A/N: Thanks go to Kasyntra, freedomcows007, EmilyWoods, Hogwarts Chocolate, Hollow Life, Icelynne, MJandSports, cosmoGirl666, kailin2318, kb86, mrsdemon, & Fat ppl are harder to kidnap for the follows/faves, & to The Eclectic Bookworm & J.D. Von Wolfe (happy belated birthday!) for the reviews!
In honor of the glorious weather & my non-existent to-do list, allow me to present chapter 12. JKR owns all things Potter, comme d'habitude. Please R&R, & enjoy! :)
Halloween morning dawned gloomy and gray, but the mood in the castle was the exact opposite. Everyone chattered excitedly as they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, the first-years speculating about how Hogwarts might decorate for the holiday while older students wondered how this year's decorations would compare to those from years past. Though Lily and Sirius had allowed the boys to partake in the fun Muggle traditions with Hermione, Halloween had always been a bit of a downer for Harry, as that was the night his father had been killed ten years previously, so he was eager for a more positive experience to associate with the occasion.
"Ooooh, Harry, look!" Hermione cried as they entered the hall.
Harry had no reply but was similarly awestruck. Pumpkins as large as cars, lovingly tended to and carved by Hagrid, stood in the four corners of the room and featured all sorts of impressive scenes. The candles and torches in the hall burned a bright orange instead of their normal hue, adding a sense of spookiness to the place, and clouds of thousands of live bats hovered overhead, squeaking eerily.
"I heard Dumbledore booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for the feast tonight," a passing Ravenclaw told his friend.
"Really?" the other boy replied, sounding intrigued. "I'd heard it was the Hogwarts ghosts...but then, they did something last year, didn't they?"
"Two or three years ago now. Maybe we'll see both, that'd be cool."
Conversations in this vein went on throughout the breakfast hour, and the first-year Gryffindors were still talking animatedly as they made their way upstairs to Charms. Harry grinned as he removed his things for class and noticed he had a message from Draco:
What'd you think of those pumpkins? So cool - do you reckon we could convince Padfoot to let us grow something that big?
Ha, Mum would veto that in an instant, Harry scribbled. But yeah, they're awesome! Can't wait to see what happens tonight...
"Order, please!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. Harry quickly put his charmed parchment away and retrieved his ink bottle and quill. Once the class had settled, the tiny Charms master said, "In honor of the occasion, I thought we'd do something special today - we've made enough progress that I think today would be a perfect day to start on your levitation charms."
An excited murmuring swept through the room at the professor's announcement - they'd been eager to make things fly since he'd made Neville's toad zoom around the room some three weeks prior.
"Now, remember, it is very important to always use the correct incantation and wand movement - never forget the story of Wizard Baruffio, children! A buffalo might be the least of your worries if your utterances are incorrect. Now, the wand motion for the levitation charm is that lovely little 'swish and flick' we've been practicing - let's see it, please!" The class raised their wands and demonstrated the motion. "Good, very good!" Professor Flitwick beamed. "'Swish and flick,' that's the ticket. The incantation you'll need for this spell is Wingardium Leviosa."
"Wingardium Leviosa," the class repeated.
"Good!" Professor Flitwick hopped down off his stack of books and reached for a box of feathers.
"If you could please give one to each student, Miss Brown," he requested. Lavender took the box and made her way down the rows, carefully placing a single feather on each of her classmates' desks. The task finished, she returned the box to Professor Flitwick and resumed her own seat.
"We'll start with feathers, then - nice and light, so they shouldn't be too hard for you to control. Help each other out, and I'll be walking around if you need me. Give it a whirl, then!"
Cries of "Wingardium Leviosa!" filled the classroom. The charm seemed to be a little trickier than it looked, however, as very few feathers were reacting at all to the students' attempts.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron said forcefully, jabbing his wand towards the feather.
"Oooh, be careful!" Hermione cautioned, reaching out to grab his wrist.
"What was that for?" Ron asked.
"Oh, um...sorry," Hermione replied, flushing slightly. "It's just...well, you jabbed instead of flicking, and I didn't want anything bad to happen to you."
