A Sliding Tackle

In the next class, Harry and Ron discovered that neither Irina nor Hermione had shown up, and neither of them was seen for the entire afternoon.

On their way to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, they accidentally overheard Parvati Patil telling Lavender that Hermione was crying miserably in the girls' bathroom. No matter how Irina tried to comfort her, it was no use.

Remembering Irina's earlier scolding, Ron felt even more uncomfortable.

"I wasn't wrong. Hermione was obviously meddling too much!"

Ron muttered.

Even Harry felt that Ron was being too extreme. After all, if Hermione had not helped them on the day of the duel with Malfoy, he and Ron would probably have been pinned down and beaten by Malfoy!

However, the moment they entered the Great Hall and saw the dazzling Halloween decorations, the two immediately forgot all about Hermione.

Elsewhere, Linley entered the Great Hall expressionlessly. He quickly ate a few bites to fill his stomach, then closed his eyes to rest beside the Slytherin table.

He knew that today was the day Quirrell would cause trouble for the first time, and he had to guard against every possible emergency.

After all, the underground classrooms were beneath the castle, and the Slytherin dormitory was beneath the castle as well. Who knew whether that damned Troll would suddenly change its original route and run into Linley and the others as they returned to their dormitory around a corner?!

Linley had been conserving his strength all day. He had even stopped enchanting Desert Eagle bullets a day early.

It was not as though Linley had not considered simply gunning down the Troll with the Desert Eagle. But leaving aside whether Desert Eagle bullets could even pierce the Troll's thick hide, the fact that the professors would confiscate the Desert Eagle afterward meant he could not do that.

The Desert Eagle was Linley's greatest trump card for this school year, so naturally he would not expose it too early.

Just then, garlic-headed Quirrell suddenly rushed into the Great Hall. He plunged headfirst onto the floor, his face filled with terror, and gasped as he shouted, "Troll... in the underground classrooms... thought you ought to know..."

With that, Quirrell fainted.

The Great Hall instantly erupted into chaos. Countless young wizards looked panicked, screaming helplessly.

Linley, meanwhile, stared coldly at the unconscious Quirrell. Heh, that was quite a convincing performance. Want an Oscar statuette for it?!

At that moment, Professor Dumbledore fired several bursts of purple fireworks from his Wand in succession, finally quieting everyone down.

"Prefects," Professor Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "immediately lead the students of each house back to their dormitories!"

Thus, the prefect at the very front of the Slytherin table stood up and ordered everyone to follow him back to the dormitory at once.

Linley rose with the group. Just as he was about to return to the dormitory as the prefect had instructed, he suddenly noticed that not only was Hermione missing from the Gryffindor table, but so was the girl named Irina Lowell.

Irina Lowell's silver hair was rather conspicuous, so her absence was naturally easy for others to notice.

Linley's expression darkened. Could Lowell and Hermione both be in the underground classrooms?!

He changed his mind. Though he did not know whether Lowell was truly a transmigrator, he did not want this only possibility to perish at the hands of the Troll due to a moment of carelessness.

So, Linley cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and quietly slipped away from the end of the group.

Meanwhile, Irina helped Hermione to her feet. Although Hermione was still terribly upset, her empty stomach forced her to return to the Great Hall for food.

"Come on, if we don't leave now, the feast will be over."

Irina gently patted Hermione's back, while her other hand softly wiped away the tears at the corners of Hermione's eyes.

Although Irina appeared very patient, she was anxious as hell inside.

Others did not know, but she knew that a Troll was about to come!

If she did not get Hermione out of here soon, they would be trapped in the bathroom by the Troll!

Fortunately, she had an idea and lured Hermione away with food. Otherwise, who knew how long Hermione would have kept crying!

But just then, heavy footsteps sounded outside the girls' bathroom door, followed by a stench that drifted in—like sewage boiled and poured into a bowl of snail noodles mixed with crushed stinky tofu and durian.

To Irina, it was especially like the exhaust fumes from cars in her previous life that exceeded emission standards, the kind of sour smell that lingered back and forth in her nostrils after one deep breath.

"Blergh!"

"Blergh!"

Irina and Hermione retched at the same time.

Their commotion seemed to draw the Troll's attention. It appeared to peer into the doorway, then slowly lowered its head and squeezed into the girls' bathroom.

"Ah!"

Hermione immediately screamed.

The Troll was twelve feet tall, with dull, granite-gray skin. Its massive, clumsy body looked like a heap of enormous rocks, topped by a tiny head like a cocoa bean.

Its short legs were as thick as tree stumps, ending in flat, hard, callused feet. The stench radiating from it was nauseating. It clutched a thick wooden club in one hand, and because its arms were so long, the club dragged along the floor.

"Damn it!"

Irina cursed inwardly. Hermione's scream had made the Troll look over, and it was obvious that this fight was unavoidable!

Just as Irina was about to strike first, the girls' bathroom door was suddenly locked, followed by the cheers of two idiots outside.

That immediately ruined Irina's plan to lure the Troll away.

"Are you two idiots outside sick in the head?!"

Irina cursed as she waved her Wand and fired a Glacier Spell at the Troll.

Hearing Irina's angry shout, Harry and Ron finally realized that they were still inside the girls' bathroom.

Harry and Ron hurriedly opened the door again.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Seeing this, Irina quickly cast the Levitation Charm, lifting the motionless Hermione through the air, moving her over the Troll to the doorway, and then tossing her out.

Hermione crashed directly into Harry and Ron at the door.

"Take her and run outside first! I'll be out in a moment!"

As Irina spoke, she rushed toward the Troll while continuously firing Glacier Spells from her Wand.

However, the Troll's skin possessed powerful magical resistance. The Glacier Spells could only coat its skin with frost and were nowhere near strong enough to freeze it.

Irina's attacks seemed to enrage the Troll. It raised its thick wooden club and swung it down at the small Irina. By then, Irina had already reached the Troll's feet, with sinks on both sides, leaving her almost nowhere to dodge.

Seeing this, Irina could only close her eyes and slide beneath the Troll with a sliding tackle.