Malfoy appeared surprised when he saw Alexis and Ron at breakfast next morning. It was obvious that he'd expected them to have gotten in trouble. Hermione had forgiven Alexis, who had apologized many times for not listening to her. However, Hermione was rather curt with Ron and Eric, who showed no sign of repentance. In fact, they thought the narrow escape from the three-headed dog was something of an adventure and were keen to have more. By the end of breakfast, Hermione stopped speaking to them and asked Alexis and Sophie to relay her words to them.
Neville had been very frightened with the entire incidence, and appeared to lose what confidence he had gained. In Transfiguration and Charms class, he didn't have any luck with any of the spells. In Potions, he knocked over his cauldron in Potions, prompting Snape to take off ten points and threatening detention if he continued to be so clumsy. Neville would have dissolved into tears if Sophie hadn't snapped, "Leave Neville alone, Professor! It's not his fault he knocked over his cauldron! You're being unfair, taking points off for just being a little clumsy."
Snape turned an icy glare at her. "Do not presume to tell me how to discipline my students, Miss Kent!" he hissed angrily. "Ten points from Gryffindor and you have detention with me tonight."
Sophie opened her mouth to argue, but Alexis kicked her ankle and hissed, "Shut up!" Sophie closed her mouth, but did turn and glare at Alexis before continuing work on their potion.
During dinner, Sophie did not speak to Alexis at all, and her replies to Hermione and Neville were rather short and snappish. When she finished eating, she left for Snape's detention in a black mood.
Alexis took out parchment, ink, and quill, and began writing her letters to Ginny and Luna. Luna was admittedly rather odd, but she seemed nice, and Alexis decided to be polite and write a return letter. She wasn't completely sure about a correspondence, but it wouldn't be bad to learn about Luna's, er, unique, view of things. After all, if you told Muggles that dragons and goblins existed, they would think you were either crazy or had an overactive imagination, despite the fact that they were real. It was entirely possible that some of the creatures Luna insisted existed really did exist. Furthermore, the Dursleys considered anyone odd or with magic freaks, and Alexis didn't want to be like them.
Alexis had just finished writing the letter to Luna when an old owl flew into the common room and crashed into the back of the chair she was sitting on. Ron picked it up and said, "This is Errol, the family owl. He's old and doesn't do too well with deliveries." He untied two letters and after glancing at the addresses, handed one to Alexis. "This one is from Dad."
Alexis remembered Ginny saying in her last letter that Mr. Weasley was obsessed with everything Muggles and to not be surprised if he sent a letter asking about Muggle stuff. It looked as if Mr. Weasley had done so. Alexis read the letter, which asked how she was, mentioned the correspondence she had with Ginny, and then was devoted to questions pertaining to Muggles and Muggle things.
Alexis took out more parchment and began writing. She explained how to use a telephone, the Muggle post office, and the function of a rubber duck. Then she did her best to explain electricty, plugs, batteries, and light bulbs, dredging up what she learned about them in science class. When she finished the letter, she gathered it plus the ones for Ginny and Luna and went to the Owlery. Hedwig was there and Alexis tied the three letters to her owl's legs.
"Please deliver the letters to Ginny, her father, and Luna, Hedwig." Hedwig hooted assent, and after gently nipping Alexis on the index finger, took off. Alexis returned to the common room to read.
Sophie returned at ten o'clock, her temper still not improved. She informed Alexis and Hermione that Snape had made her scrub cauldrons without magic. "I suppose I shouldn't have talked to Snape like that, but he didn't need to be so horrible about it. Well, I'm going to bed. Good-night, Hermione and Alexis."
On Monday, Alexis received a letter from Mrs. Channing, congratulating her on getting on the Gryffindor Quidditch. At the end, Mrs. Channing wrote that she and Professor McGonagall had arranged a surprise. Alexis put down the letter and asked, "Kyra, do you know anything about the surprise your mother and Professor McGonagall have arranged?"
