For those who haven't yet, I would encourage you to check out one of my other stories, a Good Reality Check. It's an alternate of fourth year, something that I believe should have happened.


"And there starts the rule breaking and getting into business that doesn't concern students." Severus muttered, glaring at the boy in question, who had the nerve to simply smile at him as if he were an innocent little angel. Severus scowled. The other teachers grumbled about him being too curious for his own good.

"Next chapter!" Ron said a minute later, trying to derail Severus from going on a rant. And keeping the adults from sending them out of the room so they could have a nice, long discussion with the Headmaster.

Chapter ten: Halloween

"Wasn't this when the troll got loose?" Pomona whispered to the others. Remus jerked his head around with his eyes wide.

"We finally get to know the truth of the matter, now." Severus muttered under his breath to Minerva, before shooting a glare at the Trio and the Headmaster. He still couldn't believe the old man had tried to send the Snakes and Badgers to their Common Rooms, which were in the dungeons, while there was a troll loose, reportedly in the dungeons. He really wondered if the lemon drops weren't frying his brain.

The Trio all glanced at each other. Wondering how much trouble they, Harry and Ron, were going to get into for not even grabbing a Prefect before going after Hermione, and for lying.

(Malfoy couldn't believe... at Hogwarts the next day,)

"No, no I could not." Draco said, shaking his head. He'd been so sure the Gryffindor idiots would get caught, and then expelled.

Severus looked at him, amusement in his eyes. "You do realize that simply being out after curfew would not have been enough to expel them, right?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Draco colored slightly, "I was hoping that since it was so soon after the incident with the broom, that he would still be in trouble from that, and this would have been one more shove for him being gone." He muttered.

Severus just patted his knee while the other teachers watched him in disapproval of his actions in trying to get another student expelled. Hagrid in particular was not happy, he knew what it was like to be expelled because another student set you up.

(looking tired but perfectly cheerful... to have another one.)

All the teachers groaned and glared at the boys in question while Neville made a wounded sound.

Minerva turned to Harry, "Just because you have survived one encounter, does not mean you should go looking for more trouble!" She said sternly. Sirius nodded beside her. The incident with the Cerberus was not something he wanted his godson repeating. There were adventures, and there was mischief making, and then there was looking for trouble where they shouldn't be looking. Not even he and James would have gone looking for more dangerous beasts after escaping another.

He glared at the Dursley's, convinced in that moment that Harry's lack of self-preservation was their fault. He glared at Dumbledore too, for good measure while he tried to decide if the old man had planned it that way.

(In the meantime, Harry filled... such heavy protection.)

Minerva glared suspiciously at Albus, while he looked back innocently before leaning back, satisfied, once she looked away.

Well, at least he knew that part of his plans for the coming year worked perfectly. The carrot has been dangled, now to wait and listen to see if it was grabbed. He hated having to test the boy, but he had to know if he would be able to do what needed to be done. The others would understand. And if they didn't, tough. They would continue to do as they were told, it was necessary if they wanted to ever be rid of Voldemort for good.

("It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.)

"Let's go with both." Ron muttered, having a good enough idea from a conversation he heard a snippet from the night before between the older Trio. Hermione looked at him in question, but he waved her off with a quick, 'later'.

("Or both," said Harry.)

Ron and Harry looked startled, while Harry looked over and chuckled.

The teachers privately agreed that it was, indeed, both. Especially in the wrong hands.

(But as all they knew for sure... it was without further clues.)

The teachers sighed and glanced at each other, knowing that the boys were going to find those clues, and give all the teaching staff premature gray hairs while they did it. And, of course, Albus had been absolutely no help whatsoever.

(Neither Neville nor Hermione... going near the dog again.)

"Why couldn't you have joined them in their adventures, at least you have sense in that head of yours." The teachers all demanded to know.

Neville adopted a deer in the headlights look and said, "I was trying to avoid 'adventures', not be dragged into them."

"But you might have been able to stop them!" Minerva cried, waving a hand in the Trio's direction.

The Twins, Ginny, and Neville all snorted. "Professor, maybe you haven't noticed,"

"But once these three get an idea..."

"...there is no stopping them."

"You can only, maybe, slow them down."

"That's a big maybe, though." The Twins said, staring deadpan at their old Head of House. Who visibly deflated. She knew what they were saying was true, but it didn't mean she had to like it. The Trio smirked while Sirius and Remus looked like they were struggling with how encouraging they should be of these 'adventures'. Clearly if it risked their lives and not just their schooling, then it wouldn't be encouraged, but...

(Hermione was now refusing... saw this as an added bonus.)

"Was I really that bad?" Hermione asked meekly while her younger self frowned. There was nothing wrong with trying to follow the rules, or sharing her knowledge.

Sprout noticed her frown and guessed what she was thinking. It didn't take long before she was quietly explaining to the younger girl why other people generally didn't like it when somebody came along getting in their business, or telling them information in a way that implies they are idiots for not already knowing it. She'd heard Hermione in the hallways doing that a few times.

(All they really wanted now... the mail about a week later.)

"That was seriously good timing." Ron muttered to Harry with a grin, watching Draco turn red in anger as he remembered this. He'd had to spend a few nights in his godfather's quarters while he waited for his housemates to cool off after the broom had come.

Especially after a few of them spied on Harry's first 'practice' with Oliver Wood on his new Nimbus. They had NOT been happy that Draco was the one who essentially made that happen, whether it was intentional on his part or not.

He felt a little better when he saw Hermione slap both her boys across the head on the other side of the room. Sirius watched everything happening in amusement before he leaned forward to hear what the package was. Especially if it was something that would help them get one over on Malfoy.

(As the owls flooded into... carried by six large screech owls.)

"Oh, that's not going to look good to the other students." Remus muttered. Well, as long as it dropped in front of an older student, Harry should be fine. They would think it was an early/late present, or just replacing an old broom. It would be even more believable if it dropped in front of Oliver Wood. But if it dropped in front of Harry... it had been long enough that by now everybody knew he was on the team, and they would know some of the story of how that happened. How accurate that story was, on the other hand, was another story entirely.

Minerva frowned when she heard him.

(Harry was just as interested as... dropped it right in front of him,)

Remus sighed and dropped his head back. "The other students are not going to let this go." He said.

Harry winced, remembering the way other first years shunned him for a bit after they'd had a chance to think about how unfair it was that he got to have his broom and they didn't. It had taken a few older students talking to them to get them to stop trying to trip him up in the corridors or, a couple of them whose parents turned out to be Death Eaters, at the top of the stairs. He didn't think the teachers even knew something was going on, which wasn't anything new. The students at Hogwarts were good at keeping things from the eyes of the staff.

He suspected the only reason the students who felt he was being favored because he was the Boy-Who-Lived didn't try anything more damaging was because he was- well, the Boy-Who-Lived.

Minerva looked at Harry, worried that she may have caused trouble for the boy when he was only just getting settled in the castle.

(knocking his bacon to the floor.)

All the Weasley boys made sounds of dismay. They hated when that happened. They'd have perfectly good bacon, and then they'd get mail. Ron sent a small glare at Hedwig, who preened and gave him a look just daring him to say anything. That owl had caused many shortages of bacon at the Gryffindor table, at least in their general area. People had learned quick, that when Hedwig arrived, you better grab what you could before it was gone.

Harry was usually pretty good about holding her off until everyone had what they wanted, but sometimes he was distracted by whatever letter or package she'd brought him.

The women sighed and shook their heads at the boys, it had always been a mystery how on earth the Weasley's could eat so much in one sitting, and then be hungry again not a half hour later.

It was a mystery that many House-elves over the years had tried to solve, even going so far as to spy on Molly Weasley while she was cooking over the summers to see if she was doing anything to the food that would make them need more, but no. They never saw her do anything to it. Eventually, the older elves just let it go and decided to just enjoy the extra work that went into feeding a pack of Weasleys. The new elves that came in always had to try their hand at solving the mystery though, the elf that solved it would be granted... something.

(They had hardly fluttered out... first training session.

Professor McGonagall)

Luna cocked her head to the side. "Professor, I think it would have been better to have it delivered straight to the Dorms that morning, because the shape is rather distinctive."

"Yeah, everyone knew exactly what it was as soon as it was flown in." The Twins agreed. Well, maybe not exactly... they didn't know what model it was, after all. But they all knew it was a broom.

Minerva blinked, then palmed her face and started muttering. That would have been much better, for everyone. Normally, that wasn't quite allowed, they didn't want owls all over the place after all, but as the Deputy Headmistress, she could have easily made an exception. "Well," she finally said. "At least the student body already knew he was on the team, so I suppose this would have only been expected." She finally said.

"Well, at least he's starting training early. And the first session is one on one, that's good. It'll give him time to get used to the new broom before having to deal with other players and bludgers..." Sirius muttered to himself, wanting the book to hurry up and get to that first practice already so he could hear how his pup did.

(Harry had difficulty hiding his... "I've never even touched one.")

Ron made a noise of agreement, wishing he had a good broom like that. Well, he supposed that he had a pretty good broom for what his family could afford. But a Nimbus 2000... He was so far into daydreams of being a professional player, one of the more valuable players on the Chudley Cannons, that he almost missed the muted flash that they'd come to associate with the Room granting wishes of some kind. When he looked, he was surprised to see a Nimbus 2000 in front of him... along with a Chudley Cannons uniform with his name on it.

