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Chapter 4: A Troll and a Picture

"Memory Difettose."

Hermione saw herself falling off the monkey bars, breaking her arm.

She saw a group of girls at her old school laughing at the way she had dressed.

She saw her dad yelling at her, after she'd broken the frame of an old picture.

She saw the D on a math test.

Hermione breathed heavily. She remembered all of the emotions that had gone with those scenes: the panic, the fear, the humiliation, and the guilt. Those emotions from past events mixed with new unpleasant emotions and together, they put Hermione on the brink of crying again. "Well that was some progress at least," said Hermione softly to herself.

Hermione had spent quite a bit of time trying to follow the Sorting Hat's advice. Classes had come first, but she couldn't imagine the hat asking her to discover lost memories if it wasn't very important that she did so. Given how well classes were going for her, she had had a lot of time to devote to this exercise.

First Hermione had discovered a way to check if a person had ever been obliterated. The result for her had turned out to be negative. That had led her to believe that the hidden memories must be something she had repressed.

Hermione had spent the better part of a week learning how to correctly use this particular charm. The spell exposed the recipient to their worst memories. The spell was difficult and she probably would not have been able to use it on anyone against their will. Fortunately, the only person she needed to use it on was herself, a willing participant.

Unfortunately, the experience thus far hadn't been pleasant or useful. She'd spent the last two weeks drudging through her worst memories trying to find something. She had learned to control the experience a little better, navigating away from areas she knew were dead ends. Unfortunately, she still had nothing to show for all her work.

Hermione decided if this didn't work soon, she'd have to go another route. She didn't think she could stand much more of this, and there were a couple of teachers that were becoming concerned about how pale she had been looking.

Hermione stifled a tear and headed toward Charms.

Hermione had been giving Harry and Ron a wide berth whenever possible. So far, this had had good results. Ron had avoided speaking to her, barely saying a word to her since the night they had discovered the three-headed dog. Overall, Hermione had found this to be a big improvement.

Hermione's problem was that it wasn't just Harry and Ron whom she said little to. She hadn't made any friends at all. Everyone seemed to be put off by her interest in her studies. Neville had been a little better than the others, but even he tended to stick more to the boys.

For a while, Hermione had told herself that this didn't matter. She was at school to learn after all. That excuse was wearing thin though. Although she would hardly admit it, even to herself, Hermione desperately wanted some companionship.

Professor Flitwick had decided to break the class into pairs to practice Wingardium Leviosa. Hermione, much to her dismay, was paired with Ron.

The practice, surprisingly, didn't start out too horrible. Ron didn't look particularly happy about the arrangement, but he kept any negative comments to himself. As they started to work, Hermione mentioned how her dad would find this charm particularly fascinating.

"I don't think it was this spell, but my brother Bill talked about something like this that lifts you upside by your feet. Charlie said an older kid did the spell on Bill his first week of school. Wingardium Leviosa!"

"That's horrible," said Hermione.

"Yeah. Bill didn't want to go into any details though. Charlie dropped the subject pretty quick too. I think he might have been worried that the twins would get ideas. Wingardium Leviosa!"

"How many siblings do you have? Wingardium Leviosa." asked Hermione.

"Five older brothers and one younger sister. Bill and Charlie graduated already. Percy and Fred and George are obviously…."

Ron stopped. His expression turned slightly guilty looking. He looked like he had just caught himself doing something wrong.

The two sat without saying a word, except to perform their spell, for a while. Hermione quickly got the charm perfect. Ron was having more trouble. He wasn't pronouncing the words just right, and he wasn't doing the wand motion correctly either. Hermione decided she'd be better off staying quite though.

Unfortunately, that plan didn't work out. It was simply in her nature to correct. "You're moving your arm too much. Also, it's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

Ron didn't greet these suggestions with any type of verbal response. His expression turned very angry though. Hermione didn't say anything else to him the rest of class.

Hermione was reminded again of last school year. Rebecca had started talking behind her back. Then, just before Christmas, she had finally told Hermione she didn't want to be her friend anymore. After that, in a school full of people, Hermione had been alone. Now, in a new school, with new people, almost a whole year later, she was still every bit as much alone. She didn't even have her parents to find comfort in anymore.

