Chapter 73

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"A giant monster broke into the underground classroom - I thought I should let you know." 

After saying that, Quirrell fell to the floor and passed out. 

The auditorium suddenly became chaotic. Wayne rolled his eyes, jumped onto a chair, and shouted, "The troll is coming! Run!" 

After yelling, he fell to the ground and accidentally stepped on the back of Quirrell's head. 

"Ouch! Lawrence!" 

Quirrell, still pretending to be dazed, and Voldemort on the back of his head yelled simultaneously. Voldemort secretly gritted his teeth and reminded himself to be patient. Stimulated by him, the auditorium became even more chaotic. 

Many young wizards ran around like headless chickens until Dumbledore continuously fired off fireworks with his wand, calming everyone. He glanced helplessly at Wayne, who was still standing on Quirrell's head, and said in a deep voice, "Prefects, lead the students from each house to the dormitories immediately." 

Dumbledore's voice seemed to carry a strange power, and the chaotic situation quickly ended. The prefects stood up and ordered the young wizards to line up and walk out of the auditorium, with the first years at the back. 

Only then did they realize that Quirrell had been repeatedly stepped on. 

"Ah! Professor Quirrell!" 

Looking at the almost deformed turban, Wayne shouted enthusiastically again, "Professor Quirrell has fainted, and his turban is dirty. Let's take him to the school doctor's office. Someone, take off the turban!" 

"No, no need!" 

Quirrell, who had been pretending to be dead, endured the pain all over his body and climbed up. "I'm fine. Everyone, go back to your dormitories quickly. It's very dangerous here." 

After saying that, he ignored the little wizards' concerns and limped to join the other teachers. 

When leaving the auditorium, a little wizard wondered, "How did the giant monster get into the school? It's so big." 

"I don't know, maybe from the Forbidden Forest?" 

"Then why is it in the underground classroom? No one saw it along the way, right?" 

Wayne was also puzzled. It wasn't surprising that Quirrell could get a giant monster, but how he brought it in was very confusing. 

"Wayne!" 

Hermione suddenly caught up with him, grabbed him, and ran in the opposite direction. Next to her was Harry, both looking very nervous. "Ronald is still in the bathroom; he doesn't know about the troll." 

"What happened?" 

Wayne was a little confused as to why this was going against the norm. 

Hermione was okay, but Ronald was hiding in the toilet. 

They walked in the other direction, quietly entering an empty side corridor, and hurried towards the bathroom. 

Along the way, Hermione explained the whole situation, feeling very remorseful. If she hadn't caused Ronald to make a fool of himself, he wouldn't have been hiding all afternoon, afraid to face people, or be in danger. 

"It's not entirely your fault." 

"Ronald really needs to watch his mouth," Wayne consoled. The mischievous kid had even dared to spread rumors about him. 

Suddenly, Wayne grabbed both of them and hid behind a nearby statue. Hurried footsteps approached. It was Snape. He passed through the corridor, out of sight, and hurried upstairs. 

"What is he doing?" Harry whispered. "That direction is toward the fourth floor. Where are the other professors?" 

"Let's not worry about it. Professors can do whatever they want. Let's find Ronald." 

Wayne urged, and the three of them continued onward. 

Turning a corner, Wayne immediately wrinkled his nose; his eyes became watery. 

The smell was terrible; worse than the foulest potion, and he could see a greenish mist in the air. He quickly disabled the motion sensing to feel better, discovering a drawback of dynamic perception. 

A giant monster had nearly knocked him out. If more had come, he would've run without retaliating. 

Hermione and Harry covered their noses, then they heard a low grunt and huge footsteps. 

A colossal beast, twelve feet tall, entered the bathroom, followed by boys' screams. 

"It's Ronald!" Harry's expression changed as he recognized his friend's voice and ran towards the bathroom. 

Wayne raised his hand, and Harry floated up, his legs swinging. 

"You and Hermione stay here; don't cause trouble!" Wayne shouted and approached the bathroom. 

The door was shattered, and he saw Ronald hiding in the corner, his wand broken in two on the floor. The giant monster stepped closer, raising a massive wooden stick. 

