Chapter IV
Draco hurled the ball of rough parchment at the window. The ink was still wet, and smudged on his palm. No matter, his red duvet was already splattered with dark ink. The ball bounced off the window and landed on the floor, rolling underneath Neville's bed and joining the countless other discarded essays that had been shoved out of sight.
Draco seized a new sheet and started again, forcing himself to concentrate. It had been almost two weeks since his father had complained to Dumbledore. Draco had written to his parents multiple times since, but not a single letter had been answered.
The door to the dormitory creaked open. Draco jumped, staring at the boy who hovered awkwardly in the doorway. "Hi Draco."
"Longbottom."
Neville licked his lips nervously. "We're all downstairs… If you want to join."
"Thank you, Longbottom," Draco said with more confidence than he felt, "but I have an essay for Professor Snape that I need to write."
"You could write it downstairs," Neville said quickly. He caught Draco's eye and added, "We're all working on it too. Except Hermione, she's in her room. But… if you need any help…"
"I don't need help from you!"
"No. No, of course not." Neville flinched from Draco's harsh tone.
"It's more likely to be you pitiful bunch who need help," Draco said imperiously, "I can do it by myself."
Neville nodded. "That's what Hermione said, too."
Draco watched the boy curiously. He was wedged between the door and the stone wall, as if mortally afraid of entering fully, his hand still on the outside handle.
"Is there anything else you need?" Draco asked.
"No," Neville muttered, his eyes round. "Well… If you change your mind… We're all in it… together. You can come…"
"Weasley wouldn't want me there."
"Ron's said he's okay with you coming to study with us."
Draco smiled sarcastically, bending his head back over his parchment.
"Alright… Well, see you in a bit," Neville muttered, stepping back into the corridor, shutting the door with an unexpected bang.
Draco stared blankly at the parchment, all concentration on potions gone. Should he go? No, he couldn't. They'd think him weak. He didn't need them. He wasn't a Gryffindor, not truly. He wasn't…
He squeezed his eyes shut, repeating the little sentence again and again in his mind.
The door opened again, and Draco's head flew up. "What do you want now?"
Ron Weasley froze. His hands fiddled with his faded, oversized robe. "Nothing, I just…" He pointed at his bed, next to Draco's.
Draco gave a brief nod, and scribbled a meaningless opening to his essay. Ron headed slowly back to the door, his feet dragging— or were they shuffling to avoid catching his robe? "Did Neville—?"
"Yes." The boys' eyes met. "Not that you'd want me, a Malfoy, to work with you."
Ron shrugged. "You're a Gryffindor," he muttered half-heartedly.
Draco glared at him. "My parents hate your family," he said suddenly.
Ron flinched. "Yeah, I know. My family don't much like yours, either." There were a few moments of hesitant silence. "I'll just go…" Ron said eventually, gesturing at the door.
"Is it true Granger's studying alone as well?" The question was out of his mouth before he could stop it.
"Uh, yeah," Ron said, "she's in their dorm— the girls' dorm."
"Why?"
Ron shrugged. "I dunno. I don't think she has many friends. It's not hard to see why. Who wants to be friends with a swot like that?" Ron stopped short. His eyes dropped to the parchment in Draco's hands. "She's just… bossy. And… all that hair." He grinned nervously, but it lasted no more than a second. "I'm just…" He pointed at the door and then hastened to it. He was out the room and down the stairs before Draco could fully open his mouth. His gaze fell to the parchment again. Another stupid introduction. He thought about throwing this one away too, but his arms lacked the ferocity, and his mind lacked the energy.
"How did you get that charm so quickly, Malfoy?" Seamus asked as they left the classroom. Draco glanced over his shoulder at the four boys who trailed behind him, the other three cowering behind Seamus' confidence.
"Wingardium Leviosa?"
"Yeah. That one."
"I just followed Professor Flitwick's example," Draco said, trying to sound modest and calm.
"So was I," Ron piped up, "not that that bloody worked."
"Well, I say Flitwick, I really mean Granger," Draco admitted.
