Chapter 15: Discovery of Decency

"Trolls"

"Trolls? As in more than one?" Ron's face was ashen, and judging by Neville's face, this was not the trolls that Harry and Dudley had been reading about. After looking at Hermione, they could both tell that she had read about them in both sides of the world.

"Aye, trolls. They got into the dungeons and started wandering around. Stupid creatures, but it's a good thing they were discovered before something worse could've happened. For now, the Professors are going through the castle looking for more, but don't think there is more than the seven that were found."

"How were they found?"

"I don't know who found them first, Harry, but I was told to try and find you. I was just finishing with the last pumpkin for the feast when McGonagall told me to find you. Cho overheard and said they were looking for you anyways."

"And thats when she told you we might be out here?"

"Got it in one Dudley."

Piers, who so far had been silent the whole time, to the point that Harry had thought he was sleeping through the last half of the picnic, looked over at the group with a smirk, saying "Aren't we glad there are no bridges in Hogwarts?"

Hermione shot an angry expression to Piers. "These magical trolls are NOT like the ones from muggle books."

"Hermione's right. I've heard stories from some of the kids here in the past about what muggles think trolls are, and let me tell you, these are worse."

"How much worse are they?" Piers replied.

"Well, they're taller, stupider, and more dangerous. They still carry clubs, but they're really easy to get frustrated or angry, and any noise will make them either or. Especially if that noise is something that they think is close to them. Also, they hate screaming."

"If I was a professor, I'd give you points for that John. As it is, everyone else is already in their common rooms, so I need to get you to yours. I'll take you to them one by one, starting with you Ravenclaws."

"Why the Ravenclaws?"

"It's what I was told. Dumbledore's orders. Didn't question them, just going to follow them."

In the back of his head, Harry thought about it for a second before the answer came to him. Well, his own reasoning for making that the order. The Ravenclaws of the group were either smaller or less 'emergency battle tactical' in regards to what to do if confronted with a troll than the other houses. Harry assumed that the Gryffindors were next, because to the proximity of their house entrances, followed by the Hufflepuffs, then the lone Slytherin. As the students were dropped off, the number that needed to be guarded or protected by Hagrid would dwindle, making it easier for Hagrid to do just that. It made sense, but some gut feelings were hard to cover up, and Harry was hoping that he could physically be there to make sure that everyone got to their common rooms safetly.

By the time that he finished the thought, they were in front of a Bronze knocker that John and Hermione were standing in front of.

"I am the middle of middle and end of end"

"You are the letter D" John responded almost immediately.

Harry looked over at Dudley, who had a surprised look on his face. Both shrugged their shoulders before following Hagrid to the next common room entrance, which turned out to be the Gryffindor Common rooms.

"I'll leave you here to say the password after we leave, since it's not supposed to be heard or known by people from other houses."

"Okay, thanks Hagrid for taking us this far."

Harry then turned to the portrait which was already open. He figured either Ron or Neville said the password while everyone else was leaving. Entering the portrait-hole itself, Harry could already hear the loud explosion of conversation, almost deafening his ears. The twins were in a corner, mumbling to themselves, while the rest of the house could be overheard talking about trolls and trying to figure out what happened since they were sent there before dinner. Within seconds, everyone noticed the arrival of Ron, Neville, and more noticeably, Harry. A continuous stream of questions followed, but Harry wasn't planning on answering any of them, as he had no idea how to answer. Instead, he went over to where the twins were sitting, which was right next to where Ron and Neville ended up, and started waiting and thinking. Waiting to find out about dinner plans, and thinking about finding out how to make sure that everyone got back okay.

Within 10 minutes, the portrait-hole opened up again, and Professor McGonagall strode in, followed by Sir Nick. The Gryffindor Ghost just kept going, and it would have been comical in any other situation to watch the strict professor suddenly shudder at the quick changes in body temperature. As it was, everyone was now paying attention to her, which was her plan anyways.

