Chapter 21

We very swiftly found out that most of the direct attack spells we knew couldn't do much against the Trolls. They were simply too magic-resistant for such things to do more than annoy them, a reason why most Wizards who hunted them were adults, as a Child, and even most Teenagers, simply were not powerful enough to cause them much harm with spells.

Likewise, the various spells we tried, Diffindo, Telum Pugnus, Locomotor Wibbly, Coloshoo, Petrificus Totalus, Flipendo, and even Incendio spells boosted by the Ritual of Selene's Inner Flame all seemed to wash over the trolls as if they were nothing. Even my Blackout Curse was shaken off after a moment or two of confusion.

Fortunately, if we couldn't harm the Trolls directly with magic, there were other ways to get this to work. Ron, of all people, seemed to hit upon the Arrow-Shooting Spell as the best way since conjured arrows were a physical attack that wasn't made of pure magic, they seemed to actually hurt the Trolls. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that I could slow them down with the use of Incarcerous to conjure binding ropes and the Seize and Pull Charm to trip them up.

Unfortunately, such tactics worked slowly. Painfully slowly, and it would only be a matter of time before our potions, the only things allowing us to dodge close calls from the Troll's Clubs, Thrown Objects, and grasping hands, wore off. We only had to slip up once to take a serious wound. Meanwhile, even the Arrow Shooting Spells only ever seemed to chip away at the Trolls. Hell, Ron had filled the Forest Troll with so many arrows that a small forest of feathered shafts seemed to have sprouted from its back and shoulders whilst Harry kept its attention on him.

Meanwhile, I was forced to deal with the Mountain Troll on my own. I janked to the side, not for the first time, as it came in with its club to smash at me in a downward, overhead, strike that could have easily brained a Horse. I just barely kept ahead of the whistling club as I dodged, in fact, it passed just inches away from my shoulder as I moved with the speed lent to me by the Gytrash Potion. The club smashed into the floor tiles, cracking the black and white tiled Italian marble that made up the floor of the classroom.

I didn't have time to wince in sympathy for the money wasted, though, as I was immediately forced to back away from the Troll, who lashed out with a backhand at me and let off a guttural roar. The meaty, skillet-sized, hand just barely missed snatching my neck to throttle me, thanks to the Gytrash Speed Potion. Skipping backward I fired off an Arrow-Shooting Spell that caught the Toll right through the palm of its off-hand.

The Conjured Arrow thunked into the meaty paw of the Troll and punched through pebbly, rock-like skin and through the palm of the Mountain Troll's off-hand. The wound oozed greenish blood, as the Troll lifted its off hand up to its face, staring dumbly at the wound. The blood of Trolls was extremely mystically active and was an ingredient in a number of potions and rituals. I briefly wondered if I would be allowed to butcher the corpse if I killed the Troll for reagents, but had to put that thought out of my mind as the Troll let out a bellow of rage and renewed its assault.

I was forced to give ground as the Troll bulled on ahead, swinging its club. I dodged, ducked, dipped, and dove around the furious pattern of lashing strikes, the Troll seemingly an expert with its crude weapon. Arcing strikes forced me to give ground, as there was literally no way for me to engage or pause to cast a spell without taking at least a glancing blow.

It was as I backed away from a low, sweeping, strike at my legs that I realized what the Troll was doing. They may be effectively magical Neanderthals in terms of intelligence, more similar to a Human Precursor species than a Modern Homo Sapien, but that didn't make them stupid. After all, Cavemen also used complex strategies for hunting back in pre-history. The Troll was doing that now, forcing me away from Harry and Ron and trying to trap me in the corner. I'd been so preoccupied with avoiding being hit by its club that I hadn't seen the trap until just before I was thrust into it.

Thinking quickly, I realized that while I couldn't really affect the Troll with most spells I knew, I could affect my surroundings. With a snarled incantation, I cast the Ice Jinx in its secondary form, coating the tiles between the Troll and I in a sheet of slippery ice. The Troll stepped forward confidently for another swing and suddenly found its footing lost and itself thrown off-balance by the Ice Jinx. I immediately booked it out of the trap, firing off an incarcerous at the Troll to keep it down on the ground a bit more while using the Sieze and Pull charm to snatch its Club out of its loosened grip and toss it with a pivot at where Harry was fighting the Forest Troll.

