Hearing Professor McGonagall's inquiry, Lynn subconsciously shifted her gaze from the fallen Troll to Harry and Ron.
Suddenly meeting her eyes, both boys shuddered in unison.
Then Harry, without the slightest hesitation or concealment, recounted the whole story from beginning to end. Hermione, who was also quite shaken, didn't have time to interrupt him to make excuses for him and Ron.
"It was... it was us this morning. We made Hermione cry, and she's been crying here all afternoon. Lynn must have found out and came to find her, worried she'd run into the Troll."
"Ron and I also... because Hermione didn't know about the Troll, that's why we came. Then we ran into it, and Lynn," Harry paused here, continuing only after seeing that Lynn's expression remained unchanged, "she knocked the Troll down."
Although they had their suspicions before Harry spoke, the Professors present still cast looks of disbelief at her once it was confirmed that Lynn had indeed defeated the Troll.
That was a Troll; many adult Wizards wouldn't dare claim they could take one down single-handedly. Lynn, a first-year Young Wizard, had actually managed to defeat it while protecting her classmates. This truly left the Professors stunned.
Professor Snape stepped over the remaining base of the wall into the girls' washroom and cast several diagnostic spells on the Troll lying at one end.
"Dead." He turned back and nodded to Headmaster Dumbledore and the other Professors, announcing the Troll's demise.
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and looked sternly at Harry and Ron.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I think you really ought to learn to be more polite and respectful toward ladies."
"For your rudeness toward Miss Granger, five points will be taken from each of you."
Seeing Harry and Ron hang their heads in dejection, Professor McGonagall tilted her chin slightly.
"However, the fact that you came to rescue your classmate knowing the danger proves your kindness. I hope you maintain it while correcting your lapses in manners."
"For your kindness and bravery, five points each."
Five points taken and five points added; it balanced out to no gain or loss. Harry and Ron felt a bit better.
Turning to Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall gave a slight nod. Lynn was a student of Ravenclaw House, so her points should naturally be decided by him.
Professor Flitwick looked at Lynn, who was still standing in front of Hermione, feeling both proud and angry.
He was proud that a student of his house was so excellent, courageous, and kind.
He was angry that she hadn't sought help from a Professor first and had taken such a risk. What if something had happened to her!
Regardless, Lynn had defeated a Troll as a first-year student, which certainly deserved points.
"Miss Lynn, for your actions today, I award you ten points."
"As a first-year student, defeating a Troll is a feat worth far more than ten points, but I am only giving you ten in the hope that in the future, you will seek out a Professor when in trouble rather than taking risks on your own."
Lynn slowly turned to face Professor Flitwick, her expression unchanged and her tone devoid of any inflection.
"Alright, thank you, Professor. I will remember that."
Thanks to Lynn's extremely fast mana recovery, color had already returned to her face and the sweat on her brow had subsided.
Otherwise, if the Professors had seen her pale face and sweat-drenched state from moments ago, they would have sent her to the Hospital Wing without another word.
Having dealt with the situation and seeing that the students were safe, the Professors and Headmaster Dumbledore finally turned their attention to the two walls Lynn had destroyed.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick exchanged a look and resignedly drew their wands.
With these Professors present, Albus, with his personality, wouldn't bother with repairs. Among the Professors there, Professor McGonagall was the most skilled in Transfiguration, and Professor Flitwick was best with charms.
So this wall-mending job would undoubtedly fall to the two of them.
"Miss Lynn, Miss Granger, please step out first," Professor McGonagall said, nodding to the two girls.
Hermione reacted quickly, stepping forward to take Lynn's arm and lead her out.
Professor Flitwick first waved his wand at the Troll, making it float out of the girls' washroom, then set the carcass aside.
Together with Professor McGonagall, they raised their wands, one using Reparo and the other using a Transfiguration Spell.
In the blink of an eye, the two shattered walls began to restore themselves like a video playing in reverse. The broken bricks on the floor returned to their proper places, and a moment later, the two walls of the girls' washroom stood tall and intact once more.
"Well now, I expect you're all tired," Headmaster Dumbledore said, stroking his white beard and looking kindly down at the four Young Wizards, including Lynn. "Why don't you return to your common rooms, finish your dinner, and then get a good night's sleep?"
As he spoke, he gave the four of them a mischievous wink. Hermione, Harry, and Ron couldn't help but smile and nod.
Lynn watched the Headmaster's expression impassively and nodded cooperatively.
After Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick greeted their colleagues, they led the students of their respective houses toward their common rooms.
The path back to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Common Rooms shared a long stretch of the same route.
Walking behind the two Professors, Hermione finally couldn't contain her curiosity and turned to Lynn.
"Lynn, did you... really use the Levitation Charm to pull that wall up? And then controlled it to smash the Troll?"
Lynn looked sideways at Hermione's sparkling eyes and nodded calmly.
"It was the Levitation Charm."
"Wow!" Hermione's eyes widened in admiration. "I never thought the Levitation Charm could be that powerful. I mean, I thought it was just for helping to carry things."
Lynn shook her head, her expression unchanging. "Any spell, as long as the magic is strong enough and used properly, has many uses and can produce very powerful effects."
Walking ahead, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick both nodded in unison at Lynn's words. She was right; the power of a spell never lay in the spell itself, but in the user and the way it was used.
It wasn't just the Three Unforgivable Curses and the Dark Arts that possessed terrifying power. If used well by someone with enough strength, even the most common spell could exert power comparable to, or even far exceeding, an Unforgivable Curse.
Seeing Hermione's thoughtful expression, Lynn continued her explanation in a flat tone.
"Take the Levitation Charm, for example. If I had strong enough magic, I could even levitate an entire building, or even an entire city, lift them high into the sky, and then drop them."
