Chapter 33: Irregularities

This is the routine battle strategy of arcane mages: First, protect yourself, then seek control, and finally aim to harm the enemy.

Suddenly, Kevin was surrounded by an invisible armour. In the adjacent stall, Hermione felt a chill.

"He's using his own spells again," she thought. "He always has a bunch of self-made spells."

The sensation of cold was even more intense for the troll compared to the young witch. The closer it got to the small figure in front of it, the more sluggish it became due to the slowing effect of the "Ice Armour" spell.

Kevin wouldn't waste this opportunity. He raised his wand again, pointing it at the troll. One after another, icy blue rays shot from the wand's tip towards the troll. It was a 0-level spell, "Icy Ray." Although it didn't inflict high damage, it had the advantage of being a 0-level cantrip that required minimal preparation, making it suitable for emergency use.

All the rays hit the same spot: the troll's shoulder, the one holding the club. Instantly, a thin layer of frost formed on the troll's right shoulder, which thickened with each successive attack, eventually freezing it entirely.

The clumsy troll came before Kevin, twisting its waist, shaking its shoulders, and flinging its arm—all of its muscles worked together, utilising its full strength in one fluid motion, preparing to smash this little thing into pulp with a single blow. However, the imagined scene did not unfold.

The troll, looking rather foolish, stood there for several seconds before it realised that it had only twisted its waist and hadn't completed the subsequent motions. This was because its shoulder had frozen. In the eyes of Kevin and Hermione, the troll had awkwardly bent down in front of them, with the arm holding the club still raised high on its shoulder.

The comical sight nearly made Hermione burst into laughter. However, Kevin, remaining calm, didn't follow suit. He seized the opportunity and began to prepare for his second spell.

"Ice Arrows: Frost Blade."

While casting the Ice Arrows, Kevin reshaped the magic, turning the sharp ice arrows into razor-sharp ice blades, and directed them at the frozen shoulder of the troll. Although the troll had strong magical resistance, it had little resistance to cold damage. Additionally, its rough and flexible skin had become fragile due to the effects of "Icy Ray."

The ice blades hit their mark, and the troll's arm was severed at the shoulder as if a sharp blade had cut through it.

However, due to the freezing effect, it didn't even feel the pain.

"Wow, Kevin, you're amazing," Hermione praised.

Kevin was quite satisfied with this outcome; it was the battle result he had envisioned. The troll had instantly lost more than half of its fighting strength after losing both its arm and weapon. A few more small spells, and they could easily subdue this behemoth. Today's magical experiment was on the verge of success.

Just as Hermione was excited and Kevin was planning to press the advantage, the troll picked up its severed arm and placed the stump against the shoulder wound. What happened next was utterly bizarre.

The moment the troll's flesh and blood made contact, it began to grow rapidly, with meaty protrusions appearing one after another. It was a gruesome sight, and in less than two seconds, the troll's severed arm was perfectly reattached.

No, this reattachment of the severed arm couldn't be considered intact; it could even be described as a very rough recovery. Kevin clearly noticed that the attached arm was slightly crooked; the texture of the skin at the junction didn't match completely. Moreover, it was longer than the other arm, making his arms appear extremely mismatched. However, the most terrifying aspect of this was that even with this crude method, the troll had successfully reattached the severed arm, and the attached arm was still fully functional. This indicated that the troll possessed an extraordinary regenerative ability.

But how was this possible? Kevin's vast database of magical books provided no help, and it was his memories from his previous life that gave him a clue. "This troll, could it have assimilated the characteristics of trolls from other worlds (The Witcher or DnD)?"

Thinking about this, Kevin suddenly had an epiphany. Why not? In this world, you could find characters like Cirilla from the Witcher series and even water elementals, so why not allow this world's trolls to assimilate the traits of trolls from other dimensions? After all, they were the same species. Unlike the trolls in the Harry Potter world, trolls in other universes, whether in D&D or the Witcher world, were known for their regenerative abilities. Trolls healed rapidly, and even if they lost limbs or their heads, those dismembered parts would continue to be active. Some trolls could even reattach severed limbs directly. More astonishingly, if trolls didn't reattach severed limbs, those parts would move and fight independently, creating a gruesome scene on the battlefield with crawling hands, hopping legs, or biting heads. They only stopped when the troll reattached the dismembered parts or grew new limbs.

Evidently, the troll before him was capable of reattaching severed limbs, somehow gaining the power of his counterparts from other dimensions. If the original troll's combat power was equivalent to that of a level 5–6 wizard, this creature, which now possessed the troll's magical resistance and the regenerative powers of a troll, could easily be on par with a level 7–8 wizard.

However, the troll's super-regenerative ability wasn't without weaknesses. Kevin's knowledge from other worlds told him that only strong acids and flames could halt a troll's physical regeneration. "This couldn't have come at a better time," Kevin smirked triumphantly. "I've just learned the 'Fireball' spell and its improved variants today."

