44: Chapter 44 The Out-of-Control Wooden Stick and an Unexpected Accident

Water was still flowing in the Girls Bathroom; the club smashed through the doorframe, and splinters of wood fell into the stagnant water.

Ron raised his wand, his wrist waving erratically.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Hermione hid by the sinks, tearstains still on her face.

"Ron, you're pronouncing it wrong!"

Ron's face flushed red with anxiety.

"I know you listen carefully in class, but it's trying to hit us right now!"

Harry lay on the ground, his elbows scraping against the wet floor tiles.

"Try again!"

Ron watched the approaching Troll, forcing a sentence out of his throat.

"I'm trying!"

Hermione shouted, holding onto the edge of the sink.

"Flick your wrist gently, don't just wave it around!"

Ron glared at her.

"Can you not pick faults at a time like this!"

The Troll lifted its foot and crushed a piece of the floorboard.

Harry scrambled up from beside the stall and grabbed a piece of broken wood, throwing it.

"Hey, look over here!"

The broken wood hit the Troll on the shoulder and fell into the water.

The Troll turned its head to look at Harry, exhaling murky air from its nostrils.

Ron shouted.

"It's looking at you!"

Harry backed away.

"That's exactly what I wanted it to do!"

Hermione cried out anxiously.

"Harry, don't stand there!"

Harry glanced at the doorway.

"Can you run out?"

Hermione looked at the crooked door panel and the Troll blocking the way.

"What do you think?"

Ron gritted his teeth and raised his wand again.

"Okay, okay, I remember: flick gently, pronounce it right."

Harry shouted.

"Hurry up!"

Ron waved his wand at the Troll's club.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The end of the club lifted slightly.

Ron's eyes lit up.

"It worked!"

Hermione immediately shouted.

"Don't stop, keep going!"

Ron grinned.

"See? I can do it too!"

Just as Harry was about to speak, a low growl rolled from the Troll's throat.

The club didn't fly up; it only wobbled half a turn in its palm.

The smile froze on Ron's face.

"This isn't right."

Hermione stared at the club.

"It didn't let go."

Harry looked at Ron.

"Can you make it let go?"

Ron replied urgently.

"I haven't learned how to reason with a Troll!"

In the shadows of the corridor, Allen rested his fingertips on his wand, his gaze passing through the broken door.

In his Portable Space, Void was coiled on the stone slab, the tip of its tail pressing against the parchment that had "Halloween" written on it.

Allen whispered.

"The magic is wrong."

Void raised its head, its silver slit pupils fixed on the Girls Bathroom.

Allen looked at the grayish-green luster flickering on the Troll's arm, his brows knitting together.

"Quirrell added something."

Inside the Girls Bathroom, Hermione also noticed something unusual.

"There's a magical reaction on its arm!"

Ron panicked.

"You can still see that right now?"

Hermione gripped the edge of the sink.

"That's not its own magic; a Troll wouldn't use magic like that!"

Harry gasped for air.

"Who did it then?"

Hermione bit her lip.

"I don't know!"

Ron looked up at the Troll.

"It's no use knowing now, it's coming over again!"

The Troll swung its club, sweeping across the stalls.

The partitions were smashed, and water splashed onto Harry's robes.

Harry lunged to the side, his shoulder hitting the wall.

"Ron, your wand!"

Ron chanted again.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club lifted again, but didn't slip from its grip.

The Troll's arm shook, and the grayish-green magic crept up its wrist.

Hermione shouted.

"Don't cast spells on the club anymore, it's resisting!"

Ron roared back.

"Then what should I cast it on, its nose?"

Harry looked up, saw the Troll bending over, and shouted urgently.

"Yes, the nose!"

Ron was stunned for a moment.

"Are you serious?"

Harry grabbed a bucket from the floor.

"It's better than waiting to get hit!"

He threw the bucket at the Troll's face.

The bucket missed and hit the wall.

Provoked by the noise, the Troll turned and walked toward Harry.

Hermione leaned out from the side of the sink.

"Harry, come back!"

Harry shouted.

"Don't come out!"

Ron raised his wand, chanting rapidly.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

A piece of broken wood flew up from the floor and struck the Troll's knee.

The Troll staggered half a step.

Ron shouted hurriedly.

"It worked!"

Harry seized the opportunity and ran to the side.

"Do it again!"

Hermione warned urgently.

"It only tripped a little!"

Ron waved his wand again.

"Then trip it a few more times!"

Broken wood and gravel floated up from the ground, scattering and hitting the Troll.

The Troll became irritable from being hit and swung its club at the ground.

Water and gravel splashed everywhere.

Harry was forced to the entrance of the stall.

"Ron!"

Ron's wand was aimed at the club.

"I know!"

Hermione stood up, leaning against the wall.

"Don't aim at the club!"

Ron didn't have time to stop.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

This time the club was lifted half a foot.

But the Troll gripped it even tighter.

The grayish-green magic surged down the club, dispersing Ron's spell, and the backlash sent his wand pointing toward the ceiling.

Ron stumbled back.

"It pushed my spell back!"

Hermione's face turned pale.

"That's not something a Troll can do."

Harry looked at her.

"Hermione, run to the door!"

Hermione glanced at the doorway.

"It's blocking the way."

Harry gritted his teeth.

"I'll lure it away."

Ron said anxiously.

"You already lured it once!"

Harry gripped his wand tightly.

"Then I'll do it again."

Hermione shouted.

"No, it will hit my side first!"

