Who On Earth Locked the Door?

Harry, positioned at the back of the group, was initially stunned by the sudden appearance of the gaping maw of the abyss.

The stench that assaulted his face nearly made Harry gag. As despair began to take hold, Evan's voice suddenly cut through the tension.

"Protego Maxima!"

Invisible shields appeared, momentarily holding back the snarling heads of the three-headed dog, but in the next second, another toothy maw shredded Evan's magically conjured barriers to bits!

Thankfully, in that brief second, Harry had snapped back to reality and narrowly escaped disaster.

Ron, after shouting for everyone to run, was already flinging himself at the door, tugging at it in vain only to realize it was locked tight.

"Who on earth locked the door?!" Ron cried out in despair.

Evan, currently using the Stunning Spell and the Full Body-Bind Curse to restrain the beast, couldn't help but roll his eyes. Wasn't it Ron himself who had locked it?

In a panic and perhaps contemplating his own mortality, Ron was shoved aside by Hermione, who placed her wand against the lock.

"Alohomora!"

With Hermione's unlocking spell, the lock was violently forced open, and the group of five fled at top speed. They managed to close the door just in time before the Cerberus could follow.

Bang... Bang, bang!

Safe at a distance, the group sighed with relief, especially Evan, who was rather nonplussed about being dragged into the whole affair.

During the struggle with the Cerberus, Evan realized the limitations of his low-level magic; his Stunning Spells barely affected the beast and certainly didn't bring it down.

Had Hermione been any slower with the door, he might have been done for, trapped in such a confined space with no room to dodge.

The ordeal served as a stark reminder of Evan's own vulnerability. Against a first-year like Malfoy, he might have the upper hand, but facing real danger, he was practically helpless.

"The monster won't break through the door, will it?" Ron glanced back at the still-quaking door, complaining yet again.

"No, that door is specially reinforced; otherwise, it would have broken long ago," Evan explained.

"Why would Professor Dumbledore keep such a creature in the castle?" Harry was still shaken. Never had he imagined encountering something so terrifying at Hogwarts, let alone nearly being eaten by it!

Hermione chided sharply, "I think you should remember, Dumbledore warned us on our first day not to come here. If we hadn't broken the rules and come out tonight, we wouldn't have ended up here in a panic!"

Her tone was sharper than usual, perhaps due to their narrow escape.

Harry and Ron braced themselves for a lecture from Hermione, while Neville looked on the verge of tears.

Surprisingly, after venting her frustration, Hermione did not seem intent on snitching. Instead, she revealed her observation of a trapdoor beneath the Cerberus and speculated that it was guarding something.

Before leaving, Hermione warned them sternly that whatever lay beneath was none of their business and was something for Dumbledore to handle.

Her attitude left the others puzzled, but thankfully, it seemed Hermione was unlikely to report their rule-breaking to Professor McGonagall.

"I can't believe Malfoy is so devious, he must have told Filch about us in the trophy room!" Ron fumed back in the dormitory, vowing to punch Malfoy the next day.

"Evan, we should have listened to you," Harry admitted sheepishly, recalling Evan's warning from earlier that day.

"Let it go," Evan dismissed with a wave, indicating he didn't mind. He hadn't expected Harry and Ron to resist temptation and stay in the dormitory anyway; running into them was just his bad luck.

"By the way, Evan, what were you doing in the corridor?" Harry asked curiously.

"I was looking for you guys," Evan replied nonchalantly. He certainly couldn't admit to sneaking into the Restricted Section for a midnight read.

The others felt even more ashamed, but their guilt soon gave way to excitement as they discussed the Cerberus and the trapdoor, speculating on what might be hidden beneath... Harry even shared about the package he took from Gringotts with Hagrid before school started.

Evan kept out of the conversation, his newly activated challenge task giving him enough to worry about. He had no interest in meddling with Dumbledore's plans.

The only silver lining was that Halloween, when the troll would appear, was still some time away, giving him a chance to prepare.

...

In the following weeks, Evan worked hard to improve his strength and scoured the library for books about trolls.

"Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them..." "Taming of the Dangerous Beasts..." "On the Viability of Crossbreeding Giants and Trolls"...

He even unearthed "Travels with Trolls" by Gilderoy Lockhart, set to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts next semester.

Despite knowing Lockhart was a charlatan who favored the Memory Charm, it didn't detract from the book's authenticity and expertise, which was why it was available in the Hogwarts library.

Evan was reluctant to open it, put off by Lockhart's signature grin plastered on the cover.

But the previous books had been unreliable. "Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them" merely mentioned trolls had no medicinal value, with no part being palatable from brain to body...

"Taming of the Dangerous Beasts" stated that wizards could usually subdue them with greater strength...

That was painfully obvious, wasn't it?

If he had the power to defeat a troll, why would he be searching for answers in books?

"On the Viability of Crossbreeding Giants and Trolls" presented its eye-watering content in a graphic, academic style.

In contrast, "Travels with Trolls" offered a biographical account detailing trolls' habits and weaknesses.

For instance, trolls were typically low in intelligence, had massive appetites, and would eat nearly anything, making baiting them a viable strategy. There was a good chance a troll would gobble up the bait.

Also, the disproportion between their tiny heads and massive bodies meant they were inherently unstable. A powerful spell aimed at a troll's legs might disrupt its balance and bring it down, giving one a few extra seconds to escape before being eaten.

Lastly, the troll's head was a weak spot, much more vulnerable than the rest of its body. A heavy blow could potentially knock it out cold.

Tips:

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