Troll Practical Lesson (Part 2)

Wednesday arrived quickly. This was the first joint practical lesson for two year groups and all four Houses, and a great many young wizards had come to attend.

Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout were all present. Most unusually, Snape had come as well, though Sagreles suspected he was probably there to see what sort of trouble he would cause.

Although there were many young wizards, every one of them behaved obediently. After all, they were at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, with the Head of each House watching closely, so they remained fairly well-behaved.

"I know you may have some questions, but I'm sorry—I can't reveal the specific details of this practical lesson."

"I've been teaching you for nearly five months now, and I hope to see some real results. So this practical lesson will count as a test, mainly assessing your ability to react under pressure. Every spell you'll need has already been taught in class. And don't worry, I've placed protective magic on every one of you. None of you will come to any real harm."

After calming the somewhat excited young wizards, Sagreles continued, "Before the test begins, you may form your own groups. Three groups will enter the testing grounds at a time. Remember, your objective is to find a crystal bottle carved with runes. As long as you successfully bring it out of the testing grounds, you'll have passed."

"To ensure the accuracy of the test, I won't be placing Mechanical Mind on you this time. But I sincerely hope you can still remain calm and rational."

Sagreles then gave the young wizards half an hour to form their own groups.

In the end, they formed more than twenty groups of varying sizes. The largest had over thirty people, while the smallest had only two.

"Begin! You've already mastered every spell you'll need."

The moment Sagreles announced the start, three teams vanished at once.

The thirty-person Slytherin team was sent to the troll zone, the five-person Gryffindor team to the woodland troll zone, and the two-person Ravenclaw team to the water troll zone.

The thirty-person team consisted of all the seventh-year students from Slytherin House. After passing through the entrance, they arrived in a rugged mountain range strewn with boulders.

The students quickly spread out and began searching for the crystal bottle.

"Crystal bottle, come here!" A student tried using the Summoning Charm, but naturally, nothing happened.

"Reveal the hidden!" Another student tried to use Aparecium to expose hidden objects.

"I found it! It's embedded in a rock..."

A Slytherin student shouted. Half the crystal bottle was lodged in a boulder before him, and several casts of Relashio had done nothing.

"I'll give it a try." Another student stepped forward. He muttered a few incantations, and a flash of light appeared at the tip of his wand. The stone around the crystal bottle began to tremble slightly before finally loosening.

"Did it work?" The surrounding students gathered around and watched curiously.

"Not yet. I think we'll have to work together to get it out," said the student holding the wand as he turned to the others.

"Shattering Curse!" A girl immediately fired a Shattering Curse at the boulder. Several cracks split across its surface, sending tiny stone chips flying.

"Stop! You'll smash the bottle!"

"Use your brain. Do you really think that bottle would break so easily?"

"Together. Use the Shattering Curse to destroy the rock."

The students gathered together, pointed their wands at the stone, and chanted in unison, "Shattering Curse!"

As the spell rang out, the boulder immediately shattered into fragments. The runes on the crystal bottle began to flash, and a tremendous force suddenly surged from within it, blasting the students back again and again.

"What is that?" someone cried in terror. Through the crystal bottle, they saw a massive figure not far away breaking free from its restraints—it was a Mountain Troll!

The troll roared and slammed its enormous fist into the ground, shaking stones loose and sending them flying everywhere. The students scattered in panic. Some tried to cast defensive spells, while others attempted to flee the area.

"Stay calm!" Walter, Slytherin's prefect, shouted. "Use the Impediment Jinx! Don't let it get close!"

The students responded one after another. The lights from their wands intertwined, forming a barrier that tried to halt the troll's advance.

"Professor Greengrass said to attack its head!"

"The professor said we should try to avoid it first..."

"Idiot! How are we supposed to avoid it with this many people?"

"Knock it down! The exit's behind it..."

"Impedimenta!"

"Oppugno!"

More than thirty people unleashed magic against a single troll. Under such a blanket assault, quite a few spell blasts struck the troll's head, but the Alpine Rock Troll's head was covered in a thick layer of stony hide, giving it extremely strong resistance to magic.

"No, it's an Alpine Rock Troll! Its skull is protected by a hard shell."

"Use the Conjunctivitis Curse."

The moment Furen said that, the troll swatted him off the boulder with one massive palm. The remaining twenty-odd students watched as he turned into a flash of white light and vanished in midair.

The sight startled the young wizards. Some had already begun trying to use the Disillusionment Charm to avoid the front lines, sneaking toward the exit Portkey, only to discover that they couldn't use it.

"Diffindo!"

