Kronk had just finished cleaning his food truck at sunset, carefully putting away the jars of sauce, the pots, and a mysterious spray he'd been working on for weeks.
It was a simple invention: a concentrated extract of rotten onion, durian, and moldy blue troll cheese.
"Perfect for scaring off the dog that keeps stealing my food!" he thought, satisfied.
While hoisting a sack of flour over his shoulder to make more pumpkin buns, he caught something strange out of the corner of his eye: a huge black dog dragging Ron Weasley by the leg, like a rag doll, toward a rather unfriendly-looking tree.
"Uh… that doesn't look normal," Kronk muttered, tilting his head.
Angel Kronk popped up on his shoulder, very nervous.
"This is your chance to help! That dog is kidnapping a student. Do something!"
Devil Kronk appeared on the other shoulder, with a sly tone.
"Or… you could just pretend you didn't see anything and go back to the food truck. Not your problem."
Kronk blinked.
"Hmm… better tell a teacher."
And so, running down the nearest corridor, he headed straight for the office of the closest professor: Severus Snape.
…
Snape, who was grading exams with his usual sour expression, raised an eyebrow when Kronk barged in without knocking.
"What are you doing here, Kronk? Shouldn't you be… I don't know, cooking some questionable brew in that cart of yours?"
Odd. He said it as if he weren't a regular customer.
"Sir, there's a giant black dog dragging Ron toward the Whomping Willow."
Snape froze, and the quill in his hand dropped a blot of ink onto the parchment.
"A… black dog?" He immediately connected the dots to a certain fugitive. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure. I know enough about animals to recognize one."
Snape shot to his feet, his cloak billowing as though someone had turned on a dramatic wind machine.
"Stay here, Kronk," he ordered. "This is a matter for professors."
Kronk smiled, relieved.
"Great, then I'll go pick up the pumpkin Hagrid promised me." He nodded to himself, selectively ignoring the order. "Good luck, teach!"
…
The pumpkin patch was calm under the moonlight as Kronk carried off the largest one he could find, thrilled to have enough pumpkin for plenty of buns.
But then, a bone-chilling howl froze him in place.
From between the trees emerged the figure of a man… who was no longer quite a man. His torn clothes hung loosely, and a long snout and gleaming teeth revealed themselves under the moon. Lupin, in his werewolf form, advanced on him with yellow eyes burning with hunger.
Kronk dropped the pumpkin, which rolled downhill like a ball.
"Now that definitely doesn't look like one of Hagrid's creatures."
Angel Kronk appeared, pale.
"Run, run, run!"
Devil Kronk, however, grinned with confidence.
"Come on, use that thing. This is your moment to shine!"
"You're right," said Kronk, pulling a metal can from his pocket with a poorly drawn skull on it. "Sorry, but… you leave me no choice."
The werewolf lunged at him, growling. Kronk pressed the valve, and a foul cloud spread through the air: a stench so horrendous that even the plants in the garden seemed to wilt a little.
The effect was immediate. Lupin, having inhaled most of it, let out a howl of nasal agony, staggered backward, sneezed violently, and then bolted into the forest as though he'd just glimpsed bottled hell itself.
Kronk waved the can triumphantly.
"It works! And here I thought it'd only be useful against that bun-stealing mutt!"
He put the stinky spray away, picked up the battered (but still perfectly usable) pumpkin, and, satisfied that he'd solved two problems at once, headed back to the food truck as if nothing had happened.
Hours later, Kronk was still happily in his corner of the castle, chopping pumpkin to boil and mash, ready to be used in the buns.
"Ah, nothing like a quiet night at Hogwarts," he said, munching on a cookie.