"GRAAAAAAAA!"
Harry started moving even before the screams sounded, using Telekinesis to pull the student back right as the leading troll swung its metallic club down right where she had been standing.
*SMASH!*
Little bits of stone went flying everywhere from the impact, pelting Harry's body as he charged at the five trolls.
"GRAAA!"
The first troll roared once more as it raised its club to smash Harry into paste, but Harry slid under the troll while both his hands flashed with bright green light.
""!!!""
Two of the trolls, the ones flanking the leader, went stiff as the spells hit them, before both began to teeter like giant smelly trees that hit the ground. Hard.
With two of them down, though only temporarily since it was a Paralysis spell, Harry quickly rolled to his feet while casting a Bound Sword in each hand.
"RAGH!"
One of the trolls taking up the rear growled as Harry shot at it, swinging a giant bladed club down at him.
"Not today!" Harry growled as he deftly avoided the attack, before flicking his left wrist so that his sword sliced cleanly through the troll's wrist, severing its hand entirely.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG!"
The troll roared in pain and fury as blood poured from the stump on it's wrist, completely ignorant of Harry dropping his Bound Swords as he instead grabbed the bladed club with both hands.
"You can have this back!" He declared, using Telekinesis to swing the club right back at the troll.
*Crunch!*
The scrap metal that made up it's breastplate cave and split from the hit, also shattering it's ribcage as the blade buried itself into it's chest.
"Tch. And I used to be able to do that with one hand too." Harry grumbled in annoyance, even as the other two trolls lumbered towards him to avenge their fallen comrade.
"You can take this one." Harry said as he recalled the Bound Swords to his hands, before throwing them both at one of the approaching trolls. Being blades forged by Harry's very magic power, they were sharp enough to cut through all but the most resiliant of materials.
Both blades cut pierced through the troll's armor like a hot knife through butter, sinking to the hilt into it's heart and stomach.
"Guh!" The troll uttered in what sounded like surprise, before it fell backwards with a crash.
That left one standing while the other two slowly recovered from their Paralysis, as Harry hadn't made the spell too powerful. He'd only wanted them out of the way as he dealt with the first three.
"RAAAAAAAA!"
The troll roared furiously as it charged at Harry now that two of it's companions had fallen, it's club raised to smash him.
"Be quiet." Harry muttered as he casually conjured a Bound Bow, and knocked two arrows as he drew it back.
Time seemed to slow around him as Harry focused his aim, though for no longer than a second before he released the arrows.
Before anyone could even blink, the arrows found their way through the small eyeholes in the troll's helmet and pierced it's eyes before coming out the back through both it's skull and the helmet.
"..."
There was a beat of silence as the troll swayed in place, before falling backwards between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.
"No way..." Harry heard one of the students utter, and it was only then that he looked up as the other two trolls began to pick themselves up off the ground.
While he had been fighting, the students had all gathered around the high table where the teachers were standing in front to protect them. Well, most of them. Harry could see Quirrell passed out on the table, presumably from when the trolls first arrived.
"Mister Potter..." Minerva began, before a shout cut her off.
"LET'S GO GRYFFINDOR!"
Following the shout, several Gryffindor boys charged forward with swords in hands as they rushed to Harry's side.
"So you want a test run?" Harry murmured with a smirk, before moving to sit down at the edge of the Ravenclaw table as the other boys shot forward, with a few from the other houses joining them.
"Mr Weasley! Finnegan! Longbottom! McLaggen! What in blazes are you doing?!" Minerva cried as they led the charge against the first of the two remaining trolls.
"Mr Diggory! Get back here!" Professor Sprout similarly yelled to Cedric, as he led the Hufflepuffs in the charge against the second troll.
When either teacher tried to use their wands to stop them though, they both found them moving uncontrollably to point in random directions.
"Let the kids have some fun." Harry told them from where he was sitting, even as he grabbed a abandoned chicken leg and started eating it.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Cedric roared as he and the few Hufflepuffs got to the troll, sending the slab of iron it had for a weapon flying.
"IMOBULUS!" Hermione yelled as she supported the Gryffindors, but the spell had no effect as it merely bounced off the troll's armor and thick skin.
"Its no good Granger! A troll's skin is too thick!" Fred yelled as he ran by one of the troll's legs, narrowly avoiding it's club as he did so.
"You'd need several wizards casting at once to get through it, and that's without armor!" George added as he approached the other leg.
Then the two of them swung their swords at the same time while aiming for the gap in armor behind the knee, slicing through the thick skin like it was butter. Though Harry had to wonder where they all got the swords, since he hadn't let any of them even touch a real blade just yet.
*Crash!*
The troll fell to it's knees as it lost strength in its legs, before it howled in pain while thrashing it's arms about wildly.
"Guh!"
"Gah!"
The Weasely twins, who just robbed the troll of it's mobility, were both promptly backhanded away like they were toy dolls.
"You need to keep your guard up ALL the time, especially when you wound the opponent." Harry harshly criticized them, even as their bodies were enveloped in golden light that healed their wounds.
While the twins were being treated, Dean and Seamus both rushed forward and drove their swords into the arms of the troll to wound it further. Not slicing like the twins, but stabbing as the light of hesitation still appeared in their eyes.
Even though Harry felt it would have been better if they sliced intead of stab, as then they could have actually cut and severed the muscles and tendons, their attacks were still effective as they wounded the troll and provided an opening.
"GRAAAAAAAGA!"
The troll roared angrily as it tried to fight back, only for Ron to run up and thrust his sword into it's mouth and out the back.
"Well done Ron. A quick and decisive attack." Harry praised the red head, before turning to the other troll that the Hufflepuffs were battling.
"""Carpe Retractum!"""
