I’ll agree that his rush to the combat is almost certainly an attempt to keep Harry alive.
When going out of your way to turn a troll into an assassination tool, wouldn’t you also instal some explicit instructions NOT to harm Harry Potter or anyone else vital to your future plans? At the very least the troll was ordered (imperio-ed?) to ignore any other victims and go straight for Hermione since it let Filch go.
The fact that after killing his target the troll attacked anyone nearby makes me suspect Lucius, who has no reason to keep any Hogwarts student alive since his son is no longer there.
The troll didn’t ignore other victims—it ate Filch’s cat. Perhaps troll brains are too weak for Imperio to work perfectly(though ofc, Quirrell would know this...)
It ignored other humans, Filch was standing close enough to be spattered with his cat’s remains, there is no way he could have outrun the troll. He was alone and it’s stated that trolls go for isolated targets, the only reason the troll would have let him go is if it was commanded to.
I do retract my later claim that Lucius wouldn’t care about other Hogwarts students, it should have occurred to me he wouldn’t risk his allies’ children.
The fact that after killing his target the troll attacked anyone nearby makes me suspect Lucius, who has no reason to keep any Hogwarts student alive since his son is no longer there.
Between his blood purism, his many allies with children there, and how he de facto rules magical Britain, he has plenty of reason.
When going out of your way to turn a troll into an assassination tool, wouldn’t you also instal some explicit instructions NOT to harm Harry Potter or anyone else vital to your future plans? At the very least the troll was ordered (imperio-ed?) to ignore any other victims and go straight for Hermione since it let Filch go. The fact that after killing his target the troll attacked anyone nearby makes me suspect Lucius, who has no reason to keep any Hogwarts student alive since his son is no longer there.
The troll didn’t ignore other victims—it ate Filch’s cat. Perhaps troll brains are too weak for Imperio to work perfectly(though ofc, Quirrell would know this...)
It ignored other humans, Filch was standing close enough to be spattered with his cat’s remains, there is no way he could have outrun the troll. He was alone and it’s stated that trolls go for isolated targets, the only reason the troll would have let him go is if it was commanded to.
I do retract my later claim that Lucius wouldn’t care about other Hogwarts students, it should have occurred to me he wouldn’t risk his allies’ children.
Between his blood purism, his many allies with children there, and how he de facto rules magical Britain, he has plenty of reason.