Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stones- with Newt
Disclaimer: NOT MINE
Chapter 10: Halloween
Draco Malfoy woke up next morning in incredibly good mood. His mood was instantly ruined when he saw his Gryffindor enemies at breakfast, looking tired but happy. He was expecting them to not show up at all or at the very least, look depressed. He grumbled and angrily ate his breakfast.
After last nights adventure, Harry filled in both Ron and Newt about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what it could possibly be.
"It could be something either very dangerous or very valuable." Ron said.
"It could be both." Harry pointed out.
Newt, however, seemed more interested in the three headed dog. "I wonder where they got him? Cerberus are incredibly rare. They are also very fun to study." Newt said.
Newt explained to Ron and Harry about the 3 headed dog. "Cerberus are often used to guard something that is incredibly valuable. They are really highly demanded as security animal. 3 heads makes it more dangerous and risky for thieves to steal. But cerberus are rare creatures. That's why not everyone can get a cerberus to guard their belongings. It must be something imaginably valuable."
Hermione Granger was still quite angry at the trio for their last night adventure. She refused to even sit near them. Harry wanted to remind Hermione about the fact that she was not just the victim but also the perpetrator, but since Hermione gave him a clue about the trapdoor, Harry decided not to.
Harry thought it was a pity because while he did find Hermione to be bit annoying, she did have a brilliant mind. She could have helped them find out about what the dog was guarding.
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The trio's discussion about what the dog was guarding went to a temporary stop after a week later, when their breakfast was interrupted bunch of owls carrying a long package.
Harry was amazed to found out that the long package was for him. Harry found a letter on top of the package and read it. It said DO NOT OPEN THIS AT THE TABLE. Inside contains your Nimbus 2000 broom. Meet Wood at Quidditch field at 7 for your first practice. Professor McGonagall
Harry desperately hid his wide grin and showed the note to Newt and Ron. "Nimbus 2000?! I've never even touched one!" Ron moaned enviously.
They left the hall quickly, to unwrap the broomstick privately. But halfway across the entrance hall they found the upstairs blocked by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy took the package from Harry and felt it.
"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face.
"Really? I thought it was my new shovel!" Harry said sarcastically.
Malfoy ignored what Harry said. "Potter, first years aren't allowed to own a broomstick, you will be in so much trouble for this."
Ron stepped forward. "Hate to break it to you, but Harry has McGonagall's permission. Also this isn't just any broomstick. It's Nimbus 2000, fastest one out there. What do you have, Comet 260?" Ron said with grin.
"Like you could even know what a good broom looks like. You probably had to save since your grandfather to even get a decent Cleansweep." Malfoy spat.
Luckily, before situation could go out of hands, Professor Flitwick appeared. "Not arguing, boys?" he asked.
"Potter has a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.
"Yes, I heard about that." said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Mr. Potter. What model is it?"
"A Nimbus 2000 sir" said Harry, trying his best not to laugh at Malfoy's face. "If it wasn't for Malfoy, I would never have got them. Thanks Malfoy."
Trio went upstairs and laughed at Malfoy's face. 'Did you, did you see his face?" Ron asked as he howled in laughter.
"Harry, you are brilliant." Newt said chuckling.
"What? I didn't lie. If he didn't stole Neville's Remembrall, I wouldn't have gotten on the team." Harry said innocently.
"So are you proud of yourselves for getting a reward for breaking a rule?" asked an angry voice from behind. Hermione Granger had come up and was looking trio plus the package with a disapproving glance.
"So, you decided to speak to us again?" Harry asked.
Hermione ignored the comment. "You shouldn't feel proud of yourself for getting reward for breaking a rule!" Hermione said angrily. "Rules are there for reason you know."
Newt pointed out "Yes, but Harry didn't break the rule for selfish reason. Hermione, he broke the rule for a good cause. Can't you think about that?" Newt asked. Hermione didn't respond but just walked away, still looking pretty angry.
"Someone has to explain to her rules aren't always correct. Am I right Ron?" Newt asked. "Ron?" Harry saw Ron staring at the way Hermione just walked off, saying nothing. Newt saw it as well and just smirked.
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Harry couldn't focus on his classes that day. All he could think about was rushing out to the Quidditch field and try his new broom.
Harry quickly ate his dinner rushed back to the dormitory, where he unwrapped the Nimbus 2000. Newt whistled, and all Ron could say was "Wow."
Even Harry, who only rode 1 broom (the old school broom) knew that it was one of a kind broom. It looked sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle. It had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written near the top.
Harry left the dormitory at 6:45. He'd never been inside the stadium before, and it looked brilliant. Hundreds of seats were in stands around the field and at both end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. It looked like a bubble blower suited for giants.
Harry took a deep breath. Then Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. It was a feeling he never felt before. He felt like winds were rushing through his vein and blood was pumping through all part of his body. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch.
