Ron in the Toilet

Loren had already mastered the Levitation Charm and stared at the feather in boredom.

He was thinking about the plot. Quirrell would lure the Troll into the Castle tonight, but Hermione probably would not go to the toilet this time.

Hermione was friends with everyone now, and they had all grown used to her constant corrections. They would laugh it off and move on; no one would hold it against her. So Hermione would not be upset enough to hide in the toilet and cry, and no one would be in danger tonight.

Hermione, who was being thought about, was staring seriously at the practice feather. She had studied the spell beforehand, but she had not succeeded.

She followed Professor Flitwick's instructions exactly. After only a few tries, the feather had begun trembling continuously.

Ron gave up after a few attempts. His wand was too old and worn-out; whether he could cast a spell depended on luck. Clearly, his luck was not good today.

Hermione had already made her feather fly, and Professor Flitwick awarded Gryffindor five points for it.

Hermione wanted to offer Ron some advice. "It's Wingardium Levi-o-sa, not Wingardium Levio-sa."

"Of course! I'll pay attention next time." Ron did not want everyone to notice his wand, so he changed the subject. "Maybe you should look at someone else."

Loren did not want the two of them to clash, so he tried to make Hermione understand that it was not Ron's fault. "Ron's wand is holding him back. The problem isn't his pronunciation or movements."

Hermione looked at Ron's wand, its Unicorn Tail Hair core exposed, and quickly apologized. "Sorry, I didn't notice your wand."

"It's, it's fine." Ron did not feel fine at all. Inferiority wrapped around his heart. He would rather everyone think he had not cast the spell properly than notice his wand.

Everything Ron owned had been used and discarded by his older brothers. He had no new clothes, no new textbooks, no wand of his own. Even his pet had been left over from Percy.

It had been fine at home. He could laugh and joke his way through it. He had never blamed his parents; it was not their fault. They had already done their best to keep the family going, and their love showed through every part of life. He could feel it.

But after arriving at school, the constant comparisons with his classmates became a thorn in his heart.

That feeling had first surfaced when he bought snacks on the Train. It had taken root in his heart then. At the time, he could still comfort himself—this was the famous Harry Potter. It was normal for him to be wealthy.

Later, he realized that it was not that his classmates were too rich. His family was simply too poor. As a pure-blood family, they were even more strapped for cash than children from Muggle families.

Compared to his brothers, he seemed ordinary as well.

Bill had outstanding grades. Charlie was the Quidditch captain and a prefect. Percy was also a prefect. Even the Twins did well academically. Though they were mischievous, many professors liked them very much.

Before starting school, he had wanted to study hard and not disgrace the Weasley name. But at a school of magic, his wand problem put him in a difficult position.

All his mischief, jokes, and clowning around were just ways to hide his inferiority.

Ron knew his friends would not care about such things, but he could not help thinking that way. He could not tell anyone about his bitter feelings—not his parents, not his brothers, not even his friends. He could only bottle them up.

Seamus was still trying with his feather. He noticed that Ron seemed a little down and assumed it was because his spell had failed. Seamus encouraged him, "Hey! Cheer up, mate. Watch me—this one will work for sure."

With that, he shouted the spell at the feather and jabbed his wand hard. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Bang!

Seamus's talent kicked in again. The feather exploded, blasting Seamus's face black and leaving a dark patch on Ron's face too.

The surrounding students burst into laughter, and Ron felt even worse.

At the Halloween Feast, the professors had enchanted the ceiling. Dark clouds blanketed the Castle, with lightning flashing and thunder rolling. Together with the Jack-o'-lanterns floating overhead, it created a truly eerie atmosphere.

The tables were covered with Lemon Drops, Chocolate Frogs, roast lamb, fried steak, Fried Sausages, and all kinds of pumpkin dishes!

After smelling pumpkin all day, Loren could finally eat it. He scooped up a spoonful of Stewed Pumpkin and put the whole spoonful into his mouth. Sweet juice seeped from the soft pumpkin flesh, which melted away with a light press of his tongue.

Neville talked about Charms Class while eating. "I think Professor Flitwick is the best professor."

Everyone was busy eating, and no one argued with him.

Seamus stuffed an entire Chicken Leg into his mouth. Ron usually loved doing that, and he wanted to challenge Ron to a contest.

After looking around, Seamus realized Ron was nowhere to be seen along the entire table. He pulled the chicken leg out and asked through a mouthful of food, "Have any of you seen Ron?"

Harry said, "He said he wasn't feeling very well and went to the toilet. He told me to go on ahead." After a pause, he added, "I think he hasn't been very happy since Charms Class. He didn't have much energy even when we were playing this afternoon."

Loren's hand froze halfway through eating. No way.

Bang!

Quirrell shoved open the dining hall doors, ran in frantically, and stood in the middle of the hall shouting:

"Troll! In the dungeons!"

"There's a Troll in the dungeons!"

"..."

No one heard the last sentence clearly before Quirrell fainted.

"Ah!"

Screams erupted, and the students immediately descended into chaos. The first-years began running in every direction.

"Quiet!" Dumbledore used Amplifying Voice and instructed the prefects to lead students from their respective Houses back first. He organized the professors to investigate the situation.

Loren had wanted to explain the situation to Dumbledore, but the dining hall was packed so tightly that he could not get through. Everyone was rushing for the exit. Students from all four Houses were mixed together, and the crowd carried him toward the main doors.

Dumbledore and the professors had already left through the Side Doors on either side of the High Table.

Once they left the dining hall, the crowd scattered. Each House gathered separately and headed toward its own dormitories under the prefects' guidance.

Loren and Harry exchanged a look and came to the same conclusion: they still had to find Ron.

Loren knew Ron would definitely run into the Troll. Harry, on the other hand, thought Ron did not know what was happening and needed to be warned.

Loren wanted to leave some backup behind. He called to Seamus and Neville, "Go find a professor and tell them we went to the toilet to look for Ron!"

"Okay!" Seamus and Neville had no intention of following along and causing trouble.

Loren and Harry quickly headed toward the toilet.

Hermione watched the two retreating figures, tightened her grip on her wand, and followed them.

As they passed a corner, Harry heard footsteps. He looked up just in time to see a flash of green robes vanish up the Staircase.

It was Slytherin attire. Only Snape dressed like that.

Harry was puzzled. Why was Professor Snape not with the other professors?

Before he could think further, Hermione caught up with them and said earnestly, "I'm coming with you. I made Ron upset in Charms Class. Correcting others so casually isn't a friendly thing to do."

Harry did not feel much urgency. He thought they were merely going to call Ron out of the toilet. "It's fine. The Troll is in the dungeons, and Seamus and the others have notified the professors. There won't be any danger."

"By the time the professors arrive, I'm afraid Ron will have been digested." Loren was in a hurry. He planned to reach the toilet before the Troll did and avoid confronting it directly if possible.

Loren had already learned about many magical creatures. Trolls had thick hides, high resistance to magic, and tremendous strength. Even several adult wizards would struggle against one; there was no chance for a few little rookies like them.

At least for now, the scene from the film where they used the Levitation Charm to take the Troll's club and knock it unconscious was no different from sliding at a tiger and somehow kicking it flying.