Chapter 11:
Pandemonium ensued shortly after Professor Quirrell's rather dramatic announcement and subsequent fainting spell. Dumbledore commanded that everyone return to their common rooms while the professors swept the castle in search of the mountain troll that had somehow managed to sneak its way inside Hogwarts. The Slytherin prefects quickly rounded up the Slytherins and started ushering them through the hallway. Harry was pondering how such a thing could have possibly happened while they made their way back to their common room.
Hogwarts had potent wards surrounding it to keep things that might endanger the students outside the castle's wards. Trolls weren't necessarily dark creatures they were too dimwitted for that. But they were dangerous, and prone to try and eat anything that moved. They were difficult to bring down as well because their thick skin meant only the most powerful of spells could affect them.
A tug to his sleeve pulled him from his musings. He turned to see Neville standing nervously behind him with Ron Weasley of all people.
Harry hadn't had a lot of interactions with the red haired boy so far. Weaseley was a bit loud, and spent a lot of time with the two other first year Gryffindor boys, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. The only real complaint he could say he had against the youngest Weasley son was that he, like the other Gryffindors, weren't friendly to Neville. Harry had become quite protective of the nervous boy who loved plants like he did.
The two silently and frantically motioned Harry into the alcove they were peeking out of. Harry was at the end of the line of Slytherins, and easily slipped out of line without anyone noticing he was leaving.
"What are you two doing here?" Harry frowned between the two boys.
"It's Hermione," Neville's face was pale.
"What about her?"
"She didn't come to the feast because someonewas mean to her," Neville sent Weasley a dark glare.
It was a look Harry didn't think the gentle boy had even been capable of. Weasley looked appropriately cowed, and Harry internally cheered at seeing his timid friend grow a bit of a backbone.
"So she doesn't know about the troll?" Harry sent his own glare at the red haired boy. He did feel slightly guilty that he hadn't noticed his friend's absence from the feast.
Neville shook his head.
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to put her in danger or anything. She was just being too bossy," Ron grumbled, clearly feeling guilty. "And I'm going to help you get her. Parvati said she was in the loo on the fourth floor."
"Wait, you'regoing to get her?" Harry's eyes shot wide. "Why didn't you get a professor?"
"They were already gone before we could try to tell them," Neville scuffed his foot against the stone.
"Right, so I guess I'm going with you both to make sure you don't get yourselves killed. We should get going. The troll is in the dungeon anyway. We can grab her and then I guess I'll walk back with her to Ravenclaw tower," Harry didn't give them time to debate it he just started striding forward.
The other boys quickly scurried after him. The Slytherins hadn't even made it down to the dungeons yet. The three of them carefully made their way to the fourth floor without incident.
A quick sprint down the hallway, and they were bursting into the girl's bathroom. The sounds of sniffles quickly cut off.
"Who's there?" Hermione demanded.
"Hermione, it's Harry, Neville, and Ron Weasley. We're here to collect you and bring you back to Ravenclaw Tower. But we have to go quickly there's a troll in the castle," Harry made his way towards the stalls where Hermione's voice was coming from while Ron and Neville waited anxiously in the doorway.
"What?" Hermione burst out of the stall. Her face was red and splotchy from crying.
"I'll explain later, we have to go," he grabbed her arm, and pulled her out the door.
Ron and Neville had no choice but to follow him once again. All four of them quickly started down the hallway towards the staircases. Before they could get there an overwhelming stench struck their nostrils. It was wafting from the direction they needed to go to reach safety.
"The troll," Ron gasped.
"What do we do?" Neville's eyebrows had disappeared into his bangs.
"We need to hide. Trolls have a good sense of smell," Hermione nervously rubbed her hands together.
Harry's eyes darted about the hallway for the closest room. However, before they could take a single step the troll rounded the corner. The mountain troll had to be over fifteen feet tall, and completely blocked the route to the stairs. Its skin was gray, and it had large drooping features. The clothing it wore was tattered animal hide, and a massive wooden club was clutched in its meaty fist. The mountain troll was like Solomon Grundy on Venom; although, Grundy was definitely stronger with his super zombie strength.