"Hey, Potter, come over here!" Oliver Wood arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him. "Very nice," said Wood with a huge grin. "McGonagall was right. You really are a natural. Today, we will go over the rules, and then starting next week, you will come to practice."
Harry nodded as Wood started to explain the rules. "There are seven players on each side. 3 of them are called Chasers." Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a football. "This ball's called the Quaffle, and Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. You got it?" Wood asked.
Harry nodded. "Sort of like basketball, just on broom and with more hoops." Harry said.
"What's a basketball?" Wood asked curiously.
"Never mind." Harry said quickly.
"Now, there's another player called the Keeper. I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I stop the other team from scoring." Harry absorbed every single thing Wood said. "And then, there are the beaters. Their job is to prevent the bludgers from knocking off our teams players."
"Bludger?" Harry asked.
"Stand back." Wood warned. From the crate, he took of the restraints that was on 2 black balls. Then suddenly, they bolted out of the crate and started to zoom around. Wood, with some difficulty, managed to get them back on the crate. "See, bludgers can get nasty. Beaters hit the bludger away with their bat. You have 2 beaters in the team and we our beaters are the Weasley twins. I guess to be able to control bludgers, you have to be as crazy as bludgers." Wood explained.
Harry nodded, wondering which role he had on the Quidditch team. Wood reached over to the crate and took out a small golden ball with a silver wing. "And this, is when you come in." Wood said. "This is called the snitch. It is very hard to catch, so fast and hard to see. Your job is to catch this snitch before the other team those It is worth 150 points, so it is an almost guaranteed win." Wood finished.
"Today, we won't use the snitch for practice." Wood pulled out a bag of golf ball. Harry wondered how someone who knew what a golf ball was didn't know what basketball was. When Wood threw them in the sky, Harry had to catch them. Harry managed to catch every single one, and Wood looked like Christmas came early.
"This is the year Gryffindor reclaims the Quidditch cup!" Wood happily announced. "Slytherin had been hogging the cup since Charlie Weasley left. Still don't understand why he went chasing after dragons when he could have made a superb professional Quidditch player." Wood said, shaking his head.
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Harry couldn't believe that he had already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle was more of a home to him than Privet Drive ever was. His lessons, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics. He was alway busy with homeworks and Quidditch practice, so the three headed dog laid forgotten in some part of his head.
On Halloween morning in charms class, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly. Professor Flitwick paired everyone up. Harry worked with Seamus, while Newt worked with Neville. Newt was desperately avoiding Neville's wand that nearly caught his eyes.
"Now, remember, the wrist movement is swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too,Wizard Baruffio said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest." Professor Flitwick squeaked. Newt looked up with interest about charm that creates a buffalo.
It was very difficult. Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather remained on the desk. Seamus got impatient that he accidentally set the feather on fire, which Harry had to put it out.
Ron was working with Hermione on next table and they both looked extremely frustrated. "Wingardium leviosa!" Ron yelled as he waved his arm around.
"Stop it. You could hurt someone." Hermione snapped. "It's also Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
Ron who was getting more and more frustrated, snapped "Why don't you do it then?" and pushed the feather in front of Hermione.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves and flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Their feather rose off the desk and floated around their head. "Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger has done an excellent job!"
Ron left the charms class with very bad mood. "Did she have to criticize me out loud like that?" Ron grumbled. "She's a nightmare!"
Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione, who was in tears. "I think she heard you." Harry told Ron.
"So?" said Ron, but he looked extremely uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
"Ron that was bit harsh. You know she meant well." Harry said.
"I know, but, you know, but what she did to me was embarrassing!" Ron exclaimed.
Newt, who was listening to the conversation spoke up. "You know Ron, that's not a very nice way to treat a girl you have a crush on."
Harry looked up. What! Ron had crush on Hermione? Although, come to think of it, it did make sense how he stared at the way Hermione walked off.
Ron's face became bright red. "What.. What are you talking about!? I don't have crush on her!" Newt looked at Ron with raised eyebrows. "I… I don't! Alright?" Ron yelled and ran off.
"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked.
"He's angry at himself for 2 reasons. One, he thinks he made a fool of himself in front of Hermione by not being able to do the charm properly. Two, he unintentionally made his crush cry."
Harry asked bewildered."How do you know all this?" "I am observant. One trait I picked up when studying animals." Newt answered.
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Hermione was not seen by anyone for the rest of the afternoon. Harry overheard Parvati telling Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom all day. Ron looked very guilty but a that left his head, the moment they entered the Great Hall.
A thousand bats futtered from the walls and ceiling and there were all kinds of pumpkin decorations. The feast appeared on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
Harry was just about eat a potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON! Though you ought to know" and he fainted.
For few seconds, there was complete silence. Then people started to scream and everyone started to rush towards the door. Then, with his wand, Professor Dumbledore sent out a booming noise. Then he said "Everyone, please remain calm. Prefects, lead your house to their dormitory. Except Slytherins. Slytherins, please remain here." Professor Dumbledore said sternly.
