Immediately when Harry entered the common room, after his meeting with McGonagall, he was all but attacked by his house-mates.
"I thought for sure he'd already be gone,"
"No way, McGonagall is loony for Quidditch,"
"She's also a stickler for the rules,"
"He's gone for sure,"
"Harry! Oh, thank god you aren't dead," Regulus said, wrapping Harry in a tight hug.
"Just imagine how much worse our pranks would get without you," Fred and George said, in unison. They were all clambering for information when Oliver Wood stepped through the portrait hole.
"EVERYBODY QUIET!" Oliver screamed. "I would like to be the first to introduce to you, Gryffindor hose's newest seeker, HARRY POTTER!" the entire common room began cheering vociferously. Fred and George each came up and gave him a hard thwack on the back and told him how excited they were going to be, to play with him. Ron came up to him in pure disbelief.
"Seeker? But first years never - you must be the youngest house player in about a-"
" -century, yeah McGonagall said so too,"
"That's amazing Harry," Ron said, before just gaping at him for a second, "I reckon we'll have a chance to win the cup this year. We haven't won it since Charlie left," Harry had only met Charlie a few times, but he knew that Charlie was an amazing seeker, because his dad had tried to recruit him to be the backup for the Mag
When Harry went upstairs, he grabbed a piece of parchment, to write a letter to his mum and dad.
Dear Mum and Dad,
You won't believe what happened today. So we had our first flying lesson, and Hermione got hurt, so Madam Hooch had to take her to the hospital wing. Then Draco Malfoy, took Ron's remembrall, and I was like "Give it back" and he said "Catch me if you can" and took off. Naturally, I followed, long story short, he threw the remebrall, and I caught it. Then Professor McGonagall saw me, and I thought I was going to be expelled, but SEND MY BROOM, because she asked me to be seeker on the house team!
Love,
Harry
Harry was so excited after finishing the letter, he ran all the way to the Owlery, to send it off with Hedwig. When he got back, he had History of Magic with Professor Binns, Regulus told him a story that one of the upperclassmen had told him, about how Professor Binns led such a boring, monotonous life, that one day, he had died, and without realizing he had died, just kept teaching. Harry promptly fell asleep but with his special quill, he didn't miss anything. The rest of the day was pretty boring, that is until dinner.
They had a slightly extended dinner on Wednesdays, to accommodate, for astronomy class. Harry had just sat down with Regulus and Ron when the food had appeared. Harry, after flying lessons, and an unhealthily small lunch, got a lot of food, almost as much as Ron did. He was so hungry that him and Regulus, didn't talk at all. Harry finished early, and in boredom, decided to take out his snitch. It wasn't long after that he was visited by his blonde-haired buddy from Slytherin.
"Are they letting you have one final meal, Potter. After that little stunt, I thought you'd be gone by lunch,"
"Actually, Malfoy, I'm not going anywhere,"
"What are you talking about, I saw McGonagall yelling at you myself," As Draco was talking, Harry was letting the snitch get dangerously close to Malfoy's face.
"Get that damn thing out of my face, Potter," Malfoy said, as he made a move to grab the snitch. However, Harry got to it first.
"Now, now, Malfoy did you really think that you could grab a snitch from right in front of the Gryffindor seeker?"
"What are you talking about, Gryffindor doesn't even have a seeker right now,"
"What did you think that McGonagall was talking to me about?" Realization dawned on
Malfoy, then that realization turned to anger as he made a grab for his wand, but Harry caught his hand too. By now both boys were on their feet.
"You can't beat me in Quidditch, did you really think you have a chance against me in a duel?" Harr whispered in Malfoy's ear.
Malfoy was fuming as he ripped his hand free and whispered back to Harry, "Oh, really, how about a wizard's duel then?"
"Okay, you're on. Regulus is my second, who's yours?"
"Crabbe, see you at midnight in the trophy room,"
At this point, Neville came up, "I heard what you guys were saying-"
"Of course you did," Regulus whispered.
