Crabbe rose to his feet after finishing all that and stood facing the stone hill with his arms folded, observing. Goyle naturally took up a position slightly behind and to Crabbe's side, perfectly covering his blind spot. They had already developed a preliminary understanding.
Heavy footsteps came from the direction of the stone hill. The ground shook faster and faster as loose stones rolled down its slopes, bouncing downhill and striking rocks at the bottom with crisp clacks.
When the first Forest Troll climbed over the far side of the stone hill, its size exceeded Crabbe's estimates—it stood over twelve feet tall, its entire body resembling a mound of earth plastered with weeds and mud.
The hard bony plates formed from specialized keratin across its body were thick enough to reflect a dull gleam beneath the moonlight. The ridges along their edges had been worn smooth, making them look like reefs scoured by floodwaters.
A second Forest Troll followed behind it, half a head shorter but broader in the shoulders. Like a gibbon under an Engorgement Charm, its knuckles could touch the ground when its arms hung down. A row of backward-pointing specialized keratin spines grew along the outer sides of its forearms, gray in color, their tips worn pale.
Behind them came the third Forest Troll. It was close in size to the first, but compared to it, this one looked more like a beast. Its knees were bent more sharply, its center of gravity held lower.
The three Forest Trolls fixed wary gazes on Crabbe's group and let out angry roars. The leading troll even tore up a birch tree beside it, stripped away the branches, slammed it against the ground once, then hoisted it onto its shoulder.
"Oh-ho? These big guys might not have much brains, but