Percy looked like Christmas came early, and started to call out to first years to follow his lead. First years began to follow Percy, but in the middle of the way, Harry stopped.
"What's wrong?" asked Newt.
"I just remembered, Hermione doesn't know about the troll. Maybe, we should go tell her about it."
Ron nodded. "You're right. But Percy better not catch us."
The trio quietly slipped out the line and scurried to the girl's bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they saw Snape. He crossing the corridor.
"What is he doing here?" Ron hissed. "Shouldn't he be with the other teachers in the dungeon?"
"Well, he clearly is off, doing something alone. Now come on. We have to find Hermione." Harry said.
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The trio was getting closer to the bathroom. Then Newt noticed his pocket was shaking. "What's wrong Pickett?" Newt asked.
Ron frowned. "It looks like as if someone shook him up." Then Harry heard something. A grunt.
"Shh… Both of you be quiet." Then, they suddenly smelt a horrible stench. The stench was something like a mixture of old bathroom and rotten egg. Then in the corridor, they a twelve feet tall, grey skinned, extremely ugly troll, carrying a large club. The troll was dragging the club, until it stopped at a doorway and went in. "We should lock it in there and call the teachers." Harry whispered.
They rushed to the door and quickly closed the door and locked it. They cheered and started to go find a teacher, until they heard a high pitched scream. The trio gasped in horror.
"This is a girl's bathroom!" Newt gasped.
"Oh no…" Ron paled.
"Hermione is in there!" Harry yelled.
They rushed back and quickly unlocked the door. They all rushed inside and saw Hermione trembling in fear. The troll was swinging its club, destroying the sinks and the bathroom doors.
"What do we do?" Ron asked desperately.
"I don't know, confuse it?" Harry yelled.
The troll stopped from going towards Hermione and turned back. When the troll saw the Trio, it slowly started to go towards them, raising its club. The trio spreaded out. Ron went on one side, Newt went on another, while Harry kept his ground.
"Over here!" Ron yelled. The troll looked at the direction Ron was in, so it changed direction and started to go near Ron. Then, Newt started to throw a piece of rubble at the troll, so troll changed its direction again.
Harry quickly rushed to Hermione and grabbed her hand. "Come one, let's go!" Harry shouted. But Hermione couldn't move. She saw the troll moving towards Newt and she froze with fear. Newt happened to be standing near the door, so they couldn't go out.
Then, Harry did the bravest and stupidest thing in his entire life. Harry jumped on the troll and got on its back, fastening his arms around its head. Troll started to thrash and Newt dodged the club and ran to Ron and Hermione. The troll could grab and kill Harry any second now.
Then, Ron stepped out and whipped out his wand. Then he yelled the first spell that came to his mind: Wingardium Leviosa. The club flew out of the troll's hand, rose up into the air and suddenly dropped, onto the troll's head. The troll fall flat on it's face.
Harry got on his feet, still shaking. "Is it dead?" Harry asked.
"More like knocked out." Newt said. Suddenly, door slammed opened and all four of them looked up. They realized that dealing with troll probably wasn't quiet.
They looked up and saw Professor McGonagall, who was ghostly pale, Snape, whose face was neutral, and Quirrell, who fainted at the sight of the troll. Snape went on to check on the troll, while McGonagall was staring at the four, anger evident in her eyes.
"What were you thinking?" She said coldly. "It's a miracle you are still alive! What are you doing here in the first place?" she demanded.
Then, Hermione piped up. "Please Professor, that would my fault. They were looking for me."
"What?" Professor exclaimed.
"I went looking for the troll because I read about it and thought I might be able to deal with it." Hermione said. The trio was stunned. Hermione Granger, the star student, lying to a teacher? For their defense?
"Miss Granger. I certainly thought better of you. For your foolishness, that would be 5 points from Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall said. Hermione looked down in shame. Then Professor McGonagall turned to the trio. "And as for you three. For you…. Bold act, 5 points will be awarded to each of you. And of course, Professor Dumbledore will be informed about this. Now I want all of you into your dorms, WITHOUT any side tracks." she said firmly.
"I can't believe she only gave us 15 point." Ron grumbled. "I was expecting at least 30."
"She only gave us 10, you didn't count one she took off. On the bright side, she didn't punish us." Harry said.
"This has been the craziest Halloween in my life." Newt muttered.
Hermione didn't say anything.
They entered the dormitory and saw that Halloween feast was still on. The trio sat on one corner and started to eat. When they felt like someone was watching them, they looked up and saw Hermione looking at them, nervously twirling her fingers. "Guys?" She quietly said. "T.. thank you. You saved my life." she whispered. And she hurried off to eat.
From that moment on, Hermione Granger joined their trio, making it a quartet and becoming their friend. Somethings in life are just bound to create a special bond within people and, saving someone's life from a monstrous troll is one of them.
A/N Some descriptions are from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stones by JK Rowling. What do you think? Please leave a review!