A Certain Scientific Harry Potter 47

"Done~" With the Obscurus retracted back into his body, Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione with a smile.

"I... do you know I want to bash your head in right now?!"

Hermione stomped on Harry's foot in a fit of pique and marched into the next room, huffing with indignation.

She felt like slapping that self-proclaimed handsome face of his!

I gave you those looks, and this is what you show me at the end?

How are you going to compensate for my misplaced maiden heart, you jerk!

"Oops, I think I took the joke a bit too far~" Harry scratched his head awkwardly and hurriedly grabbed a Flying Broomstick to chase after her.

He had actually caught Hermione's gaze earlier; he just wanted to tease her.

After all, the broomstick could actually be used for the next challenge.

The next room on their path was already brightly lit, thanks to Hermione's early arrival.

A massive Wizard's Chess board covered almost the entire room. Black and white pieces stood in distinct ranks on either side; all of them lacked facial features and radiated a sharp, murderous aura.

The taller pieces, such as the bishops and castles, were nearly as tall as the ceiling, each gripping heavy weapons in their hands.

"This is bad... we aren't going to have to play a game of Wizard's Chess like the Weasleys, are we?"

The gloomy, murderous atmosphere made Hermione feel instinctively afraid, and she couldn't help but think of how Ron looked when he played... honestly, Hermione had always felt that Wizard's Chess was a truly barbaric game.

Harry felt her sentiment was spot on. In the original story, the trio only made it through because Ron commanded the game and sacrificed himself.

That kid really loved Wizard's Chess. Harry still remembered that when he first gave him a new set of pieces, he even played during Quirrell's class... wait!

Why is it Quirrell again?

Harry suddenly realized that if one counted Fluffy, all four challenges he had encountered so far seemed to have Quirrell's shadow over them!

(p.s. A quick note in advance: many of the characters we see in the original work aren't set in stone from the beginning; their perceptions evolve as the plot develops.

For example, Professor Snape—before he died, few would think he was particularly great; at most, they'd see him as a good teacher.

Dumbledore's situation is similar. Only after the Order of the Phoenix, when he personally sought out Horcruxes for Harry and was severely injured, did he truly become a great person who cared deeply for Harry. In the Sorcerer's Stone, it was actually a mix of care and utility.

Finally, Voldemort. This guy was indeed arrogant, but that arrogance only fully returned after his power and influence were restored. In Harry Potter 6 and 7, Voldemort was determined to kill Harry personally because he had the capital for such pride. But in the Sorcerer's Stone, when he had just returned in a weakened state, he wouldn't be so brain-dead as to insist on killing The Boy Who Lived by hand just to satisfy his ego. He would choose to duel Harry to keep the professors from interfering, but he would also keep all the traps in place to weaken Harry's strength as much as possible.

In short, everyone's personality, choices, and emotions differ at different stages of the plot, because characters are not caricatures; they change constantly with time and environment. That is all~)

Chapter 88: The True Way to Handle a Troll

Carefully recalling the four challenges he had passed, the more Harry thought about it, the more something felt off.

Fluffy's weakness of falling asleep to music was something Quirrell tricked out of Hagrid, and Harry had analyzed the clues himself.

The Devil's Snare set by Professor Sprout was also used by Quirrell when he fought Harry in the Forbidden Forest.

Professor Flitwick's challenge reminded one of Quidditch, and Quirrell had happened to attack Harry on the Quidditch pitch.

And these giant Wizard's Chess pieces, clearly modified by a Transfiguration spell—Quirrell had also hung around when Ron and Seamus Finnigan were slacking off in Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, and Harry had been sitting quite close then!

If all of this wasn't a coincidence...

"Forget it... let's keep moving. There's a way to pass this challenge even without playing the game." Shaking his head slightly to steady his thoughts, Harry mounted the Flying Broomstick. "We'll use the broom from the last room and fly straight through!"

He had come this far; he had to keep moving forward no matter what!

As for whether these were mere coincidences or actual breadcrumbs left by Quirrell, he would find out once he reached the end!

"Hey, aren't you only supposed to be able to hover slowly below the third floor? Are you really sure about this?" Hermione asked, feigning concern.

"Let's find out~" Harry tapped the front of the broom, his meaning clear.

"Let's find out then!" It was rare for Harry to want to ride a Flying Broomstick, and Hermione certainly wouldn't refuse.

She hurriedly sat sideways on the front of Harry's broom, turned, and wrapped her arms around his neck, her small face filled with excitement.

"Hold on tight, here we go!!"

After confirming Hermione was secure, Harry kicked off with both feet. The broom shot into the air like an arrow released from a bow, carrying the two of them straight toward the white army's formation!!

