Ronald Weasley was tired. He was ninety seven years old, and had been fighting for most of his life, first Voldemort, then his death eaters, and then it was one dark lord after another. He was alone now; the last of the golden trio, the last of the Weasley from his generation, the leader of the light, there was nothing left worth living for. All his friends were dead; additionally he had never married and never had children.
He had once loved, Hermione Granger but all that had changed when she had dwelled into the dark arts and tried to kill all purebloods. Thinking about it used to hurt him, but now it just left him numb.
"Ronald Weasley" a figure called to him and Ron noticed that it was standing right in front of him, it was a man, who looked…ageless, that was the only way Ron could describe him, he had pale skin and ash white hair, he was wearing sunglasses and a black cloak that hid the rest of his body.
Ron instinctively knew who it was "Death" he said to which the figure nodded and said "your time has come" Ron nodded he had already sorted out all of his affairs, leaving everything he had for the Potter children.
"I'm ready" he said to which the Death replied "you're not dying, I have a task for you" "WHAT?" Ron demanded, he simply wanted to meet his friends and family, not go and do death's bidding "calm down" death told him, "I want you to go back in time to fix the timeline"
"The timeline?" Ron asked confused "yes, after the death of Tom Riddle Jr. there should have been no dark lord for another fifty years, but certain events led to a surplus of dark lords"
"A surplus of dark lords?" "You talk like it was too much grain rather than dark lords" Death sighed and asked "look do you want to do it or let the timeline go as it is? Because the person before opted to let the timeline flow as he believed that you could bring it back to line"
"Who?" Ron asked confused "well before you I had given this offer to Harry Potter and he believed that you could 'take care of things' as he put it." "Harry believed in me?"Ron wondered"I can let the world down, but not harry""I'll do it" Ron said and Death nodded.
"But" Ron added "I'll need to take some things with me?" "What?" Death asked annoyed, he had another person to collect in ten minutes "my wand, and some other stuff" Ron had collected quite a lot of books, weapons and antiquities over the years, which he was sure would help him in the past.
"Fine" Death snapped "but you can't reveal the future to anybody, oh and I'm sending you to first September 1991" Ron nodded and Death raised his hands and began muttering in an unknown language. Ron felt himself slowly drift to sleep.
XXXXXXX
An eleven year old Ron Weasley awoke with a gasp "I'm back" he called out loud and got out of bed and looked at himself, he was back to being lanky and thin, he checked his second hand watch and saw that it was twelve o'clock at night.
He then noticed the rat sleeping at his bed side and felt a burst of rage, "Pettigrew" Ron felt like killing him then and there, but he bit himself in the hand so that the pain would distract him from the anger."An angry person is bound to make mistakes"he reminded himself and hid the rat beneath a cup.
He then turned to his bed and noticed that all of his stuff from the future was on the bed.
He picked up his wand and examined it. He had commissioned the wand from Ollivander and had himself found all the ingredients, the wood was from a century old Elder tree, and the core was made from a phoenix feather and the ash he got by burning the skin of the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets. It was thirteen inches long
Ron sighed; he doubted if he could sleep again and he needed to make a plan, "okay"Ron told himself"firstly I need to hide my stuff from the future"so he turned his trunk into a bottomless trunk and hid his weapons and books, before conjuring a false bottom to cover it, and packed in most of his stuff.
He then brainstormed about how to explain his wand, "I could say that I tried to use Charlie's wand to perform a spell, and it transformed into this"Ron thought, and then he decided that this was the best idea and destroyed Charlie's old wand.
He then began trying to compose himself, so that he doesn't cry when he sees his family, and then he started exercising, as he felt that he needed to get stronger.
XXXXXXX
Ron was with his family in Kings Cross station, he had been trying hard not to cry since the moment his mom had entered his room, and now he was going to finally see his best friend again. Ron then saw a green eyed boy with glasses standing near the barrier of platform 9¾ and approached him.
"Hogwarts?" he asked standing behind Harry, making him jump "yes, how did you know?" he asked Ron, still a bit startled "the owl" Ron lied smoothly "who's he dear?" Molly asked Ron who replied "I think he's a muggleborn, mom" Ron lied again, he hated lying to his family, but he can't suddenly act all familiar with Harry.
