Fortunately, things hadn't turned out too badly, and it was lucky Hermione had been the one to catch him. If it had been any other girl, there would probably be rumours spreading across Hogwarts by tomorrow morning about some lunatic boy hiding in the girls' bathroom.
Wait… why was Hermione here?
A sudden thought flashed through Logan's mind. In the original story, wasn't this supposed to be the night the Golden Trio fought the troll in the bathroom?
Meanwhile, back in the Great Hall, the Halloween feast was still in full swing. Mountains of food covered the tables, floating candles flickered overhead, and the students laughed and shouted as they stuffed themselves with sweets and roast meat. Even most of the professors seemed unusually relaxed, enjoying the rare festive atmosphere.
Dumbledore, however, slowly glanced around the staff table before turning to Professor McGonagall beside him. "Where is Severus? I haven't seen him all evening."
McGonagall hesitated briefly before replying in a low voice. "I ran into him at the gates this afternoon. He left Hogwarts in quite a hurry and headed towards Knockturn Alley."
Dumbledore merely nodded and didn't dwell on it. Strange things happened in Knockturn Alley every day, and Severus rushing off there wasn't exactly unusual. In fact, given Snape's personality, it was one of the few hobbies he still seemed to possess.
The feast continued noisily around them.
"Seamus, did you steal my meatballs?" Neville asked miserably while staring at the boy beside him.
Seamus froze for a second before shaking his head furiously. "What? Of course not! Why would you accuse me of something like that? I haven't even seen your meatballs."
Neville narrowed his eyes suspiciously and suddenly pointed at Seamus's mouth. "You're lying. The crumbs on your face already exposed you."
Seamus hadn't expected Neville to suddenly become this sharp. His eyes darted around nervously before he quickly swore, "Neville, I swear I didn't steal them. If I'm lying, then may a monster appear in Hogwarts right now!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the massive doors to the Great Hall slammed open with a deafening bang.
Professor Quirrell stumbled inside looking utterly terrified. His turban was crooked, his robes were a mess, and his face was pale enough to rival a ghost. He staggered dramatically towards the crowd as a single tear slid down his cheek with impeccable timing.
"A troll!" Quirrell screamed in horror. "A troll is inside Hogwarts!"
After delivering his line like an award-winning actor, Quirrell collapsed onto the floor in one smooth motion and stopped moving entirely.
The hall exploded into chaos.
"A troll?!"
"What do you mean a troll?"
"Run!"
"How did a troll get into Hogwarts?"
"This school's insane!"
"I'm writing to my father immediately!"
Panic spread through the students like wildfire. Benches scraped against the floor, plates shattered, and frightened first-years began screaming as they tried to flee in every direction. Professor McGonagall rose instantly and shouted for everyone to calm down, but her voice was almost drowned out by the uproar.
Then Dumbledore stood.
"Quiet!"
The single word thundered across the Great Hall with overwhelming authority. The enchanted ceiling itself seemed to tremble slightly beneath the force of his magic.
"With me here," Dumbledore said calmly, "no student will come to harm. Remain orderly and follow your prefects and professors."
His steady voice worked like magic. The terrified students gradually settled down, remembering that standing before them was the greatest wizard of the age. Whatever a troll was capable of, surely it could never threaten Albus Dumbledore.
Under the guidance of the professors, the students slowly began filing out towards the dormitories and safer areas of the castle.
Halfway through the line, Harry suddenly froze.
"Hermione," he said urgently to Ron. "Hermione and Logan are still in the bathroom. They won't know there's a troll loose in the castle!"
Ron's face immediately changed. He had only just realised the problem himself, but before he could say anything, Harry grabbed his sleeve and pulled him away from the line.
"Come on!"
The two boys quickly slipped away unnoticed.
Or at least, they thought they had.
Several students behind them exchanged curious looks, but Draco Malfoy narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He watched Harry and Ron disappear around a corner before immediately smirking to himself.
Potter was definitely up to something.
Without hesitation, Draco turned and hurried towards Dumbledore and the professors to report what he had seen.
.....
Five minutes earlier, inside the girls' bathroom, Hermione was still clinging tightly to Logan.
He originally wanted to push her away, especially after realising she had practically covered the front of his robes in tears and snot, but after noticing how miserable she looked, he reluctantly gave up on the idea and let her continue holding him.
Hermione, meanwhile, had finally calmed down.
Unfortunately, once her emotions settled, embarrassment immediately crashed down on her like a tidal wave.
What am I doing?
How could I throw myself at him like that?
This is so humiliating…
She had cried in Logan's arms. Actually cried. Worse still, she'd completely lost control of herself while doing it.
And all the tears and mess…
Wouldn't he find her disgusting?
Hermione carefully peeked up at him through reddened eyes.
What she saw made her freeze.
Logan's expression remained calm and gentle, without even the slightest trace of disgust or impatience. One of his hands rested lightly against her back, patting it slowly and steadily as if trying to reassure her.
The bathroom suddenly felt strangely quiet.
For a brief moment, Hermione felt as though the rest of the world had disappeared entirely.
Meanwhile, Logan's thoughts were in complete chaos.
The massive system notification he had seen earlier was still lingering in his mind, but more importantly—
Something enormous had appeared at the bathroom entrance.
A gigantic figure squeezed through the doorway while gripping a huge spiked club in one hand.
Logan's pupils shrank instantly.
A troll.
Unlike the comical image many people imagined, trolls in the magical creature records were horrifying monsters. They possessed absurd physical strength, terrifying endurance, and skin tough enough to resist most ordinary spells. Even worse, once enraged, trolls became relentless killing machines that attacked until everything around them stopped moving.
Against ordinary wizards, they were practically natural predators.
Only powerful professors like McGonagall, Snape, or Dumbledore could handle one easily.
Before Logan could even finish processing the situation, the troll suddenly roared and swung its enormous club straight at them.
"Move!"
Logan grabbed Hermione and threw himself sideways.
BOOM!
The spiked club smashed into the bathroom floor with terrifying force. Stone tiles exploded apart instantly, sending shattered debris flying across the room.
Hermione screamed in shock while Logan rolled across the floor with her still in his arms.
The moment he regained his footing, Logan immediately raised his wand and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
At the moment, the Disarming Charm was the only real offensive spell he could reliably use. Whether it would even affect a troll's weapon was another matter entirely.
A streak of purple light shot through the air towards the creature's club.
But before the spell could connect, the troll casually swatted it aside with its free hand.
Logan's expression darkened instantly.
Something was wrong.
In the original story, Ron had practically defeated this troll with a beginner-level Levitation Charm. The creature was supposed to be dumb, slow, and clumsy enough to serve as little more than a first-year challenge.
But this troll…
It had just reacted to a spell.
That wasn't normal.
Logan's heart sank as a cold feeling crept through him.
Was this what happened when fate started correcting itself?
.....
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