Panic spread through the Great Hall, and Sterling instantly locked his gaze onto Quirrell. Activating magical sight, Sterling saw that the lines within Quirrell's body were gradually staining grey-white.
With each bit further dyed, Sterling could feel an even greater sense of threat emanating from him.
The Great Hall was so noisy it seemed about to explode. Girls screamed, prefects desperately tried to maintain order, and no one paid the disliked Quirrell, still lying on the ground, any attention.
Sterling saw a pale, self-mocking, perhaps relieved smile at the corner of Quirrell's lips.
"Quiet!" Professor McGonagall rose to her feet, instantly subduing the chaos and organising things with calm efficiency.
"Prefects, lead your house's students back to your common rooms. Upper years on the outside of the lines, making sure younger students are protected! Count immediately who hasn't come to the Great Hall, look for any missing students!"
McGonagall transfigured Quirrell's tattered robe into a stretcher and used two forks to make little figures that lifted him off to the hospital wing.
After a while, the prefects gathered around her to report something, and Sterling saw McGonagall's face turn dark.
A full twenty students were missing!
"House Heads accompany their houses. Vitam, may I trouble you to watch over Gryffindor?"
"It would be my honour, Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you, Vitam. Now, I must go protect my children."
Professor McGonagall leapt high and, in midair, transformed into a tabby cat, shooting out of the hall like lightning.
With the professors' help, the prefects quickly began organising the groups. Under Robert and Professor Flitwick's lead, the Ravenclaw group exited the Hall.
"Do you have to go?" Terry asked. Sterling nodded. He only trusted Terry as a shield, knowing Hermione would never permit him to take such risks.
"You know, for me, a troll is nothing."
"But it can take down a grown wizard, even more than one, and we don't know if there are multiple. Quirrell didn't give any details! That idiot... wait, Quirrell!"
Terry seized Sterling's sleeve.
"Quirrell's a Dark wizard; how could a troll harm him? He must be planning something. Are you going to face him head-on?"
"Why not just tell Professor Flitwick or Dumbledore? Or Professor McGonagall?"
Sterling stayed silent, but sometimes silence is an answer.
Terry took several deep breaths, finally letting go of Sterling's sleeve.
"Remember you're a Ravenclaw, right?"
"I trust that if you dare to do this, you must have reasons and be fully prepared..."
He pulled a worn necklace from around his neck and slapped it into Sterling's hand.
"There's a Shield Charm stored inside. Single use only, but it'll activate the instant you're in real danger. Consider it my way of watching your back."
Next, he pulled a ring from his pocket.
"This is my dad's precious heirloom... Anyway, if your necklace triggers, my ring will shatter. If that happens, no matter why you didn't go to a teacher, I'll go straight to Flitwick myself."
He stopped speaking. Sterling hugged him.
"Thank you, Terry... I won't let your precious things break."
Sterling let go, wrapped the necklace around his right hand in front of Terry, and punched his chest.
"When I come back, I'll tell you every detail in Utopia!"
Terry watched Sterling's figure vanish into thin air. A hint of loss rose in his heart.
"Mom said people prefer to be with their own kind... Are we, as ordinary as we are, really the same kind as you?"
Harry was not feeling good.
In front of the Gryffindor line were five trolls together, squaring off with Professor Vitam.
Percy and another female prefect stood at Vitam's side, Wood and the other strong older boys kept the rest of the Gryffindors sheltered behind.
"Can Professor Vitam handle them?" Ron asked in fear. Fred turned and shook his head soberly.
"Not sure. Trolls are class 4X magical beasts... adults can handle them, but these ones look weird."
"They've got some kind of magic on their skin. Magically modified trolls," George picked up, and for once, no one joked. All attention was fixed on Vitam, who felt the pressure.
Semi-undead mountain trolls...
Vitam summoned all her skill. Good wizard though she was, this setup had only been seen in wartime, and then it took the head Auror and a squad of elites to repel an attack.
She excelled at enchanted items, but tonight, attending the feast, she'd brought nothing.
Damn, campus life had dulled her vigilance...
Focusing, Vitam stared down the trolls' every move. The frontmost one, squeezed ahead, cracked first, roaring and charging so hard it rattled the corridor.
"Lubrico!"
The corridor became slick instantly. The charging troll pitched headlong, giving Vitam a chance to throw a blazing fire charm onto its head.
The fire burnt only briefly on the troll's skull. Vitam's eyes darkened. She'd only ever heard of such creatures in news reports, but here the undead's magic resistance had merged with the troll's...
Ordinary spells likely wouldn't work.
Before she could think up a counterspell, the four remaining trolls saw their fallen comrade and rushed forward together. Now the corridor's chandeliers really rattled.
"Avis! Everyone, run back toward the Hall or other houses!"
Vitam conjured a cloud of birds to block the trolls' vision, then tossed two brass spheres on the floor. "Beep beep beep," they spun and flashed.
She set a smoke charm on the ground, and the corridor went instantly blind. Just two spinning bulbs emitting jarring noises.
Two trolls, attracted by the sound, threw themselves on the noisemakers, and boom! were blown to pieces.
Two trolls down, but with two left... wait, where's the other?
Vitam dispersed the smoke in a flash and saw the troll that had fallen had slid silently past her, barreling straight for the Gryffindor line.
Even worse, all the older students who should have been rear-guards were running up front because Vitam had ordered everyone to flee! Now the trolls were chasing the youngest.
"Percy! Look behind you!"
Vitam wanted to rush herself, but the remaining two trolls, enraged by the corpses, charged so recklessly that Vitam, despite her magical skill, could only hold equal for the moment.
Percy heard Vitam and realised too late. Picking up speed, the troll slid right up to the first-years, rising with a roar.
The troll's bellow made several young girls collapse in fear, and its rotten breath made a freckled girl throw up.
Harry and Ron were at the very back, right on the front line against the troll.
Ron's legs had turned to jelly, but he shakily raised his wand, searching his limited knowledge for a spell against trolls...
The troll, grinning madly, raised its club and swung down.
Harry, following a gut feeling, swept his wand. Dazzling white light burst forth, as if something big were coming through, but it faded.
Screams rose in the crowd. Harry, refusing to give up, tried for a fire spell, anything to slow the troll, maybe to save someone.
But he was out of time. The giant club hung above his head.
At the very last instant, he heard a familiar voice.
"As expected, you fit the hero's role best."
The corridor floor split open. Countless icy-thorned arrows shot up, piercing every joint of the troll and pinning it to the ceiling.
The troll roared and tried to rip apart the thorns. Harry heard a sharp snap right behind him.
The thorns instantly flared and dissolved. Before the troll could celebrate its freedom, they transformed into fire dragons, wrapping endlessly around, and the entire corridor reeked of burning fat.
All that landed was a handful of smouldering ash.