Seamus grinned, but this seemed to set Ron off further. "Hermione!" he snorted, "No wonder no one can bloody stand her! She's a nightmare. You know she nearly poked my eye out, waving her wand about like that. And then told me I was the one doing too much wand waving! Bossy little so-and-so; that's why she's not got any friends."
Someone burst through their little group and charged past Draco, knocking his arm as they went. Hermione Granger. They stared after as she veered away from the direction of the Great Hall, leaving startled first years in her wake. All five boys slowed to a halt.
"You've done it now, Weasley," Draco muttered.
"So?" Ron mumbled, but he seemed uneasy.
"C'mon." Seamus grabbed Dean's sleeve. "Let's go. She'll sort herself out. I'm starving."
Draco sat closer to the others this dinner time, but not too close. As a rule, Gryffindors seemed to guard their distance around him, squeezing up close to one another, elbows touching, in order to preserve the cold space around him.
The other boys threw him a few, cautious looks, as if wanting to say something, but not knowing what or how to say it.
Draco searched desperately for something to say. As much as he hated Gryffindor and the others, he was starting to realise that he hated being alone just as much. "Where's Granger?"
Ron glanced up, but said nothing.
"I heard Parvati saying she went to the girls' toilets," Neville piped up. He looked around nervously. "I'm sure she'll come soon. Maybe we should save her something."
Draco watched as Ron shovelled food into his mouth, as Seamus piled his plate high with food. Even Dean, the skinniest one of them all, was managing to power his way through dish after dish. It seemed unlikely there would be anything left for her, even if she did come within the next five minutes.
A terrible shriek made everyone freeze. Ron dropped his drumstick as food fell from Neville's mouth. Draco jumped like a bullet, his eyes staring for the source of the scream.
Racing down the centre of the hall was Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, his purple turban wobbling dangerously on his head. "Troll!" he roared, "In the dungeon!" There was a collective gasp from the room. And then he fainted onto the floor.
For the briefest of moments, there was pure silence. Dumbledore rose from his seat just in time to see the hall erupt in panic.
Students screamed, leaping to their feet, ready to charge from the hall crushing all who might stand in their way, namely Filch and Mrs Norris, who hovered at the doors.
"Silence!" Dumbledore roared, and the hall fell quiet again. "Prefects take your students back to your dormitories. No one is to leave once they are there. Remain quiet and above all calm." He nodded at Professors Snape and McGonagall who quickly swept out of a small door behind the professors' table.
Percy Weasley instantly sprang to his feet. "First years follow me!" he ordered them, before leading the way out of the hall, stepping carefully around the unconscious body of Professor Quirrell.
Draco staggered to his feet, chasing after the other boys as they hastened after Percy.
It was only when they were out of the hall, passing students from other houses heading in opposite directions, that Draco remembered. He stepped forward and grabbed the first sleeve he could reach. Ron stumbled backwards. "Ow!" He tugged the sleeve from Draco's hands. "Get off, Malfoy."
"What about Granger?" Draco demanded.
"What about her?"
"She doesn't know."
"Know what?"
"About the troll."
Ron hesitated. "Well… It's in the dungeons. Nowhere near her. She'll be fine."
"But she won't be in her dormitory."
Ron's look of discomfort changed to one of disgust. "What do you care about a muggle born, Malfoy?"
Draco gritted his teeth. "If anything happens to her and we knew and did nothing…" His voice trailed off. "But of course I don't care about a muggle born. I just thought you might, you and your muggle loving family—"
Ron gave him a hard shove. "What're you saying about my family now, Malfoy?"
"Nothing." Draco pushed him back. "Only if you want to go after Granger—"
"Why would I? Everybody knows she's got no friends."
"Well if you don't want to keep her safe—"
"I never said that!" Ron snapped, puffing out his chest. Draco gave him a challenging look, his eyebrows rising sharply. Ron glowered at him. Then, without a word, he stormed off in the opposite direction to the Gryffindor common room, Draco chasing after him.
"Where are the girls' toilets?" Ron asked, his voice tight and with a hint of superiority to it.
