Lumos!
That was Neville's spell, the first he had mastered at school and the only one he could cast smoothly-something he had achieved through countless practice sessions outside class and untold sweat.
As though to reward all that effort, Neville's magic produced remarkable results. The instant he cast Lumos, its light shone far brighter than those of the other young witches and wizards.
Now, in his desperation, he outdid even himself. The oncoming troll was momentarily dazzled.
The troll instinctively raised both hands, shielding its eyes with its enormous palms. And then...
Wingardium Leviosa!
That was Ron. With its hands raised, the troll suddenly felt its grip lighten. The club slipped free and floated in the air.
The troll froze. Compared with its body, its head was far too small, and its brain lacked the capacity to process what was happening.
Just then, Harry's spell arrived as well.
Stupefy!
This was the most powerful and effective spell Harry currently knew. It struck the troll square in the face, making its body sway.
Glacius!
That was Hermione.
Once she reached her friends, Hermione immediately became her brilliant academic self again. Seeing water everywhere on the floor, spilling from pipes the troll had smashed, she promptly cast a spell.
Hermione's magic was not yet strong enough to create a large sheet of ice through a Freezing Charm alone, but with water already present, it was much easier.
The water beneath the troll's feet instantly froze. Already reeling backward, it slipped and fell flat on its back once again.
In that moment, Ron seemed to have a flash of inspiration. With a flick of his wand, he floated the huge, heavy club a little farther back, then released the spell.
The club plummeted with a whoosh.
After falling, the troll struggled to get up, but the slippery ice prevented it from doing so right away. As it struggled to lift its head, the falling club struck it squarely on the skull.
The troll's tiny, black-bean-sized eyes rolled upward. It collapsed heavily and lay still.
"Is... is it dead?" Ron panted, his little face pale. After their frantic run and the fight, exhaustion washed over him like a tide. His legs shook a little, and his voice trembled too.
"I... don't think so?" Hermione's already fair face was now almost bloodless. She leaned involuntarily against Harry, who could feel her trembling uncontrollably.
Neville had been unbelievably brave when he charged in to save Hermione, but now he looked utterly panicked. He shook even harder than she did, staring at the troll lying on the floor with only its chest still rising and falling, his eyes repeatedly rolling upward.
Harry was worried he might faint at any moment.
By comparison, Harry seemed fairly composed, though his legs felt weak despite himself. At least he could still speak clearly:
"I think it's just unconscious. Let's get out of here before the professors..."
What Harry had meant to say was that they would be in trouble once the professors arrived.
But before he could finish, he heard hurried footsteps.
A moment later, Professor McGonagall appeared behind them in emerald-green robes, followed by Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout.
Behind them came Snape and Professor Quirrell. The latter glanced at the troll sprawled on the floor, and his legs seemed to give way at once. He stumbled a couple of steps and barely managed to remain upright by leaning against the wall.
Harry frowned slightly. He had noticed something odd about the way Snape was walking.
His gaze dropped, and he saw that a large section of the hem of Snape's robes had been torn away, with faint traces of blood visible.
Snape noticed Harry looking and flicked his cloak to conceal it, shooting Harry a vicious glare.
Harry wanted to glare back, but Professor McGonagall's furious voice had already reached his ears.
Though Professor McGonagall was always stern, she rarely lost her temper. Even with Ron and Neville's disastrous performances in class and Seamus's assorted explosive experiments, she remained very tolerant.
Now, however, she looked utterly furious. Even her hair seemed to have puffed up slightly.
"Do you have any idea what you were doing?" Professor McGonagall pointed at the four of them, her finger trembling slightly with anger:
"That was a fully grown troll! Even adult wizards have to be careful when facing one. You should thank Merlin for protecting you-or perhaps I should be thanking Merlin that I haven't arrived to find four corpses!"
Under her scolding, the four of them huddled like quails, heads lowered and necks tucked in, not daring to make a sound.
Professor McGonagall drew a deep breath, seemingly forcing down her anger. A little calmer, she said:
"Now, can anyone tell me what happened here?"
"Professor..." Ron opened his mouth, about to say something.
"Professor, this was all my fault. They came to find me..." Hermione cut in before he could speak. "I'd read about trolls in books and thought I knew a lot about them..."
Ron's mouth fell open so wide that an apple could almost have fit inside.
Hermione was actually lying to Professor McGonagall?
Harry shook his head inwardly. Oh, Hermione, that's a terrible lie. Let me handle this!
When it came to lying, Harry felt he could never match the Weasley family's twins, but he was certainly much better at it than Hermione.
"Professor McGonagall, here's what happened. We'd studied trolls together and thought magical creatures with so little intelligence wouldn't be difficult to deal with." Harry was making it all up:
Before you continue