Halloween
The weeks flew by and before Harry realized it, it was already October. He had started with 'Intermediate Transfiguration' and was quickly coming to a very significant discovery. Transfiguration was a very important skill to have in dueling.
He had read the syllabus of the Defense Against the Dark Arts examinations, both O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s, and came to the conclusion that the subject was about protection against enemies. These could be various dark creatures as most assumed, but also fellow witches and wizards. To have the skill to be able to transfigure debris into distractions and dangerous animals was almost exhilarating to Harry. He reckoned that this is what made Headmaster Dumbledore such an able dueler and how he was able to hold his own against Voldemort.
So far, Harry was only able to transfigure smaller animals out of objects and in reverse, but the outlook on the coming material was improving his motivation to say the least. Conjuration, the skill to 'transfigure' things from thin air, was a skill he didn't require for his Animagus project, but as soon as Harry had completed that goal, he would look into the branch.
Harry was thinking that a lot of things were postponed to later on, after he completed his Animagus transformation that is. He had already taken on two additional subjects for his free time and couldn't afford to add more at the moment. He still wasn't making any progress in the first extra, time-consuming objective and thought back to when he read about it in 'Magical Theory'.
'Wizards and witches of today use a wand or different kind of focus to use their magic and cast spells. This provides for better aim and makes it easier to draw the magic from their magical core. In the past, witches and wizards were capable of amazing feats in wandless magic, mainly because a wand was such a rare paraphernalia. But now, only the most powerful and experienced can use even only minor wandless magic.'
'The casting of spells through the wand happens in a way that a wand focuses or channels the magic from your magical core into the spell. For young children, the core is still too unstable for this to happen, because of its rapidly growing nature, hence the accidental magic. At the age of eleven, the core automatically stabilizes enough for casting spells and at seventeen, when the child reaches the age of majority, the magical core expands and becomes fully stabilized, hence 'coming of age'.'
'Most witches and wizards of today don't feel the difference in the 'coming of age' period, though some do. The control of their magic improves thusly that the difference is negligible, due to the magical education and practice of spells. However, the more powerful a child is magically before he reaches the age of majority, the more powerful he will become after that. The stabilizing of the core gives more access to the magical reserves of every witch and wizard, though there are of course differences in quantity in each magical being.'
Harry immediately recognized that the text was probably written by someone who was incapable of wandless magic. "Adalbert Waffling," Harry mused silently. He continued to read the book for diversity, instead of keeping to his Transfiguration only and the volume listed several laws of magic. They were things that were probably unattainable by the author, worked out and declared 'impossible' in the fundamental laws of magic. Harry recognized several concepts in book that were already defied and decided to interpret the book with a grain of salt.
The book was written in an authoritative tone and screamed of control and influence, the same thing that is missing from Knockturn Alley. The feats that were declared impossible were described in Harry's eyes not like it just wasn't doable to violate the 'fundamental' laws of magic, but like it shouldn't be done. He remembered what his marauder uncle had said, "Almost every rule can be broken," and decided to try and apply it to these laws.
He had looked up the Summoning and Banishing Charm in 'The Book of Spells, grade 4' in the library and performed them both perfectly on a pillow within the hour. After that, he had spent almost an hour every night, sitting on the side of his bed, trying to summon a quill from the desk without a wand. So far, he hadn't made any progress but he was working through the book 'The Legend of Magic' which described the way ancient witches and wizards used to practice magic.
The book went in detail of how they lived, brewed potions with the ingredients they could find and mentioned some of the magic which was what Harry was interested in. So far, he had only recognized elementary control, summoning and banishing, levitating and shielding magic but was satisfied enough with reading to try it out. The magical theory book mentioned the partial stabilizing of his magical core and Harry was determined to use it fully. He realized that it might not be possible for him to do it, since he hadn't passed his 'coming of age' yet, but reasoned that he would then find out for himself if that was the case.
His other additional subject was Occlumency. He remembered one day during dinner when looking at Dumbledore that master Legilimencers were able to detect lies through the use of passive Legilimency. So Harry continued with his Occlumency book where he left off and came to the conclusion that he never should have stopped at forming his shields.
