BasicallyComplicated: Iris is older. Mature? Don't count on it. Her body is that of an eleven-year-old girl after all.
SmolMoon: Not planning to drop them any time soon. 'The Brightest Witch' has about a million words' worth of plot to go through and while 'Potter vs Paradox' has not been as carefully planned in advance, it will still go through all seven years.
Riniko22: In Voldemort's camp we only see the failing purebloods willing to actively support him. If Britain has 20.000 wizards and 10% are old families (pure or otherwise), that would still make for hundreds of families. Only about fifty would directly join the Death Eaters in the end.
Curious anon: Iris would be presented as the granddaughter of Dorea Black. The Blacks themselves believe she's the daughter of Dorea Black instead. In her timeline, Dorea and Charlus Potter actually are Iris' legitimate grandparents, so any tests demanded by the Ministry will only confirm the identity the Blacks present her as.
Elim Garak: Dumbledore was a great teacher. Then the ministry downgraded the curriculum. McGonagal did not fight this change because of personal tragedy - losing her second husband in '85 due to a really stupid accident is the reason she's relatively cold and unapproachable in canon. As for the questions, they are the five questions immediately preceding that paragraph. And yes, Iris set them to Hermione.
Vukk: Since he can conjure hundreds of objects at once and could draw his wand faster than most, Dumbledore could just conjure some bear traps over the Wizengamot's collective heads. Snicker-snack, one hundred dead wizards. Of course, he doesn't condone killing so it wouldn't happen.
sachaelle: The Weasleys are poor by choice - they refuse to use their power to get more money directly, or accept money from others. Probably why Bill and Charlie left Britain - and they became fairly rich in their jobs abroad.
At malfoy's situation: he's never tried to apply himself. That doesn't mean he can - he comes from the Black line as much as the Malfoys, after all. Plus in canon, he ended up trying his hand at Alchemy after Voldie's fall.
At everyone saying this is a great story: thanks!
Disclaimer: Did the troll somehow stumble into the only students out of the Great Hall out of everywhere it could have gone in the largest castle in Britain? If yes, this story does not belong to me. It belongs to JK Rowling.
...
Ron Weasley had recently received his new wand and was still catching up to all the practical work he'd missed. Fortunately, the fourteen-inch-long, willow-and-unicorn-hair focus seemed to be responding far better than his, or rather his brother Charlie's, old wand had in the very brief time he'd had it. Unfortunately, many of the Professors believed the best way for him to make up for lost time was to pair him up with the best student in every subject. To his horror, that turned out to be Hermione Granger
"You're doing it wrong." The bushy brunette bookworm bossily declared as Ron's Levitation Charm failed. "Windmilling your hands like that has your wand pointing all over the place. No magic is going to land on the feather like that."
"Get off my case, Granger." Seriously, what was her problem? "I've only had a good wand for a few days whereas you've been practicing since before we came to Hogwarts - illegally, I might add." Take that you stuck-up, overbearing, teacher's pet. Sometimes Dad's stories about his Ministry job could prove surprisingly helpful.
"You should have been practicing nonstop instead of goofing off and playing Exploding Snap, then!" The girl growled and Ron had to resist the impulse to flee as that nightmarish hair of hers frizzed up as she spoke, like the legendary Medusa's. "And for your information, I received no warning thus the Ministry obviously approved of what I did - so there!"
"If you two keep this up any longer, you'll both get detention." Harry cautioned from the next desk over, flicking his own wand at the feather as it wobbled but refused to lift. Curious. Ron could have sworn he'd seen Harry levitate objects before. "Professor Flitwick is already giving you strange looks."
"Fine!" Granger hissed. "I'm not going to help you again." Furiously flicking her wand, she managed to levitate the Standard Book of Spells: Grade One instead of the feather they'd been given to practice on... and accidentally hurl it into Neville's face a few desks over. "Sorry!" She cried out to the other Gryffindor and went to retrieve her book while Ron laughed.
