Chapter 10

Hallowe'en

Malty couldn't believe her eyes when she saw that Chris, Chrissie and I were still at Dragon Mort the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning Chris, Chrissie and I thought that meeting the three-headed cat had been an excellent adventure and at that time we were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, I filled Chris and Chrissie in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Fauntrotts to Dragon Mort, and we spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable," said Chris.

"Or really dangerous," said Chrissie.

"Or both," said I.

But all we knew for sure about the object was that it was about two inches long, we didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Nikita nor Sian showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the cat and the trapdoor. All Nikita cared about was never going near the cat again.

And as for Sian, well, she was refusing to speak to Chris, Chrissie and I, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that we saw this as an added bonus. All we really wanted after this was a way to get back at Malty, and to our delight, such a thing arrived with the post a week later.

Oh, I did write to Grandmother Sarabi about the package – I didn't have the heart to tell her about the cat because that would have scared her out of her wits. I can't remember what I wrote to her, but I do have her reply right here. Her hand was shaky (I could tell by how scruffy it was) and here is what she wrote:

Dearest Kiara,

I know where it is hidden as well as you do, but you must keep it secret from everyone else, for Crighton's sake and mine. Not only must you keep the information to yourself but you must not get too involved in this. Keep out of this and concentrate on your schoolwork like I want you to and leave this to people who know what they are doing. Keep in touch.

Love you lots,

Grandmother Sarabi

P.S.: Well done on making the Lion-Heart Quidditch team! Of course I thought that you would be on it in a couple more years but I'm happy for you, and I know that your parents will be too when they hear about this. Love you.

Short, sweet and to the point, just like my grandmother likes to write and talk when there was something important which she didn't want me to know about.

Anyhoo, as the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught by a long thin package carried by six large screech owls. I was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of me, knocking my bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

I ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.

It contains your new Scoot-Zoomer Two Thousand,

but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a

broomstick or they'll all want one. Olivia Cane

will meet you tonight on the Quidditch pitch at

seven o'clock for your first training session.

Professor D. Darbus

I had difficulty hiding my glee as I handed the note to Chris and Chrissie so that they could read it.

"A Scoot-Zoomer Two Thousand!" Chrissie moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."

"Me neither!" said Chris.

We left the Hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before our first lesson, but halfway across the Entrance Hall we found the way upstairs barred by Crate, Gabber and Rae-Bradley. Malty seized the package from me and felt it.

"That's a broomstick," she said, throwing it back to me with a mixture of jealousy and spite on her face. "You'll be for it this time, Pride-Lander, first-years aren't allowed them."

Chrissie couldn't resist the urge.

"It's not just any old broomstick," she said, "it's a Scoot-Zoomer Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malty, a Turn Two Sixty?" Chrissie grinned at me and Chris. "The Turns look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Scoot-Zoomers."

"What would you know about it, Dawson, even though you have the money, you've never even touched one," Malty snapped back. "I suppose you have to ask your eldest sister to build one for you, twig by twig."

Before Chrissie could answer, Professor Winds appeared at Malty's elbow.

"Not arguing I hope girls – and boy?" she added, noticing Chris.

"Pride-Lander's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malty quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Winds, beaming at me. "Professor Darbus told me all about the special circumstances, Pride-Lander. And what model is it?"

"A Scoot-Zoomer Two Thousand, ma'am," I said, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malty's face. "And it's really thanks to Malty here that I've got it," I added.

Me, Chris and Chrissie headed upstairs, smothering our laughter at Malty's obvious rage and confusion.

"Well, it's true," I chortled as we reached the top of the marble staircase. "If she hadn't stolen Nikita's Remembrall I wouldn't be in the team …"

"Well done, Kiara," said a voice behind us. Sian was stomping up the stairs and beamed at me and the package I was holding.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us," said Chris.

"Yes, don't stop now," said Chrissie, "it's doing us so much good."

