Halloween Eve (Part 1)

Halloween eve, Hogwarts Castle was filled with a festive atmosphere. The Great Hall was decorated magnificently, with floating jack-o'-lanterns casting an eerie glow, and the air was thick with the sweet scent of roasted pumpkin and candy. Students were happily making their way to the Great Hall, ready to enjoy a sumptuous feast.

Silas ambled along with the crowd, yawning. He didn't feel particularly strongly about the holiday decorations. He habitually scanned his surroundings, looking for Hermione so they could complain about this "childish" festive atmosphere together.

But he didn't see the familiar figure with brown curly hair carrying a stack of books.

"Huh? Where's Hermione?" he wondered, slightly puzzled. Hermione, being such a good student, shouldn't miss out on a group activity like this.

Suddenly, an idea struck him like lightning! He stopped abruptly, his expression changing instantly.

(Inner Monologue: Damn it! Today is Halloween! Trolls! In the original story, Hermione hid in the girls' restroom crying after Ron said mean things to her, and then she encountered a troll!)

He immediately turned around, pushing against the flow of students, his gaze sharp as he searched. Soon, he spotted Harry Potter and Ron Weasley near the entrance to the Great Hall, about to go in.

Silas strode over, blocking their path, his face terrifyingly grim. He completely ignored Harry, his icy gaze fixed on Ron, his tone laced with undisguised threat and accusation:

"Weasley!"

Ron flinched at Silas's imposing presence and instinctively took half a step back. "Wh-what?"

Silas took a step closer, his voice low but filled with pressure. "You'd best not forget... who pulled you two out of the jaws of that three-headed dog when you were risking your lives and almost became its snack? If Hermione hadn't come to me for help, you and Potter would have turned into fertilizer by now, your bones ground to dust by that beast!"

He glared at Ron, his eyes burning as if with fire. "Did you say something idiotic to her today?!"

Ron's face instantly turned pale. He remembered the cruel things he'd said to Hermione that afternoon in Transfiguration class – that she "had no friends" and was "a nightmare." Feeling guilty, he lowered his head, stammering, "Uh... this... this..."

Harry, seeing the situation was getting out of hand, quickly stepped forward, positioning himself between Ron and Silas, trying to ease the tension. "Silas! Calm down! Ron, he... he did say some not-so-nice things, but he didn't mean it! We already know we were wrong!"

Silas looked at Harry, then glanced at Ron, who was cowering behind Harry, afraid to meet his gaze. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger, but his right hand subconsciously gathered the energy of Vishanti. A short, sturdy-looking club made of golden light flickered into existence in his palm, emitting a faint hum.

Seeing the energy club, Harry and Ron's faces turned ashen.

Silas looked at their terrified expressions and finally dispelled the energy club. He irritably ran a hand through his hair, gave Ron one last look of utter disgust, then abruptly turned and ran in the opposite direction of the Great Hall – towards the girls' lavatory.

After a few steps, he stopped abruptly, turned back to Ron, and unceremoniously gave him the middle finger, shouting in a perfectly clear voice:

"You bastard!"

Then, he disappeared into the dim corridor without looking back, leaving Harry and Ron standing there, looking at each other, hearts pounding with fear. They knew Silas was truly angry, and he seemed to have a premonition that something bad was about to happen to Hermione.

Following his memory and the undeniable stench, Silas finally found the correct girls' lavatory. He floated up, flying over the troll's swinging club, and before the troll's sluggish brain could react, he dived into the lavatory.

The interior was a mess, with the stall doors smashed to pieces. Hermione was huddled in the farthest corner, trembling, her face ashen. The immense fear made it difficult for her to breathe as she watched the huge, ugly, foul-smelling troll approach step by step.

"Silas? How did you..." Hermione saw Silas appear and was both surprised and delighted, but mostly terrified.

"No time to explain!" Silas said rapidly. He grabbed Hermione's arm, and with his other hand, drew a portal in the air. On the other side was the Gryffindor common room. "Go in!"

