Chapter 11: Holiday Friction
The Halloween Feast meant every student had to be at their house's table. Harry looked around the room for Tracey and Neville, but he didn't see either of them. The extra festive autumnal food did nothing for him, as he stirred his squash soup restlessly. It was sad so much as surreal. Harry felt like he should be mourning or something. Instead he was trapped at a table with his roommates. His recent drama and resolution with Snape had him deflated and tired. He could only hope Dumbledore's final word there had gotten through to the odious man.
"Everything alright Harry?" asked Terry Boot, nudging him.
"Don't know how I should be feeling if I'm being honest. The day has lots of meaning for lots of people. Should I be somber because my parents are dead? I never knew them… Maybe I'd visit their graves? I'm stuck eating pumpkin pastries."
Terry laughed uncomfortably. "I'm not a fan of them, or pumpkin juice." He paused. "Can I apologize Harry? I'm looking back on the first day, and I realized all we did was talk about that sort of thing. The first few days you were probably still getting used to being- well, Harry Potter. And then Goldstein got everyone around the idea that you were stuck up. We—I've been a bad house member."
"Thanks Terry. Much appreciated," Harry smiled sadly.
"You're welcome. We've got seven years to figure things out between us all. We'll all be completely different people. Who knows who will be friends with who by the end of it, right?"
True. They were eleven. Good eleven-year-olds could become terrible adults. Bad eleven-year-olds became good people. It happened all the time.
"Too true Terry, too true."
There was a rumbling, the main doors to the Great Hall flung open with a loud creak. In limped Professor Quirrell, the stutterer. Harry could not say he had learned very much from the man. It was a good thing theory got covered in charms. This aside, the man looked more panicked than usual.
"T-t-troll! TROLL IN THE D-DUNGEON," Quirrell bellowed. And as if he used up his energy with his outburst, he collapsed. If the situation were not so serious, it might be comical.
Immediately all of the Great Hall was in an uproar. Everyone talked to themselves with worried expressions.
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore shouted with some magical enhancement. "Prefects, corral the students and return to your common rooms please."
As they corralled, Harry noticed an uneasy Tracey lining up. He caught her eye and lifted his eyebrows to question her mood.
"Neville is missing," he read from her lips. Harry's chest submerged in ice. Snape was nowhere to be found, and the Slytherin Prefects would never help Neville.
"Penelope!" Harry approached his female prefect in a panic. "Neville Longbottom isn't in the Great Hall!"
She sighed. "I'll go tell Percy. Stay together! PERCY!" She ran off.
Harry cleared his mind, attempting to lower the volume of his heartbeat in his ears. Why would there be a troll? It couldn't have possibly walked in, someone brought it in. And why it would be in the dungeons, Harry didn't have a clue. It could be something to do with the stone, but if it was part of the stone's protection the dungeons would be—too far…
This was a move to break the protections on the stone, which meant the most dangerous part of the school right now was by the 3rd-floor corridor, not the dungeons! And based on him having Charms just before and not liking Snape, Neville could very well be in the path of whoever wanted the stone.
The teachers had already left for the dungeons, Harry looked around the room for Quirrell to inform him, but the man was sneaking away in the opposite direction of the dungeon. Harry only saw his turban bob into a doorway leading away. He had to catch up to him!
Looking in his pack, Harry realized he had kept the invisibility cloak in his bag. If Dumbledore tracked the thing, it was as much a beacon as anything else. They had already counted him as present, he needed to make his move or Neville could be in huge trouble. In the crowd, Harry pretended to drop something and went under the table, where he donned his invisibility cloak for the first time. He went as fast as he could underneath the table to avoid bumping into anyone. His occasional bump into a chair went unnoticed in the panic.
Harry made it to the exit where Quirrell had left, all of the students collected at the other end and so Harry was able to run the length between the exit and the end of the table he had been crawling under. If Neville was in trouble, it would be along the path to the forbidden corridor. Trying to be as fast as he could without making too much noise underneath his cloak, Harry speed-walked his way towards the 3rd floor. Halfway there, he came across Quirrell also speeding in the same direction.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, by luck he happened to catch Quirrell, who would of course flee in the opposite direction to the dungeons. Just as he was ready to give his Defense teacher a scare, the man turned around with narrowed eyes and a completely different demeanor from the bumbling Professor Harry knew. The words he had ready died in his throat. His Professor felt, dangerous? Had he heard the sigh?