"Run!" Harry commanded the others who seemed to be frozen in shock.
They turned and sprinted back down the hallway as the troll gave chase. Its steps were lumbering and shook the walls.
"What should we do?" Ron cried as they ran.
"We should run back to the bathroom," Hermione suggested.
"I don't think the doors will be able to hold up against the troll and its club. We need to find a professor," Harry countered.
"I don't think we have time," Neville panted.
The chubby boy was having trouble keeping up with the other three. His face was red and he was starting to sweat. The troll was definitely gaining on them. It may be slower than them but with its longer legs it was quickly cutting the distance between them.
"I'll hold it off, you go for help," Ron offered.
"You won't last a second against it," Harry shook his head. "None of us will. We don't know enough magic yet."
Harry had an idea as to how he could try slowing down the troll without magic. It wasn't the best idea he'd ever had, and he hated going into a situation without more of a concrete plan. The only option he could come up with at the moment would be to use his own natural abilities.
He didn't give himself a moment to second-guess his reckless decision. While his friends kept running he stopped and turned to face the troll. Harry yanked off his inhibitor cuff to reveal his natural green skin. Moving with the speed and dexterity Selina and Harley had drilled into him he sprinted at the troll. He dodged the troll's swinging club at the last minute, and darted between the creature's legs. Harry slapped a hand against the troll's bare skin, and focused on pouring every bit of poison he had through his hand.
There was no way to know if this would even work but he had to try. The troll roared and twisted away from Harry's touch in order to face him. It lifted its club to take a swing at him. If successful it would probably crush Harry into a paste.
"Hey, ugly!" Ron's shout made the troll turn around again.
Harry darted away and watched as it turned. The troll's left leg trembled beneath its weight. The poisoned leg couldn't hold the troll up, and it collapsed beneath the creature. Seeing that his poison had some effect on the creature Harry leapt forward again. Using the troll's kneeling position as a springboard he swung himself up and around onto the troll's back. Ignoring the smell he once more focused on releasing as much poison as he could into the troll.
The troll thrashed for several heart stopping minutes. But slowly its movements became sluggish. The mountain troll eventually stopped moving at all. It let out a low groan and tumbled sideways. On the way down it bashed its face into the wall leaving a small hole in the stone. Harry released his hold, and leapt away from the downed beast. It was still breathing, but that breathing was very labored.
He honestly hadn't thought it would work or be over so quickly. He must be more toxic than he thought he was if he could down a full-grown mountain troll like this in such a short amount of time. Of course he had never actually tried to generate more poison. Harry had only ever practiced trying to get rid of it.
"Whoa!"
Harry's head snapped up from his perusal of the troll. Hermione, Neville, and Ron were standing several feet away staring at him in various states of shock.
"How did you do that? Why are you green?" Ron gaped at him.
Harry closely examined their faces. They didn't look disgusted or terrified. In fact Ron's face was quickly transforming into awe.
"I—" Harry hesitated as he quickly slipped his inhibitor cuff back on. He was thankful it hadn't gotten damaged in the struggle.
"You'll have to tell us later. Right, now we should get our story straight before the professors arrive," Hermione butted in.
Her brown eyes caught Harry's emerald green, and understanding passed between them. The intelligent girl had recognized Harry's reluctance to share, and had provided him an out for the moment.
Harry relaxed, and he sent her a smile of thanks. She returned it with a firm nod of her own before turning to scan the scene.
"Why do we need to come up with a story?" Ron's red eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He had completely missed the interaction between him and Hermione.
Hermione glanced at Harry. Except for a privileged few the wizarding world didn't know he was anything but the son of Lily and James Potter. He knew the wizarding world would know the truth soon enough. The information was bound to leak once his parents filed the paperwork Dumbledore had sent them to get them recognized as his birth parents and legal guardians. But at the moment he didn't want to deal with the added drama the information would undoubtedly cause. The other students were still getting over the fact that he had been sorted into Slytherin.