With that, he waved his wand and cast the spell he had just mastered: "Monster Summoning!"

In an instant, a massive North American bison appeared, standing in front of the troll. The bison was just an ordinary beast and wouldn't last long against the troll's blows. However, the troll couldn't threaten the summoner before the bison fell. Watching the troll struggle and bellow as the bison blocked its way, Hermione's eyes lit up. "So, the Bison spell can be used to stall for time? That's amazing!"

Kevin's spell wasn't finished yet. Kevin started chanting his second spell as the bison puzzled the troll.

"Scorching Ray!"

A bright, nearly white, orange-red beam shot from the tip of his wand, targeting the troll directly. The beam instantly caused charring and billowing white smoke to be released from the area it struck.

"Roar!"

Trolls were inherently vulnerable to fire. The intense heat brought excruciating pain to the troll, causing it to let out agonised roars. The high-temperature ray passed over the troll's chest, leaving behind a deep scar in the shape of the letter "I." The troll writhed in pain, even rolling on the ground, too absorbed in its suffering to notice the bison.

However, its torment wasn't over. "Scorching Ray!" Another intense beam of light shot out, this time aimed at the troll's newly reattached arm.

Under his careful control, the beam directly hit the interface of the troll's shoulder, slowly passing over. The recently reattached severed limb was originally fragile, and the [scorching ray] now had the effect of an extremely hot laser, incinerating the newly attached arm once again.

The poor troll, after losing its right arm once more, howled in agony and used its remaining left hand to pick up the severed arm, trying to reenact the scene of limb reattachment. Nevertheless, the fire element had suppressed its regeneration ability this time, so it was useless to attempt to reattach the arm.

The foolish troll had no idea what was happening and could only try over and over again, growing more and more frustrated. On Kevin's side, he had finally prepared the last spell.

"Fireball!"

Usually, he wouldn't use such a large-scale destructive spell in such a narrow room. However, the troll was a formidable creature, and within Kevin's spell repertoire, this was the only one that could decisively end the battle.

After casting the spell, Kevin stood in front of Hermione and used "Frost Armor" to protect both of them.

"Boom!"

As the intense fire element touched the troll, it resulted in a violent explosion in the girls' restroom. Even though the explosion was several meters away from Kevin, the shockwave still consumed more than half of the "Frost Armor."

When Kevin turned to look, the troll was charred, lying motionless on the ground, lifeless. If Kevin hadn't canceled the summoning of the Bison before casting the "Fireball" spell, even the North American bison would have turned into roast meat.

"Phew, finally done."

Looking at the giant, charred corpse resembling a small mountain, Kevin couldn't help but wipe non-existent sweat from his brow. "Frost Armour" not only protected him but also provided an air-conditioning-like effect, making sweating quite difficult in this situation.

Hermione also removed her cloak and stood next to Kevin, clearly shaken from the experience. If Kevin hadn't arrived on time, she couldn't imagine what might have happened.

A short while later, footsteps could be heard outside the bathroom, and someone familiar was calling out, "Hermione, are you there?"

It was Harry and Ron; they had come to find Hermione.

"I'm here!" Hermione responded. Harry and Ron remembered to look for her, which touched her deeply. These two friends were indeed loyal.

Of course, what touched her the most was Kevin, who had come to her side immediately. There was no one else who could provide a greater sense of safety.

"Hermione, be careful, there's a troll nearby... What's this?"

Harry and Ron rushed into the restroom, and the sight of the troll's body startled them. Before Kevin could explain, more footsteps approached. Moments later, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick charged in, with Snape and the now awakened Quirrell following behind. Quirrell glanced at the charred troll for a moment, then burst into helpless sobs clutching his chest tightly, and collapsed to the ground again.

Snape bent down to inspect the troll, while Flitwick and McGonagall looked at the four young wizards. "Kevin Green, you have a reasonable excuse for being here, so I won't deduct any points from Ravenclaw," McGonagall said. "But Potter and Weasley, each of you will have 5 points deducted from your house-Gryffindor. Next time something like this happens, you should seek out a professor instead of playing with your lives. If it weren't for Mr. Green's presence, both of you..."

McGonagall didn't finish her sentence; she didn't want to encourage Kevin further.

"Now, you should all return to your common rooms. The students are enjoying the Halloween feast in their respective houses."

On the way back to their common room, Kevin was continuously bombarded with questions by Harry and Ron. They couldn't believe that a wizard their age had faced a troll head-on. As for Hermione, she wore a constant smile throughout—no trace of her earlier fear. The three individuals before her had made her experience true friendship at Hogwarts, especially Kevin. Only today did Hermione truly feel that she had made a friend.