Black Soul- George Weasley

The One With The Troll

After classes, Astraea and the twins went to the Great Hall for dinner. A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

George has made Astraea come to the Great Hall, breaking her tradition.

Astraea was chatting with her friends when she made eye contact with Harry. He seemed wanting to talk to her, but she looked away. To Harry, it seemed that she was upset with him, but to be honest, she just couldn't face him.

"When are you planning to tell us what got your wand in a knot?" George asked Astraea. When she tried to make an excuse he added, "Don't tell me Harry and the bullying again. I know it is not".

Astraea was about to give in when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy was in his element.

"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

                                                                           *********************

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions.

As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly bumped into someone. Astraea.

"Are you okay?" asked Harry.

"I've just thought — Hermione."

"What about her?"

"She doesn't know about the troll."

Ron bit his lip.

"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. Astraea, Harry and Ron had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry and Astraea behind a large stone griffin.

Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Search me."

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.

"Can you smell something?"

Astraea sniffed and a foul stench reached her nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. And then they heard it — a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed — at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.