Stone Skin's Low Growl and Warm Light's Ripples (Part 1)

The chaos in the Great Hall was like a stone dropped into a pond, ripples spreading instantly to the peak of panic. Dumbledore's commands stood like a lighthouse, guiding the frantic flow of people. Percy Weasley's hoarse shouts were barely audible above the screaming and shoving: "Gryffindor! This way! Don't push! Keep up!"

Lynn gripped Hermione's wrist tightly, the slender bones transmitting a faint tremor through his palm. His tall frame moved like a flexible bulwark, carving out a relatively safe path through the chaotic, surging crowd, shielding her between himself and the cold stone wall. His steps were steady, each sidestep and block carrying an almost instinctive protective posture. Hermione followed close behind, her initial panic replaced by a strange sense of reassurance. She could clearly feel the tension in his arm muscles and his unyielding will to protect. The Star Stone and Moon White Stone, separated only by fabric, resonated clearly amid their gasping flight, passing each other's heartbeat and the connection of having survived together.

"This way! Hurry!" Percy waved from a corner ahead. Most Gryffindor students were flooding toward the main staircase leading to the tower.

Just then, Hermione's feet suddenly stopped! Her face went pale, her large eyes filled with terror as she stared at Lynn: "Wait! Parvati! Lavender! They... they're in the Girls' Lavatory! After Astronomy, they said they wanted to fix their hair... it's on the first floor! The abandoned one!"

Fear seized her like icy water. The troll was in the dungeon classroom, and the first floor... was too close! She wrenched herself free from Lynn's hand and turned to run the opposite way: "I have to find them!"

"Hermione!" Lynn's voice was sharp and decisive. His arm shot out like an iron hoop, blocking her again, harder than before, with an unyielding resolve. "You can't go! It's too dangerous!" His deep eyes locked onto hers, filled with unprecedented sternness and worry.

"But they..." Hermione was on the verge of tears, her eyes brimming, her voice choked.

"I'll go!" Lynn's voice was low and forceful, carrying a heart-stopping finality. "You follow the prefect back to the Common Room. Now!" His gaze swept to Percy. "Weasley! Take her!"

Percy, startled by the sudden turn, quickly recovered and tried to grab Hermione's arm: "Granger! Go! Leave it to the professors!"

"No! Lynn! You can't go alone!" Hermione struggled, tears finally spilling over as she clutched his robe sleeve. "It's too dangerous! I'm coming with you!"

Seeing the desperate tears in Hermione's eyes and her reckless concern, something deep and soft in Lynn's heart was struck hard. He knew that forcing her away now would only make her suffer more and blame herself. Time was pressing!

"...Stay close to me!" Lynn didn't hesitate. He reversed his grip and held her hand tightly—no longer just her wrist, but interlacing their fingers! That firm, warm touch instantly conveyed strength and resolve. "Don't leave my side for even a step. Understand?"

"Mm!" Hermione nodded hard, wiped her tears, and her eyes became fiercely determined. She squeezed his hand back, as if entrusting him with all her trust.

The two moved against the evacuating crowd, like fish swimming upstream, quickly turning into the corridor leading to the abandoned first-floor lavatory. Percy's anxious shouts faded behind them.

The closer they got to their destination, the fouler the air became. The nauseating stench—a mix of mud, rotting flesh, and swamp—grew thicker, almost suffocating. The torches on the corridor walls flickered, casting twisted shadows on the stone. From ahead came heavy footsteps like boulders rolling, accompanied by the grating sound of something heavy being dragged, and a low, guttural "grrr... ugh..." from deep in a beast's throat. Each heavy footfall made the stone slabs tremble beneath them.

Fear seized Hermione's heart again. Her grip on Lynn's hand tightened unconsciously, her knuckles white. Lynn could feel her trembling clearly. He squeezed back firmly, and the power of the Star Stone seemed to pass a steady, warm current through their joined palms. The Moon White Stone on Hermione's chest responded with a faint heat.

Rounding the last corner, a horrifying sight came into view!

In the relatively wide corridor outside the abandoned lavatory, a massive creature occupied nearly the entire space! It stood nearly twelve feet tall! Its skin was filthy, a grayish-brown like dried granite, covered in wrinkles and warty growths. Its enormous head was like an irregular granite ball, embedded with dull, murky, malicious yellowish-brown eyes. It was swinging a huge club caked with unknown filth (looking like the trunk of a small tree), clumsily and furiously slamming it against the closed wooden lavatory door!

Boom! Crash!

With each strike, the heavy door groaned under the strain, splinters flying, and spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface! From inside came the terrified screams of girls!

