Rebirth of Lady Morgana

Trials and Tribulations. Pt. 2

The air of next room hit them like a train. It was stale and stagnant, with undertones of decayed bodies and rotten food. Hermione thought that a garbage dump in the muggle-world would probably smell better than whatever it was that was causing that pungent scent. Morgana scrunched her nose in disgust as they stepped cautiously inside, the room's gloom barely pierced by the light from their wands.

Morgana carefully cast her eyes around, trying desperately to find the challenge that belonged to this room. Her heart pounded as she strained to see through the dimness, her instincts on high alert. The faint sound of ragged breathing reached her ears, making her grip her wand tighter. She took a step forward, and then froze.

Hermione let out a small, terrified gasp, and Morgana whipped her head around to see what had caused it. There, in the middle of the room, looking like an enormous boulder, a troll began to stir from its slumber. Its massive, grey-skinned body shifted, and a low, rumbling groan escaped its lips. The troll's foul stench seemed to fill the room even more, making Morgana gag.

"It’s a mountain troll," Hermione whispered, her voice trembling. "Like the one that was let loose on Hallowe'en."

Morgana’s mind flashed back to that night, to the panic that had ensued among the students on that fateful night. But this time, there were no teachers, no adults to help them if there was an issue. It was just the two of them, facing this hulking creature alone.

Hermione's face was pale, but she stepped forward, her wand raised. "We need to get psat it," she said, her voice quiet but steady despite the terror that was pulsing through her veins and the fear in her eyes. "We can't turn back now."

Morgana nodded, swallowing hard. "Okay, we need a plan. You have any idea of spells and charms that might work against it?"

Hermione's brow furrowed in both confusion and consentration. "Why don't you do what you did on Hallowe'en? Surely that would work again?"

Shaking her head, Morgana looked like she may faint, "No, it wouldn't. Not for a couple of reasons, the biggest being that this one is about 5 sizes bigger than the one we faced on Samhain meaning that a greater force would be required, but the ceiling isn't high enough for that. The other being that, I don't even know how I did that. I moved on instinct that night. While good, it's not something to continuously rely on."

Nodding in understanding, Hermione tried to suggest maybe confusing or distracting the troll seeing as they are highly resistant to many kinds of magic.

Morgana took as deep of a breath as she could in the stench, trying to steady herself as her mind raced with possibilities. The troll's lumbering movements filled the room with a sense of looming danger. It was starting to wake up, it's small pig-like eyes blinking as it tried to focuse on the two girls. It's nostrils flared, catching their scent, and it let out a low, rumbling growl that made both Hermione and Morgana's skin crawl.

"We can definitely try confusing it," Morgana said, her voice low. She hoped that the lumbering troll hadn't fully spotted them yet. "Maybe if we make it think there are more of us, it'll get disoriented."

Hermione nodded in agreement about the idea, her eyes flickering from Morgana to the troll and back. "A conjunctivitis Curse could work aim for it's eyes. Or maybe we could use a charm to create a distraction?"

Morgana thought quickly. The troll was big, slow, and not very smart, but it was strong and nearly immune to simple spells. They needed to outwit it. Her mind flashed to a spell she’d read about, one she hadn’t tried yet but seemed perfect for this situation. 

“Can you handle the distraction?” Morgana asked, her voice steadying as she formed a plan. “I’ve got an idea, but I’ll need to get close.”

Hermione hesitated for a split second, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll cast a few bright lights, maybe throw in some noise. Just… be careful.”