Was she was going to have to put up with this for seven more years? Just because she liked learning, she was an outcast. Ron didn't even want help from her. She had been so sure that things were going to be better this year, but in so many ways, they were much worse.

As class ended, Ron went back over to Harry. Hermione heard him say, "I just can't stand working with her."

All the emotions Hermione had been battling since she got here seemed to finally spill over. Many of the visions she had been receiving from her memory charm practice seemed to flood her head. This wasn't going to get better. She wasn't going to gain any friends here either. In another mood, she might have said that it didn't matter, but right now, it seemed like the only thing in the world that did.

Hermione ran from the room. She couldn't hold the tears anymore. She would be late or maybe even miss her next class, but she didn't care.

Ron picked up some pumpkin bread. The Great Hall looked magnificent, but he hardly noticed. He'd seen Hermione run out after Charms class. She had missed the rest of her classes for the day, and now she was supposedly crying in the bathroom.

This wasn't the first time that someone had said they heard her crying, but it was worse this time. She had never missed a class before.

Had it been his fault?

Ron didn't know. He supposed he hadn't exactly been kind to her in class, or over the whole school year for that matter.

She was so annoying though. She was always trying to show him up.

Or, was she really just trying to help? As much as Ron tried to convince himself it was the former, he knew it was mainly the latter.

Ron thought briefly of the Hogwarts Express. He hadn't thought she had been annoying then. He hadn't really started to feel that way until after Fred and George's comments.

That had been the point when he had started to ignore her. He realized now that he had blamed her for their jokes.

That hadn't been fair. Ron decided he was still going to avoid her when possible, but it wasn't fair to be mad just because she was near him.

Ron's thoughts were interrupted by Professor Quirrell. He came into the Great Hall saying a troll was in the castle. Ron's thoughts went instantly to Hermione in the bathroom.

"Hermione…She doesn't know."

Ron started walking, but Harry grabbed him. "We'll break off when we are out of the Great Hall."

The boys followed their classmates and Percy out of the Great Hall and then made a quick turn and headed toward the girls bathroom.

Ron's heart raced. What had he been doing? It had been him who had been mean to Hermione all year. She had left class in tears after working with him. If something happened to Hermione, it would be his fault. Ron couldn't bear the thought.

Ron probably would have run straight into Snape if Harry hadn't caught him first. As it was, they were lucky to avoid the Potions Master. "He's heading toward the third floor," said Harry, but Ron wasn't listening.

Ron was running so fast that he made it the bathroom 30 seconds before Harry could have. He opened the door and shouted, "Hermione!"

There she was, tears in her eyes. Bewildered, she said, "What are you doing here?" Then angrily Hermione shouted, "Get out!"

"There's a…"

Before Ron could say anymore though, the door swung open again and a giant troll came strolling in.

Hermione screamed.

The troll started towards Hermione, raising its club. Hermione shrunk back into the corner.

"No!" shouted Ron. "Leave her alone!" Ron jumped between the troll and Hermione. "Reducto!"

The blasting spell that came from Ron's wand was like nothing he had ever produced. It was by far his strongest spell ever.

Unfortunately, trolls, like giants, are highly resistant to magic. The troll stumbled backwards and fell over, but was far more mad than hurt.

Ron ran to Hermione, who seemed unable to move. "We have to get out of here."

When Hermione still didn't move, Ron grabbed her hand and started pulling. She started moving, but it was too late. The troll was up and once again blocking the exit. Its club was already up in the air heading down, and there was no time left for Ron to utter a word.

Harry had entered the bathroom just behind the troll. He saw Ron's powerful curse knock the troll down. Ron had gone over to Hermione at that point, and the troll had responded quicker than Ron could react.

As Harry saw the club heading down toward his friend, he said the only spell he could think of. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Harry hadn't quite gotten the spell yet, and this did not turn out to be an exception. Instead of flying straight up, the club sped quickly back at its owner. The club hit the troll in the head like a full swing from a baseball bat, and he went down immediately.

Harry couldn't believe what he had just done.

Ron looked at the troll on the ground. What dumb luck. "Good job mate."

He looked back at Hermione. She looked so frightened still. "It's OK. It's knocked out. Let's get out of here."

