Chapter 20

We headed straight for the grand staircase from the Great Hall. Millie had locked herself in the Second Floor Girls' Bathroom, so that's where we were headed. Unfortunately, we got stalled on the moving stairs as we had to wait for one of them to come back around. It was only around a minute of waiting but that was too much when there were potential lives on the line. By the time we managed to make it to the Second Floor, and rushed to the Girl's Bathroom, we found it completely empty. There was no sign of Millie, any Trolls, or even any signs of a struggle having taken place here. With a frown, I realized that that meant that Millie could be anywhere. With multiple trolls on the loose in the castle.

"What now?" Questioned Harry.

"Maybe she's made it back to the Slytherin Common room and we don't have to fight any trolls? That'd be brilliant." Tried Ron.

"Sure, and maybe I'll wake up tomorrow as the King of the World. Come on, Mate, when does life ever turn out like that?" Snarked Harry.

"Oi, it could happen. Not everything has to be all doom and gloom, you know!" Snapped Ron.

I tuned the pair out, instead trying to utilize remote viewing to see if I couldn't track Millie down. I'd managed to boost it further than I'd had previously and could use it to search floor by floor. I slumped down and took a seat falling into meditation as my awareness left my body. Immediately, I noticed a few things. Firstly, the Girls' Prefects Bathroom was nearby and Moaning Myrtle was startled, looking about every which way. Could ghosts sense remote viewing? Maybe it had something to do with their nature plus the disembodied nature of remote awareness? Either way, those were questions for later. I moved my awareness away from the area. It was as I moved my awareness down through the Gargoyle Corridor that I found something else. A portrait had been torn off the walls of a Red-haired, Pale-Skinned, Wizard in a sixteenth-century doublet. The space on the wall that had been revealed opened into a hidden passage.

"Help! Trolls!" Called the Portrait, alarmed. That was it. I retracted my awareness back to my body, reeling it in as if it were on a fishing line. Suddenly, I snapped back to myself, body and awareness whole once more, and stood up like a shot.

"Come on!" I called out.

"What?" Blinked Ron, his bickering interrupted.

"Are you all right, Mate?" Queried Harry.

"I'll be a lot better if you two would just follow me. I've found a lead." I sighed.

"How? You just sat there." Asked Harry.

"Remote viewing. It's one of the Mind Arts. I'll explain later, come on!" I insisted.

"Right, you heard the bloke." Nodded Ron.

Harry shrugged at that and together we began running. In normal circumstances, the fact that Ron Weasley had been the one to go with the flow here would have caused me to question the state of things, but there wasn't time for that. Later, after this whole ordeal had ended, I would recall that had grown up around wizarding stuff and he clearly wasn't as thick-skulled as some people made him out to be. He likely had at least heard of some of the various Mind Arts and knew I was capable of at least a couple of them, contributing to his willingness to go with things. Harry, meanwhile, had been Muggle-raised and wouldn't necessarily have known that Remote Viewing was a thing people could do. It was yet another quirk that showed how Harry may be the Chosen One, with the strength of magic that entailed, but that power didn't automatically translate to skill or knowledge.

At any rate, I led them up to the downed portrait, that of a Wizard who was apparently named Temeritus Shanks. He'd clearly been knocked off the wall by a blunt object, judging by the smashed stonework around the edges of the secret passage. From his position on the floor, Temeritus Shanks' Portrait gazed up at us as we approached.

"Careful! Trolls used this passage up to the third floor!" He warned.

"Did you a Dark-haired, First Year Girl run past here? Pug-nosed with the body type of a rugby player?" I demanded.

"You mean the Bulstrode Girl? Oh! I forgot about her! Those trolls must have been chasing her!" Blinked the Portrait.

"Did they chase her through here?" Pressed Harry.

"Yes! She had perhaps ninety seconds head-start on them." Confirmed the Portrait.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's head up!" Exclaimed Ron.

"Don't have to tell me twice." I nodded.

"Be careful! There were two of them, a Mountain and a Forest Troll!" Cautioned the Portrait.

