Chapter 7 – Halloween
Mia and I stood anxiously across from our Head of House as he rested his chin over interwoven fingers whilst glaring at us with cold, dark eyes. We were doing our upmost to conceal how truly proud we were of ourselves and the trouble we had managed to get ourselves into. Professor Snape, however, just continued to scowl heavily as a few pieces of stray but determined confetti remained stuck in his hair. My attempt to conceal my own smugness was the only thing that prevented me from collapsing into fits of laughter where I stood. Eventually, Snape took a breath and placed his hands flat on the desk – breathing heavily as if he needed to slow down his own anger before he spoke to us.
"Never." He began calmly, having finally found the words amongst his rage. "In all my years as a Hogwarts Professor, have I been as humiliated as I was tonight." His jaw was clenched and his teeth appeared to remain gritted together, not moving as he spoke – glaring heavily at both of us. I shifted my weight from one foot to another, taking a sudden keen interest in the flagstone floor and the cracks between the slabs before Mia attempted to offer her best explanation.
"Honestly, Professor. We thought it was Malfoy coming through the door." We quickly realised that that was nowhere near the explanation Snape wanted to hear.
"Has Mr Malfoy not suffered enough at the hands of your childish pranks? The expanding taffy? The exploding pillows? Setting your oddly vicious cats on them? Have you not tortured your housemates enough for your liking? It is only the end of October and yet I believe they have suffered more than most first years should! Not since the Weasley twins have two students caused so much disruption in such a short space of time."
"It was just a bit of fun Professor. It is Halloween after all. It's the festival made for the magic world." I remarked.
"It's not 'just fun' when my students are too terrified to attend my class because someone charmed their cauldrons to transfigure into pumpkins and promptly explode! If anything of this nature happens again I will have the two of you expelled!" Mia's jaw dropped at the surprising threat.
"Can you even do that?" She questioned before she'd even realised what she was saying. That was the question where the two of us learned to never again question the authority of Severus Snape. He slowly rose to his feet with clenched, white knuckles and leant over his desk. He was a tall man anyway so to see him leaning over his desk at us was especially intimidating.
"As long as you attend this school and I am head of Slytherin House, your fate rests with me. So yes, Miss Cavett, I can do that and I will. Now go straight to the feast and you two had best make sure we have no need to have this conversation again. For both of your sakes. I will see the pair of you in detention for the remainder of the week." Snape returned to his seat and waved a dismissive hand as he began to traipse out of his office.
"Miss Rosier?" Snape asked before I had managed to get through the threshold.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Get your cat under control. It is supposed to be domesticated. If it attacks one more student, or member of staff for that matter, it will be released into the forest where I'm starting to believe it belongs." I hesitated, rocking briefly on the balls of my feet.
"Yes, Sir." As soon as we were both out of earshot, we collapsed into fits of laughter that continued until we had returned to the Slytherin Common Room.
"I think we owe the Weasley twins a 'thank you'." Mia mentioned as we dropped onto the large leather in the sofa in front of a grand fireplace "I am also quite flattered that Snape considers us as annoying as them."
"It was worth getting in trouble for though! The look on the boys faces as they came flying out of their room! It was priceless! I wish we had a camera to record the moment forever." I grinned as I stretched out before quickly decided that I needed a shower.
"Where are you going? The feast starts soon." Mia questioned as I rose from my seat and headed to the girls dorm to retrieve my shower things.
"I need a shower. Save me a seat and just pile a bit of everything on my plate. I won't be long." I smiled reassuringly.
Leaving the Slytherin Common Room with my clean towel and fresh clothes stuffed into a small bag, I came across the familiar face of my brother who was conveniently stood at the top of the steps to the dungeon. He was waiting with Ember and two other friends when he spotted me.
"You got in trouble! It's only been two months." He smiled in disbelief. "I heard about the pranks thought. I'm sure Mum will be thrilled."
"You did?" I questioned, curiously, surprised at how quickly word seemed to travel in Hogwarts.
"The twins." Ember said smiling delicately, her brunette hair pulled up into a ponytail. "They think they've found their protégés for when they leave."
"Or get expelled, whichever comes first." Alec commented.
"You're not going to tell Mum, are you?" I questioned, chewing my lip nervously at the thought of a howler greeting me one morning. Between the two of our parents, our mother was certainly the enforcer of the law.
"No. But I wouldn't worry about it anyway, Panda. According to Dad, Mum was one of the main troublemakers whilst she was at school. You're only following in her legacy…in true Slytherin fashion. Now if you don't mind, I'm starving." He patted his stomach and draped an arm over Ember's shoulder.
"Don't miss it Nina. The Halloween the feast is the best one." Ember said as she was guided away to the Great Hall. I smiled, waved after them and continued on my way to the showers. There were showers in the Slytherin Common Room, a rather large bathroom suite in fact – one for the girls and another for the boys. But I had quickly managed to find the ones that produced the hottest water with the best pressure and those were on the middle floor. As I ascended the steps, the smell of food from the Great Hall made my mouth water and I quickened my pace – determined not to miss my first Halloween feast. The corridor leading to the bathroom was completely empty and the storm that was raging outside did make for a rather creepy atmosphere. As I approached the shower blocks, my attention was diverted by what sounded like sniffling and crying. I took a few more steps forwards to the showers, intent on ignoring the sound but sighed as my morals dragged me back to the toilets. I dropped my towel on a small wooden bench and peered around the corner.