"Harry! Depulso!" I shouted, hoping that the Chosen One would parse my meaning.

I knew he'd grabbed the Banishing Charm from Cedric Diggory at one of our Cross-House Study Group sessions, so hopefully this attack would be enough to put at least one of our opponents down for the count. If not, I was running out of ideas for how to win this, since it seemed like the Arrow-Shooting Spells were taking far too long.

"Right! Depulso!" Incanted Harry, banishing the Mountain Troll's stone club right into the face of the Forest Troll.

The stone club smashed into the Forest Troll's face full-on cracking it right between the eyes and breaking its nose. The Forest Troll's Eyes rolled up into the back of its head and it slumped to the stone floor, unconscious, with a probable concussion, though Troll Bone was too thick for me to hope for a cracked skull from just that.

It was just about that time that my Leglimancy picked up a giant spike in rage and ill-intent from behind me, forcing me to lurch forward with a start. My brief head-start brought on by my sudden development of Danger Sense via the Mind Arts was literally all that saved me from being seized in the grasp of the Mountain Troll as it lurched up and forward to try and tackle me. Instead of seizing me in its arms, it clipped my left shoulder, dislocating it and sending me sprawling to the ground, hissing in pain as I banged my forehead on the tiles, cutting open a gash in my brow as well.

"Saggita!" Shouted Harry and Ron at once.

They fired conjured arrows at the Mountain Troll to draw its attention away from me. Thankfully, the Troll had a short enough attention span to go after the immediate threat instead of seeing if I was down for good or not. My shoulder hurt like a bitch, but it wasn't nearly as bad as being tortured by Madame Lavalle had been. With Occlumency, I was able to push the pain aside and get to my feet. Looking around, I spotted my wand lying nearby, still intact, thankfully. I snatched it up and surveyed the situation.

Harry and Ron were peppering the Mountain Troll with conjured arrows, but those were barely doing much to damage the advancing Troll, who had snatched up one of the various training dummies that lined the wall to use as a makeshift club, swinging it at Harry and Ron and warding off some of the arrows as it advanced. It was pressing Harry and Ron back toward the opposite corner, where it would have them in its power. I had to think of something fast, or Harry and Ron would be toast. I hit upon a solution that had already worked once.

"Accio Mountain Troll Club!" I cast.

The summoning charm latched onto the stone club of the Mountain Troll, pulling it towards me. I barely had time to put my wand between my teeth, pirate-style, before I had to snatch it up in one hand using the Gytrash Potion and Strength Potion to do that and hold it. Then I tossed it at the base of the Mountain Troll's neck with the last of the Strength Potion's power as my potions suite ran out of juice. For the second part of the strategy, I dropped my wand into my hand from my mouth and cast a Depulso at the Club as it flew toward the Mountain Troll, imparting further velocity, just as the Gytrash Speed Potion ran out of steam.

One thing you should know about Trollish Physiology. They may be magic-resistant, their bones might be supernaturally strong and their hides supernaturally tough, and they may have superhuman strength and stamina, along with an ability to heal from most wounds after sleeping a full night. Their spinal columns, however, are still remarkably similar to how a Human's spinal column is. It's one of the reasons they used clubs instead of napping out knives from flint or carving crude wooden spears. A club was less work to produce for such simple creatures while also still being deadly if you caught it the wrong way.

After all, if you break the neck between the second and third vertebrae, then death would be instantaneous, even if you were a troll. As the banished Club smashed into the back of the Troll's Neck, it did just that, breaking the Mountain Troll's neck and severing its spine. It stumbled forward, letting out a plaintive whine as it toppled to the floor and then lay very still, dead even as it fell to the floor with a thud.

Huffing and puffing, I realized that we'd done it, we'd beaten the Trolls. Harry and Ron looked at me wide-eyed and mouths agape like they'd just seen a ghost. It took me a moment to realize what I must look like, bloody gash in my forehead, one arm hanging limp at my side, robes disheveled as I was sucking in lungfuls of air after having just slain a troll. With a sigh, I forced myself to straighten up and put my wand away.

