Chapter 38: Self-righteous Friendship
"Hermione! Don't be afraid! We're coming—"
The heavy wooden door of the girls' lavatory slammed open, the hinges screaming in protest. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley stumbled over the threshold, chests heaving, gasping for air as if they had sprinted all the way from the Gryffindor common room.
Wands raised, their hands shook slightly, but their faces were set in grim determination. They looked entirely prepared to fight a fully grown mountain troll to the bitter end.
However, their battle cries died in their throats.
There was no gruesome, bloody scene. There were no deafening, devastating roars.
The two boys froze in the doorway, their jaws dropping as they took in the sight before them. A massive, foul-smelling mountain of grey flesh lay sprawled face-down on the cracked, water-logged tiles, completely unconscious. Standing calmly beside the beast was Tamara Riddle. She held her holly wand with a relaxed grip, casually tracing a neat circle in the air to cast a Scouring Charm over her pristine cuffs, removing a stray speck of dust.
"You... you took it down?"
Ron's voice cracked into a high-pitched squeak. He nearly dropped his wand straight onto his own foot. His eyes bulged as he stared at the petite Slytherin girl, looking at her as though she were the real monster in the room. "That's a troll! A mountain troll! Even adult wizards find them hard to deal with!"
Tamara released a soft, long-suffering sigh and slid her wand back into her robes. "If I had arrived a step later, Miss Granger would likely have been flattened into a rather unsanitary rug."
Harry swallowed hard. He looked from the massive behemoth snoring on the ground to the small, delicate-looking Tamara. His green eyes practically overflowed with sheer awe.
Before anyone could say another word, a chaotic flurry of hurried footsteps echoed down the stone corridor.
"Good heavens! What is that noise!"
Professor McGonagall was the first to burst into the ruined bathroom, her tartan robes flying behind her. She was immediately followed by a dark-faced Severus Snape and a violently shivering Professor Quirrell, who was clutched tightly in his oversized purple turban and scarf.
Quirrell took one look at the massive troll unconscious on the floor, then at Tamara standing quietly nearby. He let out a pathetic, high-pitched whimper, slumped against an intact porcelain cistern, and clutched his chest, gasping for breath as if his heart might give out.
'Pathetic insect,' Tamara sneered in her mind, though her face remained a mask of polite innocence.
Professor McGonagall stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at the absolute devastation—shattered sinks, burst pipes spraying water into the air, rubble littering the floor, the snoring troll, and four uninjured first-year students.
For a long moment, she was so utterly shocked she could not form a single word.
"You..." Professor McGonagall finally managed, her voice trembling slightly with lingering fear. "What on earth were you thinking?"
Snape swept past them like an overgrown bat. He walked quickly to the fallen troll, bending down to examine the heavy bruising on its thick skull. Then, he snapped his head around, his dark, bottomless eyes locking directly onto Tamara.
"Explain yourselves." Professor McGonagall drew a sharp, ragged breath, her stern gaze sweeping over the four children. "Why are you not in your dormitories?"
Harry and Ron opened their mouths, desperately trying to formulate an excuse or an apology.
"It's my fault, Professor."
A weak but surprisingly firm voice cut through the damp air.
Hermione pushed herself up from the wet floor. Her legs were still shaking visibly, but as she looked at the Head of Gryffindor House, her eyes were remarkably clear.
"I... I didn't see the notice about the troll," Hermione lied. She absolutely refused to let Professor McGonagall know she had spent the entire afternoon hiding in a bathroom stall, crying her eyes out because of Ronald Weasley's cruel remarks. "I came to use the bathroom and ran into it."
She took a shaky breath. "If Miss Riddle hadn't knocked the troll unconscious with a spell..."
Hermione turned her head to look at Tamara. A bright flicker of genuine admiration shone through her tear-stained eyes.
"...I would probably be dead by now."
Hermione then looked at Harry and Ron standing awkwardly by the door and added, "I think Harry and Ron came to find me too... so it's all my fault."
Professor McGonagall stared hard at Hermione, then shifted her gaze to the other three.
She knew perfectly well that Hermione Granger was not the type of student to wander off and break rules. Though the story had a few holes, the sheer terror of the situation made it plausible enough.
