Troll Suffers Fatal Blow (2)

Ron and Harry stared dumbfounded at the scene before them. They had heard Hermione's piercing scream and the tremendous noise of the troll destroying the bathroom. They had rushed in to save her with a sense of tragic resolve.

Before entering, they had imagined the scene they would encounter: a ferocious troll, an injured Hermione, a trashed bathroom. They had also imagined that they might not only fail to save her but also be hung up and beaten by the rampaging troll... They felt they were prepared.

But when they actually saw the state of the washroom, they felt they had underestimated the situation.

The washroom looked like it had been through a violent bombing. Broken bricks, cracked tiles, and glass were everywhere, reflecting the cold light. A mountain-like troll lay on the ground, its body seemingly pierced in one spot. A pool of spreading, grayish-green blood covered the floor. Against the wall, Hermione used her own body as a shield, tightly covering Eliana.

Eliana struggled to poke her head out from under Hermione's arm, crawling on the ground behind her with a scraping sound, like a small turtle with its neck extended, pinned down by a heavy stone.

Upon clearly seeing where the troll had been blasted through, the two of them simultaneously gasped, sucking in a breath of cold air. Though not of the same species, they felt an almost empathetic pain and stumbled back two steps, clutching themselves.

"This troll... isn't dead yet?" Ron asked, his voice trembling, after hearing Eliana's battle declaration. "It's also, rather pitiful--"

"ROAR!!!"

As if responding to his words, the troll on the ground roared and shakily tried to push itself up. It seemed to be in a state of furious rage.

It clutched its lower abdomen with one hand, trembling with pain, but its usually foolish, dull little eyes were now filled with the fire of vengeance. It reached for a club lying on the ground.

Harry bravely lunged forward: "Hermione, get up, run!"

He shouted as he climbed onto the troll's back. Normally, a mountain-like troll wouldn't even notice this, but this was a mountain whose foundations had been blown apart. The troll lurched forward from the impact.

Harry seized the opportunity and shoved his wand into the troll's nostril. The troll roared and thrashed, its nose in excruciating pain.

Its long arms flailed wildly, smashing against the walls, making the entire room seem to shake.

Hermione, snapping back to reality, helped the weakened Eliana up and tried to dodge the rampaging troll to escape. This was difficult. As soon as the troll saw Eliana move, it ignored Harry on its back and let out a howl, charging towards her to impale her.

Hermione, supporting Eliana, dodged the troll's attack clumsily. Shards of pottery flew past their ears. She cried out to Ron, "Help us!"

Eliana leaned most of her weight on Hermione, raising her wand with her remaining strength. Her voice overlapped with Ron's: "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The wooden club in the troll's hand flew high into the air and smashed down onto its own head with a thud.

After suffering several blows, the troll finally couldn't hold on any longer. In fact, it had been unable to hold on since being pierced, its existence sustained only by rage. It fell heavily to the ground.

"Is it... dead?" Ron asked.

"Probably not now, but it's unconscious. Once it bleeds out, it probably will be," Eliana said weakly but coldly. "Let's leave quickly, and 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 if they were watching two giant scorpions plotting loudly. Ron, who had asked the question, looked like he wanted to slap himself.

"What are you doing now?!"

A series of loud footsteps approached rapidly, like a group of people running, and then despairing faces appeared before them—McGonagall, Snape, Quirrell.

Professor McGonagall looked like she was about to faint from anger: "Why are you here? We said students should return to their dormitories! Don't you know you could have been killed by the troll?!"

"I have my doubts about that last statement."

Professor Snape, who was observing the troll, interjected in a peculiar voice: "What an exquisite Explosion Charm. I daresay many older students couldn't achieve such an effect. Perhaps this has given a certain young lady the capital to be arrogant and overconfident, thinking she could take on a troll alone, is that right?"

He stood up from beside the troll, his sharp gaze sweeping over Harry, Ron, and Hermione, finally settling on Eliana: "And so she led her little companions in a heroic battle—it looks like it was quite intense."

He menacingly approached Eliana.

Professor McGonagall pondered for a moment, seeming to find his words reasonable. Her angry gaze also turned back to Eliana.

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Eliana, leaning weakly against Hermione, suddenly saw a large cauldron flying towards her.

What the hell?

Am I sick to go and fight a troll alone? Does fighting trolls drop gold coins? And what kind of attention would that bring? One wrong move and it would be my grave.

Even if you are my favorite professor, you can't just pin this on me!

Eliana immediately struggled to cry out in protest, but a voice spoke before she could.

"No, that's not it!"

Hermione suddenly stepped forward, shielding Eliana behind her: "It was me—I read about trolls in a book and thought I could handle them. They came to save me."

Good girl! Loyal!

But when you stepped forward, did you forget that I'm still half-crippled, leaning on you!

Eliana, losing her support, suddenly slumped heavily to the side with a thud.

She fell downwards helplessly. In her peripheral vision, she saw Snape watching them with a cold sneer. Anger surged within her, and a malicious impulse arose. She twisted her body in mid-air—and forcefully struck Snape's leg with her face!

In truth, Eliana knew this maneuver would cause zero damage to the other party and severe self-harm, but she just wanted to vent her frustration. Unexpectedly, as her face slammed down, Snape let out a sharp gasp, and a faint scent of blood lingered in the air.

Did I break my own nose?

As expected of Professor Snape, he can inflict so much damage even when standing still, amazing.

Before Eliana could continue her thoughts, her vision spun. She found herself being lifted up.

Professor McGonagall, though heartbroken, began to speak to Hermione in a gentler tone, deducting five points from Gryffindor, and then adding five points to each of the three who acted bravely—but Eliana couldn't feel any joy from the points being added.

She was lifted by the scruff of her collar, suspended in the air, and shrank her head, meeting the unfriendly gaze of Professor Snape.

She bared her small fangs, attempting to force a pleasing smile.

The Serpent King was not pleased and hissed, spitting venom, "What, our brave Miss Richie..."

Eliana, who had been holding on by sheer force, finally gave up. Her eyes rolled back.

"Prof... Professor Snape! Eliana looks like she's a bit dead!"

Ron, whose eyes had been darting towards them since Snape approached, let out a sharp yelp.

Snape: ???

She just blew through a troll completely unharmed, not even a scratch on her, and she fainted just as he was about to scold her?

She's faking it, right?

He instinctively reached out and shook her, and Eliana's head, which had been hanging limply, bobbed along with his movement.

She's really fainted?

Professor McGonagall rushed over, "Severus!"

She said with clear disapproval, "This is a poor child who just encountered a troll! She's injured now!"

"Yes, yes," Snape cleared his throat and casually changed his grip from holding to scooping. Eliana's arms and legs dangled limply from the air, like a puppy being scooped up by its middle, forming an 'o-n' shape, "I was just about to take her to the hospital wing."

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