"-and you mustn't go wandering around the castle at night, think of all the points you could lose Gryffindor,"
Harry patted his pocket and winked at Regulus, who gave him a strange look, "I've already got that covered,"
"Well, what if you lose, and DIE,"
"Neville, we barely know any magic, we've only been here a few days," Regulus pointed out as Harry nodded his head.
"But Draco's parents were Death Eaters, they've probably taught him all kinds of curses, just because your parents were good, law-abiding citizens, doesn't mean his were,"
"Neville, we'll be fine," Harry stepped in, "We're going, we don't need your permission, mum,"
Neville finally gave in, "Fine, but I officially don't like this idea,"
"Duly noted," Harry said.
"What did you mean, we've got it covered?" Regulus asked as they were getting ready to go to sleep, early, so they could get up before midnight.
Harry went to his trunk and pulled out two things from the bottom, as Regulus watched, a fluid, grey cloth was brought out, and an old piece of parchment.
"Woah, is that-"
"An invisibility cloak,"
"Yeah, I reckon I'd give anything for one of those,"
"Yeah, it's pretty great, but unfortunately, it only fits one, so we can't use it," As he said this, Regulus got a sad look in his eyes.
"Don't worry though, I have something else that's just as cool,"
"Please tell me it's not that old parchment," This made Harry laugh, but as he opened the parchment, Regulus' eyes lit up once again.
"Woah, the Marauders, that's our parents, I reckon your dad is Prongs, and mine is Padfoot, and Moony must be uncle Remus, but then who is Wormtail?"
"I don't know, I wrote my dad about it, but he never answered,"
"Oh, well that's good, I'll see you in a couple of hours I guess," With that Regulus fell asleep.
Harry lay awake until much later, listening to Ron snoring, and Dean, who had the hiccups. He wanted to go to sleep, after all, it was an exhausting day. Especially with the Quidditch practice, 'Damn, that was just this morning, that seemed like weeks ago,' Harry also couldn't help but think about what could happen if they got caught, he was already on thin ice, with the flying lessons stunt he pulled this morning.
Around 11 o'clock, Harry decided it wasn't going to happen, he ended up sneaking into the fifth year's dorm and nicking Percy's OWL-level Defense textbook. He went down to the common room with it and tried to cast the Protego charm, he almost got it too, he thought he could've gotten it in the next five tries with Percy's notes and all. However, it was 11:40, he returned the book, careful to watch out for any creaky floorboards. Then he ventured back into his and Regulus' dorm.
"Reg, Regulus, REGULUS!"
"What? Is it 11:45 already, I feel like I only got a couple minutes sleep,"
"Yes, it's time, come on," They flitted along the corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. Harry checked the map at every turn, expecting Filch or his cat to be there, but they were lucky, they sped down the staircases, to the third floor, and tiptoed toward the trophy room.
Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and suits of armor glimmered silver and gold in the darkness. Harry saw multiple Quidditch awards with his dad's name on them, as well as a plaque for special services to the school, with the name Tom Riddle emblazoned onto it. Harry kept seeing that name, and he was sure it was important, but all he could think about is how similar the boy and he had looked. They edged along the walls, keeping one eye on the doors at either side. Harry took out his wand, in case Malfoy jumped out of nowhere, which while prohibited in real Wizards Duels, Harry wouldn't put past Malfoy.
At midnight they heard a single set of light footsteps enter the room, Harry checked the map, only to see Daphne's name on it. Harry stepped into a beam of moonlight and raised his wand.
"What are you doing here?"
"I overheard you and Malfoy talking at dinner, then watched him tip off Filch, I'm here to warn you, we have to get out of here," Just then Harry, Regulus, and Daphne heard Filch right outside the door; they all dove for cover.
"Sniff around my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner," It was Filch, talking to his beloved cat, Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, the three scurried silently towards the opposite door, Regulus' robes had just whipped around the corner as they heard Filch enter the Trophy Room.
"They're in here somewhere, probably hiding," Filch said, once again talking to his cat.
"That man really is mad," Harry whispered to Regulus, as they snickered, upon watching Filch bump into one of the cases.
"Are you two trying to get caught, this way," Harry and Regulus stood straight up, and gave Daphne a small salute, before quietly taking off after her.
However, they soon ran into Peeves, who cackled upon seeing them.
