The wheelchair-bound warrior is speedrunning Hogwarts.

"Ron, could you please keep track of the time for us? If they haven't returned in half an hour, please tell Professor McGonagall."

Ron was puzzled, but he nodded anyway: "No problem. But you'd better come back soon, there might be some entertainment later."

And so, Vera and Hermione quietly left the noisy Great Hall and headed down the corridor toward the underground classrooms.

As they moved further away from the bustling center, the surroundings grew quieter, with only the sound of Vera and Hermione's footsteps and the slight creaking of their wheelchairs echoing between the stone walls.

"Are you sure this feeling isn't just your imagination?" Hermione was still a little uneasy. "I mean... the magical world does have prophetic abilities, but I've looked it up, and it usually requires special talent."

Vera pushed her wheelchair, her attention warily scanning her surroundings: "I can't be sure, but at least coming here gives me some peace of mind."

Hermione was completely convinced by her words and immediately stopped talking and headed towards the Potions classroom.

The closer Vera got to that place, the more tense she became.

As is well known, the troll was imprisoned in the underground classroom, and the Potions classroom, Snape's office, and even the Slytherin common room were all located on the lower level, known as the dungeon.

Furthermore, according to the loop vision, the black mist was emanating from the direction of the dungeon—which indicates that the troll should still be in the underground room.

In other words, Harley is currently more likely to encounter trolls in the Potions classroom or Snape's office than in the girls' restroom in the original story!

Chapter Sixty-Six: I Knew You Cared About Me (Seven Chapters)

The closer you get to the dungeon, the colder and damper the air becomes.

In the past, whenever she spent more than two hours in the Potions classroom in the dungeon, her joints would feel damp and gloomy.

At times like this, Vera would secretly rejoice that she hadn't chosen Slytherin, otherwise she would have gotten rheumatism sooner or later.

The torches on the wall cast flickering shadows, making the corridor exceptionally quiet.

Hermione instinctively slowed her pace and lowered her voice, saying, "Has everyone gone to the Great Hall? It's so quiet."

Vera paused slightly as she pushed the wheelchair. The magic circuits within her accelerated, and through her circuit vision, she could see that the black mist permeating the corridor ahead was even denser than before.

“Something’s not right…” she said softly. “Let’s be careful.”

The two cautiously continued forward and soon arrived outside the Potions classroom.

The classroom door was ajar, with a faint light shining through.

"Harley?" Hermione called softly, pushing open the door and peeking inside. "Is anyone home?"

The classroom was empty, with crucibles scattered on the table and only a few lights still on, clearly indicating that no one was there anymore.

“Strange, where did she go?” Hermione looked around in confusion. “Professor Snape isn’t here either.”

Vera tapped her fingertips lightly on the armrest of her wheelchair as she considered various possibilities: "Maybe she was taken to the office?"

"Should we go to his office?" Hermione seemed hesitant. "I mean... Professor Snape probably wouldn't like being disturbed..."

The black mist did not appear here…

Vera narrowed her eyes, carefully observing her surroundings—it must be said that Snape's strength was still reliable, as the black mist used by the castle to foreshadow danger never spread to the vicinity of the Potions classroom.

So, as long as Harley stays with Snape, even if it's just in his office, she should be safe.

Despite saying that, Vera remained vigilant and simply nodded, saying, "Okay, let's go back first."

Just as she was about to turn her wheelchair around and go back, a slight noise came from the back door of the classroom.

Her body tensed abruptly, and almost instinctively she drew her wand and pointed it in the direction of the sound, only to see Harley peeking in through the back door carrying a large bucket of water, her face still damp.

"What are you doing here?" Harley's eyes widened in surprise. "Weren't you supposed to wait for me in the Great Hall?"

Vera paused for a moment, then put down her wand and stared intently at her.

Hermione also breathed a sigh of relief: "Vera was worried about you, so we came to see... what are you doing?"

Harley put down the bucket and wiped the water off her face. "You need to fill it with water to clean the crucible. Look, I'm almost done!"

As she spoke, she pointed to the large pile of crucibles in the classroom, then put her hands on her hips in feigned displeasure: "I don't know where Professor Snape got so many crucibles from."

