Time quietly slipped into October, and Hogwarts Castle was filled with the scent of pumpkin.
On the ceiling of the Great Hall, hundreds of live bats fluttered about, occasionally flying across in flocks and kicking up cool little gusts of wind.
Huge orange jack-o’-lanterns hung along the corridor walls, with enchanted candles burning tirelessly inside, casting dancing shadows.
Stelle showed a peculiar sort of interest in Halloween.
She would stand in the corridors with her head tilted back, staring at the bats for so long that younger students, startled by her intense focus, thought she had been hit by some dark hex.
“Their flocking patterns seem even more complex than those flying keys.
If only I could recreate this on the Express…” she murmured to herself, tracing her finger through the air to mimic the bats’ flight paths.
She would tap on the jack-o’-lanterns to hear their echoes, and even tried to press her nose close to the carved jagged fangs to smell the burning wax inside, only to get a noseful of smoke and sneeze.
The Halloween feast was decorated with even greater splendor.
Hagrid’s giant pumpkins had been carved to the size of carriages, and golden plates automatically filled themselves with food.
Even the ceiling’s Stelles had temporarily given way to an enchanted sky that, while flashing with lightning and rumbling with thunder, was completely harmless.
Sitting at the Hufflepuff table, Stelle was highly receptive to the roasted pumpkins, frosted spider cookies, and bat-shaped sandwiches that appeared on her plate.
She was currently focused on carefully scooping the meat out of a beef pie, trying to carve a tiny emblem of the Astral Express into the crust.
Just as the feast reached its liveliest peak, Professor Quirrell suddenly burst into the Great Hall.
His large turban was askew, his face a mask of terror.
Stumbling up to Professor Dumbledore’s chair, he collapsed to the floor and gasped, “Troll—in the dungeons!
Thought you ought to know.” With that, he fainted dead away.
The Great Hall erupted instantly.
Panic spread like a plague, and students shrieked, leaping from their seats.
Professor Dumbledore had to use magic to magnify his voice before the uproar subsided.
He directed the house prefects to immediately lead their students back to their common rooms.
Amid the chaos, Stelle’s reaction was entirely different.
She didn’t panic, nor did she even stand up right away.
She merely paused what she was doing, a subtle flicker of disappointment crossing her golden eyes.
“Another troll?” she muttered to herself, her tone tinged with a sense of routine, as if she were complaining about a repetitive game mob that kept respawning at the same location.
“Is it not even a different species from the last one?” As the Hufflepuff crowd began to move, Stelle stood up with them, but she didn’t immediately follow her prefect.
Her gaze swept through the chaotic crowd, searching for something.
She remembered that before Professor Dumbledore spoke, she had seen Hermione Granger run crying out of the Great Hall.
And it seemed she hadn’t come back yet?
A sense of duty belonging to a Trailblazer welled up inside her.
Against the flow of the crowd surging toward the exits, she slipped away like an agile fish, quietly leaving the line and turning down a secluded corridor leading to the girls’ bathroom.
The closer she got to the bathroom, the stronger that familiar, sickening stench became.
It was accompanied by the sound of heavy footsteps and things being smashed to pieces.
Stelle quickened her pace.
When she reached the bathroom door, she saw a troll—identical to the one she had encountered beneath the trapdoor—swinging its massive wooden club, savagely smashing the cubicle doors.
It really must be the exact same one!
And from one of the stalls came Hermione’s muffled, terrified sobs.
Just then, Harry and Ron came rushing in from the opposite direction, clearly having come to find Hermione as well.
At the sight of the troll, their faces went pale.
“We need to distract it!” Harry yelled urgently, trying to think of a plan.
Ron had already raised his wand, stammering out a spell, but his magic only seemed to anger the troll further.
The troll raised its club, preparing to deliver a final, crushing blow to the stall door.
There was no time to hesitate.
Stelle’s gaze locked onto the troll’s massive, calloused, dirt-covered sole.
She didn’t try to use spells to directly strike the troll’s tough hide like Harry and Ron.
