The girl with golden hair (Harry Potter fanfic)

Chapter 1.9 (The troll in the dungeon)

(Rupert Grint as Ronald Billius Weasley)

F.R.I.E.N.D.S: Fight for you, Respect you, include you, Encourage you, Need you, Deserve you, Stand by you. -unknown

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence. "Prefects," He rumbled, "lead your House back to the dormitories immediately!"

"But Professor, the Slytherin Common Room is in the dungeons!" Goyle called.

"Shut up!" Draco snapped.

Percy was in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my order! Stay close behind me now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Victoria asked, as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid." Said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

"Yes, Ronald, Peeves would let a troll in the school to mess with us. That's a very good theory except for the fact that Peeves is bound to this school and can never leave the building so where could he have gotten an twelve-feet mountain troll from? The yellow pages?" Artemis scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Why can't he leave the building?" Harry questioned.

"I'm not talking to you remember." Artemis glared. "But just to avoid another stupid question. Peeves is not alive, he is more like a spirit of chaos. He just appeared the day this school opened, attracted probably by all of the students he could mess with. He has been here ever since." In the middle of the corridor she suddenly froze, causing Harry to bump into her. "Hermione." She whispered.

"What about her?" Ron said, scoffing.

"She doesn't know about the troll." Artemis said, panicking. "You're coming with me. It's your fault she isn't here after all."

"What!...my fault?...." Ron bit his lip. "Oh, all right." He snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off towards the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" Ron hissed, pulling Artemis and Harry behind a large stone griffin. Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view. "What's he doing?" Harry whispered. Ron shrugged. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?" Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps. "He's heading for the third floor." Harry said.

"You know, Ronald, I'm actually quite surprised it wasn't Percy. Are you that invisible in your own family with all those brothers that Percy doesn't even notice you're not there?"

Harry suddenly held up his hand. "Can you smell something?"

They sniffed and pulled disgusted faces as a foul stench reached their nostrils. It smelled like a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.

And then they heard it...a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.