Wayne slightly raised his palm, and the wooden root in the troll's hand floated up and hit it on the head. 

Click! 

"Ho~々!" 

The stick shattered, and the giant roared, looking behind it. Wayne was speechless. Wasn't this thing supposed to faint if hit with a stick? How come nothing happened? 

Phew! 

Two faucets burst, and turbulent water spurted out. Under Wayne's control, it turned into a massive water mass, enveloping the giant and lifting it into mid-air. 

Hermione and Harry arrived, speechless at the sight of the giant struggling but unable to escape the water prison. 

"Ronald, pull yourself together!" 

Controlling the water prison with one hand, Wayne quickly cast a head-soaking spell on himself with the other, cursing himself for forgetting to use it earlier to block the smell. 

Hearing his reminder, Ronald snapped out of his daze and stumbled to Harry's side. 

The clear water washed the filth off the troll's body, soon turning murky and worsening the bathroom's smell. Except for Wayne, the three youngsters tightly held their noses and enviously looked at the bubbles on Wayne's head, silently vowing to learn this spell. 

After a few minutes, the giant's struggles weakened until it stopped moving. 

"Is it drowned already?" Harry asked quietly. 

"Let's keep it submerged a bit longer, just to be safe," Hermione cautiously advised. 

Wayne agreed, so he maintained the water prison. The giant had tough skin and was more resistant to physical damage than Acromantulas or Centaurs. This was why Wayne chose the water prison, to ensure the creature died cleanly. 

"I'm such a kind Hufflepuff," Wayne thought happily, when suddenly loud footsteps echoed in the corridor. Hermione and the others turned around. Moments later, Professor McGonagall rushed into the bathroom, closely followed by Snape and Quirrell. 

"Oh my God!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, "What on earth are you doing?!" 

A giant monster lay peacefully in the water prison, and the three young wizards just looked at Wayne. 

What an extraordinary scene. 

Snape's face darkened as he limped into the room. After seeing the water prison, his eyes narrowed. He casually glanced at Wayne, who was smiling and greeting Professor McGonagall. 

Quirrell also entered. He glanced at the troll and let out a weak sob, sitting on a toilet and clutching his clothes to wipe away his tears. 

"Professor Quirrell," Wayne said, "if you need to use the toilet, it's not very convenient here." 

Quirrell, crying, hesitated. Then he cried louder.

"You can stop, Lawrence," said Snape solemnly. "Do you want to soak this giant monster's hair?"

Hearing this, Wayne dissipated the magic, and the giant monster hit the ground with a dull sound.

"I need an explanation! What the hell are you playing at?" Professor McGonagall glared at them. Harry had never seen her look so angry.

It inexplicably overlapped with Hermione's image.

"Needless to say..." Snape sneered, "To prove his strength, the genius Lawrence roped in his little girlfriend and two followers to cause trouble for the troll."

Hermione had never been so displeased with Snape's accusations.

Harry and Ronald were furious. Who are the followers? We are Wayne's friends!

Wayne didn't take it seriously but still smiled, "Professor Snape, you are such a good person, but it's a pity about your mouth."

Snape's face grimaced.

"Professor McGonagall," Hermione lowered her head, her voice low, "This is all my fault because I..."

"No!" Ronald interrupted. "They all came to find me. I was running around and ran into the giant monster. Thankfully, Wayne and the others saved me."

Professor McGonagall was not convinced by such an excuse. There must be more to the story.

But seeing Ronald's determined eyes, she pondered, "Mr. Weasley, I'm deducting five points from Gryffindor for your recklessness."

Snape let out a dissatisfied snort. "Professor McGonagall, here..." He paused when he saw Wayne quietly raise a finger, then quickly flashed three fingers.

Wayne showed another finger.

Snape changed his tone, "Most of them are your students, so I won't comment further."

McGonagall was surprised, thinking Snape found the punishment too lenient.

But since Snape voiced no objections, the matter ended there.

McGonagall didn't want to further reduce the few points left for her house.

"As for you, Mr. Lawrence, for your bravery and kindness, Hufflepuff gains twenty points."