"Tut, tut, tut ickle firsties out of bed past midnight, I should tell FIlch, for your own good,"
"No, Peeves, please don't," Daphne pleaded with the poltergeist.
"Well, since you said the magic word," They thought Peeves was going to leave them alone, but, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED, STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE THIRD FLOOR CORRIDOR!" Upon hearing this, they bolted. Harry thought something about the third-floor corridor but was soon drawn out of his thoughts by Filch running into a suit of armor.
"This is it," Regulus said.
"Were done for," Harry continued
"Not yet, there is a door over here," Daphne said. She reached up to open it, only to find it locked.
"Ugh, I haven't mastered the unlocking charm yet, do either of you know it?" She said quickly, as they could now hear Filch's footsteps.
"I've got it," Harry said, as he stepped up Alohomora, Harry tapped his wand on the lock and it clicked open, Regulus pushed them all into the door and they shut it quickly. Seconds later they heard Filch sprint past, and curse when he saw a set of stairs, then they heard the echoes of his footsteps grow softer and softer until he was gone.
They thought they were safe until they heard a low growl come from behind them.
"Oh, shit. This is the third-floor corridor," Daphne said, quivering, as they all turned around, very slowly and saw, quite clearly, what they thought for a moment must surely be a nightmare, but they quickly realized was, in actuality, only a giant three-headed dog. The dog was massive, it filled the room, completely, it had three pairs of beady eyes; three quivering noses, three tooth-filled mouths, all with gooey saliva hanging from them.
Harry grabbed the doorknob and pushed, they all fell back, just as the dog went to take a bite out of their heads, and they ran. Luckily they didn't see anybody, because Harry didn't have time to take out the map. At some point, Daphne left them, but Harry and Regulus, didn't even notice, they didn't even stop running until they were back in Gryffindor tower.
When they got back, out of breath, they immediately plopped down into the two cushiest chairs they could find, moving heavy-sleeping upperclassmen off them to do so. They almost fell asleep too, when Neville and Hermoine came down from the towers. Neville went over to Hermione and handed her five sickles.
"What's all that about?" Regulus slurred.
"Neville and I put bets on whether or not you would make it out alive,"
"Oh, come on Neville, you bet I was going to die? Me, You, and Reg have made it out of so much worse,"
"Whatever, so I presume you beat Malfoy?"
"Actually… (Harry retells the story.)"
"A three-headed dog!" Hermoinie said in astonishment, "Also if there was a trapdoor, it must have been hiding something,"
"Yeah, that's what I thought, but what?" Harry said.
"I don't know, but maybe we could get Hagrid to tell us something, I mean he'd know about cerebrai, at least,"
"Just for the record, I don't condone using people to get information," Hermione said, as she stormed off to her dorm.
"Just for the record, I don't care," Regulus said, as Harry laughed.
"Come on Reg, you know you don't always have to be such an arsehole,"
"Whatever, Neville, goodnight guys,"
Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Regulus were still at Hogwarts the next day. Tired looking, but there. Harry and Regulus, however, couldn't stop wondering what lay beneath the dog and the trapdoor.
The owls flooded into the great hall, as usual. But everyone's attention was caught at once, by a long, thin package supported by six large barn owls. Harry, knew exactly what was in the package, and when it landed in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor, he could no longer contain his glee. Ron, surprisingly, took the time to look up from his eggs, just as Harry and Regulus were tearing into the brown packaging.
"A Nimbus two-thousand!" He said, eggs falling from his mouth, "I've never even touched one!" Harry said a silent thank-you to his mom for sending the right broom, for as good of a witch as she was, she never cared much for Quidditch.
They left the hall quickly, wanting to take it for a spin, before their first class, but halfway out the entrance hall, they found their way to the entrance barred, by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy tore the broomstick from Harry's hands.
"You've got a broomstick," Malfoy said, "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them,"
Regulus couldn't help it, as he burst out laughing, "It's not any old broomstick, it's a Nimbus two-thousand. Don't you have a Comet two-sixty?"
Before either of the boys could retort, Malfoy spotted Professor Flitwick.