'When the shielding of the mind part is completed, the real effort and advantages of Occlumency come into play. When an experienced Legilimens recognizes a mind is shielded with an Occlumency ability superior to their Legilimency skill, they'll practice the use of periodic stealthy glances at the shields to find weaknesses or to develop similar shields to improve one's own.'
'The next step in Occlumency is to prevent this. It manages the ability to project false memories to the Legilimens, keeping your own mind locked up while the attacker thinks he has full access. To develop this skill, one must first make use of the advantages of Occlumency, besides shielding your mind that is.'
'The visualization of the mind usually contains a filing system of sorts in which you can store your memories. Whether a book with pages, a building with rooms or some kind of location with crooks and corners, there is always some sort of cataloging possible. The goal to realize here is to organize the mind with its memories, thoughts and feelings sorted by association. The order doesn't matter, since you'll subconsciously be able to navigate through it anyway, but the filing usually happens in something like recent; years ago; plans for the future; location; family and acquaintances.'
'The application of such a system will provide you with faster cognitive processes, which will allow you to read faster, think faster and generally be smarter in total. People who have mastered Occlumency are usually geniuses in their chosen branch of magic because of this advantage. However, mastering this ability of the art is a difficult and arduous process and can require several years. The filing must happen on its own schedule and can't be rushed, therefore the time period will differ among the practitioners.'
The book described how to start filing memories in your mind through meditation and even made it possible in your sleep for small periods of time. Harry realized he had a major advantage with his mind/library, being able to file thoughts, memories and feelings away in books, placed on various shelves, in different rooms inside his library. The process took a lot of time; it would usually start when he was lying on his bed and continued through the night until Kevin woke him up in the morning. Harry smiled as he thought of the boy who he had chosen to become friends with.
It wasn't long after two weeks of classes that people were making excuses to talk to Harry, trying to make friends with him. He would always politely answer the question they had asked, but never continued any kind of conversation. It seemed that Harry's prowess in classes, his History notes and his skill in Potions had reached the Hogwarts rumor mill and people were drawn to it. One day, Neville Longbottom joined their table when he, Blaise and Kevin were in the library finishing up their Charms essays.
"Yes? Is there something you need?" Harry asked curtly.
The Boy-Who-Lived looked menacingly towards Blaise and turned his attention back to Harry.
"Why do you sit with a Slytherin, Potter?" Neville spoke in an aggressive tone.
"She was invited, you aren't." Kevin said irritably. "It's none of your business." Harry inserted. "Now, What. Do. You. Want?" Kevin answered and spoke the last sentence slowly, as if speaking to a child.
"I heard you were raised in the Muggle world so I'll explain it to you. You shouldn't sit with Slytherins. You should only make friends with the right people and I can help you there." Neville continued, ignoring Kevin completely when he was talking and shooting more hostile looks towards Blaise.
"Not interested, please leave." Harry said but unfortunately, Neville did no such thing.
"Don't you know who I am? I'm Neville Longbottom, the Boy-Who-Lived! I survived the Killing Curse and defeated You-Know-Who! You should be grateful that I'll let you be my friend! You could do my homework and in return, I'll let you hang out with us Gryffindors instead of that boring Muggle sport and studying with bookish Ravenclaws and a Slytherin." Neville said, turned puce-coloured and only barely maintaining his composure.
He was referring to Harry's Saturday-morning soccer gathering when speaking of the 'boring Muggle sport'. The matches had grown to two full teams of eleven players and were becoming a hit among the student population. Players existed mainly of Muggle-borns, but several half-blood students showed interest and came to watch frequently. They even brought a few of their pureblood friends along sometimes. Harry thought Neville might feel a bit jealous of Harry's increasing popularity, for his magical prowess and soccer matches, and was taking away the novelty of his fame.
"No, thank you." Harry replied calmly to the offer of friendship, knowing it would push the pompous arse over the edge.
