Chapter Eight – Halloween

"Wingardium Leviosa," said Professor Flitwick from atop his pile of books behind his desk. "Or more commonly known as the levitation charm. It is the basis of all levitation related spells. From Locomotor which is used to cause a target object or objects to follow you, such as your school trunks or the trash you have to take out that is just to smelly to get close to…"

Some of the students chuckled, especially the muggleborns who were used to the responsibility their parents gave them of taking the trash out at night after dinner.

"… all the way to Levicorpus, which will cause the person the spell is cast at to be lifted up by their ankle. The wand movement is quite a simple one. A swish, followed by a quick and short, downwards flick, as such."

Professor Flitwick pulled out his wand and demonstrated the wand movements to the class.

"You see, the short flick at the end?" he asked and the class either nodded or said 'yes'.

"Good, now you all try," he said. "Swish and flick."

The students each picked up their wands from their desks and proceeded to mimic the wand movements they had just been showed a few times as Professor Flitwick looked around to make sure everyone was doing it right.

"Excellent," said Professor Flitwick. "Now that we have the wand movements down, let us try saying the spell. Wingardium Leviosa."

The voices of the students echoed as they all repeated the spell.

"Very good," he said. "Now, you all have the feathers I handed each of you when you came into class? Good. Then let us practice levitating our feathers. And as an added incentive, the first student to get their feather to reach the ceiling will earn twenty points for their house and be excused from tonight's homework assignment."

This got everyone excited. Well, almost everyone. Hermione was a little disappointed that one of the rewards was a break from homework, and she decided that if she won, she would still do the homework anyways, just to make sure that she fully understood the material.

Soon, the classroom was full of cries of "Wingardium Leviosa". It came to the surprise of very few when Hermione was the first to get her feather to float a few inches off of her table. In the two months since they had all started their first year at Hogwarts, it became well known that Hermione was not only smart, but also usually the first to get the spells they were learning to work. The second fastest was Harry, who soon had his feather floating a few inches above the desk as well, while everyone else continued to struggle.

"Um, Professor… My feather is on fire," Ernie Macmillan said, sounding slightly panicked as he tried to put the fire out by hitting it with his wand.

Harry's feather dropped back to his desk as his concentration was broken upon hearing Ernie's statement and wondered just home someone could make their feather burst into flames. It was just completely impossible to do with the wand movements, unless he messed it up. Still, it shouldn't have happened since the incantation for fire was nowhere close to sounding the same as the incantation to levitate an object. He knew this for a fact, as since he had moved in with the Tonks', he had seen either Andromeda or Ted light the stove or fireplace with the spell.

Just then, Neville started to grumble and said, "I can't do it."

"Yes you can," said Hermione, using her wand to set her feather back down. "The problem is that you aren't saying it right. You're saying the R in the wrong place. It's Wingardium, not Wingadrium."

"Oh," said Neville, blushing a bit with embarrassment. "Thanks."

Neville tried to cast the spell again, and caused his feather to sort of roll over.

"I did it?!" Neville exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course you did," said Harry. "You're awesome like that. You just need to believe in yourself a little more often, that's all."

Seeing that three of their housemates manage to cast the spell spurred on the rest of the Hufflepuffs in the class, and soon it was a slow moving race between them and the Ravenclaws as they struggled to keep their concentration on their feathers as they slowly floated their way up to the ceiling.

Professor Flitwick watched with a hint of joy on his face as so many of his first year students managed to cast the spell. It usually took two lessons before this many students were able to cast the spell as well as they were, as the levitation spell took a bit of concentration to first learn. And once it was, it could be cast as easily as one would breathe.

Just then, the charm Professor Flitwick had cast on the ceiling started to ring, letting him know that one of the students had accomplished his goal.

It was Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was smiling brightly as his friends congratulated him.

