Appearing before Ron and Hermione was a troll sprawled on the ground, clutching its body.
Ron now understood why the troll had been howling in frustration—it was in pain.
Above the troll, a massive wooden club floated in mid-air.
"Hi," Harry greeted, noticing his two companions pushing open the door.
At the same time, he gave a gentle wave of his wand with minimal movement. The wooden club slammed heavily onto the troll’s head.
The troll only managed a muffled grunt before collapsing unconscious.
“My Merlin’s beard…,” Ron exclaimed, his eyes wide in astonishment. “Harry, you—you defeated a troll!”
“Oh,” Harry said casually, stuffing his wand back into his pocket. He deflected the praise with a question, “Why are you two here?”
“Professor Quirrell said there’s a troll in the dungeons. Ron remembered you went to the bathroom and hadn’t returned, so he dragged me along to warn you about the danger,” Hermione rattled off quickly. She glanced at the troll again and added, “But now it seems the danger wasn’t really the troll.”
Harry felt a wave of emotion rise in his heart. He hadn’t expected that, knowing there was a troll on the loose, his two friends would risk their lives to come warn him.
How Gryffindor of them, he thought.
“Thank you,” Harry said sincerely. “Ron, Hermione…”
Before he could finish, there was a sudden loud banging on the door and the sound of hurried footsteps. The three of them turned to look at the entrance.
Moments later, Professor McGonagall burst into the room, followed closely by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear.
Quirrell took one glance at the unconscious troll and let out a feeble sob before sitting down on a toilet and clutching his chest tightly.
Harry turned his head away, hiding a faint sense of disdain.
So pathetic, he thought. A Defense Against the Dark Arts professor behaving ?
At this rate, Hogwarts would become a laughingstock in the wizarding world.
“What on earth are you playing at?” Professor McGonagall demanded, her voice icy with anger.
Her stern gaze swept over the trio before settling on the unconscious troll sprawled on the floor. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed by it—why weren’t you in your dormitories as you should have been?”
“Sorry, Professor,” Harry stepped forward and explained, “They were looking for me. I had a stomachache after class and went to the bathroom. I didn’t expect the troll to come in. They knew I was here, so they came to warn me about the danger.”
Professor McGonagall’s severe expression softened.
Given the circumstances, Harry couldn’t really be blamed.
Taking responsibility and stepping up …
She thought fondly, This boy is just like Lily.
“With Ron and Hermione’s help, we managed to defeat the troll together,” Harry added.
He decided not to stand out too much—after all, a first-year student defeating a troll single-handedly would be too shocking.
Hearing Harry’s words, Hermione discreetly pinched Ron, then struck a confident pose as if it were all true.
Ron nodded along, as if he had played a crucial role in defeating the troll.
“Impressive Transfiguration,” Professor McGonagall noted, her eyes landing on the shackles binding the troll’s feet. She nodded approvingly at Harry and then glanced at Ron and Hermione.
“Breaking the rules, leaving your dormitory without permission—Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Gryffindor will lose five points each for your actions,” she said sternly.
Hermione hung her head, not expecting Professor McGonagall to be so unrelenting.
Ron, too, looked disgruntled. By Merlin’s beard, he thought, Why can’t our head of house be as biased as the Slytherin one?
But then Professor McGonagall continued, “However, for risking your lives to help a friend, Gryffindor will gain ten points.”
At her words, both of them looked up in surprise, seeing their professor offer them a rare smile.
Finally, Professor McGonagall concluded, “Well, you’re lucky. Very few first-year students could face a fully-grown troll and come out victorious. Each of you has earned Gryffindor five points. I’ll inform Professor Dumbledore of this. You may leave now.”
“Off you go, off you go,” Professor Quirrell said nervously, getting up from the toilet. “I—I’ll handle the bathroom… Don’t—don’t worry.”
Just as he finished speaking, the troll let out a loud snore in its sleep.
Professor Quirrell jumped in fright, instinctively leaping into the air.
Harry paid no attention to him. He had noticed that from the moment they entered the room, Professor Snape had been staring at him intently.
He didn’t think much of it—he felt no hostility towards Snape and believed the feeling was mutual.
He’s a good friend of my parents, Harry thought.
On their way back, Harry stopped on the second floor and turned to his friends. “Thank you for today.”
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances, then smiled warmly at him.
“Why thank us?” Ron said with a big grin. “That’s just what friends do.”
He had always regarded Hermione as a classmate he got along with.
And Ron—he had always treated Ron kindly because he was the descendant of an old friend.
But today, his two companions had risked their lives to warn him. How could he not be moved?
“Yes, we’re friends,” Harry nodded firmly, opening his arms to hug Hermione and then Ron.
He accepted them as friends.
Perhaps it was time for a fresh start, he thought. In addition to old friends, he should also embrace new ones.
“So, Harry,” Hermione suddenly asked, “why did you tell Professor McGonagall it was the three of us who defeated the troll?”
“Oh, I just didn’t want to draw too much attention,” Harry said, a little troubled. “You know, they already call me the Boy Who Lived. If word got out that I defeated a troll on my own, I’d end up being surrounded like some zoo animal again.”
“I see,” Hermione nodded in understanding, accepting his explanation.
“By the way, mate,” Ron said, slinging an arm around Harry’s shoulder, “how exactly did you beat that troll? That was seriously cool.”
“It was just a combination of a few spells,” Harry said to Ron. “I’ve read some books on dueling techniques in my spare time. I just used some of what I learned, and it worked pretty well—you want to try learning it together?”
He thought of the useless Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Even in this era, Dark Wizards hadn’t disappeared entirely. Harry didn’t think the class would teach them much about defense.
In that case, why not revive the concept of Duelling?
And perhaps… it could start with these two friends, he thought.
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