Hermione imagined such a scene following Lynn's words and couldn't help but shudder.
That was simply terrifying. If that were the case, the power would likely be no less than that of a nuclear bomb.
Behind them, Harry and Ron's eyes grew even more fearful as they looked at Lynn. They had already made up their minds never to provoke her, no matter what.
Professor Flitwick, however, gave a soft chuckle at Lynn's words and turned back to look at her with a smile.
"A very interesting, and dangerous, thought, Miss Lynn. But as far as I know, there are very few Wizards who possess the magic required to levitate an entire city."
Lynn looked steadily at Professor Flitwick, picking out the key point in his statement.
"Very few, which means there are some, right, Professor?"
Professor Flitwick pondered for a moment and nodded. "Two people I know of have never done such a thing, but they perhaps could."
Lynn's brain quickly listed the people Professor Flitwick might know, then listed those who might be associated with them.
Finally, she arrived at the two most likely names without any effort. "Headmaster Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald?"
Professor Flitwick's expression stiffened slightly at the latter name, but he still gave an affirmative. "Yes."
"Sorry, Professor, but what about You-Know-Who?" Hermione couldn't help but interject. "I mean... he seems very, well, powerful too? Though it might not be right to say so."
This time it was Professor McGonagall who turned back to look at her. "There's nothing wrong with that, Miss Granger. You-Know-Who is undoubtedly evil, but as a Dark Lord, we must also acknowledge his power."
"As for why Professor Flitwick excluded him," Professor McGonagall paused, a flash of complexity crossing her face, "it is likely because since he became famous, he has rarely used any magic other than the Unforgivable Curses and Fiendfyre."
"So, to what extent he could use other spells is truly hard to say."
"Oh, I see. Thank you, Professor." Hermione nodded understandingly.
Having satisfied the curiosity of the two students, they reached the point where they had to part ways.
Hermione proactively reached out and gave Lynn a light hug. "Thank you for coming to save me, Lynn."
Lynn still felt nothing in her heart, but she followed the inexplicable impulse that had arisen and reached out to return the hug, mimicking Hermione.
"You're welcome."
Releasing Lynn, Hermione looked into her eyes—deep as an ancient well and devoid of any ripples—and for some reason, her heart suddenly ached.
"See you tomorrow." Suppressing the feeling in her heart, Hermione waved to Lynn.
"See you tomorrow." Lynn nodded and turned to follow Professor Flitwick toward Ravenclaw Tower.
Hermione, led by Professor McGonagall, also headed toward Gryffindor Tower with Harry and Ron.
Arriving at the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room, Lynn bid farewell to Professor Flitwick according to etiquette, answered the knocker's question, and stepped inside.
Almost as soon as she entered and the door closed, the Little Eagles sitting in the common room eating dinner erupted.
They discussed her as she walked in, wanting to go up and ask questions... but they were somewhat intimidated by her expressionless face and her consistently exceptional grades.
Only Maranhao and Marietta, who shared her Dormitory and understood her personality better, along with the female Prefect Penelope, went to meet her.
Penelope had seen Professor Flitwick escorting her back. Not imagining that her rational and clever Little Eagle would go head-to-head with a Troll, she thought Lynn had been caught doing something like punishing herself again and had been called for a talk.
She looked at Lynn with a serious expression. "Lynn, did you... do that thing from last time again and get caught by Professor Flitwick? Is that why he wanted to talk to you?"
Lynn understood what Penelope was referring to after a brief thought, so she shook her head expressionlessly.
"No."
"That's good..." Hearing the negative answer, Penelope breathed a massive sigh of relief. At least she hadn't been hurting herself again.
Standing nearby, Maranhao and Marietta were confused by their conversation.
"What did Lynn do last time?" Maranhao asked Penelope, looking at Lynn with concern. For Penelope to be this worried, to the point where it would require a face-to-face talk with Professor Flitwick if caught, it definitely wasn't a small matter!
Penelope pursed her lips. "Nothing." Then she quickly changed the subject, looking at Lynn with some confusion. "Then why are you back so late? And you slipped away from the line."
"Hermione didn't know about the Troll. I went to find her."
"Oh..." Penelope, who knew people in Gryffindor, was aware that Miss Granger had been made to cry this morning and had been crying in the girls' washroom on the first floor below ground.
Wait, the first floor below ground... Professor Quirrell said the Troll was in the dungeons! "You didn't run into the Troll, did you?!"
Penelope suddenly realized, her voice jumping an octave as she looked Lynn up and down as if to confirm she wasn't missing any parts.
"I did."
"What?!" Now Maranhao and Marietta were no longer calm either, each grabbing one of Lynn's arms to inspect her thoroughly.
Even the Little Eagles who hadn't dared to approach earlier put down their food and gathered around to look at her with concern.
This was Ravenclaw's darling, the darling who had earned so many points for Ravenclaw; nothing could be allowed to happen to her!
Lynn let Maranhao and Marietta poke and prod her during their inspection. Under the concerned gazes of the Little Eagles, she spoke the truth in a flat, unwavering tone.
"I am fine. I killed the Troll."
The scene fell silent for nearly ten seconds. Maranhao and Marietta's movements to check her body involuntarily stopped.
Ten seconds later, "Eh?!" Everyone in the Ravenclaw Common Room let out a unified cry of astonishment.
After being strongly urged by everyone to recount the process of killing the Troll in detail...
Lynn continued to sit on the sofa, feeling nothing under everyone's even more shocked, and even reverent, gazes.
She had only one thought now: because she had demolished two of Hogwarts' walls to kill the Troll, which counted as destroying school property, she would probably need to punish herself twice.