The_Lonely_Guy

Read chapter 19.1 in advance for free: ATWAA

Chapter - 16.3

"Shssh..." But Alex grabbed Hermione by her arm and, with his fingers on his lips, gestured for Hermione to stay silent. Alex then turned his gaze away from her towards the washroom door.

And Hermione complied. She looked at the door and then towards him. Hermione had no idea what it was but could see from his face that it was something serious. She had seen that face before. Those focused eyes. They were the same when they stood in front of that three-headed dog. At that moment, everyone else was too scared to notice, but she did see it. It was for a brief glimpse, but she remembered that face.

"What is it?" Hermione whispered when nothing happened for a while.

"I don't know, but something huge is coming this way," Alex said as he placed his palm on the ground and felt it. He could feel the slight trembling of the floor.

"Huge?" Hermione looked at him oddly, 'What huge thing can it be? Hagrid?'

But Alex ignored Hermione's curious gaze. He stood up and sniffed the air a few times before continuing, "It's a troll. It's here."

"Troll? At Hogwarts? I am sure you are mist..." Hermione found it funny for Alex to say that. She thought he was trying to scare her, but before she could complete her words, she saw a troll about the same height as the washroom door standing in front of her.

It had dull, granite grey skin with a lumpy body like a boulder. And the small bald head perched on top like a coconut. The troll had short legs, thick as a tree trunk, but the most disturbing feature was his smell. Hermione now knew why Alex was sniffing into nothingness.

Holding a huge wooden club in his long arms, the troll peered inside the washroom when he saw two little bugs through the corner of his eyes. Hermione could even hear a low, grunting sound as the troll looked at them. Looking at Hermione and Alex for a while, the troll scratched its long ears and, finally making up his mind, slouched slowly into the washroom.

As soon as the troll walked inside the washroom, it smashed its club right into the floor, trying to intimidate Alex and Hermione.

And it worked, well, almost worked. Scared, Hermione let out a loud shriek and ran opposite the direction where the troll was until she hit the wall. It was a dead end. With the troll behind her, Hermione began to shrink against the wall, looking as if she was about to faint.

"Why did you run all the way over there?"Alex twisted his waist to look back at Hermoine.

"It's a troll, don't you get it? With one punch, we will be dead meat," Hermoine looked at Alex and said anxiously, but she still tried to keep her voice down.

'Are you kidding me?'  Alex looked unconcerned, 'This thing looks dumber than those in the wild.'

"Behind you!" Suddenly Hermoine cried out at Alex, who was looking at her, ignoring the troll.

As soon as he heard Hermoine, Alex pulled out his wand and turned toward the troll. But by this time, the club in the troll's hand was already above his head.

In a flash, Alex jumped out of the trajectory of the swinging club, rolled through the troll's wide-open legs and was behind the troll in no time. The club smashed on the floor, and there was dust all over the washroom, hindering the visibility of everyone.

"Alex!" Covering her face from the debris flying her way, Hermione called for Alex.

"I am alright," Alex comforted her and pointed his wand at the troll, ready to hit him with his spell. His bloodlust rose, and he was about to hit it when he suddenly stopped. He hesitated for a while before pulling back. And this also gave the troll the time to realise that Alex was behind it. It turned around to hit Alex again, but Alex had long moved and was already in front of Hermione.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked without even looking at her.

"Yeah. You?" Hermione stood up and asked. Suddenly when she saw Alex standing in front of her without a shred of panic on his face, it helped her ease up. It wasn't to the point that she felt secure and safe, but her head was clear, and she could assess the situation better.

"I think it's better to get done with him now," Alex said.

"Huh? But ho..." Hermione was confused, but Alex moved, making her stop.

"Expelliarmus," Alex mumbled as he pointed his wand towards the troll, walking toward him. And just as he did, a bright red streak of light left his wand and hit the club the troll was holding on to.

"Phussh..."

"Oy, pea-brain!"

The club flew from the troll's hand and passed by Ron, who had just walked into the washroom, missing his face by a few inches. Before Ron could even react, the club smashed into the wall behind him and stuck there.

But the sheer suddenness of everything that happened scared Ron so much that he could feel a slight leak down there.

"Petrificus Totalus," But Alex paid no attention to the new guest in the room and continued with his work. And this time, the troll came to a standstill. It stood there like a statue, not moving a bit.

At this moment, Alex heard another set of footsteps, and soon a new guest was in the washroom, Potter.

Harry rushed inside the washroom, but unlike the red hair, he had his wand in his hand, ready to attack.

"Watch out," Harry yelled when he saw the troll looking at him and Ron as he jumped backwards, pulling Ron with him.

"What do we do now?" Harry asked.

"There is nothing we can do," Ron sighed.

"Don't give up," Harry said as he continued to move backwards with Ron, "If we work together, we can certainly defeat him."

"There is no need for that..." Ron was about to explain it to Harry when they heard more footsteps rushing towards them.

"Fast..." Harry said, "Let's defeat this thing before they arrive.

"It's already defeated," Ron shook his head, "It's not even moving."

"Huh?" Finally, Harry looked at the troll. It was indeed not moving. He then turned his gaze towards Ron, only to see him shake his head.

'Was it him, again?' Harry frowned, thinking of the possibility.

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