15 Stupid Trolls

As usual, Atreus left the castle after curfew, and the moment he stepped outside the Great Hall, he noticed an old man waiting for him. Dumbledore's magic was impressive. So much that Atreus wouldn't have even sensed him if he hadn't felt something calling out to him. He still wasn't sure what it was, though.

Dumbledore shimmered into existence with a disappointed look on his face, "Did you really have to put your name in the goblet?"

"I imagine participating would be much better than watching the tournament," Atreus shrugged his shoulders, "If I get picked, that is. And I also helped you by preventing others from putting their name the same way I did, so there's that too. You should thank me for that, old man."

"Are you not worried about being picked?" Dumbledore questioned with what sounded to be in concern.

"A bird doesn't worry about the tree branch breaking under him..." Atreus started, and Dumbledore finished the rest, "Because it's faith isn't in the tree branch, but in its wings."

Dumbledore was aware of Atreus' skill, but there was a different reason he was worried. He was the only one that knew the full prophecy, and... he didn't believe Harry had it in him to finish the deed. Voldemort had returned way too early for his liking. Although Dumbledore knew that it would happen at some point, he had hoped that it would be in at least a few more years.

Harry... the boy just wasn't ready. Dumbledore had a whole training regime prepared for him, but it might be too late already. When Harry and Voldemort eventually meet and confront each other, only one of them would walk away from that encounter. Unfortunately, he didn't think that would be Harry.

Despite that, there was a silver lining, even in that dreadful situation. The prophecy would be fulfilled, and someone else would have to step up to Voldemort. Dumbledore didn't think that person would be him, as even when he was the owner of the most powerful wand, the Dark Lord had matched him equally; he was that powerful. His current hope was in the young man that defied common sense.

Atreus... if Dumbledore had to compare him to a younger Tom Riddle, then the young man would be unquestionably the better wizard. As impressive as Tom had been in school, even better than Albus, Atreus beat him in both power and control. Then there were the young man's other... unique skills for a wizard.

"Are you not worried about getting injured?" Dumbledore asked, "A couple of the tasks will be dangerous."

"I'm still young, old man. I heal pretty quickly," Atreus jabbed at his age with a grin.

"Ah, the privilege of the young," Dumbledore said with one hand grooming his beard as if he was thinking about his younger days. His mind, however, was processing Atreus' words, "I heal pretty quickly." He felt there was much more to that than he even realized.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'm gonna make sure I'm not rusty if I get picked," Atreus took a running start, "I think I'm gonna punch a troll tonight and see if I'm still in shape."

And he was gone. Dumbledore watched Atreus disappear in the distance, and for some reason, he thought the young man was being literal. He was really going to the Forbidden Forst to punch a troll. This definitely didn't help him...

"DUMBLEDORK!" Maxime was stomping towards him with absolute rage. She had seen Atreus talk with Dumbledore and planned to come over, but then the young man took off running towards the Forbidden Forest. And the Headmaster, who was supposed to protect the students of Hogwarts, just watched without even attempting to stop him.

"Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said with a tired sigh. He had to endure her enraged shouting earlier due to him failing to place the proper wards around the goblet. Now, it looked he would have to go through the same experience again.

Maxime didn't hesitate even for a second and began her barrage. Dumbledore just kept trying to calm her down while thinking how troublesome Atreus was. During the first few weeks, a few of the Professors had come to complain to him how HE had forgotten to inform the young man he would be needing robes for school.

Dumbledore was stressed, something he won't admit if asked, but he was sure he had informed the Flamels. He even used his Pensieve to confirm he wasn't going senile, and he had included robes among everything else Atreus needed for the year. Dumbledore had been somewhat disappointed that Atreus was using him like that, but he had ended up chuckling at the event. It reminded him of the time he burned the ugly curtains in his dormitory at Hogwarts. By mistake, of course.

"Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said after she stopped shouting. Maxime's face turned red, and she looked ready to explode once more. He really didn't want to deal with this again.

"Atreus beat me in a duel."

It was as if time stopped. Maxime froze in place, not blinking, moving, or even breathing. She couldn't stay like that forever, and in a moment, she took a deep breath, followed by, "I don't believe you."

Dumbledore wasn't known as the second coming of Merlin for no reason. He was just that good. His knowledge and control of magic were one of a kind. For someone as young as Atreus to have beaten him... as much as she wanted to believe it, it didn't make much sense.

"It is the truth, we dueled, Transfiguration versus Conjuration; he was the one conjuring. We fired spells at each other until I sneakily disarmed him," Dumbledore informed her with a smile. He had really enjoyed that part of their duel. He hadn't gone all out against Atreus, but the young man had matched him equally nonetheless.