Kyra smiled widely and nodded, but responded, "I'm not saying anything. You'll find out what the surprise is when the time comes." Then she became serious. "Alexis, I suggest you stay away from Emma for the next couple days, until I have a talk with her. She's currently starting to feel some jealousy towards you, because of the attention you're getting from our Mum. She didn't mind at first, because your relatives weren't exactly nice to you, and she felt someone had to make up for it. But the surprise Mum helped arrange for you didn't go down so well with Emma. I have no problems with it. I know Mum isn't ignoring us. She just wants you to feel that you're loved."
Alexis didn't look very happy with this piece of news. She liked Emma, and was friendly with her, but she didn't want to be the cause of jealousy. She didn't ask Mrs. Channing to devote some attention to her, or help arrange a surprise. She pushed away her plate of food and got up, all appetite gone. As she passed the Hufflepuff table, she saw Emma get up and glare at her. "Alexis Potter, just because you're famous and have relatives that aren't nice to you doesn't mean you can take so much of my mother's attention! It's one thing to have her take you with us to Diagon Alley or King's Cross. But it's another when she starts spending so much money on a surprise for you! The only time she's ever spent so much money, besides on new furniture and appliances, was to buy me and Kyra bicycles. You're not her daughter! What right do you have to get her to spend so much money on you? Especially when you have a full Gringotts vault."
Alexis looked taken aback and had to work hard to keep from bursting into tears at the tirade. Kyra came over, an angry look on her face. "Emma Natalia Channing, that was out of line!" she snapped. "None of this is Alexis's fault."
"Sure, take her side," said Emma nastily. "Kyra Evanna Channing, I'm your sister! You should be taking my side!" Then she glared at Alexis again. "Now look, Alexis. You've corrupted my sister into taking her side."
"That is enough!" said Kyra sternly. "Emma, hold your tongue or I'll give you a detention and speak to Professor Sprout. Come with me. We are going to have a talk, and you will understand why you can't go about being rude to people. Alexis, ignore everything Emma said to you. She'll learn the error of her ways and apologize."
Alexis nodded, and left the Great Hall before she could burst into tears. She then dashed up to the secret room on the third floor. Lady Felicity took one look at her distraught face and let her in without the password. Alexis then collapsed in the nearest chair and began crying. What Emma had said had hurt her. She didn't mean for Mrs. Channing to devote so much attention to her. And why would Emma suddenly be so jealous now? She had been so excited about introducing the wizarding world to Alexis, and telling her all about Hogwarts. But now she jealous of the attention her mother was paying to Alexis.
The entrance hole opened and Sophie came in. She sat down and took Alexis in her arms. "Everything will be all right, Alexis. Once Emma realizes that she's wrong to be jealous, she'll apologize and go back to being on friendly terms with you."
Alexis wiped her eyes. "I know, but what Emma said hurt. It's not like with Malfoy. His very nature is unpleasant, and I can deal with it. But Emma's usually nice, and I didn't expect her to be jealous and say such nasty things to me."
"Alexis, if you don't mind telling me, how did your relatives treat you?" asked Sophie. "Besides their spending very little money on you."
"My cousin Dudley and his group of friends liked to bully me," answered Alexis. "My aunt and uncle looked the other way. They didn't harm me, though every time I did accidental magic, I was grounded and confined to my room except for school for several days."
"Anything else?" pressed Sophie gently. "I swear I won't tell anyone what you tell me, unless you give me permission."
"There is nothing else I wish to say," replied Alexis shortly. "I really don't want to talk about my life at the Dursleys."
Sophie raised a brow. "All right then. But Alexis, I get the feeling that your relatives might have treated you the way Miss Minchin treated Sara Crewe after she became poor in A Little Princess. You know, made you do a great deal of chores and sleep in a tiny attic room."
"And how did you read A Little Princess?" demanded Alexis. "That's a Muggle book, Sophie."
"My grandmother's library is very extensive," responded Sophie. "It had Muggle books along with wizarding ones."
