Professors

Ron clutched his face and screamed, "You killed a troll?!"

Harry looked around. Seeing that no one else seemed inclined to pay Ron any attention, he said, "No, Hermione knocked the troll out." After a pause, he unconsciously added, "With the Levitation Charm."

The reason the two of them had clashed earlier in the Charms Class classroom was that Hermione had tried to teach Ron how to use the Levitation Charm correctly, but her instructive manner had only made Ron more resentful.

"—Hermione?" Ron was indeed shocked. He muttered, "Th-this... how is that possible? That was... that was a troll!"

Hermione gave a forceful "Hmph!" Gripping her Wand, she stared at the motionless figure on the ground, both excited and terrified, as though something in her blood had awakened.

Padma poked her head out from behind Wade and asked softly, "Is the troll dead?"

"No." Wade looked at the troll's faintly rising and falling chest. "It's only unconscious."

"Oh—that's good." Padma patted her chest.

A flurry of footsteps suddenly sounded—Professor McGonagall rushed over first, her face deathly pale; Professor Snape followed close behind, his black robes billowing out behind him; then came Professor Flitwick, whose small frame ran incredibly fast but still could not catch up to the first two; Professor Quirrell came last. The moment he saw the troll's enormous, callused feet, he clutched his chest and let out a sob, looking as though he were about to faint.

Snape shot a quick glance at Harry, who stood blankly to one side, then bent down to examine the troll. In his distinctive high-pitched voice, Professor Flitwick squealed, "Oh, Merlin! Children, are you all right?"

"We're fine, Professor!" Michael said excitedly. "Other than nearly throwing up from the troll's stench."

Professor Flitwick happily patted his arm and praised loudly, "Well done! First-years—you defeated a troll! I dare say not many people could manage that! How did you defeat such a large creature?"

"Hahaha, it was everyone's effort." Michael tried to rein in his broad grin and said as modestly and seriously as he could, "Potter rushed out and drew its attention—"

Professor Snape immediately glared at Harry with a piercing look. Harry hurriedly lowered his head, wishing Michael had never mentioned him, while Ron beside him looked at him enviously.

"We all used Avis to distract it, and then Wade used a Spell—"

Michael had forgotten what it was and turned to look at Wade.

"Slippery Slope," Wade said.

"Right—it was Slippery Slope, which made the troll fall down." Michael continued, "Then Hermione used the Levitation Charm to knock it out."

Professor Flitwick clapped in admiration. "Excellent teamwork! How marvelous! You achieved incredible results with simple spells. I'm giving each of you five points!"

"Filius!"

Professor McGonagall shouted. Her unprecedentedly stern tone made Professor Flitwick, who had been happily gesturing about, shrink back slightly. He silently shut his mouth and stepped aside.

The witch in green robes swept an icy gaze over every student. Everyone who met her eyes involuntarily lowered their heads, including Wade.

"Trolls are extremely dangerous creatures. Countless adult wizards have been killed by trolls! The moment you encountered one, you should have run away at once and found a professor to deal with it! This time, you were lucky it didn't kill you!—Miss Granger!"

Hermione flinched.

Professor McGonagall looked at the top of the girl's brown head and asked, "I recall that you took leave this afternoon because you were unwell. Why were you here?"

"I..." Hermione had probably never lied to a teacher before. Faced with the question, her mind was a mess, and she stammered, "I thought—I read about trolls in a book, I thought—"

Wade grabbed the girl's shoulder and pushed her aside—was this foolish girl about to say she thought she could fight a troll, so she had sneaked over to challenge it alone? That excuse was so stupid even a troll would not believe it.

And even if they did not believe her, what if someone pinned the blame for the troll entering the castle on them? It was not as though such things could not happen. Wade remembered that in the original story, Harry had been misunderstood by his schoolmates more than once or twice.

"She felt a little better in the evening and didn't want to miss the feast, so we were originally going to the Great Hall together," Wade said calmly. "When we passed by here, Hermione and Padma went to the bathroom. Michael and I waited for a while, and when we left, we ran into the troll. We really should have run away immediately, but it happened so suddenly that everyone was frightened stiff and didn't react in time. Fortunately, Harry Potter drew the troll's attention and reminded us."

The professors looked at Harry again. The boy's face had turned bright red, and he could not shake the feeling that he did not deserve such high praise.

Michael gave Wade a thoughtful glance, understanding something. He added, "Yeah, he smashed a bucket over the troll's head and shouted for us to run—it was really brave."

Professor Snape said, "—A bucket?"

Harry stared at the ground, feeling as though Professor Snape's gaze was cutting him to pieces—he now suspected these two Ravenclaws were praising him so hard only to divert the professors' attention.

"And what about you, Mr. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall turned to Ron. "Why didn't you return to your Dormitory obediently?"

Just moments ago, Ron had been thinking that he should have gone with Harry back then, so he could have become the hero who saved everyone—and more importantly, made that haughty Granger look at him in a new light. But when Professor McGonagall suddenly called on him, he was left speechless, forgetting what he was supposed to say.

Professor McGonagall's gaze gradually sharpened.

Harry could only stand up for his good friend. Gathering his courage, he said, "Ron was trying to warn us that there was a troll—"

"Yes, we all heard him!" Professor Snape suddenly sneered. Mockingly, he said, "Shouting in the corridor as though he were afraid the troll might fail to notice him—I imagine your books should mention that a troll's hearing is particularly sensitive? Oh—Mr. Weasley's textbooks have probably never been opened, have they? Much like our Star of Salvation—Mr. Harry Potter, who used a bucket to attract the troll's attention—heh, a bucket?! I sincerely hope you haven't forgotten that you're still a wizard!"

The two Gryffindors' ears turned red with shame and indignation.

Michael silently gave Wade a thumbs-up in his heart—if they had not elevated Harry Potter, they might have been the ones receiving the sarcastic mockery now. What he did not know was that Snape's fixation on Harry was eternal, unwavering until death. Even if there had been a thousand people here, all he would have seen was Harry Potter.

But with Professor Snape taking over, Professor McGonagall's anger seemed to ease. After a moment of consideration, she said, "Since there were understandable circumstances, I won't deduct any additional points from you. I will inform Professor Dumbledore about this. All of you, hurry back to your Common Rooms—the students are enjoying the Halloween Feast in their own Houses!"

Everyone hurried away. Once they were out of the professors' sight, someone suddenly snorted with laughter, and one after another, they all began to laugh.