"Very good Mr. Fitch-Fletchley, very good indeed," said Professor Flitwick. "As promised, twenty points to Hufflepuff, and you are excused from tonight's reading assignment, which is pages forty two and forty three about the levitation charm."

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In one of the smallest courtrooms inside the Ministry of Magic, the Hogwarts Board of Governors was having their usual monthly meeting.

Of course, this annoyed some of the members as it was Halloween, and they had parties to attend.

"Okay, let's get down to business," said Christopher Greengrass. "I doubt any of us want to be here longer than is necessary. As the usual first order of business on the two month mark of the school year, how is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor doing?"

"Aside from being a stuttering fool?" asked Lucius Malfoy. "My son has sent home letters saying that the man is a joke. It takes him nearly ten minutes just to get a couple of complete sentences out."

"Quirrell may be a bit shaken up after some of the things he has seen," said John Abbot. "However, he was the most qualified of the few that actually applied from the job."

"What about Severus Snape?" asked Lucius. "He has applied for the position on multiple occasions and is more than qualified."

"We have been over this before," said Xi Chang. "The terms of his probation prevent him from attaining that position. Only Headmaster Dumbledore, who originally pardoned him for his actions as a follower of You-Know-Who and also hired him to teach potions, can change that. Until then, it doesn't matter if he is the last man on Earth to apply for the job, he cannot have it."

"And even if he could, I would protest against it," said John Abbot. "I have heard some disturbing things about his attitude towards students in some of the letters my daughter has sent home. Especially towards her housemate, Harry Potter."

"Do not believe the gospel of one of Mr. Potter's fans," said Lucius. "My son has also written home about him and how he flaunts his status as a celebrity around and his disregard for the rules. The boy even took a joyride on one of the school brooms when strictly forbidden from flying it."

"Yes, I have heard this as well," said Anthony Parkinson.

"Then you have not heard the entire story," a female voice suddenly spoke.

All twelve of the men on the Board of Governors turned to see Andromeda Tonks walk into the courtroom followed by Augusta Longbottom, Amelia Bones, Molly Weasley, Sally Abbot, and Jennifer Diggory.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Lucius. "This is a closed meeting."

"I apologize," said Andromeda. "However, this is an important matter."

"I agree," said John Abbot, who had known his wife and the other women would be interrupting the meeting today.

"You knew about this?" asked Anthony Parkinson.

"I did," said John Abbot, a smug look on his face. He knew very well that Anthony Parkinson believed that a witches place was in front of the cauldron, not 'meddling' in wizard affairs.

Some of the members of the Board of Governors started bickering back and forth, throwing a few subtle threats and accusations around. The women watched and wondered that if this is how a usual meeting went, it was a wonder anything was done for the school.

After nearly a minute, Amelia Bones had had enough, and pulled out her wand, shooting off a series of spark and getting the attention of everyone in the room.

"Thank you," she said. "Now, as to why we are here. The school brooms used by Hogwarts are out of date and the charms are malfunctioning, as demonstrated with what happened to young Mr. Longbottom."

"How do we know it was the brooms fault and not the ineptitude of the boy?" asked Lucius Malfoy. "One must ask this, as there are rumors circulating that he barely has any magical ability to the point that he could be mistaken for a squib."

"What did you just say about my grandson?" asked Augusta.

To this point in his life, there was only one person Lucius Malfoy had ever feared. Lord Voldemort. However, now seeing the look in the elderly witch's eyes, he was glad he had visited the loo before attending this meeting.

"I mean no disrespect," Lucius backpedaled. "Just merely repeating the obviously unfounded rumor I had overheard."

"Back to the matter at hand," said Martin Littlewood. "While we would love nothing more than to replace the brooms, it simply is not within the budget this year."

"Actually, that's where you are wrong," said Jennifer Diggory. "Sally acquired a copy of the yearly Hogwarts budget, and we have found that there is nearly one thousand galleons each year that is not being spent, though it is being removed from the account."