"Bloody Hell, Mate! You just brained a Troll!" Blurted out Ron.

"No. I snapped a Troll's Neck. There's a difference." I ground out, wincing as the movement of holstering my wand jostled my dislocated arm.

"Whatever you did, thanks, Mate. I don't think we would've taken that one down before we'd been backed into a corner." Nodded Harry, thankfully.

"Don't mention it. Wouldn't have happened if you hadn't drawn it away with the Arrow-Shooting Spell." I waved off, wincing again as my dislocated arm was jostled once more.

"Right, well Zabini, I can't say it's not been exciting, but I reckon that makes us even, yeah?" Questioned Ron.

"Yeah. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with anything else tonight." I confirmed.

"Yeah, you ought to head to the Hospital Wing, Mate. Get that arm looked over and that gash checked." Responded Harry.

"I plan to." I agreed.

Just then, however, I felt a brief spike of rage, anger, and pain from off to my right and looked over to spot the Forest Troll lurching to its feet. It glared at me, the closest of its assailants, and without my wand out, and with my Gytrash Speed Potion spent, there wasn't much I could do to stop my death. Fortunately, however, help arrived before the Troll could snatch me up and rip my arms out of their sockets like an angry Wookie.

"Mister Zabini, Duck!" Came the voice of Professor Sinistra from the entrance to the classroom.

She didn't have to tell me twice, I immediately fell to the floor, right on my arse as a trio of indistinct spells sailed over my head. Unlike the direct spells that Harry, Ron, and I had cast, these ones actually hurt the Forest Troll, though it took three of them to put it down for good. I supposed that was the power of an Adult Witch compared to a First Year. The first spell seared into the Troll's thick hide, wounding its shoulder, while the second carved into the side of its knee as if a beast had clawed it. Down an arm and a leg, the Troll couldn't move from its spot as the last spell boiled its brain in its skull, killing it.

I turned to see Professors Sinistra, Vector, and Babbling had just arrived. Like Professor Sinistra, Professors Vector and Babbling both also had one parent who was a British Wizard and one who was foreign. Professor Vector's Mother was also from Magical Italy, while Professor Babbling's Mother was from Israel. I remember hearing about that when discussing the professors a while back. It seemed they worked fairly well together and had just saved my life to show that fact.

"Thank you, Professors. I'm unsure I would have been able to react in time to avoid something unpleasant." I thanked.

"Never mind that, Mister Zabini. Why are you not in your Common Room?" Demanded Professor Sinistra.

"Millie wasn't at the feast, Professor. She wouldn't have heard of the Trolls and as a friend of mine, I thought I had better find her before the Trolls did. I wasn't nearly as fast as I'd hoped, the Trolls had already dislocated her arm and backed her into a corner when Harry, Ron, and Myself arrived." I summed up.

"Yes, we ran across Miss Bulstrode. She was the one who informed us you were fighting. I don't understand why Mister Potter and Mister Weasley are also here, though. Slytherins and Gryffindors don't usually combine forces these days, after all. Why did you two tag along?" Queried Professor Vector.

"We're Gryffindors, Professor. We're supposed to be courageous." Answered Harry.

"Even to help a Slytherin? I was given to understand the Rivalry between your houses has grown somewhat toxic of late. As bad or potentially worse as it was when we were students during Voldemort's Rise." Pressed Professor Babbling.

"No reason not to mend fences. Besides, Zabini's an all-right Bloke, for a Snake." Backed up Ron.

"This Troll is dead, not unconscious." Pointed out Professor Sinistra after looking over the Mountain Troll.

"Three First Years killed a fully-grown Mountain Troll? That seems unlikely. They'd have to be prodigies for that to happen." Pointed out Professor Vector.

"Mister Zabini is under the tutelage of Magnus Gamp for accelerated Studies in Potions, Defense, and Charms." Informed Professor Sinistra.

"And Mister Potter is the Boy Who Lived." Reminded Professor Babbling.

"Actually, Professors, Blaise did that by himself. We just drew its attention so he could set it up." Explained Harry.

