Halloween
Time flew by (like some sorta drunk hippogriff, if you look at it) and very soon, it was already Halloween.
Students were in a pretty much light-hearted mood since Voldemort seemed to have decreased his raids to a minimum.
Indeed, even the ministry was getting careless. Moddy, though, will always be paranoid.
Damien, however, was intrigued by the lack of action. He could have very easily discovered the Dark Lord's plans but that would have been very boring. Knowing everything was boring.
He was prepared to bet, um, not anything of his for sure...okay, Draco...that omnicient people would go mental within one moment of knowing everything. He had been teetering disturbingly on the verge of insanity when his instincts kicked in and rejected the information.
flashback
'I'm
ready' his whispered words pierced the deathly silence like a hot
knife. But he was never ready. Knowledge was like power. And whereas
power crumbled mountains and tore human flesh apart, knowledge
onslaughts the mind. Far more dangerous.
Damien, fortunately, had never underestimated the human mind. Brute force was an asset, yes, but dragons, lions, sharks (even pigs) had more of it than normal humans.
'The mind is the reason we tower the evolutionary heirarchy.' His tutor, a bioterrorist Niccolo had employed for a while, said. "We are not beasts of senseless rage nor are we driven by the desire for food. We know what we're supposed to do and how to do it."
'What am I supposed to do?' his head snapped up. 'Wait! No!'
He was being attacked from all over. After all, what better way to learn magic than experiencing it firsthand?
In
this world, knowledge manifested itself as a physical force. Quite
painful. One can only learn so much as his pain threshold can take.
Knowledge, after all, should not be received with ease. Like power.
end flashback
Yes,
he thought. Finding out things the usual way is far better.
It's
also one of the ways to keep myself from power-insanity. Or pain insanity. Whatever the case.
"Hurry up, Santelli." Draco called, tapping his foot impatiently.
His envy that Damien made the quidditch team (and he didn't) had finally shown itself, ugly green bugger. He got over it eventually (settling to join the team in their second year) but that didn't stop him from being quite snobby (poor Crabbe and Goyle).
The annoyance he felt for the dark-haired boy this time was the latter's relaxed attitude, as if he had all the time in the world. They were always almost late, arriving in class just seconds before the teacher.
It would have been funny if McGongall wasn't such a priss, Draco thought.
"Relax, Draco, we're never late." Damien laughed at his friend's ruffled expression.
"Well, one can't be too sure," Draco sniffed, leaving earlier.
But Damien wasn't late.
"You're just lucky Flitwick isn't here yet," Draco muttered crossly. "And you missed such a perfectly good let's-taunt-Weasley session."
"My loss," Damien rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Malfoy, you're such a tight-ass."
Flitwick bustled in a few moment later.
"Terribly sorry, fifty years of teaching at Hogwarts and I lost my way," the short man said in his squeaky voice. A few students laughed. "I could've sworn that passage led to here but instead I end up in..." He stopped, squeaked, and fell off his chair.
"Let's get a move on, shall we?" he chuckled. "Today, we shall be practicing levitation, making objects fly. We'll be starting with feathers, mind you, Mr. Finnigan." he added after Seamus looked expectantly at his table, keen of levitating it.
"Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing," Flitwick, perched atop a pile of books, demonstrated. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick!"
The students all did the movement. Flitwick hadn't instructed them to say the magic words yet.
Impatiently, Chris yawned and pointed his wand at his feather. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather floated up towards the ceiling.
"Lucky git," Draco mumbled.
"Ooh, Granger got it as well," Damien observed, seeing Hermione's feather float four feet above the ground.
Ron, jealous of his housemates' achievements, tried to do the trick as well.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong, Ronald" Hermione said quietly from beside him. "It's wing-gar-dium levi-o-sa, say 'gar' longer..."
Ron, in his bad mood, accidentally set fire to his feather.
"It's no wonder no one can stand that silly know-it-all," Ron muttered to Chris as soon as class let out. "She's a nightmare!"
Chris didn't say anything but both sltyherins knew that the redhead was torn between having Ron (groveling one-man fan club) or Hermione (annoying know-it-all but good for homework) as an ally.
"Hey!" Draco hissed as someone bumped into him, making him drop his bag. "Watch it, Granger!"
"The nerve of that mudblood…" Draco sneered, wiping imaginary 'mudblood filth' from his bag and robes. "Ugh, I need a bath..."
"She was crying, Draco," Damien observed.
