As the young wizards were led away, the professors immediately began to take action.
"What should we do about Quirinus?" Professor McGonagall asked anxiously.
"Don't worry, Minerva. Quirrell's fine—just fainted from shock," Charles replied deliberately. "Leave him here. Once we find the troll and deal with it, everything will be fine."
Of course, Quirrell hadn't truly fainted. After all, this was all part of his performance.
At that moment, Snape suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Dumbledore—the third floor… I'll go check it out."
Dumbledore merely nodded and paid him no further attention. He turned to lead the other professors toward the underground classroom, pretending to search for the troll.
No one noticed that ever since Charles had left the Great Hall, he had "vanished." In his place, a puppet vaguely resembling him followed silently behind Dumbledore.
—Move: Substitute!
This technique was a reward Charles had earned from teaching Pokémon knowledge. The substitute doll it created might look a little crude, but surprisingly, it possessed a power that altered others' perception.
Apart from Dumbledore—who already knew Charles had slipped away—none of the other professors suspected a thing.
Moments later, another dark figure quietly exited the Great Hall.
Charles's target was, of course, to find Harry and the others. Though he had already dispatched Pokémon to stand by, he couldn't guarantee nothing unexpected would happen.
And since Dumbledore had specifically instructed him to keep an eye on the trio, sneaking off would hardly earn the Headmaster's trust.
He drew his Rainbow Wand, touched it lightly to his chest, and murmured an incantation:
"Invisibilis Fieri"
Instantly, Charles's presence faded into nothingness—his body seemed to dissolve into thin air.
The Invisibility Charm was often confused with the Disillusionment Charm, but in truth, their difficulty and effect were worlds apart. The Disillusionment Charm merely cloaked one in illusion, like wearing an invisibility cloak.
The Invisibility Charm, however, was a form of Transfiguration—a spell that turned a living or non-living being from a state of "existence" to one of "non-existence," similar to rendering something transparent.
Of course, it wasn't truly omnipotent, but it was far superior to a Disillusionment Charm.
With the power of the Rainbow Wand and his own magical reserves, Charles was confident that even Voldemort, at his peak, wouldn't be able to pierce this concealment.
Once certain he wouldn't be detected, Charles layered another spell to heighten his senses.
Before long, he felt a surge of chaotic magical energy—three distinct signatures clustered together.
"They're really in the girls' bathroom…" Charles sighed in amazement. Even the smallest butterfly wingbeat could alter the future.
If, for instance, the Potters had tried a different position the night they conceived, Harry might have been born as Harriet. And yet, despite a butterfly as large as himself appearing in this world, "fate" had somehow corrected the story's course.
Still, Charles's very existence guaranteed that some things could never return to the original timeline.
At that moment, the trio—who were supposed to be barely surviving against the troll—were actually fighting back with the help of Pokémon!
A few minutes earlier, Harry and Ron had hurried away from the group, planning to fetch Hermione from the girls' bathroom. Fighting a troll? That kind of nonsense could wait for next year's first-years—they'd have to fight one for their Sorting anyway, right?
But before they even turned the corner, a cheerful yellow blur leapt out in front of them.
"It's Pichu!" Ron exclaimed, instantly recognizing the mischievous little creature that had zapped him in the Nature Reserve. Behind it, a Litleo and a Ponyta came bounding out as well.
"Pichu?"
The three Pokémon seemed equally surprised. They had finally managed to sneak into this strange place, only to bump into Harry and Ron right around the corner. They froze on the spot.
Before either side could react, another voice echoed from down the corridor.
"Percy?" Ron whispered nervously. The last thing he wanted was for Percy to catch them sneaking off. If his older brother wrote home about this, a Howler from Mum was guaranteed.
And Percy would write.
Harry poked his head around the corner and spotted a dark cloak slipping away toward the fourth floor.
"Snape. What's he doing over there?" he muttered under his breath. But there was no time to think about it—they had to find Hermione fast.
"Pichu, do you remember Hermione's scent? The girl who's always with us?" Harry asked urgently.
He feared she might have already left the bathroom and hoped the Pokémon's keen noses could help.
Litleo puffed out its chest, shoving Pichu aside with its head, barking and hopping as if to say, Leave it to me!
"Follow it, Ron!" Harry ordered immediately.
The two boys raced after the three Pokémon, sprinting toward Hermione's location.
But as they drew closer, an awful stench hit their noses—a foul mix of dirty socks and a never-cleaned public lavatory.
It was horrendous.
For the first time, Ron and Harry found themselves almost missing Quirrell's garlic-scented robes. The Pokémon, however, didn't seem too bothered.
Despite their sensitive noses, this kind of stench was nothing compared to certain Pokémon species—Gloom and Muk, for instance, were veritable legends of foul odor.
Then came a new sound—low grunts, followed by heavy, dragging footsteps. Ron looked down a side corridor and froze.
At the end of the passage, a hulking figure was lumbering toward them.
"Wait—something's coming."
They quickly ducked into the shadows, watching as the creature stepped into a shaft of moonlight.
It was terrifying.
Twelve feet tall, its dull gray skin looked like rough granite. Its massive, clumsy body was a mound of coarse stone topped by a tiny, bean-like head. Its legs were as thick as tree trunks, ending in broad, calloused feet. The stench rolling off it was enough to make them gag. In its hand, it dragged a heavy wooden club that scraped along the floor with each step.
Harry glanced down at the tiny Pichu beside him, scarcely bigger than his palm, and felt a powerful urge to retreat.
But Litleo had led them here—Hermione had to be inside that bathroom.
Harry took a deep breath. "Ron… we're going in."
"WHAT?!"
Ron's eyebrows nearly slid right off his face in disbelief and terror. He desperately wanted to ask the only question that made sense:
"Harry… are you out of your mind?"
(End of Chapter)
[1] Vanish Entirely