Harry Potter: The Book of Sin

As Maca rushed back downstairs, he happened to spot Professor Quirrell stumbling toward the Great Hall in a panic. Quirrell had just come up from the dungeons and disappeared around a corner at surprising speed—apparently without noticing Maca standing on the staircase to the second floor.

"Respect to the Best Actor of the Year," Maca muttered with a mock salute, straightening his back dramatically as he continued running. He soon reached the dim hallway leading to the dungeons.

The moment he stepped in, an overwhelming stench hit him like a wall—a revolting mix of unwashed socks that hadn't seen daylight for two months and the musty staleness of an ancient, neglected lavatory.

"Brilliant," Maca grimaced. "Mixed with the castle's never-ending pumpkin scent—truly toxic."

Looking up, he immediately spotted the hulking figure of a troll lumbering through the corridor. Fortunately, the creature hadn't noticed him yet.

"Stupefy!" Maca drew his wand and cast a stunning spell straight at the troll.

Bang!

The troll staggered and fell with a crash. Maca blinked in surprise—he'd read that trolls had high magical resistance. That spell really shouldn't have worked so easily.

Just as he was processing what had happened, the troll began to groan and push itself up again. Ah—there it was. His memory hadn't failed him. Trolls were naturally resistant to magic, a trait inherited from their distant giant ancestry.

And then, Maca witnessed another one of the troll's charming traits—its complete lack of intelligence.

It glanced around dumbly, apparently disoriented in the poorly lit hallway, and didn't seem to notice who had attacked it. Then, as if following a sound, it shoved its massive bulk through a nearby doorway, forcing its way inside.

A sharp, terrified scream followed.

"Lower IQ than I expected. That Fantastic Beasts entry needs a revision—the descriptions are way too vague," Maca muttered, dashing toward the room.

"Hermione!"

As he reached the entrance, Maca immediately spotted her—Hermione was curled up in a ball beneath one of the sinks, trembling as the troll lumbered closer with its club raised high. It clearly hadn't noticed Maca enter.

There was no time for fancy spells—anything like a Levitation Charm would be far too slow now.

"Depulso!" Maca shouted, hastily aiming at the troll's massive wooden club.

The weapon was blasted from the creature's grip, whistling past Hermione's head so closely it ruffled her hair. It bounced off a corner, smashing into a toilet stall and toppling half the partitions.

"Reducto!"

Maca didn't wait for the troll to react. While it was still stunned from losing its weapon, he aimed at the back of its thick neck and fired with all his strength.

BOOM!

The spell exploded on impact, leaving a gaping, bowl-sized wound in the troll's neck. Blood splattered everywhere, and the broken vertebrae were visible in the mess.

The troll collapsed like a felled tree, dead before it hit the ground.

---

The massive troll swayed, then collapsed with a thunderous crash, its body still twitching a few times on the floor.

"Phew—" Maca let out a deep breath. "If that hit had landed somewhere else, it probably would've just taken off a chunk of flesh. No wonder these brutes are known for their thick skin and tough hides."

"Ugh… Maca!" Hermione looked completely shaken. She suddenly threw herself into Maca's arms.

As he held her trembling form close, enjoying the soft, fragrant embrace, a stray thought wandered through his mind: When exactly do girls start developing like this again? Third year?

"Ahem, it's all right now. It's over," he said, trying to suppress his wandering thoughts and comfort her instead.

To be honest, Maca didn't have any special feelings for this little Miss Know-It-All—not now, not even for her future self. But hey, who would turn down a heroine voluntarily throwing herself into their arms? Sure, it was circumstantial, but still—it gave him a bit of a high.

Trying to calm his racing heart, he started muttering to himself, barely audible snippets like "third year," and "death penalty" slipping out as his brain tried to reboot.

Suddenly, loud footsteps echoed in the corridor. The two of them, still close, instinctively looked up. Hermione froze, then quickly pushed herself away from Maca, blushing furiously.

Apparently, the noise had been too much—between the crashing and the troll's roar, it had clearly attracted attention.

"Hermione!"

"Maca?"

It was Ron and Harry. They stared wide-eyed at the scene, not even noticing Hermione's scarlet face.

But before anyone could say anything, Professor McGonagall stormed into the girls' bathroom, followed closely by Snape and Quirrell. Quirrell took one glance at the troll and promptly burst into noisy sobs, collapsing onto a toilet and clutching his chest.

Snape approached the troll's corpse, inspecting it. McGonagall, meanwhile, stared at the group with pale lips and wide eyes—absolutely livid.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" she said coldly, her voice sharp with anger.