He quickly shoved the uniform away before reverently picking up the broom while the Weasley's watched in approval, although Bill was a little concerned that his parents would think he stole it from somewhere. Which prompted him to start a letter to said parents explaining the situation with the Room, although he supposed Mad-eye would also be having to explain why he was showing up on their doorstep with a trunk full of old Family Heirlooms that should have been in the Malfoys care...

Ron was so busy admiring his new broom that he missed the Twins grabbing the uniform to inspect it, or that they'd started to tease before Bill glared at them, shutting them up.

(They left the hall quickly... private before their first class,)

All the Quidditch players in the room made various noises of agreement. They completely understood that. Hermione rolled her eyes. She never quite understood the whole point of sports. Well, other than for health and fitness, obviously.

A teacher muttered about hoping they weren't late to class because of it.

(but halfway across the entrance... package from Harry and felt it.)

"Rude." The Weasley boys called.

Draco turned red and muttered out an apology while his younger self watched with an odd look on his face. Severus just raised an eyebrow.

A few people groaned at yet another confrontation between Malfoy and Harry. "This is just getting ridiculous." Neville muttered. Wasn't the first time he'd said that over the years, probably won't be the last, especially with this reading.

("That's a broomstick,")

"Well spotted." The Twins praised.

"Now, if only everybody else in the school knew that too..." Fred said thoughtfully.

"But they did Gred!" George scolded him.

"Oh, of course, how could I forget!" Fred exclaimed, slapping his forehead dramatically. Then they both stared at Draco dryly for a moment. Who was turning red at the sarcastic reminder that EVERYONE knew about it, meaning that nothing he did was going to get Harry in trouble, since the teachers hadn't confronted him in the Great Hall as soon as it arrived.

"Boys," Molly scolded half-heartedly. Most of her scoldings towards the Twins had been half-hearted since that conversation she overheard the other night. When she asked her husband about it, he'd hesitated long enough for her to know that he agreed with the Twins, and then sighed before he explained that he'd tried to temper how she treated them, but through the years, he eventually just decided that he would buffer between the three of them and give them the support they needed that she never really gave.

(he said, throwing it back... allowed them."

Ron couldn't resist it.)

"Of course he couldn't." Hermione said fondly, shaking her head. Ron smiled kind of sheepishly at her, making Harry grin at the two.

A few of the Gryffindors were honestly wondering if Malfoy even bothered to notice that everyone would have noticed what the shape of the package was, including the teachers and none of them did a thing about it.

"Ten Galleons says that he tries to get Harry in trouble." Ginny whispered to Neville.

"Suckers bet." He whispered back. That, and Harry had mentioned this scene later on in the dorm.

("It's not any old broomstick,"... Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?")

"Huh, wasn't that going a little out of date by this time?" Fred asked George.

"Yeah, I think there were three newer Comets after the Two Sixty..." His twin said thoughtfully.

"There is." Sirius said, remembering what he'd read in the catalogue. In fact, he'd had Comet Two Sixty's marked down for the school to use in class. He still wanted to think about whether or not he would get extras for use on the Pitch, or as extras for the House Teams.

Both Draco's turned a little red when everyone looked at him curiously, wondering why he of all people had an out of date broom. The younger one refused to say, but Draco figured he might as well tell them all. Might as well since they'd been getting along since he got here, and wasn't that a shock. Besides, it was only really embarrassing because they'd never been able to find out what he was doing wrong. At least, his instructors hadn't said he was doing anything that wrong.

"When I was younger, my broom was always ending up broken somehow. We could never figure out how it was happening either. My instructors never said anything about my flying that could have caused it, they were just... breaking. So, father said I wasn't getting a new broom until my second year at Hogwarts, if I kept my grades up my first year." He explained. "After he bought the Comet, though, it lasted for the three years until I went to Hogwarts, so I don't know."

Severus nodded his agreement to the tale, letting them all know that that was what happened, it had honestly baffled all of them.

Harry frowned, thinking. "Could it have been Draco breaking them? Or at least, his magic?" He asked Poppy.

"How do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, I think we all know that Draco was a spoiled little kid who rarely wanted for anything." He said seriously, with a hint of humor in his eyes when he glanced at Draco. "What if, at some point, he asked for a new broom, but was told no because there was absolutely nothing wrong with the one he had? Brooms are expensive, after all, especially when they're fresh on the market. So, he's been told no because he has a broom, and there's nothing wrong with the broom he has. Then, like any magical kid being denied something, their magic reacted and made it happen." He explained his thoughts.

Severus blinked and sat back, thinking. "That... makes sense. Draco did plenty of accidental magic, make no mistake, but the instances were few, fewer in the time when all his brooms were ending up broken. We never thought anything of it because, like you said, he never wanted for anything, so he was never in the emotional distress that children known for doing a lot of accidental magic are known for. And the incidents themselves were so big..." He said thoughtfully, watching his godsons. Who had turned red when it was pointed out that his magic had been destroying the brooms for him because he wasn't getting what he wanted. Finally, Severus took pity on them on suggested they keep reading.

(Ron grinned at Harry... league as the Nimbus.")

"Oh no they are not." Sirius murmured, mentally reading through those sections of the catalogue again.

"Meanwhile, nothing is in the same league as the Firebolt." Harry said with a grin, glancing at where his pride and joy sat on its stand.

("What would you know... to save up twig by twig.")

All the Weasley's in the room murmured darkly and glared at the floor, or shot Draco dark looks.

After all, who's fault was it that the Weasley's had no money? That Arthur couldn't advance in his job or even get a decent pay raise?

Severus looked pained for a moment, but didn't say anything. That response hadn't been Slytherin, that had been the response of a spoiled little brat who was being talked back to and they didn't like it.

He fully blamed Lucius.

(Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.)

"It's a good thing you showed up when you did, Professor." Harry said suddenly. "I'm not sure if I could have stopped Ron from trying to curse or punch him."

Ron flushed under the disapproving looks he got from his parents and the teachers. Although he also felt that his father had no room to talk, considering he attacked Lucius Malfoy in public... in a shop full of witches and a reporter from the Daily Prophet. Luckily, Arthur didn't say anything, though.

Draco was suddenly looking at between Ron and Hermione warily, no doubt remembering the time in third year when Hermione punched him. She broke his nose that time, good thing Madam Pomfrey didn't ask what happened.

("Not arguing, I hope, boys?"... Professor," said Malfoy quickly.)

Neville shot Ginny a look that said, 'See?' She pouted at him for a moment before grinning.

("Yes, yes, that's right,"... beaming at Harry.)

"It was so disappointing." Draco whined a bit. "The professor was supposed to be on my side! He was obviously breaking the rules, and here they were letting him!"

Severus quietly agreed, but he didn't say anything. Especially since that was exactly how it appeared, but he knew that technically the broom didn't belong to Harry until his second year, technically it was a school broom being loaned out.

Neville grimaced and said, "That is exactly how it looked. Like he was getting special treatment because of who he was, like the rules didn't apply to him." Minerva looked disturbed, had she really been promoting that image? That wasn't what she'd wanted at all. Maybe she should have made the conditions of the broom known, that it was actually school owned during Harry's first year... She made another note on her letter to her younger self to be more careful about potentially showing favoritism. Especially in public.

Flitwick winced too, he could have probably handled this better...

("Professor McGonagall told... of horror on Malfoy's face.)

"It was kind of priceless." Harry said (un)apologetically, while Draco grumbled.

("And it's really thanks... I've got it," he added.)

Harry laughed at Draco's expression. "You have to admit, it kind of was." He said, apologetically. Draco just scowled.

(Harry and Ron headed upstairs... obvious rage and confusion.)

Remus reached over and tugged at Harry's hair, giving him a warning look while Molly looked at Ron in obvious disapproval. They didn't say anything though. For one thing, they were boys. They were also children. This was also years ago.

("Well, it's true," Harry chortled... wouldn't be on the team...")

Draco sighed. And the rest of Slytherin made sure he knew that little fact. It was only his father's name that kept him safe for a few weeks there. Although his father wasn't too pleased when he heard, either.

("So I suppose you think... from just behind them.)

Hermione turned red, but she also looked defiant. She knew that him getting that broom like he did was wrong, although she supposed she couldn't really blame McGonagall for getting over-excited at the chance to win the cup back. Even if she didn't understand the fascination with sports. Ron and Harry just put their arms around her shoulders, and it was fascinating how Harry kept drawing with one hand. She couldn't tell what he was drawing right now though... maybe a horse?

Hermione looked at Pomona, who hesitated. "I think, maybe if you were to say this differently. Don't just go in accusing, because he didn't ask to be on the team or to get special treatment." She said quietly to the girl. Hermione frowned, but nodded.

(Hermione was stomping up... doing us so much good.")

The teachers looked at them disapprovingly, but didn't say anything. She was kind of driving them nuts with her attitude.

Pomona looked at Hermione and raised an eyebrow.

