Compared with the washrooms near the dormitories, the simplicity of the girls’ bathroom on the first floor surprised Draca a little.
The large stone room had a row of sinks along the left wall and spacious toilet stalls on the right.
All the stall doors stood open except for the innermost one against the far wall, which was locked.
Faint sobbing could be heard from inside.
Draca walked quietly toward the door and pressed her lips together, uncertain how to begin.
Her upbringing had long instilled in her the belief that retreating somewhere private to cry was an intensely personal act, one that should neither be watched nor disturbed.
After hesitating for a while, she shifted her weight and decided to abandon the idea of speaking with Granger.
She had just turned to leave when Hermione’s broken sobs and ragged breathing made her hesitate again.
“Are…
are you all right?”
Draca lightly knocked on the stall door with her knuckles.
A startled gasp came from inside, followed by several wet sniffs.
“Mal…
Malfoy?”
Hermione’s choked voice echoed weakly through the bathroom.
Draca paused again, carefully weighing her words before finally speaking.
“You’re very talented.
Don’t pay attention to whatever those stupid boys said.”
“Th-thank you.”
After those few words, silence returned.
Draca stood there awkwardly, unsure what else to do.
Inside the stall, Hermione’s sniffling gradually slowed.
After an unknown amount of time, there was a faint click.
Hermione opened the door.
Several strands of hair clung to her tear-soaked cheeks, and her nose was red.
Even her swollen eyes couldn’t hide their intelligence.
“Why did you come here?”
Hermione asked through a lingering sob.
Draca quietly turned her head to one side.
“Actually…
there were a few things I wanted to ask you.”
“It’s just…”
“What…
sorry…
what did you want to ask?”
Hermione spoke slowly, occasionally interrupting herself with dry coughs and apologies after crying for so long.
Her proper manners only made Draca even more curious.
“Do you really have no wizarding ancestry at all?”
The moment the question left her mouth, Draca saw Hermione raise one eyebrow and realized she’d probably offended her.
Though she didn’t quite understand why.
“So what if I don’t?”
Hermione’s angry response caught Draca off guard.
Ever since she was little, her father’s teachings had made her firmly believe that wizards were superior to Muggles.
And not merely because of magic.
Their behavior and manners were different as well—the more contact wizards had with Muggles, the rougher and more uncivilized they often became.
Meeting Harry Potter and the Weasleys had only seemed to confirm that belief, making it even more deeply rooted.
That was why her feelings toward Granger, who came from an entirely Muggle family, had gradually shifted from simple rejection to curiosity.
Draca couldn’t understand why Hermione possessed such remarkable magical talent. New chapters come out on g.com first.
She was also curious why, judging from their brief exchange just now, Hermione had clearly been raised with good manners as well.
What she had never expected was that she, the daughter of one of the great wizarding families, would somehow be the one to offend a Muggle-born girl with her words.
Faced with Hermione’s righteous expression, Draca had no idea how to respond.
She could only listen as Hermione continued.
“I know that for generations, a lot of Slytherin witches and wizards have opposed and discriminated against Muggles.”
“Don’t tell me you have the same shallow ideas, Miss Malfoy?”
Hermione’s sadness had been replaced by anger.
She stared at Draca with wide eyes and threw the question back at her sarcastically.
That was enough to make Draca frown as well.
She stepped forward without backing down.
“How is opposing Muggle-born children receiving a wizarding education the same as discrimination?”
“Throughout history, wizards have always been persecuted by Muggles—”
Bang.
The two girls were glaring at each other when both abruptly turned toward the bathroom entrance.
From beyond the door came several slow, heavy grunts.
Each time another bang sounded, dust shook loose from the stone walls as the entire room trembled faintly.
Bang.
Another dull impact.
Draca and Hermione exchanged a glance.
Without thinking, they moved closer together and drew their wands.
The candlelight outside the bathroom cast a towering black humanoid shadow through the doorway.