And so it did. Neville stood and took out his wand, losing it completely and started threatening Harry.
"You'd better watch your back, Potter. You'll soon wish you hadn't rejected my offer." And with that, he turned and stomped out of the library.
Harry found the situation extremely amusing when the Boy-Who-Lived did nothing but pointing with his wand after taking it out and even Kevin chuckled while shaking his head. Blaise however, was looking at Harry as if he'd lost his marbles.
"Why didn't you take his offer? I thought you would want to be his friend, even though I couldn't be yours anymore…." She said in a soft tone.
"Longbottom is an idiot, that's the only reason he'd want to be friends with me. And I've told you both already Blaise, I have my friends and I'm not about to abandon them." Harry said reassuringly to her and looked towards Kevin to see if the message had gotten through.
"I guess you're right, being friends with the Boy-Who-Lived and sharing his fame could be beneficial in some ways, but I choose my friends meticulously. Longbottom's probably just not very pleased that I've taken away his glory of joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team." Harry scowled here at the favoritism shown towards the Boy-Who-Lived.
At the first Gryffindor-Slytherin flying lesson of the year, Neville got awarded the seeker-spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Blaise had told them what had happened after the lesson and expected Neville to be punished for flying when explicitly told not to.
Malfoy had nicked Neville's Remembrall and was taunting Neville with it during the lesson. When Madam Hooch was bringing a student who had injured herself towards the Hospital wing, the blonde pureblood flew away, even though warned not to, and threw it high into the air. Longbottom flew after it recklessly, even having trouble staying on his broom according to Blaise, and barely caught it even though the throw was with a redundant arch.
To top it all off, a broomstick arrived in the middle of the Great Hall during breakfast the next morning and landed in front of the Boy-Who-Lived. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling merrily when he rose up.
"Ah yes, let me make an announcement. Gryffindor's Quidditch team captain Oliver Wood has been unable to select a new seeker in his tryouts. However during yesterday morning's flying lesson, Mr. Longbottom showed an extraordinary amount of skill on a broom and as such, has been selected as the new seeker for Gryffindor. Due to their inability to select a seeker during tryouts, I've decided to make an exception to the rule and allowed Mr. Longbottom the possession of a broom. I wish you good luck on the second of November, Mr. Longbottom." Dumbledore said and finished to a tremendous applause coming from the Gryffindor table while Harry, all the Slytherins and even some other students were scowling at the preferential treatment.
The day after that, Harry's soccer match of eight versus eight students was a tremendous success and the topic of conversation for the rest of the week. Kevin, of all people, even went a step further and stood on the bench during lunch in the Great Hall after the match to make an announcement.
"All students who are interested in joining or watching the soccer match can come to the clearing next to the lake on Saturday around ten in the morning." He said loudly.
Everyone who was interested in the match started whispering that they would go and those who didn't know what soccer was, were questioning them about it. Hogwarts' rumor mill had almost completely forgotten about the Boy-Who-Lived joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team after that.
Two days after denying the Boy-Who-Lived's offer to be friends, Harry stumbled upon an attempt at retaliation. It was during breakfast in the Great Hall as Harry loaded up his plate with bacon and eggs and filled his cup with pumpkin juice. Just as he picked up the silver goblet to take a sip, his ankh heated up. He was confused for a moment, before realizing exactly what the situation was.
Harry looked towards the Gryffindor table and saw Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley intently looking towards the Ravenclaw table at him. Harry quickly picked up Kevin's goblet next to him and felt his ankh heat up again.
He quietly whispered to Kevin, "Don't drink from your goblet, it's tainted with something."
Kevin looked towards Harry, saw his serious face and followed his gaze to the Gryffindor table. As soon as he made eye contact with the culprits, he lowered his gaze and spoke in return. "The twin brothers of the redhead are in on it as well. What do you want to do?"
"I'm still thinking, any ideas?" Harry asked.
"How's your aim with that switching spell from Transfiguration?" Kevin inquired quietly.