"Don't you think you're being hard on her, mate?" Harry asked, his own feather abandoned for the moment.
"Nobody asked her to interfere." Ron scowled and tried the Levitation Charm again. "At least not in such a bossy manner." He peered closely at his best mate's desk with a frown. "No luck either, huh? Frizzy Beaver reckons I'm not pointing my wand right, and I think you're even worse at it."
"I've been levitating things for ages." Harry said, shaking his head. "Just not with a wand. Pointing a stick just doesn't feel as natural as flicking your fingers, you know?"
"Really?" Ron asked, mouth agape as Harry pointed at the feather and it levitated a couple of inches. "Don't let Granger see you mate, we'll never hear the end of it. She'll be quoting wand use regulations and the school curriculum till Christmas."
"Maybe rightly so." Harry said, scowling at his immobile feather. "Took me about a year to learn each trick with no wand, and I only know five. Flitwick reckons we'll be doing a spell a month, and that's just for Charms." The Boy-Who-Lived twirled his wand forlornly. "It's knowing to use a stick or going home."
"Harry, mate, are you serious?" Ron couldn't believe the other boy was complaining about doing magic without a wand. Ron's Mum could have the dishes washing themselves, clothes drying and folding up, or the knives cutting and peeling in the same way, but that was after seven kids and a bazillion hours spent doing household charms. "It is a great -"
"You two still didn't manage it, huh?" Granger butted in without being invited. "Look, it's not so hard. Let me help..."
"We're fine." Ron said through gritted teeth. Merlin, girls sucked. He'd already been suffering Ginny's antics at the Burrow; he should have known to keep away from Frizzy Beaver too.
"Oh yeah?" She challenged, hands on hips. "Prove it!" Knowing no other way to get her off his and Harry's backs, Ron pointed his wand at the feather and cast as best as he could.
"Wingardium Leviosaa!"
"It's 'Leviosa', not 'Leviosaa'." The girl said smugly. "We're still using incantations for now and subconsciously, your mind knows you're doing it wrong so it's not going to work. Here, allow me."
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Ron knew when he was beaten, and a perfectly levitating feather going wherever Granger was pointing her wand at was it. The girl winning points for Gryffindor for being the first to get it just added insult to his injured pride. He and Harry did not speak for the rest of the lesson, trying to emulate that success. Ultimately they succeeded, though with difficulty.
"You know, we could get her to show us a few things." Harry said as they were exiting the Charms classroom.
"No way, mate." Ron shook his head emphatically. "She's a bloody nightmare, she is."
"Really?" Harry smiled fondly in remembering something Ron was not privy to. "I've had harsher teachers."
"But no way you've had bossier!" Ron declared, quite certain of that fact. "I mean, what she's doing won't win any friends. Remember what happened with our late night... walk? Totally insufferable."
Someone pushed both him and Harry aside, and ran off down the corridor. It took Ron a moment to realize it was Granger.
"I think she heard you, Ron." Harry said with a worried expression as both of them saw the now crying girl turn around a corner and vanish.
...
The man under the Disillusionment Charm swiftly stalked through the dungeons in total silence. The feast was about to start and he was running out of time; everything had to be just so for the plan to work. Neither portrait nor ghost could see him, for a single witness would ruin everything. The old goat was both clever and powerful but he had several major faults that could be exploited - one of them was not acting directly unless he was certain of the situation. A wise policy in any game played in the shadows where a single misstep could spell one's doom, but one that would allow the man nearly free rein as long as there was no confirmation of his actions.
Finding a likely specimen had not been an issue. The old goat had already asked for their "help" in defending the Stone and where one troll could be found, two could be just as easily. Guiding it into Hogwarts was not a problem either; magically resistant or not, trolls were susceptible to compulsions if one knew how to handle them - and Quirrel had always prided himself of his skills in that area. The next two steps of the plan were a bit harder.
