Worthy Of Magic

Part 6 - The Experience

The short battle with the troll had been exhilarating. Fighting a magical creature that fought back and drew blood had drawn out something Harry had kept supressed for too long.

He had been on his way back to his common room when he had heard a roar and a scream. Curious, he navigated towards the din and stumbled upon the sight of a humanoid creature with green skin, a long face with droopy eyes and mouth with thick purple lips half open. It was wearing a loincloth and a jacket that looked like it was made from animal skin; holding a big wooden club in thick meaty hands that looked like it had been awkwardly carved and decorated with thorns. The lethal club was pursuing a screaming and scrambling girl in an effort to crush her into paste. Harry recognised her as Hermione Granger.

The void bubbled. There was a living being before them and it was attacking a student. His instinct told him there would be no trouble if he unleashed the void at the Troll. At last, an opportunity to kill with the void! He didn't need words to scream his intent. He weaved his wand and with a feral grin cast a bone breaking curse towards the troll.

To his shock, the curse simply splashed against the beast. It frowned and looked around, as if looking for a mosquito or a fly. The creature, which Harry now recognised as a Troll spotted Harry and glared at him stupidly.

Harry grinned. His eyes danced with bloodlust. He raised his wand with a dramatic flourish and pushed the void out of his wand with greater will. The intent was to melt the skin of his target and this time the curse made the Troll jump in pain. The skin around his shoulder where the curse hit looked like the troll had got mildly burnt.

The troll roared and lumbered towards Harry with its club raised.

Harry pulled at the void, expelling it towards the troll with the intent of stopping it in its tracks.

It worked.

Unfortunately, the troll swung the club down and shattered the floor along with Harry's concentration. A broken tile screamed past his face and cut a thin line of skin on his neck.

It roared again and stumbled forward as the void lost its hold on it.

Harry, quick as a cat, rolled away from the path of the club and stood up and ran past the troll. He skidded to a halt facing the back of the beast and remembered about the cutting hex he had read about.

There was a smile on his face and the feeling of blood pumping through his veins was making him excited. He felt the cut on his neck sting and his desire to kill the Troll seduced his senses.

He quickly ran through the necessary wand movements before the troll could turn around. A glowing silver rope sprang out of his wand and wrapped itself around the troll's neck.

Harry immediately felt a powerful pull on the void as the troll roared and tried to break free of the noose. He grunted in exertion and focused on the void. There was a connection between the spell and him and suddenly it became a battle of wills between the troll and him. He felt as if he were trying to crush a mountain. His will was the wind, an unstoppable flow that only got stronger if denied movement. He pushed more of the void, more than ever before, into the spell and envisioned the mountain made of sand.

It happened almost instantaneously. One minute Harry was panting, his mind under severe strain, pouring all of his power into the spell, and the Troll choking, it's hands pulling against the rope, it's eyes bulging. It stumbled and hit the wall, struggling for air and suddenly, the silver rope cut through troll skin and the troll stopped making noises. Its body shuddered and with a disgusting squelch, the head detached and fell to the ground with a thud.

Hermione retched.

Still high on the adrenaline of a great battle, Harry turned wide and excited eyes towards the Gryffindor girl. The void, in celebration, urged him to kill her too.