Victoria swallows hard as Hermione lets out a petrified scream. The fear brewing in the pit of her stomach as she began to back away from the advancing troll. She couldn't even tell apart her own frightened breathing with Hermione's as they shrunk to the wall next to the row of sinks.

Icy fear like never before coursed through her as the troll raised its club at them. This was it. They were going to die here. They were going to die here, and who knows how long it will take to find their bodies.

"Confuse it!" she thought she heard Harry yell.

It had to take Victoria a few moments to resurface to what was around her. Lying at both her and Hermione's feet were the remnants of sinks that were on the wall that they were cowering against. Ron and Andrew both using the debris to hurl at the troll's head.

"Oy, pea-brain!" she could hear Ron yell as she watched him throw a metal pipe at the troll's head. Hermione was still frighteningly transfixed at the troll. Not even moving when Harry tried to tell her to run.

Knowing what she had to do, Victoria ducked under the troll's club as she had run out of the bathroom. Ron Weasley might interpret it as her trying to get them into trouble, but she had to get help. As they couldn't take on that troll on their own.

She wasn't going to let her brother, Hermione, Ron, and Harry die in that bathroom.

The breathing echoed in her head as she sprinted across two corridors. Stopping to lean against the wall to take a breath for a second when she heard voices up ahead.

"It sounds as if it's ravaging the bathroom," was the voice of Professor McGonagall. "Let's hope that no one is in there."

Victoria moved herself from the wall and came face to face with Severus, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Quirrell. All three of them looked at her with wide, terrified eyes.

"Victoria, what are you doing out here?" demanded Severus, panic edging his furious tone. "There is a mountain troll wandering around in this castle!"

"There's no time!" she said, taking hold of Severus' hand. "We got to hurry, or else it will be Hermione's and my fault that Andrew, Harry, and Ron die!"

Victoria had never stopped to see if Hermione would be okay with the story that she and Hermione tried to take on the troll themselves. Seeing as they had little time, why would she? Their lives were at stake.

She leads the three professors towards the direction of the bathrooms. Hoping against hope that they would be alive and not crushed to death by the time they got there.

Her hopes weren't in vain, though, for when they entered the bathroom, she could see Harry, Ron, and Andrew surrounding the now unconscious troll. With Hermione huddling against the wall on her knees.

Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Severus had bent over the troll as Professor McGonagall had turned her furious eyes from the three boys to Hermione, who was in the cowering in the wall.

"From what little Miss Victoria Mulciber had told me, it sounds as if the two of you were responsible," she said with ice-cold fury in her voice, glaring at them. "That these three boys would have died from your recklessness. Is that true?"

Hermione looked at Victoria - who was clenching her hands – as she stood up before answering, "Yes, Professor. They were looking for Victoria and me."

Victoria would have found Harry's and Ron's gobsmacked faces amusing if the situation wasn't serious.

"It was mainly my idea, though," Hermione continued, gazing at her feet, "and Victoria just went along with it. Because w-we thought we could deal with it on our own – you know, I read all about them, and Victoria would know more about them than I do."

It worked perfectly then, Victoria thought. Only that she decided to appear as instigator so Victoria wouldn't take the fall. Victoria originally wanted to be seen as the instigator, but this worked out anyway.

Ron had dropped his wand, both looking from Hermione to Victoria in shock.

"If they haven't found us, we'd be dead," Hermione continued, gazing at Harry, Ron, and Andrew. "Harry and Andrew both stuck their wands up its nose, and Ron knocked it out with its own club. It was about to finish us off when they arrived, and Victoria was afraid that they might get killed. Which is why you are here."

Severus didn't say anything. Yet, given how his lips were pressed in a thin line, Victoria wasn't surprised if he'd have a talk with her later.

Professor McGonagall looked at both her and Hermione. "Well - in that case... " said Professor McGonagall, staring at the five of them, "Miss Granger, Miss Mulciber, you foolish girls, how could the two of you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own. At least Miss Mulciber had the sense to find help, even if we were on our way here."

