A sharp Hogwarts

boom!boom!boom!

Several loud fireworks exploded above the auditorium.

"quiet--"

Professor Dumbledore raised his magic knife high, and several more purple-red fireworks exploded on the ceiling.

The deafening explosion obviously had some effect. Everyone was frightened and fell silent instantly.

"Please stay calm, don't panic -" Dumbledore looked around, his voice seemed to have some kind of magic.

"Now……"

"Prefects," Professor Dumbledore said in a low voice, "immediately lead the students from their respective houses back to their respective dormitories!"

"Filius, Pomona - you two, together with the Slytherin and Hufflepuff prefects, evacuate the students... to avoid encountering trolls on the way."

He glanced at Professors Flitwick and Sprout, whose common rooms were located in the basement of the castle.

In the panic, no one noticed that Dumbledore deliberately ignored Snape - he was the dean of Slytherin House, and he should be the one to escort the students - because Dumbledore continued to look at the professors around him and give orders. He said, "Other professors, go to the underground classroom with me and figure things out as soon as possible..."

"Okay, Professor Dumbledore -"

Professor McGonagall stood up and glanced at the auditorium with a frown.

Under Dumbledore's instructions, everything gradually began to become orderly.

Of course, uneasiness still permeated the crowd, but at least everyone knew what they should do.

"Hufflepuff, this way-"

"Everyone in Ravenclaw, let's take the stairs on the left-"

The prefects quickly stood up and loudly gathered the students, methodically calming down their respective houses.

Percy is naturally very familiar with it. He has simulated the scene of leading everyone to the lounge hundreds of times in his mind.

"Everyone in Gryffindor, this way - follow me!" Percy said calmly, "Don't get separated, first years! As long as you obey my instructions, you don't have to be afraid of any trolls! Okay, Everyone followed me closely. Get out of the way, and the first-year students walked at the front of the line! Please forgive me, I am the prefect!"

"You two, go back to the dormitory now and don't run around - do you understand?"

Dalia glared at Ron and Harry fiercely, and said seriously in a tone that could not be criticized.

"Wait, what about you? Aren't you going back with us?" Ron glanced at Dalia and said in confusion.

"I'm going to save Hermione. She doesn't know about the trolls yet."

Dalia took out her kitchen knife and patted her little Yeqi with her free hand.

"If Percy asks, just say you don't know, and don't worry - stinky tofu is more useful than either of you."

Adult trolls are not something that a few minor wizards can deal with.

Besides, who knows if the floating spell can still work so coincidentally in this version of the world.

After experiencing several slaps from fate, Dalia summed up a not-so-accurate "Butterfly Rule":

Time, place, people (key props).

——This is the basic element that promotes the complete occurrence of an event.

Therefore, if she wants to completely eliminate a plot, she can choose to directly "tamper with" one or more of its basic elements.

For example, Tom Riddle's diary, Peter Pettigrew, Barty Crouch Jr....

Long before the plot happened, she changed the necessary conditions for their original appearance.

but……

There was no way she could eliminate the human script like the troll incident from its root cause.

Albus Dumbledore was clearly conniving in the hope that Quirrell would trap Voldemort to gain more time.

She originally hoped that Harry and Ron could restrain their emotions and avoid triggering a subplot of Hermione hiding in the toilet and crying.

Unfortunately, just like the memory ball of flying lessons, when she is not present, the "will of the world" will stubbornly make everything happen step by step.

And what she has to do now is to drive away Harry and Ron, and free Hermione from the entanglement of fate.

…………

I have to say that Dalia's words are still somewhat useful.

At least it worked better than Percy for the time being, Harry and Ron shrugged.

The two of them stayed behind the Gryffindor team and followed the flow of people towards the stairs.

"How did the troll get in?" Harry asked.

"Don't ask me, trolls must be incredibly stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves put it in to have some fun on Halloween. As for the other reasons, I guess your cousin might know better - —Sometimes prophets are quite scary, I bet she probably saw something in advance."