"You just have to run towards the wall between platform 9 and platform 10" Molly Weasley explained to Harry who nodded but seemed slightly anxious "I'll run with you" Ron volunteered and Harry nodded slightly more confident, the two ran towards the barrier together and entered platform 9¾.
The duo approached a carriage and loaded their trunks into one of the empty compartment's then Ron said "I need to just say goodbye to my mother" and went near the barrier to see his brothers enter the platform one by one, followed by his mother Ron said a quick goodbye to her and Ginny and boarded the train to enter his and Harry's compartment.
"I'm Ron Weasley by the way" Ron introduced himself extending his hand "Harry potter" Harry replied "theHarry Potter?" Ron asked acting surprised to which Harry nodded slightly embarrassed "same old Harry"Ron thought with a mental smirk "so were you really raised by muggles?" he asked Harry who nodded, but stayed silent so Ron asked "what was it like?"
Harry told him what it was like, which wasn't quite different from last time, but instead of getting happy at it Ron frowned, and made harry nervous "so is everyone in your family magic?" Harry asked him in an attempt to change the subject to which Ron nodded and explained about how he got second or even third hand stuff.
The compartment door suddenly opened and a boy entered their compartment, he was almost as tall as Ron, had pale skin, chocolate brown hair and stormy grey eyes. Ron recognized him as Theo Nott, he had been in Slytherin but had sided with the light since the downfall of Voldemort, in which he had been neutral. "This didn't happen last time"
Nott noticed Ron and made a move towards the door, but Ron said "I see you couldn't find any other empty compartment huh? You can sit with us" Ron patted the seat beside him, and Nott nodded shoving his trunk under the seat and sat down "Theo Nott" he introduced himself, but didn't say anything else. He looked at Harry's scar for a moment when harry had introduced himself, but otherwise remained quiet, as they talked about quidditch and Ron explained it to Harry.
"So what house do you think you're going to be in?" Ron asked harry after discussing quidditch for over an hour "I don't know any" harry replied so Ron began explaining about the houses and their qualities
"…and people say that Slytherin is a dark house" Nott's expression darkened at this "…but I think that they just say this because Slytherin has more dark wizards than any other house, but that doesn't mean everyone in that house is dark" Nott looked surprised at this.
"I may be in Hufflepuff" harry said to which Ron said "hardworking and loyal, nice, and what about you Nott?" Ron asked addressing the question to Nott who once again looked surprised and mumbled "Slytherin or Ravenclaw" Ron nodded and said "I might be in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff; I'm not smart enough to be in Ravenclaw or cunning enough to be a Slytherin" Nott and Harry stared "well, whichever house I'm in I hope you two are there too"
Soon the food trolley came and harry bought a bit of everything with Nott buying a few chocolate frogs, and pumpkin pasties, again harry offered his food to Ron in exchange for his sandwich, which were left forgotten.
Ron smiled seeing Harry fascinated by the food, and chocolate cards, even Nott started joking and enjoying with them, and helped Ron explain quidditch to harry, but their fun was soon bought to an end with Neville entering the compartment and asking if they had seen Trevor, to which they replied in negative, then Hermione had entered and asked about the toad but they replied in negative again.
But the encounter with Draco Malfoy had again been different; the three boys were talking, when the compartment door slid open to reveal Draco Malfoy with his cronies. "Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yeah" harry replied eyeing Crabbe and Goyle "oh this is Crabbe, and he is Goyle" Malfoy introduced them, and I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" and Nott snorted making Malfoy eye him, and Ron "Nott" Malfoy said coldly "if you and Potter hang around riffraff like the Weasley you might come to regret it"
"But" harry coolly replied "if we're friends with you, we will definitelyregret it" Malfoy turned pink as Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward, Ron quickly shot forward and punched Crabbe in the face, "go away or you'll regret it" Ron warned as the three boys hurried away.
"That was awesome" Harry said as Nott nodded, but Ron waved off their complements. They then changed into their school robes, and in what felt like minutes, were at hogsmeade station. "Firs' years! Firs' years over hear alright there harry?" Hagrid beamed at harry and led all the first years towards the Black lake.