"I don't know," Draco muttered, "I might have thought you'd have a better idea of that, Weasley."
"I don't notice them!" Ron protested, "Why do you think I was asking you?"
Draco opened his mouth, but a flicker of movement caught his eye. He grabbed Ron's robes and dragged him out of sight, their backs colliding with the rough, stone wall. "What—?" Ron tried to tug Draco's hands off him.
"Shh," Draco hissed.
"No!" Ron spluttered.
"Shut up, Weasley!" Draco snapped, peering past the wall at the figure that was gliding away from them. Ron joined his side.
"Looks like Snape." He glowered at Draco. "Not afraid of the potions teacher are you?"
Draco pushed him. "Where's he going?"
Ron shrugged. "How should I know?" He looked ahead of him. "Who cares about Snape? What about Hermione?"
Draco tore himself away from the curious sight. There was something wrong about it. Snape was meant to be heading for the dungeons, with the other professors. What was he doing here? No, there was definitely something more to it…
A deep, rumbling noise made them freeze. Ron's bravado vanished. "What was that?" he whimpered.
A shadow appeared at the end of the hallway. Draco dashed to the opposite wall, hiding behind a column that stuck out, Ron scuttling behind. The shadow grew. A pounding sound, accompanied by a slight tremor, began to grow louder. Draco pushed himself harder against the wall, feeling the uneven wall scratch against his back through his robes.
The smell hit them just before the troll came into view. The smell of rotting garbage and sewers, hit them so hard they gagged. Draco's fingers scraped at the wall, and he thought he might be sick.
Through squinted eyes he saw the great, lumbering figure of the troll meander towards them. He moved as if to run, but Ron was blocking his way, almost doubled up from the smell.
Draco turned back to stare at the troll. It hadn't seen them. Instead, it staggered into the girls' toilets.
Draco's mouth fell open, his hands grasping at Ron's robes, pushing him to run.
A scream stopped them both in their tracks. Ron wheeled around. "Hermione!" He turned to Draco.
Draco's mouth flapped. His heart was pounding, ready to leap from his chest. "We… We can't go in there," Draco spluttered, "students aren't meant to be near the troll."
"And Hermione?" Draco couldn't answer. Another scream. Draco's blood chilled. Ron stared at him desperately, almost pleading. "Malfoy, come on. I'm not bloody going in by myself."
Draco's gaze wandered back up the stone corridor, deserted apart from them. "Come on!" Ron urged him from behind.
A roar from inside the toilets made Draco turn back round. A spine-tingling shriek pierced the air. Draco delved into his robes and pulled out his wand, his hands shaking uncontrollably. The two of them dashed to the toilets and burst inside. Water was leaking from where the sinks had been, but now they were no more than crushed pieces of porcelain. The cubicles had been destroyed, smashed to pieces by an enormous club held in the gnarled hand of the troll.
Hermione was hiding under the second to last sink remaining. Her hair was wilder than normal with bits of debris poking out, her robes dusty and sodden. She looked up at them as they crashed inside, their robes dragging in the water, wands looking like nothing more than twigs compared to the club of the troll. She gave another squeal.
The troll roared, raising its club high into the air and brought it down with such force that the floor shook.
"No need to scream at us too!" Ron snorted, "We're trying to help! How are we worse than that?"
Draco stared at the wreckage around them. Now that he was here he felt far less courageous than he had before, not that he had felt courageous even then. He stared at the 10 inch wand in his hand, and it seemed to shrink before his eyes to nothing more than a short, stubby piece of wood, with no magical power whatsoever. The destruction was too much for this twig to handle; where to begin? What spell to cast first? What spell would actually be useful to cast?
A loud crash brought Draco back to earth. The troll had demolished the sink under which Granger had been hiding, and was preparing to hit the next and final one.
Ron was motionless, his face pale and sickly as he stared at Granger curling into a ball under the arch of the troll's body.
Draco bent down and seized the first thing he could: a piece of toilet cubicle. He threw it with all his might at the creature's head. It bounced off. The troll barely seemed to notice. Draco seized another piece and hurled that too. "Come on, Weasley!" He shouted, motioning at the debris on the floor.