(Hermione marched away with... was lying under his bed,)

Minerva sighed. "Maybe I should have given it to him after classes..." She mumbled. The teachers around her gave her a look that was somehow a deadpan stare that said, 'you think?' and a dark glare. Especially Filius, since he had Harry in his class that day and had to stop him several times from setting something on fire.

Because he'd noticed that sometimes Harry's practical work was better if he didn't try to get it. There were several times over the years when he was struggling, but absently flicked his wand because he was thinking about whatever it was he and his friends were discussing, and he got it with no problem. He was one of those that used their magic instinctively, thinking about it just hindered them.

(or straying off to the Quidditch... noticing what he was eating,)

"For a moment there, it was like you and Ron had switched places." Hermione sighed, earning herself a small glare from the raven next to her. Everyone else laughed because Ron's lack of manners while he shoveled in food was legendary.

She glanced at his picture. She had thought it was a horse, but it didn't look like any horse she'd ever seen. "What is that?" She finally asked.

He looked up, then glanced down. "It's a Thestral." He said quietly.

Sirius sucked in a small breath and leaned over to see it. Sure enough, it was a Thestral, with a circle over top of it that might be the moon or something. He closed his eyes and sighed, he'd hoped that Harry was too young to remember watching his mother be killed. Hopefully that was the sole reason he could see them, and he hadn't seen anyone else get killed in front of him.

Harry shifted closer to him as if sensing his mood.

Hermione looked at it in curiosity. She couldn't see them, and she was glad for it. Well, that may have changed since the last time she rode the Hogwarts carriages, she didn't know. It looked interesting though, if a little creepy.

(and then rushed upstairs... onto Harry's bedspread.)

"It was beautiful." Harry said wistfully, remembering his first broom fondly. He still wasn't happy that it was destroyed, he liked to take care of his things and was very possessive about them. For something of his to be destroyed like that... even if he did get a Firebolt from his godfather out of it.

Ron nodded beside him, glancing at his younger self where Charlie was showing him how to polish and care for his new broom with the service kit the older Weasley had appear. Something that wasn't really bothered with at the Burrow because the brooms there were just so old that there wasn't much reason. Of course, the Twins kept the brooms they rode for the team in good condition and polished, and Ron did the same with his own when he got it his fifth year, but Ron wouldn't have had reason before this to properly take care of a broom.

Bill sat back and watched with a frown, then he got out a piece of parchment and started scribbling something down. Multi-compartmented, obviously, and it would be good quality... almost Malfoy-quality... he would have one for everybody. The Hermione's would need a library compartment... maybe the Harry's as well... while Harry's and Ron's would need a training room and somewhere to store their brooms and gear. Four for the Twins... two for the ones here and two for the younger pair that wasn't... the younger pair would appreciate a work room where they could hide their inventions from their mother (especially after what happened before the World Cup...). The Twins here would simply appreciate having an extra space, and somewhere they could continue their work even when they were traveling.

A training room for them too... and maybe a Greenhouse space for Neville. He would think of something for everyone else later. And, of course all of them would need a standard space for clothes and the like. Oh, and a kitchen for Harry. He liked cooking, having a portable kitchen would be appreciated for him... maybe in the library compartment he could have a side room for him to store his art or something. Seven compartments was the limit, so he would have to think carefully about what each person would like.

(Even Harry, who knew... it looked wonderful.)

Harry nodded in agreement with his assessment at the time.

(Sleek and shiny, with a... gold near the top.)

Ron and Harry both sighed, thinking about it. It had been glorious to unwrap. Hermione just sighed and shook her head at her boys.

(As seven o'clock drew nearer... toward the Quidditch field.)

"Why did Wood wait until it was so late? You're not going to have long to practice before it gets too dark to see." Ginny said, honestly confused.

"True, but he also didn't want to risk everybody else watching. Remember, he wanted it to be secret."

"Yeah, but it didn't stay secret for even five minutes." She said.

"True, but he figured he was going to keep the extent of my skills secret for as long as he possibly could. Which meant practicing when it was late, so nobody was going to be outside to see us." Harry said, shrugging. At least, that was the best he could guess. Who knew why Oliver Wood did anything the way he did it. Especially when it came to Quidditch. Ginny still looked confused, but didn't say anything else about the subject.

(Held never been inside the... see what was going on.)

"And sometimes I really wish they were higher." Ron said in frustration. All those years of watching Harry play, and they could never see anything because Harry tended to stay above all the action until he saw something or was trying to trick out the other Seeker to get them off his tail. Or tricking out the other Chasers.

"Something about that can be looked into." Minerva said, after some thought.

Hermione smacked Ron on the arm. He knew she was afraid of heights, and now he wanted to make those stands higher? Was he crazy?

Minerva looked amused. "Don't worry, whatever happens, those who are... uncomfortable with heights will be taken into consideration." Both Hermione's and Neville sighed in relief.

Good.

(At either end of the field... they were fifty feet high.)

The Dudleys looked pleased with the comparison, they now had an image in their heads. So far, the writers had been doing a good job of making sure a Muggle could keep up with all the terms by equating how they looked to something they were familiar with. Which was something he was very glad for.

"Wha-" Arthur started to ask, but was cut off when a bottle of bubbles appeared in front of him.

Harry huffed a laugh and shook his head while Hermione opened the bottle and showed Arthur the little wand inside and how it worked. He laughed in delight at how resourceful Muggles could be, and how they could so easily mimic something that Magical parents could produce for their own children.

Producing bubbles were the first spell listed in all the best rated parenting books, after all. They could keep a child occupied for hours, and were safe for the child if they got one in their mouth.

The Dursleys all watched in disgust.

Eventually, Molly had to take the bubbles away and gently set them on the table so they could keep reading. She said that he could play with them later.

(Too eager to fly again to wait... off from the ground.)

"Ah, the first flight on a real,"

"good broom. And not those terrible school ones." The Twins said.

"Although the fact that you could handle a school broom as well as you did is incredible in and of itself." Sirius muttered, not that he appreciated Harry being on that old thing to begin with.

(What a feeling - he swooped in... wanted at his lightest touch.)

"It's handling was amazing. Not as good as my Firebolt, of course." Harry said, glancing at the broom fondly. "But still amazing, especially after riding the school's broom. I didn't notice it the first time, since it was my first flight period and I didn't have anything to really compare it to, but the school brooms are kind of clunky and unresponsive." He gave his expert opinion.

The other Quidditch players nodded, they knew what it was like to go from a school broom to a decent broom. The difference was as clear as night and day, depending on which school broom you got.

"Which makes the fact you handled the school broom so well even more amazing." Sirius said again. Harry gave him a small smile.

("Hey, Potter, come down!"... wooden crate under his arm.)

"What did he need the whole crate for?" Minerva asked in surprise. And a little bit of worry. He wasn't going to send a Bludger after him his first practice, was he?

"He heard from somewhere that I grew up Muggle, and wanted to make sure I knew what everything was." Harry said, shrugging. "Don't worry, I had the bat." He said, grinning a little. That didn't appease her at all.

"Yeah, Oliver wouldn't have let anything happen." Fred said.

"He probably had his wand out the whole time, ready to blast it to pieces." George agreed. If nothing else, then so his new star Seeker wasn't scared off before he could really even get started.

She didn't look very reassured.

(Harry landed next to him... Wood, his eyes glinting.)

"It was actually a little terrifying." Harry said, eyes wide. The Twins nodded in commiseration, their own eyes were wide just imagining it.

Minerva and Charlie looked at the three who flew with Oliver Wood in concern. They knew he was a good player, and Charlie had recommended him for the captain-ship, and Minerva knew he'd been a good captain. But had she given him too much free rein? She made a note to her younger self and underlined it to keep an eye on one Oliver Wood.

("I see what McGonagall meant... three times a week.")

Harry snorted and glanced up from his drawing to gaze at the book, then shook his head and went back to drawing.

(He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.)

Harry perked up, he'd been hearing a lot about Quidditch since he came here, and so far it sounded amazing. But nobody had really explained Quidditch yet. And, he knew that he was going to be taught how to fly tonight, and the older kids were going to play a pick-up game, but it would still be nice to know now what they were going on about when they started discussing this or that that was Quidditch related.

The Dudley's looked interested, too. They wondered how this was going to compare to Soccer or Rugby. Should be interesting, at any rate. Since it was magical and wizards didn't seem to be able to do anything without it being big and dramatic. Like this room, and this whole reading, for example. If they wanted to change things, wouldn't it have been simpler to just... oh, he didn't know... travel back in time and do it themselves?

Not that he was complaining, or anything. This was an amazing experience, after all. And he was learning a lot about his cousins world and life.

("Right," said Wood... enough to understand,)

A few people glanced at Hagrid, remembering what he'd said earlier in the book about Quidditch being difficult to explain. He was just a little red.

"Hey, now. Not everyone understands sports the way others do." Harry said softly as he focused on a Thestral's wing. It was proving difficult to draw and get the shades just right.

(even if it's not too easy to play... bit like a short baseball bat.)

"Oh, he is not..." Minerva started, then started adding to her list about Wood. Oh, he was an amazing captain, but he couldn't go unleashing Bludgers at students who'd never seen one before!

("I'm going to show you… them inside the box.)

"Um, what?" Harry asked, confused and a little alarmed as to why a ball would be straining against anything. Balls couldn't move on their own, could they?

