Saving Harry!

The shadow quickly swallowed that patch of moonlight completely.

Suddenly, a huge foot appeared in Su Er and Hermione's sight, coated in black mud, its skin cracked, rough, and calloused. It came with rasping breaths and low grunts, along with a nauseating stench that filled their nostrils.

Hermione huddled in Su Er's arms while he pressed himself firmly against the wall. They seemed to have become part of it. Under any other circumstances, the scene would have looked rather intimate.

Intimate, my foot. Just look at that club-it was thicker than the two of them put together.

Wouldn't one blow from that turn them into two-dimensional creatures?

The two young wizards huddled in the corner, holding their breath as the troll's full figure gradually emerged: short, thick legs, a gray body like granite, and a tiny head utterly out of proportion to its massive, lumbering frame.

It seemed not to notice the two tasty young wizards in the corner who could fill its ravenous belly. It simply lumbered away down the corridor, dragging its enormous club across the marble tiles with a rattling scrape.

Only after a long while did Su Er take his hand away from Hermione's mouth.

The lingering stench smelled like socks worn for days by someone with foul-smelling feet, then left for several more days in a toilet that had not been cleaned in ages.

Moonlight still shone quietly over the corridor, serene as water.

"Hah... hah... ugh... hah..." Hermione bent over, gulping down air. The lingering stink made her gag.

"Why is there a troll here?" Hermione swallowed with difficulty.

Su Er took out his wand and murmured a spell. A cool breeze swept over them, and he waited until most of the suffocating stench had dispersed before speaking.

"I don't know, but I think we should find a professor."

"You're right." Hermione straightened up, breathing rapidly, her face pale.

But just as they were about to leave the corner, a piercing scream approached from the distance.

"Oh, no. Why is someone else here?" Hermione said. "That sounds familiar."

Su Er fell silent. It suddenly occurred to him that Harry, the Chosen One, and his little sidekick were apparently supposed to show up here around this time too.

"It's that Ron Weasley," Su Er said.

"What do we do?" Hermione froze, hesitation crossing her face.

Having narrowly escaped the troll, she desperately wanted to avoid facing the enormous monster again. But the person in danger over there was her classmate.

Even if that classmate always made snide remarks and was thoroughly annoying.

Su Er glanced at Hermione, sighed, and took out his wand again, gripping it tightly.

"Come on. Let's see if we can help."

Su Er made the decision for her.

There was no way they could beat the thick-skinned troll head-on, but trolls were famously small-brained and stupid. Hindering its movements a little should not be a problem.

They hurried toward the screams while Su Er racked his brain, working out what to do when they reached the troll.

Things looked terrible. Mr. Filch would probably be hopping mad and cursing afterward.

Dust from shattered masonry drifted through the air, and craters pitted the floor everywhere. The enraged troll was chasing two young wizards with its club, a wand lodged in its nostril.

Harry and Ron's faces were streaked with dirt, and brown clods stained their wizard robes. They were a sorry sight.

Crash! The rampaging troll slammed its club into the floor. Harry and Ron dove forward and rolled, dodging the blow, but the unfortunate floor gained another crater.

Didn't these two idiots know to run in different directions?

"Remember the Portable Swamp spell we read about, Hermione?" Su Er had settled on a plan. Trolls survived in the forest by relying on their thick defenses. With the pitiful amount of magic first-year wizards possessed, hurting the troll to save Harry and Ron was impossible.

They needed a different approach. They did not have to defeat the troll head-on. If they only needed to restrict its movements, they had plenty of options.

"I do." Hermione nodded. "You want to use that spell to turn the floor into a swamp?"

The quick-witted Hermione immediately guessed what Su Er had in mind, but she hesitated.

"But we've never tried that spell. What if it fails..."

"It won't. We don't need that spell. We just need to change the floor's shape and make it take a nasty fall..." Su Er calmly explained his idea. "Aim ahead of it, and it'll work."

"Then..." Hermione swallowed. Watching Harry and Ron take another desperate tumble, she tightened her grip on her wand and nodded. "Let's give it a try."

"Good." Su Er stood beside her, facing the troll as it chased the young wizards around the room. Ron and Harry probably had not noticed their arrival yet. He had to find a way to alert them, but shouting would inevitably draw the troll's attention.

There was no other choice. Su Er took a deep breath and dashed forward, making Hermione cry out in alarm.

The troll's feet paused, and confusion flickered in its tiny eyes. Where had another one come from?

But it quickly abandoned thinking. It did not matter. Another piece of delicious meat was a good thing.

In the brief moment while the troll stood still, Su Er had already explained everything.

Facing Ron and Harry's delighted looks, he outlined his plan in a few words.

"When we're running, listen for my signal. When I shout 'jump,' leap forward as hard as you can. Got it?"

Before Harry and Ron could even nod, the troll started moving again, an excited, rumbling growl coming from its ugly head.

Su Er ran ahead with Harry and Ron for a while. When the tremors behind them grew stronger, he shouted, "Now! Jump!"

Ron and Harry immediately hurled themselves forward.

Su Er spun around without hesitation and pointed his wand at the troll's raised club. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The enormous club responded to Su Er's spell, breaking free of the troll's grip and floating into the air.

While the troll stood stunned, Su Er kept the club aloft and shouted, "Now, Hermione!"

"Hooh..." The disappearing club only confused the troll for a moment. With delicious food right in front of it, it promptly changed tactics, opening its fan-sized hands and flexing them before bending its lumbering body and reaching out.

Just then, Hermione's spell took effect.

Feeling the floor begin to change, Su Er raised his wand and leaped hard toward Ron and Harry.

"Ow!" Ron had the good fortune to become Su Er's human cushion.

The troll tried desperately to lift its feet, but its heavy, lumbering body and the floor it had trusted now hindered it. With three delicious chunks of meat right before its eyes, it let out a frustrated growl.

Su Er immediately canceled the Floating Charm, and the club fell from midair with a loud whoosh.

Thud! After a muffled impact, the frustrated troll's eyes closed.

Then came an enormous crash. The troll swayed a few times with its eyes shut before collapsing onto the floor, stirring up a great cloud of dust.

"Hah... hah..." Panting and brisk footsteps came through the dust toward Su Er. Hermione glanced at the troll, still shaken.

"Are you all right, Su Er?"

Su Er took Hermione's hand and got to his feet.

"I'm fine, though Weasley might be hurting a bit." He had heard a sharp crack when he landed on Ron.

Ron Weasley lay on the floor, his face pale as he sucked in breaths of pain.

"I think my ribs might be broken... ah..."

Poor Ron had escaped the tragedy of being flattened by the troll's club, only to fail to escape Su Er crashing down on him like a mountain.

"Madam Pomfrey is very good. An injury like that will be healed overnight." Hermione glanced at him and gave a quiet huff. "Harry, are you all right?"

"I'm okay." Harry climbed to his feet, brushed the dust off himself, and walked breathlessly over to the unconscious troll.

He bent down and pulled his wand from its nostril. A large glob of gray goo clung to it. Frowning in disgust, Harry wiped it off on the troll's trousers.

"Thank you for saving us." Holding his wand between two fingers, he endured the terrible stench and thanked Su Er.

"It's all right." Su Er shook his head. "But why were you here?"

"We..." Harry glanced at Hermione. "We heard Hermione was here, so..."

Su Er nodded in understanding. "I came to find Hermione too."

Hermione looked between them in bewilderment. Huh? Why was everyone looking for me?