"UAAARRGG!!"
The moment he heard this roar, he ran towards the source of the sound and realised it was coming from the girls' toilet on the first floor.
Inside, there was not only a huge shadow, but also two smaller, distinct shadows.
A voice inside Noah told him that these shadows truly belonged to the people he was thinking of.
The young man immediately ran into the girls' lavatory and saw that everything was scattered, even the sinks were broken, and water was gushing everywhere.
He could easily see Hermione hiding under a sink, Harry on the troll's back, and Ron trying to cast a spell.
Noah immediately propelled himself forward.
He instantly pulled the wand from inside his robe and then pointed it at Harry, shouting, "Accio!!"
With that, Harry flew off the troll's back towards Noah at incredible speed.
Noah calmly caught Harry as he came towards him, set him down on the floor, and then pointed his wand at the confused troll, shouting, "Depulso!"
As soon as he did this, the troll flew towards the far wall of the toilet, and Noah turned to Ron, shouting, "Go help Hermione!"
Ron immediately ran from where he was standing and grabbed Hermione, who was still under the sink, by the arm and brought her behind Noah.
As soon as Noah saw that no one was near the troll, he said, "Cascading Jinx!"
When he cast this spell, a series of jinxes layered together moved towards the troll, and when that happened, one jinx activated, continuing to worsen the others. The effects spread step by step, until all of them did.
At the same time, a small restraining spell formed around the troll, and these spells exploded all at once, knocking the troll to the ground.
Noah immediately turned around and looked carefully at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, especially Hermione.
Seeing that none of them were injured, he slapped Ron on the head and shouted, "What were you thinking?!"
Ron clutched his head in pain, but was very happy to see Noah.
"Have you told her you're sorry yet?" Noah asked angrily, his eyes bloodshot even though his hair hadn't turned red.
Ron turned to Hermione, embarrassed, and said, "I'm sorry, I was just jealous...maybe embarrassed."
The corners of Hermione's eyes were bright red. Who knows how long she had been crying?
The young girl smiled and replied, "It's okay."
Harry smiled between the two of them, seemingly pleased with the situation.
I suppose... this could have been the moment they became true friends.
Still, this happiness was short-lived because within seconds, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Quirrell had entered the girls' lavatory, and McGonagall had clutched her heart and gasped.
McGonagall turned directly to Harry and Ron and snapped, "What on earth were you two doing?!"
Before things could escalate further, Hermione stepped forward and said, "It was all my fault, Professor. When I found out the Mountain Troll was in the castle, I thought it would be a good idea to hunt it down to prove myself..."
Ron and Harry, especially Noah, couldn't help but admire this young girl when they heard her words.
McGonagall turned to Hermione in astonishment and asked, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
The old woman did not stop there and then turned to Harry and Ron, adding, "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this."
Harry and Ron said nothing, and she paused for a few seconds before saying, "I am very pleased to see that you did not shirk from duty, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley."
Finally, she added, "You will each receive five points for Gryffindor."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were taken out of the girls' lavatory and brought to the Gryffindor dormitory. In the five minutes that passed, the outside of the lavatory was checked.
Minerva McGonagall's eyes were fixed directly on Noah.
The old woman smiled gently and said, "Good job protecting the children, dear."
Noah shook his head and replied, "I did what I could. I didn't kill the troll; after all, its blood is quite useful, but still... It's not exactly ideal."
Having said this, Noah excused himself and set off for the Gryffindor dormitory to check on Ron.
Still, something was bothering him.
[Professor Quirrell.]
Something was wrong. It was incredibly illogical that a professor like him, especially a man so skilled against the dark arts, a professor that know incredible amount of things about magical beasts, couldn't even take down a mountain troll.
It made no sense.
It was well known that Quirrell was an incredible botanist who had encountered plenty of monsters during his years of research in Northern Ireland and the Asian continent.
How could a mature mountain troll make such a man tremble? How could it frighten him into unconsciousness?
The rotting of the plants in Hagrid's garden, the deterioration of the plants in Percy's assignment, and now this incident.
Something was truly beginning to go terribly wrong at Hogwarts.
With these thoughts, the young man arrived at the Gryffindor dormitory and then said, "Caput Draconis," in front of the portrait.
With that, the portrait swung open, and Noah entered the dormitory. Upon entering, he saw that the students were still awake.
The first-year students seemed surprised that a person from Ravenclaw house knew the password to the Gryffindor dormitory. However, the second-year and older students seemed pleased to see Noah.
After greeting a few people, Noah saw Hermione, Ron, and Harry surrounded by many students and noticed the dozens of comments and questions being directed especially at Hermione as he made his way through the crowd.
"Alright, alright, let the girl breathe, will you people?" Noah said calmly.
At his words, everyone took a few steps back, and Noah walked up to Ron and paused for a few seconds.
Contrary to the expectations of the dozens of Gryffindor students around him, Noah did not scold Ron this time. Instead, the young man raised his hand and patted Ron on the head, saying, "You were trying to cast a spell before I arrived, weren't you? Well done."
The students around them couldn't help but smile when they heard these words. Ron's bold behaviour seemed to have succeeded in showing them once again what Gryffindor meant.
Noah couldn't resist patting Harry's head, who was right next to him.
"Climbing on a troll's back is madness," he said, and with these words, Fred stepped forward and asked, "Bloody hell! Seriously?"
When everyone's attention turned to Ron and Harry, Noah immediately turned to Hermione on the other side and winked.
Hermione smiled and then got up from where she was sitting and left to go to bed. The young girl had really been through a lot today; sleeping was her greatest right.
Noah stayed in the common room for a while, laughing with the other students at Fred and George's jokes.
It wasn't until Professor Minerva McGonagall herself finally entered the common room and dispersed the students that Noah managed to leave the Gryffindor dormitory.
He had a lot to discuss with Professor Snape tomorrow. The young man had many things he wanted to ask the professor... or rather, it would be more accurate to say he had a few doubts he really needed to voice.