Sirius grinned a little at his confusion, and watched his godson, wanting to see his reaction to hearing about Bludgers.

("Stand back," Wood warned… straight at Harry's face.)

"Whoa." Harry breathed in awe. That thing sounded awesome. And very, very painful to get hit with. He couldn't forget that.

Harry grimaced at the thought of it heading for his face and grimaced, still thinking of that time when he was hit in the back of his skull after the game was over. Having a broken skull was not fun. It was certainly painful enough, though. That was for sure.

Minerva's lips thinned to the point of disappearing, she was not happy hearing that he unleashed a Bludger on Harry, his first time even seeing one. She started underlining things in her lists about keeping an eye on Wood.

(Harry swung at it with... zigzagging away into the air -)

"Huh." The Twins said, looking at Harry. They wondered why Oliver never trained Harry as a reserve Beater. Sure, the two of them were there, but it was always good to have a back-up.

Especially since they were in detention so much, although they did manage to avoid getting detention at all in the week leading up to a Gryffindor game…

Harry just quirked a grin at them.

(it zoomed around their heads... to pin it to the ground.)

The Twins winced. That would leave a mark. A majority of their Quidditch related bruises actually came from catching the Bludgers after practice. They left quite the marks on a person's chest. They were envious of Madam Hooch who knew the charms needed to freeze the Bludgers. Unfortunately, she wasn't telling what it was. That spell was kept under tight secrecy measures by the International Quidditch League board of directors.

Only referee's and match officials were taught it, and they were under oaths to never teach anybody else.

It was in the interest of keeping play fair, or so they said. They didn't want players going in and simply freezing the Bludgers instead of dodging, after all.

It was unfortunate that Bludgers were charmed so that a simple Freezing charm didn't work. They were spelled so that only the one spell could work. If you charged enough magic, though, a Blasting curse would also work. Of course, the Bludger would need to be replaced afterward, but it was always an option in a real emergency.

("See?" Wood panted, forcing... players off their brooms.)

"They can be fun to avoid, actually. Just, you know... when it's not targeting you specifically." Harry said, looking up from his drawing. A few people looked at him like he was crazy, he just shrugged and went on with his drawing.

Everyone shook their heads in disbelief. Who in their right minds would want to be chased by Bludgers?

(That's why you have two... -think you've got all that?")

"That doesn't sound too complicated. Sounds a lot simpler than our sports, to be honest." Dudley said, tilting his head.

"Yeah, well... Oliver isn't listing off all the things that could get you fouled. It's easier said than done, really." Harry said with a shrug.

("Three Chasers try and score... hoping he sounded offhand.)

A few people snorted at the attempt to sound nonchalant. They were pretty sure that Oliver would never go for that.

"Don't worry, that question gets asked a lot." Sirius murmured to Harry. Harry just quirked a grin.

"What?" Hermione squeaked. Even Hermione looked alarmed, she hadn't read anything about deaths in Quidditch. She knew that it was dangerous, but she also knew that the players were good flyers and there were precautions in place. Not to mention, magic could heal any wound that a Muggle doctor would look at and say was fatal, nothing to be done for them.

"Uh, what?" The other Muggle-raised children in the room asked.

"Don't worry, a death is extremely rare, and only at the professional level are there recorded deaths. But, in all of those, I think investigation showed that somebody had managed to tamper with the Bludger, or the players brooms, so." Harry reassured. "There has never been a death that was not orchestrated."

The other Quidditch players nodded in agreement. After tryouts were over, Madam Hooch pulled the House Teams into her office every year, before practices started, and made sure they knew the consequences of messing around the equipment or brooms. It wouldn't just be detentions and points deducted, that was for sure.

"Honestly, though... I think the Referee's are in more danger of anything really happening to them than the players are. They have been known to go missing, and then turn up months later wandering through the deserts or remote jungles somewhere. Wandless and usually in pretty bad shape from the area they'd been stuck in for month's." Fred said. Hermione just looked more alarmed.

"Yeah, usually after they made a controversial call, or made a call on that player." George said, and everyone who followed Quidditch nodded in agreement. They knew what he meant. Others didn't, though.

"That player?" Dudley asked.

"Yeah, you know the type. The type that believes he did nothing wrong to deserve a foul. He could literally pull the most illegal move in history, while dancing naked in front of the Ref, and he'll still accuse the Ref of favoring the other team when he's called out on it." Harry said.

"Oh, those players. Yeah... I think that kind of player is in every sport." Dudley said in understanding, while a few girls gave Harry a Look for his analogy. Dudley knew a guy like that, he'd kicked his opponent between the legs during a match, in a national tournament and was disqualified, and then tried to tell the official in the ring that he did nothing wrong. His father even tried to bribe the guy.

He was now under a lifelong ban from ever competing in a ring again.

("Never at Hogwarts. We've... nothing worse than that.)

"Fractured skull." Ron muttered, still not at all pleased that ever even happened. That guy should never have been allowed on the team, not even as a reserve player.

He'd been terrified when they brought Harry in unconscious, when all he'd had to go on was the little he could hear of the commentary.

(Now, the last member of... they crack my head open.")

"Please don't joke about that." Ron and Hermione immediately said. Harry cringed. The teacher's who were there, as well as Poppy gave him a reproving glare.

"Yeah, no. I don't want to go through that again." Harry said, rubbing his head with a grimace. "Getting my head cracked once was enough for me." He added, to Sirius' and Remus' alarm, as well as his younger self. He scowled and wrote it down, underlining it, that Cormac McGlaggen was not, under any circumstances, to play for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The boys ego was far too large for the rest of his team to be able to play in any kind of safety, even for Quidditch. Honestly, he was only filling in for the one game! Where did he think it was in anyway alright for him to go trying to teach Harry's players how to do their jobs on the field? Where on earth did filling in for the Keeper pertain to him being the Captain?

Yeah, as far as he was concerned, McGlaggen was never joining the Gryffindor team. He made a note that if his younger self had to poison the boy before tryouts so he didn't even have a chance, that he was to do it.

He saw Minerva making a note, too. She was probably writing something down about keeping an eye on Cormac McGlaggen, as well.

("Don't worry, the Weasleys... human Bludgers themselves.")

"Aww, thanks, Wood." The Twins said, 'blushing' like mad. Everyone else laughed or shook their heads fondly at the duo. Not that some of them would admit to being fond, no need to encourage them, after all.

Although, it was perfectly accurate. The Twins could be like human bludgers themselves, both on and off the Pitch. They tended to come out of nowhere and 'hit you' hard, leaving you wondering what just happened.

(Wood reached into the... "is the Golden Snitch,)

"What are you supposed to do with that tiny thing?" Dudley asked.

"Catch it." Was the bland reply. His eyes widened.

(and it's the most important... fast and difficult to see.)

"Eh, not really." Harry said, while Charlie made a so-so motion with his hands. He found it somewhat difficult, but at the same time, most of the difficulty came in just finding the dumb thing in the first place. Once you saw it, nobody was stupid enough to take their eyes off it. The only exceptions being when you were forced to because a Bludger got hit at you.

The younger kids stared at Harry and Charlie in slight awe. They caught that tiny thing, in all the chaos that was happening during a game with twelve other players and two Bludgers? That was amazing. Now, they were even more excited for the pickup game later on.

(It's the Seeker's job to catch it... the other team's Seeker,)

"How?" Several of the younger kids breathed.

Harry and Charlie both quirked a grin. "Patience. Lots and lots of patience." They said, seriously. People just blinked at the two Seekers.

(because whichever Seeker... so they nearly always win.)

"That doesn't seem very fair." Hermione said with a frown.

"Eh, the Seeker is there to level the playing field a bit more. It's the Chasers job to score so many times, that even if the other team catches the Snitch, they still aren't going to win. That's mostly in professional though. Yeah, at Hogwarts the game is a little one-sided if one team has a superior Seeker to the others." Harry said, focusing on his drawing.

And no, he wasn't bragging. He was stating a fact. Something everyone who was at Hogwarts with him knew, and something the Malfoy boys scowled at, Draco the most. He was one of those Seekers that Harry was superior to on a broom, after all.

Hermione's frown deepened.

"Yeah, it has happened before that the Seeker will catch the Snitch, but still lose the game. It all depends on how the points stack up. If that Seeker's team is behind by more than a 150 points, then it won't really matter all that much." Fred said.

"But if the team is behind by less than a 150 points, then they can still eek out a win if they can get to the Snitch first."

"There is strategy behind being a Seeker just as much as there is being a Chaser or even a Beater. Our strategy is just a little more subtle." Charlie finished up the Twins speech.

"Especially when your playing as an offensive Seeker." Harry said, eyes glinting as he glanced at Charlie.

He frowned. "That's the most difficult kind of Seeker to play, not to mention the most gray area you could possibly play." Charlie countered. There weren't that many Seeker's out there who played offensively. Meaning, they actively participated in interfering with the other team.

"Yeah, but it can be fun." Harry said. "Not to mention amusing to watch the other teams Chaser's faces after I shoot past them and make them drop the Quaffle." He added as an afterthought. Charlie just looked amused as he shook his head.

Of course Harry Potter would be an offensive Seeker. Of course he would.

(That's why Seekers get fouled so much.)