Luckier than catching up to Quirrell, the man turned around and kept going towards the 3rd floor corridor. Could Quirrell be the Dark Lord's agent? In the opposite direction to the forbidden corridor, there was a crash that almost caused the floor to vibrate. The troll! It would buy Quirrell more time if the teachers searched as far from the troll as possible. The stone was more important, he needed to stick to Quirrell.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Harry heard screams, it was Neville and some girl's voice! The stone be damned! Dumbledore's protections shouldn't be so weak as to fall so easily! It was a trap, and Dumbledore was not a fool. Harry barely hesitated for half a second before he sprinted towards his friend and the possible troll.
He turned a corner to see a fully-grown mountain troll stomping slowly towards Neville and Hermione, it carried a massive club. Neville's wand arm was limp at his side, and looked white as a sheet. He panted heavily. They were trapped in a corner. Hermione Granger held her wand up, but her arm was shaking furiously, and she also looked as if she had sustained a head wound. The troll raised its club, they would be finished!
"Diffindo!" Harry thought, as he cast a severing charm at the creature's upper torso, aiming for the right shoulder. Only that spell had the distance and could distract the troll. It hit, and actually managed to leave a sizable gash. But with the troll's regeneration and defense, it would not slow the creature down. "Spongify!" he cast at the floor as the troll turned around in a rage.
When the troll didn't see anything and was ready to turn around again, Harry realized he would need to goad it. He cast several more severing charms at its chest. He avoided the eyes and kept them low power because he didn't want it to thrash about and kill his friend. Becoming visible was also not an option, he also needed to be able to get away. Thank goodness he had spent the time to learn silent casting. The troll walked slowly in his direction, swatting at the air with its club. This wasn't going to work!
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed an inkwell that had been dropped onto the floor. He levitated it and chucked it against the wall around the corner.
Thinking its opponent was escaping the troll saw red and immediately began a lumbering sprint. When the troll's foot hit the spongy and rubbery floor it lost its balance. Instead of catching its fall, the mountain troll tried to use the club to hit the floor and balance itself. It completely backfired and the club bounced back and hit its skull with a sickening crunch. Harry rolled into an open classroom to avoid the troll's massive body from falling on him. The body of the troll slammed into the doorway, leaving Harry trapped inside the classroom.
# # #
Waiting in the classroom, Harry felt like a trapped animal. He trusted Neville, Hermione Granger was a goody-two-shoes and would rat him out in a second. After his close shave with Snape already today, he did not want to be caught with the troll. Professor Quirrell might also suspect Harry followed him if he revealed being under the invisibility cloak. Harry did the only sensible thing, he waited and thought of ways to escape the classroom currently almost completely blocked by the troll's body, or perhaps it was a corpse after all.
Through a small gap, Harry heard multiple footsteps, the teachers had caught up to the troll finally. Neville and Hermione would have been long dead.
"What has happened here? Mr. Longbottom, Ms. Granger! You were told to head to your common room!"
"It's my fault Professor, we didn't go to the feast. I didn't want to attend but Neville didn't want to leave me by myself. The troll attacked us when we-I left the bathroom. Neville held it off with a fire spell, we would have been toast if the troll hadn't suddenly heard another noise and tripped running after it. And I would have been done for if not for Neville," said Hermione.
Harry raised his eyebrows. She took the blame. He had been too quick to judge.
"Mr. Longbottom, is this true?"
Other footsteps approached.
"Merlin Minerva, you got the thing just in time!" Flitwick's squeaky voice exclaimed following the patter of multiple footsteps.
"No, the troll had already been dispatched by the time I arrived," McGonagall said with a trace of suspicion in her voice.
"L-lucky the children weren't hurt," Quirrell stuttered. Harry's heart leapt out of his chest when he heard the familiar stutter. He remembered the man's cold eyes.
McGonagall cleared her throat. "Mr. Longbottom, for looking out for a friend and heroism in the face of danger, I award you forty points. And for skipping the required feast, I'm taking away five points each! Now come here, I'll fix that up for you. Good. You are both incredibly lucky! Both of you are to see Madame Pomfrey, go straight there! Quirinius, would you please accompany them?"
