The Harrowing Halloween Part 2

How did a troll get inside Hogwarts? There should be millions of protections placed on school grounds to prevent this kind of thing from happening. Never mind that for now, where is the troll? I know Professor Quirrell said in the dungeons but where exactly is it?

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on the Mana around me, tuning into the Mana around me and blocking out any outside distractions. My direct surroundings are filled with two masses of Mana signatures. One mass, which is the teacher's, is a mix of very distinct Mana for each teacher. Uh, that's weird. Focusing closer on each Mana signature, three stand out to me; Dumbledore's, Professor McGonagall's, and Professor Quirrell's. Dumbledore's massive Mana signature makes sense, but it's the other two's that confuse me.

Professor McGonagall's grey Mana has something weird about it. It's as if another Mana is attached, a purple type of Mana. Ah, it must be the animagus spell on her considering purple mama means transformation or Transfiguration.

Professor Quirrell's Mana is a puke yellow. A dirty yellow embodying Quirrell's timid and cowardly nature. That's not what makes his Mana stand out though, it's what's hiding behind it. Hiding within his Mana, like a parasite, is a mass of pure black. As if a piece of the endless void was ripped off and stuck to him.

Switching away from the teachers, I focus on the other mass of Mana; the students. Aside from the few who resemble Professor McGonagall's situation, even a few of the students stand out. Those being, Anne, and the Boy who lived.

Anne's Mana stands out for being the golden beacon of light akin to the sun. What's that? It took me a moment to recognize my Mana considering the bright sun of Mana that is Anne. Something about it is different. No longer the purple color it was in the Hospital Wing, my Mana takes on a more cloudy white. Not a white of purity or goodness, but one of mourning; one of coldness and emptiness.

Potter's warm red Mana has a similar situation to Professor Quirrell's. Its difference stems from Potter's Mana being more intrinsically connected to the black Mana. The black Mana was evenly distributed through his Mana and not all concentrated in one spot.

I wonder if black Mana is associated with a near-death experience, or maybe… Focus Catlyn! Now tuned with Mana, I expand my search through the dark blue, protective Mana tied in Hogwarts to find anything out of the ordinary. I can feel the strain of stretching my Mana detection far until I detect dark green energy, three floors up.

What? Didn't Professor Quirrell say it was in the dungeon? Why would Quirrell… Hermione! Alarms rage in my head at the memory of Hermione being on the third floor; cutting all other trains of thought.

"Catlyn!" Cedric yells at me, snapping me out of my head and bringing me back to the world around me. Looking around, the Chaos of panic has been replaced with the fearful evacuation of students, by Prefects, out of the Great Hall.

"Were you listening to Dumbledore? We're supposed to follow our Prefects back to your Dormitory," Cedric explains over the crowd as I look to the head of the Ravenclaw table and immediately spot Penny and Dick trying to direct the Ravenclaws.

Nodding at him, he gives me a reassuring smile as I go in the direction of my House's table; disappearing into the crowd.

I go a slight bit farther into the crowd to make sure he no longer sees me. I make my way out of the Great Hall, weaving through the crowd and making sure not to draw attention. Closing the doors quickly, I keep my mind focused on the troll's Mana as I break out into a sprint.

Did Penny show me any shortcuts to the third floor? Not really, how am I going to get up quickly? Adrenaline pumping, I make it to the Grand Staircase only for none of the staircases to greet me.

Contemplating for a moment, my impatience grows as a very rustic staircase slowly makes it's way down. I don't have time for this. Backing up like a pullback toy, I dash forward and launch myself into the air.

Why do I always have to test your limits! My stomach drops as I reach the peak of my jump and continue my arch; slightly higher than the railing. I'm not going to make it! Bracing myself, my arms continue to flail as I hit the side of the railing.

My breathing sharpens as sweat beads down my forehead. Desperate to not fall into the seemingly bottomless pit, I'm barely able to grip the ledge of the landing with one hand. Don't look down! Don't look down! Don't look down! I repeat to myself as I manage to grab the ledge with my other arm.

Taking a deep breath in, I cautiously make my way over the railing and dash up the stairs to the third floor. Thunder continues to boom from the storm outside as I hope to Merlin that I don't run into Mrs. Norris or Finch.

Getting close to the troll, I stop at a corner and begin to strategize. I'll have to hit it with spells considering that my vampiric strength wouldn't be enough to go toe to toe with a troll. Searching in my small sack of a bag, my heart stops. I don't have any Mana beads! I gave them all to Anne to put Mana into! Grabbing the bead Anne filled out of my pocket, I try to gauge the amount of Mana stored in the bead. It's about five standard spells worth of Mana.