We headed on through the opening in the wall and into a secret passage. The passage itself seemed to be a spiraling, sloping, ramp-like, tunnel that curled upward like a spring to the third floor. Oddly, instead of the one revolution you would think a passage of this sort would entail, we found ourselves making three of them, a testament to the eldritch layout of the Castle, before we were spat out of an alcove on the Third Floor where a battered suit of decorative plate armor and sword would have been displayed on a stand in the Armor Gallery. Here, the various armored plate sections were scattered about, a vambrace here, the breastplate there, and so on, revealing that the Trolls had not waited for the armor to move aside as charmed before exiting.

"Where to now?" Demanded Ron.

As he asked about that, however, a large shadow was cast against one wall in the light of the full moon creeping through the window, revealing something that looked like a person, if you'd crossed that person with some sort of giant or ogre. The shadow was gone down a corridor almost as swiftly as it appeared and a scream of terror that sounded familiar echoed from that corridor, followed by a roaring bellow. That had to be Millie and the Trolls. I immediately bolted for the corridor, Harry and Ron following after, just in time to see the green, moss-covered, form, of a Forest Troll go around a corner, clearly chasing someone or something. We followed after it and entered a room.

Here, in what looked like a disused Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom, judging by the number of dusty training dummies lined up against one wall, was the scene we had been looking for. Millie was cowering against one wall, her right arm hung limp at one side, clearly having been smashed by the glorified tree trunk that the Forest Troll had in its meaty grip and broken. Her wand lay on the ground literally beaten out of her grasp. Facing her was the green, moss-covered, form, of the Forest Troll. A scrappy loincloth of dried hide covering its genitals and a carved club that had to have at one point been the trunk of a young birch tree was being raised up for another blow. Nearby, another troll, this one a gray-skinned Mountain Troll also stood. It also had a crude hide loincloth and club, though its club appeared to be a length of granite that had been uprooted off a mountainside somewhere and knapped into a crude, clublike, shape.

Thinking back to Magnus Gamp's lectures, I recalled that trolls were, effectively, monstrous versions of Neanderthals, capable of crude tool use and basic tribal cooperation, but not having the intelligence for anything more complex. If I remember right, the different varieties of trolls also didn't recognize each other as the same general sort of creature. They viewed the different sub-species of troll as Other at best, and Rivals for resources at worst. This sort of weird half-step between sentience and true sapience had been why they weren't classified as Magical Beings. It also meant that there was no way that a Forest Troll and a Mountain Troll would be working together like this without direction from a third party that was both more intelligent and more powerful than them. Of course, I knew that Voldemort was hitchhiking on the back of Quirell's head and he fit that bill nicely.

For now, however, the name of the game was to beat the trolls and worry about the rest later. Immediately, my wand was in my hand and I engaged the Dead Moment. The first thing I did was fire a Seize and Pull Charm at the Forest Troll's Club. It found that there was resistance it hadn't expected to its raising of the club for another blow and turned to yank on the club. Not before I managed to grab a Strength Potion from my Mokeskin Pouch and down it, however. Now, with my own strength enhanced to match the Forest Troll's, it suddenly found it couldn't lift its club easily. I snarled out an incantation of 'Sensus Obscurus' to try and hit the Forest Troll with a blackout curse. It only partially worked thanks to the magic resistance of Trolls, but it did allow me to haul back with all my enhanced strength and rip the club out of its slightly numbed grip.

As I pivoted, I saw the Mountain Troll was already swinging its stone club for Ron's side, who had blasted the Mountain Troll with an Arrow-Shooting Spell, judging from the conjured arrow shaft that had sunk into its chest. It wasn't slowing the Mountain Troll down, however, and Harry's Incendio had done little more than blacken the stony skin on the Mountain Troll's side. As I pivoted, I released my Seize and Pull Charm and sent the Forest Troll's wooden club hurtling into the back of the Mountain Troll's head. As time sped back up for me, the Dead Moment needing to recharge, the club struck the Mountain Troll, sending it stumbling forward with a plaintive bellow and allowing Ron to dodge the now, off-course swing of the Mountain Troll's Club.

