Evening everyone! I genuinely cannot stop writing. I went from 8 years of reading fanfiction to writing nonstop. I think i'm just excited to get to the next few books. Here's chapter 10 for you all! Also, I apologize for any grammar mistakes. I'm trying to get better with proofreading, but I'm still learning and getting used to writing this much! Writing 500 words for school used to be a drag and now I'm cranking out thousands in fan fiction lol. Things should start getting better and maybe I'll go back and make some revisions later on. Let me know what you guys think of the story so far! I'm very curious so leave a review! :)
I do not own the Harry Potter series and all characters are the property of JK Rowling with the exception of my own OCs
Chapter 10
Triss could hardly believe that two months had already passed by. With helping Harry learn Quidditch and all of her homework piling up, time seemed to move in a flash. As each day passed Triss found her lesson's to be growing steadily more difficult and more interesting. Defense Against the Dark Arts still proved to be a joke mostly because Quirrell seemed to be scared of his own shadow. Still, there were some days where Triss found it to be quite interesting, even though she always got this strange pit in her stomach whenever she looked at Professor Quirrell. She couldn't put her finger on it, but this uneasy feeling seemed to follow the man in the purple turban. Triss simply ignored it and figured it had to do with learning about a subject that dealt in discussing dark arts.
Astronomy and Herbology were well enough, and Triss couldn't help but notice that Neville Longbottom of all people seemed to really exceed at the latter subject. He always had a bright smile on his face during the class, while everyone else was covered in sweat and dirt. Triss, Harry, and Ron were always put to sleep by Professor Binns's droning in History of Magic, which continued to be the dullest subject in Hogwarts — a class her father of all people said was his favourite. Perhaps he was the only student in Hogwarts history who actually enjoyed and excelled at the subject.
At least Harry and Ron were able to pass by decently in Transfiguration, which was still proving to be Triss's most difficult subject. She would end each class with a huff of frustration and couldn't understand why it didn't come easy to her like some of the other students. She was almost as bad as Neville, who hadn't even managed to turn a matchstick into twig, let alone a needle. Still, Triss worked twice as hard as to not fall behind and earn a poor grade. She stayed up late doing extra studying, and she stayed after class to ask Professor McGonagall questions, who happily gave her answers — most likely out of pity for Triss's lack of success at the subject.
While Harry was still the subject of Snape's disdain, Triss found herself on his good side (if there was one) due to her excellent skills at potion making. She was nowhere near as good as her brother — or even Hermione Granger, who was determined to be the very best in every one of their subjects — but she still did quite well for herself much to Snape's chagrin. He would berate Harry and Ron's potions and criticize their every mistake, but Triss's potions were near perfect and Snape could never say a thing — except for an annoyed sneer here and there.
Triss's favourite class was Charms by far. Professor Flitwick was a very kind man who always took pride in every student's success. Triss almost always preformed the spells he taught them correctly on her first try. Even Hermione seemed to be in awe at her success at times, but would never admit it. Her skills at charms were practically the opposite of her skills at transfiguration.
On Halloween, Triss couldn't hide her excitement because Professor Flitwick announced they were ready to start making objects fly, something she had been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Triss's partner was Harry (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch her eye). Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of the boys since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived and only made a passing comment here and there to Triss.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Triss had tried this spell once in the common room when she was paging through her Charms textbook one night to no avail. Luckily, after hearing Flitwick's pronunciation she realized she had been saying it wrong.
She shouted "Wingardium Leviosa" nice and clearly, and the feather in front of her rose above the student's heads. She smiled proudly and Harry gaped at her floating feather, along with some other frustrated students.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Selwyn's done it! Five points to Gryffindor." Triss beamed at her success.
"See now, how in the world are you able to do that, but you still can't even transfigure a matchstick?" asked Harry whose feather hadn't moved an inch.