"I don't think Harry wants the professors to know about how he knocked the troll out," Hermione's eyes had drifted to the troll's club and the hole it had put in the wall with its head, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Why—?" Ron looked at Harry, and seemed to finally recognize just how uncomfortable Harry was. "Oh, all right then. Fine with me. I won't say anything. So what are we going to tell everyone then?"
"We used the levitation spell we just learned in Charms to lift the troll's club, and bash it on the head to knock it out," Hermione announced.
"And then it tripped and crashed into the wall," Neville finished brightly.
"Works for me," Ron turned to Hermione. "I'm really sorry about what I said Hermione. You were just trying to help me with the spell."
"Apology accepted, Ronald. Maybe, I shouldn't have been quite so pushy either. I could have explained the spell in a gentler way. Thank you all for coming after me. I don't know what would have happened if all of you hadn't arrived in time," Hermione smiled at the three of them.
"We should probably try to find the professors now. I don't know how long the troll will stay unconscious," Harry prompted.
The other three nodded, and all of them started walking back towards the stairs. They had barely made it a couple of steps down the hallway when two of their professors rounded the corner. Snape, and McGonagall were quickly making their way towards them. Snape's robes were billowing behind him as he strolled forward, and McGonagall looked ready to take on a mountain troll all by herself.
"Children! What are you doing here?" McGonagall demanded.
Hermione quickly took charge. She stepped in front of the two professors, and weaved a surprisingly believable story that put herself at fault for their current predicament. She claimed she had been the one who wanted to test herself against a mountain troll, and that the three of them had come to her rescue.
It hadn't been part of their plan. Ron appeared to be utterly baffled that she would lie to the professors in order to protect him. If she had told the truth Ron would have undoubtedly been given detention for making another student cry.
In the end they were both awarded points and deducted points for the stunts they had pulled. But the points didn't matter to Harry. He was just glad they had made it without any serious injuries. Once everything was settled the professors sent them on their way back to their dormitories.
The next day Harry pulled his friends, and Ron aside after dinner. He told them about his mom and the abilities they shared. Ron and Neville didn't know anything about his mom or Gotham in general. Hermione of course had read all about it, and had even heard of Harry's alternate persona. She, like the rest of the world, was convinced his mom was a villain. Harry quickly assured Hermione that she wasn't, and that Dumbledore knew all about it even though the wizard didn't really know about their powers or the whole villain side of things. The knowledge that the headmaster was aware of him and his mom put them all ease.
Sharing his green side with his friends drew them all closer together. Ron still spent the majority of his time with Dean and Seamus but he was friendly now with Neville, Hermione, and Harry. The red haired boy was also markedly kinder to Neville, and had made a point to get his fellow housemates to do the same. It was nice to see that Neville wasn't so isolated in his house anymore.
/
"What exactly are we doing again?" Neville asked nervously as the two of them made their way towards the Forbidden Forest.
It was a few weeks after the incident with the troll.
It wasn't quite dark yet. The sun was only just setting, and dinner was only just beginning in the Great Hall. Since everyone would be heading to dinner or preparing to head to dinner Harry thought this would be an ideal time to try planting the enhanced Venus Fly Trap. He had brought the small pod with him from home, and now it had now grown far too large for the pot in his room to contain it anymore. It needed space to grow, and what better space to grow than the large and mysterious magical forest placed conveniently by his school? Harry wanted to observe how being planted in a highly magical forest influenced the plant's growth.
"I told you, I wanted to try and see if one of my mom's genetically altered plants would be able to grow in a magical environment. It will be quite an interesting experiment don't you think? The melding of science and magic," Harry inquired, eyes sparkling.
Harry had shared a bit of the altered plants he and his mom had created with Neville after the incident with the troll. The other boy was fascinated that muggles would have been able to create plants like the ones his mom and Ivy did. Hermione and Harry had been working to expand the timid boy's knowledge of the muggle world in general. Neville was constantly awed by the details Harry and Hermione shared with him about the Justice League and the villains they faced. Neville was always eager to learn more.