"That cannot be," said Christopher Greengrass. "Mr. Nott is the treasurer, and he has reported full spending of the budget each year. In fact, for the past six years, we have barely been able to pay the entire staff and are considering letting a few of them go from the extra curricular classes, such as divination. That is unless he has not been entirely truthful on the matter."

Everyone turned to look at Gregory Nott, who suddenly jumped out of his seat and pulled his wand.

"You stupid cunts, I'll see you dead for exposing me," spat Nott, who was beginning to cast the killing curse at random when he was blasted by a stunner out of thin air.

"And that," said Moody as he pulled off his invisibility cloak, "is how you get the upper hand on an unsuspecting target."

Next to him, Tonks pulled an invisibility cloak off of herself.

"Remember," he said. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Alastor, thank you for joining us," said Amelia.

"Not a problem," said Moody. "Sorry for not letting you ladies know that we had arrived, but I felt it best if you hadn't. That way, no one would give us away by looking around to see where we were hiding."

"Not a problem," said Amelia. "Now if you and…"

"Tonks, ma'am," Tonks said.

Amelia arched her eyebrow and looked at Andromeda.

"My daughter," Andromeda said. "She recently started her training."

"I see," said Amelia. "Well, Cadet Tonks, if you and Alastor would be so kind as to bound Mr. Nott and escort him upstairs to a holding cell, as I shall be up as soon as the matter of the brooms is dealt with."

"Wait, you're serious about the brooms?" asked Christopher Greengrass. "I thought that was just a ruse to expose Nott."

"If that was the case, then these fine ladies would not be here with me," said Amelia as Tonks cast a levitation charm on the bound Nott and floated him out of the courtroom, accidentally bumping the man's head against the door frame as she and Moody left.

"That cannot be decided now," said Lucius.

"And may I ask why not?" asked Andromeda.

"We do not know the full extent of the money that Mr. Nott has possibly embezzled. Until we do and set out to reacquire the lost funds, I cannot in good conscious spend any money."

"Unfortunately, he's right," said John Abbot. "However, you ladies can be assured that as soon as the matter is cleared up, Hogwarts will be receiving a shipment of brand new Clean Sweeps to replace the old ones. Also, until then, I suggest that the brooms currently at Hogwarts be retired from service."

"I second the motion," said Xi Chang.

"Then let us put it to a vote," said Christopher Greengrass. "All in favor?"

All of the men raised their hands, including Lucius, who knew it was futile to fight this battle. He had not survived the fall of the Dark Lord and come out smelling like roses and get to where he currently was in life by being a fool.

"The motion passes," said Christopher Greengrass. "We shall send an owl with the notification to the Headmaster at the end of this meeting, along with a promise of new brooms as soon as it is possible."

OoOoOoOoOoO

"I know I have said this before, but I seriously love magic," said Harry as he and his friends left the charms classroom. During the last few minutes of class, Professor Flitwick had charmed a few jack-o'-lanterns to sing Halloween themed songs like 'Trick Or Treat' and 'Grim Grinning Ghosts', which entertained the first years immensely.

"That was a very entertaining performance Professor Flitwick put on," said Hermione. "I could see how that would be very handy to know when raising a child."

"What do you mean?" asked Neville.

"Well, say that both parents are busy," said Hermione. "Such as one at work and the other needs to clean the house. An unsupervised child can get into a whole lot of trouble. Most parents, at least muggle ones, just sit their children down in front of the TV and let them be. Of course, that does nothing to stimulate the child's brain."

"Tell me about it," said Harry. "My relatives did that to my cousin. He just sat there, watching cartoons and stuffing his face with whatever sweets my aunt would give him after he threw a tantrum. Now… Well, lets just say that he looks like a baby whale."

Neville, Susan, and Hannah snickered and Hermione said, "Oh my."

"But that is what I'm getting at," said Hermione. "I'm sure with the right kind of charm, a parent could charm some puppets to put on a show that would be educational and entertaining at the same time. Even getting the child to be involved as well."

