Chapter 31: Running with the Troll
The troll seemed angry, and with a mighty roar, it raised its club and charged at them.
“Follow me!” Charles commanded. Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to follow him with as much speed as they could muster.
The ground beneath them continued to tremble and the suits of armors fell apart to the ground while the walls began to crack. With the loud roars and the scraping of the club on the ground, it felt as though they were in Hell.
The four began to run as if their lives depended on it. At that moment, whatever body problem, whatever heart problem, none of that was important right now. Adrenaline was pumping through their bodies in a large amount, and at this second, they had only one goal–run–run as fast as possible.
But the troll had long legs and a tall body. It had only taken a moment for it to draw close. With a happy roar, it raised its giant club. The tiles underneath the troll could no longer handle the weight of the troll and begun to fracture underneath it. As a result, broken tiles and bricks could be seen littering the ground behind the troll while the walls had begun to crumble from the swings of the troll and nearly hit the four. However, the four kids didn’t dare slow down, and after seeing the terrifying scene behind them, they had only started to run even faster.
The club of the troll swished through the air as it was swung, and the smashing sounds from the wall being broken could be clearly heard to the four. At that moment, a fork in the road could be seen up ahead.
“Harry, Ron, and Hermione, you three take the right.” Charles spoke.
“What about you?” Harry shouted.
“Let me handle it, I’ll take care of it.”
“How?” Hermione sputtered in panic, “It’s a troll, you’ll die!”
“Forget about those two, but are you doubting my strength as well?” Charles shouted. “If it’s the four of us, I doubt we’ll get away, but with just me staying, there’s a chance!”
“But….” Just as Hermione was about to say something, she was pushed down to the ground by Charles. With a wave of his wand, he had changed the Levitation Charm placed on Harry and Ron into a Banishing Charm. With a mighty push, the two of them were sent into the rightmost corridor.
“Get down!” He cried out before rolling to the side along with Hermione. The club of the troll gave a mighty bang onto the ground next to them, allowing Hermione and Charles to dodge death once again. But because of the force the troll had put into the blow, its body was carried along with the inertia forward and looked as if it would step on the two kids.
Without enough time to get up, Charles hastily pulled off Hermione’s hair clip from her hair and threw it at the incoming foot. With his other hand, he waved his wand, emitting a bright light as he transfigured the hair clip into a sharp and long steel nail. Stabbing into the troll’s foot, the troll gave a loud pained cry and fell down. Its gigantic body had fallen on top of Hermione and Charles. With a loud bang, the troll rolled to the middle of the fork while the shattered tiles and bricks under it flew all over the area with dust flying up as well.
“Merlin! Charles and Hermione!” Ron cried out. “The troll squished them. They died because of us!” Ron’s voice had begun to break out in sobs.
“They’re definitely alive.” Harry replied. A sudden thought of the time when Charles cried out “Protego Murus!” with an explosive light and a protective barrier had popped up in Harry’s mind. They can’t die. Harry thought.
Peering ahead as hard as he might, Harry could see nothing because of the pervasive dust storm blocking his sight. At most, he could only shout out loud, “Charles! Hermione! Are you still there?”
Suddenly a faint echo could be heard within the dust storm. Harry and Ron gave each other a look before a crack of a smile appeared on their faces. In the next moment, another large cry could be heard–the troll had stood up from within the dust. The joy that had been on Harry and Ron’s face had instantly turned into horror.
Shaking the dizziness from its tiny head, the troll suddenly turned to look at the two prey in front of him and roared.
This time however, Harry and Ron fell back on their behinds, paralyzed. After all this shock and then running for such a long stretch of road despite the fear and excitement, they had expended a large amount of their physical strength. After the two had calmed down, the fatigue had caught up with them all at once so that the two boys no longer had the strength to stand and promptly fell to the floor.
“We’re doomed for sure!” Ron howled in grief, “I can’t run anymore!”
Harry had a look of absolute despair as well.
The troll slowly walked towards the two, its ugly face suddenly splitting up into a smile. Ron and Harry had only felt fear, but they took up their wands in preparation for the final battle. But after some thinking, they came to realize something. There was no way a first year would know a strong spell to fight. Straight away, the two boys went ashen in the face.
