The two boys, seeing the expectant look in Professor McGonagall's eyes, shakily stepped forward and stuttered their way through a confession about what they had said about Hermione behind her back.
Professor McGonagall sighed when she heard the full story. She glanced at Hermione, then said to Harry and Ron, "Gentlemen, don't you think you should say something to Miss Granger?"
Harry and Ron looked embarrassed. They slowly walked up to Hermione, and Ron didn't even dare to look her in the eye.
"Hermione, I'm sorry!" Harry, despite his embarrassment, was direct. He felt that he hadn't played a big role in insulting Hermione. But after Ron had said those things, he had naturally joined in with an equally mocking laugh. Harry felt that he was also to blame, albeit in a small way, which was why he could apologize so directly.
Ron, however, was the complete opposite of Harry. The entire incident had been his fault. So, he could only mumble a soft, "I'm sorry..."
"What?" Hermione had heard what Ron said, but she decided to pretend she hadn't. She felt the apology was too perfunctory.
"I'm sorry, Hermione! I shouldn't have said those things yesterday!" After a long internal struggle, Ron finally mustered the courage to say his apology out loud.
This made Hermione beam. She proudly replied, "Alright, I forgive you!"
Just then, Victor, who was still walking back and forth over the troll's corpse, suddenly shouted, "And you, don't think you're completely in the right either. If you continue to be so arrogant, you won't have any friends!"
These words made Hermione blush. Her eyes narrowed as if she wanted to charge over and chew Victor out.
At the same time, Snape walked over to the troll's body, made sure it was completely dead, and then asked Victor with a flat, emotionless voice, "Dreyar, what are you doing?!"
"I'm looking for things!" Victor replied, then held up two fangs he had just pried from the troll's mouth and asked Snape, "Professor, do you think these troll teeth are worth anything?"
Snape, however, immediately covered his nose and backed away. Even he, a Potions Master who was used to the strange smells of various ingredients, couldn't stand the stench of the troll, let alone something that had just been taken out of its mouth. The rank odor could make anyone pass out on the spot.
"No part of a troll is of any value. But, Dreyar, you don't seem to understand that after killing a troll and damaging the school's dungeon to this extent, I think you should be more concerned with how you will compensate the school for the damage. Or, you can choose to take the train home tomorrow!" Snape, surprisingly, answered Victor's question first before launching into his sarcastic remarks.
Victor was immediately disappointed to hear that there was nothing valuable on the troll. But he quickly became indignant, saying to Snape, "Professor Snape, those words are a bit insulting! We're wizards. Isn't fixing all this a piece of cake? Why would there be any need for compensation?"
As he spoke, he flicked his wand twice in the air. Soon, the ravaged dungeon began to slowly restore itself. The pieces of stone pillars, statues, paintings, and braziers came together as if time were reversing. They reassembled into their original forms and then returned to their original places.
In a short while, apart from the troll's corpse lying on the floor, the dungeon looked exactly the same as it had before the troll's intrusion.
"See? I told you so!" Victor said proudly, completely ignoring Snape's livid expression. He had no idea how much this act had irritated Snape.
Meanwhile, after lecturing her three students, Professor McGonagall said earnestly, "The three of you, because of what happened tonight, Gryffindor will lose thirty points." Although it pained her to do this, as she was the Head of Gryffindor, she had no choice but to punish the students for what had happened.
But Hermione was puzzled by this punishment. She asked in surprise, "Why? Harry and Ron losing points is one thing, but I was the victim! Why am I being punished?!"
"Because you aided Mr. Dreyar in his foolishness!" Professor McGonagall explained sternly. "After you were rescued, you should have immediately stopped Mr. Dreyar and reported the incident to us. You may not realize how much trouble the death of a troll can cause for Hogwarts!"
"I… stop him?!"
"Hmm?! What kind of trouble?" Hermione was speechless, while Victor suddenly popped out from behind her.
