To Listen with Our Ears, Minds, and Hearts Chapter 3- What Can I Do (Seungri)

-Halloween-

After a long day at Hogsmeade, Mizy and Nooni entered Hogwarts, holding a bottle of butterbeer in their hands, their pockets crammed with sweets from Honeydukes, and bags with harmless products from Zonkos. They went to their dormitories, deposited their load, and headed back to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. As usual, the hall was decorated with live bats swooping around, and great, big pumpkins. As they sat down at the Ravenclaw's table, the Great Hall began to fill up with other students. Mizy couldn't help but notice that Quirrell wasn't present.

As the food appeared, Mizy helped herself to some sweets. A few moments later, the feast was interrupted by Professor Quirrell, who sprinted through the doors and ran in, screaming something about a troll, finished with, "Thought you ought to know." Then sank to the floor in a dead faint. All at once, everyone jumped to their feets, screaming. Mizy screamed along, more in shock in concern for Quirrell than for fear of a troll. She attempted to check to see if he was alright, but that attempt was thwarted as everyone began pushing and shoving, desperate to get out of the hall.

Dumbledore shot several loud, purple firecrackers into the ceiling (dissolving before hitting it), and finally everyone stopped and stood still, waiting for instructions. "Prefects," he said, his voice loud and clear, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!" Mizy had a sudden thought, wondering where the Slytherins would go, as their dormitories were in the dungeons, where the troll was at large. Eh, they were an unpleasant lot, no one would miss them. As the Ravenclaw prefects led the Ravenclaws out of the Great Hall, Mizy sneaked a look back at Quirrell. He seemed to be getting up. That put her mind on ease; he was alright.

The students were to finish the feast up (or down) in their dormitories. Mizy and Nooni got plates and quickly sat on the chairs, butting off another Ravenclaw who was about to sit there. "How do you reckon the troll got in?" Mizy asked. "Maybe Peeves let it in. Dunno where he would have found a troll though." Nooni replied, spooning mashed potato into her mouth. Mizy bit off a piece of candy. "Strange."

-Morning-

The next day, everyone in the school pretty much knew that Harry Potter and his friends had taken on the troll, with a total of 6 different versions of the incident, 10 details that "were left out", and others. Nooni and Mizy were amazed that those three were having such an exciting year. The highlight of their first year at Hogwarts was when someone slipped a Hiccupping Potion into Quirrell's and Flitwick's drinking mugs. But what everyone was mainly discussing, was the upcoming Quiddtich match, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. There were rumors that Harry Potter was the Gryffindor seeker, so everyone had high hopes, everyone except the Slytherins, naturally.

When the day came, everyone gathered onto the Quidditch field and sat down in the towers. Mizy sat with Nooni. As the teams gathered on the field, Madam Hooch released the snitch, bludgers, and finally, the Quaffle. With Lee Jordan commenting, the match was quite enjoyable so far. She watched through binoculars as Katie Bell scored another goal for Gryffindor, drawing cheers from all houses except Slytherin.

Suddenly, Nooni pulled on Mizy's arm. "Look at Harry!" She said, pointing to the young seeker. Mizy moved her binoculars. She watched as Harry desperately clung onto his broomstick, which was acting like a bucking bull, pulling him left and right. She lowered her binoculars- just in time to see Professor Quirrell get knocked down by some bushy haired Gryffindor girl. She saw a spurt of flames flare on Professor Snape's robes- and then the flames disappeared. "What the-" Mizy began, but Nooni shouted, "Harry's caught the snitch! Well, more like swallowed it!" Mizy turned her attention down to Harry, who was holding the snitch in one hand, waving it at the crowd. Mizy brought her binoculars back up to her eyes, ignoring the deafening roar of cheers from the spectators. She focused on Quirrell, who she was shocked to see glaring at Harry and the back of Snape's head.

The day after the Quidditch match, everyone was impressed at how Harry managed to stay on his broomstick, and Mizy and Nooni were no exceptions. No one had a clue to why it behaved that way, though. At breakfast, Mizy caught sight of the bushy haired girl sitting next to Harry Potter and a ginger. She felt a slight anger towards her, as she had knocked down Quirrell, though it was probably unintentionally. Mizy turned back towards Nooni and engaged her in a conversation.

"Finally! Slytherin might not win the House Cup this year!" Mizy said.

"I know right? But the troll should have finished them off for good…I'm kidding, kidding." Nooni said in response. Mizy chuckled. She could hear a first year Slytherin with a pale, pointed face and blond hair claim that a wide-mouthed tree frog could replace Potter. The kid must be way jealous. She picked up her bag and the two exited the Great Hall to Transfiguration.

In Transfiguration, they were attempting to transfigure salamanders into rabbits. Nooni had managed to pull the spell of perfectly, her salamander now a pure white rabbit. Mizy's still had a tail attached to the back of her rabbit.

"For homework, , practice." McGonagall said, peering down at Mizy's rabbit. Mizy sighed, making a mental note to ask Nooni for help. The bell rang, and the two packed up and headed for DADA. As they entered the classroom, fanning away the smell of garlic with their hands, they took up the seats up in front of Quirrell's desk. As the bell rang, Quirrell walked in and sat at the desk. He called attendance, and then asked them to take out their books and turn to page 96.

Mizy finished reading the selected paragraphs on vampire bats, and looked up at Quirrell. She was shocked to see that he looked paler than usual, and thinner. He also looked very down, as though he had endured a rather harsh scolding. His mind seemed to be elsewhere, and his hands slightly trembled as he wrote on a piece of parchment. Perhaps the handwriting was illegible, due to his trembling hands, so he reached across for a new piece of parchment, knocking over a bottle of black ink. The bottle fell to the ground, the 'thud' masked by the conversations of the other students, and ink spilled out. "Oh!" he murmured, staring at the mess.

