A Web Of Magic - Volume 1 Chapter 88 Troll Trouble

Magnus walked out of the cabinet and found himself in his bedroom back in Devon. ‘It worked! So vanishing cabinets can bypass Hogwarts’s wards! Is it because there were no vanishing cabinets when they created the wards? Well whatever the reason is, I certainly caught a bargain. I shouldn’t be the first one to do so though. I wonder who was the owner before me?’ Magnus thought. He felt excited at all of the possibilities now that he had a way out of Hogwarts at any time. He didn’t know what he would do exactly, but he would decide on that later. He grabbed some chocolates from his stash at home just for the heck of it and went back to Hogwarts.

Helena saw the door of the vanishing cabinet open and out came Magnus carrying chocolates in his hand. She marveled at how convenient the cabinet could be. “I hope you don’t plan on breaking many rules Magnus. That is not the spirit of a Ravenclaw,” Helena advised him.

“Nothing that would go against the spirit of Ravenclaw, Helena. Alright, I’m be off. See you later milady,” Magnus ran away while giving her a cheeky grin. Helena could only smile at his antics. Well anything was better than her boring life or is it death? She went into deep thought.

It was the day of Halloween. Magnus had a busy day today. After a round of classes and some time-turner shenanigans, he was called up to the medical wing to help Madam Pomfrey. Apparently, a bunch of students got hurt at the same time for one nonsensical reason or the other. Madam Pomfrey went ahead to heal the female students while Magnus was left to deal with the males.

Magnus got started healing the students one by one. While the boys might have been embarrassed in front of Madam Pomfrey, they were comfortable with Magnus healing them. There was one student who wanted to get himself a new hairstyle which ended up with his hair coming alive and waving around like snakes. One boy wanted to set his teeth straight but gave himself tusks. ‘Just the usual,’ Magnus chuckled in his head. He healed them one by one and then came to his regular, Neville Longbottom.

Magnus didn’t know what to think of the boy. He was just a bundle of nerves at all times and was as clumsy as they come. Neville would come to the medical wing at least once a week for one silly reason or the other. His ailments ranged from tripping his foot and falling while searching for his ever-elusive toad to potion accidents during the classes. This time he was here with his fellow Gryffindor boy both looking like they had been in a fire accident.

“So, what happened Neville?” Magnus asked the boy with a smile.

“Charms class accident?” both Neville and the boy next to him looked sheepish. Apparently, they were learning the levitation charm in the class and these two somehow set each other on fire. ‘How does one cause fire while trying to levitate a feather?’ Magnus marveled once again at the wonders of Hogwarts. Two flicks of his wand and the two of the Gryffindors looked good as new.

“There, done. Off you go then,” Magnus told them with a smile.

“Thank you,” both of the boys said wholeheartedly and then went away. Neville was impressed once again at the efficiency of the healers at Hogwarts. Magnus in particular seemed really amazing to him. The older boy was just two years his senior but was a prodigy according to what he had seen and heard. It usually took him more time to reach the medical wing than it took him to get healed. ‘I wonder when I can become like that. Gran would get off my back then,’ Neville wondered as he walked back.

Magnus finished healing all of the students and spoke with Madam Pomfrey for a while. By the time he was done, it was time for the Halloween feast. The castle looked deserted at this point as most of the inhabitants were already in the Great Hall for the feast. Magnus quickly made his way through the empty corridors towards the Great Hall. He pulled out his pocket watch out of habit and had a look at the map to see where his friends were.

They were all already in the hall awaiting the feast. Just as he was about to close the watch, he noticed there was no Hermione in the hall. He searched the map for a moment and found her in the first-floor girls’ bathroom. ‘What’s she doing there at this time?’ Magnus wondered. He mused for a moment if he should go but decided not to. It’s not like she’s in danger or anything. She’s just in a bathroom.

When he was close to the Great Hall, he heard a commotion from inside the hall. It felt like the students were panicking. Magnus picked up his pace and was about to enter the hall when he almost bumped into the running Harry and Ron. Magnus dodged the boys with grace and held them both from tripping with his hands.

“Boys, what’s the hurry?” Magnus asked them curiously. Usually during the feast students run the other way. Magnus deduced that whatever it was, it was probably related to the commotion in the hall.

“Magnus! Thank god you are here. We need to find Hermione! Quickly!” Harry urged.

“Hermione? What for?” Magnus asked.

“There’s a troll in the castle. We have to tell her quickly,” Ron urged from the side.

“A troll in the castle? How did that happen?” Magnus asked shocked. The only place where trolls reside nearby is the Forbidden forest. No magical creature can just waltz its way into the castle. Someone would sight it long in advance on its way from the forest. Something as big and noticeable as a troll would be long noticed. ‘Unless I’m missing something,’ Magnus thought.

“Alright, you guys stay here and tell one of the professors. I’ll find Hermione,” Magnus told them as he swiftly ran away.

“She’s in the first-floor girls’ bathroom!” Harry shouted from behind. Magnus lifted his hand signaling he had heard without turning back. As he ran swiftly towards the first-floor, he looked at his pocket watch map. Hermione was still in the first-floor bathroom but she was now in a corner with no movement. He found no trace of the troll. It wasn’t a surprise because the way the map works is through names. Only beings with names are tracked. They may even be dead like the ghosts but as long as they are named, the map will show them. As Magnus’s map is an improved version of the Marauder’s map, his shows even the named pets of the students apart from just Mrs. Norris like in the original. Unfortunately, unless someone named the troll, the map won’t show it.

As Magnus neared the first-floor girls’ bathroom, he saw the broken door and heard the screams of Hermione from inside. ‘Shit! It’s inside,’ Magnus hurried. He kept his questions for later. He smelled the stench before he entered the bathroom. It’s a troll alright. He soon saw it. It was twelve feet tall with a dull granite grey skin. Its great lumpy body was like a boulder with a small head on its top that was disproportionate to the rest of its body. Its short legs were as thick as tree stumps with flat thorny feet. Magnus pulled out his wand and shouted to get its attention. “Over here, you dumb creature.”