Harry found himself at the back of the group, directly facing the massive jaws that suddenly lunged downward. The foul stench hit his face like a physical blow, nearly making him gag. Just as despair began to paralyze him, Adrian's voice cut through the chaos.
"Protego Maxima!"
A series of invisible barriers materialized in mid-air, blocking the three-headed dog's vicious attack. But within seconds, another set of fanged jaws tore through Adrian's magical shields like paper.
Fortunately, that brief moment was enough for Harry to snap out of his frozen state and dodge to safety.
Ron, meanwhile, had already thrown himself at the door, yanking frantically at the handle before remembering they had locked it themselves.
"Who locked the door?!" Ron shouted desperately.
Adrian, who was currently restraining the three-headed dog with a combination of Stupefy and Petrificus Totalus spells, couldn't help but roll his eyes. You did, you absolute muppet.
As Ron panicked, convinced he might actually die here, Hermione pushed him aside and pointed her wand at the door lock.
"Alohomora!"
The unlocking charm broke the lock with a sharp crack. All five students bolted through the doorway, slamming it shut just as the three-headed dog, Fluffy, tried to follow them out.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Even from a safe distance, they could hear the faint sounds of crashing and roaring from behind the reinforced door. The group of escaped students finally allowed themselves to breathe, especially Adrian, who'd been dragged into this mess through pure bad luck.
While restraining Fluffy, Adrian had discovered just how limited his current magical power really was. His stunning spells had barely affected the massive creature's movements, doing little more than annoying it.
If Hermione had taken any longer to open that door, he might have ended up as dog food. In such a cramped space, there hadn't even been room to properly dodge.
The experience drove home just how weak he still was. He might be able to handle first-year bullies like Malfoy, but against real danger, he didn't even have the ability to put up a proper fight.
"That monster won't break through the door and escape, will it?" Ron glanced nervously at the door, which hadn't stopped shaking.
"No, it's specially reinforced," Adrian explained calmly. "Otherwise it would have broken free already."
"How could Professor Dumbledore keep such a creature in the castle?" Harry was still shaken. He'd never imagined encountering something so terrifying at Hogwarts, he'd nearly been eaten alive!
Hermione's response was sharp, her voice higher than usual from the adrenaline, "I think you should remember that Dumbledore specifically warned us not to come here during the welcome feast! If we hadn't been wandering the corridors after curfew, breaking school rules, we never would have ended up trapped in there!"
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, recognizing the beginning of one of Hermione's lectures, while Neville looked close to tears.
But surprisingly, after venting her frustration, Hermione didn't threaten to report them. Instead, she revealed that she'd spotted a trapdoor beneath the three-headed dog and suspected it was guarding something important.
Before they parted ways, though, Hermione firmly warned the others that whatever was down there had nothing to do with them. It was Professor Dumbledore's concern, not theirs.
Hermione's mixed signals left the boys uncertain, but at least it seemed she wouldn't be running to Professor McGonagall about their rule-breaking.
"I knew Malfoy was being underhanded," Ron fumed as they returned to their dormitory. "He must have told Filch we'd be in the trophy room! Tomorrow I'm going to—"
"Adrian, we should have listened to you," Harry interrupted, looking embarrassed. After all, Adrian had warned them about exactly this possibility that afternoon.
"Don't worry about it," Adrian waved off their apologies. He'd never really expected Harry and Ron to resist the temptation anyway. His involvement had just been spectacularly bad timing.
"By the way, Adrian, what were you doing in the corridors?" Harry asked curiously.
"Actually, I was looking for you lot," Adrian said casually. He couldn't exactly admit to breaking into the Restricted Section for some late-night reading.
Harry and the others felt even more guilty, though their shame was quickly forgotten as they began discussing the trapdoor and speculating about what the three-headed dog might be guarding. Eventually, Harry mentioned the package he'd helped Hagrid retrieve from Gringotts before term started.
Adrian stayed out of the conversation. The newly activated challenge quest was giving him enough of a headache without getting involved in Dumbledore's elaborate schemes.
The only silver lining was that Halloween was still weeks away, giving him time to prepare for whatever troll encounter awaited him.
----
Over the next few weeks, Adrian worked hard on his training and spent his free time in the library researching trolls.
"Complete Guide to Common Magical Creatures"... "Taming Dangerous Monsters: A How-To Manual"... "Can Giants and Trolls Have Children Together?"...
He even found himself reading "Wandering with Trolls" by Gilderoy Lockhart, who would replace Professor Quirrell as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher next year.
Adrian knew Lockhart was a fake who used memory spells to steal other people's stories, but he had to admit the book was surprisingly good and professional. That's why Hogwarts' library had bought it.
Honestly, seeing Lockhart's big fake smile on the cover made Adrian not want to open the book at all.
But the other books had been pretty useless. The "Complete Guide" just said that trolls had no medicinal use and that every part from brain to body tasted terrible when cooked.
The "Taming Manual" unhelpfully said that wizards could usually beat trolls by showing they were more magically powerful.
What's the point of that advice? If Adrian was strong enough to overpower a troll, he wouldn't be desperately researching them in the first place.
The study about mixing giants and trolls had been very detailed with pictures that made Adrian's eyes hurt.
"Wandering with Trolls," though, told stories that actually gave useful information about how trolls behaved and what their weaknesses were.
For example, trolls were usually pretty stupid and always hungry, eating almost anything. This meant you could use food as bait, since trolls would probably fall for food-based traps.
The book also said that trolls' tiny heads and huge bodies made them easy to knock over. A strong spell aimed at their legs could make them fall down, giving you a few seconds before they got back up and stomped on you.
Finally, the troll's head was weak, much more fragile than the rest of its body. A good hit to the skull could knock one out right away.