Victoria hung her head. Hoping to come off as guilty and ashamed of herself. That Andrew, Ron, and Harry wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "As well as five points from Slytherin, Miss Mulciber. Even if you tried to fix your mistake, that doesn't erase the foolishness of your choices. I'm very disappointed in you two. You'd better get off to Gryffindor tower and to the Slytherin dungeon, respectively. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Victoria and Hermione don't say a word to each other as they leave the bathroom. "Hermione, I'm sorry for going ahead with this story," she apologized, looking at Hermione. "For not asking if you were okay with it."

"No," said Hermione. "It is something that I would have come up with anyway. Otherwise, Harry, Andrew, and Ron would have gotten into so much trouble just for doing a good thing."

With how upset McGonagall had seemed, there was no doubt that they would have taken the fall for it. She was just glad that they were okay and weren't killed.

"See you tomorrow then," Victoria said as they parted their ways.

In spite of some changes, most things had stayed the same at Hogwarts. The students mostly had their classes with their year mates from their House, as they had when he went to Hogwarts during the time of the Global Wizarding War that had coincided with the Muggles' Second World War.

Through his recent servant, Voldemort was able to hear what the other children were talking about. He was able to hear that his heir was making acquaintance with Edythe and Sirius Black's brat and with Potter from the conversations she had with some of her house mates.

This was affirmed when she ran to his servant, former servant, and that Transfiguration teacher about those Gryffindors finding themselves in a pickle with that troll from Quirinius' pitiful attempt to retrieve the Stone.

Her acquaintance with her half-brother and Potter could pose a problem though it could serve as an advantage. Who knows what she might glean from the boy while his host is not present?

His heir would be useful in that area, and as Voldemort thought about it. However, that might not come until when he gets his body back soon. It was best to not involve her in anything at this stage. For her guardian – who would undoubtedly rescind his loyalty due to Voldemort going back on his word regarding one Lily Potter – would be keeping a close watch. His freshly recent interference of him obtaining the Stone was proof of that. What he could do, however –

"Find a time to speak with her in private, Quirinius," he hisses from the depths of his host's body as Quirrell took them both to his quarters. "She needs someone to remind her of her birthright. Her destiny."

"Master?" Voldemort sighed in frustration. If he wasn't a phantom spirit having to rely on possession for mobility and was in full strength, he'd cruciate the man for the hesitation in his voice.

"Victoria is my heir, your future Dark Lady," he commanded, with a bite to his tone. "You wouldn't deny the Dark Lady the chance to speak with her father, to realize her birthright should she be ignorant."

Should there be any doubt from her, Voldemort knew just the thing to reel her in. If he could make neglected and abused boys feel like they have found the ideal paternal figure in place of their sires, he'd make a girl semi ostracized by the pureblood elite feel that she was worth something after all.

"Victoria, there you are!"

Eridani rushes up the steps and throws her arms around her moments after entering the Slytherin common room. "I was about to go in the lavatory to see if you needed more help with Hermione when Professor Quirrell came barging in and going on about some troll in the dungeon."

"Yeah, I saw the troll," she answered, wiping her sweaty palms on her robes. "Surprised how it even got in the castle."

"You saw it?"

"I didn't see how it got knocked out," she said. "I'm just glad that Hermione and I didn't get crushed to death."

"Oh Merlin, I'd probably wet my skivvies if that were me," said Eridani, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "Anyway, the House Elves had bought down the dessert from the feast."

Victoria follows Eridani, and they join Millicent, Kevin, Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, and Theodore at one of the tables. As she helped herself to apple pie, theories were tossed around about the troll's sudden appearance.

"They can't really get on their own, I mean." Theo licks the whipped cream from his fingers. "Trolls aren't the brightest of creatures."

"Wouldn't put it past Peeves to let it in as his idea of a Halloween prank," Millicent theorized.

"But the troll entered through the dungeons, and he wouldn't have heard the end of it from Baron Godfrey," Kevin pointed out as he picked his cranberry muffin. "Did anyone else notice that Quirrell wasn't at the feast until he came in yelling about the troll? Seemed convenient that he was the one that saw it come in."

Professor Quirrell? Who couldn't even say a sentence without so much a stammer? That Quirrell?

"Those who know who the Dark Lord was in his days in school, those from the opposing side, they certainly must have never thought he'd become what he did," Severus said one time.

Why would Quirrell let the troll in, and if he did, what did he have in mind?