"M-most d-d-definitely."
Some shuffling later and the voices of Dumbledore and Snape could be heard.
"It's safe. But someone entered the corridor," said Dumbledore.
"Quirrell is suspect," Snape drawled.
"Minerva, I heard from Filius two students were injured quite severely. How are their conditions? And did you see Quirinius?" asked Dumbledore.
"I sent him with the students to Madame Pomfrey. He arrived slightly after I did."
"Two birds with one stone then," Dumbledore chuckled. "Did they really manage to do this to the troll? A fall by itself is hard enough to believe, to have it kill the troll… And why did it focus its attention away?"
"Granger said there was a noise. Do you think she was lying?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Harry heard Snape laugh derisively. "Granger? Not a chance. No… Look at this Albus. This cut on its neck and shoulder, a first-year couldn't do this. This is a severing charm, and a proficient one."
"No spells were heard. Either we have an invisible silent caster, or perhaps its handler did this to set it off," McGonagall informed them.
"Invisible… Albus-"
"Don't start Severus. I have already lost my patience with you once today," Dumbledore warned in a low voice.
"I will say this much. It would explain his knowledge of things he should have no idea of!"
"I put a tracking charm on the cloak so the boy wouldn't run away during the summer. It is long faded, so I cannot confirm whether he used it in our most recent kerfuffle, but he truly never used the cloak, Severus. Not during the summer, and not in a whole month's worth of schooling."
Dumbledore could be messing with him; found knowledge, as he had told Dumbledore. If he wanted to do something truly against Dumbledore, he would leave the cloak just to be sure.
"Albus, you didn't! He mistrusts you as it is!" McGonagall cried.
"He had run away once already. It was for his safety. I never intended to monitor the boy's activities," Dumbledore spoke softly.
"I notice you are objecting to my mentioning of Potter more than my suspicion that he was involved somehow," Snape declared triumphantly.
"He was not counted as missing Severus," McGonagall haughtily informed the man.
"The most likely explanation is the culprit was repelled by 'Fluffy' and protected the students so as to reduce the intensity of the investigation," said Dumbledore, "Minerva, if you would also keep an eye on Quirinius. It is possible he is the bait to focus our attention, but he is openly suspicious."
# # #
Harry opened his eyes. He had slept in the classroom behind a desk, not daring to come out of the classroom with patrolling teachers. The classroom was eerie in the dead of night, dark as anything too. Thankfully the moonlight shone through the windows.
Judging by the sky there was yet some time until dawn. He had already gotten his sleep for the night, as much as he would be able to get at least. There wasn't much to this invisibility cloak thing. He was invisible, sure. However, he had no designs to steal anything, or go anywhere he was unable to during the day, or prank anyone. Harry did what he always did, he opened one of the books in his bag and began to read under his cloak.
After an hour or two, sunlight peaked over the horizon. Harry snuck away from the scene of the crime but stayed in his cloak until he was a good distance away.
# # #
The incident with the troll rocked the school for a time, but died down eventually. With Snape resolved, Neville and Tracey reconciled. Only, Hermione had taken Tracey's spot as Neville's partner in potions. Harry didn't tell Neville or Tracey about his interference, as he thought it would take away from Neville's achievement. The result was Neville being treated as the hero of Gryffindor. Neville reveled in it a little too much for Harry's taste, but he knew it was paper-thin. This was the first thing he had done 'without' Harry. Tracey was less than happy with Neville's new behavior.
Harry had made a firepit using magic on the side of the lake, where there was some tree coverage connected with the forbidden forest. With Hagrid's permission of course. It created a little sanctuary for his friends. Determined to improve it over time, or find some hidden spot inside the castle, for now, it was their space.
Tracey and Harry enjoyed it, despite the encroaching cold and Neville's new add-on. Hermione also joined them now and again, and Neville could not tell the girl no. Tracey and Harry sat on stumps around a fire.
"It's been weeks Harry!" Tracey ranted to him.
"Trace, be a little quieter. The walls have ears in this place. Next thing you know, you'll start some rumor. It'll pass," he whispered.
"There's no walls! We're completely in the open! And another thing! He keeps bringing that Granger girl around too. She's intolerable. And she cuts you down when you're not around! You don't share a free period alone with them!" Tracey seethed.
