Chapter 10 - Halloween

Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry, Andromeda and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, Andromeda filled everyone in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.

"Or both," said Dorcas.

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

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.

Hermione was now refusing to speak to any of them, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus. All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by two long, thin packages carried by six large screech owls each. Andromeda 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 them right in front of her and Harry, knocking her bacon to the floor, much to her disappointment. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letters on top of the parcels.

Andromeda 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 everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session. Don't worry about having a detention tonight.

Professor McGonagall

Andromeda had difficulty hiding her glee as he handed the note to Dorcas and Noah to read. She turned to Harry and read his note. It was the exact same note, except it didn't mention any detention.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."

They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"Those are broomsticks," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, Black, 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 Harry. "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?" he squeaked.

"Potter and Black have been sent broomsticks, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry and Andromeda. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that we've got it," he added.

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion. "Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall we wouldn't be on the team..."

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the packages in Harry and Andromeda's hands.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Dorcas.

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

Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.

Andromeda had a lot of trouble keeping her mind on her lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where her new broomstick was lying under her bed, or straying off to the Quidditch field where she'd be learning to play that night. She bolted her dinner that evening, and then the five of them rushed to the Gryffindor dormitories to look at the broomsticks.

"Wow," Dorcas sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto Andromeda's blanket. "Half of the Holyhead Harpies have one of these!"

Even Andromeda, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.

At seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry and Andromeda left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. They'd never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Andromeda 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 Wood, Harry and Andromeda mounted their broomsticks and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling - they swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field playing follow the leader. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever she wanted at her lightest touch.

"Hey, Potter, Black, come down!'

Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry and Andromeda landed next to him.

"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant... you two really are naturals. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."

He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.

"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."

"Three Chasers," Andromeda repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.

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

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

"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.

"Never mind," said Andromeda quickly.

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

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Andromeda. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" She pointed at the three balls left inside the box.

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

He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.

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

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

"Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat and sent it zigzagging away into the air - it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.

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

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

"Very good," said Wood.

"Er - have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand.

"Never at Hogwarts. 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, Potter. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers -"

"- Unless they crack my head open."

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

Wood 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 Wood, "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 his 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?"

Harry and Andromeda shook their heads.

"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, 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."

He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch. Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. He would throw a few, then swap and try and block the Quaffle from going through the hoops. He stopped one of the ten shots Andromeda made.

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."

Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all her homework and detentions, but Andromeda could hardly believe it when he realized that she'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had. Her lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.

Her and Harry's detention with Snape still happened, but all he made them do was clean cauldrons. Andromeda also had taken to pulling pranks on the Slytherins ranging from individual to the entirety of the house.

On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. At breakfast, Dorcas and Noah were confused when once again a letter came for her from Remus (neither Remus nor Andromeda had told them about Andromeda being Dorcas' cousin), which she was ecstatic about and stashed in her robe for later. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought 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. Harry and Andromeda partnered up, as did Dorcas and Noah. Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to any of them since the day Harry and Andromeda's broomsticks had arrived. This must have been a challenge seeing as she lived in the same dormitory as Andromeda and Dorcas.

"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 wasn't very difficult and Andromeda got it on her first try, but Harry swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop.

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," Harry 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.

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, too!"

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to everyone as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly. "

Someone knocked into Harry sending him into Andromeda and they hurried past them. It was Hermione. Andromeda caught a glimpse of her face - and was startled to see that she was in tears.

"I think she heard you," Noah said.

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"Don't be so mean, Ron," said Dorcas, rushing after Hermione.

Hermione and Dorcas didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Andromeda, Noah and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling Lavender Brown that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone, but that Dorcas wouldn't leave her. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of their 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 banquet.

Andromeda was just helping herself to some steak and bacon 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 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!"

"How could a troll get in?" Harry 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," Andromeda said. "He should have told me, though."

Peeves had taken a liking to Andromeda and she sometimes helped him with his pranks, where he sometimes helped her with hers (like last week when all the Slytherins were pained red and roared when they talked).

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Andromeda suddenly grabbed Harry and Noah's arms.

"I've just thought - Hermione."

"What about her?" Ron said, stopping, too.

"She doesn't know about the troll."

Ron bit his lip.

"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" hissed Noah, pulling Harry, Andromeda and Ron behind a large stone griffin.

Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Search me."

"Probably searching for shampoo."

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.

"Can you smell something?"

Andromeda sniffed and a foul stench reached her 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. Noah pointed - at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward 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 a dull, granite gray, 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, 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.

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 keys in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," said Noah nervously.

They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Andromeda managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.

'Yes!"

Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop - high, petrified screams - and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.

"Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.

"It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped.

It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? There was no way they were going to let Hermione and Dorcas die. Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran inside.