After all, the young wizard hadn't learned the Cleansing Charm yet, so he had to clean the cauldron manually.

"I'm glad you're alright." Vera pushed her wheelchair a little closer to her, her tone as calm as ever, showing no trace of the excessive tension she had just displayed.

Harley's green eyes lit up instantly. She quickly walked to Vera's side, squatted down to look her in the eye, and asked, "So you came here specifically to find me?"

Vera's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly, and she turned her head away, saying, "I just came down to check on you since you haven't been here for a long time."

Just came down to take a look?

Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes—who was that person who was so nervous they almost lost control just now?

Harley smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescents, and she reached out to take Vera's hand: "Vera, you're worried about me, aren't you?"

Vera instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but Harley gripped it even tighter.

She could clearly feel the warmth of Harley's palm and the undisguised joy in those green eyes.

After a brief moment of distraction, Vera snapped back to reality and coughed awkwardly, "Think what you want..."

Harley chuckled: "But don't worry, although Professor Snape was a bit stern, he said that after doing all this, he can teach me how to better determine the timing for adding the herbs."

Vera guessed that Snape's original words were definitely not like that.

However, seeing that the child clearly had a good impression of Snape, she didn't say anything more.

"Where did the professor go now?" Hermione asked, looking around with some confusion.

Harley shrugged. "It seems like something came up, and he told me to wait here for him to come back."

Vera's heart tightened upon hearing this—could it be that Quirrell had already begun his operation after Snape left the dungeon?

She immediately turned her head and looked at the dimly lit corridor outside. She saw that the black fog that the castle had been warning her of was getting thicker and thicker, and in the black fog, a blurry figure seemed to flash by.

It's Quirrell!

Vera's heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, she immediately grabbed Harley's wrist: "We have to get out of here, right now!"

Harley was startled by her sudden tension: "W-what's wrong?"

“There’s no time to explain.” Vera pushed her wheelchair toward the door. “Hermione, take Harley with you. We have to get back to the Great Hall right away.”

"Wait a minute!" Harley hesitated, glancing at the pile of cauldrons behind her. "Professor Snape told me I can't leave until I've cleaned all these cauldrons, and there are just a few left..."

Vera stopped her wheelchair, drew her wand, and turned to point it at the cauldrons: "Clean them up!"

A beam of light shot out from the tip of the wand, and all the cauldrons instantly became gleaming and brand new.

Harley stared in disbelief at the scene: "Wow! Vera, when did you learn this? Can you teach me next time?"

“This is not the time to discuss this.” Vera put away her wand, her expression grave. “We need to leave immediately.”

Hermione keenly noticed her unusual behavior: "Vera, did you see something just now?"

Vera took a deep breath and lowered her voice: "Hmm...it seems like something flashed past in that corridor over there."

"What is that?" Harley immediately became alert and instinctively stepped in front of Vera.

“Uncertain, but very large…” Before Vera could finish speaking, a deafening roar suddenly came from afar, followed by heavy footsteps.

"What was that sound?" Hermione asked, her face turning pale.

Harley's green eyes widened: "What kind of animal does that sound like—"

Her voice stopped abruptly as she quickly covered her nose: "Wait, it smells awful!"

A foul stench wafted from the depths of the corridor, like the smell of stinky socks mixed with that of a public toilet.

Vera's heart sank—her worst fears had come true.

"Hurry up!" she shouted, pushing her wheelchair toward the door.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Taking Heads (Eight Chapters)

Urged on by Vera's stern words, Harry and Hermione finally snapped out of their daze and followed closely behind Vera's wheelchair, jogging along the cold dungeon corridor.

The stench grew stronger and stronger, accompanied by heavy footsteps and low roars, making it so tense that one could hardly breathe.

"What exactly is that thing?" Hermione hurriedly followed them, her voice trembling slightly.

Vera's wheelchair floated slightly, moving forward swiftly under the guidance of her wand, but her voice remained calm: "It might be some dangerous, large magical creature."

"Fantastic Beasts?" Harley asked in confusion. "Aren't students only allowed to bring three small pets?"

