Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 49 Halloween Night Closing Ceremony

Hermione began to sob softly, her voice muffled in the noise.

Harry's scar stung slightly, and his pupils dilated slightly.

It was as if my ears had sunk into the sea; Hermione's cries and the troll's footsteps sounded distant, like listening to the waves underwater. The world quieted down, and everyone else's movements slowed down.

He watched Ron huddled against the wall and remembered seeing his family at the train station—a noisy, red-haired family, quite amusing.

He watched the troll slowly raise its wooden club; the texture of the muscles on its forearm, the gaps between its fingernails, the black grime on the club—every detail seemed to be imprinted in his mind.

What a huge monster!

Am I as big as his thumb?

I think so.

The sight of the troll slowly approaching reminded Harry of being chased by Dudley and his gang at Muggle school.

I run away every time, I run away every time. Actually, I don't really want to run away.

Harry felt his muscles relax as they loosened up.

Slightly bend over, knees bent, and sprint.

He couldn't think of any magic to solve the current situation, so he could only use what he had always wanted to try when he was being chased and beaten—rushing into the faces of those people!

Harry's mind was still wondering what he was going to do rushing up to the troll, but his body had already given him the answer.

Like a Bowtruckle climbing a giant tree, Harry moved nimbly across a grey-green hill, scaling the troll's waist, dodging its hands and swinging clubs, and riding on its head.

He saw a look of panic in the giant's scarlet eyes.

Harry spread his shoulders, bent his arms, clenched his fist, and did what he had always wanted to do to many people: he punched its nose hard.

"Roar!!" the giant roared. The punch hadn't done any real damage, but the giant felt as if something had been shattered inside its body, and a great panic rose within it.

Enraged by the little thing on its head, the troll was about to crush it and smash it to pieces. It grabbed Harry's leg with one hand, held it in front of its body, and was about to smash it down on Harry with the other.

"Do something!" Harry yelled, his voice muffled from the blood rushing to his head as he hung upside down.

Shadows flickered in Loren's eyes, and blue light shone from his pupils, spreading across his entire eyeball.

In his vision, the troll's skin glowed with a faint brown light, and on its nose, where Harry had punched it, was a mottled black mark.

That's its weakness!

"Hoo~" Loren controlled himself, stopping his slightly trembling breath. "Do something."

In his mind, the spell, which had been distorted by the "Open Gate" spell and remained unclear, became clear. He squeezed out the power from every part of his body and poured it into his wand.

Loren heard his own voice ring out:

"【Thunderbolt Penetration】"

The tip of the wand emitted a blazing red light, shooting straight at the black mark on the troll's nose.

boom!

A red light entered through the nose and shot out from the back of the head, producing a loud explosion.

The giant's brain was blasted open with a fist-sized black hole. Its body swayed twice before stiffly falling backward.

Harry fell to the ground and cried out in pain, but seemed to be alright.

Loren forced a satisfied smile. After casting the spell, he couldn't move a single finger. His head was throbbing, as if he hadn't slept for three days and three nights. His eyes felt like they were filled with medicated oil, cold and stinging. He couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed.

He lay on the ground, vaguely seeing Dumbledore and the others enter, Hermione crying and throwing herself into Professor McGonagall's arms, Percy walking towards the huddled Ron...

The world was plunged into darkness.

Ron's voice: "Run!"

Harry's voice: "Do something!"

Finally, Hermione's voice rang out: "Loren, Loren!"

The voice seemed to be right next to his ear, yet also like a dream. Loren felt weak all over and didn't want to wake up.

I opened my eyes and saw bright lights; my eyes stung a little.

The school clinic ward has three beds, white sheets, and a cabinet that is spotless and shiny.

Loren lay in the middle, Ron slept at the very back, and Harry was near the door.

Harry was counting the squares on the window, "788, 789, 781..."

Loren sat up straight. "Have you realized you miscounted?" his voice was hoarse.

Harry exclaimed in delight, "Thank God, I'm not alone anymore!"

Loren picked up the kettle from the bedside table and poured himself some water, feeling as if his throat was full of grit.

Harry cheerfully told Loren what he knew, and he woke up early the next morning, while Loren had slept for a full day and night. Ron had broken several ribs and suffered internal organ damage, but Madam Pomfrey said he would recover in a week.

"But Ron hasn't woken up yet." Harry's voice was somewhat dejected.

Harry spent the whole day in bed with nothing to do. He felt completely better, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let him leave the hospital or get out of bed to move around.

Harry kept rambling on:

"Hermione will come over after class. Madam Pomfrey said that talking to you will wake you up sooner. Hermione has called your name thousands of times already."

"Professor Dumbledore will be coming over tonight; he needs to ask you about the situation again."

"That spell of yours was awesome! It actually went right through the troll's head!"

At this point, Harry asked, "Why didn't you use it sooner?"

Loren could tell that there was no accusation in those words, only genuine confusion.

Loren looked at Harry. "My spell only works because of you."

"Me?" Harry recalled the scene. "I was in a strange state and just rushed in without thinking."

"That's strange, why did I rush up there?"

Harry then noticed the oddity of the situation. "And Ron, he seemed a bit strange too."

Before the two could reach a conclusion, Mrs. Pomfrey pushed open the door and came in.

"Lie down! Don't talk!" she yelled at Harry.

Harry didn't dare to resist and obediently shut his mouth and lay down.

Lady Pomfrey fed Loren a mint-flavored potion.

After drinking it, Loren felt a cool, refreshing sensation in his head and a warm, comfortable feeling throughout his body.

"You've practically drained your magic!" Pomfrey looked at Loren sternly. "That's a very serious matter for a young wizard!"

Although her tone was stern, Mrs. Pomfrey's eyes held a tender concern.

Without giving Loren a chance to answer, she continued, "If this weren't at Hogwarts, it could have caused your magic to go out of control, rendering you unable to cast spells anymore."

"Rest well and don't make any noise!" Mrs. Pomfrey said before leaving.

Watching the doctor close the door, Harry sat up. "I think we've already—"

"Quiet!" came Mrs. Pomfrey's shout from outside.

Harry pursed his lips, then slowly started counting again, "1, 2, 3..."

Hermione and Dumbledore arrived together that evening.

The little witch changed into a clean and tidy Gryffindor robe, with long white stockings and little leather shoes. Her adorable appearance showed no trace of the power she had displayed when she waved her wand to stop the troll.

Hermione entered the room and saw that Loren was already sitting up, grinning and revealing two white front teeth, her eyes sparkling with joy.

"Loren!" Hermione exclaimed happily, then pulled a notebook out of her bag. "I've written down all the notes from these lessons in this notebook. You can refer to my notes to learn, and you can ask me if you don't understand anything."

"Thank you!" Loren was rather speechless. He took the notebook and looked at Dumbledore behind Hermione.

Dumbledore maintained a gentle smile throughout, not interrupting his friends' meeting. He only spoke when Loren looked at him, "You always see things that others don't. I'd like to see your perspective."

The white-bearded headmaster pulled a bag of candy from the wide sleeves of his white robe. "No one should refuse a friend who brings candy to visit a patient."

"Yay!" Harry cheered, and Loren began to share his perspective on that night's events.

...Just as Harry was about to be hammered, Loren's innate vision activated, and he saw that the troll was shrouded in a brown barrier, with only the black mark left by Harry on its nose. Loren cast a spell based on that mark...

"Also, I vaguely saw red light on Harry and Ron." This was what Loren saw before he fell into a coma.

(End of this chapter)