Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
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The First Step Is Fatal
Chapter 10: Hunted
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'Lumos!' Harry thought hard as he failed once more in producing any significant source of light.
"Ouch! Claws Harry!"
'Sorry.'
"It'll heal up. You sure no one will notice that I'm not down at the feast right now?"
'Probably not.'
"Well I want to show up by desert, I'm looking forward to the fudge."
In the dark windowless classroom, illuminated only by a few near burnt out candles, Neville wrote senseless entries into the diary using normal ink. Many of the fake entries were on the same mundane topics; tangents on favorite dishes, plants growing, and the like.
He was almost…
"Finished! I just need to write a few more sentences on my Transfiguration homework and then we are going down to dinner – dessert! All the candies and chocolate I can eat!" The boy said as he excitedly pulled out his homework with one hand and anchored it to the table with the diary-cum-paperweight.
Harry made a noise of agreement before he continued to attempt magic spell work.
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"Where's Neville?" Hermione questioned from her spot next to Ron at the Gryffindor table. The main courses had disappeared, and heaping piles of desserts now stood in their place. Hermione pushed the last of her carrots around her plate with a fork.
"Dunno. Why?" Ron passed the plate of treacle tarts to Seamus, who loaded his plate.
"Because. He's the only one not here." She said as if this was the only reason necessary.
"Well I don't know. I've been forced to practice levitation charms all day." The red-haired boy said around a mouthful of pie.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you had just followed my instructions the first time, you would have been done hours ago."
"Well, I was pretty sure it was going to work my way." Ron took a drink of his bubbling pumpkin juice, voice clear now that there was nothing in his mouth.
The fog drifting down from the rim was a nice effect. Her parents had created the same effect last year through the use of dry ice. Hermione suspected the wizards didn't use dry ice though. She missed her parents. A lot.
Perhaps I'll write a letter home later tonight, about the differences of the how this holiday is celebrated. Yeah. Decided on what she would do, Hermione perked up once more. She turned to her redheaded friend to ask how he celebrated the holiday at home, when she noticed he was joined by two of his brothers.
The disruptive ones.
Her lips quirked downwards a little in disapproval.
"Where've you two been?" Ron asked, his mouth stuffed with chocolate cake.
"Nothing you should worry your little head about," the twin in the blue pullover said with a lopsided grin.
"Yes, brother dearest, we're a mite bit bothered by your sudden lurch into academia," the other said, eyes flicking over to her and back. She rolled her eyes; they were generally very funny and kind, but they also could be nuisances in the way of preventing Ron from finishing his school work on time with their crazy plans.
"You mean Hermione? My good grades have made mum happy; besides, it's not like you've given me a chance at cracking out some pranks." The younger brother retorted.
"Ron! You'll get into trouble. And you two, didn't you learn a lesson from that explosion in your dorm? Angelina told us all about how you both de-haired Lee Jordan." Hermione spoke up before they could answer.
"Angelina's been talking about me?" Both twins perked up before turning to the other and shoving. To Hermione, it was like watching someone fight a mirror.
"No, she was talking about me!"
"I'm the eldest!" Ah. This one was Fred. In her effort to learn more about wizarding families she had asked Percy.
"You came out backwards!" George shouted in his brother's face.
"All the better to thumb my nose at you little brother!" Fred said poking his brother in the forehead.
"Thanks for telling Wood about Cedric, guys. I really wanted extra practice." A sarcastic feminine voice spoke up from further down the table.
"Hello Angelina!" Both boys waived in unison. Hermione could see Angelina roll her eyes and speak with the girl next to her.
"Did you see that? She thinks we're weird because of you."
"No, you!"
"Boys! You're both odd," Hermione said.
"Coming from her that's a compliment." Ron pointed out in amusement.
"No it is not! They shouldn't pull pranks; they could hurt someone else. And where is Neville? He should be here by now!" Hermione's frustration with the entire situation grew.
The twins were whispering to each other again. When one of them burst out laughing she groaned and dropped her head on her arms.
Red-headed wizards would be the death of her sanity. She was sure of it.
