Cedric looked back at Lucy, then he turned his head back towards McGonagall. Then he turned back to Lucy. He was starting to turn back to McGonagall when she spoke.
"Diggory, I don't have time for you to have a mental breakdown. Please do that on your own time," she commanded.
"But Professor! I must be going insane! I thought you just said that Lucy was going to be the new reserve Seeker for Hufflepuff?" he shrieked (though he would never admit that it had been slightly high pitched).
"Well it's not like she could be the Gryffindor reserve seeker," McGonagall told him.
He looked back at Lucy but groaned when she shot him a brilliant smile.
"What did she do this time?" he asked the professor, already regretting asking.
At that Professor McGonagall shot the First Year a stern look who quickly hid her smile, "I was in my office grading papers when what should I see but Ms. Ogden performing a perfect Wronski Feint. By the way, she did this at the first flying lesson when Hooch was not present. If I hadn't been so impressed, Ms. Ogden, I would give you detention for the rest of the school year. Do you understand me?"
Lucy nodded quickly, "Yes, ma'am."
"Despite that, she showed amazing potential. Since you and I both know that Professor Sprout trusts my opinion on Quidditch," Cedric nodded, it was well known that Sprout supported them but was fairly hopeless about the ins and outs of the sport, "I convinced her to add Ms. Ogden to the Hufflepuff team as a reserve Seeker."
Cedric felt faint, "I guess that's good."
McGonagall nodded to him, "I expect you to put Ms. Ogden through the works. She needs to earn this. Now, I already regret what she will do to my team in a few years, but I would do anything to see the Slytherin's lose the cup. Snape is getting almost unbearable to face. Are we understood?"
This time Cedric and Lucy both nodded. As McGonagall walked away, Cedric turned and stared at the extra small First Year.
"You're going to be the death of me aren't you? I'm going to have a heart attack because of you!" he wailed dramatically. Lucy just smiled back at him.
"See you at practice! Wait, when is it?"
"Thursday at 6pm," he said emotionlessly as he watched her practically skip away.
"Great!"
Time passed quicker than Lucy had expected. Before she realized it, it was already time for the Halloween Feast.
She glanced at her fellow students. It was very gratifying to even be allowed to attend the feast. Snape had finally stopped giving her detentions for hugging him. Three weeks of detentions had done nothing to change her behavior, and she figured he was probably done with trying to stop her.
Snickering slightly at the memory of Snape arguing loudly with Professor McGonagall that there must be something he could do about the obnoxious first year, she asked Justin to pass her the mashed potatoes.
He handed them to her, but he along with the other First Years shot her wary looks as they leaned slightly away from her.
Lucy frowned at that. It seemed that her strange actions including (but not limited to) hugging the professor that all Hufflepuffs as a unit normally hate as well as occasionally going into a Seer trance had placed her on a similar level to what Luna Lovegood would be when she went to Hogwarts.
Shrugging, Lucy turned away from them. She had Blaise as a friend and saving the future was more important than being popular.
A loud voice cut through the room, "Seamus!"
Turning slightly, she saw a cloud of smoke rising from the Gryffindor table. Seamus looked rather apologetic as Harry jumped to his feet. It seemed that this time around, Seamus' exploding juice had gone all over Harry. The Boy-Who-Lived stormed off of the room in a huff.
"That boy's as bad as Malfoy," Alex shook his head.
Lucy nodded in agreement, but she couldn't help but wonder who that Harry was. He acted as spoiled as Draco, yet, she occasionally saw something his eyes that spoke of a different person. She hadn't even bothered to look for it until she caught him sneaking foods from the Great Hall out of the room every evening. It was always foods that would last for a while. She could remember doing that her first year too. Hoarding food because of times before when she knew she'd have to go without. She wondered how much of the new Harry was just a mask.
She continued to look over the Gryffindor table. Hermione wasn't there again and now Harry was gone. Would a troll still be let into the castle?
As though some god could hear her mental thought process, Quirrell suddenly banged open the doors of the Great Hall.
"T-t-troll in the Dungeon! I need help!" he yelled.
She noted that he didn't pass out this time around.
"Curious…" she whispered.
"Prefects, take the students back to their dorms! Teachers, with me. Quirrell lead us to the troll," Dumbledore ordered. The prefects quickly started herding the students back to their dorms.
As the Hufflepuffs filed out of the great Hall, Lucy noticed Ron walking with the rest of the Gryffindors. He didn't seem to remember Hermione at all. Lucy thought that Harry had been the one to remind Ron to go save her the first time around.
It looked like it was on Lucy to rescue the other first year girl.
First she'd need a distraction. What was the fastest way to create mass confusion?
Lucy tapped on Cedric's sleeve, "Cedric, aren't the Slytherin dorms in the dungeons? And we'd have to get pretty close to the dungeons ourselves."
