Quirrell Held Accountable
At 7:10, Ron and Harry looked at each other, wondering if they would lose points. Draco was still able to talk to the professors normally. His usually ridiculous act of telling his father made Draco seem a little more impressive in their eyes.
Snape bent down to look at the Troll. Professor McGonagall looked at Ron and Harry, her angry lips turning pale to one of shame and worry.
"Scourgify." Professor McGonagall chanted the spell, and Harry, Draco, Goyle, Crabbe, and even Ron were all cleaned up by this one spell.
"What's going on? Shouldn't it normally point to the cursed party, a single individual?" Harry thought to himself, realizing that he wouldn't lose any more points. At this moment Ravenclaw's true nature was revealed.
"A clean and efficient spell, who is it?" Snape said coldly after examining the traces on the Troll.
"What, Professor? This isn't the Unforgivable Curses. Do you want to deduct points from Harry?" Draco said sarcastically. Goyle and Crabbe looked at him with concern, while Ron showed an admiring expression.
"So, it's Harry Potter."
"No, I'm just curious what kind of spell it is. It's not Dark Magic, yet it's so powerful." Snape's expression immediately softened as he looked at Harry, giving him an expression that said, "My son is so amazing."
Harry was surprised; he hadn't seen this expression on his face in a long time since he became the Seeker.
Professor McGonagall was momentarily stunned by the sudden change in expression, and Quirrell could no longer pretend to be weak.
"Professor Quirrell knows best," Ron interjected, quickly speaking after he had cleaned himself up, making up for the grievance he had been too embarrassed to say earlier.
"The Red Spark, the variant," Harry quickly added.
"No, Dumbledore mentioned this spell. He was more inclined to use it for purification or burning. If it were true, what we're facing should be an unharmed, unconscious Troll." Quirrell stopped stammering and couldn't help but say.
"Professor Quirrell, what, Troll still school property? Should we pay compensation? My dad is School Governor!" Draco said sarcastically.
"No, Mr. Malford, I'm just surprised." Quirrell immediately resumed his stuttering.
"Alright, Quirinus Quirrell! My students have just been Troll. What does that curse have to do with you?" Snape said menacingly, his tone suggesting he would kill Quirrell if he continued to argue.
Quirrell sobbed on the toilet, then lowered his head and said nothing more.
"Oh—if that's the case..." Professor McGonagall looked at them and pondered, "Mr. Malfoy, you silly boy, you're a Slytherin student. We're investigating Troll in the basement. Why didn't you tell the Prefect and then inform us?"
"If— Crabbe is probably already a pulp." Draco's expression immediately changed, and he started to sob, leaving Ron and Harry speechless.
"Well, Quirinus, I thought you could be a great professor, but you forgot a student in the fifth-floor washroom when the Troll broke into Hogwarts."
"I can understand that you were persecuted because of your previous trip, but where were you when you woke up after you were scared unconscious?" Professor McGonagall was furious and called out Professor Quirrell's name without caring that there were still 5 students present.
"I thought—Mr. Crabbe was—already—well, and had—returned—to the common room. Shouldn't the Prefect have—discovered—that when he was taking attendance?" Quirrell stammered, like a student responding to a teacher's question.
However, this is understandable, as he also attended Hogwarts before becoming a professor, meaning he was once Professor McGonagall's student.
He had no choice but to change the subject. How could he talk about the restricted area on the fourth floor during that time?
"Well, you're lucky. Not many first-years can take on an adult Troll. You each earned five points for Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I'll let Professor Dumbledore know about this. You should hurry up and get going; the students are all enjoying their Halloween Feast in their houses." Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and turned to the group.
With Professor McGonagall present, Snape and Quirrell, his two former students, remained silent, simply waiting for the other professors and Headmaster Dumbledore to arrive.
They hurriedly left the room and walked silently to the corner on the 5th floor. Perhaps because they had left the bathroom, or perhaps because the residual effects of Harry's spell had eliminated the stench, they were finally able to smell the Troll's stench and breathed a sigh of relief.
"We should have won more than twenty-five points," Ron grumbled. "You know, this is Troll, Harry, you should have gotten more."
"Weasley, I don't know when I gave you permission to talk about us," Malfoy said in his drawn-out tone. "Besides, Crabbe shouldn't be in that list. We should be in the twenties."
"Malfoy, you, hey, you didn't say 'we' anymore. Professor McGonagall said that each of you earned five points for Ravenclaw and Slytherin respectively. She didn't say Crabbe didn't count," Ron retorted.
"Okay, I said yes, but Weasley, you didn't get my permission."
"You can call me Draco from now on," Draco Malfoy cleared his throat and continued, "Ron— Ron an unartistic name. You're going to the 6th floor, we're going back to the basement, so we'll part ways here."
"Let's go, Gregory, and Vincent," Malfoy said. Goyle and Crabbe gave them smiles that made them look even dumber, and went downstairs.
"Draco Malfoy was alright; he stepped up and got us out of trouble," Ron admitted. "But don't forget, we did save him."
"If we hadn't locked them up with that thing, he might not have needed anyone to save him at all."
"You know, when we went in, the Troll were in a terrible state," Harry reminded him.
"Oh, Harry, don't even mention Troll. I don't think I'll be able to eat meat for the next week," Ron said in anguish. "What about those Troll? Oh—they really are Slytherin. Hitting that spot, how insidious."
"Fortunately, we're still friends, albeit barely," Ron remarked.
"If it were me, I would do the same. Troll have high magic resistance, so you can only hit vulnerable spots, but their heads are too small, making them difficult to aim at," Harry said fairly.
"Then I should be glad you were behind him, otherwise who knows what kind of thing would have blown up on me."
"I need to take a shower when I get back to the lounge. I can't eat anything like this," Ron said with a shiver.
They struggled up the spiral staircase and arrived at the eagle ring on the wooden planks.
"What can't you buy with Galleons?" a gentle, musical voice asked.
"Time." Harry answered the question, and the door opened automatically, and they went inside.
The common room was packed with people, noisy and bustling, all eating the food that had been served to them.
Only Anthony, Harry's biggest fan, stood alone at the door, waiting for them and eagerly offering them food. Ron waved and ran off to his dormitory alone.
"What's wrong with him?" Anthony asked in surprise. Ron was actually refusing food.
"Don't mention it, I'm starving," Harry said with a smile.