"Notebook?" Harry asked, referencing the notebook of ideas he and Hermione had started shortly after their first charms class, which was full of ideas of spells and charms they wanted to look into, or possibly even create.

"Of course," said Hermione, thinking of the possibilities of such a spell.

Just then, as they turned the corner, someone ran into Hermione, knocking her down onto the floor.

"Watch it, squirrel girl," Ron Weasley said as he looked down at her before continuing on his way.

As Neville helped Hermione up to her feet, Harry subtly pointed his wand at the retreating red head and quietly said, "Decido," causing the boy to trip and fall forward onto his face, resulting in most of the students around him to point and laugh while Harry smirked and tucked his wand away.

"You okay?" Neville asked.

"Fine," Hermione said. "Excuse me."

She then took off running, but not before both Harry and Neville could see the tears start to roll down her cheeks.

"That's not good," said Harry.

The four friends followed after Hermione just in time to see her run into the girl's loo.

"Great," said Harry. "We can't go in there."

"You can't," said Susan. "But we can."

"You two go ahead to the feast," said Hannah. "We'll make sure Hermione is fine and join you shortly. Save us seats."

The two girls headed into the girl's loo while Harry and Neville headed towards the Great Hall.

"I hope Hermione will be alright," said Harry.

"Me too," said Neville. "Though, I will admit that I don't understand why she's upset."

"Words can hurt Neville," said Harry, thinking back to some of the things the Dursley's had called him over the years. "Believe me."

Neville nodded his head in understanding, knowing the feeling just as well. All his life he had heard people make comments when they thought he wasn't around about how they thought he was a squib. And while his Gran never said it, he could see the questioning look in her eyes as he grew up, wondering if it was true until his Great Uncle Algie had a little too much mead one Christmas and tossed him out one of the upper floor windows. Had it not been for a bit of accidental magic causing Neville to bounce like a ball, he was sure he would have been seriously hurt, or even worse.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Susan leaned against the closed stall door where Hermione sat, crying, as Hannah slowly paced back and forth.

"Any time you want to talk, we're here," said Susan.

"It's nothing," Hermione said, trying to hide the fact that she was upset.

"Come on Hermione," said Hannah. "It's obvious that what that git said upset you."

"No it didn't, really," said Hermione, though neither of the other two girls were buying it.

"Then why did you run off crying?" asked Susan.

Hermione let out a sigh as she realized that neither girl was going to leave until she talked about what was bothering her. After wiping her eyes with a bit of toilet paper, she stood up and opened the stall door. Susan then guided the bushy haired witch over to a bench while Hannah leaned against one of the sinks across from them.

"Before I came here to Hogwarts, I didn't have any friends," Hermione said after a moment of silence she used to collect her thoughts. "All the other kids at school made fun of me. That is unless they wanted me to do their homework for them, because all they saw me as was a bushy-haired-buck-toothed-know-it-all… So, I delved deeper into my studies, which only made matters worse when everyone would go off playing during lunch and I would sit under a tree with a book thicker than my arm.

"So, when the Sorting Hat was put on my head… The hat knew that my deepest desire was to have friends. Real friends. So I was put into Hufflepuff."

"I was wondering about that," said Hannah. "I mean… You're scary smart. Probably gonna end up top of our year. So why you weren't put into Ravenclaw surprised me. Not that I don't want you in our house. I do. You're awesome. And a good friend. Not to mention scary smart. And I'm going to be quiet now before I stick my foot further into my mouth."

Hermione couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"It's okay," she said. "I understand what you mean… Anyways, when that boy called me squirrel girl, it just brought back memories of what life was like for me before Hogwarts. Before I had friends."

"Awww," said both Susan and Hannah as they enveloped Hermione in a hug.

"You don't need to worry about that ever again," said Susan. "We'll always be your friend."

"Yeah," said Hannah.

Hermione smiled, and this time she started to cry tears of joy.

