Ron and Harry stared, dumbfounded. They had heard Hermione's piercing scream and the tremendous racket of the Troll wrecking the bathroom, and had rushed in to save her with grim determination.
Before entering, they had imagined what they might find: a vicious Troll, an injured Hermione, a bathroom in ruins. They had even imagined failing to save her and getting hoisted up and beaten senseless by the raging Troll instead. They thought they were prepared.
But when they actually saw the bathroom, they realized they hadn't imagined nearly enough.
The bathroom looked as though it had been bombed. Broken bricks, tiles, and glass lay everywhere, reflecting a cold glint. The Troll, as big as a hill, lay on the floor with what looked like a hole blasted through part of its body. A pool of gray-green blood spread beneath it. Against the wall, Hermione had thrown herself over Eliana, shielding her with her body.
Eliana struggled to poke her head out from under Hermione's arm, then scuttled backward along the floor like a little turtle stretching its neck from beneath a heavy rock.
When the boys saw exactly where the Troll had been blasted through, they sucked in a breath together. Though they weren't the same species, they covered themselves in horrified sympathy and took two steps back.
"Is that Troll... still alive?" Ron asked, his voice trembling at Eliana's declaration that the fight wasn't over. "I mean, that's almost a bit sad—"
"ROAR!"
As if answering him, the Troll roared from the floor and tried to push itself upright. It looked consumed by rage.
One hand clutched its lower belly, and its whole body shook with pain. But its usually dull little eyes now burned with vengeance as it reached for the club it had dropped.
Harry bravely launched himself at it. "Hermione, get up! Run!"
Shouting, he scrambled onto the Troll's back. Ordinarily, a Troll the size of a mountain should barely have felt it—but this mountain had just had its foundations blown apart. Harry's charge made it lurch forward.
Harry seized the chance to jam his wand up the Troll's nostril. In agony at both ends, it roared and thrashed.
Its long arms flailed wildly, striking the walls. The whole room seemed to shake.
Hermione came to her senses and hauled the exhausted Eliana up, trying to get past the raging Troll and out of the bathroom. It wasn't easy. The moment the Troll saw Eliana move, it forgot all about Harry on its back and came howling to skewer her.
Supporting Eliana, Hermione stumbled clear of its blow. Shards of porcelain flew past their ears. "Help us!" she cried to Ron.
Eliana leaned most of her weight on Hermione and raised her wand with the last of her strength. Her voice overlapped Ron's: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew high out of the Troll's hand, then came down with a thud on its head.
After one blow too many, the Troll finally collapsed. In truth, it had been done for the moment it was blasted through. Only its rage had kept it going. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.
"Is it... dead?" Ron asked.
"Probably not yet. But if it lies here unconscious until it bleeds out, it will be," Eliana said weakly, but coldly. "Let's go, then set a fire to destroy the evidence. I'm out of strength, Hermione—"
Hermione seemed startled by her words, but she drew her wand.
Harry and Ron stared at the two of them in shock, as though they were watching a pair of human-sized scorpions plotting aloud. Ron, especially, looked as if he wanted to smack himself for asking.
"What are you doing?!"
Loud footsteps approached, as though a crowd were running toward them. Then three faces they had no wish to see appeared: McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell.
Professor McGonagall looked ready to faint with anger. "Why are you here? We told the students to return to their dormitories! Don't you realize that Troll could have killed you?!"
"I have my doubts about that last part."
Professor Snape, who had been examining the Troll, cut in with a strange note in his voice. "What a remarkably precise Explosion Charm. I dare say many older students couldn't produce an effect like that. Perhaps that's what gave a certain gifted young lady the arrogance to think she could take on a Troll alone. Isn't that right?"
He rose from beside the Troll, his sharp gaze cutting across Harry, Ron, and Hermione before settling on Eliana. "So she led her little friends into a heroic battle. It certainly looks fierce enough."
He advanced on Eliana with a vicious look.
Professor McGonagall paused to think, apparently finding his reasoning sound. Her angry gaze swung back to Eliana too.
Eliana, half-dead and leaning against Hermione, suddenly saw an enormous accusation flying straight at her.
What?
Why would I go looking for a fight with a Troll? Would beating one make it drop gold? And what kind of glory would I get out of it? One wrong move and the only thing I'd get would be a grave.
Even if you're my favorite professor, you can't pin this on me!
Eliana struggled to protest her innocence, but another voice rang out first.
"No, that's not what happened!"
Hermione stepped forward abruptly, putting herself between Eliana and the professors. "It was me—I read about Trolls in a book and thought I could deal with them. They came to save me."
Good girl! Now that's loyalty!
But when you stepped forward, did you forget I'm half-dead and leaning on you?
With her support gone, Eliana pitched sideways and hit the floor with a bang.
As she toppled helplessly, she caught sight of Snape watching them with a cold smile. Anger surged through her. She twisted at the waist in midair and slammed her face straight into his leg!
Eliana knew perfectly well that this move would hurt him not at all and herself a great deal. She just wanted to vent her frustration. But when her face struck, Snape hissed in a sharp breath, and the faint smell of blood reached her nose.
Did I give myself a nosebleed?
Professor Snape really is something. He can do that much damage without even moving. Impressive.
Before Eliana could think any further, the world spun. She realized someone had picked her up.
Professor McGonagall spoke to Hermione in a pained but softening voice, deducted five points from Gryffindor, then awarded five points each to the three who had come to the rescue. Eliana, however, couldn't enjoy the points at all.
She dangled in the air by the back of her collar, hunching her shoulders as she met Professor Snape's decidedly unfriendly gaze.
She bared her little canine teeth in an attempt at an ingratiating smile.
The king of snakes was unmoved. With a cold laugh, he began to hiss venomously, "Well, our brave and fearless Miss Richie..."
Eliana, who had been holding on by sheer will, stopped trying. Her eyes rolled back.
"P-Professor Snape! I think Eliana's sort of dead!"
Ron, whose eyes had kept darting their way ever since Snape approached, let out a shrill yell.
Snape: ???
She had blasted a hole through a Troll without so much as a scratch on herself, and now she fainted the moment he was about to tell her off?
She had to be faking.
Without thinking, he gave her a little shake. Eliana's limp head bobbed with the motion.
She really had fainted?
Professor McGonagall hurried over. "Severus!"
She looked at him disapprovingly. "This poor child has just faced a Troll! She's injured!"
"Yes, yes." Snape cleared his throat and, as though nothing were amiss, shifted from holding Eliana by the collar to scooping her up. Her arms and legs dangled limply in the air, like a puppy picked up around the middle, its whole body bent into an upside-down U. "I was just about to take her to the Hospital Wing."
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