Ron joined in, grabbing a tap that had snapped off the sink. "Oi. Oi! Hey, you. Pea brain!" The tap struck its mark. It hit the troll's skull with a hollow knock before clattering to the floor.
This seemed to do it. The troll turned to glare at Ron, its tiny eyes squinting to get a better look at him. Then, it started to charge at him, swinging the club into the air.
"Malfoy!"
Draco reacted instantly. He snatched a broken toilet seat and ran at the troll. He could hear Granger shouting something, but wasn't sure what it was. He sliced the sharp edge of the seat across the troll's leg. The troll howled, but hardly any blood was drawn. Draco tried again and again, but to no avail.
And then, above the hissing of the water jets flooding the room, the roars of the troll, Granger's bossy voice, came one voice louder than everything else. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Draco paused in his activity. He raised his face up to the ceiling. The club hung, suspended in mid-air, inches above the troll's head. The troll reached up to touch it, curious as to why it had suddenly jumped from his hand. Draco leapt away from the troll just in time. The club dropped with a sickening crack onto its master's head, and the troll collapsed onto the soaking flagstones, making the room shake again.
Ron stood with his back pressed against the wall, trembling with fear and delight, staring in amazement at the wand in his hand. "Well done, Ron!" Granger burst out from under the sink. She glanced across at Draco, still lying on the floor, blood leaking from a small wound on his hand. "And you too, Draco."
"What—"
The astonished voice caused Draco to sit bolt upright and stare at the figure who had just entered. Professor McGonagall looked down at the hem of her robe dragging through the water and debris before starting again. "What in heaven's name has happened here?" She looked up directly into Draco's pale face. His heart dropped into his stomach. Her green eyes flitted across to Granger.
Still unnoticed, Ron turned slowly as if to leave. "Not so fast." Professor Snape swept in, followed swiftly by Professors Quirrell and Sprout.
McGonagall turned around and saw Ron hovering awkwardly against the wall, wand still in hand. "You as well, Weasley?" she demanded. He said nothing.
"Malfoy." Snape's cutting voice chilled him to the bone. Draco scrambled to his feet, his robes dripping. "And what are you doing here?"
Draco glanced at Granger and then at Ron. "I…"
"Yes?"
"It's all my fault." Granger stepped forwards. "I came here alone. I thought I could handle trolls because, well, I've read about them. But it wasn't how I thought it would be. Ron and Draco were only trying to save me."
McGonagall stared at her, almost lost for words. Then she exploded, "That was a very foolish thing to do, Miss Granger! Very foolish indeed! What were you thinking? Going after a troll, a troll!" She gestured wildly at the monster lying unconscious on the floor. "You're a first year student!"
Granger hung her head. "I'm very sorry, Professor."
"Ten points will be deducted from Gryffindor. As for you two." She glared at the two boys standing side by side— Snape had thrust Ron next to Draco. "I am astonished that you would dare to attempt to rescue Miss Granger all by yourselves. However, it is clear that you have displayed some initiative in dealing with this…" She looked back down at the troll. "Event. I will award you five points to Gryffindor for your great bravery or tremendous stupidity." She glared at all three of them. "Now go back to your dormitory. Quickly now, don't take all day!"
The three of them scuttled past her and out of the door. A hand landed on Draco's shoulder. "One moment, if you please, Malfoy."
Draco let out a sigh of exasperation and nerves before turning to face Professor Snape. "Do not be too hasty in your decisions," Snape said quietly, leaning towards him. "Your father has already visited Hogwarts once so far this term, do not make him have to repeat that experience." Draco nodded nervously. Was Snape threatening him?
Snape's face lingered for a few moments. Draco dropped his gaze, unable to continue staring into those black, heartless eyes any longer.
But as he did so, he saw something red out of the corner of his eye. He stared at it, trying to work out what it might be. It was only as Snape straightened up that Draco saw. It was a massive gash, a deep, gaping wound in Snape's leg, normally hidden by his robes that were now torn on one side.
