When Ronan entered the Great Hall, his eyes scanned the Gryffindor table to look for Hermione. He had some queries about the Gerbel Seeds and its properties, he couldnt find any answer based on the books that he had read so far, so he was wondering whether she could give him some answer. He thought that her habit of always reading advanced stuff might help him quell his doubts.

He could have just gone to Professor Snape for the answer, but he preferred not to. He couldnt find her in the library, and it was weird because that girl always made one or two rounds around the place in a day. But that day she didnt visit the library. As he didnt see her in the hall as well, he figured that she might be sick. It was then he looked around the hall and it made him forget all about her.

It was the Halloween feast, and the hall looked incredible today. A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. He had helped Professor Fitwick the other day decorating the hall, but he left midway because he had to study. But now he regretted it, he really wanted to know which charms and magic Professor used to decorate the hall like that.

After admiring the hall, he went to sit down with Blaise, Pancy, and Daphne. Since the morning incident with Malfoy, all three of them had grown closer to him. Whether they were coming close to him because of his actions, or they were using him to challenge Draco’s authority was beyond him. Hell, he didnt care. But it was nice to have someone to talk to about classes and other stuff, and he was not complaining.

He sat down with Blaise who was talking to Daphne, sitting opposite to him, while Pancy missing altogether. “It is annoying as more days pass,” Daphne said,

“What is?” he asked.

“Marcus Flint,” Blaise said.

He was confused, “The Fifth-year student?” he asked, “Why is that guy annoying you guys?”

“Because of you,” Daphne answered. He only got more confused from there, “Me? What did I do?”

Then Blaise told him, “Remember when you told him the information about Potter being a seeker for the Grfindor team” He nodded, so Blaise continued, “Well as it turns out, no one knew about the information. Yet, you knew. So Fint is asking us, to ask you to find out more about how good Potter is.”

“Why isn't he asking me himself?”

Daphne answered, “Because of Malfoy, who else?”

Apparently, Malfoy had been spreading rumors about him, making him look like a sort of Villain. But instead of getting mad at the boy, he shrugged and let the matter go. He didnt have the patience or time to deal with Malfoy. When the feast came, it suddenly appeared on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. As the feast started, Pancy came and joined them.

As he was about to help himself with some steak, Pancy spoke, “Ronan,” he looked up, “That muggle-born girl that you hang out with.”

“Who? Hermione?”

“Yeah. I have heard that the girl is crying all day in the girl’s toilet.”

He was surprised, he stood up to see that Hermione was not on the Gryffindor’s table. Immediately, he left to help his friend…

***

Harry was just helping himself to a jacket potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore’s chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, “Troll.. in the dungeons… thought you ought to know.” He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore’s wand to bring silence

“Prefects,” Dumbledore rumbled, “lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!”

Percy Weasley, the prefect of Gryfindor then got and started commanding, “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!”

Both Harry and Ron joined the line of the first year, when Harry asked Ron, “How could a troll get in?”

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“Don’t ask me, they’re supposed to be really stupid,” said Ron.

“My Gran told me that they might be stupid,” Neville added, “But they were dangerous creatures. Their skin is so thick that most magic just bouce off them,”

Then Ron spoke, “Maybe Peeves let it in for a Hallowe’en joke.”

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron’s and Neville’s arm, then spoke, “I have just thought.. Hermione”

“What about her?” Neville asked,

“She doesn't know about the troll,” Harry said. Ron bit his lip, he was feeling guilty.

Neville then chimed in, “Well… We should tell Professors.”

“We might not have that much time” Harry urged, “Also, do we really Professors to know that Ron was the reason that she was crying in the toilet?”

Neville and Ron, both looked nervous. Then Ron ultimately gave in, “Oh, all right,” he snapped. “Dont let Percy see us. We will just get her common room and then that is it.” Neville looked reluctant at first, but then he gave in as well.

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

“Percy!” hissed Ron, pulling Harry and Neville 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. “Why isn’t he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?”

“Dont know,” Ron said.

“Maybe he would have forgotten his wand in his office,” Neville added.

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape’s fading footsteps. “He’s heading for the third floor,” Harry said, but Ron and Neville held up their hands.

“Can you guys smell something?” Neville asked. a foul stench reached their nostrils, 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. Ron pointed: at the end of a passage to the left, 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 was a 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.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

“The key’s in the lock,” Harry muttered. ‘We could lock it in.’ ‘Good idea,’ said Ron nervously. They edged towards the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn’t about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door and lock it.

“Yes!” they all yelled.

Flushed with their victory they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop – a high, petrified scream – and it was coming from the chamber they’d just locked up.

“Oh, no,” said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron. “It’s the girls’s toilets!” Harry gasped.

“Hermione!” they said together.

It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic, Harry pulled the door open, and they ran inside. Hermione was shrinking against the wall opposite, Ronan was standing in front of her with panic in his eyes. The troll was advancing towards them, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

“Confuse it!” Harry yelled and threw a tap as hard as he could against the wall. Neville and Ron immediately got to work, they started creating noise, to attract the attention of the troll.

“Oye! Pea-brain!” yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a wooden plan from a stall, at it. The troll didn’t even seem to notice the piece of wood hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout towards Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it and get to his Ronan and Hemione.

“Come on, run, run!” Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn’t move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror. Ronan who was able to move around, went and picked up the wood that Ron earlier threw.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started heading towards Ron and Neville. As there were two of them, the troll got confused about who to attack first. This was chance, and Harry knew that he had to do something now. Before he could do anything he saw Ronan whipping out his wand. Then when a flick of his wand, Ronan turned that 12-inch long wood into a silvery thick spike. Then Harry saw the spike start floating in the air.

The spike started spinning, getting to a very ridiculous speed, he saw blood spilling out of Ronan’s mouth, and before he knew it, the spike went flying towards the troll, lodging itself on the back of its skull. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Harry was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there frozen in his place, couldnt believe that he was about to die. While Neville on the other hand smirked and then fainted. It was Hermione who spoke first “Is it… dead?”

Before they could ascertain whether the troll of dead or not, Ronan fell to his knees. Harry and Hermione jumped to check on him and saw two streams of blood coming from his eyes. While he looked paler than usual. A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn’t realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll’s roars.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall came bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Seeing the infuriated face of Professor McGonagall Harry realized that this night going to be very long.