The next day, Severus had pulled Victoria aside before breakfast. Presumably, to ask her if she needed anything.

"I'm fine," she answered. She wasn't lying, for there wasn't the clamminess in her hands. Nor was she clenching them.

He had raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Are you sure, Victoria? Facing a mountain troll is usually a traumatic experience that would require drinking a Calming Draught."

"I said I was fine," she insisted, nodding vigorously. "Even if I was shaken up, I'm better now."

That was the truth, but he still didn't seem to buy it. Hence the gazes of concern he sneaks to her during Double Potions.

Professor Quirrell had seemed even more jittery than usual, given the incident with a troll. That did not stop him from popping a quiz on them, much to the chagrin of her house mates. As he walked behind their desks as they did their quiz, he had lingered behind Victoria a little longer than he had with the others.

Even putting his hand on her shoulder as he peered over to see her work. Only backing off when she glared at him.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened in this class. Professor Quirrell seemed so enamored and in awe in her out of the other students. Now it was November, and it was making her uncomfortable. She was going to have to speak with Severus on this.

Ron had seemed more friendlier to her than he had for the past four months. Even asking if he could be included as well when Harry and Andrew had joined Victoria's usual study group in the library before dinner.

"I thought that you didn't want to be around Slytherins?" Victoria had asked him, raising an eyebrow. "That we're up to no good."

Ron shrugged. "Seeing that you didn't throw us under the bus yesterday when you would have. So, you couldn't be all that bad."

"Why, thank you, Ron," she retorted, though she felt that Remus and Andrew should have convinced him earlier. Though perhaps Ron had to see it for himself to be convinced.

"We don't bite either," Millicent pointed out. "We're certainly not like Malfoy, Lavinia Mulciber, and their group of friends."

They were an odd sight to behold. Slytherins mingling with Gryffindors as the two houses were not known for civility. If Mrs. Malfoy knew that she and Eridani were mingling with people the likes of Weasley, she'd literally have kittens. She hoped they see it as her testing the waters of "political prowess" even if it wasn't such.

"I hate my notes," Neville groaned as Victoria saw Ron's eyes widen in fear as he gazed at the table. "Hardly read my own writing from time to time."

Ron scooted away from the table. Pointing as he whimpered. It took Victoria a good half a minute to see the source of his distress: a small spider crawling along the table's wooden surface.

Kevin rolled up a piece of parchment and began beating on it. Causing Madam Pince to gaze at them disapprovingly.

"It's only a spider," said Millicent. Raising her eyebrow as she shook her head.

"Only a spider," Ron whimpered. "Of course, you've never had two brothers who thought it was funny to transfigure a teddy bear into a big spider while you slept. Besides, they are creepy and crawly."

Ron's recount of an incident in childhood had reminded Victoria all too well of a similar incident that had happened with her. "I had practically the same thing happen to me," she shared. "Vincent Crabbe thought it would be funny to put a garter snake in my bed a few years ago. Ever since then, I've never been able to look at a snake without screaming my head off."

I hate it when they talk, she adds mentally. They are creepy when they talk.

But she never says it out loud. Not with the reputation of Parseltongue being the mark of a sorcerer being associated with the Dark Arts.

"Afraid of snakes?" Ron asked, his eyes wide. "Slytherin house literally has a snake as its symbol!"

"I don't have a problem when they are just pictures or symbols embossed on a banner. Otherwise…" she shivers. "They are slimy, the way they flick out that tongue, and you don't know if they are poisonous or not."

Harry appeared as if he might say something, but he closed his mouth shut as if he had second thoughts. If it was about snakes, well, at least he thought best not to broach the subject at least. She couldn't imagine what would be any more creepy.

She had pulled out her copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection when a piece of parchment had fallen out. Suspicion filling her as she quickly unfolded it

Meet me for tea on Saturday

Professor Q. Quirrell.

Tea. The very last thing that she wanted to do with him.

Quickly, she gathered up her books and said, "Oh, there is something that I realize I got to do. I need to ask Severus a question about that foot-long essay he assigned. Will talk to you all tomorrow!"

She feels their eyes as she rushes out of the library. Victoria probably couldn't blame them as her departure was rather abrupt. Probably wondering what that was about.