"What did she see in advance?" Harry blinked and immediately reacted, "Oh, yes! She wasn't surprised at all when Professor Quirrell came in."

"Also, she asked us not to bully Hermione-" Ron curled his lips.

At this time, they encountered a crowd of people rushing in different directions. They were Hufflepuff students.

As Ron and Harry struggled to squeeze through the group of panic-looking Hufflepuffs, Harry grabbed Ron's arm.

"I remember - Dahlia, and Hermione!"

"What's the matter with them?"

"Dalia just said to 'rescue', not to find Hermione!"

"You-she-dangerous-knife-"

Ron was stunned, and his lips moved tremblingly a few times, opening and closing towards Harry like a fish on the beach.

But Harry obviously understood. He nodded solemnly and hammered his palm hard.

"Yes, Dahlia just pulled out a magic knife - they are in danger! Dahlia's magic is of no use."

"Well, okay," Ron said decisively, "This is our fault and we have to go help, but it's best if Percy doesn't see us."

They hunkered down, blended in with the Hufflepuff crowd, and walked in the other direction.

…………

Meanwhile, on the other side.

After leaving the auditorium, Dalia ran straight to the women's restroom.

No experience is required to fight monsters in Hogwarts. Trolls are neither rare ingredients nor do they drop any treasures.

It was obvious that the monster was more suitable for the professors to deal with, rather than first-year students like them.

Even in the original book, Gryffindor House only added ten points - the price/performance ratio is too low.

Therefore, Dahlia planned to find Hermione and leave directly to avoid facing the troll.

But she miscalculated one thing...

"Ugh...go away..."

Hermione's whimpering, staccato sounds came from the locked toilet cubicle.

"Troll, I don't believe it - I'm just a nightmare anyway - you must think so too -"

"It's true! You are in a very dangerous situation now. If anything happens, let's go back to the dormitory and talk about it."

Dalia looked at the door helplessly, feeling a little headache.

There was no radio in Hogwarts, so Hermione naturally couldn't hear Dumbledore's instructions in the Great Hall.

Even though Dalia quickly found Hermione in the women's bathroom, Hermione stubbornly believed that Dalia came to comfort her.

"No - I want to be alone - please -"

Hermione sobbed and said, "I really, I really don't want you to be expelled - I don't -"

"I know I won't get fired. We're friends, right?"

Dalia took a deep breath and patiently persuaded Hermione, "And I've evolved, I'm amazing now!"

If it weren't for the fact that there were no handy tools around and she didn't load the appropriate magic spell, she would even want to violently open the lock.

"Pfft - you are not an ape, how could you possibly evolve..."

Hermione seemed to be amused. She was crying and logically pointed out Dahlia's loopholes.

"And the situation you mentioned is unreasonable. Professor Quirrell is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor - if he had discovered the troll, he would have dealt with it by himself."

"Go back, Dalia, I will go back to the auditorium later. You don't need to waste time here."

"...Actually, I don't think it's reasonable either."

Dalia sighed and scratched her hair petulantly.

"So - you really won't come out, right? Then I'm not welcome -"

"Stinky Tofu, breathe at the door lock, and then join me in breaking down this compartment door!"

After talking for a while, Dalia's patience finally ran out.

Calculating the time, the troll might appear at any time, and she didn't want to be stuck in the toilet with Hermione.

woo-

Stinky Tofu screamed, pattered over, and started to exhale towards the lock.

In Dalia's sight, the lock was quickly rusting visibly, and the door panel was no longer so strong.

Dalia moved her shoulders and took a few steps back.

"three two--"

creak-

The compartment door opened.

Hermione stood behind the door with tears on her face, her eyes swollen like peaches.

"I'm sorry, Dalia, I won't raise my hand in class from now on -"

"Don't talk so much, the troll is coming soon!"

Before Hermione could finish her words, Dalia grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her out of the compartment.

"Eh? Troll?"

Hermione blinked in confusion, "That's not a lie..."

However, as soon as she took two steps forward, Dalia's expression suddenly changed.