"First, thank you, Mr. Weasley for taking the precaution of making a head count and trying to find the unaccounted for. For the rest of the Prefects, and any to follow in the future, Mr. Weasley, upon hearing that there was a situation, immediately took a head count, and made sure that the professors knew that there were missing Gryffindors. I expect this to be one of the first steps to be taken by any Prefects, regardless of their house." She got a nod in return, which in Harry's eyes, proved that although he was a bookwork, he at least earned Harry's respect.

"Next, I would prefer that if there is a plan to go on a picnic, to the quidditch pitch, or anything else instead of going to lunch, that someone on staff is informed. The situation on both sides has been explained to me, and I will meet with those individual parties to discuss any punishments, but suffice it to say, some of the panic that staff members may have to deal with in the future would be better relieved if it was known where students were if they were not where they typically would be."

At this, Harry nodded his head in shame. He knew he should've told someone else besides just the twins. It just didn't occur to him that something dangerous would happen at a school, magical or not.

"There will be an announcement at breakfast tomorrow informing everyone at once what happened, to the best of our knowledge, and what should happen in the future should something like this happen again. For now though, everyone will stay in the common room for dinner, which will instead be a miniature feast for each house individually."

'Well,' thought Harry, 'it's not like they would've let us eat at the other house tables anyways, it was one of the exceptions.' In the meantime, the quidditch pitch was specifically mentioned, and that got Harry curious. Who would have gone to the quidditch pitch. Looking over at the twins, he got his answer. There was an all-too-innocent look on their faces which reminded Harry of the time Dudley convinced him to swap the shaving cream in Vernon's cabinet with whipped cream, and make the labels look like the opposite.

Despite all the excitement and events, the trio of the group were obviously planning on just going to bed after dinner. Just as this thought popped in Ron's head, tables appeared all around them with all the planned food from the feast. At least, Harry presumed it was the planned food, as everything seemed to have a Halloween theme to it.

After the whole of Gryffindor finished with their feast, Harry pulled Ron and Neville aside, telling them that they should just wait until tomorrow to do anything. Although it was the day after Halloween, it was still a bad day for Piers, who had a lot of potions work to do. They agreed, and plans were made to meet up with everyone else at breakfast.

Even while sleeping, Harry was imagining what could have happened had they found the trolls before the professors and staff found the trolls. Waking up the next morning, Neville and Ron could see the stress etched on Harry's face. They sent worried looks at each other before getting ready for the day and heading down to breakfast, where hopefully everyone was already gathered at the chosen Slytherin table.

As they reached the table and sat down, Dudley looked around to see if Greengrass was present, but the only friend of hers that he spotted was Tracy Davis. Instead of going over to ask Davis about her, Dudley instead waited for the rest of their group to arrive. Piers was already on the other side of the table, across from Dudley, and had already saved the seats so that everyone had a place to sit. According to Piers, Draco had already tried to take some of the seats, but was shoved off by Piers himself, and was last seen trying to complain to Professor Snape.

Snape, that was another person that confused Dudley. From what Ron, and the rest of the Weasley's, had said about him, Dudley didn't see as much as might have been displayed during the Gryffindor/Slytherin classes. Thinking about it, his own house was known for a well-developed work ethic, and the Ravenclaws were known as a base of knowledge, whereas the Gryffindor House was known as the ones to charge forward and damn the consequences, and the reputation that he already heard in abundance of Slytherin House was their ambition and sneakiness, with a suspicious reputation for being "Dark" even though Dudley had not seen that part of their reputation yet. Well, other than possibly Draco Malfoy. Even then "Bully" seemed more appropriate than "Dark."

Soon, the rest of the group arrived, sat down, and started eating before the conversations started all around them. Paying no attention to the others, Piers asked the first question of the day.

"So...does anyone know exactly what happened? Or does the Hogwarts rumor mill live up to the reputation?" Looking around, he could see that there was a pause to decide who went first. Predictably, Hermione was the first to answer.

"Well, a few of the prefects in Ravenclaw reported that a student almost ran into a troll near the dungeons, while late getting to a dungeons class. They supposedly hid behind one of the suits of armor until the troll passed, then went and told Professor Snape, who went to investigate the claims."