"Ooh" many people exclaimed when they first saw Hogwarts, "no more'n four on a boat!" Hagrid called and Ron stepped into a boat with Harry, Theo and Neville and they crossed over to Hogwarts, where they were introduced to professor McGonagall who explained the house system to them and made them wait for a few minutes.
"How do they sort the students?" harry asked to which Ron replied "the sorting hat" harry still looked confused to which Theo explained "it's a hat that, when you put on, assess the your qualities and houses you accordingly" harry nodded and looked queasy while some other students were muttering and speculating how to be sorted, "well I hope you both are in the same house as me; Gryffindor" "how can you be sure that you will be in Gryffindor?" Nott asked Ron to which Ron smiled and replied "instinct"
Soon the ghosts came, and they were ushered into the great hall followed by the students. Ron saw himand had to use all of his willpower not to start hexing him out of the blue "deep breaths"he told himself "do not kill the damn bastard now, he'll get what he deserves"Ron turned his attention towards the sorting.
the sorting mostly went the same, as it had last time, but changed when it came to Theo Nott the hat had sat on Theo's head for almost a minute before shouting Gryffindor, again everything else went the same, and soon it was Ron's turn.
"Weasley Ronald" professor McGonagall called as Ron sat on the stool and the hat fell on his head "Hmm"the hat said"you're from the future?"it wasn't a question "You're brave, loyal to have come in the past just because your friend believed in you, quite knowledgeable, not to mention a tactical genius"the hat continued to muse. "Just put me in Gryffindor"Ron thought irritated to which the hat responded "short tempered, soGRYFFINDOR" the hat shouted the last word so Ron went and sat between harry and Theo.
The rest of the night went more or less the same with Dumbledore's words and proclamation of the corridor on third floor being off limits, except for the few mistrustful or traitorous looks sent towards Theo by the Gryffindors or Slytherins respectively. They soon finished their meals, had had been warned not to enter the third floor corridor. They then went to the common rooms and into the dormitory, and only after he was lying on his bed did Ron let his tears flow freely.
"They're alive"Ron told himself "They're alive, and this time I'll make sure they stay alive"Ron then noticed Pettigrew sleeping in its cage and thought about him "it's not like I can approach some teacher and tell them I think my rat is an animagus."Ron frowned "guess I'll have to wait for Remus to become the DADA teacher"Ron knew this was the only, but hated solution and went to sleep.
XXXXXXX
Ron was sleeping blissfully when he was suddenly woke to a place filled with fog, "where am I" he asked out loud "limbo" a familiar voice answered and Ron turned around to see Death "why am I here?" Ron asked Death who replied "I sensed that you had some questions" to which Ron nodded and asked "things are different from last time" to which death raised an eyebrow and said "isn't that what you were sent for?" to which Ron narrowed his eyes and replied "but things out of my control are changing"
Death slapped his face with the palm of his hand and said "look the time flow is like a lake, every drop sends ripples across it, last time, your brothers had helped harry load his trunk, and harry was the one who approached your mother, every action you take, different from last time, will change the future in untold ways" Ron thought for a moment and nodded understanding the concept of time.
"So my knowledge of the future is useless?" Ron asked Death who thought for a moment and said "it's not useless. As of right now the future is pretty much the same, but you are aiming to change the future after the fall of Tom riddle junior. So your knowledge of the time before that should be relevant."
Ron nodded and suddenly woke up in his bed "good morning" Harry greeted Ron "good morning Ron replied and got to getting ready for the day. He already knew the ways of Hogwarts, but had to act like he didn't and led harry and Theo around aimlessly for almost ten minutes before taking them to the great hall.
Once in the great hall he ate ravenously, something he had never changed in. the breakfast went normally till an owl landed in front of Theo. Theo read the letter tied to its talon and paled, he then passed on the letter to Harry as Ron read over his shoulder.
Theodore Nott
This letter is to inform you that you have been banished from the house of Nott. This means that while you may still hold Nott as your family name, you are not welcome to Nott manor. As you are the heir to the ancient house of Nott you can claim its headship if the head dies, but if the head left behind another child, then that child has the claim over the headship.
Sincerely
Douglas Nott
Head of the noble and most ancient house of Nott.