A white spell blast struck the troll's head, shattering one of its horns outright. But the spell did not bring it down. Instead, it completely enraged it.

The Alpine Rock Troll grabbed a massive chunk of stone from the ground and hurled it toward the densest cluster of young wizards.

The boulder crashed into the crowd with a thunderous boom. Several unlucky young wizards who were struck immediately turned into white light and vanished.

"Rictusempra!" In desperation, a student used the jinx he was best at, but his aim was off, and the spell struck someone else in his own team.

The struck girl immediately clutched her stomach and burst into laughter. The troll stepped forward and rammed her with its broken horn, turning her into a flash of white light.

"Idiot, what did you do?"

"It's not my fault! She was running too fast!"

Another student used a Transfiguration Spell to turn stones into a group of enormous white rabbits. The rabbits scattered at once, immediately drawing the troll's attention.

Seeing this, the other students waved their wands. Amid the overlapping glow of Transfiguration Spells, colorful little animals leaped through the smoke.

The troll's muddy yellow eyes rolled back and forth before it suddenly smashed the boulder in its hand into the ground. Amid the flying rubble, two fleeing Slytherins turned into fading shadows under the impact.

Some young wizards trying to escape in the chaos were caught up in it as well, turning into white light beneath the whistling barrage of flying rocks.

In just over ten minutes, the team of more than thirty had been scattered by the troll's assault, leaving only around ten people. Nearly all of those remaining had cast Disillusionment Charms on themselves, and the troll finally quieted down.

The students staggered toward the exit. This time, they successfully used the Portkey to teleport away.

Meanwhile, the five-person Gryffindor team quickly settled on a strategy after encountering a Woodland Troll in the dense forest. Rather than trying to hide with Disillusionment Charms, they directly chose to use Incendio to set the nearby trees ablaze.

They deliberately flung the flames into the canopy, turning the tall fir trees into torches over ten meters high. The Woodland Troll retreated in panic, and in the end, even the glowing moss on its back caught fire, driving it away completely.

The Ravenclaw pair, however, was not so fortunate. The moment their crystal bottle touched the swamp, a three-meter-tall Mud Troll rose from the foul water.

The two were startled. Miranda reacted first and immediately cast Glacius, but the instant her wand touched the water's surface, the troll bit her into a flash of white light.

The other girl reacted a little too slowly. After seeing her companion vanish, she clearly panicked. Although she also cast Glacius and successfully froze the troll, the crystal bottle was frozen as well, leaving her no choice but to give up.

Snape stood there like a black statue. Whenever students from another House made a mistake, his cold sneer seemed to make the air temperature plummet. "It seems Ravenclaw's wisdom isn't all that impressive either..."

"But they didn't do too badly, did they?" Professor McGonagall's lips pressed into a straight line, and the Transfiguration textbook in her hand had been wrinkled from her grip—until she saw the Gryffindor students trap the troll with fire. Only then did she loosen her white-knuckled fingers, revealing a fleeting smile. "But is this really all right?"

"That's precisely what they're being tested on, Minerva," Professor Flitwick interjected. "They need to learn how to think and act under pressure. After all, there aren't many places as safe as Hogwarts..."

Sagreles waved his hand, restoring all the testing grounds to their original state, then packed the trolls back into their small bottles.

After that, more groups entered the testing grounds. Every group had more or less some problems, but several students performed brilliantly.

Joffren, a sixth-year Ravenclaw student, used Defodio to dig a trap and successfully trapped the not-so-intelligent Mountain Troll.

Coopers, a seventh-year Hufflepuff student, used the Levitation Charm to move a rock above a Swamp Troll's head, then used Descendo to slam it into the troll's skull, knocking it unconscious on the spot.

Peian, a seventh-year Slytherin student, used the Swamp Curse to trap a Woodland Troll and passed the test with ease.

Grace, a sixth-year Gryffindor student, used Deprimo to knock down the troll, then struck its head with Boulder Impact.

Some people simply used Disillusionment Charms to avoid the trolls. Some used Oppugno to knock out Forest Trolls directly. Some used Glisseo to topple Mountain Trolls. Some used Drying Charms to weaken River Trolls. Others used Transfiguration Spells to alter the terrain.

"These children have more dueling potential than I expected." Professor Flitwick clapped and laughed. "But getting them to use these spells proficiently won't be easy. On that point, I know better than anyone."

Professor Sprout nodded as well. "Indeed. It seems Sagreles's teaching has been quite effective."

Finally, when the last group of students emerged from the testing grounds carrying their crystal bottle, cheers rang out across the edge of the Forbidden Forest.