"You could just hang out with Greengrass. Hell, bring her along. Neville didn't ask with Granger. As long as she doesn't gossip."
"And make it seem okay that he brings the absolute bossy bore around? Merlin. It's like they boost each other's egos. Neville gets to be the hero, and she gets to be the smart one who tells him what to do."
"Jealous?" Harry waggled his eyebrows and laughed.
"Oh barf!"
"Tracey!" Harry put his hands to his mouth. "You're not… with Greengrass?"
"RUDE! Watch what you say. For one, it's not nice. For another, if you're worried about rumors you shouldn't say things like that. And lastly, NO!"
Harry grimaced guiltily. "Sorry Trace. My cousin makes those sorts of jokes. I don't want to be like him."
"Oh my gosh. Take the hit Potter. Bringing up your family is bullshit."
"Yes ma'am."
"Oh barf!"
Harry grabbed some more firewood and threw it on. The sun had completely fallen behind the horizon and the cold was creeping in.
Tracey rubbed her hands together in front of the fire and pulled up a blanket she had brought. "Why don't we just get a tent?"
"Because it's not permitted. Hagrid says if we brought a tent, it would qualify officially as camping out. We'd need a teacher involved, and everyone would have to be able to join," said Harry for the thousandth time.
"And this isn't?"
The fire crackled.
"It's an alteration to the landscape with the permission of the groundkeeper."
"Harry… speaking of your family. What if Sirius is guilty? What if they delay the trial to after summer starts?" Tracey stared into the fire.
"Your parents didn't agree," Harry concluded.
"You're welcome over anytime Harry. But it's not in the cards," Tracey confessed.
"I'm still invited over the winter break?"
"Yes. But just be warned, the blood supremacist faction is going to get together for Yule, and my family is going. Are you sure Dumbledore will agree Harry?"
Harry prodded the fire with a stick. "Nope."
# # #
The second week of December and McGonagall was taking names of students who would be staying for the Christmas Holidays. Harry did his best to avoid her, but there was only so much he could do since he had her for Transfiguration. The deadline was approaching, and McGonagall knew Harry did not have a family to go home to. He scurried away from his desk the moment Transfiguration ended, but she managed to catch him.
"MR. POTTER!" Harry winced. "Don't imagine I haven't noticed you avoiding me," she called out from her desk.
"I haven't so much been avoiding you, as failing to seek you out Professor," Harry winked.
"You haven't signed up to stay for the Winter Holidays, might you tell me what alternative arrangements you have? Don't tell me you're going back to your Aunt and Uncle?" she asked with an eye roll.
"Staying with a friend. I figured I would not let the precedent be set where it is any business of the school's where I stay when school is not in session."
McGonagall's lips formed a thin line. "Is it so hard to be courteous to those who care for you, Mr. Potter? To say nothing of your need for protection."
"You may care a great deal for me, it does not change what is and is not the school's business Professor." He held up his hands "I mean no disrespect towards you, or your care for me."
He searched her stern expression for a reaction, but got very little from her stoicism.
"Very well. I can look the other way if you can guarantee there will be adult supervision. Though the school has no power to keep you here, we have some responsibility for your safe passage. If your guardians fail to pick you up from where Hogwarts has safely left you off, that is their concern," McGonagall winced while saying this, as if it pained her to bend the rules.
# # #
Harry dragged his trunk behind him, he looked back every so often. Not a word from Dumbledore. Either he didn't know or he didn't care. The walk to the carriages was long, stressful, and cold. The snow which had held back through early December was now coming down with a vengeance. At the end, the horseless carriages awaited him. Tracey, Neville, and Hermione all waved from a far carriage. Harry sprinted to the carriage and slammed the door behind him. Tracey cheered.
"Was that necessary?" Hermione asked with crossed arms, immediately Tracey's face turned sour.
This was going to be a long ride home, if he wasn't apprehended at the station by the Dumbledore police.
"I didn't know if they'd let me go," Harry did his best winsome smile to try and disarm the building hostilities.
"You really shouldn't-"
"Hermione, let Harry do what he wants. It's his holiday," Neville cut in.
She huffed. "I was going to say he shouldn't try to sneak away. McGonagall wasn't very happy with you."