Harry and Ron looked over at Maca, who was still gripping his wand.

"You're lucky that thing didn't kill you! Why weren't you in your dormitories like you were supposed to be?" McGonagall's voice rose as she scolded them. Maca thought, Yep, she really does live up to the Gryffindor lion—roars and all.

"Oh…"

"Please don't be angry, Professor McGonagall… He came looking for me." Hermione quickly cut Maca off before he could explain.

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall looked surprised. In her mind, Hermione Granger was the epitome of a rule-abiding student.

Hermione, still leaning weakly against the wall, forced herself to stand.

"I came looking for the troll because… I thought I could handle it on my own—you see, I read a lot about them in books, so I thought I understood them well enough."

"Oh, Hermione, don't say that…" Maca shook his head. He had already stood up earlier.

"Professor, I overheard someone say Miss Granger was in the bathroom while I was heading to the Great Hall," Maca explained. "She wasn't feeling well because of something earlier, so she stayed here. I just wanted to check on her—you know, as a friend."

He shrugged with an innocent look. "How could I have known there'd be a troll rampaging around Hogwarts?"

"I think this is something that needs to be investigated," he added meaningfully, casting a glance at Quirrell—who was still sobbing dramatically, clutching his face like a seasoned actor.

"Oh… if that's the case…" McGonagall narrowed her eyes, weighing their words.

"Mr. McLean, was that a breaking curse you used to break the troll's neck?" Snape suddenly asked coldly, cutting a glance at Harry before turning to Maca.

Maca's heart skipped a beat, but he kept a calm expression and nodded.

"I believe so."

"Hmph. Impressive power. But perhaps you'd like to explain where you learned that?" Snape's eyes narrowed. "I don't recall seeing any 'curse-type' spells in the first-year textbooks."

McGonagall glanced back at the troll's wound, which was still gushing blood even now.

"…I taught myself," Maca confessed.

The situation had been too urgent—he hadn't had time to think, just reacted instinctively with the most effective spell he could think of. Looking back, he was just glad he hadn't accidentally used an Unforgivable Curse. A stray flash of green light and he'd be on a one-way trip to Azkaban for a tea party with Dementors.

"Good heavens! You're only a first-year!" McGonagall seemed to finally snap out of her fury. She rushed over and turned Maca this way and that, inspecting him for injuries. It was clear she cared more about the student than the spell.

"…Maca."

Hermione looked at him with a worried expression. She knew the classification of spells—curse spells were all, without exception, dark magic. They required powerful negative emotions to cast. Even the Unforgivable Curses belonged to this group.

What made those unforgivable was that the Killing and Cruciatus Curses had no counterspells, while the Imperius Curse was banned due to its deeply invasive nature—it could completely override a person's body, mind, and will.

"It's all right, I'm just a bit drained—what I mean is," McGonagall started sternly again, "Mr. McLean, you'll need to give a full explanation for your actions!"

"Uh… I guess I'm just a little ahead of the curve—I mean, I love studying, and…" he paused, then looked deliberately at Hermione, "I want to protect the people I care about."

Hermione blushed even redder. Harry and Ron, however, didn't react much—typical boys, a bit slower on the uptake. Maybe girls really do mature faster.

McGonagall looked at Maca, and her lips twitched ever so slightly upward. To her, his little adult-like attitude was oddly endearing.

Snape, meanwhile, was quietly observing Maca and Hermione, saying nothing, his thoughts unreadable.

"If it weren't for Maca, I probably would've been eaten by the troll," Hermione pleaded.

"I believe this matter of this Curse spell needs to be discussed with Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall said at last. "But… I don't think a first-year has ever taken down a troll alone. I'm awarding Hufflepuff ten points."

"Now, come with me to the Headmaster's office. The rest of you," she said, glancing around, "are dismissed."

Maca gave the others a calm nod and followed McGonagall out of the wrecked bathroom—now reduced to nothing more than a cracked doorway.

"Oh—I'll, I'll take c-care of the b-big guy," Quirrell stammered from behind, still dabbing at his eyes.

Snape shot one last icy glance at Harry, then followed them without a word.

Hermione watched Maca's back, her face full of worry. She had no idea whether he might be expelled or not.

Harry and Ron, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit concerned. Or maybe… they just hadn't thought that far.

"What is a curse? That was so cool!" Ron exclaimed, staring at the unmoving troll with its bowl-sized wound.

"Yeah! Even that big bat Snape said it was impressive—I still can't believe it." Harry nodded in agreement.

"He was being sarcastic!" Hermione snapped.