The Troll, irritated by Ron's spell, turned to look at Hermione.

Its eyes were murky, and the grayish-green magic on its arm flowed faster.

Allen tightened his fingers in the shadows outside the door.

"It's off."

Void tapped the tip of its tail on the stone slab.

Allen stared at the Troll's shoulder.

"The original trajectory is broken."

Inside the Girls Bathroom, Ron also saw the Troll's target.

"It's going for Hermione!"

Harry rushed over.

"Hey! Over here!"

The Troll ignored him.

The club was raised above its head and smashed down toward the side of the sink.

Hermione leaned against the edge of the sink; to her left was a broken partition, to her right was a wall, and behind her were only shattered mirrors.

She turned to dodge, but her foot slipped in the stagnant water.

Ron roared.

"Hermione!"

Harry lunged to grab her, but was a few steps short.

Hermione looked up at the descending club, her voice tight.

"Harry!"

Ron raised his wand, his hand shaking so much that his spell broke off.

"Win, Wingardium..."

Harry shouted.

"Get down!"

Hermione was blocked by broken wood, all escape routes sealed.

Allen stood outside the door and didn't wait any longer.

He raised his hand, his sleeve covering the blackthorn wand, and flicked his fingertips lightly toward the Troll's arm.

Spatial Perception passed through the broken door, attaching to the Troll's shoulder blade and wrist.

Allen whispered.

"Shift right by three feet."

Void coiled its body, its silver slit pupils narrowing.

The descending club changed direction in mid-air.

Harry only saw the club brush past the top of Hermione's head and smash into the other side.

Hermione fell to the floor, water splashing all over the hem of her robes.

Ron stared with wide eyes.

"It missed?"

Harry gasped for air, reaching out to drag Hermione away.

"Never mind, let's go!"

Hermione looked at where the club had originally been falling, her face turning even paler.

"It shouldn't have missed just now."

Ron shouted anxiously.

"Now is not the time to study whether it should have or not!"

The Troll was dragged off-balance by the Spatial Displacement, its center of gravity shifting with it.

It looked down at its own arm, a confused roar coming from its throat.

Harry dragged Hermione toward the stalls to hide.

"Can you stand up?"

Hermione grabbed his sleeve.

"Yes."

Ron ran over to help her.

"You were almost flattened just now!"

Hermione gritted her teeth.

"Thanks for the reminder, I'm not blind."

Ron was choked up.

"You can still scold people, so it seems you're fine."

Harry looked back at the Troll.

"It's coming again!"

Hermione looked at Ron's wand.

"Don't touch the club this time, try its eyes, nose, ears, any of them!"

Ron nodded hurriedly.

"You should have said so sooner!"

Hermione raised her voice.

"I've been saying it the whole time!"

Harry blocked the way in front of them.

"Stop arguing!"

The Troll roared, gripping the club with both hands again.

Allen lowered his hand in the shadows outside the door.

The Spatial Displacement only acted once, the magnitude wasn't large, and the traces would be covered by the Troll's chaotic magic.

But Quirrell's berserk magic was still there.

Allen looked at the Troll's arm.

"It hasn't dissipated yet."

Void flicked its tongue.

Allen whispered.

"Troublesome."

Inside the Girls Bathroom, Ron waved his wand at the Troll's face.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

A piece of broken mirror floated up and struck the Troll on the bridge of its nose.

The Troll cried out in pain, swinging the club wildly.

Harry shouted.

"It's effective!"

Hermione immediately said.

"Don't get happy too soon!"

Ron raised his wand and did it again.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

A broken bucket flew up and clamped onto the Troll's head.

Ron almost laughed out loud.

"Now it can't see!"

Harry pulled Hermione toward the door.

"Go!"

Hermione stared at the Troll's feet.

"Wait, it's listening for sounds."

Ron immediately shut his mouth.

Water droplets fell from the broken pipe, hitting the floor.

The Troll stopped in its tracks, the bucket still over its head, but the club slowly turned toward the corner where the three were.

Ron said in a whisper.

"How does it still know where we are?"

Hermione also replied in a whisper.

"You shouted too loudly just now."

Ron's face flushed red with restraint.

"I'll be quieter next time."

Harry led the two toward the door.

"Go now."

The bucket on the Troll's head slid off.

It saw the three moving along the wall, and a low growl came from its throat again.

The grayish-green magic surged onto its arm.

Hermione said urgently.

"It's that magic again!"

Ron asked.

"Is it becoming harder to fight?"

Harry replied.

"Don't ask questions like that!"

The club was raised again.

This time, the Troll didn't smash toward Harry, nor did it smash toward Ron.

Its arm, pulled by the berserk magic, fell toward the dead corner where Hermione was.

Harry lunged over to push her.

Ron shouted until his voice cracked.

"Hermione, duck!"

Hermione was pushed aside by Harry, but the broken sink blocked her way.

The club's trajectory had sealed off all angles.

Allen's eyes darkened.

"Second time."

He raised his fingertips, and his wand turned half a circle inside his sleeve.

A narrow, thin plane of displacement was opened within the Girls Bathroom, cutting past the Troll's wrist.

Allen spoke.

"To the left."

The club changed course in front of Hermione.

The Troll's arm was forcibly pulled to the side, and its shoulder made a dull sound.

Harry hugged Hermione and rolled onto the floor.

Ron fell into the stagnant water, looking up as the club smashed into the sink.

"Merlin!"

The next moment, the club smashed the sink, and porcelain shards and water rushed out together.