The majority of the term went by quickly and smoothly. Florence had grown to enjoy the first-year classes and there were not many students whom she disliked. She did not understand Severus' problem with the Harry Potter as she found him a good student. Despite Florence's attempts to not have a favourite, Hermione Granger stood out. Her work ethic was incredible, and she always worked harder than the rest of the students. Hermione would always stay behind and ask further questions and recommendations for further reading. The passion the girl had reminded Florence of a younger version of herself. She would pester her mother for visits to the library and pocket money to buy her favourite reads. Florence could tell Hermione would go far in her future, the girl had great potential.
The final lesson before the meal, Hermione was quiet and she looked as if she had been crying.
'Is everything okay?' Florence asked.
Hermione looked down and sighed, 'Only a small struggle with fitting in. I'm sure I'll be okay. Thank you for your concern, Professor.'
Halloween was something Florence enjoyed. The castle's decorations the previous were outstanding and she couldn't wait to taste the food again and the seasonal events that occurred. The food lived up to her expectations and she happily made her way through plates of food.
'Hungry, are you?' Severus joked.
Florence beamed, her mouth full of food, 'I've been craving this food for qui- '
'TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON! I thought you should know…' Quirrell fainted in the middle of the hall.
Florence's eyes widened and she gripped Severus' hand. Trolls were notorious for their brute strength and for being difficult to subdue.
Severus and Florence followed the Professors to the Dungeons.
'What happened to Quirrell?' Florence whispered.
'I assumed..' he let go of Florence, 'stick with Minerva. I need to see to something.' He hurried up the staircase.
Florence held her wand out as she carried on going deeper into the dungeons. A piercing scream attracted her attention and she ran in the direction. A broken door told her which direction the troll went in.
Another broken door followed and she saw sinks and more screams and yelling. She cautiously approached. Before she could stupefy the troll, it was knocked out by its own weapon.
'Is everyone alright?' she called out.
'Professor Mountfield?' Hermione called out.
'Yep,' she entered the bathroom and saw Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were standing above the troll, admiring their work, 'are you okay, kids?'
Hermione ran to Florence who hugged her, 'Trolls can be pretty fierce, I've encountered a few in the wild.'
'They are pretty stupid, Professor,' Ron said, holding up his wand which was soaked in troll snot.
'That they are. It's their strength that makes them dangerous.'
Florence turned to see Dumbledore and Minerva arrive, they looked relieved to see Florence already with the students, 'The troll is unconscious. Harry, Ron and Hermione managed to subdue it.'
Minerva rewarded the boys for their 'sheer dumb luck' as Hermione took the brunt of the blame. Florence was surprised but she noticed that they left together and they were talking happily, or somewhat relieved to be not serving detentions. It seemed the troll break in helped Hermione to find her place in Hogwarts.
Severus and Quirrell appeared just after Dumbledore. He looked furious with the students as well as Quirrell.
'I'll deal with the troll. The rest of you enjoy the remainder of the evening,' Dumbledore said.
The look Quirrell received from Severus was enough to make her think that not everything was as it seemed. She had not been a member of the staff long enough to feel comfortable to ask questions, but she decided to keep a watchful eye on Quirrell. Whatever was going on, he was the centre of it.
/
Florence had kept an eye on Quirrell's actions and behaviour and she couldn't deny he was up to something sinister. He would often leave dinner early and after a few days, she decided to follow him.
'Excuse me, I have some work to get done. I'll see you later, Severus.' He nodded, frowning at the sudden announcement.
She hurried out and saw the end of Quirrell's cloak turn the corner. She kept a reasonable distance from him and it was soon clear he was going to the third floor. The floor that Dumbledore had announced at the start of the year was out of bounds to everyone in the castle.
She cast a disillusion charm on herself, so she could get a bit closer. He cautiously slipped into on the rooms. She removed the charm and snuck up to the door, her heart thumping due to nerves about what she was going to discover behind the door. She cautiously cracked open the door, enough to see what Quirrell was up to. To her shock, there was a giant three-headed dog sleeping and Quirrell was investigating the room, stepping carefully around the dog.
'I don't know where it is.' He kept whispering.
'No one else is here my lord…'
Quirrell looked towards the door, Florence was not sure whether he had seen her but the pacing changed direction and she relaxed again.
'Yes, my lord… I will see…'
But Quirrell suddenly opened the door, and she screamed form the sheer shock.
'What are you doing, P-p-professor M-m-mountfield?'
Florence stammered, 'I was taking a walk and I must have gone the wrong direction because I saw the door open and I had a look… and… here I am!' she laughed nervously, turning to leave.
'You just happened to c-c-come to this floor? Come back here!' he hissed, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the room, she tried to keep away from the sleeping dog.