"I'll clean it up, Professor." Mizy said, getting up and bending down to pick up the bottle.

"T-thank you, I'll c-clean up the i-ink, M-Ms. Yaru." Quirrell said, pulling out his wand and mumbled, "scourgify" which siphoned the ink off the floor. Mizy picked up the bottle, straightened up, and passed it to Quirrell, their fingers briefly brushing against each other. Quirrell pulled his hand back rather quickly, seemed to realize this, and continued to place the empty bottle on his desk.

"Professor," Mizy began, "Are you alright? You seem really out of it today." Quirrell looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face, and studied her for a full few seconds, then managed a small smile."N-nothing to w-worry about, j-just a l-little off t-today." He said with a nervous "hehe". Mizy gave him a small smile, and went to sit back down with Nooni.

"What's with you? So interested and caring for him." Nooni questioned. "You don't even do that with me!" She added, feigning shock and hurt.

Mizy could tell Nooni was a little hurt, so she said, "Shut up." Mizy said with a smile to show she was kidding. "Want to stay after class for a little while?" Nooni declined.

A few moments later, the bell rang, and the class filed out, except for Mizy, waving good bye to Nooni.

She walked up to his desk and, feeling bold, asked, "Professor, I'm asking as a concerned student, a friend." He looked up at her strangely at the word "friend". "Is everything alright?" She held his gaze, watching for a sign of emotion, while also admiring his eyes.

After a few seconds, Quirrell began, "Well…" Mizy continued to look at him, trying to make her eyes reflect her concern, attempting to encourage him to continue.

"I….I'm f-fine. T-thank you for your c-concern, Ms. M-Mizy." He said, smiling as warmly as he could. Mizy raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.

"Professor, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here." She said, feeling her cheeks burn. Quirrell lowered his gaze.

"Well, there is something." He said quietly. Mizy was taken aback by the absence of his stutter. Before she could ask about it, Quirrell winced, as though something had pained him.

"P-perhaps you ought to go, m-might be late for your n-next class." He said nervously, avoiding her gaze. Mizy nodded, hoisted up her bag, and left the room, hurrying to Charms.

Mizy entered just as the bell rang, and took the seat next Nooni at the back of the room. Although Nooni did not press Mizy to tell her what happened, for the sake of their friendship, Mizy decided to tell her.

"I'm trying to make a move on Quirrell." Mizy said as quietly as she could so that only Nooni could hear.

"Way to make it obvious." Nooni laughed.

"It was that obvious?" Mizy asked, eyes wide.

"I'm just kidding. Nah I'm kidding again. The way you do it, staring at him so openly, I try not to laugh." Nooni said, taking notes on the Silencio charm."My little girl's all grown up." She added with a giggle. She waved her wand and succeeded in silencing a raven that was cawing away in front of her.

"Humph. How are you and your boyfriend?" Mizy asked, trying to change the coversation. Nooni was going out with Rick Law, a seventh year Hufflepuff.

"Pretty good. Our relationship making you jealous?." Nooni replied, raising an eyebrow and smiling to show she was joking.

In DADA classes, Mizy began telling off people for laughing at Quirrell's stutter, even if they did not acknowledge her comments. She started trying to help him out more, as he was now prone to knocking things over due to his lack of concentration. In incidents such as those, Quirrell would look at her quickly and then busy himself with straightening paperwork of rearranging his quills and ink bottles. Mizy didn't mind; it made it seem less awkward.

Christmas was coming up. She wondered whether or not she should give a Quirrell a Christmas gift. Nooni was all for it, encouraging her to give him something ranging from a book to kiss. Mizy responded by teasing her about what she should do for her boyfriend, in which Nooni blushed and said her love was enough. But her boyfriend had left to home for the break. Just before Christmas, Mizy decided to bake some Cauldron Cakes and a tin of treacle fudge for Quirrell. She honestly did not know if he would like them, but she didn't have any other ideas.

On the day of Christmas, Nooni and Mizy wondered around the grounds, wrapped tightly in a cloak and wearing beanies, scarfs and gloves, they found and watched Harry Potter and his friends engaged in a furious snowball fight. Amused, they trudged on, exploring the grounds.

After the fabulous Christmas dinner (which Mizy was pleased to see Quirrell had attended and eaten some chocolate pudding, which meant he probably liked chocolate), she and Nooni stayed behind for a bit in the Great Hall, playing with the wizard crackers. After playing a game of chess with a chess set that had come out of one wizard cracker, the two got up and exited the Great Hall. As they reached the first floor, Mizy said, "I'm going to wish Quirrell a merry Christmas. Meet you in the common room later." Nooni nodded, gave her an assuring smile, and headed up the stairs. Mizy took a death breath, and walked to DADA classroom. She knocked on the door, and heard a "Come in." She opened the door, and saw Quirrell seated behind his desk. He looked up, and smiled at her.

"Yes, Ms. Y-Yaru?" Mizy smiled back, and took the box of her homemade Cauldron cakes and fudge out.

"Merry Christmas, professor Quirrell." She said, handing him the box. "I hope you enjoy them." Quirrell sat, transfixed, then reached and took the box and set them on his desk.

"T-thank you, and merry C-Christmas to y-you, too, my d-dear." Mizy's heart leapt when he said "my dear". "I o-only wish I h-had gotten you s-something."

"It's alright, professor." Mizy said with a big smile. "Have a good night." Quirrell nodded, and muttered back a good night to her. She turned and headed out the door. When she closed the door behind her, she could not help but smile widely, and did not stop smiling until she finally fell asleep in her bed.