"Are you insane? Fight that troll? Didn't you see how big it is?" Ron shouted in terror, staring at the massive creature. "Trust me, it could crush my head as easily as you'd squeeze an orange!"
"But we have to distract it! Otherwise, Hermione will be in danger!" Harry said firmly, without hesitation.
Hidden in the shadows, Charles nodded in satisfaction when he heard Harry's words. As expected of a true Gryffindor. Without courage, one would only end up like Peter Pettigrew — a cowardly traitor.
Besides, Harry wasn't being reckless. He wasn't thinking of defeating the troll, just luring it away so it wouldn't hurt Hermione.
Ron hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the troll lumbering toward the girls' restroom, he clenched his teeth and made up his mind.
"Alright! I was the one who made Hermione cry, after all."
"Pichu, Litleo, Ponyta — please help us out!"
"Pichu!" The tiny Electric-type puffed out its chest, showing not even a hint of fear. Litleo and Ponyta neighed and roared in agreement, their eyes blazing with determination — they wouldn't stop until Hermione was safe.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look, nodded, and charged forward.
"Pichu, use Thunder Shock! Litleo, Ember! Ponyta, Ember too!"
A weak jolt of electricity and two bursts of flame shot toward the troll's back, striking it and making it stumble slightly.
However, Harry's opponent was a twelve-foot-tall creature — about three and a half meters — a magically resistant monster of formidable strength!
Trolls were classified as XXXX-level magical creatures, just below dragons in danger level! In fact, if not for their low intelligence, their threat level might well have been ranked at the very top.
The combined attacks of the three Pokémon exploded against the troll's back, causing it to grunt in pain — but only that.
It wasn't injured at all. In fact, the pain only enraged it further.
"ROOOAR!!"
Its rocky gray skin bulged as it turned toward them. The enormous club it wielded rose high and came crashing down, shattering an entire section of the wall!
"Wh-what do we do now?" Ron's voice trembled as he stared at the charging troll, frozen in fear.
Charles shook his head slightly. Good thing I followed them. Otherwise, this would've ended horribly.
In the original events, Harry and Ron fought the troll inside the confined space of the girls' bathroom. Its massive size made it hard for it to move freely, giving them a chance.
But not this time.
Now, with open space and sheer panic, the two boys stood frozen — waiting for death.
"Impedimenta!" Charles murmured, flicking his wand. A faint barrier shimmered to life, not strong enough to restrain the troll, but enough to slow its charge.
The strange, whisper-like voice seemed to snap Harry out of his terror.
"RUN!"
He shouted, and both boys dove to the sides just as the troll smashed through the invisible barrier and slammed headfirst into the wall, collapsing part of it in a thunderous crash!
Dazed, the boys felt as though it were they who had run headlong into stone.
"Is… is it unconscious?" Ron asked tentatively.
Before Harry could answer, the monstrous creature shook off the rubble and rose again.
"The weak spot's the back of its head," Harry said quickly. "But its skull's too thick—"
"Yeah, no kidding! I can see that! And it's angrier now!" Ron whimpered.
"Great observation, Ron," Harry snapped.
Just then, a trembling voice came from the corridor.
"Harry? Ron? What are you—" Hermione's words caught in her throat as her eyes widened.
"A troll?!"
"How—how is there a troll in Hogwarts?!"
Hermione was dumbfounded. She had only been crying in the girls' restroom for a few hours, and now a troll had invaded the castle?!
"That's why we're here," Ron said irritably. Though he and Harry had come to rescue her, it looked like all three of them might die here together.
"Hermione, go find a professor! Harry and I will hold it off!"
"No! It'll kill you!" Hermione's voice rose, red-eyed and puffy from crying. "Its skin is gray — that means it's a mountain troll, the most violent of the three kinds!"
"If you don't go, we'll all die!" Harry shouted.
There was no way all three could run at once. Someone had to stay behind.
"Go, Hermione! Litleo and the others will help us hold it back."
It was only then that Hermione noticed the three Pokémon standing beside them. Pichu leapt onto her shoulder affectionately.
"No!" she cried, shaking her head. "You came here to save me — I'm not leaving you behind!"
Her eyes blazed with the fierce pride of a lion cub.
"Besides," she said, voice sharp and resolute, "I doubt you two could handle a troll without me. Honestly, you'd be dead in minutes. And in case you haven't noticed, there are three Pokémon here."
"…Fine, then we'll all die together," Ron muttered grimly — though it sounded more like resignation than bravery.
"First, slow it down. You two, keep it distracted!" Hermione barked, suddenly fierce in a way neither Harry nor Ron had ever seen before.
To Ron's surprise, she actually looked kind of cool.
"Got it! Litleo, close in and use Ember to distract it!"
"Ponyta, same with you!"
The two Fire-types darted toward the troll, their small bodies nimble and quick. Streams of flame burst around the creature, forcing it into clumsy confusion.
Hermione's wand flashed as she alternated between bursts of fire spells and Levitation Charms to help the Pokémon dodge.
Harry and Ron followed her lead — though they couldn't manage any fire spells, they tried their best with the Levitation Charm.
"Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron chanted desperately — but still mispronounced it.
Suddenly, a small calf appeared out of thin air, summoned by mistake. Startled, it bolted straight toward the troll… only to be crushed under its club with a sickening crack.
The sight of blood splattering across the floor made the three children go pale.
But the troll didn't even care — it was used to such carnage.
And in the split second that Harry and the others froze in shock, the troll raised its massive club again — this time, aiming straight at Ponyta!
"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!!!"
Ron shouted with all his might.
In that instant, his wand blazed with light, and the magic inside him surged violently out of control—
(End of Chapter)