"Which is why playing offensively is such a gray area. The other team is already doing everything they can to get the Seeker fouled, not to mention the Ref, why create more opportunities for them?" Charlie said. Harry just shrugged.

He liked playing offensively. And, he'd never been fouled once. Despite the Slytherin's making it their goal to get him fouled at least once, not to mention the Ravenclaws, the Hufflepuff's were to nice and fair-minded to try sometimes. Unless they were really desperate, anyway. And there was that one pick-up game they played during the Tournament when the Hufflepuff's took exception to him being in the air with him...

(A game of Quidditch only... the record is three months,)

"What about classes?" Hermione gasped in horror, everyone else just rolled their eyes. Of course she would be more worried about classes than anything else.

"That game was at least a century ago. The rest of the school was shooed back to the castle for classes, and was allowed to watch the game during free-periods and weekends, and I think the players ended up having to take summer courses to get caught up." Harry said, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"But, why not have a set time?" Hermione asked. The Quidditch players all shrugged.

"Boring." All the Quidditch players said.

She narrowed her eyes and went to say something, but Pomona stopped her and started whispering in her ear about how it wasn't her place to come in and criticize their sport, especially when she just learned about it that day. She didn't even know the history of the sport!

(they had to keep bringing... was going to be the problem.)

Charlie snorted. "Yeah, knowing is the easy part of our job." He said, amused. Harry nodded.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." He said, Charlie just nodded in understanding.

("We won't practice with... dark, we might lose it.)

"Yeah, that is something that you do not want to happen." Charlie said, and Harry nodded his head in agreement with wide eyes. Even if it was just a practice Snitch, meaning it had already been used in a game and wasn't good for another one, but was still good to use.

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

"Do you have any idea how expensive those things are?" Harry asked incredulously.

"No."

"One Snitch is 150 Galleons, minimum. Naturally, different companies will charge different prices. And, if we lose it, Madam Hooch makes us pay to replace it." Charlie said.

"Holy..." Hermione breathed.

"Yeah. There's a ton of enchantments that go into making a Snitch, not to mention the thing is almost solid gold." Harry said in agreement. Once he finished talking, an engraved box appeared in front of him. He blinked at it in confusion, he didn't wish or ask for anything...

When he opened it, his eyes widened, and he pulled on a glove before he reached in and gently pulled out one of the Snitches inside. If he touched it with his bare hands right now, then it would be worthless for an actual game.

"Whoa. How many are there?" Charlie asked. They just got done discussing how expensive these were, and a box just falls into his lap? He loved this room.

"Twelve."

"Merlin." Was said around the room by all the Quidditch nuts.

(Let's try you out with a few of these.")

"I thought he said he was just going to explain the rules." Hermione said, deadpan.

Harry shrugged with a grin. "He just couldn't resist testing me out while he had me there." He said. She rolled her eyes.

(He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls)

"Where did those come from?" Harry asked. He didn't think he would see something so Muggle.

"What's a golf ball?" Draco asked. Which lead to a quick description of golf and showing of golf equipment. They thought it sounded really boring, and were honestly wondering what the appeal was. And it was considered a rich person sport...? What?

"And I think there was a Muggleborn captain sometime in the last couple of decades. The Seeker under him was awful and they could never find the Snitch afterwards, so he sent an owl to his parents for a crate of golf balls so he could throw them and get his Seeker to figure out how to spot tiny balls flying through the air. Eventually, he got it and the golf balls were left in the Gryffindor captain's office when he graduated." Harry explained to his younger self.

"Why not just replace the Seeker?"

"He was the best they could find in tryouts."

"Ah. That's not good." Neville said, blinking.

"Nope." All the players said in unison.

(out of his pocket and a few... didn't miss a single one,)

Charlie whistled. Didn't it say earlier in the book that it was around dusk? There wasn't much light for them to see by, to begin with.

(and Wood was delighted.)

Charlie nodded. "For good reason." He muttered.

(After half an hour, night... name on it this year,")

Harry flinched almost violently and sank down into his seat, they hadn't won, because he was in the Hospital Wing after being stupid enough to go after the Stone.

The Twins glanced at each other and sighed. They and the rest of the team had spent nearly two weeks trying to convince Harry that their loss wasn't his fault. They'd thought they got through to him. Apparently not. "Harry." They started, and everyone stared at them in shock over the warning note in their voices. They waited until Harry was looking at them, he looked like somebody kicked his owl. "We told you then, and we will tell you again now." Fred started.

"It was not your fault."

"It it's anyone's fault, it's Dumbledore's for having that thing down there in the first place."

"Or Wood's for never getting you a reserve player."

"Are we clear?" The threat was clear in their voices when they finished together. Harry just bit his lip and nodded, but they could tell he was still blaming himself. They looked at each other, exasperated, honestly. Only Harry James Potter would blame himself over losing a Quidditch game, when he wasn't even there, and the game was years ago at that. They shot a glare at the Dursley's for making him this way.

The others in the room were blinking at the three of them in shock, both at the contents of the reprimand, the fact that it was the Twins doing the scolding, and that Harry blamed himself for something that wasn't his fault.

(said Wood happily as they... better than Charlie Weasley,)

Charlie glanced at Harry in consideration. From what he'd seen of the kid during the First Task, Harry could out-fly him for sure. However, beating him to the Snitch would be another matter entirely.

Either way, he felt like he was going to enjoy that pickup game later on.

(and he could have played... gone off chasing dragons.")

Charlie turned red. "I got so many offers from so many teams... I was being followed by owls for days at some point. Then, I got a few Howlers when I sent back my apologies. They all thought I accepted a different offer, then sent their own apologies for the Howler when I corrected them that I was working for the Dragon Reserve..." He said, then shrugged. He got a few chuckles.

(Perhaps it was because he... at Hogwarts two months.)

"I know, time flew." Hermione said in agreement.

A few people nodded in agreement. "It never does feel like you've been there long, especially the first year." Neville said in agreement. "Well," He amended. "After you get over the homesickness, for most of the students." His dorm mates nodded, Neville and Harry never really had that problem, but the other three in the dorm had their issues the first week or two, with being away from home and all. Not that they let it show all that much, but Neville and Harry were observant, they noticed.

(The castle felt more... Privet Drive ever had.)

Albus looked concerned, but at the same time resigned. If Privet Drive wasn't home, then the Blood Wards really wouldn't work. Which meant that he would have to find some other way of protecting young Harry. And he just lost whatever leg he had to stand on when it came to the boys custody. He would have to let him go to Sirius, now, and hope that Sirius didn't teach the boy too many bad habits...

He didn't notice Harry's narrowed eyes being directed towards him.

(His lessons, too, were... had mastered the basics.)

"Yes, the basics are never fun, but must be learned if you want to truly master the magical skill." Filius said cheerfully, only getting sullen looks from his students. They hated his 'review' days. When he literally took a day and reviewed the first two weeks of their first year. Reviewed the very basics.

(On Halloween morning they... wafting through the corridors.)

Ron and the Weasley boys made sounds of appreciation, and looked at their mother hopefully. She just looked at them in disbelief. Were they going to ask to be fed everytime food was mentioned in detail in these books? Seriously? She checked the time and sighed. "A few more chapters and we'll get lunch. Until then," She said loudly over the sound of her sons dramatic groaning, Ron being the loudest of course, "Until then, feel free to snack a little." She said, shaking her head and watching snack foods appear on the table in the middle of them all.

"I don't know how you do it, Molly." Minerva said quietly, shaking her head.

"Do what?" She asked.

"Keep them all fed and still have time to do the housework. I know that they're mostly out of the house now, but they weren't always." Was the answer.

"Ah." Molly chuckled. "Bill and Charlie were in charge of watching the younger kids when they were all home, and they all knew that if they wanted food at a reasonable time, they were going to help with chores."

"Ah." Minerva nodded her head in understanding.

(Even better, Professor Flitwick... to start making objects fly,)

"Oh, that's always an interesting class once people start figuring it out." Sirius murmured to Remus with a grin.

Remus gave him a dark look. "You mean it was an interesting class once you and James started figuring it out." He said flatly. He had not enjoyed that, dangling by his foot was not his idea of fun. The worst part of it, was that James and Sirius were bored and experimenting with a spell they'd heard that was based off the Levitation charm.

They were also aiming at Severus, Remus just happened to get up and walk in their direct path at the wrong time.

Sirius just shrugged while Filius gave him his own dark look, although the effect was somewhat ruined by the amused look in his eye. Minerva just sighed.

(something they had all... zoom around the classroom.)

Neville sighed. "Why is it always Trevor?" He asked, not expecting an answer. Honestly, if it wasn't Snape using Trevor to test his failed potions, it was the other professor's using him in demonstrations of what they could do with a spell, if they had enough control.

"Well, I think your the only one of us who keeps their pet in his pockets at all times. When Trevor's not missing, of course." Harry said with a shrug and a grin. Neville shot him a baleful look.

(Professor Flitwick put... trying to catch his eye).)

"Sorry, mate." Harry said sheepishly.

"It's ok," Neville waved off. "I wasn't the best with wand work then." He said. Harry made a face that clearly said it was not alright, but didn't say anything else.