"What? Why are you laughing?" Ron pleaded with his brothers, eager to know what was funny.
"Oh, Ronnikins. For the same reason we're saddened by you lack of prank ability." One of them said with a slight smirk.
"Neville's the little first year after our blackened hearts." George added.
"Indubitably. We saw him carting himself up to the third floor corridor." Fred leaned in closer to Hermione and Ron. He winked as he whispered, and Hermione just knew he was telling the truth.
Neville was going to get them all in so much trouble.
"I suspect we'll be seeing some fireworks in the stairwell tonight!" The other brother giggled as if this was a good thing.
"No, he wouldn't do that. Neville's too nice." Ron said flatly. Seamus, who had overheard the entire thing nodded in agreement.
"Underneath that charming jelly-like exterior a volcano of butter beer is just waiting to erupt!" Fred said as his twin made hand motions of an erupting volcano.
That was the last straw. Hermione stood up from the table and adjusted her sweater before looking toward Ron and Seamus.
"Well, I'm going to go stop him. Anyone coming?" She asked authoritatively, hoping they would hop to it.
"'Mione, there's candy." Ron moaned still sitting at the table.
"Well, none of it is sugar-free!" She gave a disapproving huff before leaving the feast unnoticed by the professors merrily feasting at the head table. On her way out she accidentally bumped into Professor Quirrell, to whom she made her apologies to. She quickly continued on her way to the third floor.
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'Did you hear that?'
"Hear what?" Neville asked as he dotted the last 'I' in his Transfiguration homework. His stomach rumbled and he knew he had missed dinner. He didn't care too much though. He only wanted dessert anyway.
'Somebody was yelling.'
"No – I" Neville began before a faint scream echoed into the room.
The sound of stone and wood grinding together caused Neville to pale as his imagination went wild with what was happening.
"Someone's in trouble!" Neville whispered as he sped over to the door.
'This is a school, let the teachers deal with it,' Harry replied from his spot Neville's shoulder. His fur stuck up in numerous directions, he seemed quite agitated by the noise.
"But. Harry. No– It sounds like someone's really in trouble. What if they need help?"Neville cracked the door open and placed an ear to it.
'From a first year?' He didn't need to look at the cat to feel sarcasm wrapped up in the cat's reply.
Harry was right though; there wasn't much he could do. His fist clenched the door as the floor continued to vaguely rumble beneath them.
"Anything's better than nothing." Neville frowned when another panicked shout echoed down the corridor. His fingers twitched of their own will and he found it hard to breathe normally.
"I need to see what's happening." He decided firmly.
'Don't!' Harry clicked out in panic.
Neville reached up and gently grabbed the cat on his shoulder and lowered it to the floor. He placed the wand in the cat's collar, so he wouldn't accidently snap it if things to a turn for the worse outside the door.
"Stay here Harry; it would be too dangerous for you to go, you might get hurt. Anyway, what if Professor Quirrell is attacking another student? I need to find out what is going on – someone might be after the stone."
With grim determination, Neville took a deep breath, hoping to steady his nerves. He put his hand on the doorknob and pushed it open.
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When the door was open, revealing the eerily empty hallway, Neville darted as quietly as he could out the door. He left it open a crack for Harry to nudge his way out if he needed to. He stumbled into the hall, tripping over a piece of wood, and gawked at the state of the passage way.
In the center of the corridor, a thick wooden door lay twisted and splintered, heavy iron nails and hinges scattered. An oily substance had spattered the rock walls, dripping downward to the grimy floor. Neville gagged. The hallway smelled like rot and mold.
"H-hello?" Neville whispered in the hall.
Just around the hall near the stairs he could hear a familiar female voice frantically calling out spells. He darted forward, intending to help– and stopped with one foot forward at the sound of a strange snuffling noise in the dark empty doorway.
Dark liquid ran down the paved stone floor where the door had been ripped off. Neville squinted in the darkness looking for any movement. He gave up when a flash of color zoomed into the corridor and impacted a wall brightening the area with a haze of light.