"Hello?" I asked. There was no response initially but whoever it was would have heard my footsteps by now so I couldn't just walk away.
"Go away." I instantly recognised the voice and sighed, wishing it could have been nearly anyone else in our year. To be honest, I would have preferred if it was anyone else in the entire school.
"Granger…umm Hermione? Are you okay?" I questioned.
"Just go away." She repeated. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and shrugged my shoulders, leaving the toilets and heading down a small corridor to the showers. I found one hidden in a corner, turned on the water and quickly slipped out of my uniform and stepped under the hot cascading water.
After rinsing my hair, and singing a concert's worth of songs as loudly as I could, I reached out for the towel hook only to find damp tiles. Muttering some choice words to myself, I opened the curtain only to find my towel was not where I thought I had left it.
I wrung my hair out as best I could and grimaced as I tentatively redressed in my school uniform and fashioned a hair band from my tie. I made my way back to the toilets and marched to the bench where my towel and fresh clothes had been left. Frustrated, I let my hair down and roughly dried it before noticing the sound of running water, well…spraying water actually. I glanced back at my shower, and seeing I had in fact turned the water off, furrowed my eyebrows and made my way back to the toilets.
"Hermione? Are you still cry…? I was quickly silenced by the sight of a mountain troll, face down on the bathroom floor, with Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and of course, Harry Potter stood around its head.
"What did you do?!" I asked, finding myself stepping over shard of smashed wood to get a better look at the chaos.
"It's not dead." Harry said, words that were not very reassuring to hear. I think I may have felt safer if it was.
"Wait. You were in there? How did you not here us?!" Ron exclaimed and I felt a pink tinge rising in my cheeks, my singing must have been louder than I thought. A few moments of silence passed between the four of us as we stared at the large, smelly body on the bathroom floor. Just in time for Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell to rush in.
"Ah!" McGonagall exclaimed at the sight of the unconscious mountain troll. She clutched onto the doorframe and gestured to the three members of her house. She scanned across the four of us, three very dirty first years and one poorly dressed, damp one. Her glance lingered on me for a moment too long, like I still managed to look out of place amongst the carnage.
"Explain yourselves this minute!" She demanded. Harry and Ron began trying to mutter out excuses before Professor Snape cut them off.
"Sorry to interrupt what I'm sure is a most fascinating story but I might enquire about what my own student is doing here? Given that little more than an hour ago she was instructed to go directly to the feasts and then return to the Slytherin Common Room?" I looked up as every face turned to me and I for once was the most innocent party in the room. Snape had an expression of clear anger, McGonagall with genuine curiosity and Quirrell, who wasn't actually looking at me at all, but wincing whilst staring down at the troll, as if it might wake any moment and continue its tirade of destruction.
"I just needed a shower, Sir. I forgot my towel. Mia is saving me seat in the Great Hall. Honestly." I explained.
"It was my fault, Professor." Hermione suddenly stated boldly. "I'd read about Mountain trolls and thought I could handle them. I was wrong. If Harry and Ron hadn't found me, I'd probably be dead." McGonagall tutted and the expression on her face made her look as though she couldn't wait for the Christmas holidays to begin.
"I am extremely disappointed in you and would have expected more rational decision making on your part. Five points from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgement. As for you two," she gestured to Harry and Ron, "I hope you realise how fortunate you are, surviving a mountain troll. Five points will be awarded to you both." Having apparently made her point, McGonagall and Snape left as Professor Quirrell ushered us out. I found myself awkwardly walking alongside the three Gryffindor's, clutching my newly found towel to my chest. I nodded to them as Hermione and the two boys left for their common room and I ventured back down into the dungeons.
Mia was on her feet the second I stepped through the door with a plate piled high with food. It appeared as though we were finishing our feast in the common room and I was suddenly famished as I snatched a sausage roll from her food mountain.
"Where were you? So much for not missing the feast! We didn't even get to have desert! Why are you damp?" Her questions and increasing look of humour got the attention of our friendship group.
"Oh, you know…showering isn't possible now, not whilst there are Gryffindor's battling trolls in the bathroom like it's some kind of illegal fighting ring." I shrugged my shoulders whilst happily munching through pastry.
"What?" Mia questioned. "The troll was in the dungeons!" I shook my head, droplets of water from my hair spattering onto my cheeks.
"No, it wasn't. It got into the girl's bathroom on the third floor."
"Shame it didn't stand on you on its way up. Oh wait, judging by your appearance it did." Draco sneered, rousing a chuckle from Crabbe and Goyle. I scrunched my nose and rolled my eyes.
"Oh whatever, Malfoy." Mia accompanied me to our dorm with her platter of food where I dried my hair and slipped into my Halloween pyjamas. Black with white ghosts on the bottoms. Iris looked up at me and meowed softly seemingly understanding the stressful events I had been through. I curled under my covers, sighing in contentment as I picked through the mini feast that had been saved for me. My bed seemed to be the safest place in the whole school at the moment.
