| “ | Troll- in the dungeon - thought you ought to know. | „ |
| ~ Quirinus Quirrell on the troll. |
The Mountain Troll , also known as the Troll in the Bathroom, is a minor antagonist in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The mountain troll is brought into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the first novel by Professor Quirinus Quirrell, whose ability to control trolls, especially large ones, is considered a rare talent among people. Quirrell uses the troll as a diversion to distract the entire staff, in order to steal Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone undisturbed.
Another larger, stronger, and meaner mountain troll also appears towards the end of the book, brought into the school by Quirrell as one of the protections for the Philosopher's Stone.
The voice of the mountain troll was provided by veteran Henson puppeteer Nigel Plaskitt.
About Trolls[]
Overall, trolls historically originated from Scandinavia first, before spreading all across Europe. They might be related to Yetis, who originated from Tibet and are known as one of the worst kept secrets in the Wizarding world, as Muggles see them many times. Trolls have also been seen by Muggles since early history. They have low intelligence and are generally hostile. In 1799, British troll researcher Gondoline Oliphant was clubbed to death in the Cotswolds by trolls while sketching, as she was studying their life. However, the profession of troll trainer does exist, although it is considered a gifted talent. A known wizard skilled with training and killing trolls was Hogwarts professor and dark wizard Quirinus Quirrell.
The known races are forest trolls, mountain trolls, and river trolls. The troll faced by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley is one of the mountain trolls (Troglodytarum alpinum), who are the largest, weight over a ton, and are the most vicious kind of their species. Mountain trolls are often depicted as bald and pale-grey. They sometimes use Graphorns as mounts, which results in scars due to the Graphorns not liking it.
Trolls have a taste for human flesh and fish, but do not crave for them and are fine eating anything else. Troll language is supposedly nothing more than simple grunts that only trolls seeme to be able to interpret, though there are skilled magical multi-linguists, who are capable of understanding them, such as Bartemius Crouch Senior of the British Ministry of Magic.
Although aggressive in nature, trolls can be trained by wizards and witches and be hired as security. Security trolls are hired by goblins to help Gringotts Wizarding Bank, by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore to protect Hogwarts from a criminal on the run (Sirius Black), and allegedly by Professor Dolores Umbridge to guard Harry Potter's seized Firebolt, following the escape of Fred and George Weasley on broomsticks. Ghosts of Hogwarts are also allowed to hire security trolls as party bouncers. The Norwegian Quidditch team also usually used trolls as mascots, until 2014.
Wizarding author and celebrity Gilderoy Lockhart claimed in his works to have experienced adventures with trolls in his book Travels with Trolls, which was also a mandatory textbook during his tenure as a Defence Against Dark Arts teacher. In reality, Lockhart was a dishonest, fraudolent, and brainwasher con artist who never had any actual experience with any kind of trolls. However, such adventures with trolls did happen and were experienced by another or more wizards, whose memories were completely removed by Lockhart in order to take credit for their abilities.
Role[]
Tricked by Quirrell and Defeat[]
The mountain troll was lured to Hogwarts by Professor Quirrell who claimed that the troll was in the dungeons, but this was just a lie as the troll was already roaming towards a girl's bathroom floors above, where he found and attempted to kill Hermione Granger. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley came to the rescue and succeeded to beat the troll unconscious, though not without various difficulties: the troll completely ignored them multiple times due to his stupidity and more focus on attempting to murder Hermione.
This prompted Harry to jump on his back and having his wand stuck in one of his nostrils. This, of course, caused the troll to snap and become angrier than ever. He grabbed Harry by his mercy and tries to bludgeon the boy with his club. Like the previous attempts to kill Hermione, the troll was distracted so much that he was unaware that Ron was using a levitation spell to take his club away with Hermione's help. When the troll realized it, it was too late as Ron led the club to fall onto his head, instantly knocking him into submission.
Motivation Behind Troll Incident Revealed[]
What happened to the troll after this incident is unknown, though it is likely the troll was either released or killed off by the school staff. Whichever way, the troll is never seen again, but the former is more likely, and it is also hinted in the later books that the troll was simply returned to the mountains. Later Quirrell reveals to Harry that he was the one who released the troll and why he did it, explaining that he is very gifted with trolls and can train and control them, even the strongest ones, pointing to Harry how he was the one who lend Dumbledore another untrained, wild and enormous mountain troll to guard the Philosopher's Stone. Said troll was easily knocked unconscious by Quirrell himself, while on his way to the chamber with the stone.