As Chris and Chrissie chortled at this, Sian glared at them and said, "You know, I'm really surprised at you two. I was merely going to congratulate Kiara for not only standing up for a friend – which, as you two both know -" she looked at Chris and Chrissie as she said this "- I have done – but also for making the Quidditch team. And at least have the decency to remember every now and then that I am your eldest sister, so therefore you should have some respect towards me." She was stomping up the stairs with her nose in the air, when she turned on her heel and looked at us: "And by the way, sorry if I'm such a nuisance to the three of you. Just remember, if you need help with your homework, you'll be sorry you didn't have me around to help you out." then she turned round, nose in the air and huffed up the stairs.

I had a lot of trouble keeping my mind on lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory, where my new broomstick was lying under my bed, or straying off to the Quidditch pitch where I'd be learning to play that night. I bolted my dinner down that evening without even noticing what I was eating and then rushed upstairs with Chrissie to unwrap the Scoot-Zoomer Two Thousand at last.

"Wow," Chrissie sighed, as the broomstick rolled on to my bedspread.

Even I, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a pine handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Scoot-Zoomer Two Thousand written in silver near the top.

As seven o'clock drew nearer, I left the castle and set off towards the Quidditch pitch in the dusk. I'd never been inside the Quidditch stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded me of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high.

Too eager to fly again to wait for Cane, I mounted my broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling – I swooped in and out of the goalposts and then sped up and down the pitch. The Scoot-Zoomer Two Thousand turned wherever I wanted at my lightest touch.

Hey, Pride-Lander, come down!"

Olivia Cane had arrived. She was carrying a large wooden crate under her arm. I landed next to her.

"Very nice," said Cane, her eyes glinting. "I see what Darbus 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."

She opened the crate. Inside were four different sized balls.

"Right," said Cane. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it isn't easy to play. There are seven players on each side; three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and the Seeker, that's you," she said, pointing to me.

"Three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and the Seeker," I repeated, as Cane took out a big red ball about the size of a football.

"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Cane. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try to get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"

"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," I recited. "So – that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"

"What's basketball?" said Cane curiously.

"Never mind," I said quickly.

"Now to another player on each side who's called the Keeper – I'm the Keeper for Lion-Heart. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," I said, and I felt that I was getting it already, even though I hadn't played before. "And they play with the Quaffle. OK, got that. So what are they for?" I pointed at the three balls left inside the box.

"I'll show you now," said Cane. "Take this."

She handed me a small club, a bit like a rounders bat.

"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Cane said. "These two are the Bludgers."

She showed me two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. I noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.

"Stand back," Cane warned me. She bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at my face. I swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking my nose and sent it zig-zagging away into the air – it zoomed around our heads and then shot at Cane, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.

"See?" Cane panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the Crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around trying to knock people off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team. The Fang twins are ours – it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them towards the other team. So – think you've got all that?"

"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goalposts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," I reeled off.

"Very good," said Cane.

"Er – have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" I asked, hoping I sounded offhand.

"Never at Dragon Mort. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers – "

" – unless they crack my head open."

"Don't worry, the Fangs are more than a match for the Bludgers – I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."

Cane reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.

"This," said Cane, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins their team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages – I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep.

"Well, that's it – any questions?"

I shook my head. I understood what I had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.

"We won't practise with the Snitch yet," said Cane, carefully shutting it back inside the crate. "It's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."

She pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of her pocket, and a few minutes later, she and I were up in the air, Cane throwing the golf balls as hard as she could in every direction for me to catch.

I didn't miss a single one and Cane was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and we couldn't carry on.

"That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Cane happily as we trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out better than Kat Fang, and she could have played for England if she hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

0000

Perhaps it was because I was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all my homework, but I could hardly believe it when I realised that I had been at Dragon Mort two months. Even though I loved the village and the cottage where my grandmothers and I lived, the castle was, in a weird way, becoming like a second home to me. My lessons, too, were becoming far more interesting now that we had mastered the basics.

The people that I had met were quite interesting, too. Sure, the staring was becoming wearisome to me, but it quickly stopped after I started to talk to them. I was becoming friends with a lot of people from different houses. Some, like Jack Simms, Callum Lunn, Sarah and Chris Rimmer and Oliver Bryce were all right. They were fun and said some quite odd stuff, and because of this, they were loners, which only drew me more closer to them. Then you had people like Laura Garnett and Steph Heredia, who were very giggly, childish and quite stupid, who I stayed away from, for they were not to my liking, at all. You had your hard workers and the quiet and reserved, like Nikita for example, and you also had your attention-seekers, like Peter Seddon, who I think wanted to be a sports star, from the way he talked about Quidditch. The Snake-Eyes bunch were unpleasant, and would tease me and be rude to me, which upset me a little at first; but after I had seen them be rude to others, not just from Lion-Heart, but the other two houses, too, I quickly accepted that being rude and mean to others was there way, and moved past it quickly.