"I'm so sorry" Ron consoled Theo who was shaking; this was not the worst that could happen to a witch or a wizard, but was still quite a dreadful thing to happen to anyone. "It's okay" Theo replied his voice shaking "I was expecting this since I had been sorted into Gryffindor" Ron didn't really know what to say, he felt that it was his fault for getting Theo into Gryffindor "but now" Theo continued his voice slightly steadier "I can live how I want to"
The rest of the time was spent in silence as the three ate their breakfast, after which they hurried off to their classes. The classes were pretty much the same from the last time Ron had attended them, except this time he knew the spells and theory and was not above using it to impress the teachers.
Within two days he had earned Gryffindor twenty points, not to mention the teachers seem to label him as the smartest wizard of their generation. He had been beating Hermione who earned Gryffindor ten points) at almost all the subjects except history of magic, which he still slept at and defence against dark arts where he was too focused on controlling his homicidal tendencies towards Quirrell.
On Friday Hedwig bought harry a note from Hagrid inviting him to tea, which harry accepted "at least we'll have something to look forward to" Theo commented "we have double potions with Slytherins" he explained at Harry's confused look "and Snape is notorious in favouring them." The three made their way to the dungeons with the rest of their year mates and sat down for the class. Snape entered the class and took the roll call and passed at Harry's name and patronised him like the last time.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began his speech again, for Ron at least. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death— if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach"
Ron rolled his eyes; some things didn't seem to change no matter what "Potter!" Snape said suddenly "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Hermione's hand immediately shot up "the draught of living dead sir" Harry replied, as a crestfallen Hermione put down her arm. Ron had been sprouting random facts from 'one thousand magical herb and fungi' in hopes that harry remembers some of them and Snape asks the same questions as before.
Snape clearly looked taken aback on getting the right answer "Weasley" he turned to Ron who barely suppressed a smirk from blossoming on his lips "where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" again Hermione's hand shot up "in the stomach of a goat sir" Ron replied making sir sound like an insult while smiling brightly at Snape, who was put off by the smiling.
Snape started getting agitated "Nott" he turned to Theo "what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" "They're the same plant sir" Theo replied after thinking for a moment. Snape seemed puzzled by this availability of knowledge but let it go for the moment. "Well" he addressed the class who were all staring at him "why aren't you copying this down?"
The class then went setting the class in pairs to prepare a potion to cure boils. With Theo pairing up with Neville as Harry paired up with Ron. Theo's presence had prevented Neville melting his caldron which Ron had hoped for. Theo had gone to become a master potioneer and Ron hoped he prevented Neville from performing poorly and giving Snape bullying material.
"Thank you Ron" Harry told Ron once potions was over "you saved my life with the fact sprouting yesterday" "Coincidence" Ron waved off his thanks "and a lucky one at that" Theo told at Harry's other side, he had been quiet mostly since the letter of banishment but seemed positively cheerful at the moment.
"You're awfully chirpy today" Ron remarked as Harry nodded "what's made you so happy?" Theo looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping and satisfied whispered to Harry and Ron "I've finally realised that being banished from my house means I no longer have to worry about living up to pureblood supremacist standards. Plus my grandfather from my mother's side had left everything to me and being banished means I can access it. I've decided to enjoy life" Theo's eyes were practically glinting as he finished his explanation "that's great Theo" Harry replied slightly taken aback by the ease Theo got over his banishment.
The three then went to the grounds to visit Hagrid. He still lived in the old hut of his which was the same as Ron remembered it. They entered the hut to see Hagrid restraining Fang "make yerselves at home" Hagrid told them as he released Fang who immediately bounded towards Theo and started licking him. Hagrid chatted with the three and Harry saw the article about Gringotts and asked Hagrid about it as Hagrid tried to evade the question making Ron smirk "now I just have to get harry to enter the forbidden corridor"
XXXXXXX
"Up" Ron commanded as his broom flew into his hand, though it was one of the few that did. The Gryffindors and Slytherins were together learning how to ride a broom. Ron smiled as he thought of quidditch; it was the one thing that had bought him joy even through the darkest of times.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard" said Madam Hooch shaking Ron out of his trance. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two" But Neville, once again due to his nervousness and fear pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
Ron sighed, while he knew Neville would be safe he was debating about letting Harry fly to join the Gryffindor team, on one side every year something bad would happen to him in one of the matches, while on the other hand he knew how much Harry enjoyed it and didn't want to deprive him of this joy.
