Chapter 6: Hallowe'en
The next day, it looked like Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville were tired. Something must've happened, because Hermione and Neville weren't speaking to Harry and Ron. Adriana looked at the two Gryffindor boys, "I'm assuming that you two did go to Malfoy's duel?"
"He didn't show," Ron said.
"That figures," Adriana said. She noticed how Jayden was giving her strange looks. She ignored him.
"But we found something interesting," Harry said.
"I'll bite," said Adriana, "What did you find?"
"Well, it turns out that there's a three-headed dog locked in the third-floor corridor," Ron said.
Adriana gaped at that, "really?" She looked at them, hoping it wasn't some sort of joke. That would make sense.
"Come on," Ron said. "Would we ever lie to you?"
"You don't even know me," Adriana countered.
"Yes, we do," said Ron. "You have an older brother named Ryan, Snape hates him and thinks he's foolish, Ryan wants to take you somewhere far away from your mother, your friends with those two Slytherin girls, and your mother is a knut-pincher and got mad when she found out you flew on Ryan's broomstick."
Adriana almost rolled her eyes. "I mean, personally."
"Oh," replied Ron. "Do your Slytherin friends know you personally?"
"A little," replied Adriana, "And they have names. Their names are Flora and Hestia."
"Oh," replied Ron. "Which one is which?"
Adriana sighed and said, "So, why is there a three-headed dog doing in Hogwarts?"
"Hermione says that it was standing on a trapdoor," Harry said.
"So it has to be guarding something," Adriana said. "Hogwarts is the safest place. It makes perfect sense. The question is; what is it guarding?"
"I have an idea on what it might be guarding," said Harry.
Adriana was surprised at that. "You do?"
He told Adriana and Ron about how a package that Hagrid got from a vault in Gringotts was probably moved to Hogwarts and that it looked to be about two inches long.
"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.
"Or both," said Harry.
"It could be something that my mother is doing," Adriana said.
"What?" asked Ron.
"She works as an Unspeakable," said Adriana.
"Oh, you can ask her, then," said Ron and Adriana snorted. "What?"
The owls poured in and started circling the room, searching for their owners.
"As you can see, my mother hasn't even sent me anything," said Adriana.
"Yeah, why is that?" asked Ron.
"My mother…" Adriana started and tried to come up with an excuse. "She's extremely busy." There, that settled it. "Like I said, she works as an Unspeakable."
Ron nodded as if it made sense. "Cool."
Harry was looking at her in a strange way and Adriana grew slightly uncomfortable at that. She slathered marmalade on her toast, when the owls swooped in. She couldn't help but look up to see a few owls carrying a long, thin package. For a moment, she felt jealous that Harry got a broomstick and she didn't. She couldn't be jealous over a friend. Could she actually consider the two boys friends? They seemed to think off her as friends since they bothered to catch her up on the three-headed dog. A letter had dropped on Harry's plate and he opened it. For a few seconds he looked gleeful and passed the note to Ron.
"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned sounding jealous. "I never even touched one!"
"I never touched one, too. Do you honestly think my mother would buy me something like that?" Adriana said and winced when she realized she had said too much.
At least the two boys were overjoyed to notice because the three left the hall together as quickly as possible. She wanted to see the Nimbus Two Thousand and thankfully they didn't find her presence to odd. Halfway across the entrance hall, they found the staircase barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Adriana sighed as Malfoy grabbed Harry's broomstick and felt it.
"That's a broomstick," said Malfoy spitefully and maybe even jealousy. "You'll be for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them."
"It's not any old broomstick," Ron said.
"Yeah, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand," Adriana said. "What was it that you have again?"
"A Comet Two Sixty," said Ron grinning at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."
"What would you know about it, Weasley? You couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."
"Not arguing, I hope, boys and girl?" Professor Flitwick squeaked appearing at Malfoy's elbow.
"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," stated Malfoy quickly.
"Rat," Adriana muttered.
"Yes, yes, that's right," said the professor, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstance, Potter. And what model is it?"
"He got a Nimbus Two Thousand and Malfoy should get the credit for Harry getting it," said Adriana.
As they headed upstairs, Malfoy yelled, "If you're not careful, Frost, you could end up in the same situation as your father!"