"...Although, I'm pretty sure you would have been better off with Neville, in the end." Hermione said, remembering what happened this lesson.

"Wha- oh, yeah." Ron chuckled. Harry just sighed and nodded. Filius looked amused while the other professor's were confused about what they were talking about.

(Ron, however, was to be... Harry's broomstick had arrived.)

"I'm having a really hard time figuring out how the three of you became inseparable." Charlie said, confused. The Trio's younger selves all nodded in agreement. They were trying to figure it out, too.

They were getting along pretty well right now. Sure, the circumstances were different, but still. What on earth happened to bring the three of them together in the original timeline? Did they even want to know what happened to cause such a dramatic turn around?

("Now, don't forget that nice... with a buffalo on his chest.")

"That's not actually a thing." Sirius 'sadly' informed the younger crowd. He was awarded with his godsons laughing, so he was happy.

"Is that what you were trying to do?" Remus asked, incredulous. "We just could not figure it out, not even James and he was usually on the same thought process as you."

Sirius looked at Remus as though he was an idiot and nodded impatiently. Filius shook his head. "That may not actually happen, but wrong pronunciations can cause other negative effects." He said, shaking his head.

"What is with the incantations, anyway? It's magic, does it really have or need a command word?" Harry asked suddenly. He'd been wondering this for a while, but hadn't wanted to say anything until he knew more about magic in general.*

"Hmm, not necessarily..." Filius said slowly. He glanced at Minerva, but she only gestured for him to go ahead. "It's more like the incantation usually helps the person with visualizing the spell, with what they want the end results to be. It's for mental focus more than anything else. Otherwise, you're just releasing wild magic, and that can be dangerous without the mental discipline to control it."

"The words themselves mean practically nothing, except to describe what you want, and, if you know what those words are supposed to make the magic do, then you can better direct it. The same with the wand movements. It's a way to focus the thoughts. You might have noticed that, after you have mastered a spell, you tend to use movements and incantations for that spell less and less, often you won't even realize you're doing it." Minerva tacked on. "This is something that's covered more in your Seventh year, the study of how exactly magic reacts is advanced magical theory. Unspeakable levels of research." She said, shaking her head. She was honestly surprised that the boy had asked something like that, most people didn't even think about it.

All those sixth year and under blinked, while the seventh years (and those who should be in seventh year) glanced at each other. Neville and Draco already knew this because they actually attended school that year, but the Trio were surprised. They missed a lot this past year, apparently. Hermione was mentally wailing in despair of all that she missed out on, although she knew that academics meant nothing if Voldemort took over, so what she was doing was more important, but still.

And, now that they thought about it, she was right, they did use movements and the incantation less and less once they mastered a spell and stopped thinking about it before just doing it.

(It was very difficult. Harry... just lay on the desktop.)

"The mental discipline coupled with your lack of control over your magic. Do not worry, it didn't take you long to figure it out, Mr. Potter." Filius said, smiling in encouragement.

(Seamus got so impatient that... to put it out with his hat.)

"Mr. Finnigan on the other hand..." Remus said with a small laugh.

All the other teachers sighed while the kids laughed. They now knew what the students were talking about earlier. "Have we ever taken him to do an inheritance test?" Filius asked his colleagues.

"I owled his mother. There are no fire-related creatures in their family history that she knows of, he's just always setting things on fire." Minerva said mournfully.

"Perhaps, then, an abilities test would not be remiss." Severus suggested. Perhaps it would save a few cauldron's, too, if he knew there were extra measures to take for that student. While the Longbottom Heir had a habit of melting them, the Finnigan boy had a habit of exploding them or catching the water on fire. Like that time he was trying to turn water into rum and exploded the goblet.

Minerva nodded at his suggestion and wrote it down for her younger self to take care of.

While the adults spoke, the kids had their own discussion. "That's about the only thing those hats are good for." Ron said.

"Yeah, I don't even know why we have to have them. The only people who wear them are the first years, and that's only for a week before they stop." Hermione said, shaking her head. "Maybe we can petition that they not even be included on the list, they're just a waste of money." The others nodded, content to let her at it.

(Ron, at the next table, wasn't... long arms like a windmill.)

Harry smirked as he started on a new picture. When Ron noticed the general shape, he scowled. That was not what he looked like! He didn't say anything, though. Content to let his best friends younger self draw as he liked.

Harry looked content when he drew, in a way that Ron had never seen before. He just didn't know why Harry didn't draw while at Hogwarts.

"That's a good way to poke somebodies eye out or worse." Filius said in some amusement, wondering how he missed this happening. Ron turned red. Filius turned to Ron, "Be more mindful in future of how you handle your wand. You don't want to go poking somebodies out because you were flailing around." He said, more seriously.

Ollivander studied Ron for a moment, and made a mental note to make the boy a wand later on.

("You're saying it wrong," Harry... the 'gar' nice and long.")

"It's good that you're helping, but maybe say it differently. Otherwise, all you'll accomplish is getting him angry. And he doesn't want anything to do with you at this point in time." Pomona said gently after wincing. When it came to teaching, or correcting someone, it was all in how it was said and done.

"And, as we just got done saying, it's not the incantation itself, so much as the fact it helps you focus. Although, it is helpful to pronounce it correctly, for your own mental discipline." Filius said. Making sure the girl knew that it wasn't detrimental... at least it shouldn't be unless it really messed his mental focus up that much and caused his wand to react badly. That did happen sometimes, too...

("You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.)

"Temper." Arthur warned. Once Ron started snarling, was usually when he was getting to the point where he was going to say something he regretted. Maybe not right away, but after he calmed down, certainly. Ron flushed a little, remembering what was said. His father was always talking to them about ways to control their temper. They were Weasley's, after all. One thing Weasley's were fairly known for, was their laid-back attitudes... until you got them angry.

Then, you did not want to be in the path of their tempers.

(Someday, in the future, Hermione would remark on anger-management counseling being an excellent job option for a Weasley. After all, who better to teach others how to manage their anger, than a family famous for it's temperamental blow-ups, but otherwise laid back and friendly personalities? It would become a side-job that Percy and George would turn into a lucrative business/breakthrough in wizarding mental health. After Percy went to Muggle University for psychology and such, of course.)

(Hermione rolled up the... feet above their heads.)

"Was that the first time?" Remus asked, curious. She blushed a little, but nodded. "You have very good mental discipline. Your magic reacts well because you are able to focus better than your classmates, and that's probably because you put so much work into your theory." He complimented. She smiled, happy for the compliment.

She was also pleased that he justified her need to know everything about a spell before doing it.

All the teachers privately thought that her focus may have been good, but at the end of the day, her work still wasn't as powerful or as good quality as some of the other students who got it later. She also wasn't as creative. But, her work was still good. It could just, maybe, be a little better. Considering how her theoretical work was.

("Oh, well done!" cried Professor... the end of the class.)

"Uh-oh." Arthur muttered, and Molly laid a hand on his arm and eyed her youngest son in concern. They just knew that Ron was going to start running his mouth off. They only hoped that somebody told him off, or he at least came to regret it on his own and went to apologize. They didn't hold out too much hope on the latter, though, because they knew Hermione's attitude so far was mostly what was setting him off. At this point in the books, he couldn't stand her.

("It's no wonder no one can stand her,")

Ron turned red while Hermione was slowly starting to tear up, causing Pomona to pull her into a gentle hug, even while she gave Ron a dark look. Who was watching Hermione warily, and with some pleading in his gaze. Hermione stared at him for a moment before sighing and leaning more towards him than she was towards Harry. Ron smiled, relieved.

Molly and Arthur were giving him a warning look, but they knew that at this moment, it was his temper talking. If he didn't go apologize or something when he calmed down, then they would have words with him.

(he said to Harry as they pushed... past him. It was Hermione.)

"Oh, no." Molly said, closing her eyes. "You heard him, didn't you?" She asked Hermione. Already knowing the answer. Hermione nodded, her eyes showing all the hurt she felt back then while Hermione looked like she was on the verge of tears.

It was just like the kids back at primary school. When she came to this place and was told about magic, she thought things would be different here.

"Ronald..." Arthur said again in warning.

Ron paused in his quiet apologies to Hermione to nod at his father in understanding.

Ron was also apologizing to Hermione, he knew her better now than his older self did back then.

(Harry caught a glimpse... that she was in tears.)

A few people winced, and Ginny glared at her older brother.

("I think she heard you."... looked a bit uncomfortable.)

Molly frowned, but accepted it. Her son would find a time and way of properly apologizing. She knew he would. If he didn't, then she would give him a lecture and punishment.

("She must've noticed she's got no friends.")

"I heard that, too." Hermione curtly informed her best friend, who winced and tried even harder to make the couch he was sitting on swallow him whole.

"You do have friends, you have us." Ron told Hermione, pointing between himself and Harry. Who immediately nodded enthusiastically in agreement with a grin. She smiled hesitantly.

Maybe things would be different now.

(Hermione didn't turn up... wasn't seen all afternoon.)

"Did you not think something was wrong with that? This is Hermione here, when has she ever missed classes?" Ginny asked, incredulous.

"We were eleven, and didn't know her yet. Lay off, Ginny." Ron said in defense, and warning.