"Right," Ron said, his eyes narrowed. "Why don't you show me how it's done then?" Hermione missed the sarcastic undertone of his question and eagerly raised her wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" With a swish and a flick, her feather rose gracefully off the desk to hover several feet above their heads.
"Excellent work, Miss Granger!" Professor Flitwick cried, smiling broadly at her. "Ten points to Gryffindor, well done!" Hermione's already-pink cheeks turned bright red at his praise, and she slowly lowered her feather back to her desk.
By the end of the lesson, several other people had successfully levitated their feathers, but they all agreed that Hermione's attempt had been by far the best. They were told to practice the charm for homework and left the classroom in high spirits, talking happily amongst themselves.
"I could've handled it myself, you know," an irritated voice said over Hermione's shoulder. She and Harry turned to see Ron, who was looking rather put out.
"Handled what?" Harry asked curiously.
"The charm!" Ron replied, his voice raised. "But no, you decided you just had to step in and correct one teensy mistake-"
"I was just trying to help!" Hermione said indignantly. "Professor Flitwick told us to help each other out! Would you rather I'd left you to blow up half the classroom?" Ron scowled at her.
"Honestly, I don't need help from an interfering know-it-all!" he spat. "It's no wonder you haven't got any friends." Hermione gasped at the hateful words, turned on her heel, and fled down the stairs without replying, the sound of her sobs echoing back towards the group.
"Hermione, wait!" Harry called, making to go after her, but Parvati held him back.
"Let her go, Harry," she said quietly. "I know you want to go to her, but she needs to be alone right now. Trust me on this, yeah?" He met her gaze, and seeing that she indeed looked concerned for Hermione, he nodded. He then rounded on Ron.
"What was that for?" he demanded angrily.
"She was being annoying!" Ron retorted.
"And that's cause for you to call her names?"
"Well it's true, isn't it? She's always trying to be the best-"
"She's trying to be helpful," Harry snarled. "And all you did was make her upset." He slung his book bag a little higher onto his shoulder and glared at Ron. "It's not her fault she's good at magic, and she also happens to be a truly wonderful human being - of course, if you'd bother getting to know her instead of giving her grief, you'd already know that." His spiel finished, he turned away and hastened to join Neville, who was already halfway down the marble staircase.
Ten minutes into lunch, Harry got another message:
Where's Lotte? Library again?
I don't know, he replied glumly. Ron insulted her after Charms and she ran off crying. Parvati said she'd try to find her for me, as she's probably in one of the girls' toilets.
What'd he do that for? Have you tried messaging her?
No, and I doubt she'll answer. The other girls said she probably needed to be alone.
It's a girl thing, I guess. I hope she's ok - Weasley's a prat.
Don't worry, we'll make sure she's alright. Maya knows we're here for her.
Harry tucked his parchment back into his bag and nodded across the room to Draco as he picked up his sandwich, indicating that he understood everything his brother couldn't fit into his messages. Draco and Hermione had always been connected on a slightly different level than Harry was to the two of them, and he was sure that his brother was probably even more annoyed about the situation than he was.
Hermione didn't turn up for classes for the rest of the day, but Parvati and Lavender told Harry after History of Magic that they'd found her in the girls' bathroom on the first floor. She was crying steadily, and while she thanked her roommates for their reassurance that Ron's words weren't true, she kindly but firmly informed them that she wasn't ready to come out just yet and asked if they could please leave her be. Concerned that she was so upset by Ron's comments, Harry wondered if maybe she might consider talking to him, as he'd known her much longer than any of their housemates had, so while the rest of the school went to dinner, Harry made his way down the corridor towards the bathroom in question.
"Hermione?" he called softly as he pushed open the door. "Are you in here?" A sniffle from one of the last cubicles was his answer, and after affirming that the bathroom was otherwise unoccupied - he really didn't fancy having to explain himself to a prefect or a teacher - he made his way down the row of stalls.