Harry smiled; he could count on Kevin to think of something like that. The Switching Spell switched two objects with each other obviously, but it worked regardless of obstacles in between the items when performed correctly. The spell was invented originally for lazy witches and wizards to switch their clothing attire. He looked towards the staff table and saw they were all in conversation with someone or busy with their breakfast, their attention wasn't on the hall in the least.
"It's good enough, but I'll need a diversion near the entrance doors." Harry whispered back.
"Done. Good luck….." Kevin stood up, walked towards the entrance and bumped intentionally into an older Slytherin student. As expected, the boy started to make a ruckus that Kevin should watch where he is going and the Gryffindors' attention was momentarily diverted.
Harry moved as lighting. He stood up while drawing his wand, tapping both his and Kevin's goblet twice before making a sweeping gesture towards the goblets of the Boy-Who-Lived and his sidekick. He softly whispered "Transfero Quendam Plura" while he performed the necessary sweep as if dragging their goblets towards the Gryffindor table, all the time visualizing the result. He saw a brief yellowish glow around the four goblets, verifying he did it successfully and quickly sat down to avoid notice, waiting patiently.
Kevin came back immediately after, looking cowed by the talking to from the large Slytherin and sat back down in his seat.
"Everything okay with the Slytherin?" Harry inquired while looking over his shoulder towards the house table where he had sat down.
"Yeah, he's alright. I whispered it would put the Gryffindors in their place to him when I picked up his books." Kevin replied.
They picked up their goblets, deliberately made eye contact with the culprits and toasted in the air. Longbottom and Weasley did the same in return with grins on their faces and all four drank at the same time. Five seconds later, two turkeys were cuckolding at the Gryffindor table and the entire Great Hall burst into a roaring laughter, staff and Gryffindors included. Harry looked towards the stunned Weasley twins and made the naughty disapproving gesture with a single shaking finger while shaking his head slowly with a fake, disapproving look on his face.
The Weasley twins seemed to take on confused stares before understanding reached them and their looks changed to challenging instead. Harry, recognizing the expression immediately because of his experience with a marauder uncle, groaned out loud. The twins were the resident pranksters of Hogwarts and had developed quite the reputation amongst its population, both staff and students.
"What's wrong?" Kevin asked immediately.
"The twins are taking this as a challenge, so we're going to have to be careful for a while. Don't leave your things out in the open, take a different route to class and our dorm everyday and don't sit in regular spots in the library, classrooms or the Great Hall. Eat your meals with me around, or get them yourself at the kitchens. I'm not sure if you're involved in their eyes, but follow those guidelines and you'll probably be fine." Harry explained.
"You know where the kitchens are!" Kevin shouted out loudly.
Every head at the Ravenclaw table and even some and the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables turned towards Harry. It wasn't exactly a secret where the kitchens were, but for a first year to know the location was unheard of. Harry just buried his head in his hands and thought to himself, 'I don't have time for a prank war. I'd better owl Remus, he'll have some ideas.'
He picked up his bag and left for class, leaving almost two full tables worth of whispering behind.
The following prank war was brutal. So far, the twins had managed to get Kevin a few times in the beginning until he started to follow Harry's advice. Harry was only bombed once by Peeves the Poltergeist with Dungbombs, supplied by the Weasleys.
Just as the twins moved from behind a statue in an alcove up ahead and started to make fun of his smell, Harry removed his wand and whispered a soft "Refovio" with a circle above his head. He felt a blanket of magic cover the surface of his body from head to toe, before the sensation stopped.
The Refovio Charm was a spell that removed all smells from the body and was invented especially for this purpose. His uncle had told him about it and declared it 'a good one for a prankster to know'. Harry raised his arm and sniffed his armpit comically, but there was no smell at all. He raised his eyebrow towards the twins and spoke up.
"Did you say something?"
It was amusing to see the struggle on their faces. On the one hand, they were disappointed that their prank had failed once again, just as so many other potions, jinxes and hexes applied to places and items that Harry encountered during the day. On the other, they might possibly worship him for being able to circumvent every single prank they could think of.
