When Hermione came to her senses, Kael was already gone, leaving only Harry and Ron looking at her worriedly.
"Are you okay, Hermione?" Harry asked with concern, "Did you see the Troll just now?"
"What... I mean, of course not." Hermione shook her head and said, "The Troll is at least ten feet tall and reeks terribly. If I saw it, I would definitely have run."
"That makes sense." Harry scratched his head, feeling that his question seemed a bit silly.
If they truly encountered a Troll, there's no way Hermione and Kael could be standing there unharmed.
No matter how skilled they were, they couldn't handle a ten-foot-tall monster.
It's impossible.
"It's great that you're okay. We should leave here quickly," Harry said, sniffing the air.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he could vaguely smell something foul, making him uneasy.
The Troll might be nearby and could appear at any moment.
"I think you're overly nervous, Harry, maybe there's no Troll at all."
Ron wasn't that worried. He thought for a moment and said, "Professor Quirrell probably made a joke to liven things up. Maybe soon the professors will come and tell us to return to the Auditorium.
Don't forget, this is Hogwarts... Dumbledore is here."
"You have a point."
Hearing Dumbledore's name, Harry felt a bit more at ease, but something still felt off to him.
"Anyway, we should hurry back..."
Harry said, "At least until we figure out what's going on, we can't let the professors find us here, or we'll definitely lose points."
Then, the three of them quickly headed towards Gryffindor Tower.
Along the way, Harry and Ron discussed the incident with Snape, both agreeing that he went upstairs to the forbidden area.
But Hermione stayed silent, following behind them, seemingly deep in thought.
As they were about to pass through the corridor, she suddenly asked, "Did you two come to find me on purpose?"
"Yes, we heard from Parvati Patil that you locked yourself in the bathroom."
Harry said, "Since you didn't attend the feast in the Auditorium, you wouldn't know about the Troll, so we came to tell you."
"But it seems now it was just a false alarm." Ron shrugged.
Hermione lightly nodded.
After a long while, she quietly said, "Thank you..."
"It's nothing, that's what friends do."
"Just make sure you don't lecture us next time."
"Hey, Ron..."
"Alright, I won't say it anymore."
...
As the three of them left the corridor, continuing towards the staircase, they heard voices as soon as they turned the corner.
"I didn't see any Troll, Professor."
Not far away, Kael stood among a group of professors, innocently explaining, "And there's a reason why I didn't attend the feast on time."
"Then tell us." Snape drawled, "What could be so important that you'd forget the Halloween feast?"
Hearing that nightmare-like voice, Harry shivered involuntarily and wanted to run.
But evidently, that wasn't possible.
"You three, come here!"
Professor McGonagall said coldly, "The Headmaster clearly told everyone to return to their dormitories, didn't you hear?"
Snape shot a piercing glance at Harry, and any excuse he had thought of disappeared from his mind.
Harry looked at the ground, his head a blank slate. Whether they lost points or got detention, he just wanted to leave quickly.
At this point, Hermione spoke quietly, "Please don't, Professor McGonagall, they came looking for me."
"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall frowned.
Hermione stepped forward, her head down, and said, "I came to look for the Troll, to see what it looks like... I've only read about them in books, so I was very curious."
Ron widened his eyes. Hermione Granger actually lied to a professor?
"They were worried about my safety, so they came to find me."
Harry and Ron did their best to act as if they were familiar with this story.
"If that's the case..." Professor McGonagall regarded them, pondering, "Miss Granger, you silly girl, real Trolls are much more dangerous than you imagine, you should be glad you didn't encounter it."
"Yes, you're right..."
Hermione lowered her head.
Harry couldn't say a word. Hermione lied about breaking school rules to get them out of trouble.
It was as unbelievable as if Snape suddenly decided to hand out candy to everyone.
"Miss Granger, because of this incident, Gryffindor will lose five points." Professor McGonagall said, "I'm very disappointed in you, you'd better hurry back to Gryffindor Tower now."
She then turned to Harry and Ron.
"You two again. I remember your detention for sneaking to the eighth floor at night and dismantling armor isn't over yet. And now you've broken the rules again?"
"No!" Ron explained, blushing, "There was something hidden in that armor, I saw it..."
"But I only saw you breaking it, and there was nothing in there."
Professor McGonagall shook her head, "Alright, I won't pursue the matter further, but don't let it happen again.
Furthermore, for helping Miss Granger today, your previous detention is canceled. Now you can leave."
Harry and Ron were overjoyed, quickly passing behind the professors, climbing the stairs without a word.
Kael intended to follow but Snape blocked his way.
"I think I haven't heard your explanation."
Faced with Snape, who seemed like an obstacle, Kael was completely baffled.
Harry is here, so why is Snape still targeting him?
Did he forget about Lily so soon?
Reluctantly, Kael returned to his original spot and said:
"Because Professor Sprout rewarded me with a shell of an Armor Pumpkin, I stayed in the dormitory researching it and forgot to attend the feast."
"Ah, Armor Pumpkin..." Snape twitched his nose and said, "If you were in the dormitory all along, why do you have the stench of a Troll?"
"Do I?"
Kael remained calm and said, "I think it's probably the smell of compost... You know, it's everywhere in the greenhouse.
Of course, if you don't believe me, you can take my robe back to scrutinize it."
Saying this, he was about to remove his robe.
Kael knew well that he had already used a Scouring Charm on himself earlier, so there couldn't possibly be any smell.
Snape was just trying to trick him.