John grimaced.
Well this wasn't good...
Hermione shook behind his back, his arms stretched out to keep her out of the thing's reach.
It was an ugly motherfucker if John had to say so himself.
The thing, he'll call it an 'it' for now, was tall as hell.
Easily able to scrape its hands along the ceiling as it towers over the two.
"H-how?....."
John looked over his shoulder slightly, "'How?' what luv?!"
"It's a troll!"
Hermione screeched as she hide into his back more.
"A mountain troll that shouldn't've been found anywhere near civilization-they aren't smart creatures!-much less be able to sneak inside a place like Hogwarts!"
John frowned as the gears in his head started going.
He didn't dare question Hermione with information.....the girl aced every class he had her with, so something didn't add up with the occult detective....
John flinched with his young companion as he was reminded of the troll's mountain presence with an ear-splitting roar.
"Hey!"
"Get away from my friends!"
John and Hermione watched in horror as Harry, along with Ronald, slid up behind the troll and promptly started to antagonize it!
The trolled turned around at the new noise, grunting at the louder volume.
The wooden club it grasped was raised high, emitting gasps from all three kids.
"Dammit Harry-don't try to be a hero!"
Thinking fast, John raised a hand to one of the sinks.
Rushing magic into the pipeline, braking apart and launching the sink into the troll's frame.
With the pipeline exposed, water doused the floors along with spraying the troll, John and Hermione.
Wasting no time, John ignored Hermione's yelp as he grabbed her hand and dashed, ducking them around a flailing hand attempting to grab one of the smaller bodies.
He shoved the group behind him again as the troll twisted their way.
John kept his eyes on the creature as he hissed at the children behind him,
"What the bloody hell are you two blokes doing here?!"
The two flinched, their previous brave facades crumbling.
Harry tried to reason with him,
"W-we-we knew Hermione was gone! The school was moving students back to the dorms but we knew she was missing!-"
"And you go lookin for trouble?! You dunces could've told a teacher! Someone who could've dealt with searching for Hermione and the troll if they came across it."
John snarled as the troll tightened its hold on its club.
"You've only accomplished the first one!"
The students yelled into his robes as it charged.
John narrowed his eyes, his body going into the familiar stance of fight or flight.
He's done this before with far uglier beasts.
John raised his hands, the children huddling closer as they lost pieces of the small protection.
Like slow motion his hands lit up, a bright disk of light with rings of complex symbols appeared.
He stretched out his fingers, expanding the size of the disk four times over in front of them as the club descended fast-
-the hit connected but the shield held!
The trio couldn't believe that whatever John had made worked!
He drew in the shield, then letting go like it was a rubber band, the recoil stacking the troll to the other side, unfortunately smashing into the stalls.
"That was bloody brilliant mate!"
The redhead shouted in amazement.
It might've worked, but it wasn't over yet.
John couldn't handle the situation his normal way-not while the kids were here!
They needed to get out of the way!
John turned and started pushing the students towards the door before facing the now upright troll.
"Get out of here! Now!"
The beast shook it head, trying to see if that would help regain its equilibrium.
"B-but wh-what about you?!"
"Don't worry about me just go!"
John walked closer to the dizzy troll, much to the three clearly unhappy students voicing out for him to stop.
He bent his knees slightly as it calmed down, he needed to think this through and get it over with as soon as possible!
He ducked under a swinging club, twisting around his body underneath its legs.
Behind it, he grabbed hold of the cloth it bared with his magic and pulled-making the troll's balance go out again as it fell backwards, landing with a thud.
As most Constantine styled plans-it didn't go 100% as planned as a hand swatted at him from its place on the floor.
He landed into a wall-making his back and his head sore on contact, knocking the air from his lungs.
John stayed still as he tried to re-catch his breath.
He yelped when he was grabbed and tossed across the room.
John flew into another sink harshly, breaking its frame with his velocity and bruising his jaw and hand.
He groaned as his body yelled at him just as much as the kids did.
Oi leave him be, he was rusty alright!
He couldn't do half as much in this form as he could as an adult!
Apparently he got what he wanted, the troll deeming him not a threat any longer and turning to the screaming kids.
That made john seethe.
This ugly brute from purgatory made the same mistake everyone else does...
John growled as he stood.
Underestimating John Constantine was the biggest mistake it made!
John whistled for the troll's attention.
"It takes two ta tango ya big lug!"
He readied a bloody hand with another symbol, summoning up his lighter with the other.
"Now come on ugly, Let's dance."
———————————————
Severus and Minerva ran down the halls in search of two things-
The Troll;
And four missing students in total.
They slid as they came across a rather......odd looking Quirrell....
Didn't he fainted earlier?
So why wasn't he in the infirmary?
Snape narrowed his eyes.
If the professor was fine-then why was he going the opposite direction of where the troll was last spotted?
The DADA teacher was making his way towards the staircase, and without the usual clumsiness.
"Quirrell!"
The turbaned man froze, turning around to then quickly.
"O-o-oh m-my! Wh-where cou-could it b-b-be?!"
Snape sneered, back to the stuttering he went did he?
"If you payed any attention at all, then you would've realized that you were headed in the wrong direction!"
But that made Snape think,
Why didn't Quirrell know where the Troll was?
Wasn't he an expert in most magical creatures? Including mountain trolls?
Than he out of everyone should've tracked down the beast and dealt with it by now!
"There's no time for this! We need to focus on the children's and the troll's locations!"
Minerva was desperate, that much was obvious.
The students, while her own house was her favorite, were always a soft spot for the elderly woman.
In her eyes, they were the top priority.
Which suited Snape fine.
He will deal with the troll and Quirrell-
One of the ghosts phased through the walls, telling them of the direction they saw the troll.
Snape glared over Quirrell another time, before storming down the hall.
They better not be wrong again.
The three teachers sped down the direction they were pointed to,
"One of the girl's restrooms? Why would a troll there?"
"Perhaps it followed one of the students that got separated? The child could've been trying to hide?"
Snape shook his head.
It was a marvel that a troll could've snuck through several different floors without an ounce of detection!
The teacher's felt their hearts speed up as they heard a collect screaming, but by the time they reached the restroom's entrance the sound had ceased.
After only a moments hesitation, he entered and froze at the sight.
The troll.........was dead?
YOOOOOOOOOOO!
Another page bites the dust!
Sorry not sorry for yet another cliffhanger, they are a specialty of mine and a way to keep you readers on ya toes~
Anyways-what do ya fellas think of the two page a day schedule? I'm thinking of keeping it going for a little while and I've really appreciated the feedback lately.