Moving with the speed of lightning, the white pawns in the first line didn't even have time to draw their weapons before Harry's broom swept past them, leaving them in the dust!

The enemy formation fell into chaos. The pieces, which had been like statues, erupted into action, but whether it was lances, scepters, or swords, in Harry's eyes, they all looked like lagging frames in a video—riddled with openings!

Under Harry's control, the Flying Broomstick dodged and weaved with agility, tracing complex and unpredictable paths through the air. With almost no effort, he carried them through the encirclement!

Harry even found the time to use the Diffindo spell to snap the head off the white King, pulling off a "taking the general's head amidst the chaos" maneuver right from his broom, shattering Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration chess array in one fell swoop!

"How was that? My skills aren't bad, right~" After clearing the formation, Harry let out a long breath and smiled at Hermione, not without a hint of pride.

"Mm-hmm, not bad at all~" The smile on Hermione's face couldn't be hidden. "As expected of your family's heritage. If you went out for Quidditch, Professor Flitwick would be grinning from ear to ear."

"Quidditch is a no-go; I'm really not interested in that stuff." Harry shrugged. Seeing the slight disappointment in Hermione's eyes, he added nonchalantly, "Of course, if you're interested, it wouldn't be impossible to take you for a flight like this again in the future~"

"It's a deal then... Mmph!" Hearing Harry's words, Hermione was so excited she nearly fell off the broom, hurriedly clinging tightly to Harry.

"Yeah... as long as we can get through the challenges ahead, we'll definitely have the chance to do whatever we want!"

Harry knew that from this point on, he had to be on his absolute guard.

Because the movie plot he was familiar with had officially come to an end!

Before facing Voldemort for real, there should still be the obstacles designed by Quirrell and Snape, content that the movies never showcased.

Fortunately, Harry had already guessed the general idea from the clues along the way.

If the final two chambers were like the previous ones, featuring "reminders" from Quirrell, then Harry felt he could roughly deduce the nature of the upcoming trials.

Continuing along the corridor, at the entrance to the next room, the two of them hadn't even opened the door before they caught a whiff of that familiar, nauseating stench!

"It's a Troll, hurry and put on the Invisibility Cloak!"

Harry's Invisibility Cloak finally came in handy again; at the very least, after he carefully pushed the door open, the behemoth on the other side didn't launch an attack immediately.

This was undoubtedly a challenge set up by Quirrell, and as expected, it was something he had experienced before.

Inside the room was a super-sized brute with a build like a small mountain; its five-meter height nearly brushed the ceiling, and the wooden club in its hand was as thick as a tree trunk. Compared to it, the Troll Harry and Hermione had dealt with on Halloween was, at best, a stunted little brother.

What made it even trickier for Harry was that the Troll's eyes were red, and its muscles were rippling like basalt, clearly in a state of visible berserk rage!

Taking down such a terrifying creature would be no easy task, so Harry and Hermione didn't intend to go head-to-head with it. They moved forward cautiously under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak, keeping their steps and breathing to a minimum, terrified of making even the slightest sound.

"Oh no!"

Yet sometimes things go against one's wishes. When Hermione felt her ankle accidentally snap a thin wire, she couldn't help but think that things had gone horribly wrong!

Ding!!

A piercing bell chime echoed suddenly through the room. To guard against Harry sneaking through, Quirrell had actually set up a trap using hair-thin wires on the floor!

"ROAR!!" The Troll, already in a state of berserk rage, opened its mouth to let out a ferocious roar and swung the thick tree trunk in its hand forward without a second thought!!

"Move!!" Seeing this, Harry could no longer worry about staying hidden; he had to grab Hermione and dive to the side, the two of them rolling into a ball on the ground.

The massive tree trunk smashed into the floor, leaving a terrifying web of cracks. Harry's expression turned grim at the sight.

If that had hit someone, they would likely have been turned into a puddle on the spot!

"Stupefy... no! Spells are ineffective against it!" Hermione whipped out her wand and quickly cast a Stunning Spell, but the Troll wasn't affected in the slightest and continued to charge forward with a thunderous stomp of its feet!

"This is the only way! Norbert, I'm counting on you!!" Harry's eyes widened as he pulled the pocket-sized Dragon from his pocket, woke it up, and threw it out with all his might!

"Finite Incantatem!!" Hermione coordinated immediately, waving her wand to cancel the Shrinking Charm on Norbert!

"ROAR!!"

This was the first enemy the young Dragon had faced since birth. Its form rapidly expanded in mid-air, and it opened its mouth to unleash a terrifying tongue of flame toward the Troll!

Following that, Norbert dove onto the Troll, accompanied by the raging dragon fire!