"Professor, Potter's been sent a broomstick,"
Professor Flitwick's eyes lit up, "Ah, yes, yes, Minerva told me of your special circumstances, and what model it is?"
"A Nimbus two-thousand, sir," Harry said, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face, "And it's really all thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," Harry, Ron, and Regulus all headed towards the pitch, failing to hold back their laughter at Malfoy's obvious fit of rage.
As they were walking up the marble staircase, after their little flying practice Harry said, "Well, it's true, if Malfoy hadn't stolen that thing-"
"Remembrall,"
"Right, thanks Neville, if Malfoy hadn't stolen Ron's remembrall, I wouldn't be on the team,"
"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking the rules?" Hermione said as she came stomping up behind them, looking disapprovingly at Harry, Ron, and especially Neville, who she seemed to think was above all this.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us, well except for Neville," Regulus said, as he caught up to them.
"Yeah, don't stop now," Ron said, "We're actually starting to like it here,"
Hermione marched away, with her nose in the air.
Harry had a difficult time focusing on his lessons that day, his mind kept wandering back to his broom, he hadn't felt right, without it. He couldn't stop wistfully thinking of flying, the wind in his hair, the peace, the serenity of being all on your own, hundreds of feet in the air.
Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, with Quidditch practice three times a week, plus classes, homework, and exploring but Harry couldn't believe that he had already been at Hogwarts for two months. The castle was begging to feel like a second, home, more so than his family's home in France, or the one in Greece, or the Manor in America, or even the Peverell Manor, in Chelgrove, which they spent time at when they wanted to stay closer to London.
On Halloween morning, they all woke up to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin, wafting through the corridors. Their day was even better when, in charms, Professor Flitwick told the class that they were going to starts making objects fly, something they had been wanting to learn to do, ever since he sent a note that Terry Boot, was passing to Mandy Brocklehurst flying around the room. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs, Harry got put with Neville, which was a relief, because, not only was Neville one of the top students in their year, but Seamus had been eyeing him, and he had a knack for pyrotechnics. Ron, however, wasn't so lucky, as he got put with Hermione, who, while arguably smarter than Neville was much more arrogant about it, and liked to show others up, especially Ron. It was hard to tell which of them was angrier about this, as Hermione hadn't spoken to any of them, except for Neville, since Harry's broomstick had arrived.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we have been practicing!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, "A swish and a flick, now together, a swish and a flick, very good, Mrs. Patil," Padma, looked very pleased with herself, but Parvati, who was almost asleep, just looked extremely confused.
The charm wasn't too difficult, Harry and Neville swished and flicked six times before Neville got his feather to rise, he was fourth in the class, after Hermione and two Ravenclaw students, then he showed Harry what he was doing wrong, and Harry got it two tries later.
Ron, at the next table, wasn't having quite as much luck.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" He shouted, waving his arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," Harry hear Hermione snap, "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, not Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, gosh Ronald, it's not that hard."
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of class.
"It's no wonder she hasn't got any friends, I worked with her for one class and think that shes' unbearable," Ron said as they pushed through the crowded hallway.
"Yeah, the incantation isn't even that important, really all you need is the intent and the belief in your magical capabilities, the ladder is what Ron's missing," Someone knocked into Harry, it was Hermione, and he was shocked to see that she was in tears.
"I think she heard you," Neville said "You guys really should watch what you're saying," as he rushed off after her.
"I feel bad for Neville, he spends so much time with her, it must be torture," Regulus said, this made the boys laugh as they made their way through the halls.
The rest of the day was a breeze, in Herbology, their only other class, they just studied the anatomy of pumpkins or some other ridiculous task. Though, oddly Hermione didn't show up.
As the smell of cooking pumpkin wafted through the halls, getting stronger by the minute, the kids were growing more and more impatient.
"I heard that this year, they're going to replace the candles in the great hall with jack-o-lanterns,"
"They do that every year!"
"I heard Quirrell is going to replace his turban with an enchanted pumpkin,"
"Don't be ridiculous,"
It was finally time for the feast, but as they were walking to the great hall, Harry heard Lavender Brown telling another girl form their year, that Hermione had locked herself in the girl's bathroom, and wanted to be left alone. This worried Harry for a minute, but his worries immediately went away, when he saw the Great Hall.
