Last Chapters: Harry got a mental link with Hermione. Hermione is at a muggle school. Harry is walking towards the Slytherin dorms, unaware of the troll in the dungeons.
-=Harry Potter, 31 October 1991 =-
Harry was walking to his dorm, through the corridors of the dungeons. In his mind, he was thinking about his parents and what kind of people they would have been.
At the first corner, he thought what he knew of his parents, which was ridiculously little. He heard once that he looked quite like his biological father. He didn't know the differences though.
At the second corner he thought that based on the pictures he had once seen of his grandparents, he would likely have gotten the green eye colour from his grandfather. This meant that his dad likely had no green eyes.
At the third corner, he suddenly smelled an awful smell. It reminded him of a wet dog, only much much worse.
He put his hand on his nose and tried to ignore the smell while looking for an alternative path to the common room. Unfortunately, there were only a few paths through the dungeon and judging from the increasing intensity of the smell, it would probably be somewhere in the dungeon.
After a few more turns, he saw the source of the smell.
A large humanoid creature was walking in the corridor on his left. He was twelve foot high, had a fat tummy and carried a giant club.
Although he could not identify this beast exactly, Harry was quite sure it was some kind of troll.
Harry put a few steps backwards not knowing what kind of creature this was. The large club seemed dangerous so he started to scream.
The troll looked into the direction of the sound.
~Well Harry, you just alerted him.~ Hermione mentally told him. ~Screaming doesn't help. Nobody is around.~
~Thanks for the advise.~ Harry answered ~But next time tell me it a little bit earlier.~
~I think you should run.~
Harry realized that he had been standing still, in shock. Her reminder helped him to get a grip on himself and flee. He quickly ran back into the corridor he came from.
From somewhere in the back he periodically heard a stamp sound. It was quite scary to hear a troll running after you. Judging from the sound, the troll was winning ground. This of course was not surprising as trolls have longer legs than most eleven year old boys.
~Okay, what are the trolls weaknesses~, he thought to himself.
Hermione heard it as well and replied ~sunlight~ in the hope to be helpful.
~It is evening and I am underground.~ Harry responded. ~Do you have more ideas?~
~Maybe their stupidity?~
~That could work, but a troll doesn't really have to be smart to chase me.~
When he could almost feel the troll behind him he knew that keeping on the run would only get him caught. He tried to use the trolls stupidity as his advantage and he quickly ducked and changed directions. The troll tried to hit him but he was startled by the unexpected change of movement of the boy.
He ran back in the hallway, hoping that some miracle happened.
The troll heard his footsteps again and came running towards him.
He tripped and fell. Ignoring the pain on his hands he rolled over.
Now looking at the troll again, Harry saw the troll lift his club.
~Harry, use your magic to make the club weightless, just like the feather. Remember the lesson you had earlier today. Just let it fall on the trolls head.~
~Good Idea, Hermione~
"Wingardium Leviosa"
Harry felt a large portion of his magical leave his body at the moment the spell connected with the club. Apparently, this took a lot more effort than a feather.
The troll looked a bit surprised at his log. He took a better grip on the piece of wood and started to swing again.
~It didn't work~, Harry told Hermione, while barely rolling away. The impact destroyed a couple of tiles in the floor on his left.
In the roll, he saw a man walking in the corridor. He was never happier to see his head of house.
The troll lifted the club again.
"HELP!" he shouted.
He rolled away again, this time to his right.
The teacher send a chain of spells at the troll.
"Lumos Solar … Sectumsempra"
The troll started to fall over. Blood poured out of the beasts cutting wounds. Harry had little time to react. The corpse came closer with an immense speed. He pushed himself to the side and rolled to the side, just in time.
Snape looked at him with a hint of disgust in his eyes.
"Potter, detention next Saturday." He said "As long as I am your head of house, I will not tolerate this kind of reckless behaviour. You are just like your father."
"But" Harry wanted to protest. He didn't try to find the troll. The troll found him.
But before he completed his sentence, Snape interrupted him. "Disrespect for a teacher? Make it two Saturdays."
-= Harry & Hermione, 4 November 1991, morning =-
~Don't go Hermione. This is so wrong.~ Harry begged hoping that Hermione would listen again to him. Last time, she didn't go because Harry asked her. She made it clear that she would only skip one lesson.
~Harry, if I don't go, the teachers will notice if I skip the lesson again and again.~ Hermione told him with a firm but gentle mental voice ~I need to go to Physical Education. I can't keep skipping the class even if it is not my favourite one.~
~But your classmates? It's not fair to them, I will remember showering together with them.~ Harry said. ~I will see them … without clothing.~
~You already remember them, undressing, from my memories before we got the bond.~ She reminded him.
~That is not helping. You know, we need to find a solution now for when we grow older.~ According to Hermione's biology book boys and girls change during puberty. Although they hadn't hit it yet, they knew that within a few years he would probably look at girls in a different way. For now, it just felt wrong. Like he was spying on them. He couldn't do that to girls like Charlotte and Angie. It didn't matter that he MIGHT see them from Hermione's point of view. It was just plain wrong.
~Harry, what do you want me to do? Skip all the PE lessons? I could get in so much problem if I tried to do that. Not to mention how disappointed, Dan and Emma would be. Last week I have given us some time to find a solution, for something that could theoretically become a problem in the future. None of us found a way.~
~Please, we can take more time to find a solution.~ Harry begged ~Just one more lesson.~
~That is the same thing as you said last time. My decision is final. Unless you find a long-term solution I will go to the lesson.~
~This is really creepy.~ Harry tried in vain.
~It is creepy when boys look at the girls with certain intentions.~ Hermione told him. ~And as long as you are not going to look at the girls that way, it is not a problem. That gives us time to find a solution. If you'll start looking at them in that way, we'll figure something out. Understood?~
~Yes~ Harry said, fearing they would have the same conversation when he hit puberty. He could only imagine how much more uncomfortable it would be then.
-= Harry Potter, 9 November 1991, evening =-
A week later, just after the horrible detentions with Snape were finished, Harry was walking through the hallways. Professor Snape has gotten in his head that he deliberately went looking for the troll and as his head of house he couldn't complain to anybody else about the unfair punishment.
Therefore he just spend his evening cleaning cauldrons. He couldn't believe how filthy some of them were. What did Snape or the upper year students brew in them?
At some points during the cleaning, he hesitated because of safety guidelines he learned from his chemistry professor.
Snape did not like this and called him a pampered prince. The git claimed that he tried to avoid punishment, just like your father. As if that is true. He was merely applying safety regulations, not trying to avoid cleaning them altogether. (It would have been a nice bonus, though.)
On his way back, he heard a his favourite pair of redheads talking with each other. They were carrying some potions with them.
He walked over and said "Hi Fred, Hi George", hoping he remembered them correctly.
"I'm Fred" said the boy who he could swear was George.
"Sorry Fred."
"It's alright. …"
"… Even mum confuses us all the time …"
"… which we use to prank her …"
"… much to her annoyance."
"Anyway, where are the potions for?" Harry asked, hoping he heard about some cool prank.
"We got some calming draught …"
"… for our dear brother Ron."
"What happened to him?"
"You didn't know? He went into the third floor corridor at Halloween two weeks ago."
"No, I wasn't there. I've gone away early and was in the dungeons."
"A date with a troll, I heard." Fred joked.
"Is it true that she fell for you?" George added.
For a moment, Harry thought about rejecting their claims but decided to play ahead anyway. "Yeah, I was overwhelmed by her smell."
"So romantic." The twins said together laughing.
Harry thought for a couple of moments before coming up with the pun "Yeah, but don't try anything. She fell for me." emphasising on the word fell.
When it was the twins turn again, they were much quicker. "Don't worry she is a big girl."
After a couple of puns, harry asked again what happened to Ron.
"Our brother thought …"
"… for some stupid reason …"
"… that it was a good idea to go into the forbidden corridor …"
"… at the third floor …"
"… which is guarded by a three-headed dog …"
"… some nasty plants …"
"… and a giant chessboard"
"Tell me more." Harry encouraged
"At first, Ron encountered a Cerberus …"
"… which is a three headed dog …"
"… which was so bored with Ron that it fell asleep."
"Ron opened a passageway below it's paws. ... "
"… and jumped down in a dark hole …"
"… which was covered with plants …"
"… that try to strangle you."
"Interesting" Harry said "Fluffy is not the only thing guarding whatever is down there."
"Fluffy?" the twins bellowed in surprise and gave him strange looks as if asking what kind of idiot would name a vicious giant three-headed dog fluffy.
Harry answered as best as he could. "The three-headed dog from Hagrid. He thinks it is cute, which is why he named him so."
The strange looks from the twins seemed to disappear when he told them that Hagrid gave Fluffy his name. Had they experience with Hagrid's taste of pets?
"Anyhow, he survived the plants …"
"… in some way …"
"… and went further …"
"… to encounter some flying keys …"
"… and cursed brooms …"
"… that can only accelerate."
"He used one of the brooms …"
"… which was cursed …"
"… to catch the key …"
"… and opened the door to the next room …"
"… despite some broken limbs."
"Then he encountered a giant chess set …"
"… and Ron is good at chess …"
"… so he stepped in and played the king."
"Meanwhile the teachers notice he was missing …"
"… and went after him."
"Our heroic defence professor …"
"… had ordered a headcount at the great hall …"
"… and Percy found out that our brother was missing …"
"… so Quirrell went after him …"
"… and was the first to arrive at the scene …"
"… a few minutes before Dumbledore."
-= Albus Dumbledore, 10 November 1991, just after breakfast =-
Albus Dumbledore was waiting in his office. He has asked the two professors that initially stayed in the hall, to protect the students, to discuss the events on Halloween. He had the feeling that Quirrell used Ron for an attack on the stone and hoped to get some proof. The teacher played it very well. While he was being seen as the hero of the school, it was difficult to fire him. Especially since he had not been present at the moment.
"Come in Quirinus."
"Good Afternoon Dumbledore, Good Afternoon Snape." He answered while opening the door.
"Same to you." The headmaster answered. "Have a chair."
After the DADA teacher sat down beside his potions teacher he gave them all a cup of tea and offered a lemon drop with it. Not that they took the sweets but that was not needed. In the tea of Quirrell were three drops of versivatium. He wanted to have some answers to some important questions and this was a way.
"Why are we here?" Quirrell asked him.
"I have called you two here to reflect on the events of Halloween. Some of the events are still clouded in mysteries and I hope to dissolve some of those clouds today."
"Quirinus, you found a troll in the dungeon. Could you please tell how you found the creature in the first place."
"I had a feeling someone would use the evening to remind everyone of the dark days of the past. It was exactly ten years ago that you-know-who was defeated. I was afraid someone would use that day as a not so peaceful memorial to the dark lord."
"Who did you have in mind?" Albus asked while noting that the defence professor was the only one who hadn't drunk a single sip of his tea.
"Nobody in particular, but it is rumoured that certain people were death eaters that bribed their way out of Azkaban. Some of those people, have children in the Slytherin house." He answered while quickly adding "Not that I want to accuse specific people, of course."
"And what did you expect?" He asked.
"Minor things." The DADA teacher answered. "Texts written on walls. Minor curses but nothing like a Troll."
"And you couldn't defeat it?" Dumbledore asked him, trying to trap him in his conversation. He knew that an adult wizard with newts in DADA and care of magical creatures, should be able to deal with a troll. If the teacher said he couldn't, it was a reason why he could fire him and make the school safer.
"I think the troll would have given me some problems, but that I would have defeated it in the end. That said, I didn't know whether it was alone. If there were more, I had to get help."
Damn, he didn't fall for this trap. Still, he had to continue the conversation.
"And that was how you came running in the great hall shouting for help, isn't it?"
Albus turned his head to his beloved potions professor. "Severus, could you please tell me, what happened in the great hall after the other teachers left left." By asking his potions professor, the other teacher would not have the lead where the conversation was going.
"Well, Quirrell started to organize the students. He asked the fifth year prefects to count heads. The Sixth and seventh years he asked to guard the entrances to the hall. Others he asked to focus on specific entrances to the hall. I was actually surprised by his leadership and his quick thinking. It was almost like he planned it beforehand."
"Although I do plan against some scenario's, the troll wasn't one of them. I adopted another scenario on the fly. Basically, I did what made the most sense, at the time." Albus was not sure whether he believed the professor. He had seen many fights and they usually quickly led to chaos. Leading people took training, and he was quite sure Quirrell didn't have this kind of training. Something strange was going on but he could hardly blame someone for being competent.
"So, you two barricaded the great hall."
Both men nodded.
"Severus why did you leave the hall?"
"Well, Marcus told me Mr Potter was missing. The brat was reported to have gone to the dungeons. Even though I couldn't imagine why he was so stupid to do that, I went to rescue him."
"You left the students in the great hall?"
"Like I said before, Professor Quirrell had the situation in the great hall under control."
"Thanks for rescuing him. If Harry would have died, the evening would have been a new black page in history."
"And you, Quirinus, why did you leave?"
"Well, my reasons are similar to Professor Snape. I heard from Percy Weasley, the fifth year Gryffindor prefect, that his younger brother was missing. I went after him."
"And how did you find him?"
The teacher seemed to pause for a little bit too long before answering. "Paintings"
"What do you mean with paintings?" he asked, having the feeling that he was making things up.
"I asked several paintings if they had seen a student. When I discovered that he went to the third corridor, I went after him."
"And you didn't send me a message? You used to have such a beautiful raven patronus and I know what kind of traps there are down there."
"I … I didn't think about it." He somehow seemed uncomfortable. Was something wrong about his patronus? Albus was not sure. But his story was most definitely fishy.
-= Harry Potter, 24 November 1991, evening =-
Harry and Hermione have both been reading about mental connections. He had caught up with his homework and had some more free time nowadays. He enjoyed using some of that free time to 'chat' with Hermione. Every evening, just after curfew they started 'talking' with each other. Usually they would talk about anything that happened during the day. A few games of exploding snap Harry played with the twins, good books that Hermione read after studying. It wasn't actually needed, to talk to each other like that. You could read each other's memories anyway. It felt like a good habit to do that anyway.
But the question was what kind of connection they shared, nagged them. Especially Hermione wanted to know everything that was to be known about it. This was a more difficult quest than they first thought.
There were literally hundreds of types of bonds and none of them seemed to be the true answer. They had studied for at least a month about magical connections but couldn't find a definite answer what kind of connection they shared.
The connections are called bonds. There were a lot of bonds. They currently found around fifty types. They were quite different. You couldn't compare a soul-bond to a goblin bond, or a Veela bond to a twin-bond. Some bonds were rarer than others, but there were a lot of types of bonds out there.
Some bonds instantly made your mad, like the time-bond. This type of bond was discovered 700 years ago. Christopher Trelawney accidentally bonded with a double of himself using a time-turner. It was said, this drove him crazy. Whatever a time-turner was, the bond did not seem to be similar to that of Harry and Hermione as none of them were, as far as they knew, mad.
They currently found two types of bonds that matched reasonably. The soul bond and the Veela bond.
Both worked similar. You would share a mental link and memories. The mental link works much like conversations except that it could broadcast emotions as well. When recalling memories, they would be as intense as experiencing the event itself. However, the events itself do not really shape a person.
This matched their bond pretty well. After all, Hermione could remember the fear Harry felt when being bullied but she wasn't shaped by it like Harry was.
The difference with the soul bond and the Veela bond was how it was formed.
The soul bond required bonding potential between two individuals. If two people who had such a link, had an intimate relationship for quite some time, the bond would form. On average this would form approximately seven years after marriage. Although the white pages in their mental library indicated that they had been obliviated, it seemed very unlikely that they had such an intimate relationship in the past. After all they were too young and lived miles apart from each other.
The Veela bond required a different initiation. A Veela can choose her life mate. If she chooses it and the mate accepts, the bond is formed. Based on an article of a 9 year old Veela girl and a 14 year old boy who bonded, after he saved her from drowning, it seemed that age had little to do with it.
Still, it was doubtful that they had a Veela bond. How could they. Hermione was a muggle-born and had brown hair while Veela typically had silver-blond hair. Still, despite the problems, it seemed more plausible as the soul bond.
This meant that they would have to look further, in more and more obscure books, to find what was going on. They hoped to be able to find the correct bond.
Hermione was reading a muggle book on mental health. It was one of the seventeen books she borrowed from the library.
Harry didn't lend as much books as Hermione. From his four books he was currently reading through 'The Manipulation of Mind Magic with Mushrooms'. This book described how mushrooms could affect your occlumency barriers. Although it was interesting, it didn't really help in their particular situation.
While he was reading about the use of mushrooms in truth serums, he heard Hermione's panicked voice over their mental link.
~Oh my god.~
~Hello Hermione, what's going on? You sound worried.~
~I am worried.~
~What happened?~
~I just read a book on philosophy.~ she started. ~It says "Some mental disorders may cause people to believe that they hear voices in their heads." How do I know if you are real?~
~Of course I am real.~ Harry protested.
~Your presence in my head feels real, but you could be something I made up. For all I know, I may have a mental disorder.~
~Well, I doubt the writer knew about magic. I looked up some books on magical connections and Legilimency is not unheard of.~ Harry reminded her with a grin. Although she could not see him, he was sure that the grin was mentally transferred.
~You're not helping.~ she answered in an irritated mental voice. ~Believing in magic is also not considered to be a great signal of sanity.~
~Anyhow, I need to know if you are real. I need to see some evidence with my own two eyes~ She added.
~Shall I send you Hedwig?~ Harry offered. ~By exchanging letters, we can verify that we are mentally communicating with a real person. If that is the case, we are sane.~
~That will help a lot.~ she said with a sigh.
A few minutes later, Harry wrote the strangest letter he had ever written. Nobody would understand this message except Hermione.
She insisted that she would randomly choose words from a dictionary. She would open the page on a random page and point to a random location. Both people would write the words she found on paper or parchment.
After the letter was finished, Harry walked to the owlery and called Hedwig. The beautiful white owl went down and greeted Harry.
Hi girl, Harry said.
The owl hooted.
He tied the letter onto the owl's leg and told her to deliver the letter. When he told her where the letter should be delivered, Harry had the feeling she looked at him with a face telling him: ~Silly human. Don't tell me how I should deliver a letter. I know that better than you.~
-= Hermione Granger, 25 November 1991, morning =-
Earlier today, Hermione walked out of her biology lesson. A familiar white owl sat on her hand. It had been a close call but it appeared that nobody had seen the letter the owl carried. Although, she wasn't sure about Chris. He did give her a strange look when leaving the classroom. But then again, this could also be caused by carrying an owl.
At first, she hadn't notices Hedwig ticking on the window with her beak. Some of the other students did notice.
Very soon, the class was in chaos. Someone had opened a window and Hedwig flew a couple of times through the room before landing on her desk.
Looking back, her excuse to leave was not a very good one. The teacher seemed to accept it, but she thought it was more due to the general feeling of surprise in the room.
She was very happy with the letter. It meant she wasn't insane. For most people the random words wouldn't seem logical, bus she knew better. She had already written a reply, with a photo of her family added to it. She had offered to write a few random words to Harry as well, but Harry didn't think it was necessary.
It was the first time she skipped a lesson. A bell signalled the break period. Now she had to ask what homework was due for the next lesson.
In the stream of students she saw Dave and a couple of his friends walking outside. They were discussing a game called 'Tunnels and Trolls'. She didn't know what kind of game it was and neither did she care. Knowing them, it was probably something far too geeky for her anyway.
The name reminded her of a very bad memory of a couple of days ago. After all, Harry's encounter with the troll could easily have killed him.
Next she spotted Charlotte. She asked her a lot about the owl that she left with. After a short time Hermione learned what assignments she needed to make before the next lesson. It wouldn't be too much work.
"Charlotte, did you see Angie coming outside?"
"No, I don't think so." she responded "but I am not sure."
"I'm going inside looking for her." Hermione told her friend "For all we know, that Dudley boy is troubling her again."
"Shall I come with you."
"No, I have an idea"
She walked up the five steps of the wide staircase to the entrance door and walked inside. She looked around at a couple of places and in the third room, she spotted the two people she was looking for. Dudley was standing intimidating over Angie who was sitting in a corner. Her hands were protecting her face.
"Please, don't" she begged.
"Well, you didn't complete my homework, so I think a punishment is in order."
He put his fist behind his back, preparing a punch.
"Dudley?" she asked "What do you think you're doing?"
"Oh, we're just having a bit of fun."
"A bit of fun?" she asked him. "Let me tell you something, your parents didn't seem to have told you. Hitting others is in general not considered having fun. It is called bullying."
"I don't bully Angie." he said.
Thinking about how Harry was treated, Hermione was actually unsure whether Dudley would know he was bullying someone with how the Dursley's treated Harry.
"Your parents may not really have told you what bullying means. After all, the whole Dursley family consists of bullies."
"Take that back!" the boy snarled.
"Why should I take the truth back. We both know what your family did to your cousin. Does Harry hunting ring a bell?"
"Nobody will believe you. You have no evidence."
"I do and if it doesn't stop I will inform the authorities." Hermione responded.
The boy didn't catch her subtle meaning and started laughing. "The authorities? And here I thought you grew a backbone. Do you really think the teachers will listen this time? Or the police for that matter? No complaint ever turns into any consequence."
~Well, that is true.~ Harry admitted. ~All complaints somehow got lost.~
~Magic?~ Hermione asked
~Not sure~ Harry responded. ~I mean, there must be some spells to wipe memories, given what we found in that library.~
~Well, we could bluff our way out.~ Hermione responded
Just when Dudley seemed to think he won, Hermione gave her response.
"You just have to know where to complain." Hermione added. She stepped a step forward and said "I was thinking about other authorities, Mr Pig."
The last words were a bit risky, but in the hallway only Dudley could understand the reference. Everyone else would probably assume she would be talking about his fat appearance.
"What did you call me?" the boy asked with a slightly worried voice. He finally caught her meaning.
"I called you Mister Pig or did you forgot the gift Hagrid gave you?" Hermione asked, knowing fully well he would not have forgotten the plastic surgery that was required to remove the tail.
The boy began to stutter. "I don't know what you're talking about"
"I am sure you do. And if you don't stop, I will inform them." Hermione told the scared boy. "Maybe they'll give you a second gift."
The boy took a step backwards and muttered "Freak."
"Yeah" Hermione responded bluffing. If she was magical, she would have received a Hogwarts letter, but Dudley didn't need to know that. "If I were you, I would stop playing your hunting games or we will step in. And that also applies to your cousin."
"Please, don't." The boy begged her.
"Well, it is your choice." she said to the boy who was currently trying to get away as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Hermione, what was that about?" Angie asked her when the boy was out of sight.
"I knew something he didn't want others to know." She answered "By using that I may have solved bullying problem."
"I guess you aren't going to tell me anything else."
"Sorry." Hermione muttered. "I can't risk the information getting out."
"Thanks anyway."
Unbeknown to them, the conversation between Dudley and Hermione had been overheard. A boy, Chris was flabbergasted by the only logical conclusion he could think of. (1)
Was Hermione really involved with the mafia? Her conversation did seem to hint towards it. After all, what else could the 'other authority' mean?
The gifts seemed to be a kind of punishment. He had no idea what the punishments were but judging from the reaction of Dudley it was a nasty punishment.
He still had to figure out what was going on with the owl. After all, it did have a letter attached to his leg. Did they use this technique to avoid the cops?
He would inform his uncle. After all, the police was far better equipped to tackle these kind of problems than a teenage boy was.
Author Note:
(1) I have written it first with the idea that Hermione wanted to communicate a message to Dudley. Then I realised that it could be misinterpreted. Stay tuned for more mis-interpretations. I really like the one I planned between Albus and Harry at the mirror of Negereb.
Because Harry will not be at Hogwarts during Christmas, do you think it is more logical if he finds the mirror before or after the holiday?
A guest pointed out that my story is a bit dark. I tried to rectify that a bit, by adding some references to hobbies in this chapter. Does that add something to the story?
Nanettez: The bushy haired girl in Ravenclaw is Lisa Turpin. Her hair colour is black and I have not yet thought of a big role for her in the story. Suggestions are welcome though.