Neville did look curious despite his nervousness about having to actually enter the Forbidden Forest. "It would be kind of neat if a muggle plant acquired some magical features. But won't we be expelled for going in the forest?"
Harry was able to determine that there wasn't any security around the Forbidden Forest after questioning Hagrid. The half giant was a good source of information when it came to the grounds surrounding Hogwarts and it was very easy to get that information out of him. The massive man also held a fondness for dangerous magical beasts.
But even without any security spells around the forest there was always a chance of being discovered by a professor. It wasn't an expulsion worthy crime but he would probably receive a couple of detentions for it.
The risk of detention was worth it to Harry.
"They won't expel us, and we're only stepping in a foot or so. We'll only be inside long enough to plant it. No one will even know we were here, and if they do we'd only get a few detentions for it," Harry soothed the other boy.
He'd been trying to boost the other boy's confidence, which was one of the reasons he had dragged the other boy along with him.
"Won't you need to come back to tend to it?" Neville worried.
"It's quite sturdy. It's meant to survive and thrive in nearly any climate or environment. It won't need to be tended once I've planted it. It will either thrive or wither. I'll just come out to observe its development every so often, and you don't have to come with me if you're worried about being caught," Harry reassured.
"I do want to know what will happen. I just don't want to be expelled. Gran would not be happy. They didn't even think I would be able to get in to Hogwarts in the first place. Did I tell you how they thought I was a squib?" Neville asked as they stepped slightly past the tree line.
"You've mentioned how your great Uncle Algie pushed you out the window to try and get you to do some magic," Harry searched the forest floor for a suitable place to plant the small green and purple pod.
Really wizards could be utterly ridiculous sometimes. But then when you could regrow entire limbs, and heal most physical injuries with a wave of a wand or a sip of a potion why would you need to worry about serious harm? Harry supposed he could kind of see why they were so cavalier about such things.
"Yeah, I bounced," Neville's chest puffed out proudly. "It was my first time doing accidental magic."
"I don't know if I remember my first bout of accidental magic," Harry paused thoughtfully. "I think it must have been when I changed my Aunt Petunia's hair blue once when she was yelling at me."
"Why was she yelling at you?" Neville questioned.
"I don't even remember. She yelled about a lot of things that in hindsight really didn't matter," Harry shrugged uncomfortably.
Harley had helped him see just how bitter a woman his aunt truly was.
"My Gran is quite stern as well. She's just protective since my parents, you know…" Neville trailed off, looking away.
"Did something happen to them? Did they die in the war like my Aunt Lily and Uncle James?" Harry asked gently.
Neville had never so much as mentioned his parents before only his grandmother. Harry had never asked about them, not wanting to pry into his life when his friend showed him the same courtesy.
"Oh, they're not dead…They… it's hard to explain," Neville mumbled, looking highly uncomfortable.
"Right, um what do you think of planting the pod over there?" Harry quickly changed the subject by drawing Neville's attention to a relatively secure spot between a couple of thick bushes.
"I think it looks like a good spot. The soil looks quite rich," Neville observed.
The place would provide a decent cover for the currently little plant until it was big enough to protect itself. It would live off mostly insects at first but as it grew it would eventually move on to hunting larger game. If it survived of course. Harry had high hopes but he couldn't be absolutely certain the little plant would live in the highly magical forest.
Neville dug a small hole in the dark earth between the bushes. Harry carefully transferred the small green and purple pod into the rich dark soil of the Forbidden Forest. The little plant nuzzled against him once it was safely settled. Harry sent a pulse of fondness towards the little plant, and it sent him a toothy little grin at him.
"I'll call you Chloris," he dubbed the tiny plant.
"Chloris is the name of the Greek goddess of flowers, isn't it?" Neville asked as he watched the little pod weave about on its vine, taking in its new environment.
"It is," Harry nodded.