Chris and Chrissie were quickly becoming my closest friends in the world. They were both making me laugh, but Chrissie more than Chris, but that was mainly because she got facts mixed up, and said some rather dumb stuff. I laughed at some of the stuff she said, but hid them behind my hand or tried to smother it over with a cough just in case I accidentally offended her at some of the things she said (for Chrissie thought that she was right); but as she walked off with no idea that I was laughing at the stuff that she was coming out with, I found myself bursting out with laughter, and I found that Chris was joining in with me. Chris I liked hanging out with. He had a sense of humour, and helped me out with some of the problems that I had with my homework. So yes, he's intelligent (but not as intelligent as Sian, though). We had quite a bit in common: we were both separated from our parents, had been moved to somewhere else and had been accepted somewhere else and liked a lot of the same things, like Quidditch and nature and all sorts of other stuff. It was great that I had a friend like that (for we were friends at the time). But there was something weird that often happened when I was around him: sometimes when I looked at him, he would have this weird look on his face when he looked at me, for it was like he was looking at me like I was the most beautiful and precious flower in all creation. And when he saw me looking, he would quickly shrug off this look, smile awkwardly and walk on. I looked at Chrissie for an answer, but all she did was shrug her shoulders and looked as confused as I was. I got used to this after a few weeks, but it was still odd. Oh, and as to some of the stuff that Chrissie used to say to make me laugh, I forget, but I do get a smile thinking about those days when everything was easy and far more simple, than all the crazy stuff we had to put up with in later years.

Yes, Chris and Chrissie were turning into my two best friends, and a lot of other people were becoming my close friends, and I was unfortunately getting a lot of enemies. But there was one person who just confused me at Dragon Mort back then.

Sian, of course, is the one I'm talking about here. You see, she did spend a lot of time on her own; from what I remember, she was either studying or on her phone. If her mother was in the school, she would go to her study once a week to see her (this I gathered from Chris and Chrissie). True, she wasn't speaking to Chris, Chrissie or myself during the next few weeks back then, but whenever I was saying something nice or rather interesting, I would see her out of the corner of my eye, looking at me and smiling quite warmly, she would quickly regain her cold composure, and walk off. When I looked at Chris and Chrissie for an answer, all they told me was that Sian was a puzzlement, and always liked to be one, because she found it interesting to see how others reacted to her. And indeed she was a puzzlement to me, for she wold often change reactions in a second. I have never seen someone, man or woman, do that before or since Sian. But this wasn't the only thing that puzzled me about her.

You see, I didn't notice this about her at first, but Sian always had these heavy blue leather gloves on. Heavy, but surprisingly delicate. She wore them all the time, and from what I saw, she never took them off. The teachers at Dragon Mort never told her to take them off, for it was apparent that Crighton had spoken to the staff and had told them all that there were special circumstances for Sian to wear them. When we were in Herbology, she quickly hid herself behind everyone in order to change her gloves into the dragon-hide ones which we were told to get, which only confused me more. I asked Chris and Chrissie once why she had those gloves on, and all they did was stop in their tracks, look at each other in surprise, and then they said simultaneously, "It's a secret", before they hurried on ahead of me, talking to themselves and ignoring me when I tried to press the subject more, so I let it drop and never asked about it again, but it didn't stop me from pondering about this every night before I went to sleep. You'll find out the reason behind the gloves during the Great Battle of Dragon Mort, which we will get to much, much later. And now, back to the story.