Adriana stopped next to Crabbe. What did Malfoy know about her father? "I heard worse, Malfoy!"
The three Gryffindors went upstairs to find a corridor.
"Ignore him," Harry said to Adriana. "I highly doubt he knows anything about your father."
"I bet he does," Adriana said worried. "He uses his dad to get information out of everyone."
Ron stated, "I heard that your dad killed two Muggles."
"He did," Adriana stated cringing a little at that. "I was five, so I don't why he did it." She could still hear her mother saying, "You caused your father to leave, you ungrateful little troll."
"So, I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the broomstick in Harry's hand.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" asked Harry.
"Yes, don't stop now. It's doing us so much good," said Ron.
They found an empty corridor and they pulled the wrapping off the broomstick. They looked at the Nimbus. It was made of mahogany. It looked sleek and shiny, and had a tail of neat, straight twigs. Nimbus Two Thousand was written in gold near the top of the handle.
"My god, it's beautiful," Adriana said. She wanted to reach out and grab the broomstick, but she could hear her mother's voice saying that she would break it. She didn't and settled for staring in awe at the broomstick.
"Well, I better go put it up for training later," Harry said grabbing the broomstick.
"Oh, good luck with training," Adriana said.
"Thanks," said Harry.
A month had passed since Adriana got to Hogwarts. She had settled in a routine of studying and doing homework with Hestia and Flora in the library. She did send updates to her mother, knowing that Beatrix wouldn't write back.
So, on the morning of Hallowe'en she woke up to the smell of pumpkin wafting through the corridors. It smelt delicious. Adriana felt a little gloomy because Hallowe'en was Ryan's favourite holiday, so in order to celebrate it, she put orange and black striped knee-high socks on to celebrate Ryan's holiday.
In Charms, Professor Flitwick announced that he thought that they were ready to make objects fly, a charm that Adriana had managed to master over the summer.
Professor Flitwick announced that he would have them get in pairs as he passed out feathers.
Adriana didn't care if she had to work with Neville, she was sure that she would make Professor Flitwick proud. She would've taken Seamus Finnigan or Ron or even Faye.
"Okay, Mr Hayes and Miss Frost you two are pairs," Professor Flitwick said.
"What?" deadpanned Adriana as Professor Flitwick continued pairing up the students.
Ron and Hermione got paired up, but Adriana couldn't tell who was angrier about it, since Hermione hadn't spoke to Harry or Ron since the broomstick arrived.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising," said Professor Flitwick. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Barffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Jayden had moved over to sit next to Adriana.
The two first-years proceeded to sit in silence, while the rest of the class tried doing the Levitation Charm. Adriana didn't want to speak to Jayden or even ask if he wanted to go first.
A few minutes had passed when Professor Flitwick walked up to them. "Problem Mr Hayes and Miss Frost?"
"We're not sure who goes first," Adriana lied.
"Oh, well, Mr Hayes goes first," Professor Flitwick said and continued to observe the class.
"Wingardium Leviosa," said Jayden, flicking and swishing his wand. He tried it a few more times.
"You're not doing the correct wrist motion," Adriana told him, trying not to sound agitated at how she was paired with him.
"You do it then, if you know so much about it," Jayden snapped at her.
"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled at Hermione.
Adriana glanced at Hermione and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather slowly lifted in the air.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. Adriana couldn't help but smile. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
The smile vanished and Adriana leaned forward, putting her face on the table, thinking, Well, that's embarrassing.
"What's the matter with you?" Jayden demanded.
"Shut up, Sunshine," Adriana said. She knew she was overreacting over the feather thing. She could just hear her mother saying, "grow up, Adriana." She rolled her eyes.
"Now is not the time for napping, Miss Frost," Professor Flitwick said.
"Sorry, Professor," Adriana said lifting her head, "just a headache."
"Your father and brother always said the same thing to get out of class. That is, when they bother to show up," Professor Flitwick said, smiling before walking away.
"Great, my dad's a murderer and a truant," Adriana muttered. Her brother was unwilling to learn, even in his favourite class and was dead, her mother hates her, and Adriana murdered her brother. They were the perfect square of dysfunction. She noticed Jayden was giving her a strange look, "What do you want, Sunshine?"