"Millie! Grab your wand and run! Find a professor!" I demanded, shouting.

Millie started at that before nodding and scooping up her wand in her non-broken arm. She rushed for the doorway as both Trolls now focused up on myself, Ron, and Harry. I skipped back toward my two allies, downing a vial of Girding Potion and a Vial of Gytrash Speed Potion as I did so. I then passed more potions out to Harry and Ron as the Trolls let out warning snarls at the three of us. Ron didn't hesitate to down his potions, while Harry looked more hesitant, but only for a moment. Now with our speed, strength, and stamina enhanced, we might actually be able to stall for time until Millie could grab a professor. That was the plan at least, and who knew? Maybe we might even take one of these Trolls down ourselves. Then, the Mountain and Forest Troll retrieved their clubs and bellowed a guttural battle cry at us.

"Right! Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!" I shouted back at the Trolls. That got me a perplexed look from Ron and an amused one from Harry. Unfortunately, the Trolls then charged again.

And there was only time left for fighting. . .

XXXX

Millie raced through the Halls, desperately trying to find a professor. With a huff, she figured her best bet to do so would be to go back down to the Second Floor the way she'd come up to the Third. The Professors would have to be organizing a response in the Great Hall, after all, which meant if she could get to the Second Floor and take the Grand Stairs back down to the Ground Floor, she could grab a professor easily. Honestly, now that she wasn't being chased by Trolls, it was a lot easier to think. She just had to focus on how to help Blaise and not on the fact that he'd come to save her. That second thought would definitely distract her from helping him.

No, she had to put the thought that Blaise liked her enough to face two trolls in combat out of her mind. Clearly, that sort of thing wouldn't be productive and would only lead to questions of whether or not that meant he also liked her enough to snog her if she asked him to. Millie hadn't ever been snogged before, and thinking thoughts that ran down those lines would only lead to her thinking about snogging Blaise and how that might feel. The heat rose to her cheeks as she thought about how nice it was that a boy seemed to actually like her back, and how Pansy had been completely wrong earlier. That memory, however, made Millie snarl, which in turn meant she definitely wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

As she entered the Armor Gallery, Millie was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the suit of armor near the alcove was scattered in pieces and she tripped over the helmet, which had been lying further into the gallery than the rest of the pile of armor pieces. As Millie stumbled, she jostled her broken arm, forcing the bone to break further and stabbing pain through her arm and up her spine to her brain like a white-hot poker. She screeched out in pain, which had the unfortunate side-effect of drawing attention to her. You see, Trolls had not been the only things to run rampant in the Castle this night. A number of dangerous Magical Beasts had been being kept by Quirell, ostensibly for practical demonstrations. The chaos had let several of them loose and now some of them closed in on Millie.

They slithered across the walls of the corridor toward her, three dark green patches of something that appeared to be fungus or mold. As they followed Millie into the secret passage, however, several eyes appeared in each patch of dark green revealing them for what they truly were. Bundimuns, an acidic, slime-like, Magical Beast. They were capable of firing globs of acidic slimes at unsuspecting Wizards and Witches that could melt skin and dissolve bone. As the three Bundimuns crept up on Millie, who had just exited onto the second floor, the lead Bundimun did just that. Millie was only saved at the last moment by the Portrait of Temeritus Shanks calling out in warning from his spot on the floor.

"Bundimuns! Duck!" Warned the Portrait.

Millie wasn't certain what a Bundimun was but knew the Portraits were generally here to help the Students of Hogwarts. She ducked as she'd been told and the glob of acidic slime sailed straight over her head to splat against the opposite wall, where it sizzled against the stonework, melting the outer layer of stone. Millie straightened and turned, catching sight of the three Bundimuns. They blinked at her with their multitude of eyes and such a sight made her want to gag. She held her wand out in her left hand, and frowned, suddenly realizing she didn't know how to deal with these particular Magical Beasts. The Portrait of Temeritus Shanks must have realized that, however, because he came to Millie's rescue with the answer to her unspoken question.