Without further ado, he pushed Hermione through and immediately closed the portal, completely cutting off the troll's ability to harm her.

At this moment, the troll finally realized that the little annoyance in front of it was disrupting its "game." It let out an enraged roar, swung its massive wooden club, and brought it down towards Silas with a whistling sound!

Silas's eyes narrowed, and he drew an arcane pattern with his hands in front of his chest. "Lord of Hogus!"

A soft light flashed. The club, capable of smashing stone, instantly transformed into a large cluster of brightly colored, gently floating balloons upon contact with the light! The troll swung at empty air. Looking at the suddenly light "balloons" floating in its hand, its three walnut-sized brains completely failed to comprehend.

"Claws of Denak!" Silas counterattacked, launching a fiery orb at the troll.

However, the orb exploded against the troll's thick, rough skin with a mere "bang," leaving a small patch of char. The troll roared in pain but didn't stop its advance; instead, it became even more enraged!

"Damn it!" Silas cursed inwardly. "Now I understand why Doctor Strange's attack on Thanos was useless... its skin is too thick!"

Seeing the troll abandon the balloons and charge again with a roar, Silas lost his patience. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He stopped using Vishanti's magic, quickly drew the wand from his robe, pointed it directly at the troll, and uttered the forbidden spell in a clear, icy voice:

"Avada Kedavra!"

A dazzling green light, symbolizing death, burst from the tip of the wand, accurately striking the troll's heart.

The troll's massive body stiffened abruptly, its movements ceasing instantly. The cruel light in its small eyes extinguished. It crashed to the ground like a collapsing wall with a loud "boom," splashing water and dust, and fell completely silent.

The troll, deceased.

Silas breathed a sigh of relief, flicked his wand, and muttered under his breath, "I should have done this earlier. Why waste time with this idiot..."

Just then, two gasps of cold air came from the entrance of the lavatory. Silas turned his head and saw Harry and Ron standing there, their faces bloodless, eyes wide as saucers, staring intently at him, or rather, at the wand he had just used to cast the green light.

Harry pointed at Silas, his voice trembling so much it was almost unrecognizable. "You, you, you... that spell! That green light! It's exactly like what I sometimes see in my dreams!" He was dreaming of the scene of his mother's murder.

Silas's heart skipped a beat. He was about to try and brush it off with a laugh. "It's probably a coincidence, maybe just some powerful sleeping spell..."

However, he couldn't finish his sentence and lost his smile.

At the entrance to the lavatory, three more people had appeared at some point. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape, the three professors, stood there, their expressions growing more serious by the moment.

Dumbledore slowly walked forward, bent down to examine the troll's corpse carefully, then looked up. His blue eyes, peering through his half-moon spectacles, fixed sharply on Silas, and he said in a calm but irrefutable tone:

"The Killing Curse."

Professor McGonagall covered her mouth with her hand, letting out a gasp. "Good heavens! How is this possible? A first-year student..."

Silas felt his scalp tingle and quickly tried to explain, "Professors, please let me explain, it's not what you think..."

Snape glided silently in front of Silas like a ghost and snatched the wand from his hand. His dark eyes churned with incredibly complex emotions – shock, suspicion, and even a trace of... indescribable apprehension?

Without looking at Silas, he pointed the wand at the air and coldly uttered a single word:

"Priori Incantatem!"

A faint green light appeared at the tip of the wand, followed by a blurry, semi-transparent soul-shade of the troll, which was pulled out struggling. It twisted in the air, then dissipated without a trace.

This phenomenon undoubtedly proved that the last spell cast from this wand was the Killing Curse!

Silence fell over the scene.

Silas looked at the dissipating soul phantom, then at the solemn gazes of the three professors, and at Harry and Ron's terrified expressions. He blinked, a look of utter innocence, even confusion, on his face, and said in a tone that even he didn't quite believe:

"Uh... who... who put this curse in my wand?"

In the lavatory, only the troll's corpse and a suffocating silence remained. Silas Kirill, it seemed, had gotten himself into a colossal mess this time.