Neville fell to the ground and broke his wrist, so madam hooch took him to the infirmary, warning the rest of the kids not to try anything. After she left Malfoy and the other Slytherins started laughing, though Ron noticed that Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis were not laughing.
"Did you see his face?" Malfoy drawled as his cronies sniggered as Malfoy added "what a baby" "shut up Malfoy" Parvati snapped "ooh sticking up for Longbottom?" said Parkinson "never thought you'dlike fat little cry babies" Malfoy darted forward and picked up the Remembrall "look it's the stupid thing Longbottom's grandmother sent him" "give it here Malfoy" harry quietly said, Ron noticed a fire in his eyes, as Malfoy smiled nastily. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find — how about — up a tree?" "Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. Ron growled "to hell with the safety thing"Ron thought as Harry grabbed his broom and shot in the air.
Malfoy threw the remembrall and Harry caught it just as professor McGonagall entered the courtyard. "HARRY POTTER" she practically bellowed "Never… in all my time at Hogwarts…" Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "how dareyou…might have broken your neck"
"It wasn't his fault, Professor…"
"Be quiet, Miss Patil…"
"But Malfoy…"
"That's enough, Mr. Weasley."
A sudden thought struck Ron, "what if the professordoes punish harry?"but now it was too late to second guess the decision "We Gryffindors really do act first and then think"
XXXXXXX
"You're joking" Theo exclaimed once harry finished telling them what happened "Seeker?" Ron asked "But first years never… you must be the youngest house player in about…"
"…a century" Harry completed for him and added "Wood told me." After a few minutes the twins entered the great hall and congratulated Harry on becoming a seeker. Ron then saw Malfoy eating with Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table and thought "he's not gonna challenge a duel, so I'll have to sneak these guys out to meet fluffy myself"and said "hey wanna explore the castle tonight?" "Sure" Theo replied as Harry hesitated a bit but finally nodded.
"Excuse me" Hermione interrupted "I couldn't help but overhear you" "bet you couldn't" Theo murmured "but you shouldn't wander out at night" Hermione admonished them "it will lose you all the points I've earned in McGonagall's class" "it's none of your business" Harry told her "Ron" Hermione turned to him "aren't you worried about losing the points you've earned till now?" Ron gave her a composed look and said "if I lose them, I'll just earn some more" "good-bye" Harry told her, as the three got up and left.
Later in the night Ron shook Harry and Theo awake "half-past eleven. Let's go" Theo nodded, but Harry's green eyes were filled with apprehension. Ron knew that harry didn't want to push his luck with breaking two school rules in one night, but was agreeing to not be left out. "Sorry mate, but I really need you to see this"Ron contemplated but did not say anything.
They got out of the dormitories and reached the common room to see a figure sitting on one of the armchairs speak up "I can't believe that you are actually going through with this" it was Hermione. "You" Theo hissed furiously "go away" "you three are just being selfish" Hermione admonished them "let's go" harry told Ron and Theo as he climbed out of the portrait followed by the two.
Hermione got up to follow them but Theo closed the portrait behind them before Hermione could get through. "c'mon" Ron told the two and they left going randomly where they wanted to, they passed Neville and gave him the password which he had forgotten. "I wanna show you this amazing room I discovered yesterday" Ron told his friends who seemed intrigued, "what is it?" harry asked curiously "you'll see" Ron answered as they headed to the stairs.
The stairs kept shifting and the trio landed on the fifth floor where Ron pulled his friends towards the fifth floor east corridor "where is it?" Theo asked his grey eyes reflecting the moonlight. "We're here" he told harry and Theo as he pulled at an old wall lamp that tilted like a lever as a part of the wall beside it slid away to reveal a secret room.
It was a small cosy rectangular room with a long desk attached to the wall on three sides as one and four chairs. The walls were completely filled with posted notes and diagrams of all sorts and there were a few books on the desk. The whole room was lit by an old fashioned chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
"You discovered this?" the brown haired boy asked in awe as his eyes scanned the room "yeah" Ron replied nervously "by accident" while this was true he didn't dare mention that he had discovered it while he had been teaching in Hogwarts. "Amazing" Harry breathed as the three boys explored the contents of the room.