"What can I say Potter, my brain works in mysterious ways," She said with a grin that earned a laugh from Harry in response. After learned about their family history last month in the common room, the two had grown even closer. Ron was shocked to see the baby photo of them and couldn't believe that they had known each other even before Ron and Triss did. Their friendship truly was meant to be.
In the classroom, many students weren't having much luck in levitating their feathers. Neville and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it — Neville had to put it out with his hat.
Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," Triss heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads, it's height matching Triss's own floating feather.
"Oh, excellent!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Miss Granger's done it as well! Great work girls."
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.
"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to her and Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."
"Ronald!" Triss shouted. Sure, Hermione was a bit of a know-it-all, but there was no reason to say something as mean as that. Besides, she was right. Ron had been saying the spell all wrong.
Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Triss caught a glimpse of her face — and was startled to see that she was in tears.
"I think she heard you." Harry said.
"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
"Maybe she would if any of us took the time to get to know her. I get that she can be annoying, but did you two ever stop and use your thick heads to think that maybe she was trying to make friends by talking to us about school? I'm just as at fault as you two dunderheads, but at least I don't say things like that about her, and at least I'm going to try and make it right." Triss didn't wait for an answer, and the boys were so stunned, she doubted she would get one anyway. She spent the time in between classes looking for her to no avail.
Harry POV
After getting a stern talking to by Triss, he felt pretty guilty about what happened with Hermione. Triss looked all over the castle for the bushy haired girl but couldn't find her. Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Triss and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of their minds.
A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
Triss sat down with them, but there was a distressed look on her face. She pushed her plate away and packed up her things.
"I can't enjoy this knowing Hermione is crying her eyes out in a bathroom. I'm going to go look for her and apologize for how we've all been acting. You should try and do the same Ron," Triss said getting up. She wrapped up some food for the girl and put it in her bag and took off out of the Great Hall, even though she looked as if she wanted to stay and enjoy the feast like them.
A few minutes later, just as Harry was in the middle of eating a baked potato, Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know."
He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.
There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
Percy was in his element.
"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"
"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.
"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."
They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.
"I've just thought — Hermione and Triss."
"What about them?"
"They don't know about the troll."
Ron bit his lip in fear for a moment, but a resolute look came over his face,
"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."
Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom.
Triss POV
Triss raced towards the girl's bathroom hoping to find Hermione still in there. She opened the door the bathroom and heard sniffling coming from one of the stalls. Triss walked over and knocked on the door carefully.
"Hermione? It's me, Triss. I'm so sorry for what Ron said to you. That was absolutely awful and a horrid thing to say about someone."
"Go away!" She called out through tears.
"I'm not going anywhere until you open this door. Why would you listen to Ron anyway? I've known him all my life, so believe me when I say he can be really thick sometimes. He only said that because he hasn't gotten to know you. And neither have I. I really am sorry if I haven't been as nice to you as I should. You are incredibly smart, and I think I'm just intimidated sometimes." Triss heard the door creak open and it revealed Hermione, whose eyes were red rimmed, and tears were falling down her cheeks.
"You're intimidated of me?" She asked, wiping her eyes.
"Yeah a bit. I come from an all-magic family and you're kicking my arse in every subject." This earned a small smile and hiccup from Hermione.
As soon as it came though, it fell from her face and new tears pooled in her eyes and she said, "But Ron's right though. I don't have any friends. I thought if I did really well in school, that people would like me. Instead, I'm just alone in a bathroom".
Triss took the girl's hand and said "You are not alone. And you do have a friend. Me. I want us to be friends, Hermione. Think we can start over?"
A huge smile formed on her face and she nodded her head. Triss pulled the girl into a tight hug, but the moment was interrupted by a foul stench that hit her nose. It was fouler than any potion she sniffed and resembled a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.
Triss and Hermione let go and looked up at a hideous creature that just walked into the bathroom. It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.