On Hallowe'en morning we awoke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Winds announced in Charms that she thought we were ready to start making objects fly, something we had all been dying to try since we'd seen her make Nikita's toad – yes, she did eventually find her toad – zoom around the classroom. Professor Winds put us into pairs to practice. My partner was Chris (I was relieved at this because Nikita had been trying to catch my eye). Chrissie, however, was working with Sian. It was hard to tell who was angrier about this, Sian or Chrissie, for even though they were twin sisters and Chris told me they were the best of friends at home, something had changed between them since we were on the subs together. She hadn't spoken to Chrissie, Chris or me since the day my broomstick arrived.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!" squeaked Professor Winds, perched on top of her pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words 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. Me and Chris swished and flicked, but the feather we were supposed to be sending skywards just lay on the desktop. Chris got so impatient that he jabbed it with his wand and set fire to it – I had to put it on the floor and stamp the fire out with my feet.

Chrissie, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" she shouted, waving her long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it completely wrong," I heard Sian snap. "It's Wing-gar -dium Levi-o-sa, make the "gar" nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Chrissie snarled.

Sian 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 Winds, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Dawson's done it!"

Whilst Sian was being – and looking – smug about it, Chrissie was in a very fowl temper.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," she said to me and Chris as we pushed our way into the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly."

Someone knocked into me as they hurried past me. Then she stopped in front of us and turned, looking at us with very evil eyes and a monstrous glare. Me and Chris stood back a little, but Chrissie stood firm, even if her eyes did reveal that she was scared inside. Sian then pushed her face forward, growled at us, turned on her heel and pushed her way through the crowd, her hair now a fiery shade of red; and it could have been my imagination, but I could have sworn it was smoking a bit at the bottom. If you want to know why her hair was smoking and why it was a fiery shad of red, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until book seven to find out.

"I think she heard you," I said.

"So?" said Chrissie, but she looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must have noticed that she hasn't got any friends."

"Chrissie, how many times has Ma told you that you don't mess on the wrong side of Sian for it doesn't get you anywhere good?" said Chris.

"I know, I just didn't think," sighed Chrissie. "Am I a terrible person?"

"No, Chrissie, you just don't think about things like Sian does."

"Er, why don't you mess with Sian?" I asked, missing something.

"Oh Kiara, no one messes with Sian," said Chris as we carried on walking. "You see, Sian is a strong witch of a woman, and you never ever mess with a strong witch of a woman, because it gets you nowhere and doesn't do you any favours whatsoever. We learnt that from Sian herself." And that was all we said on that subject for the rest of the day.

Sian didn't turn up for the next class or the rest of the afternoon. On our way down to the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en feast, me, Chris and Chrissie overheard Perry Party talking to his friend Larry – Lawrence Brown – that Sian was heard crying in the girls' toilets and wanted to be left alone. Chrissie looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later we entered the Great Hall, where the Hallowe'en decorations put Sian out of our minds.

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 in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term feast.

I was just helping myself to a jacket potato when Professor Quarrel came sprinting into the Great Hall, her turban askew and terror on her face. Everyone stared as she reached Professor Crighton's chair, slumped against the table and gasped, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."

She then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

For a moment, silence; then there was uproar. Professor Crighton stood up, waved her wand and several loud bangs boomed throughout the Hall to bring silence.

"Prefects," she rumbled, "will lead their houses back to their dormitories immediately! Teachers will follow me to the dungeons! Go!"

We were about to follow the other first-years out of the Great Hall, when Crighton's voice called out above the noise, "Chris! Kiara! Chrissie! Here! Now!" we got down from our table and ran to Crighton to see what she wanted.

"I've noticed that Sian isn't with you tonight. Why?" she asked, looking at Chrissie in particular.

"She always knows," Chris whispered to me.

"I'm sorry, Ma. Sian just really got to my temper today," Chrissie said with her head down. Crighton sighed and then faced the three of us as a group.

"Listen, with this troll roaming around the school, it's up to you three to save her. After all, she'd do the same for you – even you, Kiara," she said, looking at me, which I was surprised at.

"But ma'am, you just said to go back to our houses – "

"I know what I said then, Kiara, but please listen to what I'm saying now," Crighton said, and we did. "I want you to find Sian and save her, the three of you, together, for I have a feeling that the three of you, and Sian, will soon be working together on something far more important than this in the near future." Turns out she was right, but more on that later.

"Us?" gasped me, Chris and Chrissie, staring at each other in surprise.

