Chapter 26

After Albert opened the door, the giant heard the sound and swung its club at him.

But Albert was faster than the giant, ducking under the swing and letting the club miss him, smashing into the door behind him.

At that moment, Hermione was running urgently to reach the professors and inform them of what was happening.

"Hurry, Albert!" Hermione shouted.

The giant, enraged by the failed attack, swung its club again, this time much faster, trying to ensure that the attack would hit Albert. But the giant didn't know that Albert was much stronger than it.

Albert could easily defeat the giant, but he was waiting for Hermione to escape so she wouldn't see him use his terrifying strength. If she saw him use his power, she might suspect him, as it would be impossible for a first-year student to reach such a level before finishing their first year.

Just before the giant's club reached him, Albert cast the *Petrificus Totalus* spell, temporarily freezing the giant in place.

After the morning lesson, Harry and Ron discovered that Hermione hadn't shown up throughout the afternoon and that Albert had only gone upstairs to fetch his school bag before disappearing hastily.

At dinner, they descended to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. They overheard Parvati telling Lavender that Hermione had been doing her homework with Albert in an empty classroom on the first floor, although Hermione's eyes were still red and puffy. At least she hadn't been hiding in the toilet crying. Harry felt a pang of jealousy over Hermione having such a friend.

Ron seemed a bit uneasy after hearing this. Harry said, "Albert is also quite obsessed with books and knowledge, so it's natural for him to be friends with Hermione."

Harry continued, "I know it made you uncomfortable when Albert asked you to apologize to Hermione at noon, but if everyone hadn't gathered to discuss their homework in the common room, I might not have completed my assignments recently. You know, Quidditch practice takes up a lot of time."

After a moment, as they entered the dining hall and saw the colorful Halloween decorations, they forgot all about Hermione and Albert.

A thousand bats fluttered on the walls and ceiling, and another thousand flew like a dark cloud above the dining tables, causing the candle flames to flicker inside pumpkins. Delicious food appeared on golden plates, just like at the start-of-term feast.

As Harry and the others enjoyed their meal, Professor Quirrell suddenly burst into the hall, his large cloak on his head and a look of terror on his face. Everyone stared as he staggered towards Professor Dumbledore's chair, leaning on the table, gasping, "The goblin—in the classroom underground—you should know." (His words were fragmented due to Quirrell's fear and gasping.)

After saying this, he collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

The hall erupted into chaos. Professor Dumbledore had to cast several powerful fire spells to get everyone to quiet down.

He said in a low voice, "Prefect, lead your house to the dormitories immediately."

Percy, as usual, led the Gryffindor students to their tower with ease.

On their way, they encountered people rushing in different directions, many with anxiety written on their faces, and some shy girls were sobbing quietly.

After walking for a while and struggling to get past a group of confused Hufflepuff students, Harry seemed to remember something. He grabbed Ron's arm and said, "I just remembered that Hermione and Albert didn't know about the giant... I think we need to tell them."

Ron bit his lip and said firmly, "Oh, right, but it's better if Percy doesn't see us."

They buried themselves among the Hufflepuffs and headed in the opposite direction. They walked down a side corridor and turned the corner when they heard hurried footsteps behind them.

As Harry and Ron rounded the corner, they ran into Hermione, who was panting and out of breath from running.

"Huh? Ron, Harry?"

Ron said, "Hermione? What are you doing here? Where's Albert?"

Hermione replied, "You need to go back. Go and tell the professors to go to the girls' restroom and help Albert with the giant."

Hermione spoke with tears in her eyes.

Ron and Harry started running, but Ron, while running, said, "Did you say Albert is fighting the giant now?"

Hermione didn't answer Ron's question.

Seeing that the giant was frozen by the spell, Albert seized the opportunity to cast another spell, *Crucio*, which is not a simple spell.

*Crucio* is classified as a Dark spell used against humans or living beings, causing intense pain that can drive the recipient mad and even kill them if their pain tolerance or will is weak.

When the giant was hit by the spell, it screamed in agony from the pain, collapsing and thrashing on the ground with foam and saliva pouring from its mouth.

Five minutes after the giant fell, there was a sudden, violent banging on the door and loud footsteps.

After a while, Professor Flitwick used magic to remove the wood blocking the door leading to the girls' restroom, where the giant had destroyed the restroom door.

Professor McGonagall lit her wand and rushed into the room, followed by Snape and Quirrell.

Quirrell only glanced at the giant and then sighed weakly, sitting on a crate and clutching his chest.

Snape bent down to inspect the giant, while Professor McGonagall looked at Albert, who had never seen her look so angry.

As the professors gathered around the giant and Albert, three students ran around the corner.

Ron said, "Professor, Professor, is Albert okay?"

Ron, Harry, and Hermione were the three students who had run after informing the professors about what had happened.

Seeing that Albert was fine, Hermione ran to him and checked to see if he was injured in any way from the giant.

Seeing that he was okay, Hermione suddenly hugged him, making the atmosphere awkward, and Albert, too, was embarrassed.

Hermione said, "Thank you, Albert, for saving me today. I'll never forget this day."

At that moment, Professor Snape stood up and said with an unexpected expression, "The giant is dead, was it due to the *Crucio* curse?"

The other professors were shocked to hear the spell mentioned by Snape.

Professor McGonagall examined the giant's body and found that Snape's claim was true.

McGonagall asked, "Albert Black, did you use the *Crucio* curse on this giant?"

"Yes." Albert then cast *Crucio* on the giant again, causing blood to gush out from the giant's body.

The professors were shocked once more by the amount of blood, realizing that the level of this spell was powerful. The more blood the spell caused, the stronger it was.

Professor Flitwick exclaimed, "My goodness, Albert, where did you learn this spell?"

Albert replied, "Well, I learned it from a book in the Restricted Section of the library, and I got permission from Professor Hoosh."

The library had books on simple spells, but the Restricted Section contained mostly forbidden or very dangerous spells for students younger than Fifth Year. To access the restricted books, one needed permission from a professor to obtain a card and present it to the librarian to access lower-level restricted books.

Professor McGonagall said, "You killed the giant with that? That's difficult even for an adult wizard. For a first-year student like you, I really must commend you for your bravery and casting the spell. However, given that this incident led to the death of a magical creature and nearly endangered all the students, the Headmaster must handle this matter personally."

With that, Professor McGonagall, with a serious look on her face, took Albert by the arm and led the way with the three students following her toward Professor Dumbledore's office.