The Troll

Professor McGonagall nodded upon hearing Brie's words. "Unicorns do not like to interact with wizards, but any wizard who has seen one will be granted good fortune."

"Your Transfiguration is already quite impressive, but I do not think this is the time for you to begin studying Human Transfiguration."

Professor McGonagall picked up her wand and waved it at Brie. The unicorn head on Brie's hood suddenly became lifelike, its large eyes peering around with curiosity.

"The dangers of Human Transfiguration are self-evident; even I would not dare to use it lightly, so you must stop... This is for your own good. There is still much homework you need to complete before you can study Human Transfiguration."

McGonagall tapped Brie's forehead with her wand and said, "Hide your little schemes. I know you are only doing this to ask me for your next study plan."

Professor McGonagall was not truly angry. Instead, she turned and wrote on a slip of paper:

Breeze Order is permitted to borrow "Living and Dead Objects in Transfiguration" from the library's Forbidden Section for one month.

--Minerva McGonagall

"You may read this book for a while; it is still quite difficult."

A smile flickered in Brie's eyes as he nodded with reserved composure. "I will study it diligently, Professor McGonagall."

Taking the borrowing permit, Brie bid farewell to Professor McGonagall with great satisfaction.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall, Happy Holidays... Oh, I mean, Trick or Treat!"

Professor McGonagall's eyes crinkled into crescents. She reached into her robes and pulled out some prepared sweets. "These are from Dumbledore; perhaps you will like them."

Toffee?

Pumpkin-flavored!

Brie left Professor McGonagall's office and prepared to head to the first floor. As evening fell, the many pumpkin decorations floating throughout the castle began to glow. Bats and dark clouds swirled and drifted in the air, and the jack-o'-lanterns flickered on and off, looking incredibly interesting. It was never this fun when Brie spent Halloween at the orphanage.

"Oh, look, that's Oude. What is he wearing?"

"He has a head on his head—it's a unicorn!"

Brie's attire caught the attention of the young wizards in the Great Hall, especially the vivid unicorn mask on his head.

Under the silver unicorn outfit, Brie looked quite striking. The excessive attention was becoming too much for him to handle, so he hurried toward the Slytherin table. At the very least, he could turn around and talk to Cedric there, escaping this strange sensation.

"Your costume is amazing, Brie! I've seen a real unicorn before!" Cedric was very excited. He was dressed quite conventionally today in a farmer's outfit, and to fit the character, he had even smeared mud on his face.

Cedric tried to touch Brie's unicorn mask, but the mask turned its head away in dissatisfaction and snorted at him.

"It's truly beautiful."

"Thanks, Professor McGonagall helped me with it using Transfiguration. It looks pretty good."

It certainly did. As the professors took their seats at the high table, Dumbledore looked at Brie thoughtfully, as if probing something.

Brie politely returned a confused look, as if asking why Dumbledore kept staring at him.

Dumbledore snapped out of it. Professor McGonagall, seeing this, said something to him—likely about what Brie had told her earlier. Dumbledore then set aside his doubts, winked at Brie, and looked away.

It seems Dumbledore knows. Brie felt much more at ease, but what would Dumbledore do? There was a monster in the Forbidden Forest. Brie had already decided to pause his search for Trance Grass for the time being and turn his attention to the Forbidden Section to look for books related to the soul.

Before that, he still had to return Quirrell's notebook. Although he was confident he could restrain himself from touching it, keeping it meant he would always be watched by Quirrell. However, meeting him alone was too dangerous. Perhaps he could slip the book into the crack of the Defense Against the Dark Arts office door while Quirrell was away.

Like right now!

Brie took the unicorn mask off his head, stroked its horn, and handed it to Cedric.

"Don't stare at it. It's yours, but its magic will only last for three days before it turns back into an ordinary hood."

The unicorn was too conspicuous; it wouldn't be convenient for him to slip away.

"Oh, for me? That doesn't seem right..."

Brie ignored Cedric's protest and placed the mask on his head, then waved at him before casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself and leaving the Great Hall.

Cedric shrugged helplessly as he saw the nearby Badgers crowd around, competing to touch the unicorn on his head.

"Be careful, little badgers." Cedric was very kind and lowered his head. Because of the Disillusionment Charm, not many people noticed Brie leaving the table, and even if they did, no one cared—it was a matter of personal freedom.

Quietly retrieving Quirrell's notebook from the Owlery, Brie headed straight for the third floor, but he heard footsteps while on the fourth.

Brie hid in a corner and cast a Disillusionment Charm and a Desillusionment Charm on himself, only to see Professor Quirrell's back.

Brie's gaze shifted slightly downward, focusing only on Quirrell's heels. Human sensitivity was always beyond imagination, and Brie did not want to be discovered.

Follow him?

The direction Quirrell was heading seemed to be the Forbidden Corridor on the fourth floor, which Dumbledore had declared off-limits to students at the start of the term—a place where one would die a miserable death.

