Swallowing hard, Harry stumbled backward several steps, staring at the massive figure before him in complete disbelief.
The creature resembled a troll but dwarfed even the one they'd encountered last Halloween. Harry felt certain that even the legendary giants of ancient times would only marginally exceed this monster's imposing size.
It gripped a thick wooden club in one meaty fist and a rust-stained broadsword in the other, both weapons seeming almost delicate in its enormous hands. Most shocking of all, it wore pristine leather armour that fitted its hulking frame perfectly. Even at a glance, Harry could tell the craftsmanship was extraordinary.
After all, for custom-fitted leather armour worn by a troll to show absolutely no stains or battle damage could only mean one thing: goblin masterwork of the highest quality.
But the most unbelievable feature remained the two distinct heads sprouting from its massive neck.
As Harry gawked at those incongruous heads in stunned silence, the creature began holding a conversation with itself in gurgling, overlapping voices.
"Gurgle... the delicious aroma... it's disappeared," rumbled the left head, its beady eyes scanning the clearing with obvious disappointment.
"But there are several wizards here," replied the right head in a slightly different tone. "The boss said we can't let other wizards discover them."
After this brief exchange, both heads turned their attention to the young wizards, who had already drawn their wands and were frantically arranging themselves into a defensive formation.
"I heard human flesh tastes remarkably good. The tenderest one is mine," declared the left head, its hungry gaze fixating on Hermione with such obvious greed that she stumbled backward two steps in terror.
"Then I claim the cold one," announced the right head, studying Harry with equal predatory interest. It seemed completely unconcerned by the other young wizards brandishing their wands with trembling hands.
Staring into those disgusting eyes focused on him with such malevolent hunger, Harry finally reached his breaking point. He thrust his wand forward, aiming directly at the right head's bulging eyeball.
"Such revolting eyes! Obscuro!"
Pale blue light erupted from his wand tip, but before the blinding hex could strike its target, the creature casually raised one armoured hand to block the spell entirely.
"Confringo!"
"Impedimenta!"
The other students joined the assault, casting spell after spell, but over a dozen magical attacks failed to inflict even the slightest damage on their opponent. The troll simply waved its massive arms with casual indifference, using the enchanted armour to deflect every curse they could muster.
"Don't waste magical energy on spells you haven't mastered," Percy commanded with grim authority. "Its hide is incredibly thick, and that armour provides additional protection. Standard offensive spells won't penetrate its defences."
"How about a coordinated volley?" Wood suggested, levelling his wand at the troll's left head with fierce determination gleaming in his eyes. "Everyone together! Three, two, one... Stupefy!"
Seven or eight crimson beams lanced through the air simultaneously, converging on their target with deadly precision.
But just as the stunning spells closed the distance, the troll suddenly raised its thick wooden club defensively while the left head gurgled an incantation: "Protego!"
A translucent barrier expanded before the creature, absorbing every stunning spell before slowly dissipating into harmless sparkles.
"A Shield Charm?" gasped one of the students.
Though the magical defence had barely held against their coordinated assault, its very existence sent shockwaves through the group of young wizards.
Since when did trolls possess magical abilities? And that crude wooden club was actually a functional wand?
But the troll paid no attention to their amazement. After completing its defensive spell, it raised the rust-covered sword in its right hand and swung it in a devastating arc toward Wood, who had positioned himself closest to the monster.
"Get down! Move!" Percy bellowed at the top of his lungs.
Without hesitation, Wood threw himself into a desperate roll across the forest floor. The whistle of displaced air passed directly overhead as the massive blade struck deep into an ancient tree beside his previous position.
"CRACK!"
The sound of splintering wood filled Wood's ears as he spun around to witness the aftermath. The giant tree, easily too wide for two people to encircle with their arms, now sported a tremendous gash from a single sword stroke. Half a second later, the remaining wood fibres finally surrendered under the tremendous strain, and the massive trunk tilted sideways before crashing to the earth with a thunderous impact.
"Good Lord," Wood whispered, swallowing hard as he stared at the scene in complete disbelief.
What kind of monstrous strength could accomplish such destruction?
Floating high above the battle, Evans maintained vigilant watch over the surroundings to ensure his students faced no additional threats while studying the two-headed troll with professional admiration.
This creature's equipment was remarkably sophisticated, clearly indicating artificial training. Anyone capable of teaching a troll to cast magic possessed truly exceptional skills.
While trolls as a species naturally possessed magical energy, convincing these notoriously dim-witted beings to learn spellcraft represented incredibly delicate work.
Unfortunately, the presence of a trained combat troll within the Forbidden Forest made the trainer's identity disturbingly obvious.
Either a dangerous poacher or a dark wizard with substantial bounties on their head.
Regardless of which category applied, peaceful coexistence would prove impossible.
Shaking his head with genuine regret, Evans sighed internally.
Originally, he'd hoped to exchange training methodologies with this mysterious individual, but now he could only capture them first and slowly extract their techniques through interrogation.
If bounties existed, perhaps he could collect some reward money after the questioning concluded?
Down in the clearing, the intense battle continued with renewed ferocity.
Though the students' attacks had proven largely ineffective, they'd recovered from their initial panic and begun identifying the troll's exploitable weaknesses.
While its physical strength was absolutely devastating, the creature's massive body remained cumbersome and slow. Resisting magical attacks carried significant costs as well. The leather armour only protected its arms and torso, forcing it to either block spells manually or expend energy on Shield Charms when targeted elsewhere.
A troll's mental reserves couldn't possibly exceed those of trained wizards. Once its stamina became exhausted, it would inevitably reveal vulnerable openings.
The sixth-year students followed Percy's tactical directions, taking turns to cast spells at the monster's weak points while preventing it from mounting any effective counterattacks.
Fred and George proved even more devious, darting around the troll's flanks like a pair of irritating insects. They occasionally launched minor hexes or hurled explosive firecrackers that caused minimal damage but maximum humiliation.
The troll desperately wanted to crush these two annoying pests, but even its limited intelligence recognised that the greatest threat came from the wizards directly ahead who continued casting interference spells.
If it diverted attention to deal with the twins, a single moment's distraction could result in being struck by a Stunning Spell. At that point, even brief unconsciousness would be enough for it to lose against this group of determined young wizards.
But enduring their harassment without retaliation was absolutely maddening!
Just as the troll's frustration reached boiling point from the twin brothers' relentless provocations, Harry finally spotted his opportunity and quietly crept toward the creature's exposed flank.
Perhaps because he appeared physically weaker than the others, the troll showed no vigilance toward his approach, granting him the perfect opening he needed.
Positioning himself at the monster's side, Harry swallowed his fear and pointed his wand at its left hand, reciting a spell he'd only learnt the previous day.
"Expelliarmus!"
Deep crimson light struck the troll's grip, and the massive wooden wand flew from its grasp to land somewhere across the clearing.
The left head released a strange, anguished cry and immediately turned to retrieve its fallen weapon. Seeing this, Ron quickly aimed his own wand at the discarded club, hoping to move it further out of reach.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
But for some inexplicable reason, his wand seemed sluggish and unresponsive. The tip flickered with weak white light, but the heavy club barely lifted an inch before dropping back to the ground with a dull thud.
Fortunately, Cedric reacted with lightning reflexes, immediately following up with his own perfectly executed Levitation Charm.
The massive wand soared through the air and became thoroughly entangled in the branches of a distant tree, completely destroying the troll's hope of magical recovery.