Nobody would appreciate how he'd guided the troll through the areas of the dungeons that lacked portraits, how he'd directed it in a course that made its wanderings seem random, how he'd searched for the best distraction possible. At least they wouldn't until it was too late. Letting the hungry troll hunt after laying a subtle compulsion on it to ignore any smells from the Great Hall would make things interesting. Somebody could always be found wandering through the corridors or staying on their own for one reason or another no matter the hour. And what a great tragedy it would be if the troll happened upon the squib caretaker or one of the more useless faculty members, no?
Why, their death might distract the rest of the foolishly emotional faculty and the old goat just long enough for Quirrel to get the Stone.
...
"Damn, damn, damn." Iris muttered as she practically flew through the corridors, looking for her target.
The Halloween Feast had started just as she remembered. The same decorations, the same timing, the same music, even the same dishes. Iris' tastes had changed considerably over the years, so she could now fully appreciate the meatier, more calorie-heavy dishes and some of the stronger drinks. If the Head Auror's job was energy intensive, it still had nothing on being the Girl-Who-Lived once again, endless hours of dueling, Quidditch, potions, memory replays, and plans for world domination tripling the already high energy and protein demands of a growing body, and loading her noggin with enough stress that the empty glass she'd brought from Grimmauld Place was a must. Of course said glass had once held the highest quality liquor the Blacks had had access to, and Iris could do a mean Refilling Charm ever since she'd gotten Slughorn drunk with it in her sixth year.
She'd confirmed Hermione's absence early, and had been practically wolfing down food at Weasley speeds in preparation for Quirrel's interruption. Tom's turbaned host had not disappointed, arriving just on time and giving an oscar-worthy performance that sent the Great Hall in an uproar of either alarm or applause. Dumbledore had imposed a semblance of order - also as expected - and sent everyone to their common rooms, obviously aware that the troll was nowhere near the dungeons. Just checking on the defensive enchantments every Headmaster was keyed into would have confirmed that, but of course he could not say that to the students. Iris heard more than one of her housemates worriedly complaining about being sent to the Slytherin common room when the troll had also been reported to be in the same level. Rolling her eyes, Iris had broken line-of-sight to the rest of the students by "accidentally" being pushed behind a suitably imposing suit of armor and had Disillusioned herself. Running to the bathroom Hermione would be in had taken all of a minute after that, and keeping an eye on things to ensure history repeated itself should have been piece of cake. Except the Gryffindor girl had been nowhere to be found.
"Point Me Granger!"
Iris' wand turned to point not towards any bathroom or even the Gryffindor tower, but towards the Library. Relying on her rather athletic physique - for an eleven year old, her superior knowledge of Hogwarts' secret passages, and several concealment charms, she once more went all the way across the castle at a dead run without being detected. The Library was dark and Madam Pince was evident by her absence, obviously having decided a feast every student was supposed to attend would be a good time for a break. Strange as it might seem, even cranky old librarians had to eat or go to the bathroom.
"Hermione, are you here?" she asked, already knowing the answer but covering all bases. It wouldn't do for her young genius friend to suspect her sudden appearrance. Naturally, she got no reply, so she cast a silent Supersensory Charm. There was Hermione, hiding behind a towering stack of carefully arranged books for precisely that purpose. And there was something twelve feet tall and weighing over a ton, now turning into the corridor that led to the Library - not good.
"Hermione get up, we need to leave." She said as she approached her past-future and hopefully future-future friend, wondering if thinking about the timeline snarl would send her to the hospital wing since the troll could not.
"Go away!" The Gryffindor girl sniffed from behind her stack of books, eyes puffed up and red, tears running down her cheeks. Hermione being Hermione, she'd been resting her head on a towell instead of risking a book to the minimal danger posed by her tears. "I don't wanna talk to anyone, least of all a bitch like you."