Several Hufflepuffs cried out as glowing threads shot out from their wands, wrapping around the troll's arms to bind it in place.
"Hold it down!" Cedric, who was acting as their leader, yelled as he ran up at the troll with his sword at the ready.
"GRAAAAAA!"
The troll roared as it pulled at the students restraining it, sending several of them flying as it pulled one of it's arms free.
"DEPULSO!" Cedric roared as he pointed his wand in his left hand, producing a wave of energy that disoriented the troll and forcefully removed it's helmet, leaving it's head vulerable. He then used the same spell that his fellow Hufflepuffs were using to restrain the troll, but Cedric instead used it to pull himself up to it's head.
"This is the end!" Cedric yelled as he swung his sword, which sliced through the troll's skin and bones so cleanly that he completely removed it's head.
*Thwump!*
As the troll slumped to the ground, silence descended yet again with all five of the attacking creatures dead.
*Clap! Clap! Clap!*
The sound of someone clapping drew every eye to Harry as he stood from where he was sitting.
"Well done, all of you." Harry said as he approached them.
"There were a few mistakes that could be improved on, but overall very well done." Harry said, before taking the sword that Ron had.
"This is one of my Glass swords... Why do you have it?" Harry asked while examining the blade made of Malachite, which he had forged himself.
"Sorry... But we kinda took them from your bag..." Ron said sheepishly.
"Haaaaaa... I guess I can overlook it this time, but don't do that again. I have some very dangerous stuff in there." Harry said with exasperation, calling his bag to him as he did so with Telekinesis.
One by one the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs returned the weapons they took, and Harry gave them words of either encouragement or criticism based on how they did.
As soon as they were done, Harry heard a pair of heeled boots approachign him from behind, that belonged to his head of house.
"Mister Potter." She stated, obviously livid as her face flushed and nostrils flared like she was about to start breathing fire.
"Please come with us." She requested in a tone that meant there would be no argument.
...
"So WHY exactly would you willingly send CHILDREN to do battle with TWO fully grown, armed and armored mountain trolls?!" Minerva demanded the second she, Harry, Albus, and the other three heads of houses gathered in Albus's office.
"Practice." Harry replied calmly.
"PRACTICE?!" She practically shrieked.
"Yeah. Practice. I've been teaching them to fight, and this was a decent chance to let them show off what they've been learning. And I think they did very well for their first battle." Harry explained to her. And then he added, "Besides, it wasn't like any of them were in any REAL danger with me there."
"Quite arrogant, aren't you." Snape sneered down at Harry, who promptly ignored him.
"Still, we teachers are here for a reason." Flitwick stated firmly.
"Indeed. You should have left protecting the students to us mister Potter." Sprout added.
"And what would have happened if none of you were around?" Harry asked, his tone suddenly cold.
"The role of an adult, specifically an adult in charge with caring for children, is to fulfill three basic needs. Protect, provide, and prepare. I do not doubt your abilities to protect those under your care when need be, but part of your jobs is to prepare them so that they may protect themselves if you are not around. Otherwise the unthinkable will happen the moment you turn your backs."
"""..."""
None of the heads of houses knew how to respond to that, much less Snape, Sprout and Flitwick since they still didn't know the truth about Harry. And even if Minerva was aware, she didn't know the full extent of how his life was on Nirn.
"Unfortunately, I must concur with Harry." Albus said, his voice unusually heavy.
"We can argue the unfairness of the world all we want, what should and should not be. But in the end, it does not change what is. We cannot always protect the children in our care from the evils of the world, so we must help prepare them to face them on their own. If that were not the case, then Defense Against the Dark Arts would not be part of our core curriculum."
"Exactly." Harry said while nodding his head in agreement, before turning to look at the headmaster. "If you ask me, figuring out how five fully armed mountain trolls managed infiltrate the school without anyone noticing is more important to discuss. Either the security here is too lax, or...."
Harry left the last part unsaid, but his implication was clear as the four teachers looked unconfortable.
"You think one of US let them in?!" Minerva asked indignantly.
"At least someone on the inside." Harry replied, before looking at Albus once more. "Who provided the troll to guard the Philosopher's Stone?"
"""!?!"""
Four teachers looked at Harry in alarm as he casually mentioned the thing that was supposed to be the biggest secret in the school.
"You know about the stone?" Snape asked with a cocked brow.
"Of course. I learned about on my first night in the castle." Harry replied without looking at him.
"Harry here got through every single trap and obstacle guarding the stone without any difficulty. So I naturally informed him about what was going on." Albus explained, earning Harry numerous incredulous looks.
"But that's not important." Harry said, before leaning forward to look at Albus intently.
"Who provided the troll?"
"..."
Albus was silent for moment as they stared at one another, before sighing tiredly.
"As much as I hate to admit it, the one who provided the troll to guard the stone, and most likely let the trolls in was Quirinus."
Harry's eyes narrowed at the confirmation.
"So then, Quirrell is the most likely one who is working with Voldemort?" He asked, earning him numerous squeaks and gasps from the other teachers.
"I am afraid so." Albus said, nodding his head in confirmation.
***
"So what do we do now master?" Quirrell asked the seemingly empty room later that night, after everything calmed down and the mess made by the trolls cleaned up. "The trolls did nothing!"
"Patience my servant..." A voice seemingly hissed in his ear, despite no one else being in the room with him.
"The trolls showed us that Potter is skilled in combat, but not magic. And, he is making his own preparations. He is building his army."
"Should we be worried?"
"About children? Swinging around pointless muggle weapons? Do not make me laugh." The voice hissed lazily, as if the conversation bored it.
"But if Potter is looking for a fight, then we shall give him one. Make the arrangements, and send him on his way so that we can take the Stone."
"As you command, my master."