"I like it."
Harry smiled. "Thanks."
With their task completed he and Neville swiftly returned to the castle for dinner without anyone the wiser of what was now growing in the Forbidden Forest.
/
Severus Snape carefully studied the vial of green liquid in front of him. It had taken him nearly a month to synthesize the toxin from the mountain troll's blood.
Minerva and Albus had easily believed the story the Granger girl had spun about the mountain troll being knocked out by a first year spell and the troll's own club. Severus did have to admit the girl was surprisingly convincing, and wasn't the type of student a professor would expect to craft a lie. He had vowed to keep a closer eye on her after that. If she was willing to lie once she was bound to do it again.
Severus knew there was something more to the story. The three of them had carried the mountain troll deep into the Forbidden Forest, and Albus had tasked him with disposing of the mountain troll. Left on his own with the unconscious beast Severus had taken a closer look. He had not fully believed four first years were actually capable of dispatching a full-grown mountain troll with only luck and a first year level charm.
What he had discovered were pulsing dark veins arching off from two separate spots on the troll's body. One spot was located on its right ankle and another on its upper back and neck. The swollen green veins were much worse on its neck and upper back.
Severus knew this was not a natural occurrence for a mountain troll, and had certainly never heard of a spell capable of doing this to a troll. When he had cut open the troll's skin near these veins putrid green blood poured out. Severus, having spent years around poisonous materials and potions, had instantly known the substance was deadly. His interest piqued Severus had collected several vials of the green sludge the troll's blood had become, and then dispatched of the mountain troll permanently.
He was not sure if the troll would have survived its obvious poisoning. The creature was barely breathing by the time they had set it down on the forest floor. The dark green veins had continued to spread across the troll's gray skin even while Severus observed it.
For the past several weeks Severus had been conducting multiple tests on the toxic green mire that the troll's blood had become. Eventually he was successful in extracting a pure form of the toxin from the poisoned blood samples. Severus then went about trying to place the toxin. So far he had been completely unsuccessful in identifying the source of the poison. He had ruled out hundreds of different possible magical poisons and potions.
Severus had eventually come to the conclusion that the toxin that surely would have killed the mountain troll was not magical in nature. If it had been he was confident he would have been able to identify it. Severus wasn't sure where it came from. He had considered it was something that Quirrell had cooked up to keep the troll Severus was certain the stuttering man had let in somewhat docile. However, acquiring a non-magical toxin of such a caliber did not seem like something Quirrell would be capable of. Quirrell may have been the Muggle Studies professor yet that meant nothing as the skittish man had barely spent any time around actual muggles. Wizard textbooks about muggle culture were vastly outdated.
The majority of wizards had no idea just how much the muggle world had changed in the last decade alone. The only ones who did realize were muggleborns and halfbloods. Their tales of men and women who could run faster than a wizard could throw a spell, fly without brooms, and toss around buildings were not believed by purebloods. Severus was not certain most purebloods would even be able to understand the concept of aliens.
If the toxin did not come from Quirrell the questioned remained were did it come from?
At the moment Severus did not have the answer. He had other research he was meant to be conducting in his very limited spare time. Growing up in the muggle world meant he could competently navigate a computer and the Internet. He had kept up with his computer skills as muggle technology evolved by leaps and bounds. Albus had been looking into Bruce Wayne. Albus had asked him to gather some more information about Harry Potter's muggle father.
It had been a huge shock to the both of them to discover Harry Potter was James and Lily's nephew and not their son. It was certainly information the Potters had decided to keep close. Severus's only consolation was that Albus, the unofficial keeper of secrets and knowledge of what seemed to be all wizards, also had not known Harry Potter was Lily's sister Ivy's biological son.
Severus did wonder about the effect, if any, Harry Potter's true parentage might have on the prophecy. Was Potter even the prophecy child? He pushed the thought from his mind. Severus would leave the meaning of the prophecy for Albus to obsess over. Severus wasn't one to dwell on divination, prophecy, or fate.