"Oh. Well, my aunt and uncle didn't make me sleep in the attic. They didn't even have one. My bedroom happens to be a regular room, though it is the smallest bedroom in the house. As for chores, I did have to wash the dishes and take out the rubbish." What Alexis said was the truth, but not the complete truth. Sophie gave her a look that said quite clearly that she felt that there was more.
"All right. Well, we'd better leave now, or we'll be late for Transfiguration." Alexis wiped away the last traces of her tears and got up.
After supper, Emma found Alexis, an apologetic look on her face. "I am so extremely sorry for what I said this morning, Alexis. I could never express all my sorrow, no, not if I used up a whole dictionary. You must just imagine it. I behaved terribly to you. Kyra explained to me that you didn't ask Mum to pay so much attention to you or arrange a surprise for getting on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I know she's right, and with the way your relatives don't like you or magic, someone has to be nice to you and make up for it. So please, please, forgive me and be my friend again. If you refuse it will be a lifelong sorrow to me."
Alexis could tell that Emma's apology was sincere, despite the fact that she recognized part of it as what Anne Shirely had said in her apology to Mrs. Lynde in the book Anne of Green Gables. Behind her, Sophie and Hermione exchanged looks. "Isn't the apology partly taken from that book by L.M. Montgomery?" Alexis heard Hermione whisper.
"I accept your apology, Emma," said Alexis. "I forgive you and we can be friends again."
"Thank you, Alexis," said Emma humbly. "Er, you probably figured out that I copied part of my apology from a book. It's just that I wasn't exactly sure how to express how sorry I was to you, and I decided what Anne said in her apology fit."
Alexis held back her laughter, having seen the funny side of the apology, as well as Emma's expression. "That's all right, Emma." Emma, a relieved look on her face, smiled and hurried away.
On Thursday, six large screech owls bearing a long, thin package flew to the Gryffindor table at breakfast and left it in front of Alexis. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. She ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:
DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everyone knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one.
Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session. Mrs. Channing sends her regards and wishes you good luck. She paid for most of the cost of the broom.
Professor M. McGonagall
Alexis gasped and handed the letter to her friends to read. "A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."
"Well, seeing as they only came out over the summer, of course you wouldn't have touched one," commented Sophie.
The six left the Hall quickly, as Alexis wanted to un-wrap the broomstick in private before their first lesson, but halfway across the Entrance Hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle.
Malfoy seized the package from Alexis and felt it. "That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to her with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them."
Ron couldn't resist it. "It's not any old broomstick," he said, "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Alexis. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."
"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig."
Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow. "Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.
"Alexis Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.
"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Miss Potter. And what model is it?"
"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Alexis, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," she added.
They headed upstairs, Alexis, Ron, Sophie, and Eric smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.
"Well it's true," Alexis chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Rememberall I wouldn't be in the team ..."
Hermione looked slightly disapproving. "I hope you don't think this is a reward for breaking rules, Alexis."
Alexis sighed. "Hermione, I don't. I wasn't expecting for Professor McGonagall and Mrs. Channing to get me the best broom there is. No wonder Emma was feeling a little jealous."
"You want Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup, don't you, Hermione?" asked Neville. "And in turn have it help us win the House Cup?"
"Well, yes," admitted Hermione. "And that means Alexis would need a good broom. But she did break the rules when she went flying after Malfoy, even if he did provoke her. I was amazed that Professor McGonagall didn't punish her for it."
"Well, seeing as Gryffindor hasn't won the Quidditch Cup ever since Charlie Weasley left, it's understandable," said Eric. "McGonagall does enjoy watching Quidditch, and she does want Gryffindor to win. So she decided to overlook Alexis's transgression."
Hermione sighed and didn't say any more. In the common room, Alexis unwrapped the broom and her friends, even Hermione, exclaimed over it. Alexis, who didn't know that much about the different brooms, could still tell that the Nimbus was wonderful. After a few minutes, Hermione reminded them that they would be late for class, so Alexis stowed the broom away in her trunk.
After dinner, Alexis went outside to the Quidditch Pitch for her practice session. Oliver Wood wasn't there yet, but she was too eager to fly again, so she took off at once. Flying on the Nimbus Two Thousand was a wonderful experience, even better than on the school broom. After several minutes, Wood showed up with a crate under his arm and called Alexis down.