"Parvati! Lavender!" Hermione cried out.

The troll, seemingly enraged by the screams from inside, let out a deafening, furious roar: "Ooo—arrrgh!!!" Foul drool dripped from its crooked mouth. It raised its club high for the final blow against the crumbling door!

"Hermione! Right!" Lynn barked, abruptly releasing her hand and shoving her toward a recessed alcove on the right side of the corridor, piled with discarded armor and junk. "Hide! Don't come out!" His voice brooked no argument.

At the same time, Lynn shot forward like an arrow from a bow! He didn't charge the troll but aimed directly for a heavy Brass Torch Bracket fixed to the stone wall on the left side of the corridor!

Just as the troll's club was about to smash the door with devastating force!

"Reducto!"

Lynn's incantation was clear and cold! A concentrated, piercing deep-blue beam burst from the tip of the Star-patterned Fir Wood wand! It didn't target the troll's massive body but struck precisely at the bracket's connection to the wall!

Boom! Crack!

A violent explosion followed by the screech of breaking metal! The heavy Brass Torch Bracket shattered! One thick, jagged brass arm, propelled by the blast, spun through the air like a siege bolt!

Thud!

A sickening, hair-raising impact!

The heavy brass pipe, carrying immense kinetic energy, slammed precisely into the troll's right wrist, the one holding the club!

"Oww—!!!" The troll let out an earth-shaking, agonized howl! It was more terrifying than its earlier roar, pure agony! Its massive right hand instantly lost strength, and the heavy club crashed to the ground with a clang, shaking the floor. It clutched its bleeding, clearly twisted wrist, staggering backward in pain and slamming into the stone wall with a dull thud. Its murky little eyes, filled with pain and rage, locked onto Lynn at the other end of the corridor!

Opportunity!

Hermione's heart nearly leaped out of her throat! She saw the troll wounded and retreating, and the screams inside turned to terrified sobs. Without a second thought, survival instinct and concern for her friends overwhelmed all fear! She burst from the alcove, the Moonlight Grapevine Wand aimed straight at the troll's eyes, now clouded with pain and fury!

"Stupefy!"

A not-very-powerful beam of milky-white light shot toward the troll! But the troll's thick hide and high resistance to spells only made it shake its massive head, further enraging it!

"Roooar!!!" The troll went berserk! It abandoned the door, its huge left hand sweeping toward Hermione like a giant fan, faster than its clumsy appearance suggested!

"Hermione!" Lynn's eyes blazed with fury! He was still some distance away! In desperation, he pointed his wand at the smooth stone floor beneath Hermione's feet: "Lubricus!"

A faint blue light flashed! The stone under Hermione's feet instantly became slick as butter!

"Ah!" Hermione yelped, her feet slipping out from under her, sending her tumbling backward! That clumsy fall narrowly, perilously, avoided the troll's crushing grip!

The troll's massive fingers brushed past her hair, carrying a foul wind!

Lynn seized the fleeting moment, lunging like a panther to Hermione's side, yanking her up and shielding her behind him. The troll, enraged by its miss, abandoned its injured right hand, propped itself on its left, and lowered its granite-hard head like a runaway battering ram, charging straight at them with crushing force!

The massive shadow and ferocious pressure enveloped them! Hermione could even smell the troll's thick stench!

No escape!

In that split second between life and death, Lynn's eyes turned cold as frozen stars! He shielded Hermione firmly behind him, angling the Star-patterned wand upward at a tricky angle—not at the troll's head, but at the relatively vulnerable junction of its neck and shoulder, exposed by its lowered charge! His magic surged wildly, the Star Stone blazing with unprecedented heat!

"Petrificus Totalus!"

A beam unlike any before—thick, condensed, flashing with piercing deep-blue starlight—shot out like a magical cannonball, tearing through the air with a shriek, and struck precisely at the troll's wrinkled, grayish-brown neck!

Hum!

A dull energy blast! The deep-blue starlight spread like living vines across the troll's neck skin, seeping in!

The troll's ferocious charge was halted as if by an invisible giant hand! Its bloodshot, yellowish-brown eyes went wide, filled with an incredulous stiffness! Its massive body froze mid-stride, all motion suspended as if someone had hit pause! Then, under its own momentum, the rigid, statue-like form crashed forward!

Boom!!!

An earth-shattering crash! The troll's heavy body fell like a collapsing mountain, slamming onto the stone floor less than a foot from Lynn and Hermione's toes! Stones flew, dust billowed! Its enormous head hit the ground mere inches from Hermione's shoes, its dull, vacant eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, silent.