Ron realized he was still holding Hermione's hand. He let it go. She was regaining her composure, but she was still frightened, and the tears were still visible. Now was the time to apologize. If he waited, he wouldn't be able to do it. He quickly said, "Look, I'm…I'm sorry if I have been kind of mean to you."

At that moment, the doors swung open and Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell entered.

McGonagall sounded as angry as Hermione had ever heard her. Hermione had a decision to make. Harry and Ron had saved her life. She couldn't let them get blamed for that. She could tell the truth; she could tell the teachers she was in the bathroom crying, and the boys must have found out somehow. She didn't want to answer questions about that though, and it might still get the boys in trouble, since they didn't go to a teacher for help.

"Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

"I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them."

The next morning, Ron came down and saw Hermione helping Harry with his potions. She asked, "Do you need any help with your potions homework?"

Ron thought about Fred and George, but decided they probably wouldn't tease him about homework. Besides, it had been a difficult essay. "That would be great."

Ron sat down. "Do you feel better today?" He still felt a little guilty.

Hermione was quiet for a moment. "Yes. Yesterday was difficult. It brought back a lot of bad memories, but I'm fine now."

One word lodged in Ron's mind. Memories? "Memories!"

Hermione asked, "What is it?"

Ron looked around. No one else was listening. "I completely forgot. The Sorting Hat, it said I should work with you on memory charms."

Hermione looked shocked.

Harry said, "Why?"

Ron gulped. "I don't know exactly. Over the summer, I had…I had kind of a weird experience. I…I fainted outside and after that it seemed like I was half remembering things that hadn't happened. Then on the train, I did that spell on Scabbers." Slightly louder, Ron said "Then last night. I didn't know a curse that would knock down a troll. I definitely didn't know one that powerful."

Harry looked bewildered. Hermione looked angry. "All of this time."

Ron asked, "What's wrong?"

"You…You had memories hidden too! If I had known that, I would have known it wasn't some repressed memory I was looking for, and I wouldn't have spent the past two weeks going through every bad memory I have."

In disbelief Harry said, "You've been going through all your bad memories?"

"Yes," said Hermione simply. "I found a curse that would show the recipient their worst memories, even ones they had forgotten. I've been using it on myself the last two weeks trying to remember what the Sorting Hat wanted me to."

Ron felt horrified. "You've been using that curse on yourself?"

"Yes."

There was a long silence. Finally Ron said a little desperately and defensively, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Is there anything else you're not telling me?"

"No," said Ron pleadingly.

The next silence lasted almost two full minutes. Ron felt as if he was about to go mad. Finally, Hermione sighed. "Alright. What do you remember?"

Ron let go of some of the tension he had been feeling. Had he just been forgiven? "Only bits and pieces really. I had nightmares this summer. They may have been memories, but I can't remember any of the details. I knew your name though. And so did Ginny!"

Hermione asked, "Who's Ginny?"

"My sister," said Ron. "After I fainted, I felt like I was going mad. Ginny said that I was just trying to remember a few things."

Harry felt a little lost, "But why would this, whatever it is, affect all three of you?"

Ron said, "I don't know. The Sorting Hat didn't tell you to look for memories too, did it?"

Harry shook his head.

Hermione said, "Then something must have happened to the three of us."

Harry suggested, "Maybe someone put a spell on you three, erasing your memories."

Hermione shock her head. "No, I tested to see if I was obliterated- that's what it's called when someone's memories have been erased or altered. The result was negative."

"Then where could the memories come from?" asked Harry.

Hermione looked to Ron, "You said you didn't know how to do that color changing spell on the train or the spell last night right?"

"Yeah. They just sort of came to me."

"Then those spells, must have been in those memories," said Hermione.

"You're right. What does that mean though?"

Thinking Hermione said, "Well, it could mean a lot of things. Maybe these memories are from an older witch or wizard."

"How would we get someone else's memories?"

"I don't know. I could have been an accident. That seems unlikely though since you received yours before you even met me. Maybe they were sent to us to try to prevent something or prepare us for something. Maybe they're a warning."

Harry asked, "Why wouldn't they just tell you… or tell Dumbledore then?"

