"Yes... Professor, technically we should be in the dorm right now," Harry swallowed nervously under Professor McGonagall's sharp stare.
"But theory and practice don't always match up, do they?"
Professor McGonagall's expression got much darker, making Harry quickly explain before he got himself into more trouble.
"What I mean is, Ron and I heard about the troll at the feast. We remembered that Adrian and Hermione might still be walking around, so we came looking because we were worried."
Ron opened his mouth, clearly ready to explain the real reason Hermione had been crying in the bathroom, but she cut him off before he could speak.
"Yes, they came to find me!" Hermione stepped forward, speaking directly to McGonagall. "Professor McGonagall, I thought I could handle the troll myself. I'd read about dealing with such creatures in books..."
"I had no idea how scary they actually were. If Adrian hadn't shown up when he did, I would have been killed." Her voice shook slightly, whether from leftover fear or because she wasn't used to lying, it was hard to tell.
"As for Harry and Ron, they were just worried about us..."
Hermione's cheeks went red as she told her first real lie, but she managed to stay calm throughout the deception.
"How could you think such a thing? Foolish girl, you're only a first-year! How could you possibly handle a mountain troll?" Professor McGonagall scolded, though her tone had more concern than anger.
Adrian cleared his throat meaningfully, reminding Professor McGonagall that a certain first-year had, in fact, just successfully handled a mountain troll by himself.
His pointed reminder left McGonagall somewhat speechless, but luckily Dumbledore arrived at that moment, brought by Filch, saving her from further embarrassment.
The moment Dumbledore appeared, his sharp eyes looked over the scattered spikes, the troll's massive dead body, and especially the cone-shaped spike that had gone straight through the creature's skull.
"Excellent transfiguration work," Dumbledore said, his voice warm with real admiration. "Among students your age, I've rarely seen such precise spellwork. In class, I'm certain Professor McGonagall would give Gryffindor a lot of points for such skill."
"Albus, what we should be talking about is why these children went looking for trolls in the first place," McGonagall interrupted. While she was impressed by Adrian's magical abilities, this hardly seemed like the right time for praise.
"Indeed..." Dumbledore thought about the situation for a moment before speaking to the group. "Miss Granger, your recklessness will cost Gryffindor ten points. However, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, though you broke school rules, your loyalty to your friends is admirable. No punishment for now."
Harry and Ron let out sighs of relief while Hermione bit her lip. The point loss hurt, she'd never lost points for Gryffindor before.
"As for you, Mr. Blackwood..." Dumbledore paused, and everyone held their breath. Then his tone got much brighter. "Your actions tonight earn Gryffindor twenty points."
Relief washed over Hermione's face as she beamed at Adrian, the joy of his reward more than making up for her own loss.
Adrian smiled as well, not just from Dumbledore's praise but because the system had also given him 20 points, a good reward for several days' worth of preparation.
"Isn't this rather easy on them?" Professor McGonagall frowned. "We don't want to encourage this sort of reckless heroics."
"Not every student can defeat a mountain troll within months of starting school," Dumbledore replied gently but firmly.
"By the way, Professor," Adrian asked casually, his mood improved by the recent rewards, "I don't need to pay for damages to the troll, do I?"
"Of course not," Dumbledore chuckled. "However, I wonder if you might visit my office later this evening? I'm quite curious about your encounter with the troll. Perhaps we could have a chat once I've finished dealing with this situation."
Adrian's smile froze instantly. His mouth opened and closed without any words. What exactly was he supposed to say?
His mood dropped as he realized he should have kept his mouth shut.
I'm an idiot, Adrian thought miserably as he walked toward the headmaster's office. I should have spent some time and points towards learning Occlumency before going anywhere near the third floor. Stupid, stupid, stupid...
He continued this mental beating-up of himself, deeply regretting his failure to learn mental defenses ahead of time.
Though to be fair, it wasn't entirely his fault. To complete the challenge quest successfully, he'd put nearly all his grade points into potions and essential spells. There simply hadn't been enough left over for Occlumency.
As for learning it without experience cards? Adrian shuddered at the thought. If Harry Potter, supposedly gifted, couldn't master it even with Snape's teaching, Adrian doubted teaching himself would be anything short of a nightmare.
Still, this reminded him of an important detail from the books: Legilimency could only read memories actively being remembered by the target. Getting to deeper memories required more forceful mental intrusion, which was why Snape's attempts on Harry had caused such vivid memory playbacks.
This gave Adrian a tiny bit of hope. As long as he kept his mind busy with harmless thoughts during their conversation, surely Dumbledore wouldn't resort to forceful memory extraction... right?
He approached the headmaster's office with growing anxiety. The guardian here was a particularly ugly stone gargoyle that rotated upward with grinding sounds when Adrian gave Dumbledore's password, showing hidden stairs beyond.
The office itself was a spacious round room. Ancient walls held portraits of previous Hogwarts headmasters, each frame carefully labeled with names and dates of service. What caught Adrian's attention most, however, were the Pensieve sitting on a side table and Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, perched nearby.
The Pensieve was exactly what Adrian dreamed of owning. With proper Occlumency training, he could use it to organize and review his memories safely.
Phoenix blood was a premium ingredient for the Blood Fusion Potion, among the best available.
If he'd had the tools and time, with Dumbledore potentially coming back at any moment, Adrian might have seriously considered whether to quickly draw a sample of blood first...
After all, what harm could come from simply petting Fawkes?