Perhaps because emergencies of various kinds happened frequently at the castle, the school responded almost immediately.
Dumbledore almost immediately instructed the prefects to lead the students back to their respective common rooms, and the prefects quickly began directing the completely inexperienced first-years to follow closely behind them.
"Andrew's not here—he must have gone to the library!"
His dormmates reported this to the prefect almost immediately.
"Oh, damn... is he in any club?"
"He is."
His dormmate quickly gave the name of Andrew's club.
"Good, their club has people who can fight..." The prefect breathed a sigh of relief. "Go find Hand with the fifth-years and have them organize students to search near the library. I'll report to the Head of House."
+++++
Andrew was unaware of what was happening in the Great Hall.
He was still feeling proud of having completed his task and was weighing whether to eat first and then sneak off to the Owlery, or to take advantage of the quiet and finish his secret errand before eating.
"What's that smell?"
A sudden stench hit him, and Andrew frowned.
It wasn't unusual for the dungeons to smell bad, but this was different—like the aftermath of a public toilet explosion.
After a brief assessment, he stepped back a few paces, confirming the strange smell was coming from ahead.
"Damn… is this another of Peeves' pranks?"
Not sure, he tapped his backpack with his wand. A rope crawled out—if the Transfiguration had been perfect, it should've turned into a snake, but with his limited skill, this was the best he could do.
The rope slithered along the base of the wall, until a loud noise echoed from the corner—if Peeves was smashing something, this might attract him.
But what reached Andrew's ears wasn't the sound of things crashing, but rather heavy footsteps—like someone had brought an elephant into the castle.
"Damn… what kind of prank is this now?"
He took another step back, used a levitation charm to stick a piece of parchment on the wall and turned it into a mirror to check behind him—no mischievous ghosts or pixies in sight.
But the smell grew even worse.
"Did Moaning Myrtle blow up the toilet?"
Gripping his wand tightly, Andrew muttered a complaint and conjured a mask from another parchment, using his wand to strap it on.
"Oh… what the hell is that?"
He had retreated just in time—a massive creature, over ten feet tall, stood in the shadows. The lighting made it impossible to see its face, but its sheer size alone was terrifying. And in its right hand, it dragged a huge wooden club across the ground.
"Damn it… wasn't I just here to study?"
Andrew silently rolled his eyes—and without hesitation, swung his wand toward the floor.
"Splat—squelch!"
At the same time Andrew cast his spell, the troll began to charge toward him. But the solid floor turned to mire under its massive foot, and it stumbled—only to find its foot stuck in a pit barely larger than its foot.
Amid disturbing noises, it easily pulled its foot free and fixed its vicious gaze on Andrew.
'Transfiguration not strong enough...'
Andrew swung his wand again. The rope he had sent ahead slithered up the troll's body, easily dodging its scratching hands, then wrapped itself around the troll's eyes.
In the next moment, the rope transformed into thorny vines with sharp barbs, tightly binding over the troll's eyes.
"ROAARRR!!!"
A thunderous roar erupted. The troll screamed in agony, raising its massive club to smash Andrew, but just as it began the swing, the club started to elongate and morph—turning into the root system of a giant tree.
The once spacious corridor was instantly filled. The spread-out impact kept the Transfiguration stable.
Andrew, without hesitation, cast another spell. The vines around the troll's eyes rapidly grew, and the troll's agonized screams echoed through the dungeon.
But in less than thirty seconds, it was all over.
At least in Andrew's view, no creature could survive such an assault. Still, he waved his wand again. The mirror on the wall reverted to parchment, which he turned into a sharp spike and drove into the troll's chest—where its heart would be.
Another wave of the wand, and the tree root transformed back into a wooden club, which he used like a hammer to pound the spike into the troll.
"If you're still not dead, then I give up."
Only now did Andrew exhale in relief, cautiously stepping forward—he said that, but what if it moved again?
But there was no doubt—the troll was stone cold dead.
"Looks terrifying… Good thing I've been practicing Transfiguration..."
He casually tested a few spells he knew and found they couldn't even pierce the dead troll's skin.
"But how on earth did a troll get into the school? Something's definitely off… but I can't put my finger on it."
Shaking his head, he wasn't sure if the troll had any monetary value or usable materials—but even if it did, it wasn't worth the risk.
Retracting his parchment and rope, Andrew erased any traces of the incident, made sure nothing could be linked back to him, then changed his hair color and style and added a few centimeters to his shoe soles before hurriedly leaving.
He had a strong feeling there was a conspiracy brewing—and he had only just barely managed to kill the troll. How could he possibly get involved?
Besides, if there was a problem at school, it was obviously Professor Quirrell's fault. No evidence needed!
With this mindset, he avoided areas with paintings and headed straight for the second-floor library. A quick stroll past the bookshelves and a simple Dispel Magic would do. He visited the library often, so no one would suspect a thing.
+++
"Here to find Granger?"
"Why don't you say Granger was the one looking for you two?"
"Unbelievable… One group sneaks out, kills a troll, and thinks I won't know who they are. Another bunch of younger students think they can handle a troll?!"
"Gryffindor, minus five points! Each!"
"Professor, they really did come to find me, because I… I thought I could handle a troll too…"
Professor McGonagall looked at Hermione, who was obviously lying, then at the other two who looked like frightened quails.
"Alright then, five points from you too, Miss Granger—now, off with you."
The two breathed a sigh of relief, but the walk back was filled with awkward silence.
"…Fine, I've decided to forgive you."
At the entrance to the common room, Granger said before stepping inside first.
T/N: For twenty chapters ahead on all my fics become a P@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle