Disclaimer: HP belongs to JKR/OCs belong to me

Chapter 7: Halloween

October 26th 1991

Hagrid welcomed the four children with a big smile, and he opened wide the door to his hut. "Come in. I was startin' to think that yeh'd forgotten me, Harry."

Hagrid had invited Harry to visit him several times since school had started but each time Harry had had to refuse.

"I've been really busy with schoolwork."

Harry was not making an excuse. While all of the teachers did give the children quite a bit of homework to get through, Professor Snape was the worst. He seemed to manage to pile an almost insurmountable amount of homework on to the children, and Harry, Justin and Susan had been having problems in getting through the assignments, although Harry was developing a remarkable knack of completing his potions both efficiently and perfectly.

Just like Harry, Hermione also did well with her potions, but as she had been the only one not to struggle with the written assignments, she had offered to use her spare time to bring the other three up to speed, but it had still meant that the group had had little freedom to take Hagrid up on his offer to see his hut. And so it was only now, with a surprising lull in the constant output, that the children had finally found time to visit the large gamekeeper.

Hermione gave a small scream when a rather large black dog suddenly came bounding out of the hut, barking excitedly at her. Hagrid reached out to grab his dog, but he missed and the dog jumped on top of Hermione, knocking her to the ground. "Get off 'er. Stupid dog."

Instead of being savaged, Hermione found herself being licked into submission: Not that that was any pleasanter than the savaging Hermione had expected, as her clothing and face quickly became soaked with dog slobber. "Get it off me."

Hagrid reached down and pulled the boarhound off Hermione. "Sorry 'bout that. Fang is a bit of a softie."

Susan grimaced at the slobber. "And he's disgusting. That's just nasty."

She then used one of the few cleaning spells she knew to clean up Hermione, who, of course, immediately asked Susan to repeat it so that she could learn it as well.

Harry could see that Susan's words had hurt Hagrid, and he hurriedly tried to make up for his friend's rudeness. "He's a nice dog, Hagrid. Have you had him a long time?"

Hagrid's despondent face lit up, his gigantic hand stroking Fang's head. "Since he was a pup."

Susan realized that she had probably offended Hagrid, and she immediately moved to pat Fang as well, telling Hermione she would show her how to cast the spell later. "He's seems very friendly."

Hagrid warmed a little towards the red-headed girl as she tickled Fang under his massive head and the dog closed its eyes in joy. "I think he likes yeh." Hagrid then remembered his manners. "Would yeh all like some tea?"

All four children decided to accept, and, once inside the hut, they began to look around it with interest.

In the corner were four chairs and a rough table, all appearing to be carved out of wood. A fire was burning in the fireplace and over it was hung a massive copper kettle that was starting to steam, Hagrid already having placed it over the heat before the children arrived. A massive sofa and a couple of mismatched chairs dominated the main seating area. The only other major piece of furniture in the hut was Hagrid's huge bed, which was partially hidden behind a curtain. There was also another door but the children deduced that, as with the front door, it led outside.

As the children all sat down, Hagrid poured out the tea into a variety of large and mismatched mugs; Harry had to use both hands to drink out of his, hiding a shudder at the overly strong brew. Courtesy of their families' tastes, Susan and Hermione were used to strong tea, and they both drank their beverages without a problem. Justin, however, was used to taking his tea with lemon or a splash of milk, and he therefore waited for Hagrid to turn away before he poured most of his tea into a pot that contained a rather bedraggled plant, which looked as though it might benefit from the dark and syrupy offering.

Putting down her mug, Susan realized that Fang was obviously not upset by her comments, because he had placed his head on her leg and was now currently drooling over her skirt. Deciding to try and make up for her initial rudeness, Susan ignored the mess, and she instead stroked Fang's head, making the dog give a happy sigh and drool all the more. "So you like dogs then, Hagrid?"

"Yeah, but I like lots of creatures." Hagrid's face became what could only be described as 'gooey' as he thought about all the creatures he would like to own. "But truth be told, I always wanted a dragon."

Harry's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "A dragon?"

"Jus' a baby one." Hagrid conveniently decided to forget that dragons did not stay small.

"That's nice." Hermione thought Hagrid was mad. She had already read about dragons, and she had immediately decided that she would steer clear of anything with razor sharp teeth and claws, and the ability to breathe fire.

"Hagrid, while we're on the subject of unusual creatures..." Harry kept his voice innocent and light, "...would you like a three headed dog?"

Hagrid, as usual, did not think before responding, "Got one already."

"Is the three headed dog in the school your dog then?" Harry asked pointblank.

"Yeh mean Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?" Harry's voice rose several octaves. "You call that monster Fluffy?"

"He's a big softie at 'art, jus' like Fang 'ere," Hagrid said, thinking the same about the three headed dog as he did about his boarhound. "He's a good boy."

"Yeah." Harry did not believe Hagrid though.

It was then that it occurred to Hagrid that Harry should not have even known about the dog. "So, 'ow did yeh see Fluffy?"

"Took a wrong turn," Harry answered quite truthfully. "What's he doing in the school?"

Hagrid got to his feet and starting gathering the mugs, his discomfiture at Harry's questioning patently obvious. "Needed somewhere to stay. Now I'm afraid you'll 'ave to be off now. Things ter do."

The four children found themselves unceremoniously bundled out of Hagrid's hut, and Hermione walked next to Harry as they made their way back to the school. "Well, Fluffy is definitely guarding something, and I think Hagrid knows what it is. He couldn't wait to get rid of us."

"Fluffy was sitting on a trapdoor, so you might be right." Harry had replayed the horror of the dog over and over in his mind, the image of the large paws resting on the trapdoor forever burned into his memory. "But what could it be guarding?"

"How about whatever someone tried to steal from Gringotts?" Justin suggested, recalling the break-in that Susan had mentioned some time ago. "Even I now know that Hogwarts is just as safe."

"But how did it get here?" Susan asked, trying to make the connection. "And what is it?"

Harry went very red, and Hermione noticed. "I think Harry knows."

"I don't know what Fluffy's guarding." Harry believed in keeping secrets, particularly for someone as important as Dumbledore, and he had a niggling feeling that whatever Fluffy was guarding was the mysterious item that Hagrid had handed over to Dumbledore during Harry's trip to Diagon Alley with the Headmaster.

Hermione, however, believed just as equally in getting to the bottom of things, and she therefore proceeded to grill Harry. "You went shopping with Professor Dumbledore on the day Gringotts was broken into, didn't you?"

"Yes." Harry started to shift uncomfortably, already working out where Hermione's questioning was going.

"And you went to Gringotts with Professor Dumbledore, didn't you?" Hermione was like a bloodhound honing in on her prey.

"Yes." The word left Harry's lips in a slow sigh.

"Did Professor Dumbledore take something out of Gringotts?" Hermione asked in a triumphant voice, expecting Harry to say yes again.

Harry, however, disappointed her. "No, we just went to my vault, took out my money, and we went shopping afterwards."

"Oh." Hermione's theory went out of the window, and she visibly deflated.

An aficionado of detective novels, courtesy of his mother, Justin was not quite as ready to give up. "So perhaps the Headmaster didn't take anything out when Harry was there. What if the goblins asked him to take care of whatever was hidden in Gringotts before he got Harry, or perhaps Hagrid knows when it got here, seeing as it's his dog guarding the trapdoor?"

Hermione cheered up, and she turned around. "Let's go ask Hagrid."

Harry shook his head. "He probably won't answer us."

"Let's go see." Hermione was determined, but her mission was about to ended by Susan.

"I don't think he'll answer the door. Look how keen he was to get rid of us." Susan slipped her arm through Hermione's so that she was unable to return. "Come on, we should wait for a bit and see what happens. If we can't work out what Fluffy's guarding, then we can come back and visit Hagrid."

Harry tried to dissuade his friends from doing exactly that. "Does it matter what Fluffy's guarding? We're not supposed to be on the third floor where Fluffy is, so why waste our time hassling Hagrid?"

Hermione had forgotten about the Headmaster's strict warning, and she backed off a little as Harry's words brought it to mind. But deep down, her curiosity was raging, and she wanted to know what the three headed beast Harry had seen was safeguarding. "Okay, we'll leave Hagrid alone for the moment."

However, despite his words about not wasting time pursuing the mystery of the three headed dog, Justin, Susan and Hermione had no idea that Harry, like them, was also intrigued. After shaking off his friends by pretending he still had homework to do, Harry headed to the library where he penned a missive to Luna Lovegood to ask for her opinion.


31st October 1991

It was the morning of Halloween, and, as the group left Charms, Hermione slightly ahead of the Hufflepuff trio, she could hear Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom conversing in front of her. As the boys' conversation continued, Hermione realized that they were talking about her.

Ron's voice was rather loud, also allowing Harry, Justin and Susan to overhear what was being said. "Swish and flick." Ron's voice was contemptuous. "Trust Granger to bloody well get it right first time." He mimicked his teacher. "Oh, well done, Miss Granger, well done. Bloody know-it-all."

Hermione was used to hurtful words about her achievements; she had had to listen to similar comments all of her life, but it still upset her that someone from her own house was mocking what she had done, especially as she had earned five points for Gryffindor.

As Hermione stopped in dismay, Susan reached her and put her arm around the girl. And although he disliked confrontations, Harry felt the need to defend his friend, and so he marched up to Ron, tapping him on the shoulder. "Weasley."

Ron turned around, his face lighting up at the sight of Harry. "Hi, mate."

"I'm not your mate." Harry knew from George that Ron had been angling to be formally introduced to Harry. "How could you be so rude about Hermione? She earned your house points today."

"She was just showing off." Neville joined in with the conversation. "She always does. She never lets anyone else have a chance to shine."

While Hermione had expected Ron to run her down, she had not expected to hear it from the usually timid Neville. "I didn't do it on purpose. I was just doing what the Professor told us to do."

"Yeah, right." Ron's tone indicated that he thought otherwise. "You really think you're special because you do well in classes and you're Potter's friend. He's probably only friends with you so that he can copy your work."

Ron had often seen Hermione going over Harry's work in the library, and it was pure jealously that was driving Ron's words, mostly because Ron never received help like that, as well as the fact that Harry was Hermione's friend and not his.

Hermione refused to believe that Harry was her friend only for her brains, and she therefore stood up for her Hufflepuff friend. "That's not true."

"Look at Potter," Neville said to Hermione, "and tell me it's not true."

Hermione glanced at Harry to see that he had turned red, and thinking it was from shame, she burst into tears and fled before anyone could stop her.

Harry scowled at the two Gryffindors; his red face had been from anger at Ron and Neville and not embarrassment. "How could you? I'm Hermione's friend because I like her. And you had better not have ruined my friendship with her just because you suck at Charms and she doesn't." Harry then directed his next comment at Ron. "Oh, and don't ever call me your mate again, because I'm not, Weasley, and nor will I ever be."

Shaking inside, Harry had hated the altercation but he was also proud that he had managed to defend both himself and his friend. He turned to Justin and Susan, hoping his voice was not betraying his inner turmoil. "Let's go find our friend."

After giving Ron and Neville several distinctly dark and dirty looks, Justin and Susan followed Harry in the direction that Hermione had taken. However, none of them could find her, and the trio had had to give up when classes began again after lunch. As dinnertime came around, there was still no sign of Hermione, and the trio had headed into the Great Hall, which had been decorated for Halloween. Usually such a display would have delighted the three children but their pleasure was marred by the fact that Hermione was still missing.

Susan's sharp hearing, however, gave the small group a clue as to where Hermione had gone. "Harry, I just overheard Parvati Patil say to her sister that Hermione is in the girls' bathroom down by the entrance to the dungeons."

"I can't go into a girls' bathroom," Harry pointed out unnecessarily. "Will you check on her after dinner? I'll put together some food for her."

"I was going to go now."

The words had barely left Susan's mouth when Professor Quirrell came running into the Hall. "Troll … in the dungeons." He then collapsed to the ground in an apparent faint. The entire Hall exploded into pandemonium, which the Headmaster quickly quelled. Teachers were ordered to go with him to hunt down the troll, and prefects were ordered to take the houses to safety, Slytherin being told to head towards the library.

George, like Susan, had overheard Parvati's conversation, and he cornered Ron and Neville. "I heard what you two did to Hermione Granger. And she's got no idea of what's happening because of you pair."

"That's her problem." Ron had no intention of risking his skin for Hermione. "She shouldn't have been such a show off."

"I'm going to find a teacher." George looked around but with Albus' decree that the teachers should follow him, the Hall was now empty, and even Quirrell had mysteriously disappeared. "Dammit. Ron, we're going to find her."

"No way." Ron backed away into Fred, who had come back to see what had happened to his twin.

When he found out what George was planning to do, Fred was pissed off at Ron. "George is right, Ronnie. You owe Granger."

Ron tried to defend himself. "She's a know-it-all."

"And she's also a Gryffindor," George pointed out. "What if it had been Ginny?" George mentioned his younger sister, who was due to start at Hogwarts the next year.

Aware he was cornered, Ron reluctantly agreed to accompany his siblings. "I'll come."

George turned at a tap on his shoulder to see Harry, Susan and Justin standing behind him. "What?"

Susan took the lead. "We're all coming with you as well. Hermione's our friend."

"Susan, you're not going. It's too dangerous." George had no intention of taking a girl along. "Justin, make sure Susan doesn't follow us."

George then looked around for Ron. But he had vanished as, despite his words, Ron had made the most of George's distraction to hurry away with Neville. So instead, George turned to his twin. "Fred, find us some teachers, just in case. We're heading towards the girls' bathroom by the dungeons."

"Hey, you can't…" Susan's words ended as Justin grabbed her arm, and she turned angrily on him.

The three boys took advantage of Susan's arguing with Justin to leave without her. All three boys hesitated, but only for a moment, when Percy, the twins' older brother, starting yelling at them, "Where do you think you're going?"

"See you later, Perce. Don't wait up," Fred yelled over his shoulder, and all three boys continued on their way, Percy's protestations that he was a prefect and they had to go with him, echoing around them. "I'll be as quick as I can." Fred then turned away from the direction of the dungeons.

"I thought the teachers were in the dungeons," Harry pointed out.

"He knows a shortcut." George picked up the pace. "Come on, the bathroom is just up here."

Harry and George had not gone far when the most awful smell assaulted their nostrils and Harry began to gag. "What on earth is that?"

"Troll." George had never smelt one before but he knew that they smelt bad, and whatever lay ahead of them most definitely did not smell of roses.

A scream of fear shifted the boys into action, and they raced towards the noise. On entering the bathroom, Harry's heart felt as if it had stopped as he laid eyes on the big, gray, knobbly, and foul smelling eight foot behemoth in front of him. He would have normally closed his eyes but they had locked with Hermione's, who was standing flattened against the far wall, the troll standing over her, and now he found he was unable to look away.

George barked out an urgent direction. "Hermione, get out of the way."

Hermione neither moved nor acknowledged George in any way, terror robbing her of her motor skills.

George aimed his wand at the troll. "Stupefy." Nothing happened, the spell bouncing off the troll. The troll did, however, turn around and raise its club, as if it could reach George from eight feet away.

George knew by now that Hermione was not going to move, and he started to head towards her, only for the club to come swinging towards him. "Harry, distract it," George yelled out as he dodged the large club.

Harry, like Hermione, remained stock still, and the troll took a swipe at George again as he dodged around it. As the club impacted a toilet door, sending thousands of splinters into the air and narrowly missing George, Hermione found her voice again and she screamed in fear.

Unfortunately Hermione's scream drew the troll's attention back to her, and it swung the club at her. George did the only thing he could think of at that moment and dove in front of Hermione, placing himself in the club's path. George yelled out in pain when the club impacted his body, breaking several of his ribs, and sending him smashing into Hermione. And then George fell silent as did Hermione, the force behind the club meaning George had hit Hermione hard, the dual soft crunches telling Harry that the pair had hit their heads.

As everything went silent, Harry stood in the doorway, fear for his friends rolling over him as the troll raised its club again, intending to ensure that its victims were truly dead. Harry could feel his heart rate increasing, and he glanced hopefully behind him but even though he could hear voices getting closer, the owners of them were obviously not going to make it in time. Not knowing what else to do, Harry finally reacted and pulled out his wand.

Thinking quickly about what spell he could use, Harry realized that he had to get the troll away from his friends. It was just bringing the club down when Harry opened his mouth and screamed out what he hoped was the ideal spell, fear and adrenalin pushing far more power into the spell than would normally be the case.

"Accio troll."

The group of teachers, who had been alerted by Fred, ran up to the door just in time to see a massive troll flying out of it and towards the wall. All of them winced as the troll smashed into the wall opposite, a loud crack signifying that it had smacked its head quite sharply. Harry, who had ducked when he realized that the troll was going to fly into him, moved quickly out of the way as the troll fell forward. Only then did he turn to face the teachers, Minerva breaking free from the group to check that Harry was in one piece.

"Are you all right?"

"F-f-fine." Harry stammered the word out. "But Hermione and George..." Harry did not finish his sentence, instead pointing to the pair that no-one had really taken any notice of until then, their attention solely on Harry and the troll.

Minerva, Severus and Albus moved forward, and a short time later, the injured children were safely ensconced in the hospital wing, and the troll had been dealt with.


One week later

Susan and Justin found Harry sitting at the breakfast table, his concentration fully upon the letter he had received from Luna. He finally realized that someone was calling his name. "Sorry, what is it?"

"I said is that from Lovegood?" Susan asked, as she repeated her earlier question.

"Yes." Harry put the letter down, but he did not tell Susan what it was about.

"And what does she have to say?" Justin sat down, popping a crispy piece of bacon into his mouth.

"She's not writing to me about those snorkie things if that's what you mean." Harry was unable to recall what the animals were called.

"They're called Snorkacks and they might actually be real." Susan had the good grace to blush as she spoke.

"But you said..." Harry's voice trailed off as Susan started talking again, filling in Harry on what she had discovered.

"I know but I wrote to Aunt Amy about the Snorkacks, and she had someone investigate it for me."

Justin questioned Susan's aunt's actions. "Why would the head of BritAD bother with something as petty as what we believed was a pretend animal?"

It did not take a genius to work out why Susan's aunt had gone to so much trouble, and Harry scowled. "She did it because I'm the Boy Who Supposedly Lived, didn't she?"

"Yes." Susan shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "But she did find something out."

"So they're real?" Harry was willing to forgive his friend for using him like that if that proved to be the case.

"Not exactly. Aunt Amy said that one of Luna's ancestors, a Reginald Snorkack, claimed to have seen a beast that vanished when startled, when he was touring Scandinavia. Because of that, Aunt Amy thinks that Luna may well have heard of Snorkacks because it's a story that has been passed down her family, and Snorkacks are obviously named after her ancestor," Susan explained in her best 'schoolmarm' voice, as she recalled almost word for word what her aunt had written. "Reginald Snorkack is also the man who claimed to have discovered Grismacks, tiny flying cats that apparently must have been named after his wife, Elizabeth Grismack, but Aunt Amy's team found nothing to back up that claim, or that they even exist."

"Team?" Harry questioned the plurality of the comment.

Susan again looked uncomfortable. "She had a group of people researching it."

Harry suspected that there was a little more to it than Susan was letting on. "Why an entire team?"

"Because she needs to make sure that anyone you're in contact with is safe," Susan admitted.

"And she didn't once think about checking out my relatives in all the time I lived there?" Harry's question was broadcast in a quiet but acidic voice.

"What do you mean?" Justin knew that Harry had not got along with his relatives, but he had no inkling of how bad things really had been.

Harry did not really want to discuss his family's treatment of him, but he answered Justin's question honestly. "Let's just say that they didn't exactly treat me nicely but it doesn't matter now." He then turned to Susan. "And please do not repeat that to your aunt."

"I promise I won't." Susan realized that she had once again put her foot in it. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't think when I wrote to Aunt Amy."

"It's okay." Harry hated getting angry with anyone, and he could see that Susan was genuinely upset by her mistake. "At least I know that Luna wasn't just making it up."

"I'm sorry if I put you off her," Susan said, feeling the need to apologize yet again.

Harry made sure Susan knew that she had done nothing of the sort. "You didn't."

"Most people would have been," Susan said, well aware of what her aunt thought about the Lovegood family.

Harry hesitated, and then he revealed something from his childhood. "I'm not most people. I know what it's like to be someone everyone considers a freak or a bit strange. I didn't have any friends in school because everyone thought I was weird."

Justin tried to cheer up his friend. "I don't think that."

"That's because you've never met my cousin Dudley. At my school, if you were friends with me, 'the freak', you got beat up, so up until I started here, I didn't have any friends." Harry glanced at Susan, who was growing more and more upset by the minute. "It's okay, Susan. Even though I'm famous here and people stare at me, it's still loads better than junior school."

Hearing this, Susan found herself apologizing once more. "Sorry."

"It honestly doesn't matter, Susan," Harry assured her. "I've got friends now."

Susan's eye fell upon the letter as Harry lifted it up as he spoke. "So what did Lovegood have to say?"

It was now Harry's turn to look uncomfortable. "Nothing much."

Justin fixed his friend with a steely glance. "You look guilty. So what are you hiding?"

Harry knew he would have to come clean. "I told her about the three headed dog because she seems to know a lot about strange creatures. She mentioned a lot more creatures in her first letter than just Snorkacks and Grismacks."

"Did she know about the dog?" Susan asked, her previous reticence about Luna now vanishing.

"I'll tell you when Hermione arrives." Harry glanced over at the door, having expected their friend sooner, Hermione having been given permission to sit with the trio at breakfast.

A few minutes later, Hermione came in and sat down. "Sorry I'm late. I was watching George doing his Arithmancy homework. It's really interesting."

"But how can you understand it? You've never taken it before," Justin pointed out. "And it's a third year subject."

"I was interested, and George took the time to show me how it worked," Hermione said as she defended her interest.

The Hufflepuff trio shared a restrained grin, which thankfully Hermione, who had bowed her head and gone red, missed. Ever since Halloween, Hermione had attached herself to George, and it was apparent, even to Harry and Justin, that Hermione had a massive crush on the older boy.

Justin grinned at Hermione when she finally looked up again. "He's your hero, isn't he?"

"No." Hermione glowered at Justin, her face turning even redder. "It's just nice that someone in Gryffindor will speak to me, let alone risk their life to save me." She suddenly realized that Harry had taken what she had said in the wrong way as his face fell. "Not that you didn't try, Harry."

"I was useless." Harry got up. "I'll see you all later."

The group was used to Harry suddenly disappearing whenever he felt threatened or uncomfortable, and Justin watched his friend hurry away. "Darn it, he was about to tell us about Luna's letter and hopefully the dog."

"Shall I go after him?" Susan offered, guilt eating at her for having made yet another misstep.

Justin shook his head. "Nah. He's still angry with himself that he didn't save Hermione before anyone got hurt."

"He did his best." Hermione defended her absent friend's efforts. "But that was a big troll, and it wasn't Harry's fault that he froze at first."

"I'd have fainted," Justin admitted. "But then again, I don't have the stigma of being the Boy Who Lived following me around."

"We can't just leave him alone if he's upset. Let's go find him."