"Well…" said Hermione trying to think of a plausible explanation. "Maybe they're working from inside some secret group. There's obviously something hidden on the third floor that someone is trying to steal."

Harry interrupted, "Something that wasn't even safe in Gringotts."

"Exactly," said Hermione. "It could just be one witch or wizard trying to steal whatever it is…"

Harry finished, "But a group would have a better chance of breaking into Gringotts."

Hermione nodded. "If there's a traitor or several traitors in that group, they wouldn't want the rest of the group knowing or even suspecting them. Contacting Dumbledore, even indirectly, could be risky for them. Maybe someone is tracking Dumbledore."

"Or maybe someone he trusts is on their side," said Harry. "Snape was going toward the third floor last night. He was bitten by that dog too."

"Maybe," said Hermione. "I don't think a teacher is involved though."

"Why?" said Ron. "Hermione, just because he's a teacher doesn't mean he's good. He's as mean as they come. He doesn't care about what's fair. He probably wouldn't mind stealing something either."

"Anyway," said Hermione, brushing aside the thought of an evil teacher, "it might be less risky to send their memories to someone who could do something about it without being noticed. No one would be worried about a bunch of first years."

Ron asked, "So we're supposed to save whatever is hidden on the third floor?"

"Maybe. We don't know enough yet to be sure if that is why the memories were sent to us. If that is the case though, there is one thing that doesn't make sense."

Ron said, "One thing?"

"If someone was giving us these memories because of some threat to Hogwarts, why does your sister have them?"

Harry suggested, "Maybe it was an accident."

Hermione didn't find that idea too persuasive. "Well the important thing now is to keep working on remembering."

Ron suggested, "Maybe we should write to Ginny. She seemed to have a lot better idea of what was going on than I did."

Hermione considered that. "Mmm…I'm not sure if owls are such a good idea. They can be intercepted very easily. If there is a group looking for information, an easy way to get it would be through the post. Owls can be intercepted very easily once they leave school grounds."

Harry was skeptical of that. "You don't really think someone is going through the school mail, do you?"

"I don't know. Probably not, but there is a giant dog protecting something inside the school. Two of us have memories that don't belong to us, and the Sorting Hat only suggested that we work on recovering them, not on going to a teacher for help. Obviously there is some reason we should keep this information to ourselves. I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that a group wants information on the school and intercepting the mail could provide a lot of it."

Harry asked, "Can you ask Ginny over Christmas?"

Ron shook his head. "My parents and Ginny are going to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. I'm staying here."

Hermione sighed. "Let's keep owls as a backup plan then. If we can't sort out these memories for ourselves, then we'll risk writing later."

The trio spent the next several weeks looking up memory charms in their spare time. They'd tried a couple without much success.

Their time was becoming more divided though. During Harry's first Quidditch match, his broom had been cursed. All three of them were now convinced that Snape was trying to get whatever was hidden on the third floor. Afterward, Hagrid had mentioned someone named Nicholas Flamel. Harry had thought he heard that name before, but the trio couldn't find any trace of him.

Harry and Ron sat in the common room doing their Transfiguration homework when Hermione came in and sat down next to them. "I think I've figured out two spells we should use on our memories."

Ron said, "Why more than one?"

"The first one is called 'Remembro,' and it's supposed to be the most effective memory charm. It's not too difficult either."

"That's great," said Harry.

"There is one problem. It's a long-term solution only. They use it in St. Mungo's –that's a wizarding hospital, Harry – to cure patients who have suffered severe memory problems."

Ron asked, "How long should our memories take?"

"I don't know. It will probably take months at least, maybe even years. It might not work at all, but if this spell doesn't do it, I can't imagine anything else will."

"That's a long time," said Harry. "Snape will probably go for whatever's hidden before then."

Hermione said, "I still think there has to be more people involved than just Snape, Harry. I don't think he could break into Gringotts on his own. Anyway, that's what the second spell is for."

"Second spell?"

"Yes. It's called 'Rappelo.' It's a bit more difficult, but it should have faster results. It's supposed to bring back images of things you have forgotten. It's apparently very effective, although it's hard to focus on individual memories with it."

Ron sighed. "There isn't just some spell that would make us remember everything?"

"We already tried the ones that could have done that. These memories are too deep. I think these two spells are our best hope."

