Chapter 31
Chapter 31
“Good heavens!”
Professor McGonagall’s lips trembled. She looked from the troll lying motionless on the floor to Suer, Hermione, and Harry.
Oh, and Ron, whom she had nearly forgotten. He was still on the floor with broken ribs and had yet to stand.
“What in the world did you think you were doing?” Professor McGonagall’s voice was icy with anger. “You are extraordinarily fortunate that the troll did not beat you to death with its club.”
Harry moved his lips but said nothing. Snape swept lightly past him, gave him a cold glance, then bent to examine the troll.
Suer and Hermione stood with their heads obediently lowered.
The small room was silent and frigid. Only the persistent stench continued to assault their noses.
“It is alive,” Snape said. Then he looked at Ron and sneered. “Mr. Weasley is remarkably fortunate. Only a few broken bones.”
Professor McGonagall took several deep breaths and forced herself to remain calm.
“Can one of you tell me what you are doing here instead of in your dormitories? Miss Granger? Mr. Bones? Or perhaps Mr. Potter?”
Ron: Am I not worthy?
“The answer is obvious,” Snape said. His dark gaze remained fixed on Harry, and frigid words emerged from lips at perfectly ordinary body temperature. “Four young wizards heard that there was a troll in the basement and came down to challenge it, hoping to make themselves famous. Is that not so?”
Harry could barely speak under his stare.
“Is that what happened, Mr. Potter?” Professor McGonagall’s eyes made Harry feel as though he were standing on needles.
Somewhere, however, he found the courage to look up at her.
“No. That isn’t what happened,” he said, trying to steady his racing heart. “Hermione and Suer came to rescue us. If they hadn’t, Ron and I would have been killed by the troll’s club.”
Suer listened with a peculiar expression. According to the original plot, Hermione was supposed to say that. Something felt subtly wrong. Events seemed to have veered off course.
His eyes also darted quickly around the room.
Where was Voldemort Quirinus Quirrell?
“Is that true, Mr. Bones?” Professor McGonagall looked between Suer and Hermione, considering her words. “Mr. Bones?”
Suer snapped back to attention and nodded.
“Suer came looking for me,” Hermione said after steadying herself. “We encountered the troll in the basement and managed to hide from it. We were about to leave, but Harry and Ron were being chased… They came down to look for me as well. I…”
Hermione swallowed, glanced quickly at Harry and Ron, and closed her eyes.
“I heard there was a troll down here, and I–I thought I could deal with it.”
Oh.
The plot had returned to its original course.
Suer remained silent.
“A lie!” Snape immediately interjected. “Clearly it was Mr. Potter who believed he could defeat a troll and crept down here–”
“Severus!” Professor McGonagall gave him a displeased look.
Snape fell silent.
She turned to Harry.
“Mr. Potter, you had better leave now. Take Mr. Weasley to the hospital wing; he looks rather unwell. If you are not injured, return to Gryffindor Tower at once. The Halloween feast is being continued in the individual House common rooms.”
“Furthermore, twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor because of your actions.”
The pale Harry helped the equally pale Ron to his feet. After stealing one glance at Suer, the two limped dejectedly out of the room.
Once their footsteps had faded, Professor McGonagall turned to Suer and Hermione.
“Very well. Facing a fully grown troll alone was extremely reckless.” Her face remained stern as she reprimanded them. “But I am pleased that you were brave enough to confront danger for the sake of your friends. Few first-years could hold their own against an adult troll.”
“A clever use of Transfiguration.”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
“You have each earned twenty points for your Houses.”
“I shall report the matter to Headmaster Dumbledore. You may go.”
Suer and Hermione obediently left the room. At the turn of the staircase, they encountered a pale, flustered Professor Quirrell.
Quirrell did not stop. His destination was clear, and he brushed straight past them.
Neither Suer nor Hermione spoke. They climbed the stairs and did not begin gulping air until they reached the doors of the first-floor Great Hall.
“I am going to learn the Bubble-Head Charm,” Hermione said at once.
Suer nodded with deep agreement. “I was thinking exactly the same thing.”
They exchanged a smile, agreed to meet the next day, and separated for their respective common rooms.
Once you survived something alongside another person, your relationship could not help but move to a new level.
That was true not only for people who were already close, but also for those who had scarcely known one another.
At least, when Suer entered the Great Hall the next morning, Hermione was sitting with Harry and Ron, discussing something animatedly.
“Hi, Suer.” Harry spotted him first and waved.
Hermione’s cheeks reddened when she saw him. Only after returning to her dormitory last night had she realised how long she had been pressed against Suer’s chest.
“Good morning.” Suer nodded. “Weasley, how are you feeling?”
Ron patted his flat chest to demonstrate that he had completely recovered.
“Not bad. I’m lucky to be alive. Madam Pomfrey’s medicine worked well, although it tasted horrible.” Ron grumbled, then added, “You can call me Ron.”
“All right, Ron.” Suer smiled.
Justin was waving to him from the Hufflepuff table.
“Then I’ll excuse myself. See you this afternoon, Hermione.”
Suer winked at her. He had noticed long ago that she was watching him from the corner of her eye.
Hermione’s cheeks reddened further, and she ignored him.
“Where were you during the feast last night?” Justin asked curiously. “We were terrified. Professor Quirrell burst into the Hall, announced that there was a troll in the basement, and fainted on the spot.”
Morn leaned closer and lowered his voice.
“Did you go and fight the troll? We’re all curious. Hufflepuff gained twenty points, and no matter whom we ask, no one can explain why.”
All the little badgers looked at Suer with curiosity, but he had no desire to boast.
“Last night…” Suer considered it. “I did see the troll.”
The Hufflepuff table erupted. Everyone began asking whether the troll was the way Professor Quirrell had described in Defence Against the Dark Arts.
“Yes, yes. It was exactly as Professor Quirrell said–stupid and terribly smelly. As for the points, I merely helped the professors a teeny-tiny bit.”
Suer pinched his thumb and forefinger together to demonstrate.
“Fight a troll? Who said anything about fighting a troll?”
“How could a first-year possibly defeat one?”
“That was a fully grown troll!”