Finally, the first week of Hogwarts was over, and Harry collapsed in the common room couch with a sigh of relief. Next to him, Hannah and Susan sighed at him together.
"Harry, you are so dramatic. It's been a week." Hannah chided.
"You say that when one of your Professors hates you." Harry complained. "Snape didn't get ever get off my case."
"Are you sure you don't know why he acts like that?" Susan asked. "It's unprofessional."
Harry sighed and reclined his head back to look at the merry yellow ceiling. "Not that I can think of. Maybe he has something against black hair? Except he's fine with other people. Maybe he just has some strange reason to hate me?"
Susan looked to be trying to puzzle it out, and Hannah looked like she wanted to offer sympathy. Harry smiled at them.
"You guys are great." he whispered.
They smiled, but pretended not to hear him.
Line Break
As Harry, Hannah, and Susan walked to Charms, they passed by the Gryffindor class. They heard a redhead complaining, though the words were hard to make out.
"She's... know-it-all... even have any friends." Harry caught him say. The redhead's subject of discussion became apparent when a girl with curly brown hair barged past them, tears gathering in her eyes.
"That was horrible." Hannah whispered.
"Yes. It was." Harry said with a frown. "I'm gonna make sure she's alright. Tell Professor for me?" he asked.
Susan nodded, and Harry turned to follow the upset girl.
He ran through the halls until he found her. She was hiding in a corner near a staircase, and Harry caught his breath for a second before approaching her.
"Hey." he whispered.
The girl flinched, and made to get away. She was having trouble catching her breath though, so she didn't manage to get anywhere.
"Are you okay?" he asked, leaning against the wall.
The girl turned to him. Tears ran tracks down her cheeks, and she sniffled. "What do you care?" she asked bitterly.
Harry slid down the wall until he was sitting next to her. "Well, I like to think I am nice enough to help someone who's upset."
She didn't respond, and the silence dragged on.
Until he broke it. "What that guy said. It wasn't right." Harry said. "And I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Why do you care?" she asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" he asked. He suddenly gasped. "Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Harry Potter. Though I should let you know I left my pet dragon and legion of Griffins at home." he said jokingly.
The bushy haired girl chuckled and held out her hand. "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger."
Harry took her hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Hermione. Let's be friends."
Her smile was warm, and Harry was happy to make another friend.
Line Break
Flitwick was understanding, and even rewarded points when he returned to class. Harry was happy that he didn't completely miss class, and he managed to convince Hermione to go to her next class as well.
After Charms, their last class of the day, they headed back to the common room, but Harry took Hannah and Susan on a small detour. They swang past the Transfiguration corridor, and Harry pulled Hermione away from the back of the Gryffindor group.
It was a surprise that no one noticed her disappear, though he supposed that she had been walking in the back of the group.
Hermione seemed disoriented as she suddenly found herself walking with Harry and two girls she didn't know in the opposite direction.
"Uh. Where are we going?" Hermiome asked.
"Common Room." Harry said unhelpfully.
"My common room is the other way." she felt she needed to say.
"That's interesting, but ours is this way." Susan said with a smile.
"Shouldn't I head to mine?" Hermiome asked.
"No." Hannah replied with a grin.
This exchange continued until they were in front of the Hufflepuff entrance. Harry tapped the barrel while Hermione's eyes unfocused, and the barrels shifted, revealing an earthen passage.
"Welcome to the Hufflepuff common room." Harry said with a bow.
Hermione stepped through the dirt tunnel before it led back up to a room. Harry, Hannah, and Susan watched her walk through, following just behind.
"Wow." she breathed as she entered. "It's so nice." she said.
Harry and his two friends dragged Hermione over to their couch, and the quartet sat.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked after absorbing her surroundings. "Isn't it against the rules?"
Hannah shook her head. "Hufflepuff allows visitors until curfew, although you shouldn't be here that late or you'll never make it to the common room."
"We just thought you could stay here until the feast." Harry said. "We can do homework or whatever."
Hermione looked to be at a loss for words. "Harry." she said. "Thank you."
"No problem. And Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Happy Halloween."
Line BreakA few hours later, the four first years walked to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. Hermione looked uncertain as she took a step towards the Gryffindor table, and Hannah rested a hand on her shoulder.
"You can sit with us if you want." she said softly.
Hermione nodded, relief evident.
The four of them sat at the Hufflepuff table and enjoyed the food. Harry started talking about some of the books that had been written about him.
"I still don't know what a Grindylow is, but I can assure you that they don't hold me up whenever I enter a lake so that I appear to be walking on top of the water, and I don't believe I own a castle twice the size of Hogwarts with a dungeon full of Veela. I don't even have a clear idea of what Veela are, since most people won't explain it to me. They say I'm too young."
Hermione, being as well read as she was, did have an idea of what Veela were, and described them. "They are a magical race that look human, but they have the ability to turn into bird-like creatures when angry, and they can summon fire at will. They have an effect known as Allure that makes wizards into drooling idiots."
"Why would I have a dungeon of them? And are they conscious? I wouldn't want to imprison people." Harry asked.
"They are supposed to be very beautiful, and the Allure can make them seem prettier. I think they are intelligent, so it's probably better not to fill a dungeon with them." Susan said. "Besides, those fireballs are super dangerous."
Harry nodded. "This whole book thing is kinda freaking me out. How many people think that they are real?"
A girl sitting a small ways down gasped. "They aren't real?"
Harry turned incredulously. She was at least a fourth year. "Of course not! I haven't even heard of half of my 'accomplishments', never mind having done them."
The girl seemed struck, as if someone had just informed her that she was in a coma and her life had been a dream.
Harry groaned and took another bite off his plate.
"If you want, you could ask the author to put a disclaimer that says they aren't true on his books." Susan told him, patting his shoulder reassuringly.
"It won't matter. The kids who grew up reading the books aren't going to see it on new printings." Harry sighed.
"Well, at least your fan club hasn't approached you yet."
"MY WHAT?" Harry yelled.
The doors to the Great Hall slammed open as Professor Quirrel sprinted into the room. "TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON!" he screamed. "Thought you ought to know." he whimpered faintly before collapsing on the ground.
Harry sat, stunned, as the Hall erupted into chaos. Dumbledore tried to unleash a loud blast to startle everyone back into their thoughts, but the panic overtook them.
"BACK TO YOUR COMMON ROOMS!" Dumbledore bellowed, still trying to calm the students.
They bolted like frightened sheep, tearing through the Great Hall towards the largest exit.
The main doors that Quirrel had just collapsed in front of.
A few hundred children poured through the doors, each one scrambling blindly towards their common rooms.
Poor Quirrel was trampled, and the Hall was quickly emptied of almost all of the students.
Only Harry and his friends remained, as well as a few older students. Dumbledore stared in shock as Quirrel coughed once and fell still, and the collective group of students and teachers watched as a black mist escaped from Quirrel's turban and flew away rapidly.
It screamed as it left.