It was soon midnight when the three decided to call it quits. "We'll come again tomorrow night" Harry consoled Theo who seemed to find the thought of leaving the room highly depressing, Ron just laughed at the brown haired boy's antics and said "let's go" the three left the room when they heard footsteps echoing behind them "it's Finch" Ron whispered
"Bloody hell" Theo muttered as the three hurried off trying to get away from Finch while making the least noise possible. They then heard a cat's yowl "Mrs. Norris" Harry groaned as the three dashed off not caring about the noise. They came upon the forbidden corridor on the third floor (but Ron doubted that his companions realised that) but the door did not budge when Theo tried to pull it "let me" Ron said pulling out his wand "Alohomora"there was a clicking sound and Harry hurriedly pulled door open as the three boys slipped in and slammed the door shut.
Harry and Theo leaned against the door listening for the sound of footsteps to alert them about Finch "guys?" Ron called from beside them staring ahead the two turned to Ron, and seeing him staring ahead, looked in front of them to see three humungous dog heads. They then noticed that the heads had one body, meaning it was a three headed dog.
The dog started stirring so Harry threw the door open and gave a strangled whisper "run" the three rushed out not caring about running into Finch or anyone for that matter. Luckily for them they reached Gryffindor tower without any problems. "What was that?" Ron asked no one in particular as they plopped down on the common room armchairs.
"It was a Cerberus" Theo replied "but more importantly, why is it in the school? It shouldn't be bought near students" "it was standing on a trap door" Ron supplied he had observed that to see if it had changed but apparently it hadn't "so it must be protecting something"
"But what?" the grey eyed boy asked frustrated as they headed to their dorm, but Harry remained thoughtfully quiet making the red head smirk "Think my friend! Think and you'll find answers"
XXXXXXX
The next day Harry told Ron and Theo all about the package he had seen Hagrid pick up in Gringotts "it must be either really valuable or really dangerous" Ron commented "or both" Harry pointed out they were discussing what the package might be. "Guys, we shouldn't discuss this here where anyone can overhear" Theo pointed out as they were sitting in the great hall for breakfast.
They then noticed six large owls carry a long thin package and were surprised when it dropped in front of Harry with another owl carrying a letter from McGonagall that told him about the package being a nimbus 2000 and not to open it at the table along with the timing of his first quidditch practice.
"You lucky dog" Theo called to Harry as they hurried upstairs to put away the broom "you're not allowed to bring brooms" a voice called out as they turned the corner to see Malfoy and his cronies "except when you get special permission to play" Ron replied as Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles and Theo stepped forward. He wasn't as bulky as Crabbe or Goyle, but he was still strong and definitely faster than either muscle head.
"Getting along I hope" professor Flitwick called out appearing around the end of the corridor "Potter has a broom" Malfoy complained "ah yes" the tiny charms professor replied "McGonagall told me. Congratulations Potter" Harry smiled "thank you sir, but the truth is I never would've gotten the position if not for Malfoy" saying that the three Gryffindors left barely holding back their laughter from Malfoy's expression.
"well it is true y'know" harry commented once Malfoy and Flitwick were out of earshot "maybe that'll teach him not to mess with us" Theo added his two knuts, but all three had the same thoughts in their heads "yeah right""so you think this is a reward for breaking school rules" came the angry voice of Hermione from behind them "well I think that" Theo replied with a smirk as Hermione stomped off.
The next few days were relatively normal with Harry telling them about quidditch and them just doing their homework and hanging out in the hideout on the fifth floor. The hideout had a lot of interesting stuff such as diagrams for weapons and notes on different types of magic. But the three just didn't have the motivation to apply all that knowledge.
"Today we'll be learning how to levitate objects" Flitwick announced to his class. It was Halloween and everybody was excited about learning levitation of objects. Flitwick paired up the students, teaming harry with Seamus, Theo with Neville and Ron with Hermione much to both of their ire.