Then the shadow slowly advanced, followed by the creature itself.
It was a monster nearly twelve meters tall, with rough, dark skin like craggy rock, a body packed with muscle, and a ridiculously small head perched on top.
The creature reeked of years-old body odor.
Draca hurriedly covered her nose and mouth, nearly fainting from the stench.
She and Hermione exchanged another look.
Seeing their own deathly pale faces reflected in each other’s eyes, they slowly backed toward the wall.
At some point, they’d grabbed each other’s hands.
Then the door behind the creature slammed shut.
A clear locking sound followed.
Both girls saw fresh panic reflected in the other’s eyes.
Apparently, someone had locked them in the bathroom with the monster.
Then both heard themselves let out shrill screams that nearly stopped their hearts.
The creature turned its head toward them.
Its grotesque mouth split into an excited grin at the sight of prey.
“Why?
Why?!”
“A troll’s hide can deflect spells that don’t have enough destructive power—”
“I don’t need an explanation right now!”
Draca and Hermione cried out as they helplessly waved their wands.
Spell after spell bounced harmlessly off the troll.
It dragged a club as thick as a young tree trunk behind it, smashing sinks and stall doors on either side as it lumbered forward with obvious enthusiasm.
Neither girl noticed that their terrified screams and constant spellcasting were only exciting the troll further.
As it drew closer, its stench became overwhelming.
Draca and Hermione clung tightly to each other, their faces bloodless and their lips trembling so badly they could no longer speak.
Then, just as on the night of the duel, Draca’s legs gave out beneath her. Find the original chapter at g.com.
She dropped to the floor with a thump.
The sudden fall pulled Hermione down as well, making her cry out in pain.
“Hermione!”
Two boys burst in through the opposite side of the bathroom, shouting Hermione’s name at exactly the same time.
The black-haired figure among them froze in surprise.
“Malfoy?”
“Don’t just stand there, Harry!
Distract it first!”
Ron shouted.
At the same time, he grabbed a broken faucet and hurled it as hard as he could at the back of the troll’s head.
The troll merely stopped, scratched the spot where it had been hit, and then calmly continued forward.
Only when Harry began furiously smashing two metal pipes together, filling the bathroom with a loud clanging noise, did the troll finally turn its attention toward him.
“Run!
Come over here!
Hurry!”
Using the opening while the troll moved toward Harry, Ron ducked low and darted past its legs, waving frantically at Hermione.
Hermione struggled to stand.
Then she realized Draca was still sitting helplessly on the floor, unable to move.
“Damn it!”
Ron cursed and kicked a broken pipe.
He was just about to rush to the wall and pull Hermione and Draca up when the pipe suddenly burst.
A jet of water struck the troll’s rear leg.
The troll immediately turned its attention back and spotted Ron after he’d only managed to take two steps.
The rushing water made the furious shouts and screams inside the bathroom echo even louder, agitating the troll further.
It raised its club in rage and prepared to smash it down onto Ron.
Then Harry suddenly charged forward from behind and somehow scrambled up the troll’s back.
With all his strength, he drove his wand straight into the troll’s nostril.
The troll roared in agony and thrashed wildly from side to side, trying to throw Harry off its back.
Hermione was so frightened by the troll’s sudden frenzy that she collapsed onto the floor again.
Her wand clattered from her hand.
Draca bit down hard on her lip.
Before she could make up her mind, Ron roared,
“Wingardium Leviosa!”
The club immediately rose into the air.
It climbed higher for a moment before suddenly dropping straight down.
It smashed into the troll’s head with a sickening crack of breaking bone.
The unconscious troll swayed violently.
Harry was flung into the air.
The last burst of force from the collapsing creature was terrifying.
Harry was about to slam into the stone wall and suffer serious injuries.
Ron stared with his mouth open.
Hermione screamed.
And Draca realized she finally had a tiny bit of strength again.
“Levi…
Levicorpus!”
It really helps the fic grow!