'It's a perfectly innocent mistake!' she whispered. Her eyes darting between the dog and Quirrell.
He laughed, 'Be q-q-quiet!'
The dog stirred, its eyes opening warily. Florence held in a scream and pointed at the dog, 'it's waking up!'
Quirrell cursed, 'keep still and sit down. I need to figure this out! Silenco!' Florence had noticed the trap door, but she did not want to help him, not that she could talk. She sat in the corner, as far away from the stirring dog. Whatever Quirrell was looking for, he was desperate.
The door opened, and Florence sighed in relief at the sight of Severus. His eyes widened at seeing Florence's terrified face.
'What do you think you are doing?' he asked, his voice dangerously quiet.
'N-n-nothing you s-s-should be worried about.' Quirrell said, backing away as Severus approached him.
'Then why is Professor Mountfield here?' his wand was pointed at Quirrell's neck.
'She took t-t-the wrong turn!' he laughed nervously.
Severus looked at Florence, who was rendered mute by Quirrell's charm.
Severus turned back, his wand was pressed firmly into Quirrell's neck, 'Then pray tell why you have put the Silencing Charm on her?'
Quirrell stammered hopelessly and his attention was on Florence who had attempted to tell them that the dog was fully awake. She tapped Severus' shoulder and he turned and saw her pointing at the dog, which was now moving to face the three of them.
It launched itself at Florence and she attempted to scream. She'd closed her eyes, ready for the dog to swipe her but she was pushed to the floor and when she plucked up the courage to open her eyes she saw Quirrell running out of the room and Severus cursing and clutching at his leg.
Florence shuffled over to Severus and carefully moved his hand, revealing the deep wound in his leg. She grabbed her wand and noticed the harp sitting in the corner. She tilted her head and decided that the only logical explanation for the harp was to subdue the dog, after all the harp was the only other thing in the room. She charmed the harp to play and the dog calmed down, curling up and was asleep quickly.
'I do not know why I was not told about that.' He winced as Florence attempted to help him up, 'That blasted Quirrell. Trying to get to that god forsaken Stone.'
His mutterings continued, and Florence could only listen. She nodded or shake her head, depending on his questions.
They reached her quarters and Misty charged towards them, Florence holding back the excited dog so Severus could limp to the sofa. She cleared her throat, feeling its use come back.
'Thank you.' She croaked.
'What for?' he said, wincing as he tried to clean up his wound.
'For pushing me away when the dog attacked.' She knelt down beside him and took over cleaning the wound. She summoned a potion to patch up the skin, 'this should heal it up but you will have a limp for the next few days, I'm afraid.'
He hissed at the sensation of the potion, 'I would rather this than have Poppy on my case.'
Florence chuckled, 'Poppy has nice intentions.' She patched up his trousers, 'There you go.'
He held her hand, 'Thank you for this,' he pulled her to sit next to him on the sofa, 'why did you follow him, Florence?'
She sighed, 'I could tell he was up to something, so I followed him. I didn't realise what he was up to. To be honest, I still don't really. I know he is looking for the trap door, but I don't know what's underneath it.'
'You found the trap door?' Severus said, curiously.
She nodded, 'It was pretty easy. Like figuring out the harp. If only I'd noticed it earlier.' She frowned at herself.
'It is still impressive you figured out the puzzle that quickly. Today is the fourth time I've caught him trying to figure out the puzzle.'
Florence hummed, playing with his fingers, 'I still don't understand why he would need to find the trap door.' She looked up at him, hoping he would tell her.
He sighed, 'Dumbledore is good friends with Nicolas Flammel an- '
'He's guarding the Philosopher's Stone.' Florence said, interrupting him.
He smiled, 'You worked that out quick.'
'Nicolas Flammel is one of the most famous alchemists. Not to mention you said something to do with a Stone earlier and Flammel is the maker of the Philosopher's Stone.' She was rather proud of her figuring out the big secret.
'I guess I do not need to explain it now,' he sat up, 'I'm rather tired, is it okay if I stay here tonight? I do not feel up for the long walk to the dungeons tonight.'
Florence's eyes lit up, 'That would be lovely!' she glanced at Misty, 'although I'm going to have to convince her to sleep in her own bed for once.'
Florence was right. It took some convincing, but Misty eventually was talked into sleeping in her dog bed. Something that she rarely used at night.
'She's going to be pretty pissed off tomorrow morning. Although she has spent the last few days with Fang, that poor dog.' She shuffled into Severus' arms, careful to avoid knocking his bad leg.
He kissed the top of head, 'I'm sure she'll survive.'
'Goodnight Severus.'
'Goodnight Florence.'