"One of the older Slytherins said they were in that class, and that he heard Professor Snape say something about how He had thought it was some 'Dunderhead ruining another potion and wasting valuable potion supplies' but came back a few minutes later and sealed the room" Piers confirmed.

"That's what another prefect said as well. I think that they were also in that class." John was even now analyzing the information, looking for gaps or fallacies that would be exploitable by the rumor mill itself. Continuing, Hermione added "From there, the other professors were notified, and all classes were cancelled, and everyone was apparently escorted to their common rooms by their current class's Professor. Those that either didn't have a class, or were caught skivving, were rounded up by a few other staff members, -"

"Like Hagrid" Harry interrupted.

"Yes, and Filch, Madam Pince, and the Hogwarts Ghosts." After that, Hermione took on a speculative look, which Harry then added his piece of info.

"Apparently, we weren't the only ones out and about. Someone, it seems, was on or near the quidditch pitch. I think it was the twins, but I'm not positive of that."

"No, it was them."

After looking over at the new speaker, Dudley's face turned comically red. "Oh, hello Ms. Greengrass. I didn't notice you sitting down next to us."

"That is kind of the point of being in Slytherin you know, Ms. Granger."

A soft giggle broke some of the tension at being overheard. Looking to the other side of the table, Tracy Davis could be attempting to cover her mouth, but failing miserably.

"So, how do you know it was them?"

"Well, Potter, since you asked so nicely, it is kind of obvious if you were to head down near the lake, or look out the window. You can see the evidence for yourselves."

Looking out the window, they could all see that, near the quidditch pitch, was a bright orange glowing light, dancing around the pitch like a broom racer that was doing aerial acrobatics.

"What in the name of Merlin is that?" Lily Moon could be heard by half of the great hall in the sudden silence. Apparently, as Harry's group all turned at once, almost the entire hall took notice, and also effectively quieted most conversation. When Lily was heard, a trickling of laughter could be heard, followed by Professor McGonagall looking more strict than ever while addressing the entire hall.

"I believe now would be the perfect time to make the announcements. As most of you may know, there was a Hogwarts-wide Lockdown yesterday evening, at approximately five in the afternoon. The staff and prefects exemplified their stations and positions by commencing the lockdown procedures, and making sure that any missing or unaccounted for students were found and escorted to their House common rooms." After a moment, in which everyone was now paying rapt attention, she continued with the rest of the information. "There was a total of seven trolls found, which has been investigated by all of Hogwarts staff. How they got in was, apparently, by a previously unknown and unwarded tunnel from close to the forbidden forest, which has now been warded by the Headmaster himself, so that no future wandering creatures from the forbidden forest may enter Hogwarts."

A shout could be heard from the Hufflepuff table "Was there anyone hurt?"

"Fortunately, not a single soul was injured in any way, and we aim to keep that standard. Again, thank you for providing the staff and students alike justification that prefects are there for a reason. Their authority exists for a reason, and what is said by them should be adhered to, whether it makes sense at the time or not."

At this, most of the hall went back to their meals, continued their conversation, or turned to look outside once again. The twins, however, were still grinning, and when Harry looked at them, they sent him another wink, then sat back and were mimicking checking their nonexistent watches.

An incredibly loud battery of sounds went off less than five seconds later, and the entire hall refocused on the quidditch pitch. The 'figure' apparently was timed, and exploded into a more brightly-lit orange hue, along with certain slogans and motto's that anyone in Gryffindor, except for most first-years' would have instantly recognized. "Gryffindors lead the way!" "First Charging" and "Be the Bold" were a few of what Harry could pick up, but the one that caught his attention was the last to be displayed.

"'Remember The Marauders!' What the bloody hell does that mean?" Harry heard from the Hufflepuff table. Looking at Professor McGonagall, Harry almost laughed out loud. She was currently shaking her head in her hands in exasperation. That confirmed to Harry that she knew exactly who the Marauders were, both as a group and as the individual people in the group.

