The next day, Severus and Lupin got up early with Harry and Draco.
Building houses for trolls was a novel experience for both children.
When they put on their work clothes and walked out of the cabin, they realized Andrews had already taken Lulu and driven the trolls to start preparations ahead of time.
The thirty-two trolls were divided into eight groups of four each.
Four groups were responsible for logging in the nearby forest, cutting down trees of appropriate size selected by Andrews and stacking them together.
The other four groups each held a large saw suited to their size, clearing the branches and bark from the trees felled by their companions, then neatly piling up the processed wood.
Lulu's role was even more critical. As Andrews had said, the trolls were so stupid they could barely think, relying mostly on instinct. Even such simple tasks were too much for many of them, requiring Lulu to correct their mistakes.
Some trolls would simply throw down their logs and refuse to work, forcing Lulu to persuade them… or, if persuasion failed, use its authority as their leader to compel them back to work.
Only with such efforts did the trolls barely manage these most basic tasks.
The tasks assigned to Severus and the others, while not physically demanding, were quite intricate.
Severus needed to brew a special varnish to further treat the wood processed by the trolls.
Lupin was responsible for cleaning up the branches and bark cleared by the trolls… using magic to pulverize them before disposing of them outside the valley.
Harry was tasked with following the blueprint provided by Andrews, using a tape measure to determine the exact locations for each of the trolls' new houses.
Draco had to follow Harry, and then, once the spots were marked, he would use a stick to outline the footprint of each house on the ground.
Thus, after a quick breakfast, they set to work.
For Severus, who was effortlessly adept at brewing complex and obscure potions in large quantities, preparing varnish was practically beneath him.
Using a Duplication Charm, he replicated his own cauldron into five large pots.
He then had Lupin bring over some of the processed wood chips, lit fires under all five pots, and began brewing according to the materials Andrews had provided.
Lupin's task was even less problematic, as dealing with the debris was merely tedious, not difficult.
As for the collaboration between Harry and Draco, unsurprisingly, problems arose.
"You must have marked it wrong!"
"I couldn't have marked it wrong! I measured everything exactly according to the blueprint Mr. Andrews gave me!"
"Then why are the spaces I outlined all cramped together? It doesn't make any sense!"
"Then the problem must be with you." Harry said, eyeing him suspiciously.
Draco merely tossed his head dismissively.
"You think I'm the problem? Kid, I was already drawing lines on parchment with a quill while you were still playing with mud at home!"
Harry knew how to talk to Draco properly, but he wasn't older than Draco, so why should he have to coax and humor him all the time?
He crossed his arms and retorted sarcastically, "Oh, really? Then, pray tell, Mr. High-and-Mighty who's been drawing on parchment since childhood, is that your masterpiece?"
Harry was clearly referring to the outline Draco had just drawn on the ground… the lines were crooked and ugly, like squirming earthworms, far from the neat and pleasing marks Harry had made.
"Could it be that someone who only knew how to scribble on parchment as a child still only knows how to scribble now, without any improvement at all?"
Draco's face flushed red. He was never a match for Harry in a war of words.
So, he immediately threw down the stick in his hand and lunged at Harry like a starved tiger pouncing on its prey!
Harry had long been prepared. He didn't even draw his wand, as he didn't need it to deal with Draco, and instead raised his fists, ready to punch Draco in the left cheek the moment he charged over!
However, just as the two were about to brawl-
Two hands grabbed them by the collars, pulling them apart.
"Let me go, Snape! I'll smash his face in!"
"Let him come, Professor! I'll show him what's good for him!"
"You sniveling little worm!"
"And you're just a little baby who only knows how to cry for Mommy and Daddy!"
Hearing them trade insults, Severus didn't try to mediate. Instead, he signaled Lupin, who had noticed the commotion and run over, to take the blueprints from the two boys.
Lupin only needed a quick glance at the two blueprints to spot the problem.
"It's an issue with the measurement units. Andrews didn't use consistent units when marking the positions and outlining the areas."
Severus seemed to have guessed this would be the outcome.
"If you had just compared your blueprints, you would've found the problem yourselves."
Harry looked at Draco with contempt. The Puffskein bouncing on his shoulder seemed to be making a threatening gesture at Draco too.
"This idiot with a mouth full of dung doesn't even know how to communicate properly!"
Draco swung his fists at Harry from a distance.
"You're the one with a brain full of slugs, you dwarf! All you can do is run your mouth and yell!"
Andrews hurried over as well. After seeing the issue with the two blueprints, he apologized repeatedly.
"It's all my fault! I must've lost my head! This is my mistake!"
But even though the misunderstanding was cleared up, Harry and Draco clearly couldn't work together anymore. The moment Severus put them down and let them continue working side by side, they were bound to start fighting again.
"You were the one who caught all the Plimpies yesterday, right, Draco?"
Hearing Severus's words, the young master's nose practically lifted to the sky.
"Of course! Who else could have such skill? That dwarf?"
He seemed to have latched onto Harry's weakness, his small stature due to malnutrition at the Dursleys, and had already given him a nickname.
"Then we'll leave lunch in your hands."
Severus ruffled his hair, making him squirm.
"Not just Plimpies. Try to catch some other fish with a fishing rod too."
"Where would I get a fishing rod!" Draco exclaimed.
"Andrews has one in his cabin. I saw it last night. You can dig up some worms by the river for bait."
Finally breaking free from Severus's grip, Draco muttered under his breath about how a pure-blood young master of the Malfoy Family would never dig for worms to go fishing.
