The Giant Monster Teacher

"Clap, clap, clap." Tver applauded as he stepped into the bathroom. "An excellent Pressure Charm. It's hard to imagine you only learned that spell this afternoon."

"Professor Fawley!"

Hermione's face lit up with joy. Her hand channeling magic slackened involuntarily, and she could no longer maintain the Pressure Charm.

Feeling the pressure beneath its feet vanish, the troll suddenly stumbled.

It had just exerted too much force, and now that things had become easy, it had yet to adjust.

The troll wracked its little brain and pondered in confusion for a moment. Finding no answer, its limited mind was left with only one thought—

Tear apart the two people in front of it!

The joy on Hermione's face instantly vanished. Her eyes widened helplessly as she watched the troll swing its club down at her.

"Professor—"

Before she could finish, the troll seemed to freeze. It remained in its club-swinging pose, yet did not move an inch ten feet above her head.

"What's wrong?"

Tver emerged from behind the troll, though there was now a bubble on his nose.

He had been careless. The troll smelled a hundred times worse than the bathroom...

"Nothing... nothing," Hermione said, lowering her head shyly. "How did you know I was here?"

"Your two friends told me."

Tver "blew" the troll outside as he helped Hermione to her feet.

The little witch's legs were still weak, and she could barely stand steadily.

"What kind of friends do that?" she muttered, pouting.

"Don't blame them. Treat everyone who cares about you as a friend, and you'll have more friends."

After repairing the bathroom on the way out, he finally released Hermione's hand and let her join her classmates.

The students had arrived, and several concerned professors stood some distance away.

The corridor was packed with people. Percy struggled to maintain order; getting young wizards to obey was no easy task.

"Stand according to your House and year! First-years in front, third-years in the back, and second-years? Of course second-years go in the middle!"

Suddenly, everyone fell silent and looked expectantly behind him.

Percy turned around. "Professor! I've brought all the first- through third-year students from the four Houses!"

Tver nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you very much, Percy. Please stay here a while longer. As a reward, you'll get to practice magic on the troll at the end."

Percy immediately beamed. "It is my honor to be of service."

Only then did Tver turn to face the young wizards, pointing at the troll farther down the corridor.

"As you can see, we have a Mr. Troll here. Tonight's extra lesson will be taught by him."

He arranged the troll's body in a spread-eagle position so the students could clearly see every part of it.

"So first of all, what exactly is a troll?"

Hermione shot her hand into the air, standing out conspicuously among the third-years.

"Hermione." Tver flicked his wand. "A brief aside: Miss Granger held off the troll for at least twenty minutes using magic she had only learned this afternoon, so Gryffindor receives ten points!"

Having instantly become the center of attention, Hermione blushed with embarrassment, but she still gathered her courage and answered loudly.

"A troll is a magical creature with astonishing strength but very low intelligence. Because of that, they are extremely violent and often attack others for no reason."

"Correct. Trolls are generally divided into three types: mountain trolls, forest trolls, and river trolls. The one we have here is a mountain troll."

"Professor, do all trolls smell this bad?" a first-year asked.

They stood at the front, closest to the troll, which also meant they smelled it most strongly.

"Other than river trolls, the other two types don't smell very pleasant. After all, it's difficult to make creatures like these understand the point of bathing."

Considering the young wizards' tolerance, Tver put a bubble over the troll and sealed the smell inside.

Only then did the students breathe a sigh of relief.

"I imagine you've also noticed that trolls have very small heads. The Muggle world likes to measure a creature's intelligence by its brain capacity. The wizarding world does too, actually."

"But bear in mind that some magical creatures may have small brains without necessarily lacking intelligence. So do not underestimate any magical creature—they may be smarter than you."

"Of course, this rule still applies to trolls. So while they may have thick legs and long arms, their tiny heads are actually their fatal weakness."

"This is another principle of biology—no creature is perfect. As long as you find its weakness, you can easily defeat this troll as well."

"Next, I will allow some outstanding young wizards to come forward and demonstrate how to deal with a troll."

The moment he finished speaking, the young wizards erupted into excited shouts, as if being louder could prove how outstanding they were.

Tver took out a jingling bag. This was the first batch of Shield Charm badges he had commissioned from Dervish and Banges.

Of course, what other little enchantments were inside was known only to him.

"Remember the light orb game? The top ten students from each year, please come forward to collect your badges."

Amid the disappointed sighs of the other students, thirty top-ranking students stepped forward with their heads held high, each taking a badge from their pocket in turn.

"This is a protective badge. It can protect you when you encounter danger, so pin it as close to the center of your body as possible, such as around your waist or abdomen—Mr. Malfoy, I know wearing it on your chest suits your handsome face better, but please follow instructions."

A faint blush appeared on Malfoy's pale face as he hurriedly pinned the badge to the center of his abdomen.

Harry watched the scene with amusement. At first, he had also wanted to pin it to his chest, but after seeing Malfoy do so, he gave up on the idea.

"Very good. Now, let the ten first-year students come closer."

Tver removed the Freezing Charm from the troll, but cast a Slowing Charm immediately afterward, allowing it to break through the bubble he had placed on it as though moving in slow motion.

The stench drifted over, making the ten students' eyes water.

"The stench is also one of a troll's methods of attack. Also, did you notice its long arms? They are another fairly obvious means of attack. Some unlucky wizards ignored the reach of its arms and were slapped flat alive."

The students immediately took a frightened step back, even though they were still some distance away.

"So here's the question: as first-years, how would you deal with this troll? All first-year students may think about it."

Hermione was still the first to raise her hand. "Use the Pressure Charm to hinder the troll's movements!"

"Yes, that was also Miss Granger's method for dealing with the troll just now. Its feet are particularly large, so casting the Pressure Charm is especially easy and effective."

"What else? Keep in mind that the troll's weakness is its head."

Trying to make up for his earlier embarrassment, Malfoy loudly guessed, "Flash its eyes?"

"Exactly right!" Tver snapped his fingers excitedly, and all the torches in the corridor flickered.