"Let's go back to rest now, shall we? The other students are still planning to have the Halloween dinner."

Wayne exchanged a look with Snape and led Harry and the others out of the toilet.

Before leaving, Ronald sorrowfully gathered the two pieces of his broken wand, planning to repair it with magic tape.

Hermione clung to Wayne's hand tightly. The boy felt helpless but followed them toward the Gryffindor Tower.

Halfway there, Hermione suddenly said, "Sorry, Ronald, I was too impulsive this afternoon. I apologize to you."

"You were the one who helped me correct my mistake, thank you."

After saying this, she bowed formally to Ronald, who felt bewildered.

"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have spoken harshly. The spells you taught me are all correct. It's me who cared too much about appearances."

"Oh yes, and Wayne must like you more than Cho Chang from Ravenclaw."

Hermione blushed, and Wayne playfully slapped Ronald on the head.

"Shut up, why do you always gossip about me?"

Wayne had effectively dealt with the troll, and Ronald, nursing a slapped face, looked down at him.

"I was wrong, Wayne."

"Even if this incident is over, it will be written off from now on and no one will be allowed to mention it again."

Wayne decisively settled the issue, and no one voiced any objections.

Glancing at the wand in Ronald's hand, Wayne asked, "What are you going to do about the wand?"

Ronald replied bitterly, "Just use it. If I tell my mother, she'll just send me a Howler."

Hermione was about to speak but Wayne stopped her.

"Here, I'll lend you the money first and you don't have to pay it back. But, I'll have you do my Astronomy and History of Magic homework this semester, and we'll consider this money as payment. What do you think?"

Ronald nodded eagerly, accepting the deal.

The wand cost seven Galleons, and doing homework for two subjects wasn't much. He could finish it while playing a few games of wizard chess, seeing it as a profitable deal.

"Thank you, Wayne!"

"You're welcome." The group continued toward the tower. "This is a fair deal."

Upon reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, Ronald and Harry entered first.

Hermione seemed to linger, wanting to speak to Wayne alone.

The young witch looked down, played with her fingers, and stammered,

"Don't worry about what Ronald said about Cho... you... don't worry, he's just talking nonsense."

Wayne smiled and gently rubbed her head, "I know, I'm only in the first year and I haven't thought about those messy things at all. But is there really no problem between you and Cho? You two haven't spoken for a long time."

"Of course not," Hermione defended awkwardly. "I'm just busy lately. I've made plans with Cho to go to the library the day after tomorrow."

"That's good. Then I'll take you to a place as well."

Wayne didn't care whether Hermione had really made plans with Cho or was trying to make things right later.

"As long as the two of you aren't causing too much trouble, that's fine by me."

"Thank you for today," Hermione hugged Wayne.

The smell of her shower gel, sweet and milky, filled the air, but the moment was too brief.

Before Wayne could fully enjoy it, Hermione spoke the password and hurried into the Gryffindor lounge.

Wayne narrowed his eyes, recalling the pleasant fragrance. "Ah... sweet-smelling and soft."

In the principal's office, Snape limped and sat before Dumbledore.

"It's quiet on the fourth floor for now, and Quirrell hasn't shown up."

"Thank you for your efforts, Severus. How's your leg? Do you need to see Pomfrey?" Dumbledore asked with concern.

"No need to worry, I can handle it myself," Snape replied, pulling out a small crystal bottle. He carefully dripped two drops on the bloody wound, healing it instantly as he stood up to avoid using too much.

Dumbledore observed curiously, "Are those Ho-oh's tears? The effects are indeed much stronger than that of a phoenix."

"This is just the basics," Snape replied, his expression complex. "You have no idea what these tears signify."

Dumbledore followed up, "What do they mean?"

"They represent hope."

Snape tightened his grip on the bottle and pocketed it. He changed the subject, wary of Dumbledore's probing.

"Since you think so highly of him, then I suppose..."

Dumbledore's smile faded as he fell into silence, pondering deeply.

After a long pause, he responded, "This is Harry's destiny, and no one can replace him. We can only help as much as possible."