"Hey, don't start." Arthur stepped in, not wanting to deal with his youngest fighting. When those two started, those two really started.

(On their way down to the... wanted to be left alone.)

Molly shot her son a dirty look while Minerva and Severus shared a look of sudden understanding.

They felt like they now knew the truth about how those three students ended up in the bathroom with a knocked out troll.

Question was, why did Miss Granger feel the need to lie about it? Nobody would have gotten in trouble beyond maybe an essay about trolls or lines about getting a teacher next time.

Ginny glared, but didn't say anything else.

(Ron looked still more awkward)

"Well, yeah! You should have seen the dirty look Harry was giving me!" Ron exclaimed. "Not to mention, I'd never made a girl cry before, let alone all day in the bathroom!" He grumbled. It had really been uncomfortable, knowing he did that.

Hermione had to look down to hide her small smile.

(at this, but a moment later... Hermione out of their minds.)

"Gee, thanks." Hermione said sarcastically, while her younger self looked offended.

Harry winced and looked at his best female friend pleadingly. "Aw, come on 'Mione. We were eleven and we'd never seen anything like it before! And you know how Ron can get when food's involved." She rolled her eyes. She knew perfectly well how Ron could get, especially at that age.

Ron only looked mildly offended, too. Improvement!

(A thousand live bats fluttered... in the pumpkins stutter.)

Both Malfoys, Severus, even Luna and Neville a little bit, sneered at hearing of the decorations. While Sirius scowled. The Weasley's just sighed.

Those decorations were a mockery of Samhain. None of those were proper decorations, this was exactly what they'd been talking about earlier. This was where most of the real problem Purebloods had with Muggleborns lay. This was why Purebloods did everything they could to keep Muggleborns low in the Ministry totem-pole, no matter their qualifications, unless that Muggleborn managed to prove to them that they knew and respected Wizarding tradition. Unfortunately, they still managed to get their way despite all that.

Wizarding traditions were being thrown aside and banned while Muggle holidays and traditions were being shoved down wizards throats like they were Calming Draughts.

Now, Sirius, Luna and Neville didn't have a problem with Muggles or Muggleborn. But they weren't Muggles. They were wizards, they shouldn't be made to celebrate Muggle holidays when they had their own. They weren't going to go into that right now, though. That would be a discussion for later, that topic wasn't one that would be solved just by writing a letter to a specific person, or making a list of things to watch out for.

(The feast appeared suddenly... and terror on his face.)

"What the...? Sirius asked slowly, sitting up a little straighter.

"Oh, this isn't good." Mrs. Figg muttered. Anything that could terrify the Defense teacher like that was not going to be good. Granted, he seemed to be scared of his own shadow half the time...

"No it wasn't." Harry said under his breath, hoping that it was quiet enough that enough Sirius heard, judging by the look on his godfather's face, it didn't work. He never did find out just how much about his school years his Sirius had known before he died. Sirius certainly never said anything, so he had no idea how this Sirius was going to react right now. Probably not well.

(Everyone stared as he reached... "Troll - in the dungeons -)

"Oh, that really not good." Sirius breathed, reaching out and pulling Harry against him protectively, while Remus did the same with Harry. Both made sure the boys drawing efforts weren't hindered.

"Shouldn't the school wards have kept it out?" Bill asked with a frown, watching his younger siblings with worry. "And I don't remember hearing about a request to Gringotts for the ward scheme of the school to be looked at and holes filled in." He switched his gaze to the Headmaster, frowning. Before Dumbledore could say anything, Molly spoke up with her own demands.

"And I don't remember the parents being notified that there was a security problem, either." She said, glaring.

"The threat was, I'm assuming dealt with?" He asked his teachers, who were actually there at the time. They nodded reluctantly. Wait until she found out that it wasn't dealt with by the teachers... "There, the threat was dealt with, no need to alarm parents with a threat that no longer exists." He said, choosing to ignore Bill's statement. He deliberately took those wards down so they could add the troll to the obstacles he was planning to guard the Stone with.

He needed to know if Harry would be up to the task of defeating Tom. He knew he was still out there, and this was the perfect opportunity to have several theories proven or disproven, while pitting the two against each other at the same time.

He would be at the school, so the students would be perfectly safe the whole time. He wasn't going to let Tom harm any students. If all went well, the only students in harm's way would be Harry, and his two friends.

(thought you ought to... floor in a dead faint.)

"He's the Defense teacher?" Sirius asked in disgust. There was being scared of Vampire's and then there was being scared into a dead faint over something he should know full well how to fight.

"And you wonder why I want the Defense job so badly." Severus drawled, eyeing his colleagues. They grimaced, but nodded in agreement. Moody was eyeing the book as if it was about to turn into something poisonous and attack. His lip was curled in disgust at the thought of Quirrell, the man wouldn't have lasted ten seconds in a room with him. That was for sure.

Dumbledore sat up, waiting to hear what happened next. If his suspicions were correct... based on what the Trio had been muttering about Quirrell earlier, this would have been a diversion. Although, he better act quickly before the situation got out of hand, a troll was a bit much.

(There was an uproar. It... the dormitories immediately!")

"Whoa!" Sirius called, startled out of watching his godson draw what looked to be a feather being hovered in the air, while Harry was drawing what looked like Ron with his arms windmilling, like it described in the book. "Aren't Hufflepuff and Slytherin dorms in the Dungeons? Well, I suppose that Hufflepuff would be more like a basement, than the Dungeons, but, still! You don't know where in the Dungeons it is, it could be outside the Slytherin Common Room for all you knew!" The statement was initially directed at the Headmaster until he remembered that the Headmaster was from the same time as he was and this hadn't happened yet for him, so he directed it at the teachers who had lived through this already.

"I am aware." Severus said darkly, glowering at the Headmaster. "Thankfully, I've had a system worked out with my Snakes for years. If something happens and it's unsafe for them to go to the Dungeons, I have closed off a few unused classrooms on the second floor that they are to go to instead." He said. "Along with a safe route with hidden passages from several key locations so they don't get caught out in the hallways." The other Heads nodded, they had helped him map out that safe route, after all. Molly and Arthur looked a little shocked at the lengths Severus seemed to go for the safety of his students, along with a few of the other Gryffindor's in the room.

Pomona sighed, sending her own dark look at the Headmaster. "I had my Badgers stay in the Great Hall until I knew it was safe, then I sent them back to the Dorms." She explained to the worried parents/guardian. She really needed to implement some kind of system similar to what Severus had.

"Well, that's good." Sirius grumbled, looking at Dumbledore with a strange look on his face, finally, he looked away, thinking that at least Dumbledore looked concerned.

He was. He was very concerned at the disregard he'd just shown half of his students. Sure, he'd never been too concerned with the Slytherin's, at least not to the same level he showed the Gryffindor's, but to almost send them into an area where there might be a troll waiting for them? What was he thinking? Was he thinking? He didn't know, and that worried him. Yes, he was going to be setting a trap for Voldemort in the school, but honestly, he was only doing it at Hogwarts because he was confident he could keep the students safe should anything go wrong. Sending them to their dorms in this situation was not keeping them safe.

(Percy was in his element.)

There were a few snorts, but a warning glare from their mother kept them all quiet. She and Arthur had already spoken to Percy, and she was happy to have her son back.

("Follow me! Stick together, first years!)

Minerva nodded, pleased. Then she frowned. "Where is your female counterpart, again?" She asked. "Not to mention the older prefects?" Why did it seem like Percy was the only one doing his job? Unless, Harry just didn't see the others...?

"She was..." Percy stopped to think, "I don't think she came down for the Feast. Maybe... I don't know, I hardly ever saw her outside class. For seven years, she showed up for class and some meals, and then just disappeared for the day." Minerva frowned. She didn't remember seeing any of that from her... "And the other prefects were taking care of the rest of the House, they weren't nearby, so Harry probably just didn't see them. I made it a habit to sit near the first years, so I was already right there." He shrugged.

"Well, at least one of you seems to be thinking of the younger students." She muttered. She wrote a note down about the female prefect for Percy's year, so her younger self knew to keep an eye out.

(No need to fear the troll... "How could a troll get in?")

"That's a good question..." Charlie muttered, eyeing his younger siblings.

The Twins and Percy just looked back and shrugged, they had no idea. Ron, Harry, and Hermione just looked at each other and sighed. Yeah, they were going to be surprised when they found out who let it in.

(Harry asked as they climbed... in for a Halloween joke.")

"No." The Twins, Sirius, and Remus all said vehemently. Harry nodded in understanding, now that he knew Peeves better, he knew that Peeves would never do that.

"I know, Peeves would never do that. Hogwarts is his home, too. Doing that would risk getting him kicked out." Harry said in answer. Ron flushed a little. Because, now that he thought about it, he knew too.

"Besides, something like a troll, isn't a joke. It isn't anywhere near funny, and that is what he strives for the most, despite appearances sometimes." Minerva said, seriously. Everyone nodded. Although Dudley looked a little disbelieving.

(They passed different groups of... suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.)

"A few of them hadn't heard my instructions yet, and were heading for the doors, or trying to get back to their seats from where they ended up before they heard my instructions." Pomona explained with a shrug.

"Hey, why not just keep all the students in the Great Hall? Just in case the troll wasn't in the dungeons anymore?" Mrs. Figg asked suddenly.

