Do You Dare to Accept

The professors searched the castle all night, opening every door and checking every secret passage—they practically turned Hogwarts upside down—but by dawn, they still hadn't found any trace of the Troll.

As a result, Quirrell became the target of everyone's criticism.

Faced with the professors' questioning gazes, Quirrell huddled in a corner, sobbing, "I might... have misread it."

You know... the underground classroom is very dark... that might be armor... or stone statues or something..."

"There are no such things in the underground classrooms!" Snape said coldly, his face grim. "Besides, I don't think any normal person would mistake armor for Troll."

"But...but I...I don't..." Quirrell stammered, unable to speak.

He genuinely had no idea what had happened. He was the one who had released that Troll; how could it have suddenly disappeared?

A Troll over ten feet tall vanished into thin air without a sound... Has Hogwarts become that dangerous?

"Perhaps you've had too many things to think about lately, and you're experiencing hallucinations."

Snape suddenly said in a sinister tone, "I suggest you drink Potions. How about tomorrow? I'll personally deliver it to you, and I guarantee it will leave you feeling refreshed and energetic."

"No... Severus... it's alright..."

Quirrell shook his head repeatedly, saying, "I have Potions... so I won't trouble you..."

He dared not drink the Potions Snape gave him; who knew if it contained anything like Veritaserum?

"It's alright, just Invigoration Draught, nothing to worry about." Snape wasn't about to let Quirrell off so easily, and said again.

It seems he just enjoys helping others.

"Really... it's not necessary..."

Looking at Snape's gloomy face, Quirrell broke out in a cold sweat, fearing that Snape would force-feed him the drug.

Fortunately, at that moment, Professor Flitwick suddenly spoke up and asked, "Minerva, what do we do now?"

Quirrell felt as if he had been granted a pardon and immediately shrank back to the back of the crowd.

Professor McGonagall gave him a displeased look before saying, "Inform the Prefect to have all the students come to the Great Hall. This farce should end now."

Before long, the students arrived at the Great Hall, led by their Prefect.

The professors were already waiting here, except for Snape.

He was bitten by Fluffy last night and only managed to wander around the castle all night thanks to a little bit of Essence of Dittany. He's back in his office now.

In the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall stood at the front and told everyone that the Troll was no longer in the castle.

The crisis is over.

The young wizards immediately cheered.

"I've said it before... there are no Troll."

At the Gryffindor dinner table, Ron exclaimed excitedly, "Seriously, I fall for these kinds of scams at least twice a week, and you guys still don't believe me!"

However, everyone was busy celebrating, and no one paid attention to what he said.

Only Harry patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I have to apologize to you, friend."

Although Hermione heard it too, she didn't tell the two the truth. Instead, she stood on tiptoe and tried to see where Hufflepuff was.

There, Kyle was clapping just like everyone else, showing absolutely no sign of anything amiss.

"Is this person really the youngest recipient of the Special Award for Services to the School?" Hermione was once again gripped by self-doubt.

Kyle, of course, had no idea what Hermione was thinking, and of course, even if he did, he wouldn't care.

As long as Hermione keeps it a secret, it's fine.

For a while afterward, Kyle would spend some time each day in the box trying to tame the Troll.

Although Troll are stupid and clumsy and can't use magic, they are still quite powerful in combat. They have thick skin and great strength, so they would definitely be good as tanks in the front line.

Moreover, being stupid has its advantages; it means it doesn't have many ideas, making it easy to command.

For Kyle, this wasn't too difficult.

Every time he came, if the Troll showed any aggressive behavior, he would beat Troll up without hesitation.

Kyle was very careful with his strength; he didn't hit it hard, but he made sure the Troll felt pain, and then he gave it some food before leaving.

With a combination of carrot and stick, the Troll quickly became docile. After that, when it saw Kyle again, it showed no aggression and only grinned foolishly.

No one knows who spread the word, but within a few days everyone knew that Professor Quirrell was too timid and mistook the shadow of some unknown thing for Troll, which led to the joke at the Halloween Feast.

This turned Professor Quirrell, who was already unpopular, into the laughingstock of everyone.

This was the first time they had ever seen a professor so timid, and they couldn't understand how he dared to become the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Fred and George even made a bet to guess when Professor Quirrell would leave Hogwarts and what his final fate would be.

They originally just wanted to have some fun, but they didn't expect so many people to participate. The young wizards didn't seem to mind spending a few Knut or Sickle to have some fun.

Over the course of a few days, they received a total of about a dozen Galleon.

This unexpected success quickly made the twins a little overconfident. During a meal, they excitedly told Kyle:

"This makes money much faster than selling things!"

Fred patted his jingling money bag. "It's like picking money up off the ground."

Kyle looked up and asked, "How many people are involved now?"

"There are 129 people right now," George blurted out. "People from all four houses."

"So many..." Cedric exclaimed incredulously.

He had initially thought there would be at most twenty or thirty people.

"Professor Quirrell is all the rage right now..." Fred said. "Anything related to him always attracts attention."

"What about you guys? Want to join in too?" Fred asked, shaking his money bag.

Cedric and Kanna both shook their heads; they weren't interested in such things.

However, Kyle thoughtfully stroked his chin.

"That sounds interesting," he asked. "What are your rules?"

"It's very simple..." Seeing Kyle's interest, Fred smiled even more broadly.

"Two choices: when Professor Quirrell leaves Hogwarts, and his final fate. If you answer correctly, we will refund double the amount."

"How about that? Isn't it a great deal?"

Kyle nodded.

"Right? Which one do you want to guess?"

"I'll guess everything." Kyle pulled out a Galleon and slammed it on the table.

"There are twenty Galleon here. Do you dare to take them?"