Hermione was in an exceptionally good mood—not because she had defeated the troll, but because of the dumbfounded look on Ron's face.
Since neither of the boys had stepped in to help, Hermione didn't feel indebted to them. Still, basic courtesy was necessary.
"Good night, boys. A lot of excitement has happened tonight, and I need a good rest. I believe you do too."
In the Gryffindor common room, Hermione politely bid the two boys farewell. She didn't offer any explanation to the curious stares of the other students and simply left, leaving the two "main characters" to be surrounded and gawked at.
Just as Ron had said, she was an unpopular, meddlesome, annoying person. So let those who were popular and well-liked by their peers stay in the spotlight instead!
Although no professor had told them to keep quiet about the night's events, Hermione chose to keep the secret for now. As for whether others would talk—that was their business.
Inside the Gryffindor common room, Harry Potter and Ron were surrounded by classmates, all eager to hear the story of what had happened today. It wasn't something every Gryffindor had the courage to face.
That was a troll, after all! Even upper-year students might never have seen such a magical creature. Just how dangerous was it, exactly?
"We didn't do anything. Hermione handled the troll all by herself."
"Yes! When we arrived, the troll had just been taken down by Hermione."
"The troll was four meters tall and smelled worse than dung."
"Then the professors showed up. As for how the troll was dealt with, I suppose the professors took care of it!"
The two boys were bombarded with all sorts of questions, their heads spinning from the barrage.
Still, being the center of attention had its perks—they were enjoying the moment. But there was a bit of regret lingering in their hearts. They hadn't been the ones to defeat the troll. If Hermione could do it, then surely they could have too, right?
Among the Gryffindor students, the prevailing opinion on the Halloween troll incident was that Harry Potter truly lived up to his reputation as the boy who had defeated the Dark Lord. To him, a troll was nothing.
What? Hermione was the one who defeated the troll? Sure, no one would deny her contribution—but Harry Potter was involved too, wasn't he? Who could say what really happened in the moment?
Harry had also swung his wand and fiercely taught that brainless troll a lesson. Ron, who had been there, saw it with his own eyes. No one could deny that—not even Hermione.
Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling with a dreamy smile, Hermione thought to herself: Who was it that tried to fight me for the bathroom today?
She had originally thought she'd run into a pervert. At the time, she couldn't believe an ancient and esteemed school like Hogwarts could harbor such a person. But now that she had calmed down, she realized he had probably heard her crying and came specifically to comfort her.
And after the troll arrived, he helped her—not only defeating the troll, but essentially saving her life—and then disappeared, leaving her to take the credit. That meant he had shifted all the attention and consequences onto her. But truthfully, the benefits far outweighed the downsides.
Who had helped her like that? Given Hogwarts' population, if it wasn't a ghost, then it had to be someone who was using an invisibility spell. And judging by the voice, that person was young.
A senior student? A young professor? Was he handsome? What did he think of her?
Hermione felt her face grow warm. She quickly patted her cheeks to calm herself. If she didn't sleep soon, she'd have no energy for classes tomorrow.
With a sweet smile, Hermione drifted off into a deep sleep.
The next morning, when Hermione woke up, the narrative across the school had completely changed. And it was spreading through the other Houses like a plague.
According to the new version of events, Hermione had been nothing more than a burden—chased around by the troll's giant club, reduced to screaming and crying in terror.
Meanwhile, the brave knight Ron and the legendary savior Harry Potter had charged in to rescue the helpless girl. For the sake of love and justice, they had courageously fought the towering troll in a 300-round battle and delivered a devastating blow.
Harry Potter had nearly been captured alive by the troll, while Ron had used the Levitation Charm with perfect precision to snatch the club from the troll's hands.
In short, the whole affair had become: Ron saving Harry in the nick of time, and both of them risking their lives to rescue Hermione, the crying girl trapped in the girls' bathroom. The two boys had shown no fear in protecting a fellow classmate.
When Hermione heard all this, the first thing she did was storm up behind Ron, pull a thick book from her bag, raise it above her head, and prepare to bring it down on this shameless liar's head.
"Aha! This book is for upper-year students—not really suitable for a first-year like you."
Regulus Black happened to be passing by and casually took the book from Hermione's hands. He flipped through it—Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 by Miranda Goshawk. The Standard Spellbook series had four volumes in total, which meant Hermione was currently reading the third-year material.
Regulus skimmed a few pages and saw several phrases marked and underlined. Clearly, the little girl had already understood the book and even taken some notes.
"Maybe you should have been sorted into Ravenclaw. You seem rather out of place in Gryffindor."
Hermione deeply agreed with this statement. She was already being isolated and rejected in Gryffindor. She just didn't know whether Hogwarts allowed students to switch Houses.
Suddenly, Hermione looked up and stared directly at Regulus Black. His voice—it was the same as the one from last night.
"Do I look that good?"
Though he could roughly guess what the little girl was thinking, Regulus Black had no intention of admitting anything.
"Sorry, Professor Black."
Hermione's face flushed, and she quickly lowered her gaze. Staring at him like that just now was indeed quite rude.
"Correction—I'm just a teaching assistant, not a professor. So you can call me Mr. Black."
"Thank you for the advice. I'll think about it."
"Don't get your hopes up. As far as I know, no one's ever switched Houses before. But I can ask around."
Regulus Black's conversation with Hermione, of course, was overheard by the students nearby. And naturally, he hadn't spoken out of pure kindness. A talk like this would only make the little girl feel even more isolated.
Still, if she could switch Houses, it wouldn't be a bad thing—for either of them. It would be beneficial to both Hermione and himself.
Hermione, blushing while talking to her savior, didn't notice the change in atmosphere around her.
The two of them were chatting as if no one else were around, but the nearby students were already whispering about Hermione wanting to transfer Houses.
Regulus Black glanced around. Hmm… was it really okay to throw the little girl under the bus like this?
Oh well! Who cares? If it meant digging a pit for Dumbledore, it was worth it. Without Hermione acting as the brains of the trio, they'd never truly come together. That would make Regulus's own plans much easier to execute.
Who says plans can't keep up with changes? That's just because the plans weren't thorough enough. With this thought, Regulus Black walked toward the staff table, lost in contemplation.
Public opinion still needed time to brew. But through Peeves's big mouth, another version of the story was already circulating—the Gryffindor savior had been glorified. Now it was just a matter of seeing how things would unfold from here.
Regulus Black's job was just to start the story. It was up to everyone else to help it spread.
Speaking of Peeves—he was the most peculiar spirit in Hogwarts. His nature was somewhere between ghost and poltergeist. His ability to interact with physical objects far exceeded that of any regular ghost. But in Regulus Black's eyes, Peeves was nothing special.
As a necromancer, one of Regulus's summoning skills was [Dominate Soul], which could either enhance the magical resistance of his puppets… or simply take control of a soul.
One night, while patrolling, Regulus Black had been targeted by Peeves, who tried to prank the new assistant. Instead, Peeves got caught on the spot—and since then, had become Regulus Black's personal spy.
The latest version of the troll incident, now spreading across all four Houses, was thanks to Peeves—who had enthusiastically mocked the two boys and their exaggerated storytelling skills.
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