"I'm going to kill Ron Weasley." Iris said conversationally, hugging the other girl and ignoring the hands trying to feebly push her away. Had Hermione really wanted her to leave, she'd have used a Knockback Jinx anyway.
"News..." sniff "news travels fast." The bushy-haired girl said, and cackled. "What..." sniff "What does it mean for Gryffindor House when one Lion hurts another and a Slytherin turns up to comfort her?"
"That all House rivalries are stupid." Iris said decisively, pulling Hermione up with ease despite being shorter and nearly a year younger physically. Quidditch training was useful in much more than just a game. "Now let's go before the troll comes in."
"T-troll?" Hermione glared at her, no longer crying. "If this is your idea of a joke, Black, I'm going to hex you so hard you won't be sitting on a broom for the rest of the year."
"Of course there's a troll. Quirrel fainted while announcing it and everything." Iris said cheerfully. "Now let's run before it gets in here and redecorates the library." Hermione's eyes widened to the size of saucers and bookworm or no, she put in a burst of speed and kept up with Iris just fine.
Naturally, they did not make it.
...
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, the bushy girl's absence striking him as odd as the Gryffindors walked out of the Great Hall.
"Dunno mate." Ron said, now worried as well. "Don't think I saw her in the feast. Neville?"
"Me neither." The somewhat timid boy said, looking around every corner nervously. Trolls were nasty business, especially if they caught you by surprise. And after stumbling into one nearly fatal surprise after their first flying lesson, he was very determined not to be caught unawares by another.
"Anyone seen Hermione Granger?" Harry quickly asked around, trying to avoid Percy's attention. Percy might be Ron's brother, but he was also a Prefect and took his duties rather seriously. Why hadn't he noticed Hermione's absence already Harry did not know, but he was not sure they had time to find out.
"She's been in the Library since morning." Lavender said angrily, fixing Ron with a nasty stare. "Been trying to avoid you two, if you ask me." The pretty girl said with a huff, and turned her back to them.
"This isn't good." Harry whispered. "She doesn't know about the troll at all."
"Harry, Dumbledore will deal with it." Ron said, but wasn't entirely convincing. "He's the greatest wizard alive."
"Hogwarts is huge." Harry countered. "What if the troll stumbles into Hermione before the Professors find it?"
"I hate it when you're making sense." The redhead complained. "You sure you want to save Frizzy Beaver?" He joked quite badly, but Harry could see he was already getting ready to follow him despite his obvious nerves, keeping an eye on Percy.
"She unlocked that door and saved us from Filch." Harry said, falling back as Ron was already doing. Yes, the door had led to an enormous three-headed dog, but Hermione couldn't have known that.
"You're right." Ron nodded determinedly as they broke ranks with the other Gryffindors. "Filch is way worse than any troll." The two of them ran to the Library as fast as they could, and after several minutes they managed to get to their destination. Even as they neared the last corridor before Madam Pince's domain however, a disgusting stench combining the worst flavors of public toilets and unwashed socks assaulted their nostrils, and loud bangs as if something large struck a wooden door with great force stopped them in their tracks.
"Maybe that's the troll." Harry whispered as they carefully crawled onwards.
"Gee, you think?" Ron answered in kind, and they both peeked around the corner.
It was the troll, all right, and it was standing right before the entrance to the Library. It was also wielding a club longer than Harry was tall, smashing it repeatedly against... Harry and Ron did a double-take.
"Harry, pinch me mate." Ron said, shaking his head. "I'm seeing Granger and Black standing in that doorway. And they're stopping the troll from entering the Library - with magic."
"I'm seeing it too." Harry said, wincing as the troll's club struck an invisible barrier with great force. Hermione gasped and staggered back, her wand almost dropping from suddenly nerveless fingers.