A flash of fire could be seen behind the troll’s head along with a crackling explosion sound. The troll’s attention shifted behind it, causing the troll to turn its ugly head around. In the next moment, Harry and Ron could hear a familiar voice call out loud, “Hey! You big oaf, over here!”
Before the dust cloud could even disperse, the voices of Hermione and Charles could be heard. Neither of the two were injured, but they were looking rather disheveled. Originally when the troll was about to fall on them, Charles had grabbed onto Hermione and then casted a Banishing Charm at the nearby wall. The opposite reaction from the charm had caused Hermione and Charles to shoot off towards the left corridor and dodge the mountainous force of the troll’s body.
Harry saw that Charles had learned the failed Wingardium Leviosa spell that Seamus had tried and casted it towards the troll with an explosive flame along with an explosive sound. This time, it had hit the troll in the face and angered it.
The troll let out another roar (Goodness, that’s the only move it knows because of its low IQ) before charging towards Hermione and Charles. At that moment, the troll was in the middle of the fork, making it impossible for Charles and Hermione to reunite with Ron and Harry. Thus, Charles could only bring Hermione further away from them as they ran.
Seeing the two run away, a heavy weight had been lifted off Charles’ back. He had used a weakened version of the Levitation Charm on the two boys earlier to make their bodies lighter. The charm would allow the two to waste less energy to run even faster and jump even higher. If the troll were to give chase, then Charles would cast the full Levitation Charm on the both of them before a Summoning Charm straight ahead. With a combination of spellwork like this where a light body was sent flying through the air, the two of them would be like the heroes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. If the ground was slippery, then they would be able to glide far away. The troll gave an angry roar, but try as it might, it wasn’t able to catch up with the two.
Charles carried Hermione in a rush until they finally arrived at the 8th corridor. Right besides him, Hermione was finally getting the hang of the tempo of his footsteps, “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?” Hermione was at a loss for words.
Charles smiled, “Ready to get rid of the fellow right behind of us of course.”
“What!” Hermione cried out.
Chapter 31: Running with the Troll
The troll seemed angry, and with a mighty roar, it raised its club and charged at them.
“Follow me!” Charles commanded. Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to follow him with as much speed as they could muster.
The ground beneath them continued to tremble and the suits of armors fell apart to the ground while the walls began to crack. With the loud roars and the scraping of the club on the ground, it felt as though they were in Hell.
The four began to run as if their lives depended on it. At that moment, whatever body problem, whatever heart problem, none of that was important right now. Adrenaline was pumping through their bodies in a large amount, and at this second, they had only one goal–run–run as fast as possible.
But the troll had long legs and a tall body. It had only taken a moment for it to draw close. With a happy roar, it raised its giant club. The tiles underneath the troll could no longer handle the weight of the troll and begun to fracture underneath it. As a result, broken tiles and bricks could be seen littering the ground behind the troll while the walls had begun to crumble from the swings of the troll and nearly hit the four. However, the four kids didn’t dare slow down, and after seeing the terrifying scene behind them, they had only started to run even faster.
The club of the troll swished through the air as it was swung, and the smashing sounds from the wall being broken could be clearly heard to the four. At that moment, a fork in the road could be seen up ahead.
“Harry, Ron, and Hermione, you three take the right.” Charles spoke.
“What about you?” Harry shouted.
“Let me handle it, I’ll take care of it.”
“How?” Hermione sputtered in panic, “It’s a troll, you’ll die!”
“Forget about those two, but are you doubting my strength as well?” Charles shouted. “If it’s the four of us, I doubt we’ll get away, but with just me staying, there’s a chance!”
“But….” Just as Hermione was about to say something, she was pushed down to the ground by Charles. With a wave of his wand, he had changed the Levitation Charm placed on Harry and Ron into a Banishing Charm. With a mighty push, the two of them were sent into the rightmost corridor.
“Get down!” He cried out before rolling to the side along with Hermione. The club of the troll gave a mighty bang onto the ground next to them, allowing Hermione and Charles to dodge death once again. But because of the force the troll had put into the blow, its body was carried along with the inertia forward and looked as if it would step on the two kids.