Yet, even as he complained, his body moved quite honestly back to the cabin, where he found Andrews' fishing rod and landing net.
As he walked past Harry on his way to the lake, he shot him a provocative look.
But whether Harry had simply decided to ignore him or was too focused on the corrected blueprints in his hands, what Draco thought was a fierce glare ultimately fell on empty air.
Feeling somewhat deflated, Draco made his way to the lake alone, found a suitable spot, and started digging for worms with a shovel to prepare his bait.
Their work progressed steadily.
By around 11 o'clock, Severus had finished preparing the varnish in the five large pots. Andrews also found some free time and took him Side-Along Apparating out of the valley to search for the possible location of the hag's ghost.
By this time, Draco had already made quite a haul.
Whether it was a beginner's luck bonus or he truly had a natural talent for fishing, in just two hours, his bucket already held three catches.
Moreover, during this time, he had also netted quite a few Plimpies!
Just as Severus was about to leave with Andrews, Draco pretended not to care, but his eyes were full of anticipation, hoping the two would walk past him, notice his achievements, shower him with praise, and give him a chance to belittle Harry a few more times.
But things didn't go as he wished. Severus and Andrews simply Apparated away without coming near the lake.
"Hmph!"
Draco snorted, though it was unclear who exactly he was expressing disdain for.
He held his fishing rod and waited for another ten minutes or so. Nearly forty minutes without a catch was beginning to wear on his patience.
Even though what he had already caught was more than enough for five people for lunch, and it wasn't like they were only eating fish, Draco clearly saw this as a competition between himself and Harry.
He had to perform even better to prove his superiority over Harry!
After waiting another five minutes, he finally couldn't hold back anymore. He reeled in his line, picked up his bucket, and decided to try his luck elsewhere.
Draco started walking along the lake shore, heading in the opposite direction of the troll camp.
He figured the waters near the troll camp probably didn't have many fish. The trolls made a lot of noise, often liked to bathe in the lake, and had likely scared all the fish away.
To get a better catch, he needed to get far away from there.
Draco soon walked quite a distance. The valley was large, and the lake at its center was also sizable. Finally, when he looked back and could barely see Harry, with Lupin's busy figure just a small black dot in the distance, he stopped, satisfied.
Just by looking with the naked eye, he could see plenty of large fish swimming in the water here!
The trolls didn't know how to fish, so over the years, the fish in the lake had multiplied into large, naive schools. All Draco had to do was cast his worm-baited hook into the water, and within three minutes, a fish would bite.
This excited Draco immensely. He felt he had found the perfect spot and began casting his line frequently, so much so that he was running out of worms he had dug up.
After reeling in six or seven fish in a row, he once again cast his hook into the lake and prepared to pull up his rod. This time, however, he felt a weight different from before.
This made him even more thrilled. He was convinced he had hooked a truly big fish!
If he could land this fish, not only would Severus and Lupin be astonished, but Harry would be utterly defeated and willingly become his lackey!
As a fishing novice, Draco had no experience in tiring out a fish or conserving energy. He simply relied on brute force, lifting his fishing rod with all his might.
He could feel the fish's struggle weakening, and believed that soon, he would succeed.
Finally, gritting his teeth and using every ounce of strength he had, the 'fish' that had been fighting him seemed to suddenly give up all resistance and was yanked out of the water by him!
The uncontrollable momentum sent Draco tumbling onto the damp grass.
But there was no pain on his face… only extreme excitement. He couldn't wait to see the giant catch he had landed.
However, when he finally saw the 'fish' hanging from his hook, the joy on his face instantly froze.
His flushed complexion rapidly turned into a terrified, deathly pale.
What was on the hook wasn't a fish at all… it was a skull.
A skull clearly shaped like a human cranium!
Terrified, Draco scrambled backward, then clambered to his feet. He didn't even bother with the fish he had caught earlier or his fishing rod. Instead, he turned and sprinted wildly back toward the troll camp.
As he ran, nearing the camp and finally spotting Harry drawing lines on the ground, Draco seemed to suddenly come to his senses.
He immediately stopped his panicked flight and pretended nothing had happened, walking calmly past Harry. Harry stared at him, baffled by how Draco, drenched in sweat, could look so nonchalant.
It wasn't until he reached Lupin that Draco started gasping for breath again, stammering:
"A head… there's a head!"
Lupin, who was using a Severing Charm to deal with the branches, looked at him in confusion.
"What head?"
"A hu-human skull! I… I fished it out of the lake! It's human!"
Only then did Lupin understand. His expression first froze, then became thoughtful. He glanced over at Lulu, who was still directing the trolls, and confirmed that Andrews hadn't returned yet before stopping his work.
"Keep it quiet. Come, take me there quietly," Lupin whispered in Draco's ear.
Draco nodded nervously and led the way. Harry, seeing them, couldn't help but ask what they were doing. Lupin just gave him a look, signaling him to focus on his work and not move around.
Soon, following Draco, Lupin arrived at the spot where the skull had been hauled ashore.
The skull was still hanging from the hook, unchanged since Draco had fled. Returning to the scene, Draco didn't dare get close, but Lupin showed no hesitation. He reached out and took the skull off the hook.
After a careful inspection, thanks to the extensive reading he had done during his time at Hogwarts and the many things he had witnessed during his years of wandering, Lupin quickly reached a conclusion.
This skull only resembled a human one… it wasn't actually human!