Discovering Harry Potter was not Lily's son but Ivy's was an unexpectedly hard blow. Severus had been mentally preparing himself all summer to come face to face with a James Potter's clone in possession of Lily's eyes. Harry Potter had black hair but it came from his muggle father, and he had Lily's eyes but only because it was a color Lily had shared with her older sister.
It was surprisingly devastating to discover the boy was not Lily's son. Severus had not been expecting the feeling of loss that overcame him at the news. He had hated the boy before even meeting him for what Harry Potter represented, a symbol of losing Lily to James Potter. However, the boy had meant of a piece of Lily still existed in the world. Now, there was no piece of Lily that still lived, and Lily had died protecting a child that was not even hers. Severus could never forgive the boy for that.
He could not forgive the boy for being the son of the wrong sister.
In Severus's opinion the three Evans sisters could not have been more different. Petunia had always been so spiteful and jealous of Lily's magic. That jealousy had eventually turned into hate. She had never wanted anything to do with him or Lily especially once Lily started going to Hogwarts. The only blonde Evans sister had only grown to become more hostile and bitter as she grew older.
Ivy on the other hand had been quite interested in her sister's life at Hogwarts. When she could be pulled away from her own studies of plants of course. Ivy had also done the opposite of shunning Lily and Severus. She would oftentimes follow them around and would try to weasel her way between them. It had never been anything overt. Ivy had been the quiet Evans sister. Still Severus and Ivy had shared quite the animosity towards one another. Their animosity had been maintained until the oldest Evans sister had eventually left to study in America and seemed to disappear off the face of the planet.
Ivy was a large reason for Lily's opinion of him becoming so negative. Ivy had always been whispering in Lily's ear about how awful he was, and that she shouldn't be friends with him. Unlike Petunia, Lily and Ivy had retained a positive relationship after Lily discovered she was a witch. Lily had been more apt to listen to Ivy's opinions. Severus disliked Petunia but he loathed Ivy for her attempts to break up his and Lily's friendship. He loathed her more for looking so similar to Lily despite having such different personalities.
Harry Potter was Ivy's son with a rich muggle man. Severus's research had uncovered that Bruce Wayne was not just any rich muggle either; he was one of the richest men on the planet. He was a multi-billionaire and not a very bright one either. He was the owner of an international technology company, and had more money than even the Malfoys could ever dream of having. Not that he deserved it.
People like Bruce Wayne disgusted Severus. The muggle was wealthy beyond measure. He had everything and instead of doing anything with his life he drank, partied, and made a general fool of himself. Wayne had seemed relatively competent for a muggle at the meeting they held in his grand manor house. However, the list of evidence Severus uncovered proved the meeting to have been a fluke. The multiple news sources proved Wayne was definitely anything but competent. Wayne was a fool and an idiot. Severus was not sure if that made him better or worse than James Potter who had been a fool and a bully.
Wayne had not even acknowledged Harry Potter as his child in the muggle world, and there was no sign of Ivy actually being involved with Wayne or her son. Was Ivy really still around or had she dumped her child with his father and run off to study the Amazon Rain Forest like she had talked incessantly of doing as a child? He would not have put it passed the woman. She had been uncommonly obsessed with plants even as a child.
Severus sighed and put away the vial of green toxin. He pulled out the latest stack of essays courtesy of all the little dunderheads he was forced to attempt to educate. He always put off grading the first year essays until last minute because of how atrocious they were. At the very least Ivy's son had not inherited his muggle father's brain. As much as Severus hated him, Severus had to admit that the not-actually-a-Potter was intelligent.
Ivy and Lily had shared more than their looks. They had both been intelligent. Even Petunia had been intelligent not that she had bothered to do anything with that intelligence.
Severus would admit Harry Potter was actually intelligent on pain of death. He would also continue to punish the arrogant little brat just as he deserved for being the son of the wrong sister. Severus would not give Ivy's spawn the satisfaction of praise even when he deserved it, and quickly started scribbling red ink across the essay pages.