He wasn't in his office when she tapped the door. Remembering that first years had afternoon free period in a time where he might be teaching, Victoria trudges to the Slytherin common room.

Looking over at the Slytherin table across the hall, Harry could see no sign of Victoria. She wasn't sitting with Eridani Lestrange, Kevin Entwhistle, and Millicent Bulstrode as she would usually.

Ron noticed as well.

"Do you think her absence has anything to do with Snape?" he asked before biting into his meat pie.

"I don't think so," said Hermione shaking her head. "She was very unnerved when she left us in the library."

"Something spooked her," Andrew put forth.

Harry looked over the High Table. Snape was in deep conversation with a teacher with no arm. He swallowed. Harry hadn't forgotten that first day in Potions class where Snape signaled him out. Hadn't forgotten the story that Andrew had told him afterward about how Snape didn't get along with their fathers.

Harry would be much more comfortable asking either Eridani or Millicent, or Kevin. They were her friends and the only Slytherins so far that were not hostile to anyone wearing the red and gold colors of Gryffindor. Yet, Snape was not only her Head of House but her guardian as well. As uncomfortable as it was, he'd have better luck talking to him.

Besides, it's not like he can express his hatred towards him with other teachers around.

Swallowing hard, Harry leaves behind his meat pie and clenches his fists as he makes his way to the High Table. Snape's black eyes narrowed when he gazed at him. "Is there anything I could help you with, Potter?" he drawled. His tone was enough to tell him that he felt that Harry was wasting his time.

"Professor, I was wondering if Victoria had told you anything," he said.

Harry thought he saw Quirrell gaze at them for a moment before turning back to his plate.

"This morning, she had told me that she was fine after that encounter with the troll, and that was all," Snape answered, black eyes glittering. "Unless she has shared something with you that she hasn't told me."

Harry could hear the displeasure in his tone. As if he had hated the idea that Victoria might not share him anything.

"How would I know? I'm not in her House," Harry said, not hiding his belligerence. "She seemed pretty spooked about something in the library earlier."

His Potions Master narrows his eyes for a moment before saying, "Very well, I will certainly take your concern into consideration. Now, go back and continue dinner before I lose my patience, Potter."

As Harry returned towards the Gryffindor table, perhaps it was not a good idea to ask Severus about Victoria. Especially when he saw him heading in a different direction when the teachers followed Dumbledore to the dungeons.

"Why weren't you at dinner?" Alphard had asked her.

"I just didn't feel hungry, that was all," she lied, not removing her eyes from her book.

"You'd have to be hungry at this point," Alphard insisted as Tabitha jumped on her lap. Victoria scratching behind her ears. "I know it's been a while since you had your last class."

She was about to get ready to tell Alphard that he could sod off when Draco strolls up to the couch she was sitting in. "Vic, Professor Snape said he wants to talk to you."

Victoria sets aside her book and removes Millicent's cat from her lap. There was no way she would protest, as she was planning to speak with him anyway. Severus must have guessed what might be troubling her, as she was not at dinner.

"Have a seat," he prompted when she entered the dark office, and as soon as she sat down, he began, "I'm going to get to the point should you try to evade my questions, as children often do when something troubles them. Now, what had happened in the library that made you avoid dinner to the point that Harry Potter raised his concerns with me?"

"Harry asked about me?" she had asked.

"It was a sense of Gryffindor chivalry that his own father had lacked at that age," Severus made known. "Potter was quite troubled, and I don't think I could blame him for I was troubled by your absence from dinner myself."

Victoria unfolded the piece of parchment with her clammy hands and shakily handed him the note. "Found this in one of my textbooks." She watched as he unfolded it.

Severus only scans the note once before the gaze in his eyes darken. He looks up at her, appearing especially grim. "Never ever get near Professor Quirrell outside of the classroom. If he looks at you funny even once, I want you to go to me immediately. Understand?"

Victoria nodded. It shouldn't be too difficult, as he was giving her the creeps anyway.

"Now…" with a flick of his wand, he conjures a goblet of pumpkin juice and a plate of steak, potatoes, and buttered peas. "Eat up. It isn't prudent to go to bed with an empty stomach."