Son of the Dark Lord

Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The Troll

There were a few moments of complete silence as the announcement was absorbed, then complete panic broke out. Many students started screaming. Harry, imagining a muggle troll (a gruff little man living under a bridge), was not one of the screamers. In fact, he did not understand why everyone was afraid.

Professor Dumbledore suddenly stood and shot some sparks out of his wand with a blast similar to cannon. The Great Hall instantly fell silent.

"Prefects, lead your houses back to your dormitories immediately!" All around the hall, the prefects were heard ushering their houses back to the dormitories.

"Follow me!"

"Stick together, first years!"

"No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders!"

"Stay close behind me, now."

"Make way, first years coming through!"

"Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Hermione asked as they made their way across the entrance hall.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Draco. They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly heard something odd.

"What's that scraping noise?" Draco shrugged, clearly unconcerned. As they got closer to the dormitory, the scraping grew louder. They also encountered a horrendous smell. As they rounded the next corner, the group of Slytherins abruptly stopped. After a moment, the screaming started, and despite the protests of the prefects, the students turned and fled back the way they had come. The group of five friends remained pressed in a corner, watching as the prefects ran after their housemates, attempting to get them to settle down.

Harry finally got a good look at the troll. It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, 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. At least that explained the scraping.

The troll was steadily advancing on them, having been drawn by the screams.

"Hey guys," said Hermione. "I think we'd better get out of here." The boys were ignoring her, commenting on the horrendous smell of the troll. "GUYS! DUCK!" They did so, barely avoiding the club the troll had swung at them. As the troll swung at them again, Harry used the first spell that came to mind.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over—and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot. The five friends took the opportunity to run for their lives, stopping when they heard a loud thud and felt the ground tremble. A look behind them confirmed that the troll had fallen flat on his face right where they had been standing. Hermione spoke first.

"Is it — dead?"

"I don't think so," said Vince, "I think it's just been knocked out."

A sudden barrage of loud footsteps made the five of them look up. The professors had arrived. The prefects must have alerted them as to the troll's whereabouts. Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Quirrell stared blankly at them. Professor McGonagall suddenly stepped forward and bent over the troll. Professor Snape was still looking at them. Harry couldn't decipher his expression. However, hopes of winning fifty points for Slytherin quickly faded from Harry's mind.

"What were you thinking!" said Professor Snape. "You could have been killed! Why did you not return to the Great Hall with the rest of your house?" Greg was the first to speak.

"We were trapped, Professor."

"How so?" asked Professor Snape.

"When our house came up to the troll, they turned and ran. We got pinned in the corner there. The troll raced toward us as they ran. We had to duck to avoid the club it swung at us. Then Harry levitated its club and used it to knock the troll out."

"Is that so, Harry?"

"Yes, Sir."

"In that case, you were extremely lucky. Not many first years could have taken on a fully grown mountain troll and lived to tell the tale. For your luck, I'll award you ten points. Now, you should all head back to the Great Hall and join your housemates. I will come by to direct you all to your house when it is safe to do so."

"Yes, Sir." They all walked back up to the Great Hall. As they entered through the double doors, they were bombarded by their housemates, desperate to know what had happened.

The five friends quickly relayed the story to their house, earning them some admiring glances. After their story, they settled down at their house table to finish the feast which had reappeared for them.

Around the same time they had all eaten their fill, Professor Snape returned to the Great Hall and announced that it was time for them to return to their house dormitory.

Slytherin house eagerly trooped off to their dormitory, Harry and his friends especially. It had been a long and tiring day.