Chapter 72 - The Troll
Harry and Ron finally turned the corner and rushed toward the girls' bathroom.
I followed several steps behind them.
The smell became even worse. It felt as though the air itself was rotten. I had smelled many unpleasant things in two lives, but mountain trolls were still near the top of the list.
The bathroom door was broken and loud crashes came from inside.
Smash!
Crash!
Bang!
The entire corridor was shaking with it.
Harry and Ron froze for a moment. The scene inside looked like a disaster.
The troll stood in the middle of the bathroom. It was enormous. Its grey skin looked like stone. Its long arms dragged almost to its knees. In one hand was a massive wooden club thicker than a tree trunk.
The troll seemed determined to redecorate the bathroom, by destroying everything.
Sinks exploded into pieces under a swing of the club and bathroom stall collapsed in a moment. As a result broken wood, shattered porcelain and water covered the floor.
The troll roared and the sound echoed through the room.
Meanwhile Hermione was crouching behind the sinks. She looked terrified. Her uniform and even hair was soaked from splashing water. Every few seconds she would duck behind another sink or leap away from another swing of the club.
Fortunately for Hermione, the troll was not aiming very well. Unfortunate for the bathroom, it was getting destroyed.
Another sink exploded and water sprayed everywhere.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled.
Hermione looked toward them in surprise. For a moment relief appeared on her face.
Then the troll swung its club again and she immediately ducked behind another sink. She did not even have time to answer. At the moment her entire attention was focused on not becoming a pancake.
The boys looked at each other. Then they did exactly what boys would do.
"Hey!" Harry shouted at the troll.
"Over here!" Ron yelled.
The troll ignored them. Apparently it considered Hermione the more interesting target or maybe it could not hear them. Their plan for distracting it seemed to not work.
Ron looked around frantically. Then an idea seemed to have appeared in his mind and he grabbed a broken piece of wood from the floor and threw it.
The object flew through the air.
By pure luck or pure misfortune, it struck the troll directly on its tiny head, the only place which could attract his attention.
Thunk.
The bathroom became silent for a second.
The troll blinked.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Then it turned. Its small eyes found Harry and Ron and it fixed on them.
The troll looked furious.
I winced inwaerdly.
'Congratulations, Ron. You have successfully acquired the troll's full attention.'
The troll roared. This time it charged toward the boys.
Hermione finally escaped from immediate danger and hurried farther away.
Harry and Ron scattered in opposite directions. The troll's club smashed into another stall. Wood flew everywhere.
Harry ducked while Ron jumped aside.
The troll followed them.
The boys continued throwing whatever they could find. Broken wood, pieces of sinks or anything available.
Most of it bounced harmlessly off the troll. The creature barely seemed to notice.
Then Harry did something that made me put a hand over my face.
"Oh, come on," I muttered.
Because Harry Potter had just jumped directly onto the troll.
He grabbed the troll's back and then climbed higher and higher until he reached the creature's neck.
I stared in disbelief.
Of course Harry Potter saw a giant mountain troll and decided that climbing it was the correct solution.
After years of my guidance, advice and trying to teach common sense, here he was climbing a troll.
The Gryffindor recklessness mixed with bravery remained undefeated. I could finally stop wondering whether that part of him would ever disappear. It clearly would not.
Harry sat on the troll's shoulders and began punching. His tiny fists struck the troll's head again and again.
But the results were less than impressive. The troll seemed more annoyed than injured.
Considering that Harry's entire body was only slightly larger than the troll's head, this was not surprising.
The troll roared even louder. Now completely enraged, it tried grabbing Harry. Its massive hands swatted wildly around its own face. Harry narrowly avoided being crushed several times.
I thought of intervening and taking care of the Troll but I stopped myself.
Meanwhile Ron stood frozen, panic had temporarily disconnected his brain from the rest of his body.
Fortunately Hermione recovered first.
"Ron!" she screamed.
"Use your wand! You're a wizard!"
The words struck Ron like lightning. His eyes widened.
"Oh!"
He raised his wand and pointed upward. He used whatever spell came to his mind, which was the what they had learned today.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The wooden club jerked, then slowly rose into the air.
For a moment the troll blinked in confusion. It looked upward. The floating club hovered above its head.
Then as the spell's power disappeared, gravity remembered its job.
The club dropped directly onto the troll's skull.
THUD!
The troll swayed once, twice and then collapsed.
Boom!
The floor shook. Water splashed everywhere. Broken pieces of sink and wood scattered across the room.
The troll lay motionless. Silence filled the bathroom. For several seconds nobody spoke.
Harry then slid off the troll. Ron lowered his wand. Hermione stared at them.
All three were breathing heavily.
They were covered in dust, soaked in water and looked completely exhausted.
Then Hermione looked past them toward the doorway and saw me.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh," she said.
"Harry."
Harry looked at her.
"What?"
"Your brother is there."
The reaction was immediate. Harry froze. Ron froze too. The colour visibly drained from both of their faces.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
They turned around.
I was still standing in the doorway. My wand remained in my hand.
Harry and Ron stared at me. Both looked as though they had just received news of their own funerals. The troll no longer seemed to be their biggest problem. In fact, I was fairly certain they had already forgotten about the troll entirely.
They swallowed.
I crossed my arms.
Neither of them spoke or moved. They did not even blink.
Harry looked like he was about to die.
Honestly, if Voldemort himself had stepped into the bathroom at that moment, I was not entirely sure Harry would have been more frightened.
Then I finally stepped inside.
"Well," I said, "that could have gone worse."
Before anyone could speak further, hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Several professors arrived.
Professor McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and also Quirrell. Leading the group was the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore.
The professors stopped in surprise when they saw the unconscious troll. They looked from the troll to the students.
Then back to the troll.
Then back to the students again.
The look on their face, especially Professor McGonagall's face was almost impressive.
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End of Chapter 72 - The Troll