"It's a troll!" Triss yelled out. Hermione and Triss screamed at the ugly beast, and it lunged its wooden club at the two of them with a grunt. Triss pulled Hermione to ground just in time and they crawled on the floor to a corner of the room. The troll lumbered towards them and they were backed up against a wall. Triss took Hermione's hand and just as they were about to be troll supper, Ron and Harry burst into the room.
"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.
The troll stopped a few feet from Triss and Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.
"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.
Triss's stunned appearance finally burst into action.
"Come on, run, run!" She yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror. Triss took out her wand, waving it madly and sending red sparks at the Troll.
The sparks, shouting, and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.
"Ron!" Triss yelled and without thinking, ran towards her red-headed friend. Triss grabbed onto the Troll's wrist that was waving the club to strike. She clung on for dear life hoping that would stop the troll from smashing Ron into bits. Instead, the troll lifted up the arm she was holding and waved her off, causing her to fly across the room and land in a heap into the pile of broken sinks.
Triss winced in pain at bumping her head on a pipe. She saw stars for a moment and looked up to see Harry do something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped — it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.
Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.
Triss tried lifting herself up to fight with Harry; Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron though, pulled out his own wand — not knowing what he was going to do cried the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.
Triss shakily got to her feet, rubbing the spot on her head where she knocked it. Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.
It was Hermione who spoke first.
"Is it — dead?"
"I don't think so," said Harry, "I think it's just been knocked out."
He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.
"Urgh – troll boogers."
He wiped it on the troll's trousers.
"First, a three-headed dog and now a troll? What do you guys think will be next, a dragon?" Triss asked joining her friends.
They all just stared in silence at the beast.
"Triss are you ok? You took a nasty fall," Ron asked concerned.
Before she could answer, a sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.
Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Triss, Ron, and Harry. Triss had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Triss's mind.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Triss looked at Harry, who looked just as nervous as she did, and then at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air.
"You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. Triss wished Ron would put his wand down.
Then a small voice came out of the shadows.
"Please, Professor McGonagall — they were looking for me."
"Miss Granger!"
Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.
"I went looking for the troll because I — I thought I could deal with it on my own — you know, because I've read all about them."
Ron dropped his wand and Triss's jaw dropped. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?
"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Triss grabbed onto the troll's club as it was about to strike but it threw her off. Then Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
Triss, Harry, and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them. Triss tried to muster up an innocent looking smile.
"Well — in that case . . ." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Hermione hung her head. Triss was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses."
"Well, Triss hit her head pretty hard, professor," Harry said looking over at her.
Professor McGonagall looked at her with concern and said, "Is this true Ms. Selwyn?"
"Yes, but I'm alright, I promise." She reassured her. McGonagall nodded her head and Hermione left.
Professor McGonagall turned to Triss, Harry, and Ron.
"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."
They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.
"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Ron grumbled.
"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's." Harry said.
"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."
"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.
"You did what?!" Triss said spinning around to glare at boys. They both looked fearful at the fuming blonde.
"Yes, but it was only because we were looking for you and Hermione. We didn't know you were in there when we locked." Harry said trying to explain to no avail.
Triss only glared and said, "Well next time a mountain troll comes after me, do me a favour and don't lock it in the room! And I guess — thanks for saving me I suppose." She ended it with a smile which the boys returned gratefully.
They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Pig snout," they said and entered.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they boys said "Thanks,"
"Thanks?! That's all you two can say is thanks? We almost got killed by a mountain troll because you two had to go off and be mean to her and —" Triss rant got interrupted by a head of bushy hair hugging her tightly. Triss closed her mouth and hugged Hermione back.
The four hurried off to get plates and helped themselves to leftover food from the feast.
They spent the rest of the evening filling their bellies with delicious foods and discussing their newest adventure in Hogwarts.
But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
What did you guys think? This was another shorter chapter, but the next one should be longer. The next one should be up soon! Favourite, Follow, and Review :) Also thanks to anyone who has followed this story so far. It makes my day everytime I get a notification that someone has favorited it.