Cedric paled. With a curse, he rushed up to the prefects. What followed was mass confusion as the entire group of Hufflepuffs came to a grinding halt. Students were running into each other. Prefects were sending off messages to teachers and Slytherin prefects. None of them could figure out who was the right person to contact.
In the midst of the confusion, Lucy slipped into a secret passage that happened to be in that hallway.
She followed along it until it was close to the girl's bathroom. Leaving the secret passage, she followed along the hallway. Her nose crinkled automatically as she got closer to the bathroom. The troll was definitely down here.
Suddenly, she turned a corner and came face-to-back with the troll. Ducking back into an alcove, she felt relieved that something had distracted the troll so it hadn't seen her.
Then she heard the crying student and realized exactly what had distracted it. With several large steps, it swung its club into the door of the girl's bathroom, ripping it off its hinged. With its big head ducked slightly, it walked into the girl's bathroom and Lucy heard a shriek.
Repeating Cedric's curse, Lucy ran into the bathroom. Hermione was cowering between two sinks as the troll leered over her.
Lucy reacted on instinct.
"Hey stupid!" she yelled as she shot an expelliarmus at the troll. It was a good thing she'd been practicing some common spells.
The troll turned as though in slow motion to the new addition. It blinked once at Lucy.
Then it opened its mouth and leaned in towards her. Then it roared loudly enough to enough to make the mirrors rattle on the walls.
Lucy waved her hand in front of her face, "Dang, your breath is horrible."
The troll roared again and Lucy stepped out of the way swiftly as it swung its club at her.
Lucy hadn't thought of much a game plan. She'd actually been hoping that maybe Hermione wouldn't even be in the bathroom. Now, she couldn't even do what she'd done the first time around because the troll was still holding onto the club. She stepped out of the way as the troll swung at her again, taking out a row of stalls.
Hermione was still cowering by the sinks and didn't look like she'd be much help.
Suddenly she remembered the knife that Carver had given her. She was still wearing it.
"Trolls, trolls. Do they have any weaknesses?" she muttered as she was forced to dive out of the way again.
"Their eyes and groin area!" Hermione yelled across the room sounding like she was just reciting from memory.
Lucy blinked at her in surprise, she had been talking to herself but that was useful.
Glancing at the troll, Lucy immediately crossed off the idea of trying for the eyes. There was no way that she would be able to get up there with any amount of precision with Lucy's own height. Plus, the troll might swat her as she tried to jump to them.
Plan B it was.
She slid the knife into her hand and stood facing the troll. When the troll put one foot forward and lifted the giant club above its head to slam it down and make Lucy Jelly, she dove between its legs. She slid on her back and lifted the knife high above her as she went. She could feel the knife slice through and then suddenly stop as it got lodged inside the troll. Lucy let go of the knife. The force of her dive and the smoothness of her robes made her slide until she hit her head violently on the bottom of a sink.
With stars of pain, Lucy managed to watch as the troll grabbed itself and sunk to the ground. Blood was pooling at its feet. Lucy winced in sympathy even though she was now a girl. She could only imagine the pain the troll must be in.
Lucy closed her eyes and breathed for a second.
Unfortunately, she was not destined to be allowed peace for her aching head.
"What happened?" Professor McGonagall asked in a rather high pitched voice when she looked into the room.
The other professors looked just as shocked as they looked around the room. A troll was lying in a pool of its own blood with one First Year student cowered in-between sinks and another First Year student laying against the base of another sink.
Lucy tried to think of something to say when Hermione stepped forward.
"Professors, its my fault. I asked Lucy to go to the bathroom with me, and we didn't know that there was a troll loose. It came into the bathroom, and Lucy protected us," she whispered.
Snape turned raised eyebrows on the First Year, "And how did you manage to take down a full grown troll?"
Lucy blinked as she tried to focus on the three Snapes in front of her, "Why are there three of you? Are you a triplet?"
Snape scowled but Hermione took another step forward, "Please sir, she hit her head really hard. I don't know if she's ok."
"Quite right, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore took control. "I would be quite surprised to find two First Years students unharmed after taking down a troll."
He glanced around the space, "Quirrell, I know your specialty is trolls. Why don't you stay and help me dispose of the troll. Snape, I seem to remember that Ms Lucy is particulary fond of you. I'm sure you won't mind escorting her to the Hospital Wing. Minerva, I'm sure you'll want to escort Ms. Granger. I'll send a patronus to the other teachers."
His eye twinkle was going full force as he glanced at Snape who turned with a furious scowl towards the semi-conscious First Year. Waving his wand, Lucy floated in the air beside the irate Potions Professor. Now that she knew the students were safe, Professor allowed a slight smile as she guided Hermione behind him.
"Snapey, sir, you're floating," Lucy said in astonishment.