This made Professor McGonagall glare at Victor. "This troll came from a tribe in the Forbidden Forest. Now that it's dead, the tribe's leader may very well attack Hogwarts! Therefore, Mr. Dreyar, although you saved a classmate, Ravenclaw would have gained thirty points! But at the same time, you have caused unnecessary trouble for the school, so Ravenclaw will lose thirty points!"
"Whoa, Professor, that's a bit of a stretch!" Victor said, unamused. "I've never heard of a school rule against killing a magical creature! And besides, it was self-defense!"
"Whether it was self-defense or not, I think you know best!" Professor McGonagall said. She didn't know how Victor had done it, but turning a troll into that state and then claiming it was self-defense? Who would believe that?!
"Alright, everyone! Although there was an accident, the troll threat has been eliminated!" Dumbledore, who had been silent until now, suddenly stepped forward. "We have been fortunate enough to witness the growth of several young people and the courage of two Gryffindors to admit their mistakes. Since the crisis is over, let's call the students back. Our Halloween feast should not end so abruptly! Severus, please take care of the troll's body and tell Hagrid to pass on my regards to that fellow in the Forbidden Forest."
The "fellow" referred to the leader of the troll tribe in the Forbidden Forest. Although trolls are generally of low intelligence, there are some exceptions. A clever troll could become the leader of a tribe, and now that one of his tribe members was dead, it was a serious violation of the agreement between Hogwarts and the magical creatures of the Forbidden Forest.
However, it is often said that agreements are for protecting the weak. But few realize that this protection is often given by the strong to the weak only when it is convenient, and once that is no longer the case, the consequences are obvious.
After the troll incident, on the way back to the Great Hall, Hermione, blushing, shyly glanced at Victor walking beside her and whispered, "Victor, thank you for today. If it weren't for you, I might have died."
"Hey, it was nothing!" Victor waved his hand and replied with a smile. "Don't keep things bottled up inside. If you ever need anything, just tell me. I'm always happy to help!"
"Then teach me your magic!"
"I can do that!"
"Oh, no, I… wait?!" Hermione was about to be disappointed, but she instantly realized she had heard Victor say, "I can do that"? "You agreed?!"
"I did, but whether you can learn it is up to you!" Victor said. He then pulled a book out of nowhere. Its cover read, The Basic Principles of Magic Circles and Rune Carving, and he handed it to Hermione.
"Magic circles?!" Hermione took the book, her face full of curiosity as she looked at the title.
"If you can carve out the basic magic circles in this book in three months, it proves you have a talent for them. But if you can't, it means you're not suited to learn my magic. So, good luck!"
With that, Victor patted Hermione on the head. For some reason, the young witch was starting to get used to Victor's gesture.
The next day, the news of Victor killing the troll spread throughout Hogwarts. It also somehow spread outside the school. The Daily Prophet even sent a letter to Victor, saying they wanted to interview him. But Victor immediately refused! He recognized the name of the sender on the letter. Merlin only knows what that beetle would write to annoy him.
In the Hogwarts Great Hall, at lunchtime, the students were all eating, but if you looked closely, you would see them occasionally glancing curiously in one direction, whispering to each other, and trying to guess how Victor Dreyar had killed the troll the night before.
"Victor, can you explain the book you gave me?" On the long table, Hermione, with dark circles under her eyes, said a little sadly, holding the book Victor had given her. She had started studying it as soon as she got back to the dorm last night, but she had stayed up all night and still couldn't understand a thing. The contents of the book were too deep for her to grasp!
"You have to figure it out for yourself. I was the same way. The old man gave me a few books and then ignored me. You have no idea how much my head was about to explode back then. I had to slowly learn it all myself!" Victor said mournfully while chewing on a fried chicken leg.
It wasn't that he didn't want to teach her; it was just that the basic principles of magic circles were something she had to understand on her own. The faster she understood, the more talent she had for them.
It was like math; either you got it or you didn't. If she couldn't understand it on her own, there was no point in continuing to study magic circles.
Victor simply couldn't teach her. You can't expect a Ph.D. to teach high-level concepts to a primary school student, can you?
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