Maxime narrowed her eyes, "If you disarmed 'im, then 'ow did 'e win?"

"You don't need a wand to do magic," Dumbledore said. Her eyes widened in realization, understanding what he meant, but she wasn't aware of exactly how strong Atreus was even without a wand. Someone so young having the ability to cast such a powerful lightning spell, an element that was hard to control and use even with a conduit, was practically unheard of.

"Nor do you need magic to win a... fight," Dumbledore finished. A duelist would find Atreus' ways disgraceful, but a war veteran would praise him to no ends. He was built like a warrior, but that only brought the question. How and why had Nicolas and Perenelle raised him that way?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Atreus maneuvered through the Forbidden Forest with ease. He knew the place almost like the back of his hand at this point. It didn't take long before a disgusting smell assaulted his nostrils.

"Those guys really need to learn what a bath is," Atreus complained as his wand jumped into his hand. It grew to the size of a staff, and he thumbed the ground with it. His magic pulsed out, seeping into the forest trees, and brought them to life one by one.

Atreus found it much easier to control nature when his weapon was in the form of a staff. He could do it with a wand, but it didn't feel the same. However, it was a different story for the other elements.

With a wand, he had a much easier time conjuring and manipulating elements. Ice, lightning, and... fire, he could do with ease even wandlessly. The first two were easy to control, but the latter was almost impossible for him.

Every time Atreus tried conjuring fire, he would create an almost impossible to control blood-red one. It was ever consuming, trying to destroy everything in sight. His parents compared it to Fiendfyre, but it was definitely something else.

The flames reminded him of the ones of his father when he wielded his blades. However, unlike him, Kratos had control over them. He hoped that in time, he would learn to control them as well.

The trees stayed in place after they turned into Ents. Atreus didn't need them to fight his battle. They were there only to stop the trolls from interfering while he fought one of theirs.

The ugly creatures were lazily sprawled on the ground with massive clubs near each one. Atreus conjured a stone in front of him before firing it at the nearest troll. The rock hit the belly of his target, and it stood up with an angry grunt. A few looked at their brethren, but they didn't even bother standing up.

The troll was looking around in confusion before another stone him in his belly. It looked at the place it assumed the projectile came from and saw a small human walking away. Without hesitation, it picked its club and stomped that way while angrily grunting. The others paid him no mind and returned back to just lazily lounging on the ground.

Atreus led the troll a distance away from the others. The mindless creature kept following, not even realizing the change in the forest. On the way, he couldn't help but notice how slow the troll was. Atreus could just run around the stupid creature, and it would never even get a hit on him unless he allowed it.

After finding a suitable spot, Atreus stopped in place and turned around. The troll was on him, still angrily grunting as it neared. It raised its club high in the air, prepared to squash the small human. The attack was not only straightforward and easy to predict, but it was also slow, very much at that.

Atreus just had to lightly jump to the side to avoid the massive club. It struck the ground hard, and he had to admit, there was power behind the attack, but it was nothing special. He had seen much more powerful strikes.

At that point, Atreus was considering fighting all of the rest at the same time. Otherwise, this would be pointless. However, right now, he had one angry troll to deal with.

The mindless creature pulled its club back and attempted the same attack. If at first you don't succeed, try again. That seemed to be the troll's motto. Unfortunately, that was a recipe for failure.

Atreus lightly jumped to the side again, avoiding the attack in the process, before he slightly bent his knees. He then jumped, and like an agile monkey, he landed on the troll's shoulder. He pulled his fist back before punching it hard in the head. The troll started wobbling just from the single strike, and after a few more quick jabs, it fell on the ground with a loud thud.

Atreus landed next to the troll and watched its downed form. He felt a spike of anger at how easy the mindless creature had been taken down. A challenge is what he came for, and this is what he got?

A red hue shimmered around him for a moment, and before he knew it, Atreus was holding a gigantic pillar in his hands, high above the troll. He brought it down with anger, and the ground violently quaked from his power. The troll had been turned into mush, leaving behind nothing but a gory scene and its large club.

The pillar decreased in size until it was back to a staff. Atreus quickly cleaned the blood from it with a spell before he turned around. His weapon disappeared into his clothes as he angrily stomped towards the rest of the trolls. With each step he took, his size increased, and shortly after, he was as large as them.

Atreus' Animagus transformation, if it could even be called that, was that of a Giant. As happy as he had been that he would no longer be considered a runt among his kind, Atreus was sad he wasn't able to transform into an animal. However, all hope wasn't lost.