"Very nice," he said, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant ... you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."
"I already know the rules," replied Alexis. "I read Quidditch Through the Ages. And Kyra explained the rules to me."
Wood sighed. "Ah, yes, Kyra. She's into Quidditch too, but she's not particularly good at flying." A pink tinge appeared on his cheeks, and Alexis wondered if Oliver had a crush on Kyra.
"Well, since you know the rules, I won't have to teach you," continued Wood, the slight blush gone. He showed Alexis the balls and smiled approvingly as she named them and listed what the Chasers, Beaters, Keeper, and Seeker did. Then was the practice. As it was too dark, they couldn't practice with the Snitch for fear of losing them. Instead, Wood threw golf balls for Alexis to catch. She didn't miss a single one and he was delighted.
After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on. "That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."
The next day was Hermione's twelfth birthday. She had finally forgiven Ron and Eric and were talking to them, but not as much as she did with the others. Ron found out the way to get into the kitchens from his twin brothers, and he along with the others (except for Hermione), went down to the kitchens after class. The house-elves there were quite happy to provide food for Hermione's birthday party. They were the only ones besides the few students to know about the room behind Lady Felicity's portrait and sent up a cake and a few plates of other treats to the room.
Hermione was very surprised, as well as delighted, with the party. She didn't even comment at all on how sweets were bad for your teeth. She simply thanked her friends, ate some cake and other food, and then opened her presents. Alexis, Ron, and Neville had gotten her books. Sophie had given her a charm bracelet, with book, wand, and witch's hat charms and Eric gave her a diary. When the party ended, Hermione hugged each of her friends and thanked them again for the party and presents.
Perhaps it was because she was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Alexis could hardly believe it when she realized that she'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive had ever done. She had a great relationship with her five friends, and her lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.
On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he though they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom.
Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Alexis's partner was Seamus Finnigan, to her disappointment. She didn't know him very well, and would have preferred being paired with one of her friends. Ron was with Hermione, and he didn't look too enthusiastic about it, despite the fact that they were friends.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
It was very difficult. Alexis and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skywards just lay on the desktop. The best Alexis was able to do was to get the feather to flop about a little. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it - Alexis had to put it out with her hat.
Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," Alexis heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled, clearly out of patience with his failed attempts.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Ron was in a very bad temper by the end of the class. He was frustrated by the fact that Hermione had levitated the feather when he couldn't, and it didn't matter to him that Eric and Sophie had also succeeded. (Mainly because Sophie had secretly practiced spells with her mother's wand and Eric had some lessons from his grandparents.)
"What an annoying know-it-all!" snapped Ron as they left the classroom. "Honestly, she can be a nightmare at times. It's a wonder we're even her friends."
Sophie gave him a reproachful look. Alexis opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by someone knocking into her as they hurried past. It was Hermione. Alexis caught a glimpse of her face - and was startled to see that she was in tears. "I think she heard you."
"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "You've noticed how she acts sometimes."
"Hermione is our friend," said Eric severely. "You can't just go around insulting her, Ron."
"And she's nice," added Neville. "She's always happy to help me with homework and tutoring me in spellwork."
Ron looked even more uncomfortable and muttered, "I guess I'll go apologize to her later."
"You'd better," said Alexis. "Just because you're mad over at not getting a spell doesn't mean you can take it out on Hermione."
Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. Finally Alexis and Sophie found her in a bathroom. They did their best to comfort Hermione and tell her that Ron was sorry, to no avail. Hermione still kept on crying, and insisted on being left alone. Finally Alexis and Sophie gave up and reluctantly went to the Halloween feast.
Outside the Great Hall, Alexis and Sophie coldly informed Ron about Hermione's frame of mind. He looked still more awkward at this, and said he would find Hermione before bed and beg forgiveness. Then they went inside.
A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles and pumpkins skitter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
Alexis was just helping himself to a jacket 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 dungeons - thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.
