By the time Hermione came to her senses, Kyle was gone, leaving Harry and Ron looking at her worriedly.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Harry asked worriedly, "Did you just see a troll?" ”

"What...... I mean, of course not. Hermione shook her head and said, "The trolls are at least a dozen feet tall, and they still have a foul smell all over their bodies, and they will definitely run if I see them." ”

"That's right." Harry scratched his head, also feeling a little stupid about his question.

If they did encounter a troll, Hermione and Kyle wouldn't be able to be there like no one else.

No matter how good they were, they couldn't deal with a monster more than ten feet tall.

It's impossible.

Harry sniffed and said, "It's great that you're okay, let's get out of here quickly,"

I don't know if it's an illusion, but he has been faintly smelling a foul smell since just now, which makes him very uneasy.

Maybe the trolls are around here, and they could come by at any time.

"I think you're getting too nervous, Harry, maybe there aren't trolls at all."

Ron wasn't so worried, he thought for a moment and said, "This is probably a joke by Professor Quirrell to liven up the atmosphere, maybe the professors will come and tell us to return to the auditorium in a moment."

Don't forget, this is Hogwarts...... There's Dumbledore here. ”

"You're not wrong in saying that."

Harry was relieved to hear Dumbledore's name, but he still felt that something was wrong.

"Forget it, let's go back quickly......"

"At least until things are figured out, we can't let the professors see that we're here, or we'll definitely get points deducted," Harry said. ”

After that, the three of them walked briskly towards the Gryffindor Tower.

Along the way, Harry and Ron discuss their encounter with Snape and agree that he was going upstairs to the penalty area.

Hermione, on the other hand, didn't say a word, silently following behind, as if thinking about something.

As she was about to pass through the hallway, she suddenly asked, "Did you two come to me on purpose?" ”

"Yes, we heard Parvatipetil say before that you shut yourself in the bathroom."

Harry said, "You didn't go to the Great Hall for the feast, and you certainly don't know anything about the trolls, so we wanted to tell you about it." ”

"But now it seems that it should be a false alarm." Ron shrugged.

Hermione nodded slightly.

After a long time, she whispered, "Thank you......"

"Nothing, that's what a friend should do."

"As long as you don't preach to us next time."

"Hey, Ron......"

"Okay, I'll just say it."

……

The three of them left the hallway and continued towards the stairs, but as soon as they turned the corner, they heard voices in front of them.

"I don't see any trolls, Professor."

Not far away, Kyle appeared in the middle of a group of professors, innocently explaining, "And there's a reason why I didn't make it to the banquet in time." ”

"Then say it, let's hear it."

Snape said in a long voice, "What an important thing to forget even for a Halloween feast." ”

Hearing this nightmare-like voice, Harry subconsciously shuddered, turned around and wanted to run.

But this is obviously not possible.

"You three, come here!"

Professor McGonagall said coldly, "The Headmaster made it very clear before, tell everyone to go back to the dormitory, don't you hear?" ”

Snape glanced Harry with a menacing look, and the excuse he had just thought of was forgotten.

Harry looked at the ground, his mind was blank, whether it was a deduction or confinement, he just wanted to get out of here.

At this point, Hermione whispered, "Please don't do that, Professor McGonagall, they're looking for me." ”

"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall frowned.

Hermione stepped forward, bowed her head, and said, "I've come to find the troll to see what it looks like...... I've only read about them in books, so I'm curious about them. ”

Ron's eyes widened, Hermione Granger actually lied to the professor?

"They came to me because they were worried about my safety."

Harry and Ron tried their best to pretend that they were already familiar with the story.

"If that's the case......" Professor McGonagall muttered as she looked at them, "Miss Granger, you silly girl, the real troll is much more dangerous than you think, and you should be glad you didn't encounter it." ”

"yes, you're right......"

Hermione hung her head.

Harry couldn't say a word, and Hermione would lie about breaking the school rules in order to get them out of trouble.

It's almost like Snape starting to give candy to everyone, it's unbelievable.

"Miss Granger, Gryffindor will be deducted five points for this." Professor McGonagall said, "I'm disappointed in you, now you'd better hurry back to Gryffindor Tower." ”

Then he looked at Harry and Ron.

"It's you two again, I remember the last time you went to the eighth floor in the middle of the night to remove the armor, the confinement hasn't ended, and you actually violated the school rules again?"

"It's not!" Ron blushed and explained, "There's something hidden in that armor, I see ......"

"But all I saw was you destroying it, and there's nothing in there."

Professor McGonagall shook her head and said, "Well, I don't want to pursue this anymore.

Also, because of your actions to help Miss Granger today, the previous confinement was lifted, and now you can go. ”

Overjoyed, Harry and Ron hurried past the professor and went upstairs without saying a word.

Kyle wanted to go along, but Snape got in front of him.

"I don't think I heard your explanation."

Looking at Snape, who stood in the way, Kyle was puzzled.

No, Harry was here, why did he hold on to himself.

Changed your mind about Lily so quickly?

In desperation, Kyle could only retreat to his original position, saying:

"Because Professor Sprout rewarded me with a shell of an armor pumpkin, I had been studying it in the dormitory, so I forgot to go to the banquet."

"Heh, the armor pumpkin ......" Snape said, moving his nose, "since you've been in the dorm, why do you have a troll stench on you?" ”

"Is there one?"

Kyle's face remained unchanged and he said calmly, "I guess this is probably the smell of compost...... You know, there's that stuff all over the greenhouse.

Of course, if you don't believe me, you can also take my robe back and get it carefully identified. ”

As he spoke, he took off his robe.

Kyle was well aware that he had already used the Cleanup Charm on himself before, so it couldn't have been a stench.

Snape was playing with him.

(End of chapter)