Hermione was not going to let Harry mope over his failure to initially act. Getting up, the three children went in search of their friend, Hermione grabbing several slices of toast to eat as she went. She just hoped that they could persuade Harry that in spite of everyone's expectations of him, he was only a first year, and that there had been nothing that he could have done differently.

They found Harry in the bleachers watching the Hufflepuff team practicing for their next match against Gryffindor. Susan sat down by Harry. "Harry, you don't have to keep running away from us. We're your friends, even if I am a stupid one, and we'll always support you."

Harry immediately leapt to his friend's defense against herself. "You're not stupid, Susan."

"Yes, I am." Susan was only too well aware that, even though she never meant to do harm, she often spoke before thinking. "I should never have told you what the wizarding world thinks of the Lovegoods, nor should I have told Aunt Amy that you're writing to Lovegood. And even worse, I know I upset Hagrid when I was rude about his dog."

"You just didn't think. What I did was worse." Harry stared hard at the bench in front of him. "Malfoy was right when he said I was useless. I should've done more to help Hermione and George. Instead I just stood there, and they got hurt."

"Harry, you were really brave. Most people wouldn't have even bothered to try and help." Hermione sat down on the other side of Harry. "You saved both me and George."

"I wasn't brave. I had no idea what I was doing, and…," Harry protested, only to be interrupted mid-sentence.

Hermione folded her arms and glared at Harry. "Right, you've moped long enough, Harry Potter. You are a brave, loyal, and good friend, and at the end of the day, what matters most is that you saved us. The teachers would've been too late."

"But I still froze at first, Hermione," Harry said, guilt at what had happened to her and George still a main factor in his protests.

"And what did I do, Harry?" Hermione asked. She then went on before Harry could say anything. "I froze. Completely froze. And it's because I froze, not you, that George jumped in the way and got hurt. And you could've run off to get the teachers, but you didn't. You stayed and did what I couldn't. You took on the troll."

As Harry thought about what Hermione had said, he finally had to admit that although he had been frightened and running on adrenalin, he could have abandoned George and Hermione. A small smile crossed his face. "I suppose I did."

Sneakily watching Hufflepuff's practice session from under the bleachers, two boys had been listening to the conversation, but both remained silent as Harry finally acknowledged the truth. They continued to listen as the subjects of Luna Lovegood and a three headed dog were brought up as Harry told his friend that according to Luna, it turned out that the dog was known as a Cerberus. The two boys filed this information away, and only once Harry and his three friends had left, did the boys dare to say anything.

Neville was frowning. "I thought Potter was a real hero but he's just a fraud."

Ron had to be a little kinder, especially as George and Fred had kept quiet about Ron's involvement in the incident, saving him from a roasting from his parents, who had been called to the school when George was in the hospital wing. "Yeah but Potter still saved George's life."

Both boys had conveniently forgotten that it was their fault that George had had to risk his life in the first place, as Neville went on. "He got lucky. I'm sure we could've done it."

"Yeah, we could." Ron was not so certain but he would never admit it to Neville, and he hurriedly changed the subject to that of the Cerberus. "What do you suppose this dog is guarding?"

"I've no idea." Neville shook his head as he responded. "And why would it be guarding something here? Why not just put it in Gringotts?"

"I dunno," Ron replied. "Bill always says that Gringotts is practically impossible to break into."

Ron's words stirred something in Neville's mind. Everyone considered Neville stupid because he was not magically talented but that was far from the case, as he proved now. "Do you think it's guarding whatever supposedly wasn't taken from Gringotts in that break-in, you know, the one that happened just before school started?"

"Of course. Hogwarts is the next safest place in the world, and the Headmaster is here." Ron clapped Neville on the back. "So we've just got to find out what that dog thing is guarding, and we'll be able to prove to that know-it-all that she isn't the cleverest person in our year."

Neville's face became alight with pleasure. "And I can show everyone what it's like to be really brave. Not like Potter."

Happy with themselves and their plan, the two boys set off for the library.