15: Troll

[3rd Pov]

The snow fell gently upon the ancient spires of Hogwarts Castle, coating the stones in a thick layer of white. The air was filled with a quiet hush, as if the snow had cast a spell over the entire grounds, muffling the sounds of the outside world.

Inside the castle, the students and staff were gathered in the Great Hall, where a roaring fire in the hearth cast flickering shadows across the walls. The windows were frosted over with ice, and the only light in the hall came from the dozens of candles that floated above the long tables.

The walls of the Great Hall are adorned with floating jack-o'-lanterns, and the tables are piled high with all manner of Halloween treats - from cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties to blood-flavored lollipops and ghostly meringues.

As the students tuck into their food, they are regaled with tales of Hogwarts' haunted past by the resident ghosts, who flit about the hall with otherworldly grace.

At the Slytherin table, the students were enjoying the feast. Alaric was sitting beside Blaise and Theodore, and in front of him sat Daphne and Tracey.

"I heard that Granger didn't leave the bathroom the whole day," spoke Tracey, while helping herself to Yorkshire pie. She sat near the girl during Charms class and heard her whole banter with the Weasley boy.

"Why?" asked Theodore, "Did she eat something she shouldn't have?"

Blaise, who was interested in school gossip, blankly stared at Theodore after hearing him. "Are you pea-brained or something Theo?" he said, before dramatically bringing his hands to his heart, and speaking in a melodramatic tone, "She probably confessed to Weasley and got heartbroken~"

"Granger would confess faster to a hundred-year-old tome than that fat head," joked Alaric, causing his friends to chuckle.

The Great Hall was full of lively chatter, with the students happily enjoying the variety of foods the elves had cooked. When Alaric was trying to explain to his group the array of different inanimate objects a girl would choose to date over Ron, Professor Quirrel burst through the door and came sprinting into the Hall, his turban askew and terror on his face.

"TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON! T-TROOLLL IN THE DUNGEON!!" he shouts, before stopping in the middle of the Hall, as everyone watched him in silence, "Thought you ought to know," he continues before he sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an uproar. Students screaming and running, trying to escape the room, except for a silver-blonde-haired boy who, in the middle of the commotion, was sipping on some pumpkin juice he was able to snatch.

"SILLLLLEEENNNNCEEEEE!" Dumbledore spoke, his tone much louder than normal, amplified by the wand present near his throat. The moment the students heard the headmaster, they stopped in their tracks, frozen.

"Everyone will please, not panic." he said, "Now, Prefects will lead their houses back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

'But our common room is in the dungeons...' Alaric thought.

The Prefects, hearing the orders, immediately got to work, leading the students out of the Great Hall. Some of them were in their element, such as Percy Weasley.

"Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"

"How did a troll get in?" asked Daphne in monotone, as they came down the stairs. They passed through a group of Gryffindors.

"Maybe Peeves finally took it a step further," said Alaric, not exactly speaking his mind. For some reason, the moment he heard about the troll, he couldn't take his eyes off the back of Quirrel's turban.

Something deep inside kept bringing his gaze back to the ominous aura that leaked from it, making him think that perhaps that turban hid more secrets than he thought.

Passing by the group of Gryffindors, Alaric spotted Harry and Ron running off somewhere. At first, he reasoned that the two must have left something behind. However, he realized that his sister, along with Hope and Hermione weren't present at the feast, before dismissing it, as the girl's bathroom on the first floor was far from the dungeons.

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[Alaric's Pov]

When we reached the dungeon, I had my wand ready for any troll confrontation. Yet, when I spotted no troll in sight, a realization dawned on me. If, by chance, the troll had left the dungeon, he had two paths. One was in the direction of the Great Hall, and the other was in the direction of the bathrooms.

The second I grasped the ordeal, I instantly run off in the direction of the bathrooms, ignoring the shouts of my friends behind me.

I hurried off towards the girls' toilets, running along deserted corridors, my steps echoing within the walls. I turned around the corner, spotting Harry and Ron sprinting in the same direction as me. I crept along the next corridor, following them. Approaching the destination, I sniffed and a foul stench reached my nostrils.

Harry and Ron seemed to stop. In front of them, something huge emerged from the left pathway.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

The moment it tried to enter the toilets, I instantly unholstered my wand. Like a Tesla coil, I waved it around my head, lighting bolts coming out of it and striking around me. I pointed it at the beast, before a larger bolt shot from my wand in its direction.

It traveled at unimaginable speeds, striking the troll in its back, leaving a burnt mark on him, before it fell on the ground, stunned.

It hadn't hurt him that much. Trolls had naturally high resistance to magic, but that wasn't the objective anyways. Seeing it trying to get up, I swished my wand again, and, like a wave in the ocean, the stone floor pushed the troll away from the door.