"And why do we care?"
Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. Parvati Patil was heard telling her friends how Granger had been crying all afternoon in a bathroom.
Hermione was put out of their minds, however, when the Gryffindors entered the entrance hall and saw the Halloween decorations. She wasn't much in their thoughts to begin with. anyway.
Live bats fluttered the walls and ceiling while hundreds more swooped over the house tables. The hall was lit with glowing jack-o-lanterns (someone had found the idea of making them fall over random slytherins appealing. And, I must say, Pansy-Pumpkinhead looked lovelier than she had ever been). Sweets of all kinds came along with the feast, enough to give everyone humongous toothaches.
Damien picked up a small toffee and tentatively bit into it. Draco was chewing on a licorice wand.
"You really ought to try one of –"
Professor Quirell came running into the hall, frowning deeply. Everyone stared as he reached the Headmaster's chair and announced, "Troll – in the dungeons! You ought to know, it's your school..."
And he went out as quickly as he came, perhaps to battle the troll.
There was an uproar.
"Prefects," Dumbledore rumbled, using his authoritative persona. "Lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately! Professors follow me..."
"How could a troll get in?" Damien sneered. Trolls were too stupid to get in by themselves.
"I don't know," Draco shrugged, trying to hide his fright. Malfoys simply don't panic. "Maybe someone let it in as a Halloween joke."
"Some joke...The Dark Lord has an army of trolls, doesn't he?" Damien whispered as they passed groups of people hurrying in different directions, completely irrational.
"If he has, then Professor Quirrel would be in charge. He has a special gift with them, I've heard." Draco said as they jostled past some frightened Hufflepuffs.
"Interesting,"
Halfway to the dungeons, together with other Slytherins, someone suddenly stopped.
"Isn't it strange that they're sending us to the dungeons when the troll is supposedly there?"
Draco frowned. "No way I'm going there now. Come on, let's hide somewhere, I'm not putting my life on the line by staying here." He whispered to Damien.
The rest of Slytherin stayed put. Some (whom Draco didn't trust were powerful enough) were ready to Avada Kedavra a troll if need be. Who was to say it was illegal when lives were at stake?
They slipped through a deserted side corridor and hid behind a giant stone gryffin. The sound of quick footsteps made them hide deeper.
"It's Uncle Sev," Draco said, wide-eyed. He jumped from behind their hiding place before Damien could stop him.
"Uncle Sev!" Draco called after the potions master. "I thought the teachers would be going after the troll?"
"Not now, Draco," Snape said impatiently. "I have to get something for our Lord quickly while Quirrel distracts the rest of them."
Snape spotted Damien out of the corner of his eye. "The two of you get back to your dormitories."
"What are getting for him, Uncle Sev?" Draco asked curiously, tagging along.
"Don't concern yourself, Draco." Snape sniffed and walked away, heading for the third floor.
"It's the thing you failed to get from Gringotts, isn't it?" Damien stated in a matter-of-fact way, keeping up with Snape.
Snape
frowned. This boy is intelligent. Dangerously so.
Well, that's one thing I know about him...one thing to report to
Dumbledore...messing with MY slytherins, old ham...
"It is!" Draco smirked, butting in. "Can't you at least give us a hint what it is?"
Snape scowled one last time and was gone.
"Wonder how long it'll take him to come back?" Damien remarked, back in the relative safety of their hiding place once more.
"He can take his time; the dungeons are enormous. Quirrel probably has the professors on a gigantic wild goose chase." Draco smiled at the thought. "You don't really think there's a troll, do you?"
"I think so, yes, it'll look quite suspicious if there isn't." Damien said, peering out. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Someone shouted…and that awful stench…" Damien wrinkled his nose as did Draco.
Now the noise was perfectly audible, a low grunting and footfalls of giant smelly feet at the end of the passage. Something huge was headed towards them. They squeezed themselves deeper. "Oof! Geroff me!"
The thing came into view: it was horrible and carrying an even more horrible club. It was one of the biggest and most ferocious trolls they had ever seen, compared to the book illustrations anyway.
It entered a room on its left.
Damien clamped his hand in Draco's mouth when the latter nearly shouted at the sight of two redhead boys. They weren't the only ones outside the dormitories, apparently.
In one great leap, Chris Potter slammed the door and locked it.
"Yes!" they cried victoriously, running up the passage and clapping hands. They were about to turn the corner when a shrill, petrified scream made their hearts stop. It came from the room Chris had just locked.
