Chapter 30: The Pointed Hat on the Teeth

To be honest, Silven was a bit stunned, standing frozen for a full second before he reacted.

His original plan had been to open the door and draw attention, then slip away in the chaos.

After all, both the three-headed dog and the troll were huge creatures, and he was just a tiny thing—highly likely to be ignored.

He just hadn't expected the troll to cooperate so well, charging straight in like that.

Now it seemed he didn't need to wait for chaos.

Hearing the deafening roars and growls behind the door, along with the chaotic footsteps below, Silven grabbed the tree-guard beetle crawling out of the lock and ran.

Moments later, someone arrived.

Snape rushed forward first, sprinting all the way to the locked door, followed closely by Professor McGonagall, with Quirrell bringing up the rear.

The door was yanked open, and the next instant, the stench of blood and rot hit them.

Especially upon seeing the scene inside—even Snape, who routinely handled rat spleens and leech juice, turned instantly pale, his stomach churning violently.

Quirrell took one look and vomited all over the floor, gagging uncontrollably.

McGonagall fared better; she had witnessed far worse scenes before, so this wasn't nearly as shocking, though her hands trembled slightly before she steadied herself.

McGonagall pressed her lips tightly together, raised her wand, and a dozen thick iron chains wrapped tightly around the three-headed dog, hoisting it into the air.

"Severus!" McGonagall shouted.

Snape nodded and hauled half the troll out.

"Vomiting…" Quirrell gagged even harder, tears and snot smeared across his face.

McGonagall's face showed undisguised disgust—professors all, but not only did he refuse to help, he was making things worse.

She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment, a reassuring figure appeared at the end of the corridor.

"Dumbledore," McGonagall said quickly, "here—"

"Yes, Minerva, I've seen it all," Dumbledore said calmly, his gaze shifting to the side. "Potter, Weasley, and Granger, could you please take Professor Quirrell to the school infirmary?"

"Yes, sir."

From the corner, Harry, Hermione, and Ron trudged out, heads hung low.

They'd thought they'd hidden well, never imagining they'd been discovered so quickly.

Halfway down the corridor, Harry couldn't resist his curiosity and stole a glance back toward the scene.

But he saw nothing.

A thick cloud of white smoke had somehow filled the middle of the corridor—he couldn't see a thing, only hear McGonagall's furious voice.

"No returning to dorms! You knew it was dangerous and still wandered around the castle—what trick are you playing? Gryffindor loses five points—five points each!"

Facing McGonagall's rage, Harry instinctively shrank back; Ron and Hermione didn't dare utter a word.

Watching the quiet Dumbledore, Harry felt he had to explain: "Headmaster… we weren't playing tricks. We came to find Silven."

"Mr. Ollivander?" Dumbledore's expression didn't change. "Then Gryffindor loses another five points."

"No, no, that's not it," Harry hurried to explain. "He said he was coming back for something, so he missed the feast and didn't know about the troll. We came to warn him."

"I see," Dumbledore nodded. "Then why didn't you tell a professor? If I recall correctly, Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout have been with the students the whole time."

"We… forgot." Harry's voice lacked conviction.

"Then can you now help take Professor Quirrell to the infirmary? He seems about to faint from vomiting."

This time Harry said nothing, running over with Ron to drag Quirrell away.

Their movements were rough, but no one pointed it out—Dumbledore pretended not to notice.

How could three first-years possibly carry an adult wizard? Dragging him made perfect sense.

Only after the three and Quirrell vanished did Dumbledore walk over, carefully examining the scene.

Five minutes later, Hagrid arrived.

"Oh, Fluffy…" Seeing the three-headed dog chained tight, its mouth dripping blood, Hagrid clutched his chest, tears streaming down his face.

"Don't be like that, Minerva—it's still a child…"

"Do you know," McGonagall said flatly, pointing to the troll's corpse on the floor, "your 'child' just killed a troll."

That was a troll—ripped apart like a fried pork chop. Was this acceptable?

Hagrid let out a strange cry, like a duck with its neck wrung.

"Truly horrifying," Snape said coldly beside him. "From the moment we heard the noise to when we arrived, no more than two minutes passed—and it tore an adult troll in half."

"Dumbledore, this monster cannot stay at the school."

"No, no…," Hagrid stammered. "Fluffy is usually very, very well-behaved. The troll must have provoked it."

"So you mean," Snape drawled, "a troll with a brain smaller than a walnut deliberately taunted a three-headed dog?"

Hagrid grew even more flustered, unable to speak.

He looked to Dumbledore, his eyes full of pleading.

"I believe Hagrid."

"Dumbledore…"

"Don't rush, Severus," Dumbledore said, pointing to the leftmost head of the three-headed dog. "Look here."

Snape instinctively looked—and frowned slightly.

The mouth was injured, flesh torn and bloody, two teeth missing.

"This… was done by the troll?" His voice was full of disbelief.

Come on—this was a three-headed dog, a creature that could devour a flightless dragon on the ground. How powerful could a troll possibly be to inflict this? It must be a giant.

"From the current evidence, only this explanation makes sense," Dumbledore straightened up.

"The troll wandered into Hogwarts by accident, stumbled onto the fourth floor, opened the door, and struck the three-headed dog with a club—then was torn apart by the enraged beast."

Dumbledore spoke calmly, but those around him reacted differently.

This process... just listening to it feels absurd, too ridiculous.

"But this raises a new question," Dumbledore continued. "How did it get in? I just noticed the door is intact, with no signs of forced entry. Could the troll have opened the door with a key?"

"Perhaps we could ask the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Snape suddenly said. "He was the first to discover the troll in the dungeon classroom."

"Quirrell is still in the hospital wing, Severus," Dumbledore said. "He's terrified."

"Hah..." Snape sneered. "If needed, I can brew him a potion to calm his nerves."

(End of Chapter)