Ron clutched his face and screamed, "You killed a giant troll?!"
Harry looked at everyone and noticed that no one seemed to want to respond to Ron. He said, "No, it was Hermione who knocked out the troll." After a pause, he unwittingly added, "With a Levioso spell."
The previous conflict in the Spell Classroom was because Hermione tried to teach Ron how to use the Levioso spell correctly, but her instructive attitude only made Ron more annoyed.
"—Hermione?" Ron was indeed shocked, murmuring, "How—how is that possible? That's a... that's a giant troll!"
Hermione let out a forceful "hmm," clutching her magic wand, both excited and terrified, staring at the motionless creature on the ground as if something in her blood had awakened.
Padma peeked out from behind Vid, asking quietly, "Is the troll dead?"
"No." Vid watched the faint rise and fall of the troll's chest and said, "Just knocked out."
"Oh—that's good." Padma patted her chest in relief.
Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps—Professor McGonagall burst in first, her face pale; close behind was Professor Snape, his black robe billowing around him; then Professor Flitwick, who ran swiftly despite his small stature but still couldn't catch up with the two in front; lastly, Professor Quirrell, who upon seeing the troll's large, callused feet, clutched his chest and let out a sob, nearly fainting.
Snape cast a quick glance at Harry, who stood dumbly to the side, and bent down to examine the troll. Professor Flitwick, in his unique, high-pitched voice, said, "Oh, Merlin! Children, are you all right?"
"We're fine, Professor," Michael said excitedly, "except for almost vomiting from the troll's stench."
Professor Flitwick cheerfully patted his arm and praised loudly, "Well done! First-years—defeating a giant troll! I bet not many have achieved that! How did you defeat this big guy?"
"Hahaha, it was everyone's effort." Michael tried hard to retract his grin, attempting to sound both humble and serious, "Potter rushed out to distract it—"
Professor Snape immediately fixed Harry with an intimidating stare, causing Harry to quickly lower his head, wishing Michael had never mentioned him. Ron looked at him enviously from the side.
"We all used a flock of birds to distract it, then Vid used a spell—"
Michael couldn't remember what it was, so he turned to Vid.
"Glisseo," Vid said.
"Yes—it was Glisseo, which made the troll fall." Michael continued, "Finally, Hermione used a Levioso spell to knock it out."
Professor Flitwick clapped in admiration, "Wonderful teamwork! Brilliant! Accomplishing such a remarkable feat with simple spells, I'll award each of you five points!"
"Filius!"
Professor McGonagall exclaimed, her unprecedentedly stern tone causing the previously jubilant Professor Flitwick to shrink back, silently closing his mouth and standing aside.
The witch in the green robe cast a cold gaze over everyone, and each student who met her eyes involuntarily lowered their head, Vid included.
"Trolls are extremely dangerous creatures, many adult wizards have been killed by trolls! Your first reaction upon encountering it should have been to run immediately and find a professor to handle it! You are lucky this time that you weren't killed!—Miss Granger!"
Hermione flinched.
Professor McGonagall looked at the girl's brown head and asked, "I remember you took the afternoon off because you weren't feeling well, why are you here?"
"I..." Hermione likely had never lied to a teacher before, and when questioned directly, her mind went blank. She stammered, "I thought—I read about trolls in a book, I thought—"
Vid pressed down on the girl's shoulder, pushing her aside—this silly girl couldn't have been about to say she thought she could take on a troll and decided to sneak in for a solo fight, right? Such an excuse was so stupid even a troll wouldn't believe it.
Not believing it was one thing, but what if someone tried to blame them for the troll entering the castle? Don't think that can't happen; Vid remembered in the original story Harry was misunderstood by the schoolmates more than once or twice.
"She felt better in the evening and didn't want to miss the banquet, we originally planned to go to the hall together," Vid calmly explained, "On the way here, Hermione and Padma went to the bathroom, Michael and I waited for a bit, and when we were about to leave, we encountered the troll. We should have run immediately, but it happened so suddenly, everyone was too scared to react. Luckily, Harry Potter distracted the troll's attention and reminded us."
The professors looked at Harry again, and his face turned red, feeling undeserving of such high praise.
Michael gave Vid a knowing look, understanding what he had done, then added, "Indeed, he threw a bucket at the troll's head, shouting for us to run—truly brave."
Professor Snape: "—A bucket?"
Harry's eyes remained on the ground, feeling as though Professor Snape's gaze was about to flay him alive. He now suspected the two from Ravenclaw praised him so much just to divert the professors' attention.
"And you, Mr. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall turned to Ron: "Why didn't you return to your dormitory obediently?"
Ron had been thinking earlier how he should have joined Harry, becoming the hero who saved everyone, and most importantly, impressing that arrogant Granger. Suddenly called out by Professor McGonagall, he was tongue-tied, having forgotten what to say.
Professor McGonagall's gaze became increasingly severe.
Harry could only speak up for his good friend, mustering the courage to say, "Ron was trying to warn us about the troll—"
"Yes, we all heard it!" Professor Snape suddenly sneered coldly, mocking, "Shouting in the corridor as if afraid the troll wouldn't find him—your book should tell you that trolls have keen hearing? Oh—Mr. Weasley probably hasn't opened his textbooks, just like our Star of Salvation—Mr. Harry Potter attracting the troll's attention with a bucket—ha, a bucket?! I truly hope you haven't forgotten you're still a wizard!"
The Gryffindor duo was embarrassed, their ears burning with shame.
Michael silently gave Vid a thumbs-up in his mind—if not for lifting Harry Potter up, they might've been the ones being mocked now. He didn't know that Snape's obsession with Harry was enduring and unwavering. Even among a thousand people, he could only see Harry Potter.
But with Professor Snape's outburst, Professor McGonagall's anger seemed to have subsided. She mulled over the situation, saying, "Given the circumstances, I won't deduct any more points. I'll let Professor Dumbledore know about this—you should all hurry back to your common rooms—the students are enjoying the Halloween feast in their houses now!"
Everyone hurried away, and once out of the professors' sight, someone suddenly let out a chuckle, and the group burst into laughter.