"Alaric!" Harry shouted, spotting me behind them. The troll, angered, had started running towards us. Moving my left hand to the right, I wandlessly pushed the two boys in front of me to the side, out of the troll's path.

The troll's grunting and steps became closer and closer. The moment he brought his club up to swing at me, I transfigured it into a giant snake, that slithered around his neck, suffocating the creature.

As the troll tried to break from the snake's chokehold, I shot two blasting curses, Confringo, to its knees, causing it to lose strength in the legs, and fall to the ground.

The beast, with a transfigured creature asphyxiating him, and no way to support himself, started to desperately free himself, trashing around on the cold floor.

At this point, my sister, Hermione, and Hope, who heard the fight outside, came out of the bathroom, in time to see me trap the troll, embedding him in the ground.

Eventually, it passed out, and the transfigured snake turned into its original form.

Ron and Harry had passed out, probably due to the force I pushed them with. As for the three girls, they were looking at the scene, each with different expressions.

Lysandra was calm, as she had seen me cast more difficult magic. She gazed over to the troll, shrugging, and started to walk towards me.

Hermione was with a strange glint in her eyes. From what I observed during the month we had been in Hogwarts, she would probably start to ask me nonstop about the different spells I had used.

As for Hope, her eyes didn't leave me, various expressions passing through them. From amazement, seeing me defeat a troll with such ease, to suspicion. She was also angered, seeing her brother fainted against the corridor walls.

"As much as I like seeing you do magic," spoke Lysandra, "How did you know the troll was here?"

"Quirrel said it was in the dungeons," I said, bringing my hand up to massage my temples, "But when we arrived at our common room, along with the professors, it wasn't there."

"How in the hell was it in the dungeons?" Hope responded, looking at me with a frown decorating her face, her green eyes peering at me, "The monster came from the astronomy tower. You want to tell me that he apparated there from the dungeons?" she said, borderline screaming.

Apart from not liking the tone she was using with me, she was right. How did a big lump of fat like this troll move so quickly through the corridors, that he ended up on the other side of the school?

Did someone perhaps use this as a diversion? And why did Quirrel lie about its location? The school was full of riches and magical artifacts, but nothing a professor couldn't use. What could possibly need a troll as a diversion?

Lost in my thoughts, Hermione slowly approached us, fidgeting, as if worried about something.

"Do you think Snape did it so he could get past Fluffy?" Hermione said, jumping back a little as she heard the troll's fainted grunts.

Hope paled, and her neck snapped back to Hermione, her eyes open to a comical degree, "HERMIONE!" she shouted, as the girl in question realized she said something she shouldn't have.

I turn to look at Lysandra, who was avoiding staring at me. She would usually do that when caught red-handed or lied.

"Fluffy?" I said, my eyes twinkling with magic while I looked at my sister, "You know something don't you?"

Hearing my question, Lysandra clasped her hands together, her heart racing, her palms slick with sweat. I turned to the other two girls, both with their breath caught in their throats. They struggled to maintain eye contact, their gaze darting nervously around the room.

The instant I was about to use legilimency on them, footsteps sounded against the cold stone floor behind me. I shifted from my position, looking at the newcomers.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come running, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on the ground, clutching his heart.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice, as Snape bent over, analyzing the state of the creature. She approached the two boys who were slouched against the wall, who were slowly waking up. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"'Please, Professor McGonagall, they were looking for me," spoke Hermione, gaining the older witch's attention, "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now..."

"If my brother hadn't fought the troll, I doubt we would have come out unscathed," complemented Lysandra, flashing me a sly smile.

"Well then. If that's the case..." McGonagall said, looking at the six of us. Before she could continue her speech, Professor Snape interrupted her.

"I have to say, Mr. Grindelwald... the magic you used to subdue this troll is quite advanced... In normal circumstances, you would earn some points, but for foolishly endangering yourself, I fear it would be the opposite," he said while limping in my direction, his right leg hurt.

I noticed the group behind me staring wide-eyed at him, causing Snape to hide the injury.

"Five points from Slytherin," he continued, signaling Quirrel to take care of the troll, before limping away.

After Snape left, I locked gazes with Hope, my eyes narrowing. She swallowed dry, averting her eyes from me once again. They were hiding something, and they knew more about this event, and I was going to find out what.

McGonagall then hurried us to our dormitories, leaving the Defense professor behind.

Unbeknownst to me, said professor was glaring at me, his expression indecipherable, the dark magic hidden beneath his turban leaking.

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A/N: Did Voldyshorts finally notice Alaric? Find out in the next chapter!

Hope you enjoyed it!