It was a few minutes later before the two girls helped Hermione make herself look more presentable, and they left the loo to make their way to the Halloween feast.

"I hope there are some candied apples left," said Hannah. "My mum said that the elves here make the best she has ever had."

Just then, as they started down the last set of stairs, they heard the sounds of panicked students, and then saw them all standing outside the Great Hall.

"I wonder what's going on?" asked Susan.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" someone shouted inside the Great Hall just seconds before there was a huge flash of light and the castle shook for a moment.

It took the three girls a few moments to push their way through the crowd with Susan in the lead, and when they reached the entrance to the Great Hall, they gasped in surprise.

The Great Hall was a disaster area. The large window behind the Head Table was shattered and there was a huge hole in the castle wall. The four, long house tables were broken and strewn about and food scattered everywhere. However, none of that was the most shocking thing they had seen, for in the middle of the decimated Great Hall and surrounded by teachers was an unconscious Harry Potter, who for some reason was missing a shoe.

"You ever get the feeling you just missed something huge?" asked Hannah.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Harry and Neville had barely been sitting down with the rest of the Hufflepuffs when it happened.

The large window behind the head table shattered as the body of a fully grown mountain troll came flying through, landing with a THUD and a grunt in front of everyone in the room.

Everyone sat in stunned silence, unable to believe what they were seeing. That is until a second mountain troll came climbing in through the broken window. It was then that the students began to panic as the two trolls began to fight each other in the Great Hall.

The professors did their best to rush the students out of the Great Hall, however there were a few injuries, though nothing too serious.

In the chaos and panic of trying to get clear of the brawling trolls, no one noticed as Professor Quirrell pulled out his wand and silently cast a sticking charm to one of Harry's shoes, trapping the boy where he stood as everyone rushed past him to get away.

Harry struggled to free his stuck foot, but it was to no avail. Finally, the idea dawned on him to pull his foot out of the shoe, and so he quickly crouched down and undid the laces of his trainers and pulled his foot free. Harry was smiling as he stood up and was about to run, when the smile faded from his face as he watched one of the trolls snap the neck of the other troll.

It was at this point that Harry finally got a good look at the giant troll before him, and it reminded him in a way of his Uncle Vernon, especially with the throbbing vein in its forehead.

Harry was trapped by fear as his imagination ran away from him. In his mind, the face of the troll morphed into that of his uncle.

"Well, well, well," said the Vernon troll. "If it isn't the freak. You know that this is all your fault, don't you boy? Everything is your fault. None of this would have happened if you weren't here instead of locked away in your cupboard where you belong. You're coming back home with me. I'll finally stomp that freakish magic out of you, even if it kills you."

"No," Harry whispered, barely even hearing it himself.

"What was that boy?" asked the Vernon troll. "You dare talk back to me? Just for that, I'll beat you right good before I lock you back up with no meals for a month."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harry shouted, and just as the troll turned back to a normal looking troll, he pulled his wand out in some unknown instinct and pointed it at the large creature before him, which gave the young wizard a dumb look.

A burst of bright blue light exploded out of the tip of Harry's wand, blasting the troll off of its feet and through the wall behind it before he suddenly went limp and was unconscious on the floor.

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A/N: So… What did everyone think? When I first decided to write this story, the scene with Harry and the Vernon troll was one of the first ideas to pop into my head. It was supposed to be the big moment when Harry finally breaks himself away from the feelings of doubt that the Dursley's piled onto him over the years and allowing him to move on with his life. I also didn't want to do the same "Harry saves Hermione from the troll" bit that everyone has a variation of in their story.

Also, forgive me for the Board of Governors scene if you don't like it. I'm really not happy with it either, but it was the best that I could do.

Lastly, I would like to thank not only everyone that has left a review, but also to everyone that has subscribed and favorited both this story and me. I'd be writing this story no matter what, but it's your folks that make it worth it all that much more.