18 Chapter 18: Stupidity!
A note before start: The reason for the late release of the chapter is due to my semester examination which is expected to be held on the last week of November. So be prepared for sporadic update of chapters in this month.
And, also expect major deviation of plot from the canon from the next chapter.
I will not abandon this story. I have a basic mental sketch how this story shall end, so fear not, for I will complete the story with a satisfactory ending and patch some seemingly 'plot holes'.
enjoy~
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Just like every year, Hogwarts welcomed the last day of October with exuberance and celebrations. In fact, the day had a great significance in the lives of most wizards and witches, especially of British wizarding society because it marked the end of dark lord Voldemort's reign of terror.
But unlike most of the rejoicing students, Hermione was facing a rather unexpected and worrying situation.
Her brother, Kent, was in a coma. It was just the yesterday evening that Kent was all well and good. But today in the morning when Kent was late for breakfast, she knew something was wrong. Kent would never wake up so late. Her premonition was proved correct when, for reasons unknown, no one was able to wake Kent up. It created quite a commotion.
She had checked for any spells or enchantment on him before he was sent to the hospital wing, but found nothing whatsoever.
Even Madam Pomfrey, the medi-witch of Hogwarts, had diagnosed Kent but couldn't find anything wrong with him other than him being in an unresponsive state.
Hermione was scared. She didn't know what happened to Kent. Was it some obscure curse she didn't know? Was there someone or something targeting him? Was it because of the fact that Kent was from future? But then again she was also from future but she was perfectly fine.
So many questions that she didn't have any answers to.
She felt so useless. She was so naive to think having foreknowledge would make things easier.
'Is there anyone else in Hogwarts who had come from the future just like me?' She suddenly thought. 'But who could it be?'
'Is it a student or a teacher?" She pondered, 'or maybe Voldemor–'
'No! it's impossible,' she denied her own thoughts. 'Otherwise, the history would've changed.'
Her musing was interrupted by a female voice from the side.
"What are you dazed about, Hermione?"
Said Padma from the side. "We will be late for the charm class."
"Okay, let's go," replied Hermione.
"You don't have to worry about Kent." Padma reassured. "He will be alright, you'll see."
Hermione nodded quietly.
During the class, while everyone was trying out the levitation spell that Professor Flitwick had just taught, Hermione was preoccupied with her worries.
'The house-elves might have seen something,' Hermione was suddenly struck with a thought. She and Kent had a good relationship with the elves which they intentionally cultivated. It was because they wanted a plausible excuse to have the knowledge about the 'Room of Requirements'.
So after the lesson ended, she directly went to the kitchen which was under the great hall. But her enthusiasm dampened after getting no clue about the perpetrator whatsoever.
'Maybe, I should ask professor Dumbledore.' She thought but soon rejected the idea as it might lead to exposure of her and Kent's secrets.
'I'll wait untill tomorrow morning. If Kent's situation doesn't improve then I will go to professor Dumbledore.' she reluctantly decided.
But unknown to her, professor Dumbledore had already checked Kent for any signs of being cursed or potioned and unfortunately could not find anything. What he could infer was that Kent wasn't in any danger. So it was decided that it would be better to wait a while before moving Kent to St. Mungo's.
...
In the evening when the great hall was bustling with students and teachers enjoying the Halloween feast, Kent who was lying unconscious on one of the six beds in the hospital wing, moved.
"Argh," Kent grunted and rubbed his forehead. He looked around confused and muddle-headed.
"What happened?" He muttered, "Why am I in the hospital wing?"
"That's what I'd like to know, Mr. Granger," said a sharp voice from the main door.
Madam Pomfrey, being a kind woman she was, couldn't relax knowing that a patient was lying unconscious on the bed and she didn't even know the reason.
So when she found that the boy had woken up, she hurried to the hospital wing which was beside her resting quarters.
"I don't know myself. I was just fine yesterday-" he stopped and asked, "what day is it today, Madam Pomfrey?"
"Today is Halloween, Mr. Granger." said Madam Pomfrey.
"The day when the boundary between the mortal realm and otherworld gets blurred," mumbled Kent in a very low voice.
"Did you say something?" said Madam Pomfrey.
"Ma'am, can I go?" said Kent, a bit absent-mindedly. "I am alright now."
"Okay, you can go." Madam Pomfrey reluctantly agreed. She assumed that the boy must be anxious to join the Halloween feast.
Putting on the robes which was by his side, Kent sauntered out of the hospital.
On the way to the great hall, Kent's eyes seemed unfocused as if he was preoccupied in a world of his own. He would also occasionally glance at the moving portrait or the animated armors and mumble excitedly about the spell used to enchant them.
But as he was strolling through the second floor corridor, a foul stench brought him back to reality.
"What is this foul smell?" He muttered "Where is it coming from?"
He didn't need to think much, as in the next moment a growling noise came from a room right up ahead.
He saw a grotesque looking giant creature coming out of the room. The creature had a small head and a huge body. His long right hand was dragging an equally huge club.
"Troll, a rather foolish but strong creature–"
"Troll?!" Kent's muddled mind sobered up as he realised the blunder he had made.
"I shouldn't have downloaded the whole comprehensive book!" He cursed out loud.
Kent's shout drew the attention of the troll.
'What should I do?' Kent thought as he took the wand out of his robe's inside pocket. He was not sure if it would be good idea to face a humongous troll whose one strike was enough to squash him like a bug.
But Kent didn't get much time to think as the troll came dashing toward him with massive steps and swung the club horizontally toward his head.
He jumped back and fired a silent 'Arresto Momentum' spell at the club.
Crack! Roar!
A bone crunching sound reverberated through the corridor followed by a pained growl.
The Troll's wrist broke due to inertia as the club came to a sudden halt in mid-air. The intolerable pain only made the Troll frantic in its attack.
At the same time, Kent used the 'Wingardium Leviosa' spell to throw the club at the troll's head. Unfortunately he had clearly miscalculated the toughness of the Troll's head as the club did nothing other than enraging the Troll further.
Kent again jumped back keeping a considerable distance from the Troll's range of attack and conjured water using 'Aguamenti' and then manipulated the water to form a sphere around the Troll's head.
"You need air to breathe, I suppose." Kent smirked and just what he assumed, the Troll lost consciousness pretty soon due to lack of air and fell on the floor with its face down.
The commotion in the corridor attracted the attention of the professors who were on the second floor searching for the Troll.
Kent soon saw Professor McGonagall hurrying toward him followed by Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell.
"Explain, Mr. Granger." Professor McGonagall looked especially angry.
"Professor, I was on my way to the great hall when I stumbled across the Troll. I was going to call for help but before I could, it noticed me and started attacking." explained Kent. "So, I had no choice but to stop it myself."
"And its not dead, just unconscious," added Kent.
"Foolish bravado," Professor Snape remarked coldly from the side, while Professor Quirrell, who was standing beside him, looked like he was going to faint.
"Mr. Granger, you... you could've been injured," said Professor McGonagall with her lips quivering with anger.