Dalia didn't look back, but quickly took a step forward, half-hugging, half-pushing Hermione back into the compartment.

"Shh-"

"Ok?"

Hermione was stunned, struggled a few times subconsciously, and then her face suddenly turned white.

Some kind of low grunt, heavy footsteps, the screeching sound of something heavy scraping across the floor was approaching.

The stench was gushing out from the direction of the door, and they heard the sound of something huge entering the toilet.

On the wall, the shadow gradually spread to outline a huge figure.

"Trolls don't like darkness and humidity, so we hide in the toilet and don't make any noise——"

Dahlia and Hermione were squeezed tightly into the small compartment, whispering in Hermione's ear.

Xiao Yeqi also squeezed in, making the originally small space even more crowded.

Dalia raised her foot and gently kicked her little Yeqi's butt.

"Stinky Tofu, go outside and make some noise——"

"When the troll leaves, I'll count to three, two, and one, and we'll run out of the door together—"

Daria clung to Hermione, making a sound like a mosquito, holding her kitchen knife tightly in one hand.

Stinky Tofu seems to have managed to sneak out, now just wait...

boom!

At this moment, a muffled sound suddenly came from the direction of the door.

As well as the cheers of the two idiots, Dalia's calm expression suddenly froze.

Almost at the same time, the giant monster suddenly roared, and the giant stick in his hand whizzed and smashed towards the door panel and wall.

Hermione, who was already tensed to the limit, screamed in panic. She saw the crazed troll reflected in the water stains on the ground.

…………

Ron and Harry on this side a few minutes ago.

Taking advantage of the cover of the Hufflepuff students, they quickly left the team.

They slipped quietly down the empty side corridor and hurried to the women's room,

Just after turning the corner, I heard a rush of footsteps behind me.

"Percy!" Ron said in a low voice, pulling Harry to hide behind a large stone griffon sculpture.

They looked behind the stone carving, only to see that it wasn't Percy, but Snape.He walked down the corridor and disappeared from their sight.

"What is he doing?" Harry asked in a low voice, "Why isn't he in the underground classroom with the other teachers?"

"How would I know!"

Following Snape's receding footsteps, they walked quietly down another corridor, trying not to make a sound.

"He's heading towards the third floor," Harry said, but Ron raised his hand.

"Can you smell something?"

Harry sniffed, a foul stench filling his nose.

It was a mixture of smelly socks and public toilets that were never cleaned.

Then they heard it—a low grunt and the sound of huge feet dragging along the ground.

Ron noticed: At the end of a passage on the left, a huge thing was moving towards them.

They quickly retreated into the darkness and watched it slowly walk into the moonlight.

The sight was terrifying.It was twelve feet tall, with dull skin as gray as granite. Its huge and stupid body was like a huge pile of gravel, with a small head like a cocoa bean on top.Its short legs are as thick as tree stumps, and beneath them are large, flat, thick, calloused feet.

The smell it gave off was disgusting.

It was holding a thick wooden stick in its hand, which was dragging along the ground because of its long arms.

The troll stopped by a door and peered inside.It swung its long ears, made a decision with its little head, then lowered its head and slowly entered the room.

"The key's in the lock," Harry murmured. "We can lock it in."

"Good idea," said Ron nervously.

They sidled toward the open door, their mouths feeling dry, hoping only that the troll wouldn't suddenly come out.

Harry took a leap, grabbed the key in his hand, slammed the door, and locked it securely.

"It's done!"

Their faces flushed with excitement because of their success, and they began to run back down the passage.

However, as soon as they reached the corner, they heard two voices that almost made their hearts stop beating.

A shrill, frightened voice, and the shrill cry of an angry strange bird—rang out simultaneously from both inside and outside the room they had just locked.

Only then did they notice that a small piece of paper was floating not far away, and they frantically tried to rush back to the locked door.

"Oh, crap," said Ron, looking as pale as a Bloody Balor.

"That's the women's room!" Harry couldn't even breathe.

"Dalia and Hermione!" they both said at the same time.