(p.s. The original movie didn't have this scene. The novel did have a Troll arranged by Quirrell, but to allow Harry and Hermione to reasonably clear the level and trigger the plot against Voldemort, the Troll—which was even stronger than the one on Halloween—was handled by Quirrell... In this book, however, Voldemort is clearly out to kill Harry, so he certainly wouldn't be kind enough to clear the monsters for him.

Also, the protagonist's image in the Wizard's Chess scene is a bit large; there's no helping that, as I couldn't find anything else. Cries a little, that's all~)

Chapter 89: Potion Logic Requires Visual Aids

BOOM!

The terrifying impact made the earth groan. Norbert's sharp-toothed maw bit fiercely into the Troll's shoulder, and its budding wings slashed into the Troll's arm, causing the club it held to crash heavily to the ground!

However, the Troll, already provoked into a frenzy, didn't show the slightest weakness. It raised its stone-hammer-like fists and began smashing them down onto the dragon's body in close proximity!

A Norwegian Ridgeback over four meters long and a terrifying Troll standing a full five meters tall—a war between giant beasts erupted without warning in this already cramped room!!

The Dragon roared, the Troll bellowed, and the entire room was filled with smoke. The thunderous tremors echoed continuously, shaking Harry and Hermione so hard they nearly fell over!

Yet what made them feel even more anxious was that... Norbert was gradually losing the upper hand.

There was no helping it; although the strength of a Norwegian Ridgeback was definitely not something a Troll could compare to, Norbert was only a hatchling, barely two months old from birth to now.

Furthermore, a dragon's combat skills ultimately needed to be honed through real-world experience. While the Room of Requirement could provide it with space to fly and bite, it couldn't provide the most important thing: a real opponent.

"We have to find a way to help Norbert... I've got it!" Catching sight of the thick wooden club the Troll had dropped to the side, Harry had an idea.

"Hermione, cast fire at the Troll's feet with everything you've got!!"

"Incendio!!"

Following Harry's instruction, Hermione immediately waved her wand, causing ball after ball of scorching fire to erupt beneath the Troll's feet!

At the same time, Harry unleashed his Obscurus power to its fullest, turning it into gusts of sharp, violent wind that shattered the wooden club on the ground and continuously swirled it toward the Troll!

The wind fueled the fire, and the flames beneath the Troll's feet surged high, the air around them even beginning to distort from the intense heat.

"ROAR!" Aided by the momentum of the flames, Norbert, who had just been losing, suddenly let out a violent roar and used its brute strength to send the Troll stumbling!

Norbert was a dragon born bathed in Harry's magical fire; the flames not only caused it no harm, but actually boosted its fighting spirit to the extreme!

"Norbert, knock it down!!"

Harry shouted from the side, while his swirling Obscurus began to focus its attacks on the Troll's feet, making the behemoth increasingly unsteady!

BOOM!!

Finally, with the combined efforts of Harry and Norbert, the Troll, standing over five meters tall, lost its footing and crashed backward with a deafening thud!

"Hermione!!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Harry didn't even need to say more; Hermione knew that she had to keep casting the Full Body-Bind Curse to prevent the Troll from getting back up. She whipped her wand, casting spell after spell onto the Troll without pause.

"Success!!" Seeing the Troll's struggle grow weaker and weaker, Hermione's face was suddenly filled with surprise.

"ROAR!!"

"This is the final blow!!"

Taking advantage of the Troll's inability to resist, Norbert and Harry let out a simultaneous roar. Sharp dragon teeth clamped tightly onto the Troll's throat, while the howling Obscurus transformed into two sharp spikes that plunged directly into the Troll's eyes, working together to tear the Troll's head apart!!

"Ugh... blegh!"

Seeing this scene, Hermione instinctively covered her mouth, turned around, and began to retch, nearly vomiting up her dinner.

"Are you alright..." Harry hurried over, gently stroking Hermione's back while handing her the water he had prepared earlier.

"I'm better now..." After taking a few sips of water, Hermione's complexion finally improved a little, though she still dared not look at the pile of Troll remains on the ground.

"That was truly terrifying just now..." Hermione patted her chest, panting. "But, why did it suddenly fall over for no reason?"

The studious girl was very confused; the Troll's pair of Padfoot were quite sturdy, and with Norbert's strength, it shouldn't have been able to shake it.

"It's because the ground was too hot, and it couldn't keep its footing." Harry explained, "Trolls are generally divided into three types: Mountain Troll, Forest Troll, and Water Troll. Clearly, their living environments are mostly damp. Therefore, even if its skin possesses excellent magical resistance, its feet certainly couldn't withstand the increasingly high temperature."

"So that's it... ugh!" Hermione, who was nodding, suddenly had her expression freeze on her face.