Before he had walked very far, Kyle heard footsteps coming from behind him.
To avoid trouble, Kyle ducked behind a griffin statue.
Awkwardly enough, the Golden Boy and the red-haired Weasley were hiding there too.
Weasley glared at Kyle and was about to open his mouth to confront him, but Potter, hearing the footsteps behind them as well, quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.
With a light chuckle, Kyle paid the two brats no mind.
He drew his wand, tapped himself, and cast the Disillusionment Charm on his body.
A ripple oscillated across Kyle’s body, like a stone dropped into a calm lake, before he slowly turned transparent, blending into his surroundings until he vanished completely right in front of Potter and Weasley.
“That’s completely cheating!” the redhead muttered under his breath, shrinking back as far behind the statue as he could.
The person who followed Kyle down the corridor wasn’t Professor Quirrell, as Kyle had originally guessed—after all, Quirrell’s performance earlier had been far too melodramatic.
Instead, it was his own Head of House, Professor Snape.
The professor ran swiftly down the corridor, disappearing from their view.
“Where is he going?” Potter whispered.
“Why isn’t he going down to the dungeons with the other teachers?” As he spoke, he threw a wary glance in Kyle’s direction.
“Follow him,” the redhead said, gritting his teeth, though he also cast a quick glance toward Kyle.
Tiptoeing after Professor Snape, they rounded the corner into another corridor.
“It looks like he’s going up to the third floor,” Potter said, but Weasley suddenly grabbed his arm tightly.
“Do you smell something weird?” Potter sniffed hard, and a foul stench hit his nostrils!
It smelled like a mixture of unwashed socks left for years and a public restroom that had never been cleaned.
In truth, Kyle had smelled it the moment he stepped into the corridor, and he had already spotted the troll standing at the far left corner.
The noise made by Potter and Weasley seemed to arouse the troll’s curiosity.
Accompanied by heavy thudding footsteps from its giant feet and a low, guttural grunt, a massive silhouette shuffled toward the two brats.
Huddled in the shadows of the alcove, the two watched the gigantic monster slowly step into the moonlight.
The troll was twelve feet tall, with dull, granite-gray skin.
Its lumpy, bloated body resembled a boulder, topped with a bald, tiny head that looked like a coconut.
Its thick, short legs were wider than tree trunks, and its flat, massive feet were covered in calluses.
The sickening stench emanated directly from this creature.
The monster held a huge wooden club in its hand.
Because its arms were so long, the club dragged along the floor, making a harsh, scraping noise.
Fortunately, the troll stopped before reaching the boys.
It paused beside an open doorway, peering inside as if looking for something.
After listening carefully for a long moment, it seemed to make up its mind, lowered its head, and ambled inside.
“We can lock it inside!” Potter whispered.
“Good idea!” Weasley said, looking visibly nervous.
After exchanging a quick glance around, they sprinted toward the girls’ bathroom.
As he ran, Potter yelled at the empty air, “Are you still there?
Can you make us invisible too?” Receiving no answer, the redhead said resentfully, “Damned Slytherins really can’t be trusted!
That coward must have run off the second he saw the troll!” They crept up to the open doorway.
Potter set his teeth, darted forward, snatched the key, slammed the door shut with all his might, and quickly locked it!
“Oh, we did it!” Their faces flushed with excitement, they turned and sprinted back down the corridor.
Just as they reached the first corner, a terrified scream pierced the air behind them!
“Hermione!” the two shouted in unison.
Turning around, they raced back to the door, turned the key, mustered every ounce of courage they had, and—as Potter pushed the door open—charged straight inside without a second thought.
Watching the two brats rush inside, Kyle canceled his Disillusionment Charm.
“Reckless, brainless, and impulsive,” Kyle commented.
Yet even as he spoke, the slight upturn of his lips betrayed his good mood.
After all, not just anyone would have the courage to charge at a troll, especially after witnessing how terrifyingly huge it was.
Although the little snakes of Slytherin were fiercely loyal to those they called friends, their reserved and proud nature made them exceedingly cautious and picky about who they let into their inner circle.
Having spent time in Slytherin, Kyle mostly saw the indifference and selfishness displayed by his fellow housemates.
In contrast, the sight before him was rather refreshing.
“Truly classic Gryffindors.” Listening to the escalating commotion inside the girls’ bathroom, Kyle strolled inside with a relaxed demeanor.
At that moment, Potter was confronting the troll, desperately trying to fight it off.
He threw a stone at the troll to draw its attention, only to end up being chased around.
The bushy-haired girl—Hermione, wasn’t it?—stood frozen against the wall with her mouth open, terrified out of her wits and unable to utter a single word.
The redhead was shouting frantically nearby, trying to draw the troll’s attention, though to little effect.
“Good evening, lady and gentlemen.
I hope I’m not interrupting your fun with the troll,” Kyle remarked teasingly.
“Dammit, you evil Slytherin, what are you sneaking around after us for?” Ron shouted at Kyle as he nervously picked up another stone and hurled it at the troll.
The girl named Hermione was quick to react.
Seeing Kyle’s calm and composed expression, she immediately pleaded, “Help Harry, please help Harry!
You must have a way, right?” Without another word, Kyle pulled a large cloth bag from his pocket.
The opening of the bag was nearly two meters across.
Holding the bag upside down, he shook it a few times, and out dropped a massive oval structure shimmering with magical light.
It had a person-sized circular hatch on top, revealing a hollow interior.
This was a defense module for a toy puppet that Kyle had recently created, complete with a built-in cockpit.
“This bag has been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
Naturally, keep that between us.” Seeing the young wizards stare in wide-eyed shock, he offered a brief explanation.
The Undetectable Extension Charm was an advanced spell subject to strict Ministry of Magic regulation.
In theory, a hundred wizards proficient in the charm could squeeze into a single toilet cubicle, making potential breaches of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy glaringly obvious.
Consequently, the Ministry had imposed stringent restrictions on its usage: the Undetectable Extension Charm could not be used for private purposes, but only for the manufacture of specific items approved by the Ministry (such as school trunks and family tents).
Next, Kyle used the Levitation Charm to lift the defense module into the air and send it flying toward Potter.
“Get inside!” Kyle called to Potter.
Trapped in a corner with nowhere left to run, Potter gritted his teeth and scrambled through the circular opening.
No sooner had Potter safely tucked himself inside the module than the huge wooden club came crashing down right behind him.
“AAAAHHH!” “No!” Clearly, Hermione and the redhead didn’t think Kyle’s strange device would do any good—it didn’t even look as thick as a bathroom stall partition!
Hermione buried her face in her hands and screamed, while Ron let his stone drop in despair.
To Kyle’s surprise, Ron charged recklessly at the troll with a look of grief-stricken anguish on his face.
Before their screams could fade, the wooden club struck.
The magical glow on the defense module flickered intensely, forming a transparent barrier around itself.
The force of the troll’s club merely dented the barrier slightly before losing all momentum!
The miraculous sight left all three kids with their mouths wide open.
Weasley, carried by his own momentum, ended up tumbling flat onto the floor.
“WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?!” A furious voice roared from behind Kyle.
Professor McGonagall stood there with a terrifying expression, her voice so sharp and formidable that Kyle could actually hear the three young Gryffindors gulping in unison.