The student population had quickly become aware of the war between the infamous resident pranksters and their mysterious opponent, but no one could discover who their foe was. Harry made his preparations in an abandoned classroom and sometimes even got the help of the elves. The little creatures were delighted to have so much to clean up after a prank had taken place, hence were all too willing to help. At first, the war was a contest to see who could come up with the best prank, which resulted in the students and staff getting pranked enormously:
The robes of Slytherin students were turned red and gold during dinner one evening which was dispelled quickly after. In return, the Weasley twins were seen sporting silver and green robes that they couldn't change back and lasted that way for three days, thanks to a Latin addition to the Coloring Charm ("Muto Coloro Viridis/Argentum Perpetuus Triduanus").
Professor Flitwick's shoes had gotten charmed to squeak as he walked, much to the amusement of the professor himself who intentionally let them stay that way. Professor Snape's shoes were also charmed but to squish as he walked as if they were filled with water, matching the billowing of his robes. The next morning, Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration classroom was filled with kitty litter up to their knees, much to her dismay. The prank was a suggestion from Remus, who supplied the cat litter by Hedwig with Featherweight and Shrinking Charms. However after that one, Harry was at the top of McGonagall's suspect list, since it was a repeat of the Marauders.
The entire Ravenclaw table, with the exception of Harry, was one day drugged and unable to say anything for a whole day, due to a Muffling Draught. The next day, Harry enlisted the help of the kitchen elves to imitate the prank and drugged the twins with a Babbling Beverage and a mild Truth Serum. They were spilling their guts about every prank they had played for the past weeks all during lunch and got over a month worth of detention.
Things passed quietly during the next month, mainly since the Weasley twins were in detention every night of the week and were busy with classes and Quidditch during the day. Harry found the break in the prank war a convenient one and used his time to advance even more in Transfiguration.
He was slowly advancing in Inanimate-to-Animate Transfiguration and was working up gradually in size of the intended result. By now, he was able to transfigure books into small owls, pillows into puppies and a rope into a snake. Harry knew that this branch of Transfiguration was a vital part of Self-Transfiguration but he still had a long way to go before he could even attempt something at that level.
After Inanimate-to-Animate Transfiguration came Cross-Species Transfiguration, before going to Human Transfiguration and finally the goal of Self-Transfiguration. Harry reckoned that he would have to be able to manage minor Cross-Species Transfiguration by Christmas if he was to have any time for the Animagus Transformation at the end of the school year.
On Halloween, a Thursday, the entire castle was restless for tonight's feast and celebrations, with the exception of Harry. Halloween night had become a double up, wizarding festival day and the celebration of the Boy-Who-Lived's defeat of Voldemort. Ever since Remus told him of the event that indirectly led to his father's demise and his mother's fate, Harry never really felt like celebrating on this day. All day long, Neville Longbottom was lavishing up the attention and it was all Harry could do not to strangle him.
This day also commemorated the death of his parents, but it obviously didn't affect him. In some weird sense of logic, Harry could understand that the loss would affect Neville less than himself, since he still had his mother lying nearly lifeless in a bed and not completely gone. But it was still wrong in Harry's eyes on so many levels for him to celebrate on this day.
His dorm mates were dressing up for the feast and celebrations but Harry had already decided to skip the event. He would probably spend the night in the library, which was perfect since it would be completely empty. Even the evil librarian, Madam Pince, who was ever vigilant of the Restricted Section, would be down celebrating in the Great Hall. Unfortunately, Harry still wasn't competent enough to get around the protective enchantments on the books but that didn't mean he couldn't scan the titles from a distance.
Harry left the library at eleven o'clock in the evening, with a list of titles to search for in Knockturn Alley during Christmas break, to wander around the castle for a bit. The curfew was set for midnight tonight so the celebrations in the Great Hall were probably still going on strong. He passed the time walking around, waiting for his dorm mates to return from the feast, since otherwise he'd be woken up again anyway.