Without enough time to get up, Charles hastily pulled off Hermione’s hair clip from her hair and threw it at the incoming foot. With his other hand, he waved his wand, emitting a bright light as he transfigured the hair clip into a sharp and long steel nail. Stabbing into the troll’s foot, the troll gave a loud pained cry and fell down. Its gigantic body had fallen on top of Hermione and Charles. With a loud bang, the troll rolled to the middle of the fork while the shattered tiles and bricks under it flew all over the area with dust flying up as well.
“Merlin! Charles and Hermione!” Ron cried out. “The troll squished them. They died because of us!” Ron’s voice had begun to break out in sobs.
“They’re definitely alive.” Harry replied. A sudden thought of the time when Charles cried out “Protego Murus!” with an explosive light and a protective barrier had popped up in Harry’s mind. They can’t die. Harry thought.
Peering ahead as hard as he might, Harry could see nothing because of the pervasive dust storm blocking his sight. At most, he could only shout out loud, “Charles! Hermione! Are you still there?”
Suddenly a faint echo could be heard within the dust storm. Harry and Ron gave each other a look before a crack of a smile appeared on their faces. In the next moment, another large cry could be heard–the troll had stood up from within the dust. The joy that had been on Harry and Ron’s face had instantly turned into horror.
Shaking the dizziness from its tiny head, the troll suddenly turned to look at the two prey in front of him and roared.
This time however, Harry and Ron fell back on their behinds, paralyzed. After all this shock and then running for such a long stretch of road despite the fear and excitement, they had expended a large amount of their physical strength. After the two had calmed down, the fatigue had caught up with them all at once so that the two boys no longer had the strength to stand and promptly fell to the floor.
“We’re doomed for sure!” Ron howled in grief, “I can’t run anymore!”
Harry had a look of absolute despair as well.
The troll slowly walked towards the two, its ugly face suddenly splitting up into a smile. Ron and Harry had only felt fear, but they took up their wands in preparation for the final battle. But after some thinking, they came to realize something. There was no way a first year would know a strong spell to fight. Straight away, the two boys went ashen in the face.
A flash of fire could be seen behind the troll’s head along with a crackling explosion sound. The troll’s attention shifted behind it, causing the troll to turn its ugly head around. In the next moment, Harry and Ron could hear a familiar voice call out loud, “Hey! You big oaf, over here!”
Before the dust cloud could even disperse, the voices of Hermione and Charles could be heard. Neither of the two were injured, but they were looking rather disheveled. Originally when the troll was about to fall on them, Charles had grabbed onto Hermione and then casted a Banishing Charm at the nearby wall. The opposite reaction from the charm had caused Hermione and Charles to shoot off towards the left corridor and dodge the mountainous force of the troll’s body.
Harry saw that Charles had learned the failed Wingardium Leviosa spell that Seamus had tried and casted it towards the troll with an explosive flame along with an explosive sound. This time, it had hit the troll in the face and angered it.
The troll let out another roar (Goodness, that’s the only move it knows because of its low IQ) before charging towards Hermione and Charles. At that moment, the troll was in the middle of the fork, making it impossible for Charles and Hermione to reunite with Ron and Harry. Thus, Charles could only bring Hermione further away from them as they ran.
Seeing the two run away, a heavy weight had been lifted off Charles’ back. He had used a weakened version of the Levitation Charm on the two boys earlier to make their bodies lighter. The charm would allow the two to waste less energy to run even faster and jump even higher. If the troll were to give chase, then Charles would cast the full Levitation Charm on the both of them before a Summoning Charm straight ahead. With a combination of spellwork like this where a light body was sent flying through the air, the two of them would be like the heroes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. If the ground was slippery, then they would be able to glide far away. The troll gave an angry roar, but try as it might, it wasn’t able to catch up with the two.
Charles carried Hermione in a rush until they finally arrived at the 8th corridor. Right besides him, Hermione was finally getting the hang of the tempo of his footsteps, “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?” Hermione was at a loss for words.
Charles smiled, “Ready to get rid of the fellow right behind of us of course.”
“What!” Hermione cried out.