"Miss Granger, you silly girl."
Professor McGonagall's strict tone softened considerably, carrying a heavy mix of reproach and deep concern. "As long as you are alright... I do not think Gryffindor will lose points for this."
Hermione nodded, her shoulders slumping in deep gratitude.
Then, Professor McGonagall turned her attention to Harry, Ron, and Tamara.
"As for you three."
Her expression hardened, becoming extremely serious, yet a faint trace of hard-to-detect admiration flashed in her eyes.
"Despite disobeying the prefect's orders, to face an adult mountain troll at this age and survive... that is more than just luck."
She looked directly at Tamara, her gaze falling to the spot where the Slytherin girl had tucked away her wand.
"That was an advanced application of the Levitation Charm, wasn't it, Miss Riddle?"
"Yes, Professor." Tamara nodded slightly, her posture perfectly straight, appearing neither overly humble nor arrogant. "Using repulsive force to change an object's trajectory and landing point is a basic application."
"Basic?"
Professor McGonagall's lip twitched violently.
For a first-year student to use such a 'basic' technique in the middle of actual, life-threatening combat, and to precisely knock out a fully grown troll with it, was nothing short of absolute genius.
"Very well."
Professor McGonagall straightened her back, regaining her authoritative composure. "I must say, you were very brave, but also incredibly reckless. I do not want to see any first-year student trying to take on a troll alone ever again. It is far too dangerous."
"But..."
She paused, and a rare, genuine smile appeared on her lined face.
"Given the courage you showed in a moment of extreme crisis, and your determination to protect a classmate..."
"Potter, Weasley, five points to Gryffindor each."
Harry and Ron snapped their heads toward each other, their eyes wide with sheer disbelief and joy.
"As for you, Miss Riddle."
Professor McGonagall looked at the Slytherin student, her tone carrying far more weight and respect. "For your superb spellcasting skills and calm judgment under pressure... ten points to Slytherin."
Snape stood silently by the sinks. Though his face remained dark and unreadable, he did not utter a single word of objection. He merely gave Tamara a long, deep look, his black eyes swirling with complex calculations.
"Alright, now, everyone back to your dormitories."
Professor McGonagall clapped her hands, shooing them toward the door. "The Halloween feast is not over yet."
The four first-years scrambled out of the foul-smelling bathroom as quickly as their legs could carry them, looking exactly like prisoners who had just been granted a royal pardon.
"Tamara! How did you manage to knock the troll down?!" Ron waved his arms excitedly the moment they were far enough down the corridor. "That was so cool!!"
Any lingering prejudice Ron held against the Slytherin House had completely vanished in the face of Tamara's actions. He knew deep down that it was his fault Hermione was in danger in the first place. Tamara's sudden appearance had prevented a horrific tragedy, saving Ron from a lifetime of crushing guilt.
"It was the Levitation Charm, Weasley," Hermione answered from the side. Although her eyes were still puffy and red, her usual bossy spirit had recovered quite a bit. "That kind of magic control is simply unbelievable..."
"Thank you, Tamara," Harry said, turning his head to look at her with absolute sincerity. "If it wasn't for you..."
"Enough."
Tamara cut off their shower of praise, her face returning to a mask of cool indifference.
"I simply did not want Slytherin to lose points because I stood by and did nothing, and..."
She cast a sideways glance at Hermione. A faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"I also detest the kind of noise that only knows how to scream when in danger."
Despite the harsh, biting words, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other. Warm smiles reached their eyes. They completely misunderstood her coldness, assuming it was just the awkward pride of a Slytherin who did not know how to accept gratitude.
Even if Tamara refused to admit it out loud, in their hearts, she was already one of them. A true friend.
Tamara walked silently down the stone corridor, listening to the energetic chattering of the three Gryffindors trailing behind her.
'Three absolute fools.'She evaluated them coldly in the dark recesses of her mind.'But... as cover and meat shields, they are quite useful.'Tamara shifted her gaze slightly, catching Hermione stealing yet another admiring glance at her.'It seems,'the Dark Lord mused silently,'that even Gryffindors aren't entirely impossible to use.'
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