A monstrous nose appeared in the dark and he squeaked when it moved back inside, making way for two large dog-like paws that began to dig at the door frame and rock walls. Pulverized rock and splinters basted into the air as the beast scrapped it from the walls. Neville raised his arm shielding his face from debris.
The light went out suddenly. The monster continued to widen the door hole.
Neville skittered off to the far wall and hoped the large paws couldn't reach him. He blindly clung to the wall as he moved to the sound of spell fire.
Closer to the staircase, the sounds of distressed spells were louder. Neville peeked around the corner and his stomach dropped in fear – it was Hermione.
He had to help her.
Forgetting about the canine monster, it was stuck where it was, he ran to base of the staircase ready to help her fight off the large troll between them.
Uh oh. Neville thought. He had read about trolls but he had no idea of what would work against it. All he had was the element of surprise. The tall gray troll was focused on Hermione with its back to him.
His mouth hung open when he realized just how big it actually was; and words his grandmother would have smacked him upside the head raced through his mind.
It seemed injured; thick dark green blood leaked from gashes scored across its back and limbs while Hermione fended it off with some sort of blocking spell. It must have been fighting the dog beforehand.
Hermione's face paled when she noticed Neville at the bottom of the stair case.
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He can't do it by himself you know this. Who will watch his back when something enviably goes wrong?
This school is more than just an ordinary school; there are more than bullies lurking behind these walls. Harry berated himself as he paced in front of the door.
Should I?
No he doesn't need help from me. He thought, as he turned back the way he had come.
I wouldn't be able to help anyway. There's nothing I can do. Suddenly, his ears perked up.
I could try to go get help; there might be someone else on the third floor! He could do that! With a game plan in mind he yowled his satisfaction.
Harry wormed his way past the door and out of the room as fast as his furry paws could carry him. Past the dog ripping into stone wall.
Past Neville watching the battle taking place on the stairs and around the corner to the second stairway – this one going down.
There were plenty of people in the Great Hall, and Harry was sure he could convince at least one person to follow him.
So focused in run down the stairs, he tripped. He rolled head over heel down the last few steps coming to a stop when his body tangled with a set of dark robes.
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"Stay back!" she shouted frantically; at him or the magical creature he didn't know.
He gripped his wand tightly. He had to do something, he just didn't know what. He wished his parents were here, before their accident. His gran said that his dad could have fought off anything.
Neville bit his lip. He would try his best.
The wand quaked in his trembling hand. His mind blanked on a good spell to use, the staircase crumbled and groaned under the weight of the troll as it step up toward Hermione.
If he just could get the troll off, the staircase would be able to finish its movement. Distracting it toward him was his only idea.
The stairway itself wobbled slightly to either side as if still choosing where to go. It was very unfortunate for Hermione, who was cornered at the top where the stairwell would have connected to either the fourth or fifth floor.
The troll raised its massive club and brought it down on toward the hunched girl. Neville sucked in a pained breath just watching, knowing that the body below the strike would be pulverized.
The dust cleared.
His eyes widened just as the troll's did.
The club had smashed into stone banister dropping bits of stone to basement levels far below. Gryffindor still had all of its students! Neville almost cheered.
Hermione coughed from her position on the step, folded and crouched against the side.
She raised her wand and shot a blast of something at the troll, only to have it reflect off the troll's hide and tear a picture frame apart.
"Hermione! The troll's skin is resistant to damage!"
"Neville! Tell me something I don't know!" The stressed out first year yelled back.
"S-sorry!"
"Don't apologize! Just help, please!"
"Okay!"
Neville held his wand high and tried a few spells he had learned.
The troll grunted when the dirty vest it wore disintegrated into thread. Neville whooped with glee. Hermione continued to incant spells – never stopping as each one was reflected or didn't work at all.
Oh.
He finally realized what Hermione was doing; going through every spell she knew systematically in an attempt to throw it off. Varied colors of lights reflected off the troll as each failed to have any impact.
He ducked in time to miss a spell shot that looked like one they had learned in charms a month ago.