"All right then," said Ron glumly.

"Here are the books with the information on how to perform the spell correctly." Hermione put two books with bookmarks down in front of Ron

"This really is bad timing," said Hermione. "After tomorrow, I'm not going to be able to practice these spells for weeks. Don't let that stop you though Ron. You need to practice this spell over the holidays. You should have a lot of time without classes."

Ron said, "Just what I wanted to do over the holidays."

"This is important."

Ron said, "Yeah, I know. Don't worry. I will."

Hermione smiled. "Good." She turned to Harry. "Both of you need to keep trying to find out who Flamel is."

"We will," said Harry.

"Don't owl if you find anything though. We're probably just being paranoid, but I've read about loads of times dark wizards have gained tremendous information from reading others owls, and I'm sure Snape has others he's working with."

Ron did practice the spell and both he and Harry did spend some time looking for Nicholas Flamel. For the most part though, they just enjoyed the holidays.

Christmas morning came and Harry was surprised to see several presents waiting for him. This was the first time in his life he was actually getting presents because people wanted to give them to him.

There was a stack of them too. It wasn't as large as Ron's, but there were far more gifts than Harry had ever dreamed of. From Hagrid, he got a wooden flute. From the Dursleys, he got a fifty-pence piece. From Mrs. Weasley, he got a Weasley sweater and homemade fudge. Then he got chocolate frogs from Hermione.

The next to last present was from Ginny.

Ron said, "Ginny sent you one? Maybe Fred and George were right about her fancying you after all."

Harry turned slightly red at the thought. Ron hadn't meant anything by the comment, but that was not something Harry wanted to think about. He resisted the urge to bring up what Fred and George said about Hermione after they first met.

Harry opened the small present. All that was in it was a note and a framed picture. The picture was of a couple and a baby. The women had red hair and green eyes. The man looked just like Harry, only older. These were his parents. Harry just stared, a tear coming to his eye.

These were his parents. These were the people he was supposed to grow up with.

"Are those?" asked Ron.

"My mum and dad. I've never seen a picture of them before."

"You're aunt and uncle didn't have any pictures of them?"

Harry shook his head.

"Blimey," said Ron. "I wonder where she found that picture."

Harry didn't take his eyes off the picture for another full minute. Then, he picked up the note.

Dear Harry,

Mum said you weren't expecting much for Christmas and I wanted to send you something. I'm sorry, I don't really have much money, so I asked a couple of family friends and fortunately one had this picture they were willing to give to me.

Merry Christmas

Ginny Weasley

P.S. Tell Ron to write to me.

This was the best gift Harry had ever received. He hadn't even thought to send something to her (he'd only talked to her for a couple of minutes after all), but she had given him this. Did she know how much this would mean to him?

Before Harry could get to his last present, Fred and George came in. "Hey, look-Harry's got a Weasley sweater, too."

Seeing the note and noticing Ginny's handwriting, Fred said, "Ginny sent you something too. What devilish mission is she sending you on?"

"What?" asked Harry a little confused.

Ron looked at his brothers. "Did she ask you two to do something?"

"Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies."

"She would like you to write to her though Ron. She seems to want to know every detail of your first year."

Fred looked to Harry. "I don't think she'd mind if you wrote either though."

Percy came out and then the twins left, dragging their older brother to the Great Hall. Harry opened his last present. He hadn't thought anything could top the picture. He was wrong.

After an hour of searching, Harry and Ron, both hidden under the invisibility cloak, finally found the room that contained the mirror.

Ron had been getting cold and having already seen Harry's parents through Ginny's photo wasn't sure this trip would be worth it. As Ron stepped beside the mirror though, he saw the last thing in the world he expected.

Ron could see himself in the mirror. He was much older though. He was with Hermione. The world around looked like it was in complete peace. Ron didn't understand this at all, but it made him very uncomfortable.

Harry asked, "Do you see your family?"

"No. Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How could it? My parents are dead. What do you see?"

Quickly, Ron said, "Nothing. I want to go back."

"What do you mean nothing?"

"It's not important. Just please, can we go back?"

Harry sighed. He wanted to look some more himself, but he could hear the desperation in Ron's voice. Harry could come back tomorrow after all.