Harry wanted to take Ron to apologize to Hermione, but she still had not appeared by the end of their next lesson.
They did not see Hermione all afternoon, so Harry had to set the matter aside for now.
On their way to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry and Ron happened to overhear Hermione's roommate, Parvati Patil, telling her friend that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom.
That made Ron very uncomfortable. Especially after Harry's urging, he felt he might really have been in the wrong.
"Let's go apologize to her later." Ron was not a bad boy; his conscience would not let him leave it at that.
Harry nodded, and the two agreed to apologize after the Halloween feast.
When they entered the Great Hall, dazzling Halloween decorations instantly filled their vision.
A thousand bats fluttered along the walls and ceiling.
Another thousand wheeled above the tables like low, dark clouds.
Candles flickered inside hollowed-out pumpkins, and delicious dishes appeared one after another on the golden plates covering the tables.
John looked around, picked up an unpeeled potato, and threw it at the back of Neville's head.
"Neville, where's Hermione?"
Neville felt a sharp pain in his head and turned to see John. After a moment's hesitation, he recalled what he had heard. "Parvati Patil said Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom, and she wouldn't let anyone comfort her."
"Really? I'd better go find her. She wouldn't want to miss a feast this wonderful."
A faint uneasiness stirred in John's heart. He remembered what the Bloody Baron had said.
Besides, he kept feeling that something was going to happen today, as though a plot event took place here.
[Ding! Find Hermione and deal with the troll. Reward: free point +1, blessing: Troll Slayer] [Troll Slayer: increased damage against large creatures]
John froze, then his expression changed.
He remembered now. A troll had apparently escaped during the Halloween feast.
He certainly did not think a little wizard like Hermione could handle a twelve-foot troll with immense brute strength.
Without wasting another moment, John left his seat.
Dumbledore, who was enjoying a sweet pumpkin cake, noticed this. His wise eyes behind his half-moon spectacles seemed thoughtful.
Not long after John left, Quirrell ran in with a large turban wrapped around his head.
His face was filled with terror, and everyone stopped to look at him.
Quirrell hurried to the chair beside Dumbledore, slumped against it, and panted, still looking terrified:
"Troll... in the dungeons... thought you ought to know."
His words were broken, but they conveyed one piece of news.
There was a troll.
Having said that, Quirrell collapsed onto the floor.
The Great Hall erupted into chaos. Dumbledore took charge, quieted everyone down, and ordered the prefects to lead the students back to their dormitories.
Harry and Ron were among them. Ron suspected Peeves had let the troll loose to cause trouble.
But Harry suddenly remembered Hermione.
"Oh no, Hermione doesn't know about the troll."
Ron bit his lip and glanced at his prefect brother, Percy, then said decisively, "All right, we'd better not let Percy see us."
The two immediately ducked low to avoid drawing attention and slipped out of the group.
Before they reached the girls' bathroom, Harry spotted Professor Snape heading toward the fourth floor.
That planted a seed of suspicion in his mind.
The girls' Washroom on the first floor.
Hermione was crying miserably in a cubicle. She excelled in every subject, but she was still a little girl.
Being ostracized by her classmates hurt her deeply.
After crying for quite some time, she felt much better.
Sniffling, she went to the sink and washed her face, though her eyes were still a little red.
"Well, John doesn't hate me."
She comforted herself. At least she still had John as a friend.
She was staring absentmindedly at herself in the mirror when a knock sounded at the door.
Hermione jumped, and a slight tremor entered her voice.
"Who is it?"
"Hermione, are you all right?"
It was John.
He had found the girls' bathroom, and hearing that Hermione was unharmed made him breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as he was about to ask her to open the door, he caught a foul smell.
It rivaled the Dungbombs the Weasley Twins threw around, like a mixture of filthy socks and an uncleaned public toilet.
John nearly fainted from the stench. Looking back, he saw an enormous figure approaching from the shadows, grunting as its heavy feet thudded against the floor.
John grabbed the door just as it was about to open and said gravely to the girl inside, "Hermione, find somewhere to hide. Don't open the door."
