Halloween

October arrived in the blink of an eye, and Hogwarts grew colder.

The first month of term passed peacefully, with only a few minor incidents.

What Sagreles heard most often was that Harry Potter had been chosen as Gryffindor's youngest Seeker in a century.

The second most talked-about matter was how Professor Quirinus Quirrell had turned Defense Against the Dark Arts into a textbook example of failed teaching.

That left Sagreles somewhat puzzled, because Professor Quirrell, like him, had once attended Ravenclaw.

He'd also heard that Quirrell had excelled academically as a student and possessed an outstanding grasp of magical theory. His only flaw was a lack of confidence and an introverted, sensitive nature.

When Sagreles had been a student, Professor Quirrell had briefly taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. He'd taken his class, and honestly, Quirrell hadn't been a particularly good teacher.

Quirrell's attitude toward Muggle culture had been somewhat contradictory—he was interested in it, yet harbored unspoken prejudices. That was common enough in the wizarding world, of course, but while his teaching results hadn't been impressive back then, they hadn't been anywhere near this bad.

From what the students had described these past few days, the professor who'd been rehired had not only failed to improve over the years, but had actually become far worse.

Still, none of that had anything to do with Sagreles. Dumbledore had invited the man back, and no matter how poorly someone taught, it wasn't Sagreles's concern. He only needed to teach his own classes well.

Sagreles fiddled with Raven's obsidian eye. His research had hit a bottleneck recently, and he needed something else to distract himself.

For instance, replacing this fellow's eye...

And he'd already had one custom-made.

With a flutter of wings, a gray owl landed at the office window with a package in its beak. Sagreles opened the window, took the package, and pulled out a handful of mithril shavings at the same time.

There was only one item inside: a constantly rotating magical eyeball, crafted by the alchemy master Barclay. He only knew of the man because Mad-Eye Moody had recommended him.

Yes, Barclay was the alchemist who had made Moody's magical eye.

However, the eye Sagreles had commissioned differed from Moody's. Because it was so small, it only possessed the functions of a Sneakoscope and could merely transmit what Loctis saw to him.

It also retained its previous ability to refract magic, allowing it to emit light from the eyeball and display pre-recorded messages.

But that was enough. It had been meant to be a messenger, after all.

Sagreles nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly noticed that the owl was still standing at the window, tilting its head at him.

He smacked his forehead. "Sorry, force of habit."

With a wave of his hand, a bag of owl feed that was close to expiring flew from a drawer. He grabbed a handful and offered it to the owl.

After seeing the owl off, Sagreles swiftly replaced Raven's eye and sent it outside for a flight.

Raven circled the castle at high speed. Through its new eye, Sagreles saw a group of young wizards training on the Quidditch Pitch...

At the end of October came Halloween.

Floating jack-o'-lanterns and bats filled Hogwarts, and the castle was steeped in festive cheer.

Sagreles sat at the professors' table, with little interest in the lavish feast.

When he'd been informed that he was expected to attend the feast, he'd wanted to refuse. But Professor Flitwick had been his Head of House when he was a student and had helped him greatly, so in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say no...

In the Great Hall, the young wizards happily ate their dinner while the professors chatted among themselves. Yet Hogwarts' ghosts were nowhere to be seen; only Peeves drifted about.

But not everyone was in the Great Hall. Hermione, for one, was absent.

This clever young witch sometimes wasn't quite so sharp. Nearly two months into the school year, she still hadn't made a single friend.

That had already left her rather dejected, and today Ron Weasley had spoken badly of her in front of so many people.

All she'd done was point out the flaw in his spellcasting technique during Charms.

She'd helped him, and he'd talked badly about her behind her back! Hermione repeated those words to herself over and over...

A girl with strong pride, Hermione Granger had always excelled in school. Even at Hogwarts, she was an exceptionally talented young witch.

She didn't understand why no one liked her. Was following the school rules strictly and avoiding every violation really so unpopular?

In the bathroom, Granger hid alone in a stall and cried.

Sagreles's gaze swept over the students stuffing themselves, eventually settling on the famous Harry Potter.

As a transmigrator, he'd always had a question in his heart.

Since he knew absolutely nothing about the plot and only knew that Harry, as the Chosen One, had ultimately defeated Voldemort, he'd spent all these years considering a single question in light of his own experiences.

That was, Voldemort had already been defeated eleven years ago, when Harry had still been a baby. So what exactly had that world-famous fantasy novel from his past life been about? A baby defeating Voldemort?

That didn't seem right!

He'd considered countless possibilities, yet ultimately reached no conclusion.

Perhaps Voldemort wasn't dead?

Sagreles sat at the professors' table, lost in wild thoughts, when a terrified cry suddenly came from the entrance of the Great Hall.

"Troll!"

Professor Quirrell rushed into the hall in a panic, shouting as he ran, "There's a Troll! In the dungeons..."

He ran straight to Dumbledore's side and said breathlessly, "I thought you ought to know..."

Then he toppled headfirst to the floor and promptly fainted.

The Great Hall immediately erupted. The young wizards shot to their feet, their faces filled with terror as they screamed and shouted.

