AN: I re-edited this chapter because as some of you brought to my attention in your lovely reviews I let some small detail slip my mind in the original one which I now corrected. I hope you find the small changes satisfactory. :)
As the weeks wore on and the First Years settled in solid friendships began to form between Alex and Hermione, as well as Harry and Ron and surprisingly also between Alex, Hermione and Millicent whom they only ever saw in Potions and during their self-assigned study sessions in the library. Pansy and Amara were also friends of the two girls Alex and Hermione but didn't indulge much in all the studying and conspiring against Quirrel. Therefore it was mostly their small group of four who could be seen walking through the castle together. Ron had gotten over his jealousy and after letting Hermione help him out with his spells he noticed how well he was doing in class and that it was actually fun performing magic. He was nowhere near becoming a constant partner in their studying but he could be convinced to do his homework on time and to try out some spells outside of class.
It was the day of Halloween something rather drastic in regards to Professor Quirrel happened. The students were sitting in the Great Hall during dinner and enjoyed all the special food and the big floating pumpkins that were alight with candles, when suddenly the doors banged open and the Professor came sprinting inside. He nearly collapsed at the foot of the high table and gasped out: "Troll…T…troll in the dungeons!"
Then he fainted and chaos broke out all around them. Alex wasn't really worried about the troll; they weren't that intelligent and fast. She was more intrigued with the fact that the man who apparently defeated numerous mountain trolls on his travels was running away scared from one single one now. Something wasn't adding up and while all the students around her began shoving towards the exit she looked around in search for another Professor.
Professor Snape as well as Professor McGonagall were standing slightly aside all the chaos and were overlooking the hectic exit of all the students.
"Professor! Professor Snape!" Alex shouted over the heads of her fellow housemates and tried to garner the attention of the only Professor she thought would be able to help them in their quest.
Snape had heard her shout and mentioned her off to the side where only a few older students still remained. Alex struggled a bit to reach him but once she did she rushed everything out in one breath: "Quirrel is planning something Sir! Why would he run away from a troll? He defeated many of them before and there is something simply wrong about him, something evil. I don't know what it is yet but it is under his turban. Why else would he wear that horrid thing?"
Professor Snape looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she couldn't help but add: "You've got to believe me Sir! Please do something about it."
Before her Potions Professor could say something her Head of House joined them and worriedly stated: "I can't spot Professor Quirrel anywhere. Let's hope the students didn't trample him to death and that he managed to escape through a side door."
Snape shot her a quick look and then rushed out of a side door only teachers were allowed to use as fast as his billowing robes would let him. Professor McGonagall stared after him in wonderment and then seemed to register the fact that one of her youngest students was still standing here in the Hall while a troll was roaming around the castle.
She spied another girl that stood awkwardly near the doors of the Great Hall and called out to her: "Miss Bulstrode, would you please make sure Miss Blackstone is on her way to her common room?"
Surprised at the name Alex turned around and grinned briefly at Millicent before she made her way towards her and saw Professor McGonagall leave in order to search for the troll with the other teachers.
Millicent gave a shy grin in return and motioned for Alex to show her the way towards Gryffindor tower. Confused Alex raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"I heard some loud banging going up the stairs. I won't let you go up there alone when the troll obviously no longer is down in the dungeons."
"Thank you Millie, let's just hope we don't come across it anywhere. I have no idea how to defeat a troll."
Millicent nodded and quietly they began ascending the stairs. When they reached the second floor the stairs decided to play a trick on them and wouldn't let them simply keep on walking up so they had to cross two hallways in order to reach the second staircase. They were just passing the girls lavatory where Moaning Mirtle normally haunted every poor soul who decided to use the toilets there, when they heard a girlish shriek that sounded very much like Hermione. Alex had no idea why their friend would hide in this particular bathroom and also why she would do so in the first place but she knew that such a shriek meant she was in trouble. It didn't matter why at that moment.
Millicent also had frozen mid step and after a quick look they nodded and opened the bathroom door slowly in order to overview the situation before they barged inside. What presented them as a sight removed all cautious thoughts however. There was Hermione under one of the sinks, tears running down her cheeks and a terrified look in her eyes. The troll was smashing its club into the bathroom stalls and was slowly coming closer to their frozen friend.