"Then I've got nothing to lose." Harry shrugged.
Tracey kept her silence where Hermione was involved. She wasn't ignoring her, just letting Harry respond when she said difficult things. Neville tried to keep the peace, he looked stressed. It had been weeks of slowly trying to bring Hermione into the fold. She had acquaintances, but no real friends to speak of outside of Neville. Harry felt bad for her, and so let Neville bring her along. But he was not going to bend over backward to make her fit in or become her friend. He was nice to her, and that was all. Tracey struggled a bit more to be nicer.
They left the carriages and got onto the Express. Hermione stuck with them, much to Harry's annoyance. It was very difficult to talk to Neville because she constantly inserted herself. Neville realized it too from the way he had begun to pull her back a little. They chose a compartment in the back, Tracey picked it specifically with an evil grin.
He had no idea what Tracey was up to, until the compartment opened up to a blonde Daphne Greengrass after a few minutes of sitting and not talking much.
"Tracey! Pansy is being intolerable, could I sit with you guys?" she asked, but sat down before anyone could answer.
"Daphne! You are very welcome to stay of course. We welcome all, right Neville?" said Harry.
"O-o-of course Daphne. I don't think we've ever met?" Neville's nerves returned when he was surprised. He reached out to shake her hand, which she accepted bemusedly.
"Harry Potter, snake charmer." Harry extended his arm and moved his hand in a rainbow motion as if creating an image.
Everyone snorted except for Hermione.
"Your delusions of grandeur have no bounds," Tracey added. "There will be no more additions Slytherin-in."
Daphne groaned. "You didn't make that joke."
"I'm Hermione Granger," a flustered Hermione awkwardly greeted.
"Charmed," responded Daphne after a moment.
There was an awkward pause.
The compartment door opened again. It was Susan Bones, Harry's lab partner. They never really talked outside of Potions, but they were very friendly after all they had been through together with Snape.
"Most of my friends are staying for the hols. Mind if I join?" asked Susan.
"Please! Now all the houses are represented!" Tracey smiled evilly.
Harry cupped his hands and mouthed, 'You did not!' to Tracey secretly.
'Oh yes I did!' she mouthed back.
"Be careful Susan. Tracey has schoolwide domination in mind. She'll use you for your Puffness and throw you away I tell ya!" Harry ranted.
Susan ignored him. "Hey Hermione. We've never been properly introduced. I'm in your History and DADA classes, I think you're the only one who pays attention in both of those classes."
"I can't be the only one." Hermione insisted.
"I try but I fall asleep in history," Neville complained.
"I enjoy the history. I can't deal with the stuttering," Daphne added with a flip of her hair.
"Defense is so cool, even if the teacher sucks this year. Binns is intolerable. Can't wait to not have to take that BS," Tracey closed her eyes and looked up in annoyance.
Everyone looked at Harry who scratched his head awkwardly.
# # #
Harry and Tracey made their way to the platform in a pleasant mood. The crowd was not so dense as it could get before and after the school year thankfully for Harry. Having come early on his first trip, he had avoided the Harry Potter stares and whispers which accompanied him wherever he went. This time, the parents were worse than the Hogwarts children in their unsubtle finger points and exclamations of surprise.
Tracey's parents were able to easily find them, since Harry was a beacon for attention.
"Tracey! This is Harry?" a short dirty-blonde woman with Tracey's sloping nose and small mouth waved at them from afar and ran over happily. A stately looking and tall man with a well-trimmed dark goatee and greying temples strode behind her his eyes were deep-set, but similar to Tracey's.
"Mom!"
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mrs. Davis," Harry said as he took her hand and bowed at the waist slightly. Ms. Davis smiled warmly, and then hugged her daughter. Mr. Davis finally caught up to them, a satisfied smile on his face. "Mr. Davis," Harry acknowledged politely with a small bow of his head.
Tracey and her mother began to talk amongst themselves about school, while her father leveled Harry an intense, but not unfriendly, gaze.
"You learned the manners! Good. Unnecessary considering your status Mr. Potter, but good," Mr. Davis said in a gruff voice.
"I didn't know what level of politics you would ask of me," said Harry, still looking at Mr. Davis.
He turned away to greet his daughter and murmured, "It's a holiday Mr. Potter."