Heavy footsteps approached like muffled thunder, growing steadily louder. At the same time, an indescribable stench—like a mix of rotting garbage and raw sewage—surged forward!
If Tom had to describe it, the smell was like every sewer pipe in the school had simultaneously exploded inside a bathroom that hadn't been cleaned in a century.
Holy crap!
Tom reacted the fastest. The moment he heard Draco's voice, he snapped a wooden clothespin onto his nose. With a cat's hyper-sensitive sense of smell, he probably would have passed away on the spot otherwise.
He was incredibly grateful right now to be a cat and not a dog. If Spike were here, he probably would have dropped dead from the smell before Draco could even get a scream out! That wasn't an exaggeration—he literally would have died of the stink.
As for Harry and Ron? They weren't so lucky. The dung-colored gas spread out, choking them until they coughed violently, tears streaming down their faces, nearly dry-heaving.
"Merlin's soggy socks!"
Ron covered his mouth and nose, his voice muffled. "This is worse than Fred and George's Dungbombs!"
Harry couldn't speak; he just waved his hands frantically, trying to disperse the yellow fog in front of him, though it was entirely useless.
Tom didn't have time to worry about them. He was too busy wrestling with a "personified" cloud of stench that was trying to pry off his nose clip. The brownish-yellow gas seemed to have a mind of its own, wiggling around and repeatedly trying to get near his nose.
After slapping the gas away for the umpteenth time only to see it reform, Tom finally lost his patience.
Enough is enough!
He pulled a vacuum cleaner out of nowhere and aimed it at the gas.
He didn't know if this thing would actually get rid of the smell, but just in case—and because the gas was being incredibly annoying—Tom decided to deal with this terrifying substance first.
The moment it saw the vacuum in Tom's hands, the stench cloud clearly froze. It floated backward a couple of feet, seemingly preparing to flee.
But when it noticed the power cord trailing uselessly on the floor behind the vacuum, the gas actually twisted itself in mid-air, forming the shape of a middle finger right in front of Tom's face.
"Ron..."
Harry rubbed his stinging eyes, his voice cracking. "Am I seeing things? Did that gas just... flip us off?!"
That wasn't scientific, nor was it magical!
"I saw it too!"
Ron clutched his nose, his voice sounding equally strange.
As a member of a Pure-blood family, he'd seen a lot of things—but he had definitely never seen that.
Outside the bathroom, Hermione pinched her nose and stood on her tiptoes to peer inside, confusion written all over her face. "What is that? Some kind of corporeal manifestation of malice? Or a rare Poltergeist phenomenon?"
She couldn't imagine that it was actually just ordinary stink, made comical purely by Tom's presence.
Hannah and Ariana had absolutely no intention of getting closer. They stayed far away from the dung-colored odor, terrified of getting even a little bit of it on them.
Before Hermione could figure it out, panicked footsteps interrupted her thoughts.
Draco, who had originally planned to bolt, realized Harry and the others hadn't moved. He hesitated, then ran back. "What are you lot waiting for? The troll is getting closer!"
Just then, staring at the stench cloud mocking him, Tom scoffed and hit the power switch on the vacuum.
Think you're tough? I'll show you!
Just like in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, even though the plug was lying on the floor, the vacuum whirred to life.
A powerful suction erupted instantly. The brownish-yellow odor didn't even have a chance to struggle before it was yanked forward.
Only when it was about to be sucked in did it react, forming two gaseous "hands" to grip the rim of the nozzle, resisting with all its might.
However, despite the terrifying suction, it seemed to only affect the stench; everything else around them remained perfectly still.
Get in there!
Seeing the smell clinging to the vacuum nozzle, Tom pressed another button, and the suction force skyrocketed.
The stench couldn't hold on any longer. With a thwump, the entire cloud—and the yellow fog filling the room behind it—was dragged over.
Seeing the overwhelming volume of gas, Tom instantly realized the danger. He dropped the vacuum without hesitation and bolted for the door—there was too much stink, and the vacuum bag was too small!
If he stayed next to it, he'd be enveloped and turned into a smelly cat.
"Watch out!"
Although Harry didn't understand why Tom ran, a bad feeling made him instinctively yank Ron.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The moment the vacuum hit the floor, the stench erupted from it, forming a miniature dung-colored tornado.
Everyone knows tornadoes fling things outward!
And so, the cyclone spun, occasionally flinging out wisps of the trapped odor.
A few of those dung-colored wisps flew with pinpoint accuracy straight into Harry and Ron's faces—and right down their open throats.
"Ugh—!"
Their faces turned pale instantly. They dropped to the floor, dry-heaving violently, tears and snot smearing their faces.
"Get out! Move!"
Finding strength from somewhere, Harry gagged as he grabbed Ron's arm, scrambling desperately toward the door.
His mind held only one thought: Leave. Now.
"You did that on purpose!"
As the two finally crawled out of the bathroom, Hermione and Hannah hesitated before stepping forward to drag them further away. Tom and Ariana seized the moment and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Harry collapsed in the corridor, gasping for air, but the foul taste in his mouth lingered, making him nauseous.
---
As for Ron? He was in even worse shape, lying there unable to get up, his shoulders trembling.
How is this my fault? You guys were just too slow!
Tom spread his paws, looking the picture of innocence.
Under those circumstances, saving himself was the priority—who had time to warn Harry?
Harry wheezed, trying to breathe some fresh air, but the stench in his mouth made him gag again. "So... what in the bloody hell... was that?"
Regarding that, and those footsteps...
Tom turned his head, his gaze landing on Draco, who was standing nearby with darting eyes.
I think our arrogant little master here should be able to answer that.
Although he had heard Draco yelling about a troll earlier, the timing seemed off.
If he remembered correctly, the troll invasion was supposed to happen on Halloween, but school had only just started!
Fighting a troll now? Seriously?
"R-Right!"
Although he was a bit disappointed that Harry and Ron had recovered, facing Tom's stare snapped Draco back to reality. His voice pitched up a few octaves. "The troll! I saw a troll coming this way! Run!"
"What did you say? A troll?!"
Ron and Hannah screamed in unison.
The Muggle-born students might not have grasped the concept yet, but coming from wizarding families, Ron and Hannah knew exactly how serious a troll was!
They might be stupid, but they had thick hide, high magic resistance, and terrifying strength. They were definitely not something a group of first-years could handle!