Brie would have to be a fool to follow him.

Brie was just about to wait for Quirrell to walk further away before leaving, when he suddenly stopped.

Quirrell looked back in a panic, which made Brie think he had been discovered, but Quirrell instead turned and hid in a corner not far from him.

"Tap, tap, tap!" A series of footsteps approached; it sounded exactly like Snape.

How unlucky.

Brie couldn't help but mutter to himself: Are these two playing tag? Can't you just let me leave first?

Snape walked to the fourth-floor forbidden area, paused for a moment, and then strode into the corridor without hesitation. It was only long after Snape had left that Quirrell slowly emerged.

"Mas-master, did Snape find out?"

"Yes, I will definitely obtain the Sorcerer's Stone."

Brie was not far from Quirrell and vaguely caught words like "Sorcerer's Stone" and "Master." Before he could react, Quirrell broke into a cold sweat and hurried away in agony.

"Please calm your anger, Snape does not trust me..."

Quirrell had left, seemingly heading toward the third floor.

"Master, the Sorcerer's Stone?" Brie looked toward the depths of the corridor, which was dark and gloomy. Immediately after, he heard the bark of a dog, followed by the sound of a door being shut by Snape.

Get out of here!

Brie ran toward the fifth floor. Today was not the right time to return the book to Quirrell; perhaps Brie could find another way, a method to make Quirrell take his eyes off him completely.

Snape really was quite a decent professor!

Upon hearing Quirrell say that Snape did not trust him, an idea had formed in Brie's mind: he could let Snape bear the pressure and help him break free from Quirrell.

It was clear that Quirrell feared Snape, and as for that contract, as long as he was no longer entangled with Quirrell, Brie could find an opportunity to remove it.

Returning to The Owlery, Brie began to rest, but he was unaware that this night was one where other young wizards found it difficult to sleep.

"A Troll!"

"They actually let a Troll in." In the Slytherin common room, Malfoy said to Pansy and Daphne nearby: "Dumbledore must be senile. To be this afraid of a single Troll—any senior student who has studied magic seriously could run circles around it."

Pansy echoed Malfoy: "Making us return from the feast in the Great Hall, it was a complete waste of the costumes we worked so hard to prepare. Malfoy's costume as the Elf Prince today was so charming..."

Pansy blushed as she spoke, stealing another glance at Malfoy's proud and handsome face.

"I hope Hogwarts' management can be more cautious; that Filch should be fired."

The situation in the other houses was the same as in Slytherin. Those frightened young wizards were mostly from the lower years, naive and inexperienced; they were only afraid because they had heard of the terror of Trolls without knowing much about them. The senior students, however, were puzzled by Dumbledore's decision. While they might find a Troll somewhat difficult to deal with, the professors were perfectly capable of handling it; there was no need for such a fuss.

"Has Cedric returned?" a Prefect asked in the Hufflepuff common room.

"Not yet. He said he was going to look for Breeze Order. Oude left the Great Hall during the feast."

The Prefect paced worriedly around the Hufflepuff common room, which was filled with pumpkin chairs. Finally, he clapped his hands and said: "I'm going to find Professor Sprout. You all stay here."

With that, the Prefect left the common room.

"What on earth are you playing at!"

In the second-floor Girls' Lavatory, a foul stench permeated the air. A massive Troll lay on the ground with a large lump on its head, apparently knocked unconscious.

Professor McGonagall stood at the entrance, furious, staring fixedly at Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Cedric inside the lavatory, with Snape and Quirrell following behind her.

Snape went to examine the Troll, while Quirrell timidly shrank to the side. Professor McGonagall calmed herself, and seeing that the children had no injuries, she said coldly: "You are lucky you weren't killed by it. Why weren't you staying safely in your dormitories?"

She looked at Cedric with a puzzled expression.

"I thought Mr. Diggory was an obedient young wizard. I have heard many praises for you from every house and from the professors, yet today you..."

Snape looked over as well, which prompted Hermione, the source of it all, to hurry forward.

"Don't be like that, Professor McGonagall. They were looking for me... and Brie. Wait, Brie isn't here!"

Hermione's eyes widened; because of the Troll, she hadn't thought of Brie!

Cedric knew Hermione was Brie's friend, and since Harry and the others said they had made Hermione cry and she was hiding in the lavatory, Cedric had wondered if Brie might have gone to find her, which was why he had followed Harry and the others.

Now it seemed Brie was not here.

Cedric said with a worried expression: "Brie left the Great Hall before the news of the Troll had even spread. He even gave the Unicorn Mask to me."

The Unicorn Mask was now covered in quite a bit of dust, clearly dirtied when Cedric and the others were dealing with the Troll just moments ago.

McGonagall looked at it, then turned her gaze to Hermione.

"Miss Granger!"

Thank you all for your recommendation votes, collections, and monthly tickets. I love you all (holding back).