michael tried to retract his grin and said modestly and seriously, "Potter rushed out and attracted its attention--"

Professor Snape immediately glared at Harry with a stern look. Harry quickly lowered his head, wishing that Michael had never mentioned him. Ron beside him looked at him enviously.

"We all work together to disrupt it with the Flock of Birds, and then Vader uses a spell—"

Michael forgot what it was and turned to look at Vader.

"The slide is flat," said Weed.

"Yes - the slide was flat and the troll fell down." Michael continued: "Finally Hermione used the Levitation Charm to knock it unconscious."

Professor Flitwick applauded and exclaimed: "Excellent teamwork! It's amazing! You achieved remarkable results with simple spells. I'll give each of you five points!"

"Filius!"

Professor McGonagall shouted loudly, and her unprecedented stern tone made Professor Flitwick, who was originally dancing with joy, shrink back, shut his mouth silently, and stand aside.

The green-robed witch swept her cold eyes over everyone, and every student who met her gaze lowered their heads involuntarily, including Wade.

"Trolls are extremely dangerous creatures. Countless adult wizards have been killed by them! The first time you encounter one, you should run away immediately and ask the professor to deal with it! You are lucky this time that you were not killed by it! - Miss Granger!"

Hermione shuddered.

Professor McGonagall looked at the top of the girl's brown head and asked, "I remember you took a leave of absence this afternoon because you were not feeling well. Why are you here?"

"I..." Hermione probably had never lied to the teacher before. Being questioned in person, her mind was in a mess. She stammered, "I thought - I read about trolls in books, I thought -"

Wade grabbed the girl's shoulders and pushed her aside - could this silly girl be saying that she thought she could fight the troll, so she sneaked in to fight alone? This excuse was so stupid that even the troll would not believe it.

It's fine if they don't believe it, but what if someone blames them for the troll breaking into the castle? Don't think this won't happen. Wade remembers that in the original book, Harry was misunderstood by his schoolmates more than once or twice.

"She felt better in the evening and didn't want to miss the dinner, so we were originally planning to go to the hall together." Wade said calmly, "When we passed by here, Hermione and Padma went to the bathroom. Michael and I waited for a while, and when we left, we encountered the troll. We should have escaped immediately, but it happened so suddenly that everyone was frightened and didn't react. Fortunately, Harry Potter diverted the troll's attention and reminded us."

Several professors looked at Harry again, and the boy blushed deeply, feeling that he did not deserve such high praise.

Michael glanced at Vader thoughtfully, then realized something and added, "Yeah, he smashed a bucket on the troll's head and yelled at us to run - really brave."

Professor Snape: "-bucket?"

Harry stared at the ground, feeling that he was about to be tortured by Professor Snape's gaze - he now suspected that the two Ravenclaws were praising him so hard just to divert the professor's attention.

"What about you, Mr. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall turned to Ron. "Why didn't you go back to your dormitory?"

Ron was just thinking that he should have come with Harry, so that he could become a hero who saved everyone, and most importantly, impress the arrogant Granger. But when Professor McGonagall suddenly called his name, he was speechless and forgot what to say.

Professor McGonagall's eyes gradually became sharper.

Harry could only speak up for his good brother and said with all his courage: "Ron wanted to remind us that there is a troll -"

"Yes, we all heard it!" Professor Snape suddenly sneered. He said sarcastically, "Shouting in the corridor, as if he was afraid that the troll would not find him - I think your books should say that the trolls have more sensitive hearing? Oh - Mr. Weasley probably hasn't even opened his textbook? It's like our savior, Mr. Harry Potter, used a bucket to attract the troll's attention - huh, bucket?! I really hope you haven't forgotten that you are still a wizard!"

The Gryffindor duo's ears turned red with shame and anger.

Michael secretly praised Wade in his heart - if he hadn't promoted Harry Potter, they might have been the ones being ridiculed now. He didn't know that Snape's obsession with Harry was permanent and would last until his death. Even if there were a thousand people here, he could only see Harry Potter.