Quirrell's shocking announcement plunged the Great Hall into chaos.
A troll is a type of magical creature, a giant that can reach up to four meters in height and weigh nearly a ton. It has a violent temperament, possesses absurd brute strength, and when it goes on a rampage with its tough hide, it becomes extremely dangerous. Its intelligence seems low, but that also means it may attack without regard for its own safety.
Naturally, the students were swallowed by fear and thrown into utter confusion. Faces that had been full of Halloween cheer just moments ago were now stained with terror as screams rang out and people ran about in panic.
"Silence!"
The one who brought the situation under control was Headmaster Dumbledore's booming voice. As expected of the wizard said to be the greatest of the twentieth century. The noisy Great Hall fell silent in an instant, and all eyes turned toward Dumbledore.
"Prefects, lead the students of your respective houses and return to your dormitories at once."
At the Headmaster's instruction, the prefects began moving and gathering their housemates. Even in Slytherin, the prefects started leading students toward the dormitories in the dungeons. Huh? The dungeons?
If I recall correctly, that was where the troll was supposed to be.
It seemed a few Slytherin students noticed as well. Daphne and Nott were wearing expressions that clearly said, "Huh?"
I hurriedly grabbed Malfoy and Pansy by the collars just as they were about to rush ahead and follow the prefects.
"Ghk!"
"Hey, what do you think you're doing, Elaina?!"
I tried to calm the two of them as they protested.
"Let's wait and see how things look first."
"Elaina, what are you talking about? You heard them. There's a troll in the dungeons…"
"That's exactly why."
At that point, Malfoy finally seemed to understand what I was getting at. Pansy made a small "Ah" sound as realization dawned on her, and she abruptly stopped.
"Honestly, the Great Hall is safer, with Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall here. Let's stay here for a while."
Just as I thought that, the teachers revived Professor Quirrell and promptly left the Great Hall. From the students who had already headed toward the Slytherin dormitory, there were no screams or signs of trouble.
"It looks like we might have been overthinking things. Shall we head back to our dorm too?"
As I was piling some food onto a plate to take with us, Neville approached in a flustered state for some reason.
"Neville, the Gryffindor dormitory is in the opposite direction."
"No, that's not it! Harry and the others went down to the dungeons to look for Hermione!"
According to Neville, Hermione had gotten into a fight with Ron and had been crying in the girls' bathroom in the dungeons. When Harry and the others realized she didn't know about the troll's invasion, they went to rescue her.
"I came back to the Great Hall to tell Professor Dumbledore, but do you know where he went?"
"He just left with Professor Quirrell."
"That can't be…"
Now then, what should we do?
It seemed the teachers had gone off with Professor Quirrell to search for the troll, but Hogwarts is a vast school. There was a very real chance that the troll might encounter Hermione before the teachers found it.
And to be honest, I had never seen a wild troll before, so part of me was a little curious. What should we do? Should we go look for them?
Let's go.
As I started heading toward the girls' bathroom, Pansy stared at me with an incredulous expression.
"Are you out of your mind? What are you going to do if a troll attacks you?"
"We'll run away."
I have no intention of defeating a troll. I was just thinking we could look for Hermione and, while we're at it, observe the troll from a safe distance.
"Why don't you all come along too? To be honest, I might feel a little uneasy going alone."
Well, that was a lie.
"Hmph, I'm not going!"
"I refuse to help a filthy Mudblood."
Malfoy and Pansy, eliminated.
"I'm not interested in trolls."
"Pass."
Millicent and Nott weren't interested either. Zabini seemed to have already gone back, as he was nowhere to be seen.
That left two people. First, Neville timidly raised his hand and said, "I'll go…" Then Daphne, the last remaining one, grinned slyly.
"Elaina's husband, would it be all right if we ended up defeating the troll?"
"I don't mind."
We may look like this, but we were only eleven years old, at an age where you want to test your courage and satisfy a bit of morbid curiosity. Looking back calmly later, we were idiots carried away by the Halloween mood.
After parting ways with Malfoy and the others and heading down into the dungeons, a foul stench gradually began to drift through the air as we approached the girls' bathroom. It was a nauseating odor, like a mix of sweat and vomit, so bad it made you want to run away, and I instinctively covered my nose.
"...Maybe we should go back after all."
"Elaina!"
"I'm joking, Neville."
Reluctantly, we moved closer toward the girls' bathroom. Then we heard a very familiar voice.
"Cyaaaaaaaaahhh!!!"
There was no mistake. It was Hermione's scream of terror.
**
"Hermione, are you all right?!"
We burst into the girls' bathroom in a panic. Inside, a troll was charging straight at Hermione while knocking over sinks. Hermione herself was cowering in a wrecked stall, shielding her head. Harry was hurling a pipe, and Ron was shouting at the top of his lungs to draw the troll's attention.
"Nyah! You big idiot!"
Ron's vocabulary, honestly…
"Neville?! And Elaina too, why are you here?"
Harry noticed us and looked shocked.
"I, I was worried about you all…"
"Heroes always arrive late."
"I'm just tagging along with Elaina's moment of madness, I suppose?"
Daphne and I will be having a little talk later.
"Oh, the troll's stopped moving."
Whether it was because Ron's grade-school taunts finally set it off or not, the troll suddenly came to a halt. Having found new prey, it swung its club and started heading toward Ron and Harry.
"Huh? It's not going…"
In fact, it seemed to be coming this way.
Why, though? Harry and Ron were the ones throwing pipes and shouting insults, yet the troll was lumbering straight toward the three of us. Talk about getting caught in the crossfire.
"Hermione! Are you okay?"
Taking advantage of the troll's attention being on us, Ron pulled Hermione out from the rubble. From the looks of it, she wasn't injured.
"This way!"
Worried about us, Harry once again threw a pipe at the troll with all his strength.
However, because the troll swayed its massive body, the pipe barely grazed past it and clattered uselessly to the ground.
That meant the troll did not stop.
As a result, a towering giant over four meters tall came charging straight at the three of us. Seeing a troll up close was overwhelming. Daphne let out a cute little "Eek" and hid behind me, while Neville was pale as a sheet and on the verge of fainting.
"Daphne, Neville, calm down and listen carefully to what I'm about to say. I have a secret plan."
When I turned around, both of them nodded repeatedly, their faces completely white.
"So, Elaina, what do we do?"
"With everything we've got…"
Yes, with everything we've got.
"We run away!!"
No sooner had I said it than I turned my back on the troll and bolted at full speed without a second glance. Of the thirty-six strategies, running away is best. You must not confuse courage with recklessness.
"D-Don't leave me behind, Elaina!"
"Wait for me, Elaina!"
While Harry and the others stood there dumbfounded, Daphne and Neville hurriedly took off after me. Right behind us, the troll chased after us, swinging its club wildly.
What, is it pathetic? Sure, Harry and the others might have been brave, but there's no point if you're dead. There was no guarantee we could defeat a troll. We were first-years, after all.
In the first place, our original goal of ensuring Hermione's safety had already been accomplished by Ron and Harry. Defeating the troll was never part of the plan, so there was no reason for us to stay.
More than anything, before coming to Hogwarts, I made a promise to my mother.
Elaina, if you're ever in danger, run away.
Mom, your daughter is keeping that promise and running properly.
(End of chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09