Sagreles said nothing as he watched the Great Hall descend into chaos. He remained calmly seated in his chair.

Though he was puzzled as well.

How could a Troll appear inside Hogwarts Castle?

And Quirrell's reaction was somewhat abnormal. Sagreles knew he was timid and cowardly, so panic was understandable, but fainting outright...

"Silence!"

Dumbledore raised his wand and produced several loud bangs, and the clamorous Great Hall fell quiet again.

"Prefects, lead the students back to their dormitories."

"Professors, come with me to deal with the Troll in the dungeons."

The old headmaster's calm composure eased the young wizards' panic.

Under the prefects' direction, the students crowded together. Ron looked at Harry and whispered, "Hermione doesn't know about the Troll! She's still crying in the girls' bathroom!"

Harry realized it too and immediately made his decision. "We have to warn her..."

Ron grimaced but didn't object. He followed Harry as they slipped away from the group amid the confusion...

After hearing Dumbledore's orders, Sagreles rose as well. He beckoned to Loctis, who was perched on the chandelier, and the Raven immediately swooped down and landed steadily on his arm.

Sagreles headed for the dungeons with several professors. Along the way, both Dumbledore and Snape left the group and disappeared to who knew where.

Yet when they reached the dungeons, they found no sign of the Troll.

Professor McGonagall looked baffled as she said uncertainly, "It's not here. There's no Troll here..."

"It was here. I can smell it." Sagreles surveyed the surroundings and casually remarked.

Professor McGonagall nodded, then said to the other two professors, "Filius, you and Sprout watch the students. Don't let them come over. Sagreles..."

"I know." Sagreles nodded, waved his hand to release Raven, and said sternly, "Find it!"

"Caw~"

Loctis flew into the corridor and rapidly searched every passage.

Sagreles narrowed his eyes and silently watched the images transmitted through its eye.

Suddenly, a piercing scream rang out from the girls' bathroom. Loctis, flying through the corridor, immediately turned and shot through the bathroom door like an arrow.

Inside the bathroom, the Troll came into view.

It was a Mountain Troll, with gray skin, a lumpy body, and flat feet covered in calluses. But the bathroom held more than just the Troll—there were also three bedraggled young wizards.

Shadowless Speed

Sagreles vanished from the professors' sight in an instant...

The bathroom was in utter chaos. The sinks and stalls had been smashed apart, while water sprayed from burst pipes.

Hermione cowered in a corner, too frightened to move.

Ron Weasley was throwing broken pieces of wood at the Troll nearby.

Harry was hanging upside down in the air, held by one ankle in the Troll's hand.

The Troll held a club in one hand and Harry in the other, raising the club as if to smash the young wizard with it.

Raven immediately let out a piercing cry...

Hermione Granger regretted everything more than she ever had before. As she stared at the gray-black Troll more than ten feet tall, her heart was filled with despair.

All the courage she'd ever possessed had vanished at that moment. She watched Harry Potter climb onto the Troll's back to save her and shove his wand into its nostril.

She wanted to help too, but her legs were shaking so badly that she couldn't even stand.

For one brief moment, she felt that everything happening to her was nothing more than an absurd dream.

At first, she'd thought it was a beautiful dream about magic, but then a terrifying Troll had suddenly appeared in it.

Now the club was about to swing down. At the same time that boy was smashed into bloody pulp, the beautiful dream would shatter, and everything would swiftly turn into a nightmare she could never wake from.

Helplessly curled up in the corner, the despairing Hermione then saw something strange—the new professor's Raven flew through the doorway, and after a piercing cry, Professor Greengrass appeared out of thin air.

He raised his wand at the Troll and coldly, decisively spoke the incantation.

Scarlet Rend

A blood-red beam shot from the tip of his wand and struck the Troll in the blink of an eye.

Splash~

The mountain-like Troll instantly turned into chunks of flesh. A powerful magical shockwave blew the collapsing gore against the bathroom walls, casting a huge scarlet monster-shaped shadow.

The Troll died just like that.

The three young wizards were safe, but they still hadn't recovered from the shock. Harry especially had been drenched in the Troll's blood and organs, and the stench made him want to vomit.

Scourgify

Sagreles put away his wand and pointed a finger at the three students.

An invisible gust brushed over them, and the three were instantly refreshed. The filth on their robes vanished, as did their cold sweat and tears. Even the loose strands stuck to their foreheads became dry and smooth.

Ignoring the three stunned children, Sagreles continued casting spells.

Reparo!

The damaged sinks returned to normal, and the sprayed water flowed from the puddles on the floor back into the ruptured pipes.

Then he picked up a wand from the ground, glanced at the three of them, and shoved it back into Harry's hand.

The three young wizards were about to say something, but Sagreles raised a hand to stop them.

Corpse Summons!

The chunks of flesh rose from the floor and gathered into a sphere. Blood seeped from the gaps, forming thin strands.

The strands wrapped around the sphere and slowly floated over, hovering before them.

"No need to explain." A faint smile appeared on his face. "Save your excuses for your Head of House. I imagine she won't be very happy to find you here in a moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps came from the doorway.

Snape, Quirrell, and Professor McGonagall appeared at the entrance together.