"Actually you are the one floating. Be glad you are injured. If you ever call me that again, I will personally send you to the Hospital Wing."
"Whatever you say, Mr. Snapey, sir," Lucy tried to salute him, but her hand had issues finding her forehead.
"Honestly Severus, you can't threaten the poor Hufflepuff."
Before even opening her eyes, the sharp smell of soap and sanitization alerted Lucy to the fact she was in the Hospital Wing.
"Are you awake?" she heard a boy ask her.
She groaned as she opened her eyes to Blaise sitting nonchalantely beside her, "What is with the white walls and bright lights? Do they want to cause another injury by blinding me? Is it all a ruse to keep me here forever?"
Blaise snorted at her, "You face a full grown mountain troll, manage to knock yourself out after successfully deafeating it, and you're concerned by the lighting?"
Lucy shrugged wih a smile, "Yeah I guess. Why don't you look more concerned for me?
"You brought this on yourself. What were you even thinking facing the troll alone? What a Gryffindor thing to do. Honestly, I'm disappointed in yourself."
"She wasn't completely alone, I was there too!" an affronted voice sounded on Lucy's other side.
Raising her eyebrows slightly, Lucy was surprised to see a bushy haired Gryffindor on her other side.
Smirking slightly, Blaise said, "And what exactly did you do?"
Lucy watched in fascination as even Hermione's hair seemed to bristle with indignation, "I told her where the weak spots are on a troll!"
"Sounds more like a Ravenclaw than a Gryffindor. Spotting off information and then standing back and letting others take the risks," Blaise drawled.
Hermione blushed slightly and opened her mouth to retort.
Lucy took that opportunity to jump in, "Guys, my head kind of hurts."
Hermione looked abashed and Blaise glanced over her, finally showing some concern.
They both started talking to her in a softer voice, "Pomfrey says you gave yourself a concussion hitting the sink. You've been out all night."
"She wants to hold you for the day to make sure you're ok. Don't worry though, I'll grab your work for you."
Blaise rolled his eyes, but Lucy gave the girl a thankful smile.
Soon after that, they headed out. Later that day, Lucy got a surprise visit from Professor Quirrell.
"V-v-very i-i-impressive, taking down a full grown mountain troll alone. E-e-especially for a First Year," Quirrell looked as though he couldn't imagine doing anything scarier as a First Year.
"Well, it wasn't that impressive. I knocked myself out in the process," Lucy said honestly.
Quirrell laughed as though she was trying to be funny.
"S-s-still, you show great p-promise in Defense Against the D-d-dark Arts. If you ever want to stop by my office with any questions, you are welcome to," he told her.
Lucy looked at him suspiciously. The stuttering professor gave her a smile. Lucy squinted her eyes slightly trying to spot any hint of Voldemort.
Slowly, she nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."
He laughed again, "Y-you're quite unusual for the B-b-badger house."
Lucy shrugged, "I think being unwilling to abandon another student is one of the most important qualities of a Hufflepuff."
Professor Quirrell seemed to be considering that as he wished her quick healing and went on his way.
Lucy sent another suspicious look at the back of his turban for good measure.
"Note to self, find a way to look through enchantments like Dumbledore can. Then I'd know for sure if the turban was somehow enchanted to hide Voldemort," she muttered to herself.
The day in the Hospital Wing passed quickly, and Lucy was soon back into the midst of school again.
Life hadn't changed too much, except she now had another friend. Many students gave the three children weird looks when they sat together to study at the Library. After all, none of them could remember ever seeing a group with a Slytherin, a Hufflepuff, and a Gryffindor.
Without Lucy as the nucleus, the group never would have worked out. In some ways, it reminded her of the Golden Trio in her previous life. However, compared to the quiet aristocracy that Blaise had been bred into and trained since birth, Hermione seemed more like the loud one. On the other hand, they were both serious about their school work in a way that Lucy wasn't used to. Hermione felt that she had to prove herself and tried her best at everything. Blaise's mother expected him to be in the top of his class, so he did his best as well.
For some horrible reason, Lucy found herself being dragged to the library a lot. She complained about it, but appreciated it on some level. Without the other two's urging, she never would've had the motivation to actually begin her training.
Lucy was surprised to find that she was at the top of her class year in all her classes on the practical portions. Hermione, Blaise, and Draco along with two Ravenclaw students trumped her in theory, but the taste of being on top had given her a desire for more.
Away from the laziness of Ron and free of all mental blocks, she found herself starting to learn more and quicker.
She had made it a personal goal to be in the top five on the end of year exams.
Lucy made her way to the Gryffindor table to sit with Hermione for lunch. She still wasn't friends with the Hufflepuff First Years, so she normally sat with Blaise or Hermione if they were there at the same time. She hadn't convinced either of them to sit at the Hufflepuff table or all three sit together, so she normally switched on a rotating basis. Malfoy and Blaise gave her scandalized looks the entire time she was sitting at the Gryffindor table.