When Harry was walking through the hallway on the fourth floor, he came upon a huge creature from behind, dragging a club over the ground after it. He recognized it as a Troll from 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' and he couldn't figure out how it had gotten here. Harry's first thought to that issue was 'If this is another joke from the Weasley twins, I'll kill them' but it soon changed to dread. He had to warn the staff in the Great Hall but couldn't let the Troll walk around the castle unsupervised.
His answer came to him when the Troll entered a bathroom and he was able to seal the door behind it with muttering "Colloportus" while tracing the outlines of the door in the air with his wand. He wasn't stupid enough to think a standard door lock could standup to a twelve-foot-tall Mountain Troll. However, as soon as he was halfway down the hallway to warn the professors, he heard a familiar shriek coming from the bathroom.
"Crap." Harry said out loud.
He hurried towards the bathroom, unlocked the door with an "Alohomora" and sprinted inside. He looked around and saw destruction everywhere.
The Troll was standing over Hermione Granger who was shrinking beneath one of the last remaining sinks, frozen in terror with a tearstained face. The bathroom was completely demolished, drenched with water everywhere and not a toilet remaining intact. The Troll had probably done this with his club, since he had raised it once again to hit the cowering Gryffindor.
Harry must have moved on instinct, for he reacted in a flash, flicked his wrist and drew his wand. A quick Blasting Charm with a shouted "Diruo" and a simple flick of his wand took care of the club, blasting it into pieces. He continued though, with a "Diffindo" and a slash aimed for the back of the Troll's neck. The Severing Charm wasn't powerful enough however, since all it caused was grunt from the Troll and a small cut with a few droplets of blood tickling down. It did get the Troll's attention though, since it turned around with a roar and came towards Harry.
"Fuck", he breathed quietly. "So far for that plan, genius. You should have remembered its skin was spell-resistant." He berated himself.
Harry looked around for ideas and noticed the water on the floor. He pointed his wand to the floor and whispered "Glacius" with a clockwise circle movement followed by a thrust of his wand. This was a more difficult spell since it worked with the conjuration of ice-cold air which would be able to freeze the water in moments. He shouldn't have doubted himself however, since the water turned to ice almost immediately and the Troll slipped with his next step. It fell backwards on the floor of the bathroom and was out cold because of it. The thump it made reverberated around the castle and Harry noticed that Hermione had fainted in the back.
Harry didn't stop there however, since he wouldn't let this victory be without spoils. He placed his custom wand back in its holster and flicked his other wrist, withdrawing his more powerful, Nundu wand. He stood on the Troll, aimed his wand at his heart at whispered "Percutio" with a thrust and a malevolent intent.
The Dark Arts had received its name because of their requirement of malevolent intent to work correctly; or at least it said so in 'The Dark Arts: An Exploration'. Harry had no problems using the Piercing Curse for this purpose and thus pierced the heart of the Troll with the powerful spell. He quickly slipped the wand back in its holster and turned it invisible since he expected the teachers to arrive any time now.
By the time Professors Snape, McGonagall and Quirrell entered the bathroom, Harry was already filling his sixth vial of Troll blood. They looked around the completely destroyed bathroom and noticed Hermione Granger lying unconscious in the back.
"What on earth has been going on here? Mr. Potter, why aren't you in your common room?" McGonagall asked, with cold fury in her voice.
Harry, unaffected by the tone, recounted what happened in an emotionless voice.
"I came upon a Troll in the hallway outside and locked it in this bathroom before going to inform you in the Great Hall. On the way, I heard someone screaming in here and quickly went to aid the person. When I entered through the doorway, Miss Granger was cowering beneath the last sink and the Troll was standing over her with its club raised in the air. I distracted and killed it, she fainted and now I'm gathering its blood as a potion ingredient. You're welcome to help yourself Professor Snape, there's more than enough for the both of us," Harry finished friendly towards the Potions Master, because he had been nothing but professional regarding Harry ever since his first Potions lesson.
Snape looked like he wanted to join Harry very much but a single look from a still furious McGonagall stopped him. Harry noticed the Potions professor seemed to linger on one leg as if he'd injured his other.