A few hours later, the fireworks display, for that was what it was, instead of what Harry and a few others thought was a broom rider, was still the topic of conversation for the majority of the castle as a whole. Professor Snape, though, seemed to be furious throughout the morning. According to a few 2nd years, who had potions that morning, they were avoiding everything to do with Professor Snape, and were warning everyone that may have any kind of interaction with the man to be cautious with what is said in hearing distance of said named Professor. Especially if it involved any kind of pranking or anything to do with "The Marauders."

Hufflepuff, at least from 4th year on up anyways, were in the process of telling Dudley about a legend involving this group called the Marauders, where in '67, there was what is still called "The Great Panty Raid" which is still known as the most accomplished prank of the Marauders. Mostly because it was proven that there were no Marauders in Hufflepuff itself. This was proven by Hufflepuffs themselves, and this specific prank would have violated their primary principle; trust in each other. Dudley then told the rest of the group, who looked to Harry for confirmation, which was given with a nod.

"It was their final prank of first year before the Christmas holidays. Sirius' idea, and my dad went along with it. They still didn't say HOW they did it, just that they did."

"Well, to be fair, the Journal was just basically a log of what was done. It's not like a how-to book for their pranks" Dudley added.

"Yeah, because how to do them wouldn't really fit in with their creativity process" Harry stated.

John looked from Harry to the rest of the group, and asked "So, are we going to talk about the letter you got, or wait a little bit?"

"I think we should wait a little bit" Harry answered with a tilt to his head towards Greengrass. At that, John mouthed 'OH' and dropped it from there. They all had to head to their individual classes anyways, since classes started in the next 12 minutes.

After the day's classes, the group started on their weekend homework, all grouped up once again in the library. This time they all settled further back, so that they weren't overheard by either Madam Pince or any other groups that may have been close enough to them. Since there was about 4 whole bookshelves in between their group and any other groups at the time, it was safe to say that no one would overhear them talking at a normal level.

"So, what should we do about the letter, or what the letter asked?" Hermione started off. Since everyone was finished with at least half of their weekend homework already, it was a less drastic need to finish reports than an hour ago.

"Depends on what we may think about Greengrass. I mean, she seems okay, but I really don't know much about her, other than what she looks like."

"Well, Harry, it seems like you may not have noticed her all that much, but a certain someone in the group certainly has" joked Lily.

Dudley was now looking down in embarrassment, mumbling "she looks pretty enough to me" but only loud enough that those closest to him could hear.

"Well, since we're in the same house, I should be able to help you there." Piers had joined them recently, due to his additional lessons from Professor Snape. "She's quiet, observant, and is definitely NOT like Malfoy at all. Well, other than that she is a pureblood."

"Well, that's a start, I guess" Harry started off.

"Well, from what I know of her," Piers continued, "she is more like a mix of Hermione and Lily. Definitely likes to keep her grades up, always studying even when finished with her classes, and always curious about different topics."

"What do you mean by that?" Hermione looked like she wanted to either hide in a corner or give Piers a good slap for the statement.

"I mean that I've seen her with books on topics that we wouldn't get to study until 3rd year at best, and some were on classes that aren't even offered at Hogwarts. I asked her about one of them one day, and she told me that the subject isn't taught at Hogwarts at all, but is a graduation course. Although, she did say that another school in France-"

"Beauxbatons" John interrupted

"Yeah, Beauxbatons, teaches it for 6th and 7th years, but only as an elective."

"What class was that? I might want to look into it."

"I know you would, John, I know you would. It was warding. Mainly for houses and locations, but as it was an introductory text, it was highly simplified. We are in 1st year, after all."

"So, to sum it up, she's a decent person, from what you can tell?" Harry asked.

"Right on the head. Kind of reminds me of Margret."

"Whose Margret?"

Piers looked at both of the voices, and answered "Oh, just Dudley's old girlfriend."

"WAS NOT!"

"Okay, so it wasn't. Didn't stop her from trying though."

"No, that was your sister Piers."

"Can we not bring that up every time? It was a crush, and she got over it." By now, everyone was giggling or chuckling at the back and forth between the three pre-Hogwarts friends.