"To have the feather," Jayden said. Adriana grabbed it and passed it to him.
After class was over, Adriana walked with Harry and Ron. Ron seemed to be in a foul mood.
"It's no wonder no one can stand her!" Ron ranted to Adriana and Harry. "She's a nightmare, honestly."
Harry stumbled into Adriana as someone bumped into him as they hurried by.
Adriana noticed that it was Hermione, because she recognized that bushy hair anywhere.
"I think she heard you," Harry said.
"So?" replied Ron, but he looked a little uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
"I mean that's no reason to be rude to her," replied Adriana.
Hermione didn't turn up for the next class, so Adriana decided to go check on the bushy-haired know-it-all. She hurried down the hallway after class and ran into Jayden, nearly knocking him over.
"Watch where you're going, Sunshine," Adriana snapped at him.
"How about you watch it, Brat?" snapped Jayden.
"Don't call me Brat," Adriana snapped, remembering how Ryan used to call her that. She wasn't in the mood for trading barbs with him anyway.
She found the lavatory and walked in. She heard sniffling in one of the stalls and knocked on the door. "Hermione?"
"Go away!" ordered Hermione.
"Hermione, it's nothing to be upset over," Adriana said.
"Easy for you to say. You haven't been insulted," Hermione said.
"Believe me, I have," Adriana said. A lot more than you know, she added silently. Especially from my mother. "Just a few minutes again, Hayes called me a brat. And I bet my whole family's Gringotts vault that he said a lot worse behind my back."
Hermione was silent and then quietly said, "He has."
"I knew it," Adriana muttered. She rolled her eyes.
"But he hasn't called you a nightmare," Hermione said. "Why do you hang out with Harry and Ron?"
"Because…" Adriana started and trailed off. "Harry once invited me to have tea with Hagrid, because he thought I was all mopey. I can't exactly spend time with Flora and Hestia, since they're in Slytherin."
"How can you stand it?" Hermione asked.
Adriana was confused, "Stand what?"
"Stand being insulted," Hermione asked.
Adriana thought about it, "I have—had—have a brother. He would call me, 'Big Mouth,' 'Cry Baby,' 'Whiner', 'Brat', and all those things."
"That's terrible," Hermione said.
Not as terrible as what my mother calls me, Adriana thought. "It's a sibling thing, you know?"
"No," Hermione said. "I don't have any siblings."
"I'm sorry," said Adriana.
"For what?" asked Hermione.
"Not having that type of relationship in your life," replied Adriana.
"I'll be okay," said Hermione.
The bell rang.
"You better get to class," said Hermione.
"I'm going to be like my dad and brother and skip it," said Adriana.
"What's your brother like?" asked Hermione. "It sounds like you think highly of him."
"He…" Adriana started, feeling her breath catch. "He was that weird mix of protective and… 'only I get to insult you' type of thing. He said that he respects my privacy, yet he would read my journal. He would recite my poems at me and he would criticise them."
"That's rude," said Hermione.
Adriana shrugged, "I think that's what brothers do. He told me that our mother was ashamed of our dad getting sent to Azkaban, and that's why she had moved us out in the woods." She was still sure that her mother was more ashamed of Adriana than their dad getting sent to Azkaban.
"Why did your dad get sent to Azkaban?" Hermione asked.
"He…he killed two Muggles," Adriana said.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," Adriana said. "Mother and he had a fight, and he took off. Maybe he was just having a bad day and took it out on them, I don't know. In a way, I'm kind of ashamed of it."
"Don't be," Hermione said. Adriana nodded, even though Hermione can't see it. "You know, thanks for checking on me."
"No problem," Adriana said, sitting down on the floor. She put her back to the door and pulled her knees up. She hoped that if Ryan was alive and she was in Hermione's place, Ryan would've checked in on her. Or at least, send someone to check up on her.
She took her journal out of her bag and opened it. She turned to a page and took out her quill and inkwell. She wrote:
October 31, 1991
Hayes called me a brat today. I told him not to call me that because Ryan called me that. Chances are, Hayes will keep calling me that, because he knew that it got to me. Well, I better get used to the Brat Brigade he's probably going to throw at me.
