Current Reinforcement was a new spell Harry had been working on lately. It could strengthen the body without any side effects, though the exact boost varied from person to person depending on their physique.
This spell could enhance a wizard's physical stats and raise a mage's upper limit in combat.
For some reason, aside from strength-boosting potions and a few complicated ancient magics, the modern wizarding world basically had no body-enhancement spells at all.
The spell he'd created had, without a doubt, blazed a brand-new trail!
Harry also wanted to use Current Reinforcement as a foundation to open up an entirely new mage system.
Start with a Lightning Sphere, then chain Current Reinforcement, Magnetic Rotation, Electromagnetic Overlay, Lightning Armor…
Once everything was in place, his body would be as tough as that of a high-level fiend, or even a demon lord. He'd be able to cross a hundred meters in an instant, turn lightning into plasma, wrap it around his palm to form a Lightning Plow-Heat Blade, and drive it straight through his opponent's body!
Heh, all those demons loved to say mages were squishy.
Who says mages are all squishy?
Once he completed this combo, Harry absolutely had to go brawl a high-level flame demon and show them just how terrifying a close-combat mage could be!
Just as the three of them were sprinting full-tilt toward the troll's location, they suddenly saw someone rush out of the dungeon classrooms and quickly head upstairs.
"Professor Snape?" Ron blurted in surprise when he saw the figure. "What's he doing here?"
The three of them hurriedly ducked down, crouching behind the stair rail and slowly edging out of Snape's line of sight.
"What is he doing? Why isn't he going down to the dungeon with the other teachers to rescue the students?" Hermione whispered.
Ron made a face like he'd figured it all out, smacked his fist into his palm and said, "I get it now. The troll must've been let in by Snape. Look at him – he's always got that gloomy mug, he just doesn't look like a good person."
Harry's expression turned a bit odd. Judging purely from Snape's image as a damp, brooding shut-in, he really didn't look like any kind of good guy.
But Harry knew Snape would never be the one to let a troll in. For all that he was plain-looking, his heart wasn't bad at all.
Maybe that was what you called contrast.
Harry thought back to those girls at Tony's parties who looked like perfect good girls on the surface but underneath were blazing hot party girls, and grumbled inwardly: isn't that just a different flavor of tsundere?
Harry shook his head. "Ron, Professor Snape is definitely not a bad person."
"But the way he treats you…"
At first, after Harry showed that jaw-dropping talent in Potions, Snape had indeed been gentle with him for a while.
But as soon as Harry joined the Quidditch team and became Hogwarts' brightest Quidditch star, the fickle overgrown bat's attitude toward him had grown even colder.
Ron had seen all of this with his own eyes, which was exactly why he felt Snape didn't seem like a good person.
Harry said helplessly, "Snape's relationship with my mum and dad is very complicated. That's why he targets me. But it's not like he's got a bad heart, right? At the very least, he's taught me a lot of potions knowledge."
Ron spread his hands. "All right then, if you don't mind…"
The three of them followed the winding staircase down, step by careful step, and soon reached the dungeon level.
As they went deeper, the air around them grew more and more damp and cold. In the dim light, mottled shadows rippled across the walls, as if countless unseen eyes were watching them from the dark.
In this kind of atmosphere, Hermione and Ron only grew more nervous.
When they drew close to the public bathroom near the dungeon classrooms, Harry and the others suddenly heard a deafening roar. Immediately afterward came a chorus of shrill screams!
Harry was the first to speed up, dashing toward the bathroom as he called back, "Heads up – the troll's right up ahead. We're about to make contact with it face to face!"
In the public bathroom off the dungeon corridor, the moment a hulking troll reeking of rot crashed in swinging a massive club, the entire room was instantly swallowed by fear.
The poor young witches' and wizards' screams split the air. "Aah! What is that? Somebody help us!"
The students were terrified out of their wits – especially a few who had just pulled down their trousers, only for a gigantic wooden club to smash straight through the stall doors and splinter the flimsy wood to pieces.
Faced with a scene like that, never mind some of the little witches – even a few of the little wizards wet themselves, left soaked from head to toe and utterly humiliated.
They scrambled to hide, some squeezed into bathroom stalls, some pressed into corners, all of them praying the troll wouldn't find them.
Pansy was hiding in the very last stall of the girls' bathroom. She was curled up in the corner like a frightened little rabbit, shaking all over.
She kept praying, "Don't find me, stay away from me…"
But as luck would have it, the troll marched straight into the girls' bathroom and lumbered toward the very back.
Sensing Pansy's terror, it suddenly swung its giant club, smashing away the upper half of every stall at once.
If Hogwarts students weren't generally on the short side, that one attack alone might have caused casualties.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
A chorus of shrieks rang out, and Pansy, who was the closest, unfortunately drew the troll's full attention.
Thud, thud, thud!
Heavy footsteps boomed closer. Pansy watched the troll approach in despair. It felt like fear was lodged in her throat; she wanted to scream, but only a faint whimper came out. "N–no… please… don't come any closer…"
Her voice trembled, tears spilling uncontrollably down her cheeks. They slid along her face and soaked into the front of the robes she was clutching in a death grip.
The troll's immense bulk completely blotted out Pansy's tiny figure. Then it raised its massive club and brought it down toward her.
The thick club was even bigger than Pansy's whole body. There was no question that if it hit her, she would die in an instant.
With a body as small as a first-year's, how could anyone possibly withstand a full-force blow from a troll?
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The club whistled through the air and was just about to slam into Pansy, when at the very last second a silver figure wreathed in dazzling lightning streaked in. A seemingly slender fist slammed into the troll's belly and sent the monster flying!
The troll smashed through the bathroom wall and crashed to the floor in the corridor along with a rain of shattered bricks. The figure wrapped in lightning, meanwhile, reached a hand out toward Pansy, like God stretching his hand toward Adam for the first time, about to grant him life.
Harry's face was gentle as he spoke softly to soothe her. "It's all right now, my lovely Miss Pansy."
His voice was like warm spring sunlight, burning away the dark fog of fear in Pansy's heart.
Pansy had already been scared out of her wits; panic still lingered in her eyes.
The instant she heard Harry's voice, she almost reflexively grabbed his hand as if it were a lifeline, clinging to it like it was her only support in the world.
The savior Harry never shows up late!
That blow just now would've been enough to kill an adult witch or wizard outright, but for a troll it was still a bit on the soft side.
The troll slowly got back to its feet, rubbing its head and glaring at them viciously.
Harry, however, stepped back and revealed Hermione standing behind him. Pointing at the troll, he said to her, "Go, Hermionemon!"
Hermione all but had question marks floating over her head. "Huh? You want me to fight the troll?!"
This was nothing like what she'd imagined!
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