Hermione Granger and Dorcas were shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if they were about to faint. The troll was advancing on them, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione and Dorcas. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him 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 toward Ron instead, giving Noah time to run around it.

"Come on, run, run!" Noah yelled at Hermione and Dorcas, trying to pull them toward the door, but they couldn't move, they were still flat against the wall, their mouths open with terror.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Andromeda in a corner, who was yelling loudly, was the nearest, and had no way to escape.

Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped - it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright and Dorcas and Noah tried pulling her up; 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, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Harry got to his feet and Andromeda rushed to him, throwing her arms around him. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done. Noah and Dorcas were dragging Hermione towards the others.

It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Is it - dead?"

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

He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.

"Urgh - troll boogers."

He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

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 them all. Andromeda had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Andromeda's mind.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Everyone looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Harry and Andromeda a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor and Andromeda opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Then a small voice came out of the shadows.

"Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.

"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. Andromeda distracted it, Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived. Dorcas and Noah were trying to get me out."

Harry, Andromeda, Dorcas, Noah and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.

"Well - in that case..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head. Andromeda 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 this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're 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 remainder of the group.

"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 and your guardians will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried out of the chamber and 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.

"We should have gotten more than twenty points," Ron grumbled.

"Fifteen, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."

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

"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Andromeda reminded him.

They had 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. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.

But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

After they finished eating, the bid each other goodnight and went to their dorms. Andromeda crawled onto her bed and too her letter from Remus out and read:

Meda,

Sorry that this response is a little late.

Congratulations on making the team. I should come see you play sometime.

I hope you aren't getting yourself into too much trouble, but it is nice to hear you're having fun.

Professor Snape went to school with me, your father, Harry's father and Noah's father. We didn't get along too well. His hair doesn't seemed to have changed if it's still greasy. If you're up for getting into trouble with him, call him Snivellus. It was a nickname we called him in school. He hated it.

Professor McGonagall did seem a bit fond of us, too. Sirius used to call her those names. That's probably why she hasn't fought you too much on the matter.

We used to pull pranks too. If you ever need Peeves to help you with a prank, ask him if you could help him repeat the Marauder's Halloween prank from 1975.

Sorry if calling you Meda was confusing. We used to call you that for short. That and 'Dromeda.

Uncle Moony.

She wrote back:

Uncle Moony,

Thanks for the idea of calling Snape, Snivellus. I'll be sure to test it out. We had our first practice a while ago and I think I'm in love with Quidditch. Minnie bought Harry and I Nimbus Two Thousands. You should have seen Malfoy's face when he found out we were allowed them!

My detentions are almost over. I don't know what I'm going to do with all this free time.

I love my classes. Transfiguration is probably my best subject so far. Charms is easy too. I was the first in the class to levitate a feather today! I was hoping for Defence Against the Dark Arts to be my favourite but it's a joke. I think our teacher is petrified of everything that moves. Potion is pretty easy, too. I'm not too fond of Astronomy, I hate the moon. I always get sick around the full moon. Do you know what that's about?

My first Quidditch game is the beginning of next month. If you were allowed to come, it would be great.

Love,

Meda.

She folded the letter up and set off to the owlery. She didn't feel very tired, so she wandered the castle, listening out for any signs of teachers or Filch. After ten minutes of roaming around and exploring, she heard something that made her freeze. Mrs Norris was staring at her meowing. The cat walked off, no doubt to find Filch, so Andromeda bolted down the corridor and found an opening. She went through it and was face with a hall full of paintings.

There was a painting of a fruit bowl in front of her and she remembered a conversation she had heard when listening to Fred and George. She reached out and tickled the pear and the painting opened.

She gasped and stepped through the hole in the wall. The kitchens were huge. There were four long tables which Andromeda assumed were for the Great Hall. A small creature she had never seen before spoke in a squeaky voice.

"Hello, Miss?"

Andromeda looked down at it. It had huge ears and a long, pointy nose with huge eyes. It wore nothing but a piece of worn out cloth.

"Uh, yes?" Andromeda said uncertainly.

"Were you hungry at all, Miss? Thirsty?" the small creature said.

"If - if you had any hot chocolate, that would be great please," said Andromeda.

The creature seemed to light up at the request and led her over to a fireplace and went to fix her a cup of hot chocolate. She sat down and waited for the creature to return.

It came back not two minutes later, a steaming mug pressed into Andromeda's hands.

"Thank you," Andromeda said. "What are you?"

"I am a house-elf, Miss," the creature squeaked. "My name is Tiny."

"Well, Tiny," Andromeda said, and the house-elf beamed. "It is nice to meet you."

After finishing her drink, Andromeda stepped out of the kitchens and tried to navigate her way back to the Gryffindor tower. Half-way there, she was met with an unfortunate sight. Filch smiling evilly down at her.