"But ma'am, I –"

"Listen to me, Kiara," Crighton said, putting her hands on my shoulders and looking into my eyes as I looked into hers. I could also feel Chris and Chrissie staring at us, too. "I know that what the three of you are hearing from me right now is a lot to take in, I get that, I truly do, but not only is Sian one of the most important people in my life who I don't want to lose yet, but she's also important to many people – Chris and Chrissie included – but she will soon become very important to you, and when she does, not only will you realise how important and special she is, but also how much you're glad that you have her in your life. Also, your father would have done anything to save his friends, no matter the danger. Now go, go! And be careful, my dears!" said Crighton as she let go of m. then me, Chris and Chrissie left the Great Hall to rescue Sian.

"But how did a troll get in?" I asked Chris and Chrissie as we climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Chrissie. "Probably just people playing jokes."

"Let's get back to Sian here," said Chris. "Where is she? Did either of you hear from anyone where she is?"

Chrissie said "No" at the exact same time that I said "Yes". Chris and Chrissie looked at me.

"Where is she, Kiara?" Chrissie asked, looking desperate.

"Perry said that he heard from someone that she's crying in the girls' bathroom."

"Right, let's head there, then," said Chris as the three of us slipped down deserted corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets.

"Can you smell something?" Chrissie asked, scrunching up her nose.

I sniffed and a foul stench reached my nose, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.

And then we heard it – a low grunting and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Chrissie pointed: at the end of the passage to the left, something huge was moving towards a room. The three of us sank into the shadows and watched it.

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 as thick as tree trunks with flat, horny 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.

It reached the door of the room, stopped, made up its mind and moved inside the room. But it wasn't just any room, I realised, it was the girls' bathroom!

I gasped and could feel the colour draining from my cheeks as I said, "Guys, that isn't just any room …"

"It's not?" said Chris and Chrissie together.

"No, it's the girls' bathroom!" I said, as I saw Chris and Chrissie gulp. Then the three of us jumped, for we heard a high, petrified scream coming from it.

"Sian!" the three of us screamed. The three of us then sprinted up the passage and I then pulled open the door and we ran inside.

We just saw Sian under a pile of wood, which used to be a bunch of cubicles, with the troll over her with its club raised.

"Sian, move!" I yelled, which she did; she crawled under the pile of wood and moved towards the sinks.

"Confuse it!" I said desperately to Chris and Chrissie, as we each picked up a piece of wood from the broken cubicles and threw it at the troll, as Sian was yelling, "Help! Help!"

The troll heard Sian yelling help and whacked its club against the sink which she was under. She just managed to get out of the way as the club hit the sink and broke a pipe, which water gushed out of like a miniature water feature.

"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Chrissie, throwing another piece of wood at it. The troll didn't seem to notice the wood hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and turned towards Chrissie instead, giving me time to run around it.

"Come on, run, run!" I yelled at Sian, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll beserk. It roared again and started to wards Chris, who was nearest and had no way of escape.

I then did something that was very brave and very stupid and something which I still regret doing to this day, in fact; I took a great running jump and managed to fasten my arms around the club, which the troll was lifting into the air, and then I landed, legs first, around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel me hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and my wand had still been in my hand when I'd jumped – it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils, because I bent a little forward and when I leant back on its neck, my wand was up its nose.

Howling with pain, the troll noticed me and grabbed me. I was now hanging a few feet from the ground and the troll was trying to hit me with its club.

"Do something!" I yelled at Chrissie.

"What?" she yelled back.

"Anything, Chrissie, anything!" I yelled. "Hurry up!"

"Remember what we learnt in Charms today, Chrissie!" yelled Chris.

"Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick!" Sian recited Professor Winds, suddenly getting courage from the fact that she was being rescued, I think.

Chrissie pulled out her wand, gulped, breathed deeply and cried out "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The troll was holding the club over its head, had pulled its hand down again and was wondering where it was, when it looked back up, saw its club hovering above its head – and then dropped with a sickening crack, on to its owner's head.

"Cool!" said Chrissie.

"Wicked!" said Chris.

"Awesome!" said Sian, slowly standing up and getting her breath back all the while.