"They're just magic fungus! A Scourgify should deal with them nicely!" Insisted the Portrait.

"Right! Scourgify!" Incanted Millie. Her wandwork was sloppier than usual, owing to having to use her non-dominant hand, but the spell went off successfully. The Scouring Charm slammed into the Lead Bundimun, spattering it into nothingness with the power of cleanliness. The Second Bundimun spat more acidic slime at Millie but she managed to jump to the side away from it. The glob of acidic slime splatted against the stone floor dangerously close to the Portrait of Temeritus Shanks.

"Careful now! Bloody Things!" Spat Temeritus Shanks' Portrait.

"Scourgify!" Incanted Millie, spell literally wiping the Second Bundimun from existence. The Last Bundimun turned to flee back up the Secret Passage, not willing to stay and fight it out after Millie had already defeated its two compatriots, but a third Scourgify put paid to its attempts handily. Once that was over, however, the adrenaline began to drain from Millie's body and the pain of her broken arm began to return with a vengeance. She huffed and puffed, before slumping against the floor.

"Easy does it now. You look like you've taken a beating." Cautioned the Portrait of Temeritus Shanks.

"I need to find a Professor! Blaise, Weasley, and Potter are fighting Trolls alone!" Exclaimed Millie.

"I think the closest Professor is Professor Sinistra. She headed off to help Professor Vector and Professor Babbling deal with a Mummy who had made its way into the Portrait Hall just a bit further up the Corridor. Mummies are highly flammable, though, even more so than usual for the Undead, so they should be finished with it by now." Informed the Portrait of Temeritus Shanks.

"Thank you!" Nodded Millie, pushing herself up to her feet.

"Don't mention it!" Called back the Portrait.

Millie would indeed find Professors Sinistra, Vector, and Babbling, however, the trio of Older Witches had elected a longer process to Exorcise the Mummy involving Ancient Runes and Numerology from Professors Babbling and Vector while Professor Sinistra kept the Mummy's attention. Millie only caught the last third of the process, but it took another two minutes to finish. As the runic array glowed white around the Mummy, there was a flash of bright light and when it subsided, only dust and bandages remained of the Ancient Egyptian Undead Wizard. Millie cleared her throat from the doorway of the Portrait Hall, prompting the three Older Witches to turn.

"Miss Bulstrode, why are you out of your common room? It isn't safe to be wandering the halls at the moment." Demanded Professor Sinistra.

"What was that?" Questioned Millie.

"The Array of Imhotep. You have to completely banish the spirit of a Mummy or it will just return later. You didn't answer Professor Sinistra's question, though." Responded Professor Babbling.

"Right! Not important! Blaise, Potter, and Weasley went to save me from trolls! They're still fighting, you have to help them!" Insisted Millie.

"Where?" Demanded Professor Vector.

"The Old Third Floor Defense Classroom. You have to help!" Pleaded Millie.

"We will, in the meantime, head to the Hospital Wing for that arm and stay out of any more trouble." Ordered Professor Sinistra. Then, the three Professors rushed out of the Portrait Hall, leaving Millie to make her way to the Hospital Wing alone. Fortunately, she didn't run into any more Magical Beasts on the way there. As it would turn out, that was because they were all already engaged by various Professors. Had anyone stopped to ask why that was at the time, they might have realized the way to the Forbidden Third Floor Corridor was open in the chaos. Nobody did, however. Not until after the event had finished.

By that time, any trace of whoever had made the attempt to enter the Forbidden Third Floor Corridor would be long gone. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next part of Halloween. It turns out that Quirell let more than just trolls in this time, which led to Professors being spread thin enough to give him an open shot at the Stone. Fortunately, he won't get past all the traps. Unfortunately, Snape isn't around to find any evidence pointing to Quirell this time, which will have knock-on effects later.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the next part of Halloween.

Stay tuned. . .