Already, I need to somehow take out a troll while only casting five spells. On top of that, although I've read ahead I've only performed the Levitation Charm, Shield Charm, Pack Charm, Red Sparks Spell, Fire-making Spell, and the Match to needle spell.

If I knew how to Silent cast then I'd be able to cast ten spells! Doesn't matter now. Even if I did, I've never performed any offensive spells. Ok, that's a lie, but I don't want to burn the castle down. We were just about to practice the Knockback Jinx in DADA last class though. Its incantation isn't that bad and wand motion isn't either so I might be able to use it.

Opening myself to Mana, I can feel Hermione's fiery yellow Mana not too far from the troll. Using my mental map, I deduce she's hiding in the far stall while the troll's searching for her. Turning the corner, I slip into the bathrooms to find my deduction correct. It's back to me, slamming a green stall door to pieces with a whack of its club, is a twelve-foot monster of granite. Its rocky proportions made its movement awkward as the hunchback creature wobbled to the next door. Its short, clawed, feet contrasted with its long torso and lengthy arms that caused its club to be scraped along the ground.

Even though my mask, its wretched odor brought my eyes to water as I unholstered my wand. Squeezing the Mana bead in one hand, I keep myself open and conscious of Mana to make sure I stay informed of my Mana amount. Its massive body filling the width of the roomy bathroom, I slide through its legs and move my wand in a checkmark fashion.

"Flipendo!" I soundlessly cry as my wand pulls the Mana out of my body, getting cut in half by the rune before it shoots out the tip of my wand in an orange blast of light. The spell hits the troll square in the stomach as it stumbles back slightly from the force. Although the spell was orange, my openness to Mana showed me its faded red Mana.

"F u c k!" I soundlessly curse at the small effect of the spell. Plan of attack, push it back enough to get it out of the room, and barricade the door long enough for help to come. Roaring in anger, the pot-bellied brute uses both hands to slam its club on top of me.

"Protego!" Relying on practice, I absorb more of the bead and time the swing well enough to stop all of its momenta. Not wanting to waste Mana, I let the Shield Charm fall and blast another Knockback Jinx.

Pulling down my mask, I bare my teeth and turn my fain anger at it. If only I could make a sound! If I could, I could simply tell it to back off! The troll's eyes widened at my fangs but quickly turned back to anger and fury. Well, that didn't work, I think as I put it back up.

Its next swing came from the side. Swiping right above the countertops, air struggles to get out of its way as the troll aims a blow at the side of my head. Reflexes not honed, I'm only barely able to get off a Knockback Jinx at the club. The orange bolt hitting the wood like lightning hitting a tree, the troll's arm reverses direction as it's barely able to hold on to its club.

Using its confusion, I blast out another Knockback Jinx. Just one more, I think as it rubs its head after being knocked almost out of the room. Hope gleams in my eyes for a split second only for it to be snuffed out in a moment as I can hear the door slam shut, and the click of its lock.

The troll, taking advantage of its modicum of intelligence, takes me up with one massive hand and flings me behind him. I'm only able to be a passive observer as my body helplessly flies through the air and skids on the floor, my right side hitting first.

I can feel the skin of my right side beat raw from the troll's dabbling in skipping humans, although it pales in comparison to my other pains. The scars that pepper my body dial up their piercing suffering from my overuse of Mana.

Ahhh! Definitely broken. I bite back the pain as I touch the right side of my stomach only for the sharp pain to punch at me more. I can feel the sweat (or is it blood?) drip down my forehead as I'm forced to focus on my pain in an effort to fight back an episode.

My vision fades in and out as the troll ignores my presence in favor of Hermione as she shrieks. Of course, it wouldn't want me, thinking back to my half-dead side.

Beating down my episode, I use the bathroom countertop to pick myself up. My legs struggle to keep me upright as I struggle to remain conscious and think of a way to take the troll down. Why didn't I try to learn any offensive spells! If only I'd have learned the Stunning Spell then everything would be solved. It's not like I can try to do any new spells, considering I'd have to see it done multiple times to do a spell strong enough to take down a troll.

Wait, I have seen a spell like that. Over and over again. They even used it as a form of torture until I grew numb to it. Taking people down to my cell just to use this curse to end their life. Not knowing how much Mana it would need, I drain every speck out of the bead. Raising my wand in front of me, I focus on the hatred I've buried deep down.

"Avada Ke-" my incantation is cut short as a smack vibrates through my head, dropping my consciousness off the tipping point and into the inky black void.