"Clap, clap, clap," as Tewell applauded and stepped into the bathroom, "An excellent Compression Charm, hard to believe you just learned it this afternoon."
"Professor Fawley!"
Hermione's face brightened, and she inadvertently relaxed her grip on her wand, unable to maintain the Compression Charm any longer. Feeling the spell loosen, the troll stumbled slightly. The sudden ease, after having exerted so much force, left it momentarily disoriented.
Scratching its small head in confusion, the troll's limited brain capacity could only focus on one thing — tearing apart the two people before it!
Hermione's expression of joy vanished as she helplessly watched the troll raise its club to strike.
"Professor—"
Before she could finish her plea, the troll froze, still mid-swing, its club hovering ten feet above her head.
"What's going on?"
Tewell emerged from behind the troll, his nose now encased in a bubble. He had underestimated the stench that was a hundred times worse than the bathroom's.
"Nothing..." Hermione said, shyly lowering her head, "How did you know I was here?"
"Your two friends told me."
Tewell then "blew" the troll aside and helped Hermione to her feet. The young witch was still shaky, barely able to stand.
"What kind of friends are those?" she muttered under her breath, pouting slightly.
"Don't be too harsh. Consider everyone who cares about you as a friend. That's how you make more friends."
On their way out, Tewell repaired the bathroom door before finally letting go of Hermione, allowing her to join her classmates.
The students had arrived, and a few anxious professors stood nearby. The hallway was bustling as Percy struggled to maintain order; getting young wizards to listen was no easy task.
"Line up by house and year, first years at the front, third years at the back, and second years? Of course, in the middle!"
Suddenly, everyone quieted down, expectantly looking behind him.
Percy turned around, "Professor! I've brought the students from all four houses, years one to three!"
Tewell nodded in satisfaction.
"Thank you very much, Percy. Please stay here a bit longer as a reward. At the end, you can practice some spells on the troll."
Percy beamed with joy, "It's an honor to serve you."
Tewell then turned to the young wizards and pointed towards the troll in the distance.
"As you can see, here we have Mr. Troll. Tonight's extra lesson will be conducted by him."
He arranged the troll's body in a spread-eagle position so that the students could clearly see each part of its body.
"So first, what is a troll?"
Hermione shot her hand up, conspicuously tall among the third-year students.
"Hermione," Tewell tapped his wand, "Speaking of which, Miss Granger just held off the troll for at least twenty minutes using a spell she learned this afternoon. Therefore, ten points to Gryffindor!"
Blushing at becoming the center of attention, Hermione still mustered the courage to respond loudly.
"Trolls are magical creatures with remarkable strength but very low intelligence, which makes them extremely violent and prone to attack without provocation."
"Correct, trolls are generally divided into three types: mountain trolls, forest trolls, and river trolls. The one we have here is a mountain troll."
"Professor, do all trolls smell this bad?" asked a first-year wizard.
They stood closest to the troll, which also meant they were most affected by the smell.
"Besides the river monster, the taste of the other two isn't that great; after all, it's hard to get such creatures to understand the purpose of bathing."
Considering the patience of the young wizards, Tewell added a bubble around the giant, locking in the smell.
The students finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"You may have noticed that the giant has a very small head. The Muggle world likes to measure intelligence by brain size, and we in the wizarding world do too."
"But bear in mind, some magical creatures don't have large brains, but that doesn't mean they aren't intelligent. So, don't underestimate any magical creature; they might be smarter than you."
"Of course, this rule still applies to giants, so don't be fooled by their thick legs and long arms; the small head is actually their fatal weakness."
"This is also another principle of biology—no creature is perfect. Once you find their weakness, you can easily defeat them."
"Next, I will allow some of our excellent young wizards to come up and demonstrate how to deal with a giant."
As soon as he finished speaking, the young wizards shouted excitedly, as if being loud could prove their excellence.
Tewell pulled out a clinking pocket, the first batch of iron-armored spell badges he had ordered from Devis and Bance.
Of course, what little magic is inside, only he knows.
"Remember the orb game? I invite the top ten from each year to come forward and receive a badge."
Accompanied by sighs of disappointment from the other students, thirty top-ranking students walked out proudly, each taking a badge from the pocket.
"This is a protection badge that will guard you in times of danger, so try to pin it in the middle of your body, like around your waist—
Mr. Malfoy, I know it looks handsome to wear it on your chest, but please follow the instructions."
Malfoy's pale face turned slightly red as he hurriedly pinned the badge at the center of his abdomen.
Harry chuckled at this scene; he had initially wanted to pin it on his chest too, but he gave up on the idea after seeing Malfoy do it.
"Very well, let's have the ten first-year students come forward."
Tewell lifted the freezing curse from the giant, but then cast a slowing spell, allowing it to break through the bubble in slow motion.
The stench wafted over, making the ten students tear up.
"The stench is also an attack method of the giant, and have you noticed its long arms? That's another not-so-subtle offensive method. Some unfortunate wizards have been flattened because they ignored the length of its arms."
The students instinctively stepped back, even though they were still far away.
"So, the question arises, as first-years, how would you deal with this giant? All first-year students should think about this."
It was Hermione who raised her hand first: "Use a pressure spell to slow down the giant's movements!"
"Yes, that's also the method Miss Granger just used against the giant. Its large feet make it particularly simple and effective to cast a pressure spell."
"What else? Remember, the giant's weakness is in its head."
Trying to redeem his earlier image, Malfoy guessed loudly, "Dazzle its eyes?"
"Exactly right!" Tewell exclaimed, snapping his fingers, causing the torches along the corridor to flicker.