"Why didn't you wake up Miss Granger?" The Transfiguration professor asked curtly.
"What makes you think I know how to do the Rennervate Charm?" Harry asked with humor clearly audible in his voice.
All McGonagall did was glance at the dead Troll beneath Harry.
"Oh, right. Well I suppose it wouldn't be beneficial to her health to wake up with a dead Troll at her feet. It's probably a good idea to keep her out until she's lying comfortably in a bed in the Infirmary with a Dreamless Sleep Potion at the ready." Harry said as if he'd only just thought of it and he swore he saw a brief smile on Snape's face.
It did nothing to alleviate McGonagall's anger and irritation however, so she continued. "And why aren't you in your dormitory?"
"Wasn't the curfew extended to midnight because of the celebrations tonight?" Harry asked in return.
"Yes, but all students were instructed by Headmaster Dumbledore to follow the house prefects to their common room for safety. You obviously ignored that…" McGonagall stated.
"I was in the library for most of the night and obviously haven't heard any instructions whatsoever. But if you knew there was a Troll in the castle, wouldn't it have been safer to keep the students together in the Great Hall instead of wandering to their common room?" Harry replied, eager to have the professor see the foolishness of that action.
"While I'm sure that discussion would be amusing to say the least, shouldn't we clean this matter up? My students will want to know that the castle is safe once again." Professor Snape intervened.
"Wait! Shouldn't I get like an award from the school for my 'heroic' actions?" Harry asked merrily, having no delusions whatsoever that he would ever get such a thing for this.
"No," McGonagall started. "Students were instructed to go to their common rooms…."
"Which I never heard," Harry pointed out.
"Since you weren't in the Great Hall!" McGonagall screeched.
"I didn't know the Halloween feast and celebrations were mandatory." Harry inserted calmly.
"Enough! You will return to your common room immediately while we clean up this mess." Snape intervened once more.
"Fine," he said in a defeated tone.
And with that, Harry walked out of the bathroom, carrying six vials of Troll blood and leaving three stumped professors behind wondering just how a first-year had managed to overcome a full-grown Mountain Troll.
When he arrived at the Ravenclaw common room, he was instantly stormed with questions about his whereabouts. However Professor Flitwick, who was taking roll call of the Ravenclaw students, intervened and interrogated Harry himself while the rest was listening in.
"Mr. Potter, can you please explain where you have been?" The Charms professor began.
"Well, the short story is that I decided to skip tonight's feast and celebrations, so I spent most of the evening in the library. I met Hermione Granger on the fourth floor and we even came along Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell. The professors were kind enough to send me here and so here I am." Harry explained in a drawn out way without mentioning the Troll.
"I see. And what does the long version have in it?" Flitwick asked amused by the first-year prodigy in front of him.
"The Troll." Harry said with a smirk as all the eyes in the room widened.
"What do you mean 'the Troll'? What happened? Are you injured anywhere and where is the Troll now?" Flitwick asked in a squeaky tone of panic.
"Perhaps you should confer with your colleagues Professor. I assure you, both Miss Granger and I are perfectly unharmed. The Troll however, isn't."
With that he held up the six vials of red-brown Troll blood. Professor Flitwick recognized the contents of the vials and nodded despondently. He informed the rest of the students that the castle was safe once again and left Harry to his own devices. Harry quickly went upstairs, ignoring the Spanish Inquisition from Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner and Terry Boot and closed his curtains. He would inform Kevin in the morning in private if he wanted to know.
What was bothering Harry was how a Mountain Troll managed to get into the castle and to the fourth floor? They were mindless creatures, barely maintaining enough brain capacity to walk around with their clubs. It was obvious that someone had brought them inside, but to what purpose? The thought that the Weasley twins were the culprits seemed farfetched, not to mention beyond their capabilities and the fact that it just wasn't funny.
He decided to ask Kevin who informed them of the Troll in the morning and would interrogate that person to find out if they saw something suspicious. He had a vague feeling in the back of his mind that this might be connected to Dumbledore's announcement of the third floor corridor at the welcoming feast.