Instead, she did something incredibly simple.
Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed a particularly sturdy, frosted bat cookie she had snatched from the feast but hadn’t eaten yet, and threw it with all her might at the softest spot on the sole of the troll’s raised foot!
“Smack!” The cookie struck its target with pinpoint accuracy.
Though the force wasn’t great, the sudden, ticklish, sweet sensation caused the low-IQ troll to freeze mid-motion.
It looked down in confusion, wanting to see what had interrupted its destructive fun.
In that split second of hesitation— “Wingardium Leviosa!” A clear, determined voice rang out.
It was Hermione!
Seeing her chance through the cracks of the broken door, she bravely cast the Levitation Charm!
Her target was the giant wooden club in its hand!
Under the spell’s influence, the club flew straight up, traced a clumsy arc through the air, and came down with a heavy thunk right onto its owner’s head!
The troll swayed on the spot, its tiny eyes filled with dim-witted confusion, and then collapsed like a falling wall.
The floor of the bathroom shook violently under the impact.
Silence followed, save for the dripping of a broken tap.
Harry and Ron stood with their mouths hanging open.
They looked at the fallen troll, then at Hermione, who had stepped out of the cubicle looking pale but resolute, and finally, their gaze fell upon Stelle, who had appeared at the doorway at some point.
Stelle lowered her hand, looked at the unconscious troll, then at the club still resting on its head, and finally looked at Hermione, giving a solemn nod.
“Good coordination.” She gave Hermione a thumbs-up.
Just then, a flurry of hurried footsteps echoed outside.
Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and a newly conscious Professor Quirrell burst into the bathroom.
Upon seeing the scene before them, all three professors showed expressions of utter shock.
Professor McGonagall’s stern eyes swept over Harry, Ron, and Hermione, finally landing on Stelle.
Her lips turned white with anger.
“How…
how dare you…” Just as she was about to announce an unprecedentedly severe punishment, Hermione suddenly stepped forward.
Though her voice still trembled slightly, it was remarkably clear: “Professor, they came looking for me!
I…
I thought I could handle the troll, but I was wrong.
If it weren’t for Harry, Ron, and Stelle, I might be dead.” Harry and Ron stared at Hermione in astonishment.
Stelle’s face remained largely expressionless.
She only blinked, looking slightly surprised by Hermione taking the blame, but she kept her mouth shut and didn’t blow her cover.
Professor McGonagall looked at the four students—especially Stelle’s innocent face—then at the unconscious troll on the floor and the club that had knocked it out.
Her stern expression eventually gave way to a mixture of lingering fear and sheer disbelief.
Ultimately, after docking points and administering a stern lecture, the professors left with highly conflicted emotions.
The four students stood in the wrecked bathroom, the atmosphere slightly awkward.
“Thank you, Stelle,” Hermione whispered, her voice still shaky.
“And thank you for throwing that cookie.” Stelle looked at her, pulled another identical frosted bat cookie from her pocket, and handed it to her.
“To restore your energy.” Hermione blinked in surprise but took the cookie.
Ron looked at Stelle, his expression bizarre.
“You…
you really just threw a cookie at it?” Stelle nodded, taking it as a matter of course.
“It lifted its foot; that was its weak point.
Distract it, create an opening.” She paused, then looked at Hermione.
“Her Levitation Charm was very timely.” With that, she cast an appreciative glance at Hermione.
Looking at Stelle, Harry felt for the first time that this Hufflepuff girl, who always acted so bizarrely, was actually kind of cool.
Just as the tension dissolved, a tiny, crisp click echoed from Stelle’s pocket, as if something had quietly fallen into place.
She didn’t check it immediately, but a flash of understanding crossed her eyes.
[Elation Token 6/7 – Obtained at: Girls’ bathroom on Halloween.
In the gaps between chaos and cooperation, using the smallest intervention (a cookie) to lever the largest variable (a club).] And so, Halloween Eve drew to a close amidst a bizarre incident made of a troll, a cookie, and a Levitation Charm.