Draco looked away, wondering if Snape knew he had seen. "Go." His tone told Draco nothing, but as Draco and Snape parted, he could hear the uneven paces of Snape as he limped back to his office.
Hermione and Ron were waiting for him outside the common room when they got back. "There you are," she exclaimed. Ron seemed less enthusiastic.
"Well done, Malfoy, you just lost us five points."
"Thanks to you," Draco sneered.
Hermione stepped between them. "Stop it," she ordered them, "both of you. It was I who lost us the points."
"We could have been killed," Ron muttered.
"Or worse," Hermione said ominously. The boys stared at her.
"Like what?"
"We could have been expelled."
Ron rolled his eyes. "You need to sort out your priorities, woman."
She glared at him, but then suddenly came over rather shy. "I just wanted to thank you for coming to save me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there." The boys puffed themselves out with pride. "But now, I'm going to bed."
A sudden thought flashed across Draco's mind. "Wait!" He grabbed the sleeve of her robe. "There's something else." They looked expectantly at him. "Professor Snape has a huge cut on his leg."
Their faces were unimpressed. "A cut?" Ron repeated.
"Like a wound," Draco carried on, "a massive one, right here." He pointed at his own leg, estimating the size with his hands, and then exaggerating it to hold their attention.
"It can't have been that big!" Ron snorted.
"It was," Draco insisted, "this big, right here. And do you remember we saw him earlier, on the way to the troll. He wasn't in the dungeons." Inspiration struck him. "I know why it felt odd, seeing him there," he continued, the excitement building, "he was going towards the out of bounds corridor. Whatever's in there, it's dangerous. It ripped Snape's leg to shreds."
"But why would anyone go in there if it's that dangerous?" Hermione asked.
"Exactly!" Draco powered on, a surge of excitement filling him. "You'd only go in there if you really needed to. If there was something in there worth having more than anything else in the world." Ron snorted, but Draco ignored him. "And that's what happened to Snape. Dumbledore's keeping something important, something special at Hogwarts and Snape wants it for himself!"
"A load of tosh pot," Ron said firmly, "what would Dumbledore be keeping here? Hogwarts is hardly safe."
"Can you think of anywhere safer?"
"Yeah, Gringotts."
"Hogwarts is safer than Gringotts," Hermione affirmed. Ron rolled his eyes. "But what would they be keeping there?"
Draco shrugged. "Who knows, but it sounds worth having." He grinned.
"No!" Hermione burst out. "No! Draco, no! We can't just go and take it for ourselves."
"Why not?"
"See, this is why you should have been sorted into Slytherin," Ron muttered.
"Shut up, Weasley," Draco snapped.
"If something wounded Snape—" she continued.
"Almost took his leg off."
"Then we definitely don't stand a chance."
"We could just see what's down there," Draco suggested.
"No!"
"Why is it such a secret? How bad can it be?"
"I thought you said it almost took Snape's leg off," Ron grumbled.
"Well…" Draco tried to edge round it, "It can't be that bad. It'd be interesting to know."
"Don't be stupid," Ron mumbled, but his eyes held a look of curiosity that even Hermione noticed.
"No, Ron," she said firmly. "We shouldn't. We can't. It's out of bounds— for a reason!" She glared at them both. "I'll see you both in the morning when you've recovered your senses." And with that, she snapped out the password and marched inside the common room.
"C'mon, Weasley," Draco said quickly, "we could go now. She'll never know. Then we can come back with whatever it is and rub it in her face!"
Ron's eyes wandered past Draco and down the corridor, before looking longingly at the common room. "Y'know, you've worked some stuff out, and that's good for a Malfoy—"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"But I don't fancy being ripped to shreds by a monster. We barely defeated that troll as it was…"
"But we did." Draco could see the urge to explore slowly draining from Ron's eyes. "Come on! It'll be fun."
Ron shook his head. "Not this time, Malfoy. I'm tired too, I'm off." And he, too, disappeared into the common room, leaving Draco alone in the passageway.
