章節 112: Chapter 112

Were the situation not so dire, Harry would have groaned as he realized the problem. Of course. This creature just had to be magically resistant. That was the only explanation he could think of. Trolls were magical creatures, more so than a witch or wizard. It must have a very high level of resistance to most compulsion spells, minor hexes and jinks. Only a high level spell would be able to damage this thing.

Which meant Harry was pretty much out of luck. He hadn't studied offensive spells beyond the few taught in first year Defense Against the Dark Arts. He hadn't seen a need to. After all, why should he expect any kind of danger at a school protected by some of the most powerful enchantments known to wizard kind? Instead he had focused his efforts and private studies on transfiguration in preparation for becoming an animagus.

He was beginning to regret that decision now.

As the troll let out another roar and decided to ignore bashing the armor with his club in favor of smashing through the small blockade of floating objects to get to him, Harry decided that if he managed to survive this encounter, the first thing he would do was begin looking up offensive spells.

Dodging swing after swing from the much larger being's club, Harry had never been more thankful for his martial arts training. The troll was not only stronger than him, but also incredibly fast, much faster than he would have ever expected a creature of that size to be. As things stood, the only reason Harry had not become a bloody smear on the ground was because of his experience in fighting opponents much more skilled than it (Master Wei), who didn't telegraph their moves to him.

Not that this creature's poorly telegraph moves mattered. Its hide was too tough for his spells to work against it, and its body too strong and durable for him to think of taking it on up close. As far as he could see, there was simply no way someone with a few weak first year defense spells could beat it. And unfortunately, if he did not defeat it, then it would kill him. He only needed to slip up once and he would be dead.

Well, if he couldn't beat it, maybe he could make it beat itself. Master Wei had always told him that if an opponent was too strong for him to beat, then he should find some way to use their strength against them. First he would have to find some way to get rid of that club, then maybe he could –

"HARRY!"

– His thoughts derailed, Harry's eyes widened in both shock and horror as he saw Hannah, Lisa, Neville, Susan and Terry rounding a corner. What the hell were they doing here!?

The five stopped upon seeing him, their bodies freezing in fear as they realized he was currently in a life or death struggle with a troll nearly three times their height and several dozen times their weight.

Harry dodged another club swing and flicked his wand at a helmet that had fallen to the ground, sending it hurtling at the troll's face. There was a loud clang as it smacked the creature, and the troll roared in both pain and anger, giving Harry enough time to try and convince his friends to run.

"What the bloody hell are you guys doing here!?" Shouted Harry. Another flick of his wand followed. Another piece of discarded armor crashed into the troll, angering it further. "Get out of here! Go find a teacher!"

Surprisingly enough, it was Neville who stepped forward, his wand clutched tightly in his shivering fist. In fact, his entire body was shivering. Despite the fear he obviously felt, he didn't seem to be leaving.

"We-we're n-not going t-t-to leave you," he muttered frightfully, his eyes wide and his breathing labored as he stared at the behemoth in front of them. He was clearly terrified of going up against the troll. The others said nothing, busy as they were staring in fear at the thing.

"You can't do any good here!" Harry countered frantically as he began magically throwing more and more objects at the troll to keep it distracted. It was working, partially at least. It wasn't looking at his friends, though by now it had figured out that he was causing the objects to attack it and was only swatting the armor that blocked its way to him. "RUN! Go find a teacher!"

In spite of his words, none of them ran. Hannah, Susan and Lisa stood where they were, quivering in the presence of a beast few adult wizards could take down. Terry didn't look much better, but at least he had his wand out.

"I'm not leaving!" Neville shouted, and despite the tremor in his voice, he held his wand aloft. He made a jerky slashing motion and sent a stinging hex the troll's way. The hex fizzled out before it could make it even halfway there. Neville had always had troubles with defensive spells, and in a situation like this, where his terror was nearly overpowering him, the chances of him accomplishing a spell was close to zero.

However, while the stinging hex may not have done anything to its intended target, it did have the effect of snapping Terry out of his stupor. The Ravenclaw first year sent his own hex at the troll, and it did hit the beast. Right on its rear.

Of course, the spell was not powerful enough for the troll to even feel it. Thus it did nothing, and Harry was forced to continue dodging the creature as he tried to convince his friends to run.

"Dammit, Neville! None of you can do anything against this thing! Its too strong! Get out of here now!"

Neville didn't seem to be listening to Harry though. Instead he had turned to the girls and Terry.