"Maya, it's me," he said, rapping his knuckles gently against the closed door of her stall. "Open up, will you?" Hermione sniffed again, but he heard her move and the lock slide back, and she pulled the door open rather reluctantly to reveal her tear-stained face. As soon as she saw Harry, she threw her arms around his neck and promptly broke into a fresh wave of sobs.
"Hey, don't cry," Harry said, rubbing soothing circles on her back, "I'm here. Ron didn't mean those things, I'm sure."
"Yes he d-did," Hermione hiccupped, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "He h-hates me, H-Harry. W-what have I ever d-done to h-him?"
"No one could ever hate you, Maya," Harry chastised gently. "You're too good for that. He's probably jealous, is all."
"J-jealous?" Hermione asked. "Of m-m-me?"
"Yeah. You're crazy smart, you're funny, and you're downright wonderful. What's not to love?" Hermione laughed weakly at Harry's attempt to cheer her up - he really was a wonderful friend.
"Anyone who knows better loves you, and everyone else is just an idiot," Harry said firmly. He leaned against the tiled wall and slid slowly to the floor, dragging her with him until they were sitting side-by-side. He then removed his charmed parchment from his pocket and scribbled a quick note to Draco:
Girls' room on the first floor. She'll be ok.
Thanks. Wish I was there too but it'd probably be weird if I walked out in the middle of dinner, so tell her I said hi? We love you, Lotte - don't forget that.
Harry held out the message for Hermione to read, and she smiled slightly through her tears.
"Thank you, Harry," she said, reaching over to give him another hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you two."
They sat in companionable silence for another ten minutes or so before deciding it was probably time to head back upstairs - the feast was most likely over, but they could probably convince Dobby to bring them some sandwiches in the Room of Requirement to make up for missing dinner. Just as they were about to stand, however, a loud crash from just outside the bathroom froze them in their tracks.
"What was that?" Hermione whispered.
"Dunno," Harry replied, hoping he didn't look as scared as he felt. Whatever made that noise must've been pretty big...
Out in the hall, Ron Weasley followed the troll as quietly as he could. He was pretty sure he'd never forget Professor Quirrell's terrified expression as long as he'd lived - the professor had burst into the Great Hall in the middle of the feast, cried out that there was a troll in the dungeons, and promptly slumped over in a dead faint. Dumbledore immediately called the school to order and instructed the prefects to lead everyone back to their dormitories while the teachers conducted a search of the school. Ron was just falling into line with the rest of the Gryffindors when he realized that Harry and Hermione hadn't been at the feast and therefore didn't know about the troll. While it was possible that they were already up in Gryffindor Tower, he somehow suspected that wasn't the case, and as it was his fault that they weren't at the feast to begin with, he soon felt guilty and slipped out of line the first chance he got. He followed a group of Hufflepuffs before going his own way, wondering to himself where his housemates could be. He was pretty sure the girls' toilet was around here somewhere, but he'd never had reason to know before...
He smelled the troll before he saw it - an impressive feat considering its size, but perhaps not so impressive when it smelled like it had rolled in sewage for several hours. Pulling his robes up over his nose, Ron crept forward and turned the corner. The troll was lumbering down the hall away from his hiding place, its horny feet thudding dully on the floor as it dragged a lethal-looking club across the stone. It paused, sniffed, and pushed its way into a door at the end of the hall.
Perfect! Ron thought. I'll lock it in and get out of here! Of course, there was the small matter of explaining to the teachers both how he knew where the troll was and why he was out-of-bounds in the first place, but he supposed he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. Right now, a smelly troll had a date with a deadbolt.
The satisfying click of the lock hadn't finished echoing in Ron's ears when two things happened simultaneously: a high-pitched scream came from behind him, and someone yelled, "Weasley, you moron, that's the girls' bathroom!" Ron whirled around to see Draco Black hurtling up the corridor, and a horrified expression crossed his face as the meaning of the blonde's words sank in. Turning quickly back to the door he'd just locked, he wrestled with the bolt, but it had gotten stuck, and it took both boys a bit of finagling to get it open again. They wrenched open the door and nearly screamed at what they found. Harry and Hermione were both pressed against the back wall, their hands shaking uncontrollably as they tried to point their wands at the troll, which was slowly advancing as it smashed sinks off the walls with its club. A burst pipe doused the room with a heavy blast of water, and Hermione screamed again as shrapnel from an obliterated stall went flying in all directions.
