Troll Suffers Fatal Blow

The proud little witch who always competed with her in class was now a mess: her eyes were swollen from crying, her nose tip was red and chapped, and her body convulsed—she looked like she was crying so hard she couldn't breathe.

Eliana looked at the pitiable little creature before her with some hesitation. The threatening words she had intended to say now wouldn't come out. She paused and offered a handkerchief, "Did someone bully you? I'll help you beat them up?"

Hermione tearfully accepted the handkerchief, "Nobody likes me. No one wants to be my friend."

Eliana fell into a strange silence for a moment.

What a familiar thought. If Hermione had confided in me like this last night, I probably would have broken down and cried with her.

# Ladies and gentlemen, the performance you are about to witness is two little witches drowning the dormitory in tears. #

Eliana quickly pushed the wild thoughts out of her mind.

Fortunately, I've already gotten myself together.

Alright, now let the strong and kind Eliana, the great goddess, help the lost little lamb.

Eliana, feigning maturity, patted Hermione's head, "I don't have friends either."

"But—they all hate me!" Hermione's tears welled up again.

"Oh, they hate me too. Look at Malfoy, he practically wants to bite me to death every day," Eliana gave her a typical example.

Hermione paused, but quickly responded, "But that's different. You and Malfoy don't get along; you fight every day. It's normal for him to dislike you."

"But, but, I've always been helping everyone! I try hard in class to answer questions and earn House points, I teach them spells they don't know, I tell them not to break school rules or they'll get expelled—I've done so much, and they still hate me!"

As she spoke, her voice choked up again.

"They're blind," Eliana concluded decisively, her words so sharp that Hermione was taken aback. "They don't know what's good for them."

"I taught Ron a spell, and he said I was a nightmare," Hermione said tentatively—for some reason, she suddenly wanted to tell Eliana this sentence that had upset her all afternoon.

"Oh, Ron is blind, a creature that doesn't know what's good for him."

Eliana commented with extreme aggression.

"Dean's essay had mistakes, and I pointed them out to him. He mocked me for being nosy."

"He's also a creature that doesn't know what's good for him."

"Before Flying Class, I told everyone the flying techniques I read about in books, and everyone found me annoying."

"A bunch of creatures that don't know what's good for them."

"Before, I told you not to break school rules, but you didn't listen and even mocked me."

Hermione wasn't sad anymore. Her eyes were fixed on Eliana.

"I'm also a creature that doesn't know what's good for me."

Eliana finished without thinking, then suddenly realized, "Whoa, whoa—hold on, something's not right."

Hermione hugged her arms and stared at her, as if to say, "Ha, I knew you were just trying to fool me."

"Okay, okay, I'm really not a good person," Eliana admitted, pinching her nose. "But I didn't mock you."

Hermione took a couple of small steps towards her, looking at her expectantly.

Eliana's mind raced: "I didn't mock you, um, I just didn't listen to you."

Hermione, who had been looking expectant, instantly turned cold. She sniffled and let out a loud snort.

Eliana said very seriously, "I know breaking school rules is bad, and what you said was right—of course, if I were in that situation again, I couldn't not do it. I couldn't let Malfoy think I was a coward—but I know what you said was right, and I've never disliked you because of it. I know you meant well."

Hermione looked a little unconvinced, and a little shy because of Eliana's words.

Eliana retorted, "So, Miss Granger, do you think your actions were wrong?"

"Of course not!" Hermione said firmly.

"I think so too," Eliana smiled. "So you see, you didn't do anything wrong, and you don't think you did anything wrong, but some people will think you're a nightmare, and some people will think your ideas are right..."

"So I should choose people who think like me?"

Hermione asked urgently.

"Choose yourself."

Eliana's voice grew softer, as if speaking to herself, "Just make the choices you believe are right and that follow your own heart. The person who understands you best in the world is yourself. Your joys and sorrows, your happiness or unhappiness—only you can truly feel it."

Her tone grew firmer, and her speech faster, "Why should you compromise yourself for others? Even if everyone in the world dislikes me, I like myself the most—my love for myself is more sincere and passionate than anyone else's!"

Hermione looked at the girl making her resolute declaration. The confident and determined way she spoke made her look like a proud little swan.

Suddenly, the little swan wrinkled her nose, "Sorry, Hermione, excuse me, but did you not flush the toilet earlier because you were in too much of a hurry?"

She glanced at Hermione suspiciously, then took a small step back with a hint of disgust.

Hermione's face turned bright red when she realized what Eliana was implying, "What are you talking about? I've been crying all afternoon, I haven't been to the toilet!"

She now felt that crying secretly because she had no friends wasn't embarrassing at all—at least compared to being accused of not flushing the toilet!

Eliana felt the smell getting stronger. She frowned and looked around, "If it wasn't you—who is it, secretly listening to people talk without any manners, and then leaving... Oh my god!!!"

She stared in horror at a dark, ugly, smelly, and tall granite mountain spirit.

"A... a troll!" Hermione's voice trembled.

The troll also saw them. It dragged its long wooden club and strode towards them with steps that could shake the entire floor—even more despairing was that its massive body almost completely blocked the only exit.

Damn it, the washroom door was so tall it almost reached the ceiling—it was blocked even though it was this big!

Eliana's smile was more like a grimace than a smile. "No one told me that Halloween in the wizarding world meant bringing out the real stuff—aren't you guys into role-playing?"

She struggled to draw her wand, aiming its tip at the troll's potato-like small head atop its massive body. "Hermione, run further inside."

"After I take this troll down with me, tell Professor Snape, if he's willing to visit my grave, to stop calling me 'little troll.' These creatures are too ugly, and I'd die with regrets if I were classified with them."

Eliana bravely and quickly finished her dying words, channeling all her strength and magic, and let out a piercing roar: "Confringo!"

A blindingly bright light was about to burst from the tip of her wand.

At the same time, the troll raised its club high, the immense force shattering the ceiling lights into countless fragments. The wooden club was about to descend upon her—Hermione screamed, "No!"

She lunged forward, trembling, and shielded Eliana beneath her.

The impact of Hermione's lunge caused Eliana's hand, which was aiming at the troll's head, to flinch. The ball of light she had fired also changed direction... downwards, directly towards the spot below the troll's navel, between its legs.

The massive ball of light exploded fiercely, and the troll's body went from "big" to "six"—the lower middle part was almost pierced through.

"Aaaaooooooh!!!!!"

An incredibly painful, deafening scream—Eliana had never known a creature could emit such a howl—the troll's wooden club clattered to the ground, rolling past their ears.

The troll clutched its groin with both hands and fell straight down.

Eliana had intended to faint.

The immensely powerful spell had drained almost all of her magic and energy, and then Hermione had tackled her from behind—though Hermione's intention was to protect her, Eliana could feel the trembling of the person on her back with a death wish—but for Eliana, who was already unsteady, it was an unexpected heavy blow.

She slammed her head against the toilet in front of her.

She was truly about to faint—until she saw the troll falling towards them.

"I absolutely will not—let my cause of death be—being sat on by a troll!"

Eliana held onto her last breath, hunching her back to support Hermione, who was trembling with her eyes shut tightly, and bravely, desperately crawled towards the wall.

"Hermione! Eliana!" a cry came from the doorway. Harry and Ron's terrified faces appeared.

—Reinforcements have arrived!

Eliana suddenly felt a surge of strength throughout her body. She excitedly yelled at them, "Help me up! Let's kill this troll together!"