XV. TROLLS

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Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. 

On their way down to the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en feast, Mia, Harry and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' toilets and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Hallowe'en decorations put Hermione out of their minds. 

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. Mia was just helping herself to a bright orange and black lollypop when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. 

"TROLL!" he screeched as he ran down the center of the Great Hall. "TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!" He stopped running and everyone stared at him. "Thought you ought to know." 

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was uproar. Mia screamed at the top of her lungs with the rest of the school as she and Ron pushed each other out of the way to get out of their seats first.

"Get out the way!" Ron yelled, pushing Mia back onto the seat.

"You get out the way!" Mia screamed, grabbing Ron's robes and pulling him back down.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore yelled as everyone fell silent and froze as they turned to look at Dumbledore. "Everyone will please, not panic," Dumbledore rumbled, "now, Prefects will lead their houses back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons." 

Percy was in his element. 

"Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs. 

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Hallowe'en joke." 

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Mia suddenly grabbed Harry and Ron's arm. 

"Hermione!" the younger girl said. 

"What about her?" Ron asked but Harry caught on. 

"She doesn't know about the troll," Harry added as Ron bit his lip. 

"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them. 

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