"I told you to layer your shield with mine, not push it out ahead." Iris said in the long-suffering tone Harry knew quite well. It was the same tone she used on him when he didn't get a spell or theory quite right. Unlike their fellow Gryffindor, the Black heiress did not seem to be straining to hold the troll back - but that lasted only as long as the troll kept using its club. When it simply punched at the unseen barrier, Iris grunted and took a step back as if she'd taken a kick in the gut.
"What's happening?" Hermione asked in a really high-pitched voice, obviously less than calm at the whole situation. Not that Harry could blame her.
"Trolls are magic-resistant; their clubs aren't." Iris grunted again as the troll landed two more punches, obviously winning. "Shield Charms are -you guessed it- magic." The Slytherin girl staggered back, almost toppling.
"Distract it!" Harry shouted at Ron, jumping out of their hiding place without even thinking about it.
"Great plan!" Ron said, following him. "It's an empty corridor, what am I supposed to do?" Harry and Ron threw multicolored sparks at the enormous humanoid, to no effect. The only spell they'd learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts so far was meant as a warning or signal, not for a fight, and Transfiguring needles did not seem very helpful either. Besides, they were out of matches.
"Nice of you to join us, boys." Iris snarked, rather ungratefully in Harry's opinion. They were saving her, after all!
"Less nagging, more casting!" Ron said, throwing showers of sparks at the troll's relatively tiny head, annoying it. The massive beast, easily thirty or forty times their size, growled at the new arrivals and swung its club with its off-hand as if shooing pests. Harry had to duck to avoid a potentially lethal blow, while Ron jumped back. Then it punched Iris' unseen barrier again, bringing the Slytherin witch to her knees.
"Ignis Algens!"
Hermione's spell created several fist-sized tongues of blue flame, which she hurled straight at the troll's face with a flick of her wand. The beast roared, flailing its massive hands around and shaking its head, dropping its club in the process. Harry, happy that the troll is stupid enough not to notice Hermione's spell fizzling as soon as it landed, urges the girls to flee. Unfortunately, the troll lands an angry kick at Iris' barrier and the girl falls back as whatever magic she'd been using shatters.
"Hate creatures... with magic resistance..." she gasps and suddenly Harry has a very brave but rather stupid idea. With a running start, he jumps at the distracted troll, climbs up its back with skill honed from avoiding Dudley's gang and Aunt Marge's dogs in his earlier years, and pokes the troll with his wand - straight at its small, beady eyes. The pained roar that follows almost knocks him off his perch at the troll's back.
"Do something!" Hermione shouts at Ron as she's dragging Iris away from the troll's reach. The redheaded Gryffindor flicks his wand, casting the first spell that comes to mind.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
To Ron's amazement, the troll's club flies all the way to the ceiling, floats for a moment, then falls. Without even realizing how, he guides it straight at the troll's head. Where spells failed, a hardened piece of wood weighing several hundred pounds and having fallen for a good ten feet is enough to finally knock the beast out of its misery, toppling it. Harry rides the collapsing troll to the ground with little trouble, retrieves his wand, and looks around in incredulity.
"We won." He says with a small smile.
"Gee Weasley, couldn't you knock it out five minutes earlier?" Iris says with a groan, not having fared as well as the rest of them in this little adventure. "Were you too busy peeking from around the corner?"
"Too happy seeing you get beat, Snake Girl." Ron shot back. "If you're such a great witch, why didn't you knock it out yourself, huh?" The opportunity to gloat seemed to have lifted Ron's spirits, but Harry was curious. His friend was right; Iris could certainly have lifted that club on her own. Now that he thought of it, maybe he could have as well - or Hermione.
"It's not easy to think straight in a fight." Iris said dismissively, and Harry could believe her. Jumping onto the troll's back? What had he been thinking? "Now that it's knocked out, I suggest we retreat. It might recover sooner than we..."
"Merlin's beard!" A sharp, dry, surprisingly loud voice said from behind them. Turning around, Harry nearly ran for the hills at the new horror that awaited them.
None of them had ever seen Madam Pince so angry.