"Wingardium Leviosa"Ron raised the feather on the desk four feet into the air on the first try as did Hermione. By the end of the class even harry had managed it, but Theo still had a little problem. At least Hermione won't end up in the bathroom"Ron pondered "though having her killed would be a pain off my back"Ron seriously considered the ideabut in the end Ron dismissed it as immoral. The rest of the day went normal, but the three boys heard something that made Ron mentally groan "Daphne is crying in the girls' bathroom and wants to be left alone" Parkinson whispered to Lily Moon "well looks like we've got someone to save again"
They entered the great hall, and saw the thousand fluttering bats and jack' O lanterns. The trio were piling their food when Quirrell burst into the great hall, turban askew. Everyone stared as he sprinted towards and fell in front of professor Dumbledore "troll in dungeon- thought you should know" this statement sent everyone into panic mode except Ron who was furiously eating his food "gotta keep up my strength to rescue that girl"the redhead told to himself.
Dumbledore fired several purple firecrackers from his wand "Prefects' escort the students to your respective common rooms" "we'll get killed" a voice came from the Slytherin table "Slytherins stay here" Dumbledore added.
"First years follow me" Percy was in his element gathering the first years and herding them towards the common room "wait" Harry whispered to Ron and Theo "what about Greengrass in the girls bathroom? She wouldn't know about the troll" he and Theo turned to Ron who muttered "fine, but Percy better not see us"
They ducked down and hurried into a deserted corridor, only to see Snape hurry past them "what's he doing here?" Theo wondered "shouldn't he be with the other teachers on the dungeon?" Harry added his two Knuts "search me" Ron replied "he's heading for the third floor" Theo observed, but all of a sudden a rotten smell hit them "the troll" Ron whispered they then saw the troll, all twelve feet, gray skin disproportionate head, arms and giant club. "Shouldn't it be in the dungeons?" harry asked "once again, search me" Ron replied as the troll headed into the girls bathroom.
"That's the girls' bathroom" Ron whispered panicking as the heard two screams from the inside. The three sprinted towards the bathroom to see two girls huddled in a corner as the troll advanced "Ron get the girls while Theo and me distract the troll" the blue eyed boy nodded as he ran to the far end of the bathroom "hey pea brain" Harry called drawing the trolls attention who changed direction and headed for Harry. From Theo other side Theo threw a piece of the broken wall dangerously close to the troll's eye drawing its attention.
While this was going on Ron headed towards the two scared Slytherins who were staring at the troll "come on" he waved his hand in front of their eyes drawing their attention. He then pulled them to their feet as the troll roared; one hand covering the left side of his face "guess Theo got the eye"Ron grinned and noticed the club raised his wand "Wingardium Leviosa" the club raised in the air. Twirled a full circle and fell with a crack on the trolls head.
"Is it dead?" Harry asked from beside Theo "no we just knocked him unconscious" Ron replied "thank you" Daphne Greengrass whispered softly and Tracey Davis nodded making Ron turn to them. Daphne Greengrass was slim with puffy blue eyes due to cryng, pale skin and blonde hair while Tracey Davis had a fuller shape with black eyes, caramel skin and light auburn hair. "You're welcome"
"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?" professor McGonagall practically shouted bursting into the toilet followed by Snape and Quirrell "what happened here?" she asked again after seeing the troll, she wasn't shouting but even the troll (if conscious) could've made out that she was angry.
Daphne Greengrass stepped forward "they came here to save me" she replied as Snape glared at her and Davis for being caught in this mess "I had received a letter from home telling me that the family cat had died. I was quite attached to it and was crying here with Tracey trying to console me, we didn't know about the troll till it burst in here. We were too frightened to move and these three came in and saved us" the boys nodded and explained how the troll had been bought down by its own club.
"Well…in that case" McGonagall said staring at them "Miss Greengrass and miss Davis, since your presence here was an accident, I'll let you two off and ask you two to be careful in the future" she then turned to the boys "as for you three" the mentioned looked down, Harry and Theo in fear, while Ron looked down to hide his grin. "Five points each" the three looked up in shock "you were very lucky to have taken down a mountain troll. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may leave now; all houses are finishing their meals in their respective common rooms"
The five first years left the bathroom "thanks for saving us" Ron thanked the Slytherin duo as Daphne replied "I only told the truth" "but once again thank you for saving our lives" Tracey thanked the three boys who shrugged it off. The boys then headed towards their common room "looks like things are changing. And for the better"Ron cheered as he waved goodbye to the two girls.