“This is not the time to discuss this,” Vera said breathlessly. “We must get back to the auditorium as soon as possible and tell everyone the news.”

Just as they were less than ten meters from the dungeon exit, a deafening roar suddenly came from around the corner of the corridor.

Then, a colossal creature rounded the corner and appeared before them—

It was a giant monster that was at least twelve feet tall, with skin as gray as granite, an ugly little head that turned from side to side, eyes that were slightly narrowed, and a huge and clumsy body that almost filled the entire corridor.

It dragged a thick wooden stick in its hand, which made a screeching sound as it scraped the ground.

"That...that's a troll?!" Hermione gasped, her legs feeling like lead and unable to move.

Harley reacted much faster than Hermione; almost instinctively, she drew her wand and stood in front of them, shouting, "Back off!"

At the same time, the giant finally noticed them, let out a low roar, and charged at them, brandishing his wooden club.

"Armor Protection!" Vera immediately waved her wand, quickly unleashing the Triple Armor Charm enhanced by ancient magic.

Three invisible barriers formed in succession in front of the giant. The giant's heavy body crashed into the first barrier with a muffled thud, and it clearly staggered.

But it quickly regained its footing, roared angrily, and swung its wooden club at the second barrier.

Vera gritted her teeth, feeling the weakness as her strength rapidly depleted.

While the Ironclad Curse could temporarily hold off the giant, with her current magical power, it wouldn't last long.

Vera's gaze quickly shifted to the exit, less than ten meters away. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calmly analyze the situation.

The corridor is cramped, and the giant is huge but slow-moving; perhaps this can be used to escape.

"Harley!" She looked up at Harley and asked sharply, "Where's your new quill pen?"

Harley paused for a moment, then reacted quickly and pulled the quill pen she had gotten from the Weasley twins from her pocket.

“Its eyes are its weak point,” Vera said, pressing down on Harley’s trembling wrist, her voice low and urgent. “Remember, wait until I count to three before you press—”

The giant had smashed through the second barrier, and its wooden club slammed into the last armored spell, producing a deafening crash.

"One!" She released Harley's hand and took out the props she had bought from the twins from the bottom of the wheelchair, giving a few to Hermione, who was also trembling uncontrollably.

The last barrier was crumbling, and the giant roared angrily, its ugly little eyes flashing with ferocity.

Hermione clutched the gadget Vera had given her, her face ashen. "I...I don't know how to use these things..."

"There won't be any problems. Just throw them all at it in a bit." Vera patted her shoulder hard and shouted, "Two!"

Harley's eyes widened as she stared intently at the approaching monster, and her hand holding the quill gradually stopped trembling.

Vera noticed the subtle change in her expression, but didn't have time to investigate further; she simply gripped the modified smoke grenade in her hand tighter.

Until the final barrier formed by the Ironclad Curse finally shattered under the strain, Vera suddenly shouted:

Three! Now!

She immediately threw out two smoke grenades.

In the instant the entire corridor was enveloped in thick purple smoke, Harley pressed the mechanism on the quill pen, and a jet of black ink shot like an arrow precisely into the troll's eye.

The giant let out a painful howl, temporarily losing its sight, and frantically swung its wooden club.

Immediately afterwards, with a muffled "bang," the adhesive bomb exploded in front of the giant, spraying out super glue that firmly stuck the giant's feet to the ground.

The giant let out a painful howl, clumsily trying to pull its stuck foot out, but lost its balance due to the large movement and fell heavily to the ground, into the portable swamp that was rapidly spreading across the floor.

For a moment, even Vera and Harley couldn't help but turn to look at Hermione, who was still trembling behind them.

"Was there...did I do something wrong?" Hermione's eyes widened nervously, and she threw all the props in her hands away.

“No, you did very well.” Vera quickly came to her senses and turned to unleash a variety of spells on the giant monster that was still struggling violently in front of her.

Each shot should be controlled to the point where it makes the giant scream, but not enough to immediately stun it.

Who can blame them when the troll is now completely bound and at their mercy?

In terms of the outcome, my actions, which resembled taking down enemies, should be considered a victory in the battle.

[Defeat opponent x1]

[Defeat opponent x2]