A thousand live bats fluttered along the walls and ceilings, while a thousand more swooped low over the tables, forming large, black clouds. Sure enough, there were jack-o-lanterns, replacing the candles, that normally floated above the tables. However Quirrell wasn't wearing a pumpkin, actually, Quirrell wasn't there at all. 'Where is that nut?' Harry thought to himself. His questions were answered, just as the feast began when Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew, and fear evident on his face.
"TROLL, TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!" He screamed, "Thought you ought to know," he finished, right before passing out.
There was a moment of eerie silence before the hall was in a complete uproar. It took several golden sparks, being shot from Dumbledore's wand before the hall regained its previous silence.
"Prefects," he rumbled, "Please lead your housemates back to their common rooms,"
Percy was right in his element, "Follow me! Stick together first-years. No need to fear the troll, so long as you follow my orders!"
When a student made the mistake of walking in front of him, he grabbed them and yelled, "EXCUSE ME, I'M A PREFECT!"
"How did a troll get in, aren't they supposed to be really stupid," Harry thought out loud, as he looked at Regulus.
"I don't know, maybe Peeves let it in, as a Halloween prank,"
"Maybe," Then Harry turned and grabbed Neville's arm. "Merlin's beard, I've just remembered, Hermione, she doesn't know about the troll.
Neville's face paled, as he said "Well we have to go get her, but let's make sure Percy doesn't see us,"
"Yeah," Harry said, as they left the group. Regulus, sensing an adventure followed suit. Ron, begrudgingly, also followed. They ducked into a group of Hufflepuffs, then crossed a corridor, and made their way, to the girl's bathroom, when they heard footsteps.
"Percy," Hissed Ron.
Regulus, who could see the person, said, "No, it's- Snape? What's he doing here, shouldn't he be in the dungeons, not heading up to the third floor?"
"I don't know, but we should get a move on," Neville said, running across the hall, to the bathroom doors. The rest followed, and soon they were all in the bathroom, Ron a little late, as he had gone into the boy's bathroom.
"Hermione," Neville called out.
"Neville, what the hell, this is the girl's bathroom,"
That's when they heard it, a low grumble, and they smelt the foul odor, and they all thought 'uh oh' That's when they saw it, the troll was probably 20 feet tall, and the weight of a large elephant, the tiles cracked under its feet. It gave the boys a confused look, before raising its club, nay, tree, above its head, to hit the stall, that Hermione was in, CRASH. Hermione had gotten out, just in time, as the stall was obliterated. She let out an ear-piercing scream, and dove under the sinks.
Attracted to the sound, the troll took aim at her again, and once again, she just barely made it out. The ground was now littered with shards of porcelain and wood, as well as covered in water from the broken pipes.
As the troll was about to take aim, once again, Neville shouted, "Hey, ugly," and chucked a piece of wood at him, it bounced off his head, harmlessly, but it made the troll angry.
"Oy, pea brain," Ron yelled, throwing a piece of pipe at him, eventually all the boys were hurling debris at the troll.
Neville, amongst the chaos, managed to hind Hermione, and yelled, "Come on run," but she stayed plastered up against the wall, unable to move, face frozen in terror. The screams seemed to be driving the troll berserk, out of desperation, Harry took a great, running leap, and locked his arms around the troll's neck. Harry, holding on for dear life, did the only thing he could, he shoved his wand up the troll's nose.
The troll screamed in pain, and dropped his club, Harry yelled at Neville, "Neville, remember charms class?" and pointed at the fallen tree.
Neville's eyes lit up, as he shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!" and the club lifted into the air, and slammed down upon the troll's head. The troll landed with a great THUMP.
"Do you think it's dead?" Ron asked.
"No, it's probably just knocked out," Regulus said, as he congratulated Neville.
"Ew, troll boogies," Harry said as he wiped his wand on Ron.
"That was a mad plan Harry, but also brilliant," Neville said, as he pulled Hermione up.
"Thanks," Hermione whispered, the shock still evident on her face.