"So, what do you think we should do?" Everyone looked at Harry, shrugged, then looked between each other for an answering remark. "I mean, if it was just me, I would want to see if I could get to know her a little better."

"We all knew that from day one, Dudley." More laughing. "What do you think Harry?"

"Well, I can't just go up to her and say 'Hi, your dad told me to introduce myself' can I?"

Hermione, trying to hide her face, just replied "But that's exactly what you could do. Just...in a slightly less awkward way."

"And how would that be?"

John and Neville had facial expressions that basically said 'have no clue' but Harry looked around and saw that maybe Lily had an answer. "Lily? How do you think I should introduce myself?"

Lily took on a thinking expression, before answering "I think you should find her in a class you share, and offer to be partners. That might be the easiest way. But make sure it's a class that has 3 people in a team instead of just two, like potions does. That way you're not cutting out her friend, Tracy. I noticed they always partner, and when there's a team of three in a class, they usually get someone from another house to be the third, instead of finding someone from Slytherin."

"That...makes sense. Maybe I'll do that for DaDA. Pro-, well, Quirrel sometimes puts us in groups of three or four. Sometimes it's just me, Ron, and Neville, and Piers as a fourth. Maybe next time I can try and get someone else from Gryffindor or Slytherin to take my place as a third, or make different teams of four. Last week I saw they had Parvati and Lavender as their partners, and it didn't look like they enjoyed having those two as teammates."

Piers laughed then added "I should think not. They do NOT like those two. 'Airheads' she called them one day."

So, since the plan was made, it was getting close to curfew, the majority of their weekend homework was done, the group broke up to head back to the dorms and get ready for the next week's classes.

After the next week ended, and November was in full effect, it was decided that going outside for conversations would have to wait. At least until someone, prolly from Ravenclaw, since it came from Hermione and John, pointed out the use of Warming Charms. After that, since Warming Charms lasted about an hour, the most that the group would be out in the cold was an hour, maybe two if no one noticed the time. During one of these outside trips, and with Professor McGonagall informed where they were, and since it was a Sunday, the topic of the Marauders was once again brought up.

"Since Remus Lupin seems to still be out and about, do you think we should reach out to him?"

"Well it depends, Dudley."

"On what?"

"He could be busy, have a job, or be in a different country for all we know." John was good at stating facts and variables, Harry noticed.

"Well, if it was from Harry, since he is James' son, I think he would answer no matter where he would be at, or what he would be busy doing." Hermione was another that was good at getting a good sense of the situation, and it wasn't just Harry that noticed this tidbit of knowledge.

Dudley looked over at Harry and said "I think you should do it. Send a letter with Hedwig and see if you get a response."

Just then, Hedwig flew over to Harry's shoulder and perched herself with her eyes seemingly penetrating his questionable response with the affirmative. "I know you would be up to it girl, I just don't know if he would want to hear from me."

"Why do you think that?" Lily was good at asking the right questions, this being a prime example.

"Well, I've been at Hogwarts for months now, and I haven't gotten anything from him, or haven't heard of him asking about me. I just don't know if he'd be interested."

"I can say he would love to hear from you, Harry."

"Hagrid, I didn't see you."

"Well, to be fair, you are turned away from where he was coming from" Dudley responded.

"Well, I can say this. There aren't a lot of things that would brighten up his day as much as hearing from you. I knew him all through his student years, and have known him since, and if it wasn't for certain...uh..."

"Complications" Hermione spoke up.

"Aye, complications...then I know he would've reached out as soon as he could've."

"Complications? What does that mean?" Harry looked confused, but it seemed that after a few seconds of thinking on it, realized this was the information that Hermione found out, and said that it would be Remus's business to divulge. "Oh...so, you think I should write to him?"

"I do. And I think you might be surprised at the response you might get."

"Well, then I'll write to him." Hedwig pecked at his shoulder, to which Harry added "Okay, I get it, I'll write to him now. Naggy bird." Hedwig's response was a nip on the finger, to which everyone laughed.