"Oh no!" Ron said, paling.
"It's the girl's bathroom!" Chris gasped, running back and opening the door. Gryffindor stupidity.
Draco pulled Damien out of their hiding place and peered through the door.
Luckily, Chris and Ron were facing the opposite direction, eyes locked on the troll. They didn't see the two slytherins.
Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall, looking so terrified that she might faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking sinks off the walls as it went, nevermind the waste of good ancient porcelain.
A memory flashed in Damien's head as he gazed at the Gryffindor girl.
Granger…terrified…pinned against the wall…Avada Kedavra…
His eyes widened. Danny Granger. One of the jurors.
"Confuse it!" Chris shouted, throwing a busted sink at the troll. It grunted and turned around, fixing its mean little eyes on Chris. Snarling (wow, sharp teecth), it lifted its club and went for the boy-who-lived.
"He's going to get himself killed," Draco muttered, jaw-dropped.
"Oy, pea-brain!" Ron called, throwing a metal pipe at it. Not a good idea.
The troll turned to Ron, giving Chris time to run around it. He reached Hermione, white with fright, and pulled her towards the door.
The troll was getting more confused and more ferocious. It let out a great roar and charged at Ron.
Chris did something very brave and very stupid. He jumped the troll and stuck his wand up its nose. The mountain troll howled in agony, swinging the club at his own head.
Chris hang on for dear life, narrowly dodging the club. Sooner or later, the troll would catch him a terrible blow with that spiky club.
Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright while Ron looked dumbly on, mind completely blank on what to do.
Without anyone noticing, Damien concentrated on the air surrounding the troll. Slowly he wrapped it in tight coils around the troll's neck, leaving none for it to breath.
It stopped, gasping, and fell on the floor grasping at the air. Chris jumped off and joined his friends.
After a few seconds, the troll stopped moving entirely. Its face was very blue. It was dead.
"What happened?" Chris asked breathlessly, bending over to retrieve his wand.
"It just…died." Hermione said in a horrified tone. She was a bit calmer and more coherent now that the danger was gone.
Draco and Damien got back behind the stone gryffin just in time as Snape, McGonagall and Quirrel came round the corridor. The teachers burst into the bathroom. The Hogwarts way: always seconds too late.
McGonagall were looking at her three Gryffindors, looking very angry. Quirrel and Snape took one look at the troll and frowned simultaneously.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" The Transfiguration teacher asked in cold fury. "You're lucky you aren't killed! Why aren't you in your dormitories?"
"Please, Professor McGonagall – there were looking for me." Hermione whimpered in a small voice.
"Miss Granger!" the older woman looked surprised.
"I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with them on my own – you know, because I've read all about them. I wanted to prove I could take i-it on..." Hermione sniffed. "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead by now. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone as it was about to finish me off when they arrived, you see."
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I am very disappointed in you." McGonagall said sternly before turning to Chris and Ron.
"Well, not many first years could take on a fully-grown, and enraged, mountain troll and live to tell the tale! Ten points will be given to each of you – for sheer damned luck! Go on now; the other students are finishing the feast in their common rooms. I daresay your parents will hear of this, Potter."
"Yes, " Snape said with silky loathing. "Tell them how are precious Golden boy killed a troll and selfishly endangering himself, showing off..."
McGonagall 'hmph'ed at him.
The trio were about to hurry off when Professor Quirrel stopped them.
"How did this creature die?" he asked..
"We don't know, Sir." Chris shrugged. "Probably choked to death. It was roaring and everything. Food, a slytherin hopefully, went down the wrong way."
Professor Snape lingered behind after McGonagall left. Quirrel chose to stay behind as well, still examining the troll.
"Well," Quirrel asked. "Did you get it?"
"You know very well that Minerva had been able to head me off at the third floor," Snape scowled. "You didn't keep her busy enough. I told you to even snog her if need be..."
"He will not be pleased." Quirrel held up the troll's head and opened an eye. "This is the second time we have failed to retrieve it."
Snape chose to ignore this and turned to the stone statue.
"Why are you two still here!" he snarled.
Draco revealed himself, brushing his robes. "The troll came here just as you left, Professor. We had no choice but to stay hidden."
Quirrel looked suspicious. He turned to Snape, who nodded, and back again.
"Did you see what happened? This troll, one of my worst, was killed by a couple of first years!" he said angrily.
Damien shrugged. "Whatever happened, the troll's dead anyway."