His eyes stayed fixed on the troll. Trolls were notoriously stupid, but there was no denying the pressure exerted by this twelve-foot monster with granite-like skin.
Its underdeveloped head looked like a cocoa bean perched on a boulder, and it clutched a thick wooden club.
John had no doubt which would hurt more: a blow from that thing or a hit from a Bludger.
This is going to be a tough fight.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, John faced a creature this large for the first time. It was even bigger than Hagrid.
The dim-witted troll scratched its head in confusion when it saw John, but that did not mean it was harmless.
On the contrary, the troll was now extremely dangerous.
Watching the troll draw closer, John shifted his feet nervously.
"Come on, big guy. Maybe it's time we had a truly bloody fight."
He licked the corner of his mouth, and a fierce gleam appeared in John's eyes.
With a flick of his left hand, his wand appeared in his grip, and he swung it toward the troll.
"Reducto!"
A flash of white light struck the troll, making it stagger back in pain and leaving a fist-sized mark on its skin.
That thoroughly enraged the troll. It roared and swung its club at John.
John rolled out of the way. The club swept into the girls' bathroom door and smashed it to pieces.
"Aah!"
Hermione screamed. The troll was about to look toward her when John's next spell hit it.
"Come and get me!"
Shouting, John ran backward.
The troll chased after him without suspecting a thing.
John fought as he retreated, drawing the troll away from the girls' bathroom.
Harry and Ron reached the girls' bathroom, and their hearts sank at the sight of the mangled door.
"Hermione!"
They ran inside and found Hermione in a corner.
"Looks like the troll didn't get inside."
They had barely breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione said in a trembling, frantic voice, "John-John led the troll away. We have to save him."
Even Ron would not hold anything against Hermione now.
Gryffindors had no shortage of courage when it came to risking themselves for a friend, and they ran after the troll.
John gauged the distance. They were far enough from the girls' bathroom now that Hermione would not get caught up in the fight.
He ducked into a forward roll beneath the whistling club, then turned and cast a spell without the slightest hesitation.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Rubble from the wall shattered by the troll's club rose into the air and, guided by his wand, hurtled toward the troll.
The rubble struck the troll in the face, making it retreat in pain.
John pressed his advantage. Snatching a sword from a medieval suit of armor, he swept a silver arc through the air and slashed with all his strength at the arm holding the club.
Blood sprayed through the moonlight, framing the silver dance of the blade with all the elegance of a waltz.
The blow did not sever the troll's arm, but it left the creature in too much pain to hold its club properly. The pain drove it into an even greater frenzy.
The troll's attacks were as simple as its mind, and its frenzy made them even easier to read.
"Reducto!"
Using the same trick again, John dodged the sweeping club and struck the troll's forehead with Reducto, knocking it straight to the ground.
The sword in his hand slashed downward, severing the troll's fingers so it could no longer grip its club.
Before the club hit the ground, John caught it with the Levitation Charm, then swung it at the troll with all his might, sending the creature flying.
"It's over."
Watching the troll crash into an unfortunate medieval suit of armor and lie still, John breathed a sigh of relief.
He stepped forward to make sure the thing was truly dead.
Just as he approached, Harry and the other two caught up.
At the sight of the wreckage strewn across the floor, the Golden Trio's mouths opened wide enough to swallow an unpeeled potato.
"John, are you all right?"
Harry shouted.
John looked back, but at that moment, the troll he had thought was dead opened its eyes.
Its relatively intact left hand swung toward John, making the Golden Trio scream.
Instinctively, John swung his sword to meet the hand.
Clang.
The sword flew out of his grip and lodged in the ceiling. John's right hand went numb, leaving him without a weapon.
But he was still a wizard.
Before the troll could get up, the wand in his left hand darted like a venomous snake into its eye.
Clutching his wand, John's expression turned cold.
He pronounced the troll's death sentence.
"Reducto!"
Even a troll could not withstand a Reducto exploding inside its brain.
That ridiculous head burst like a cooked bean.
The gruesomely appetizing sight left the Golden Trio feeling rather sick.
In fact, they had already thrown up.
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