— A.F
"Are you writing?" asked Hermione.
"I just finished," replied Adriana. She closed her journal and put it in her bag.
"What happened to your brother?" Hermione asked.
"He…died," replied Adriana, feeling tears come to her eyes. "I was eight and he had just turned thirteen because it was midnight when it happened."
Parvati Patil walked in and looked at Adriana, who quickly wiped her eyes. She couldn't cry for Ryan, after all, she had killed him. Parvati said, "I just wanted to see if the both of you were okay."
"Can you please leave us alone?" asked Adriana smiling to show that she was fine.
Parvati nodded and left the toilets.
"Who was that?" asked Hermione.
"Parvati," Adriana said.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your brother," Hermione said. "It must've been hard, losing him at eight."
"It's okay," Adriana said. She couldn't—didn't—want to tell Hermione about the whole story. It was even more shameful than her dad killing two Muggles.
Adriana stayed in the girls' toilets with Hermione up until dinner. Hermione stayed in the stall the entire time.
"You can go down to the Hallowe'en feast, Adriana," Hermione said. "I'll be okay."
Adriana didn't want to go, just in case Parvati told Lavender about how Adriana was found crying. She didn't want to see how smug Jayden would be with him calling her a brat drove her to tears. That would be embarrassing, even though she could say that it used to be Ryan's favourite holiday.
She decided not to go down to the feast. There was always next year. That was if the professors decided not to expel her after finding out she killed Ryan or if she wasn't good enough. So, she sat there and stared at the ground, trying to count the tiles. She kind of regretted not going down to the feast because she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
She was sure that she heard a door close on them.
"Hey, do you think we should at least go to the Hallowe'en feast? We might be able to make it," Adriana said. "We should at least eat something."
Hermione was silent and said, "All right." She left the stall and they went to the sinks. However a terrible smell hit Adriana and they turned to find the source.
There was a twelve foot tall, dull granite grey, and lumpy body troll standing there, staring at them. It was holding a huge, wooden club.
They screamed at the sight of the troll and backed up. Hermione grabbed Adriana's arm and backed into the stall that she had vacated. Hermione locked it and there was a ripping sound and they both hit the ground as the troll destroyed the tops of the stalls with it's club.
"Adriana! Hermione! Move!" shouted Harry.
They tried to move but the troll hit more stalls, getting them covered in debris. Hermione screamed and yelled for help.
Adriana looked to see Harry and Ron throwing chunks of wood at the troll.
"Hey, peanut brain!" shouted Ron, throwing a chunk of wood right into the troll's face.
The troll turned to look at them, which served a good enough distraction. Hermione crawled over to the sinks into the corner and Adriana crawled over to the boys. The troll looked at Adriana and Hermione, but then chose Hermione. He went to the sinks and smashed his club through a sink, narrowly missing Hermione, who tried to crawl forward.
"Help!" shouted Hermione at the boys.
Harry took out his wand and ran forward, as the troll swung the club upwards. He grabbed the club and was lifted in the air. He slid off and landed on the troll's neck. Right as he did so, his wand went up the troll's nose. The club crashed down, again narrowly missing Hermione. The troll made a confused grunting sound and started flailing its head.
Adriana got up from the ground, stood by Ron, and and picked up a chunk of wood. She threw it at the troll. She didn't want to be that eight-year-old girl who did nothing while Ryan took on that hag.
The troll turned and somehow managed to grab Harry as it shook its head as it tried to dislodge the wand. The troll held Harry upside down.
"Do something!" Harry shouted as the troll swung its club. However the troll lifted Harry up higher, so the club missed him.
Ron looked around the toilets and held up his hands, "Do what?"
"Anything!" Harry shouted and Adriana picked up some wood. The troll swung with its club and missed Harry again. Adriana wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to throw the chunk at the troll, but she didn't want to hit Harry. What should she do?
"Hurry up!" ordered Harry.
"Swish and flick!" Hermione shouted.
Ron took out his wand and swished and flicked it, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew out of the troll's hand, right as it swung it. The troll made a confused sound and Adriana looked at the floating club. It hovered there and then it fell right on the troll's head.
"Cool," said Ron.