It was surprisingly Millicent who moved first although she always insisted she didn't have that much of a Gryffindor in her. She shouted something at the troll and threw a simple stinging hex at it. The hex didn't have any effect on it but the loud noise attracted its attention and slowly the troll began turning around. It smelled terrible and looked quite ugly. All Alex wanted to do was run away in the opposite direction but she couldn't leave her friend here all alone and scared.
"Hermione, get up! We've got to get out as long as it's still confused." Alex screamed at her friend.
Hermione was so scared though that she couldn't move and only whimpered and shook her head. Millicent dove forward, under the club and towards Hermione while Alex remained standing in the door and had to find something to keep the trolls attention away from the scared girl. She picked up one of the rubble pieces strewn around the room and threw it at its head when the troll once again turned towards Hermione and Millicent.
A loud roar echoed off the walls and the club came swinging towards her head. Quicker than she would've thought herself capable of she dove to the side and avoided collision. Millicent had simply picked up Hermione and was carrying her towards the door so Alex moved further into the room to get the troll to turn slightly away from the other girls. Her plan worked but this time she wasn't fast enough to duck the club and felt it struck her ribs and throw her across the room. The second collision with the wall was even more painful than the first one and she couldn't help the groan that escaped her.
Hermione screamed when she saw Alex fly across the room and Millicent had a fear stricken face. Alex managed to get up again and began stumbling closer to her friends. She nearly reached them when the troll's club came swinging towards her again. This time Hermione remembered that she was indeed a witch and had magic at her disposal. The first spell rebounded off the thick skin of the creature but the second wasn't aimed at the troll itself but levitated the club he had in his hand. It took the creature a moment to notice that his hand was empty and then it simply looked up dumbly as his club came crashing down onto its own head.
Millicent grabbed Alex and pulled her out of the line of fall and then the three girls simply stood there gaping at the creature in horror and wonder. They now understood why not many wizards survived a meeting with a troll and why they weren't approaching magical creatures like trolls in Care of Magical Creatures already.
Before their breathing had a chance to really slow down the shrill voice of Professor McGonagall sounded from behind them. Obviously the teachers had heard the loud commotion they had made while fighting off the troll and Professor McGonagall had come running along with Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrel. The Defense Against Dark Arts teacher nearly fainted again at the sight of the unconscious troll inside the bathroom.
"What in heaven's name were you three thinking taking on a mountain troll on your own?" thundered the stern voice of Professor McGonagall and even their Headmaster send them a serious look.
"It's my entire fault Professor. I was hiding in one of the stalls because of something Ron said to me and I didn't want anyone else to see me cry. I thought the troll was still in the dungeons but then it entered the room and I was so scared I didn't know what to do. I was sitting beneath the sinks when Alex and Millicent found me and probably saved my life."
"And what were you two doing here when I sent you to go to your dorms without any further distractions?"
"Well I didn't want Alex to go upstairs alone when I heard the troll climb up the stairs some time before. We were ascending the stairs when they wouldn't let us go any further on this floor so we had to walk towards the second staircase. The lavatory is on the direct route there Professor and while we were passing it we heard Hermione scream and couldn't not do anything."
"Yeah, we wanted to get her out but she was so scared she couldn't move so Millie had to grab her and I distracted the troll. I wasn't fast enough and it hit me with its club. When it tried to strike me a second time Hermione levitated its club and knocked it out cold."
Professor McGonagall studied their expressions intensely and a bit worried in Alex' case but the headmaster had that familiar twinkle in his eyes that told them they wouldn't get into trouble for their actions.
"Now, I think they truly showed their colors don't you my dear?" Professor Dumbledore directed at the still irate Minerva McGonagall.
That seemed to calm the woman down some and she only muttered: "Your mother would have my head if I let anything happen to you in my House."
Professor Snape eyed the three girls with his typical sneer but Alex spotted the slight limp in his leg and the cold look in his eyes. It seemed Harry's feeling and her suspicions had been correct and now the Professor had found out what had been behind it all the time.
Surely he wouldn't tell Alex about what happened between him and Professor Quirrel but her curiosity skyrocketed with his injury and the still seemingly normal behavior of the other man.