Neville wracked his brain; Hermione was a muggleborns and going through spell after spell that they had learned in class and a few, like that barrier that they hadn't. She was clever enough but even she couldn't have learned many spells outside of class in the last two months.
The step the troll was standing on turned slippery and it dropped back a step, before smashing it clear.
There was a spell that he had seen Uncle Algie use once – Neville winced. If his aim wasn't true he'd hit Hermione and kill her for sure. The rabbits his uncle had cast at had gone flying after all; along with half of the garden.
The troll raised its club high once more and it waivered as if actually aiming this time.
Hermione's spells became a frantic mess of flying colors aimed at its eyes.
The troll grunted angrily, thick snot dripped down its face; Neville saw the club come down in slow motion.
He attacked.
"Bombarda." The word passed between his lips like an angry beehive of power. The troll smashed into the ledge and its club went flying.
Neville licked his numb lips as the troll looked at its empty hands in a stunned confusion.
It roared.
The grey skinned monster scooped the girl up swiftly and tossed her behind its back toward Neville.
Hermione screamed as she flew through the air. She waved her wand in front of herself and shouted the very thing they had been working on in charms class for the past week.
It worked.
Sort of.
Neville flinched when the slower moving girl hit the stone wall then crashed to the floor in a heap a few yards to the left of him.
"Hermione!" He ran over to her downed form and lightly shook her shoulder. Unbeknownst to him, the troll slowly ambled back down the stairs.
"Please wake up!" He touched her head, his fingers came away with red on them. He had no idea what to do.
The floor vibrated from heavy impact. He looked up and the angry troll was upon them. He cast the blasting spell once more; but his luck had failed, the troll barely moved backward.
Neville dashed away from the troll and girl, shouting to gets his attention.
The long grey face turned toward him and Neville smiled at his success.
Until he stumbled backward and fell over.
On the ground now, and within stepping distance of the troll, the monster seemed to decide that Neville was a bug, and tried to quash him with a giant foot.
The boy on the ground dodged around massive pounding feet by rolling to and fro. When he had enough momentum going he rolled to his feet and brandished his wand like champion.
Neville's eyes widened when he realized he was holding nothing but air. Somewhere in the rolling he had lost his only weapon.
The troll snatched him up before he had a chance to search.
I'mgoingtodie. I'mgoingtodie.
He closed his eyes as the beast slowly raised him up as if to examine the strange little creature he had caught.
Neville peeked with one eye open and was face to face with bulbous yellow eyes and nostrils leaking gooey snot.
About to die and his heart beating a faster that the growth of a hackizore latvium, Neville chuckled hysterically and bid the monster hello.
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"Get out of there, cat!" A voice came from above.
Harry untangled himself from the offending black cotton robes and yowled a protest back.
I don't have time for this.
Harry popped up and bit the man on his hand.
So gross.
When the man began to curse and swat at him he let go and began the two story-climb up the auxiliary staircase he had partially rolled down.
I'm coming with help Neville! Just hold on!
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Neville was not enjoying his stay in the hands of the troll, and while it seemed bemused to the fact that it had caught a second child in ten minutes; it seemed quite satisfied to slowly clench and unclench its hand.
He shoved his arms down in an attempt to fight back against the grip that was slowly squeezing him like a stress ball.
"Urgh, stop!" He shouted desperately.
His fingers wriggled as it finally became too painful.
Something was poking him in the side, and he realized that he had Fred and George's fireworks still in his pocket. He had meant to bring them down to the twins tonight!
If he could set them off, the troll would surely let him go!
Terrified by his vision beginning to get fuzzy around the edges and afraid his ribs were about to snap he struggled frantically to pull the fireworks out.
But to no avail.
Neville looked into the trolls face realizing that he was about to be squished like a grape at any moment.
He didn't want to die, but it seemed as though he and Hermione would if help didn't arrive soon.
Was it too much to ask for a lucky break?
One soon arrived in the form of a small, furious black cat that climbed up the troll like it was a tree and proceeded to yowl and spit while trying to take the troll's eyes out.
TBC