"Do something, you idiot!" Draco shouted as he picked up a splintered piece of wood.
"What?" Ron cried, apparently unable to say anything more.
"I don't know, anything!" Draco replied. "It's your fault we're in this mess in the first place!" He hurled his piece of wood at the troll but missed, and the troll took another swing at his friends, forcing them to scatter and roll across the debris-strewn floor.
"Oi! Over here!" Ron shouted, flinging a piece of pipe at the troll. It caught the troll in the shoulder and the beast turned towards the redhead, looking very much confused - it was a well-known fact that trolls weren't the brightest of creatures. Ron didn't seem to have thought any further than getting the troll's attention, however, and he hastily backed into a corner as the troll advanced on him.
"No, here!" Draco called, throwing another piece of rubble and hitting his mark. Before the troll could turn completely, Draco darted across the room to Hermione's corner, successfully confusing the slow creature.
"You alright?" he asked her, reaching out to clasp her hand briefly.
"Yes, I'm fine - just a couple scratches - but how are we going to get out of here?" Hermione asked.
She had a fair point, as the only thing they were succeeding in doing was making the troll even madder than it already was. It roared in anger and frustration as they continued to pepper it with bits of pipe, wood, and porcelain, and Harry, in a daring and probably very stupid move, leaped right onto its back, inadvertently sticking his wand up its nose in the process.
"A little help, here?" Harry called as the troll thrashed in all directions.
"How?" Hermione shouted back. "We could hit you by accident!"
In the end, it was Ron who came up with their answer. In a move that could rival Harry's for stupidity, he raised his wand and pointed it at the troll's massive club, reciting the first spell that came to mind:
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
To everyone's surprise, the club rose high into the air, and then dropped like a rock onto its owner's head with a sickening crack. The troll stumbled for a moment before falling face-first onto the bathroom floor. After the mass chaos of the fight, the silence was almost deafening.
"What- what did you do?" Hermione asked, cautiously stepping forward.
"I...I dunno," Ron admitted, looking shell-shocked. I think it's knocked out?"
Just then, the bathroom door crashed open once more to reveal Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell. Upon seeing the prostrate form of the troll, Professor Quirrell fainted dead away, and Professor McGonagall clutched at her chest, her eyes wide.
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded. "Explain yourselves!" The boys started stammering out apologies, but it was Hermione's voice that cut through the clearest:
"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall," she said. "I...well, it was really quite stupid, come to think of it - but I missed dinner due to some...personal circumstances, and didn't know about the troll. Harry, Draco, and Ron all came to find me to make sure I was alright, and they fought the troll to keep me safe - it was about to kill me when they got here."
The boys all gaped at her while simultaneously trying to hide their shock from the adults. Hermione - Hermione - had been purposely vague with a teacher, telling enough of the story that she probably wouldn't be questioned, but not revealing enough details to implicate any of them and twisting those she did tell to suit her needs. It was absolutely astounding.
"I...well, be that as it may, it was extremely unwise for you to be alone in the castle at such an hour, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall admonished. "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor, and be sure it doesn't happen again." Hermione nodded, looking appropriately ashamed, and after reassuring them that she wasn't seriously hurt, she left the room.
"As for you three, deliberately disobeying the headmaster's orders would normally be cause for detention," Professor McGonagall continued, "but I suppose I will overlook that just this once in light of what you were trying to do. You're very lucky to be alive right now - most full-grown wizards would have trouble with a mountain troll. Five points will be awarded to each of you - I will, however, be writing to your parents to inform them of the situation." The boys nodded, mumbling that they understood.
"Now, the rest of the school is finishing the feast in their common rooms, so I suggest you head off," she said. They agreed with a few more mumbles, and after Harry had retrieved his wand, the three boys left the bathroom.