Once Professor McGonagall had taken Alex down to the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey assigned her a nasty potion that healed her cracked ribs and another one which numbed the pain she had from the bruises on her back she and Hermione were sent back to their common room. Millicent had been sent to the dungeons by Snape prior and the two girls could only hope she didn't get into trouble with anyone from her house.
Once Alex and Hermione entered the Common Room, the two Gryffindor girls were immediately questioned by Harry where they'd been. It seemed that he hadn't noticed Ron making snide comments to Hermione about her being a bloody know-it-all. It had all been about him failing a small test in Charms the other day because he had been too lazy to study the night before with the others and now blamed Hermione for it because she had as always done exceptionally well.
Harry grumbled and promised to talk with Ron again about his behavior and Alex promised to be there the next time the boy said something so stupid. Then she would punch him so that it hurt and wouldn't make him forget again the next time his laziness got the better of him.
When the pupils had calmed down after the incident with the troll and everything went back to normal Alex and Harry wondered about what could've caused the injury on Professor Snape. They were sure that it hadn't been any spell because that would've easily been reversible by the Professor or the school nurse. Ron was convinced it had something to do with the third floor corridor they weren't allowed to enter and Hermione was sure that it had to be some magical creature whose injuries were immune to magic.
They had no idea how close to the truth they all were and it was by accident that they found out just what had caused the injury and what lay behind the closed hallway. Harry and Ron had succeeded in convincing the girls to look in the restricted section of the library for books on magical creatures who were immune to magic and whose injuries couldn't be healed by a simple spell.
It was after midnight when they snuck out of their dormitories and through the hallways down to the library. They had nearly reached it when they stumbled upon Peeves the poltergeist of all things who was in the middle of planning some mischief. When the ghost spotted them he squealed in glee and took a deep breath before shouting on top of his lungs: "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! THERE ARE STUDENTS OUT AFTER CURFEW! HERE ON THE CHARMS CORRIDOR."
The four friends froze in fear and when they heard the unmistakable sound of Filch's unregularly footsteps coming towards them they bolted in the opposite direction, not thinking about where they were going. Peeves continued to scream that there were students heading towards the stairs and Filch no doubt was close behind them.
Harry made them round a corner and take a shortcut they hadn't known about before but when they stumbled out behind a rug on the third floor there was only a short corridor with a door at the end of it in front of them. They sprinted towards it and then crashed into solid wood when it wouldn't open for them. Ron began to panic and rambled about how his mother surely would kill him if he got detention during his first year.
Hermione tried various unlocking spells until one finally worked and they stumbled through the door just seconds before the rug where they had come through moved again and Filch closely followed by his loyal cat Mrs. Norris and a cackling Peeves stumbled into the corridor.
They all sighed in relief when they heard Filch arguing with the poltergeist and then curse some more when he got no clear answer out of him before his footsteps retracted once more and they were alone again. At least they thought they were alone until a deep rumbling growl sounded from behind them and after freezing for a short moment they slowly turned around, coming face to face with a three headed giant dog with vibrant red eyes. The creature looked purely evil and surely wouldn't care for them still being First Years.
When the dog tensed his muscles and bent his legs a little Alex finally managed to snap her mind out of the fear induced haze and threw open the door again, pushing her friend through and then swiftly closing it before the dog could make his first move. She locked it with all the spells she knew which was more than had been cast upon the lock before. Without saying a word they ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower. If Filch would've still been lurking about he would've had no problem catching and punishing them with all the noise they made.
Luckily for them nothing of the like happened and they reached the Common Room without any further incidents and the only thing that was said before they separated was Ron's meek: "I guess now we know what caused Snape's injury."
When Alex scrambled into her bed again that night her mind was buzzing with dozens of questions. Why was there a three headed dog in the school? What was he doing there and why had Quirrel been after it? With her mind still going in circles she finally fell asleep. Unknowing to her Hermione lay awake much longer into the night and thought about the trap door that dog had been standing over. It had to be something important because otherwise Dumbledore wouldn't deem it necessary to take such drastic measures for protection. Surely Quirrel had been after what the dog had been guarding and had been intercepted by Snape who had gotten injured in his task of hindering Quirrel that day.