There was an instant uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
Percy was in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!" Kyra rolled her eyes as she started rounding up the younger students.
"How could a troll get in?" Alexis asked as they climbed the stairs.
"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."
They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Ron suddenly gasped. "Hermione doesn't know about the troll!"
Neville turned pale. "Does this mean we have to find her and warn her?"
"Well, of course!" exclaimed Sophie. "She's our friend. Just make sure Percy and Kyra don't see us."
Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.
"Percy!" hissed Ron. They quickly hid behind a large stone griffin. Peering around it, however, Alexis saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.
"What's Snape doing?" she whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"
"Search me," answered Eric, shrugging.
Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.
"He's heading for the third floor," Alexis said, but Sophie held up her hand.
"Can you smell something?"
Alexis sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. And then they heard it - a low grunting and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed: at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.
It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horn y feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.
The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.
"The key's in the lock," Ron muttered. "We could lock it in."
"Good idea," said Neville nervously.
"No, it's not, you idiots!" hissed Alexis. "That's the girls' bathroom! The one Hermione's in!"
Just then, proving her words right, they heard something that made their hearts stop - A high, petrified scream - and it was coming from the room. "Oh, no," gasped Eric, pale as the Bloody Baron.
"Hermione!" the five of them exclaimed together.
It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? They sprinted to the door and ran inside. Hermione was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she were about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.
"Confuse it!" Alexis said desperately, and seizing a tap she threw it as hard as she could against the wall.
The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Alexis. It hesitated, then made for her instead, lifting its club as it went.
"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it.
The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout towards Ron instead, giving Alexis time to run around it.
"Come on, run, run!" Alexis yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.
Neville seized a broken tile and threw it at the troll, while Sophie futilely tried to disarm it. The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started towards Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.
Eric threw a tap, distracting it from Ron. Ron pulled out his own wand - not knowing what he was going to do, he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over - and dropped, with a sickening crack, on to its owner's foot. The troll let out a bellow of pain and began flailing about. "Stun it!" shouted Sophie, drawing out her wand. "We've been practicing Stunners, remember?"
All of them, except for Hermione, who was still too terrified, pointed their wands at the troll. At the same time, the five of them shouted, "STUPEFY!" One Stunner alone might not have been enough to knock out the troll, especially considering their age, but the five combined was enough. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.
Hermione finally recovered from her terror to climb to her feet. A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the six of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Snape bent over the troll.
Professor McGonagall was looking at the Gryffindors. Alexis had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Alexis's mind.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice.
Alexis looked at her friends, who were still standing with their wands in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Snape gave Alexis a swift, piercing look. She looked at the floor, wand lowered. Then a small voice came out of the shadows. "Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."
"Miss Granger!"
"I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them." Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher? "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. They distracted it from me, Ron hit it in the foot with its own club, and finally they managed to Stun it. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they had arrived." The others tried to look as if this story wasn't new to them.
"Well - in that case ..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the six of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Hermione hung her head. Alexis was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for that," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you are not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." Hermione left.
Professor McGonagall turned to the remaining five. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."
They hurried out of the chamber. Hermione was waiting by the stairs and they didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.
"Thank you for rescuing me from the troll, guys," said Hermione finally.
"No problem, Hermione. And we did win twenty-five points," said Neville, in a bright tone of voice.
"You mean twenty, once McGonagall's taken off Hermione's," corrected Sophie.
"Good of you to get us out of trouble like that, Hermione," Ron admitted. "Though we did save you."
"Well, if you hadn't insulted Hermione, she wouldn't have been in the bathroom in the first place," said Alexis. Ron turned red.
"Look on the bright side, you know the Levitation Charm now," pointed out Eric. "Maybe we should do that the next time you have trouble learning a spell, Ron. Threaten you with a troll."
They all chuckled. After a couple minutes, they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pig snout," they said and entered.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. The six of them looked at each other, then hurried off to get plates. But from that moment on, their bond of friendship with each other was strengthened. There are some things you can't share without becoming friends or even better friends, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.