When the troll had been bopped on the head by its own club, it dropped me, and then started to sway on the spot. I started to crawl backwards when Sian came out of nowhere and pulled me back out of the way, as the troll fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

When the room stopped shaking, I looked at Sian and she looked at me. "Now we're even," she said, patting me on the shoulder and letting me go. Chris had moved over to Chrissie, who had put down her wand arm and the two of them looked at me and Sian. Out of the four of us, it was Sian who spoke first after a few minutes.

"Is it – dead?"

"I don't think so," I said. "I think it's just been knocked out."

I bent down and pulled my wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

"Urgh – troll bogies."

I wiped it on the troll's trousers.

"Erm – guys?" said Sian slowly. We all looked at her. "For what it's worth," she continued, "I'm grateful for you to come and save me, even though I know you think of me as a pain. So, thank you for that. Especially you, Kiara."

"Me?" I said, surprised.

"Yes, for you not only saved me, but you also saved Chris and Chrissie, too from the troll by jumping on it. And even though it was brave and stupid, I would have done the same thing – probably." We all laughed at that.

Then a sudden slamming of a door and loud footsteps made the four of us look towards the door. We hadn't realised what a racket we had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor Darbus had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Triphorm, with Quarrel bringing up the rear. Quarrel took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and fell back against the wall, clutching her heart.

Triphorm bent over the troll. Professor Darbus was looking at me, Chris and Chrissie. I had never seen her look so angry before this. Her lips were white. Before she burst into the room, I had had a thought of winning fifty points for Lion-Heart, but that thought quickly vanished from my mind.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor Darbus with cold fury in her voice. I looked at Chris and Chrissie, who were looking nervous. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Triphorm gave me a swift, piercing look. Me, Chris and Chrissie all looked at the floor. I did wish that Chrissie had dropped her wand.

Then a strong voice spoke out.

"It's my fault, Professor Darbus – they were looking for me."

"Miss Dawson!"

Me, Chris, Chrissie and even the teachers who were in that room with us all looked at Sian in astonishment. Sian quickly flashed a warning look at me, Chris and Chrissie to not interrupt her before she turned back to the teachers.

"I went looking for the troll. I read about them and thought I could handle it. However, I was obviously mistaken. If it hadn't been for Kiara, Chris and Chrissie, I would most definitely be dead by now."

Me, Chris and Chrissie tried to look as though this story wasn't new to us.

"Well – in that case …" said Professor Darbus, staring at Sian. "Miss Dawson, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on you own?"

Sian hung her head. I was speechless. Sian was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get us out of trouble. It was as if Triphorm had started handing out sweets.

"Miss Dawson, five points will be taken from Lion-Heart for this," said Professor Darbus. "I'm very disappointed in you. I'm surprised you didn't think of your dear mother and what she thought before you did something this reckless. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Lion-Heart Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Sian left.

Professor Darbus then turned to me, Chris and Chrissie.

"And as for you two ladies and gentleman, I still say you were lucky. Not many first-year students could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll and lived to tell the tale. Five points will be awarded to each of you, for sheer dumb luck! Professor Crighton will be informed of this. You may go."

We hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until we were two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have got more than fifteen points," said Chrissie.

"Definitely," said Chris.

"Er, ten, you mean, once she's taken off Sian's," I said.

"God of her to get us out of trouble like that," Chrissie admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."

"Well, she might not have needed saving if someone hadn't pushed her buttons," Chris reminded her.

"All right, all right, don't remind me," snapped Chrissie.

We had reached the portrait of the Fat Lord.

"Pig snout," we said and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Sian, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for us. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then Sian grabbed Chris, Chrissie and I into a big hug, let go and said "Again, thank you. I'm forever grateful to the three of you. If any of you need any help, I'm here for you." Then she went off to get some food, and left us standing there, speechless.

"She's grateful?" I said, surprised.

"Yeah, but coming from Sian that's the closest you're ever going to get as an "I love you" from her," said Chrissie as Chris nodded. "Now let's eat up, I'm starved." And then we hurried to get food and ate with Sian.

And from that moment on, Chris and Chrissie restored their sibling-friendship with Sian, and she also became a very close friend of mine, too, and has been to this day. In life, some things surprise you, and making a person you didn't really like a friend after knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of the many surprises that life can throw at you. So take that and run with it, yall!