The Admiral of Hogwarts

Just as Hugo and Veneto were rapidly communicating through the Admiral Network, Professor Dumbledore was already on stage arranging everyone's upcoming tasks. Clearly, the immediate priority was to get the students to a safe place, and then the professors would deal with the troll.

But Hugo suddenly realized that all his previous plans had a fatal flaw: unlike Gryffindor, Ravenclaw had fewer students, and the student leaders and upperclassmen were more meticulous. Sneaking away from the line like Harry and Ron in the original story was basically impossible.

For example, all the Ravenclaw students were now gathered together and heading towards the Ravenclaw Tower. The upperclassmen, under the command of the prefects, were scattered at the front and rear of the group, protecting the younger students in the middle.

To prevent the younger students, especially the first-year students, from getting lost in the chaos, the Ravenclaw prefects had even selected several sixth and seventh-year students who had performed well in Defense Against the Dark Arts class to walk on either side of the first-year student line to maintain order.

"How are we supposed to leave now?" Veneto looked around at the situation and contacted Hugo through the Admiral Network, her tone filled with dissatisfaction. "I don't think there's any way other than charging straight out."

After all, ship girls weren't just soft and cute girls. As the most powerful killing machines created by humans in that era, they still had a side that loved fighting and killing in their bones. Therefore, Veneto naturally felt a little annoyed that the planned battle was about to fall through.

"I think the most reasonable thing to do now is to follow the group back to Ravenclaw Tower," Hugo decided decisively after a few seconds of simple thought. "It would be too strange to force our way out of the group at this time. I don't want to be seen as a dangerous element."

"Anyway, Harry and his friends encountered the troll in the original story because of the conflict in this morning's Charms class. But now, because of our intervention, they haven't even had a conflict, let alone said a word to each other during the class. So I think we've achieved our goal in terms of changing the plot."

Saying this, Hugo looked at Veneto, whose face wasn't looking too good, and then comforted her through the Admiral Network, "I know you must be feeling a little uncomfortable that you couldn't fight this time, but think about the original plot, we'll have plenty of battles to fight later."

"It's okay, it's enough to be with you, Commander. It doesn't matter whether I can participate in the battle or not." As the last word disappeared from Hugo's mind, Veneto grabbed Hugo's hand and turned to give him a bright smile. "Besides, I've been very happy preparing for battle with you during this time."

Veneto wasn't just trying to appease Hugo. For ship girls like them, being with the Admiral was a very happy thing. As for other things, they were just minor matters.

"Why would a troll appear here?" Just as Hugo and Veneto finished their communication, Hermione, who was next to them, glanced at their joined hands and asked curiously, "If I remember correctly, the book says that these creatures are very stupid. It shouldn't be possible for them to open a cage door, right?"

"I think it's possible that the professor forgot to close the cage door," Cho Chang, a second-year student walking in front, turned her head and said before Hugo could answer. "Although I don't think it's appropriate to evaluate the professor in private, such a low-level mistake seems like something our current Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would do."

"My mother wrote to me a few days ago and told me that Professor Quirrell passed the N.E.W.T. exams with almost all O's a few years ago, and then said he was going to travel around to broaden his horizons," Marietta revealed some inside information at this time. "But I don't know why, he became like this after returning from his trip."

"Is this kind of situation normal?" As they walked up a flight of stairs, Hermione asked curiously, "I mean, is it common for someone to suddenly have a complete change in personality like that in the wizarding world?"

"How could that kind of thing be common!" Marietta was very pleased that her junior was asking her questions, so she answered very seriously. "But it's not without precedent. For example, there's an employee in the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic named Bertha Jorkins. She suddenly became mentally unstable back then—"

Just as everyone was whispering to each other and walking through a long corridor towards Ravenclaw Tower, Veneto suddenly grabbed Hugo's hand and warned him through the Admiral Network, "The ground is shaking. It seems like a big guy is approaching—"

Before she could finish speaking, a tapestry a few meters away from them was suddenly lifted, and a smell that combined the stench of dirty socks and a public toilet that had never been cleaned instantly filled the entire corridor. At the same time, a behemoth burst out of a secret passage behind the tapestry.

Under the illumination of the corridor lights, the first thing Hugo saw was a flat, rough, calloused foot. Next were thick, tree-trunk-like legs, a body like a huge pile of mud and gravel, and a small head that didn't match the size of the body at all, about the size of an adult's head, which looked quite comical.

But what was dangerous was that the troll was holding a thick wooden club in its hand. Because its arms were very long, it was dragging the club on the ground.

Hugo now finally understood why Quirrell was so proud of being able to subdue the troll with special methods in the original story, and even boasted about it to Harry at that crucial moment of stealing the Philosopher's Stone. Because the size and strength of this guy alone looked dangerous enough, and even adult wizards might not be able to deal with it. At least the wizards at the Ministry of Magic who couldn't even cast a Shield Charm certainly couldn't do it.

The troll, who had just rushed out, staggered forward and almost fell because the secret passage led directly from the second floor to the underground classroom. The entrances on both sides, whether viewed from the inside or the outside, were hidden by illusion magic and looked like dead ends filled with bricks, so the troll, who had intended to smash through the wall and rush out, overshot its mark.

"Ah!" The Ravenclaw group instantly fell into chaos. Because no one had expected that the troll could suddenly attack the middle of the group of younger wizards with minimal noise. The only thing to be thankful for was that the corridor was very wide and the Ravenclaw group was on the other side of the corridor, so the students were temporarily unharmed except for being frightened.

But the students' good luck ended there. The troll quickly recovered from the dizziness caused by overexertion and raised the club in its hand and walked towards the Ravenclaw younger students.

Some of the upperclassmen who had been assigned here began to organize the younger students to retreat, while others drew their wands and tried to fight back. But it was obvious that their magic only caused the troll a little pain, and not only did it not cause effective damage, but it also angered the troll, causing it to charge directly towards the place with more people.