The troll started swaying, and dropped Harry. Adriana ran over and grabbed him. She pulled him up and they backed up as the troll stumbled their way. Adriana tripped on some random debris and fell on her butt. The troll fell and landed right on Adriana's abdomen and right ankle. Her breath left her as her ribs and ankle broke. She gasped and struggled to breath.
Harry and Ron were by her side, moving the troll's head. Ron helped her to her feet, which was hard, as she struggled to get her breath back and tried to regain her balance. She had to hold onto Ron's shoulder as she tried to balance on one foot.
"Is it…dead?" asked Hermione sounding tentative.
"I don't think so," said Harry. "I think it's just been knocked out." He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It emerged covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.
Harry made a disgusted sound, "Troll bogies." He wiped his wand off on the troll's trousers.
There was sudden slamming and loud footsteps which made them look up. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had burst into the room, followed by Snape, and Quirrell came bringing up the rear. Quirrell looked at the troll, whimpered, and sat down on a toilet, clutching his heart.
Snape bent over the troll, while Professor McGonagall was looking at the two boys and Adriana. Professor McGonagall looked furious, because her lips were white.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" demanded Professor McGonagall, sound furious. She examined Adriana, "You're lucky that you weren't killed, Frost. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Adriana looked at the ground and started feeling sick. She had to lean on Ron.
"Get yourself to the hospital wing, Frost," Professor McGonagall said.
"She broke her ankle," Harry said.
"Very well," Professor McGonagall said. Professor Quirrell ended up taking Adriana to the hospital wing, even though Quirrell looked faint himself.
It was an interesting journey, with Adriana hobbling alongside Quirrell. She couldn't help noticing how in the flickering candles and the flashing lightning, Quirrell looked kind of sinister. Adriana had to shove that to the side because Quirrell was terrified of an unconscious troll and terrified of his students. Besides, she was sure that she looked sinister too, once someone got past the ill look on her face.
She had to stop to catch her breath. This guy was walking fast. "Um, Professor?"
Quirrell stopped, turned and looked at her. For a few seconds, it looked like the professor looked disgusted. She pushed that thought to the side because her mother always looked at her like that.
Quirrell walked over and picked her up bridal style. Adriana felt her eyes water, due to the smell of garlic and pain. Quirrell carried her down to the hospital wing, and Adriana couldn't be sure if he was intentionally jostling her ribs with every steps. It made Adriana feel a little better knowing that her messenger bag was hitting Quirrell in the knees.
By the time they reached the hospital wing, Adriana had tears rolling down her cheeks.
Quirrell set her on a bed and Madam Pomfrey came over immediately.
The two adults had a hushed conversation and then Quirrell left as Madam Pomfrey tended to Adriana.
"You know, your brother had his fair share of scrapes," Madam Pomfrey said. Adriana nodded not sure how to respond. "Now, which side did your ribs break?"
"Right," whispered Adriana.
Madam Pomfrey held her wand over the eleven-year-old and muttered some spells, which made Adriana's ribs feel warm.
"Which ankle?" asked Madam Pomfrey.
"Right," replied Adriana.
Madam Pomfrey went to Adriana's ankle and held the wand over Adriana's ankle, muttering some more spells, which made Adriana's foot feel warm.
Madam Pomfrey prodded the first year and muttered to herself. She looked at Adriana, "You're all healed, dear. I'll keep you in overnight. You had a troll fall on top of you, after all."
Adriana nodded and Madam Pomfrey handed the first-year a set of pajamas and closed the curtain around her for privacy. Adriana changed out of her clothes and into the pajamas. She pulled the curtains back and laid on the bed.
Madam Pomfrey returned holding a tray with some food. She set it down in front of Adriana. "Eat, I've been told that you haven't been to the Hallowe'en feast."
Adriana muttered her thanks and ate the food. She really wanted the day to end already. After that Madam Pomfrey took the tray, closed the curtains, and walked away.
Adriana laid back on the bed and wondered if any of her friends would show up tomorrow to speak with her. Somehow she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
A/N: Adriana wasn't supposed to end up in the hospital wing, but then I decided that the universe isn't done using Adriana as a punching bag. Or more specifically, I'm not done torturing the poor girl.