"Speaking of which, I claim the Mountain Troll's Corpse as Spolia Belli." I insisted.

"You're entitled if you truly did kill it, but why would you want such a grisly trophy?" Asked Professor Vector.

"Why else? Potion ingredients and ritual components." I responded.

"It's not illegal, not if the Troll was killed in self-defense. The Wizengamot's ruling is fairly clear on that." Shrugged Professor Sinistra.

"Thinking of going Troll-Hunting, Aurora?" Grinned Professor Babbling.

"I was thinking of performing the Ritual of Jotunblot. That requires Troll and Giant Blood to work." Nodded Professor Sinistra.

"Ritual of whatnow?" Questioned Ron.

"Don't worry about it, Mate. It seems like it's way more complex than we can handle. Giant's Blood, yeah? I hate to think how much trouble that'd be." Cut in Harry.

"Mister Potter's right on that count. You should put such things from your mind, Mister Weasley. You'll live a longer, happier, life that way." Remarked Professor Vector.

"Regardless, it seems that there are a few things we need to accomplish. Mister Zabini, if you'll come with me to the Headmaster's Office, he has a pensive there that can be used to verify your claim to the Mountain Troll's Corpse. Bathsheda will remain here to guard the corpses while Septima escorts Mister Weasley and Mister Potter to the Gryffindor Common Rooms." Demanded Professor Sinistra.

"What? Why?" Queried Ron.

"Yeah, shouldn't you be taking Blaise to the Hospital Wing to get his arm and head looked at?" Asked Harry.

"The Trolls were not the only creatures loosed in the Castle. We passed the corpses of three Bundimuns on the way here, no doubt Scourgified to death by Miss Bulstrode, and previously dealt with a Mummy in the Portrait Hall. it's simply not safe to let you go to Gryffindor Tower on your own yet, not until we've heard whether or not the Dugbogs that were squatting in the Hall of Hexes were taken care of yet or not." Refused Professor Babbling.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall was going to deal with them, but she was supposed to send a message to everyone when she had so she likely got sidetracked dealing with something else." Concurred Professor Vector.

"Harry, Ron. Don't worry so much, it's just a trip to the Headmaster's Office to verify the Mountain Troll was my work. I can handle the dislocated shoulder and forehead cut for that long." I insisted.

"Right, I don't even want to think about what you'll be doing to the Troll when you're done. That'd put even a bloke like me off his dinner." Sighed Ron.

"I guess we'll leave you to it then." Agreed Harry.

"Seriously, though. Thank you for helping me save Millie." I thanked.

"Right, come along Mister Potter, Mister Weasley. Time to get you back to Gryffindor Tower." Nodded Professor Vector.

"Follow me, Mister Zabini." Intoned Professor Sinistra.

Harry, Ron, and I parted ways there for the night. All three of us were assured that we'd done what we'd set out to do this evening and saved Millie. I don't think any of us wanted to chance another meeting with any Magical Creatures so soon after dealing with the Trolls. Unfortunately, at least for my part, the Fates didn't seem to care what I wanted. I would have one more encounter with a Magical Beast before the night was over.

It wouldn't be until later that I would find out that I wasn't the only one. . .

XXXX

AN: So here's the next part of Halloween. Harry, Blaise, and Ron managed to kill one troll and incapacitate the other, doing so long enough for Professors Vector, Sinistra, and Babbling to arrive to kill the recently revived Forest Troll. It turns out, that Trolls may be tough, but their weak points are similar enough to those of Humans that they can be killed if hit right with enough force. A banished stone club to the back of the neck was just the right move to kill the Mountain Troll.

Unfortunately, though it seems like the chaos is over, it very much isn't. Harry, Ron, and Blaise will have one more encounter before the night is over. Harry and Ron have Professor Vector while Blaise has Professor Sinistra, so it won't be nearly as difficult as the Troll Encounters, but it still is one more delay before they can call it a night. Harry and Ron will be facing off against a Runespoor on the Grand Staircase, while Blaise will be dealing with a Tebo.

We'll see them do that in the next chapter.

Stay tuned. . .