Neither of them had been there for breakfast, so she had sat alone. Yesterday, she'd had dinner with Blaise, so now it was Hermione's turn.
They'd both rolled their eyes when she'd tried to explain the system to her.
"Want to go down in pranking history?" one of the Weasley Twins asked her. She was in between one of them and Hermione.
"I don't particularly feel like being the object of ridicule at lunch today," she replied.
They looked slightly disappointed.
She turned towards Hermione who was reading a large book, "What are you even reading? I'm pretty sure it weighs more than you."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but the Twin looked at it speculatively, "I'm not sure it is by itself. Wait until you see the other books she has with it. Combined, they might be twice her weight."
Lucy squinted at it, "Really, her robes dwarf her. I doubt you realize how little she really weighs."
"More than you for sure," the one twin laughed at Lucy's affronted glare, while the other picked Hermione up.
"What are you doing? Put me at down!" she shrieked with her limbs flailing at suddenly being in the air.
The other twin grabbed the book and balanced it in his hands.
"Switch!" the first twin yelled and they each tossed their person or book at the other twin. As Hermione flew through the air, her foot caught two goblets and knocked them over.
"I think you're wrong wittle Firstie,"
"The book feels like,"
"It weighs more," they said together.
Lucy laughed as several other Gryffindors stood up. It seemed the pumpkin juice Hermione had knocked over had spilled onto several laps. Hermione frowned as she walked away to get cleaned up. Not only had juice gotten on her, she also had a bit of lunch on her robes where they had dragged through plates.
"Oi!" Ron yelled as he stood up. "Watch what your doing! Some people are trying to eat."
Harry frowned at Hermione walking away, "Why can't you be more careful?"
Lucy glared at him, "Look who's talking."
Harry turned his frown on her, "I wasn't even talking to you. Stay out of it."
"Come on, Harry. Let's just go clean up," Ron pulled his friend away.
"Yeah you better run," Lucy muttered as she stared after them.
The Twin next to her threw an arm over her shoulder, "Careful, people might start to think you're a Lion with words like that."
Lucy frowned at him, "And why didn't you defend Hermione? She's part of your house after all."
The Twins leaned closer to Lucy.
"Look, we don't want to be rude," one started.
The other finished, "But Granger can be a bit annoying."
"She's such a goody-too-shoes."
"She's just going to tattle when we try to play a prank."
"I'll be surprised if she doesn't tell McGonagall for what we did here at lunch." They finished with a desicive nod.
Lucy frowned before she was struck with brilliance. She remembered how Hermione had changed by the end of the way. She'd appreciated the Twins and their ability to cheer people up in the middle of a horrible situation.
"Why don't you work on changing her then?" she asked them.
"What?" they stared at Lucy like she'd grown a second head.
Lucy rolled her eyes, "No listen. If she continues the way she is, she's only gonna get worse. You know how she is with classes and teachers, she's sure to be a Prefect one day. Then she'll have the power to get you in trouble. You need to corrupt her before she has that power."
The Twins shared a speculative glance, "Continue, wittle Firstie."
"Convince her that she enjoys jokes. Honestly, everyone likes a bit of laughter. If you get her on board, then she could help you to get away with stuff. Plus, she's completely brilliant already. She would only be an assest," Lucy explained.
One of them snorted, "There's no way that Granger would ever go for pranking."
Lucy nodded, "She definitely wouldn't go for humiliating someone or making them feel bad. But maybe if you did something that was funny without hurting anyone? Or maybe even if you went after some of the bullies? You'd probably have to talk to her and figure out what would work. Everyone like a different kind of joke. If you could get Hermione to like jokes, you'd probably be the best pranksters in the world. Its practice for getting the largest crowds with your jokes."
The Twins shared a look again, "We will consider your proposition."
They left the Great Hall whispering together. Lucy smiled to herself.
She grabbed a piece of toast off of a nearby plate and a piece of bacon off another as she stood up from the Gryffindor table.
"Hey give that back!"
She ignored the random First Year as she headed toward the Room of Requirement.
She had a two hour break before her next class that afternoon. She'd been spending all of her spare time that she wasn't at Quidditch practice or with her two friends training in the Room of Requirement. This time around, she actually worked on all the spells in her textbooks until she'd mastered them; instead of only focusing on the ones that seemed cool or more powerful.
It was amazing to realize how much more she could do and how much magic built on itself. It was becoming a little easier each day to do new spells. Plus they made more sense. She wondered why Hogwarts didn't have a class just on magical theory and why magic worked.
"I'll look that up next," she told herself.
Two days later, it was time for her first Quidditch match on the Hufflepuff team.