The process of becoming an Animagus was a long and annoying one, but at the end of it, it allowed a witch or a wizard to find their inner animal and get in tune with it. The problem was Atreus wasn't a wizard; he was something else. The potion didn't let him find his inner animal, but it did allow him to discover his true nature, that of a Giant.

Atreus had almost given up on the idea of turning into an animal until he got a clue on how he might be able to achieve it. His first idea had been to use Transfiguration on himself. Simple and easy, one would think, but he would be very wrong.

If one uses Transfiguration on an inanimate object to turn it into an animal, it will BECOME the animal. It doesn't simply turn into a living being; it BECOMES one.

The very same rule applies to human beings or any living beings in general. If a wizard uses Transfiguration on himself to turn into a pig, for the duration of the spell, he will BECOME a pig, in both body and mind, and the longer it lasts, the more severe the consequences will be. There have been cases of wizards or witches attempting to Transfigure themselves into animals, and all of them had suffered severe brain damage from it or a significant personality change.

For that reason, wizardkind came up with the Animagus Transformation. The wizard or witch didn't transform into any random creature, but into their inner animal, something that was part of them, something that was part of their soul.

The soul. That was Atreus' hope. If he could find a way to mold his soul, not only to hide it from people like Luna who could see it, but to also change its form. Then maybe, he could find a way to turn into different creatures.

However, for the time being, Atreus had to be content with the cards in his hand, and being a Giant wasn't too bad as it came with its perks. Immense physical strength, proportioned to his size, was one of them.

The trolls saw something as large as them, although not as dirty or smelly, angrily stomping in their direction. This was an intruder, and their primitive nature screamed at them to eliminate the threat as quickly as possible. They grabbed their clubs and stood up just as he neared them.

Atreus wasted no time at all. He was angry, and the trolls, who were the reason behind his anger, will pay for that. With a lunge, Atreus neared his first target, and his massive fist shot out, connecting with the troll's head.

The result was different from the last time, where he needed several hits to knock out the dumb creature. His fist smashed apart and caved in the troll's head. The mindless creature died from just a single punch. Not only was his strength increased from his transformation, but he was also angry, which powered him up even more. The troll just had no chance.

The rest were soon upon him with their clubs raised high. Atreus grabbed the corpse of the one he just killed and threw it at them. A couple, those to the sides, avoided being hit and struck with their massive weapons.

Atreus dodged one of the attacks while he reached out with his hands and stopped the other. With a tight grasp on the club, he wrenched it out of the troll's hands before whacking him away. He then spun around in place, avoiding a strike from the other in the process, before batting the troll's head like a professional baseball player.

Its head, however, didn't fly off like a baseball was supposed to. A shower of gore was what followed as the headless troll fell on the ground. The others recovered and threw away the corpse by that point, but it didn't make any difference in the outcome of the... massacre.

Trolls were creatures that fought with their primitive instincts, while Atreus had been taught hand-to-hand combat by his father. Kratos hadn't had too much time to teach him, but he wasn't a God of War for no reason. He knew to fight and had ingrained everything he could to his son in the time they were together.

Atreus bobbed and weaved, avoiding all attacks thrown at him while delivering devasting punches in return. The troll stood no chance, and soon enough, all of them turned into corpses lying on the ground.

"Humpf," Atreus grunted as his size decreased, returning back to his human form. He was still annoyed, but his anger was somewhat quelled. He had no desire to stay in the forest any longer, but he had to deal with the corpses. There were no creatures in the Forbidden Forest that would ever consider eating the trolls; they were just too disgusting and smelled awful.

Atreus' staff appeared in his hands, and he tapped the ground with it. The earth beneath the trolls opened up like a dragon's maw and consumed their corpses. This way, they could at least serve as a fertilizer for the forest. He then tapped the ground once more and dispelled the trees he had brought to life. The mindless creatures were just too dumb, and there had been no need for the assistance of the Ents.

There was no point for him to stay any longer in the forest, and Atreus stomped away. The two Centaurs that usually watched him from afar gave him a wide berth, not even daring to come anywhere close to him.

Atreus quickly left the 'dangerous' woods and made his way over to the castle. Dumbledore and Maxime were still in the front and discussing something when they saw him.

"Atreus, you are already back?" Dumbledore looked surprised he was already returning.

"Stupid troll couldn't take a punch," Atreus muttered as he passed them with a frown on his face. He wasn't planning on returning to the forest soon, so he had to find something else to do in his free time. Only one thing came to his mind, but he needed to find a pair of troublesome twins for that. Fortunately, he knew where their workshop was, and that was his next destination.