Several of the teachers grimaced. "In this case, it was actually best to send them away from there. The kitchens run underneath the Great Hall, and the smells might have attracted the troll there. In the event that it was there, the fight might have compromised the flooring in the Great Hall. And, with so many students in the Great Hall, their smell might have attracted the troll straight to the Hall itself. Well, if not the smell of the students, then the smell of the feast." Minerva explained.

"That, and half the students live in the towers on the other side of the castle, far, far away from any potential fights, assuming at the time that the troll stayed in the dungeons or on the lower two floors, and hadn't migrated that way between us being alerted and actually finding the creature." Filius said with a grimace.

"But, that doesn't account for the other half of the student body, or the chance of meeting the creature in the hallways." She said, alarmed.

The teachers grimaced again. "We know." They all said, strained.

("I've just thought - Hermione.")

"Oh." Minerva breathed, and Severus sighed as his suspicions were proven correct.

("What about her?"

"She doesn't know about the troll.")

"So tell somebody and keep following Percy to the Common Room." Arthur muttered. Hoping that his son did just that.

(Ron bit his lip... Percy'd better not see us.")

The adults exploded, angry that they weren't going to tell an adult, instead they were going somewhere else entirely while a troll was loose in the castle.

"Whoa, hey!" Sirius interrupted. He took a breath and continued. "Which bathroom, which floor?" He asked the Trio.

"Third floor, just past the Charms rooms." Hermione answered.

"Ok, that's not that bad." He said to the other adults, when they looked at him in disbelief and looked like they were going to start yelling at him now, he continued. "That bathroom is on the way to the Common Room from the Great Hall. Just a quick detour down a different hallway, pick her up, and they're on their way. No harm, they just need to be quick to lessen the chances of running into it." He said, looking like he himself was trying hard not to lose it. "Although, I really rather you'd gotten somebody... trolls are not something to mess around with." He told his godson. The older one just shrugged, while the younger one looked like the idea of going for help was a new and strange concept.

"There was no time and the teachers were worried about finding the Troll, first." Ron said quietly.

While the others calmed down at the logic, the Heads looked at each other. That would actually work out perfectly. Except for one tiny little detail.

The troll got to that bathroom first.

(Ducking down, they joined... going the other way,)

Pomona frowned. They must have already been out the door before she managed to tell them to stay.

(slipped down a deserted... behind a large stone griffin.)

Percy shook his head when everyone turned to look at him. "Wasn't me." He said simply.

Severus narrowed his eyes and glanced at the boys sitting innocently on the couch. He was trying to remember the route he took to get to the Third Floor, trying to remember if he passed by where the boys were. This might explain some of their suspicious looks over the year.

(Peering around it, however... and disappeared from view.)

"What are you up to?" Remus asked, curious.

"I was checking on that beast of Hagrid's, just in case." Severus said with a sigh after a moment of debating whether or not he should answer. "I didn't trust Quirrell. He had professed earlier in the year to have an affinity for Troll's, and now suddenly he's fainting in terror because of one?" He shook his head in disbelief. The other Heads looked sheepish.

He'd tried to talk to them through the year about his suspicions, but they didn't listen. And look at what happened at the end of it, although they never did find out just what it was that happened.

("What's he doing?" Harry... the rest of the teachers?")

"Because I had something just as important to take care of." He muttered. And it was important, making sure that the Dark Lord wasn't coming back anytime soon.

The look on Draco's face showed he disagreed that anything could be so important as getting a Troll out of the Snakes area, but Severus didn't pay it any attention. He knew Draco didn't know of anything that happened that year beyond rumors. Rumors that didn't even remotely do what little he knew justice.

("Search me."

Quietly as possible,)

"Which is pretty quiet coming from Harry, not so much Ron." Neville said in amusement. Ron just scowled while Harry and Hermione snickered and the rest of the Weasleys tried to hide their grins. The twins outright teased.

(they crept along the next... but Ron held up his hand.)

Severus groaned and slammed his head back. This would be the start of the suspicious looks and near stalking trying to figure out what he was up to. Oh yes, he knew about that, they weren't as subtle or stealthy as they thought they were.

("Can you smell something?")

Sirius' eyes slowly widened in disbelief and horror. He leaned forward, praying that Harry wasn't about to describe how a troll smelled.

(Harry sniffed and a foul... toilet no one seems to clean.)

Sirius hugged Harry to his side, eyes shut tight, chanting 'no, no, no.' under his breath. Trying to deny that it was happening, that they just ran into the Troll.

Neville, Ginny, and Luna all made faces in disgust at the smell. Both Draco's were covering their noses as if they could smell it right now. That sounded absolutely awful. "Well, that explains why the two of you smelled so bad and commandeered the showers when you got back to the Dorms." He muttered. Ron and Harry nodded with a grimace.

"I did too." Hermione said, nodding. "My roommates actually threatened to lock me out of the dorm for a week if I didn't. Lavender even went so far as to burn the robes I was wearing and Parvati sent for some new ones from her parents when she found out that I couldn't really afford to replace them." Minerva blinked at her. She hadn't heard anything about that.

"Forget all of that, how do you know what each of those smells like?" Remus asked, looking like he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He, like Sirius, was hugging Harry to his side. Both boys just pointed at the Dudleys. Who, for their part, looked mildly embarrassed.

(And then they heard it... footfalls of gigantic feet.)

Sirius closed his eyes in worry and fear, then started reeling off instructions half remembered from his Auror academy days. Only half remembered because of the passage of time and time spent wrongly incarcerated in Azkaban, where his memories and emotions were basically a meal for the Dementors.

"Aim for the eyes, or inside of its mouth. Those are the softest areas and the most vulnerable. Finding something and hitting it really hard over the head can work too, but they have very thick skulls, so you will have to hit very hard. If you can, stand in front of a wall and goad it into charging, and then dodge at the last second. The impact should be enough for it to knock itself out. Bright lights and loud sounds will only enrage it further, so try to keep those to a minimum." He instructed.

About halfway through, Hermione had started taking notes, while Moody nodded in approval of everything he was saying. It was good that his training wasn't affected. Well, his academic training, his physical training would be a little lacking right now. Ron and Harry looked at each other sheepishly, they had been making as much noise as possible to distract it away from Hermione. And all they were doing was making it angrier?

"Their skin is tough and they are resistant to magic, so don't try to use spells on them directly unless its in the areas I already said, like the inside of the mouth or the eyes. They are faster than they look, so don't try to run unless you are close to somewhere small they can't get into, but if you do that, you need to be careful because it might just smash its way in anyway. They are stupid, they can't plan very well, but that also makes them very dangerous, because it makes them unpredictable." Sirius finished instructing. He looked around and noticed Hermione was the only one writing. "Well, write it down, take it with you, study it for later or something." He said, loosening his grip on his boys only long enough for them to write it down as instructed before gathering them up again.

"And for Merlin's sake, stay away form that club!" Remus added at the last minute. The boys nodded fervently. Yes, staying away from the club was a good idea. That thing was massive.

(Ron pointed - at the end... It was a horrible sight.)

Everyone who'd ever seen a Troll before nodded in agreement with this assessment, they did truly look awful. They were difficult to fight, as well, because of the reasons that Sirius listed earlier.

Sirius and Remus just held onto their boys tighter.

(Twelve feet tall, its skin... with flat, horny feet.)

Those who had never seen a Troll before, either in person or in pictures shivered in horror and disgust. A few turned green. Both Petunia's fainted in shocked horror and their husbands panicked a little as they tried to make sure their respective wife was alright. This time, they let Madam Pomfrey near, but not without watching her warily first. They all made mental notes to avoid areas where Trolls were known to frequent.

"Do you have to be so descriptive, mate?" Ron grumbled, not too pleased about hearing about the thing in such detail. If he never saw one again, it would be too soon, that was for sure. He groaned when he saw Harry sketching it out as he heard it. He would finish adding to it later, for now he went back to finishing his drawing of Ron in charms class.

(The smell coming from... its arms were so long.)

Harry glanced up in annoyance and flipped to the quick sketch so he could change the arms and added a club to them for good measure. Remus marveled at how quickly he did it and how good it still looked. Especially since he was doing it while trapped between himself and Sirius.

(The troll stopped next to... It waggled its long ears,)

Harry again flipped to the page and changed the ears to be longer. Annoyed, he held it out to Harry, who nodded that it was right in amusement. Harry nodded in finality and went back to the drawing he was still finishing. Everyone else was sitting on the edge of their seats, tense.

Arthur sucked in a breath. "This is why you asked if we had any Seers in the Family." He said in horrified realization.

Harry nodded grimly. "And this isn't the only time that one of your sons joked about something and it ended up being true." He said. Arthur looked at him in horror, before glancing around at his sons. He glanced at his Family Tapestry and got up to study it some more, asking the room for a list of all known and unknown Seers in history. He was going to cross-reference this. Molly looked vaguely worried.

(making up its tiny...

"The keys in the lock,")

Hermione straightened up and slowly turned to face her boys. She did not like that they were discussing the key being in the lock of a room that the Troll had just entered. Her boys grimaced, watching her warily.

(Harry muttered. "We could lock it in.")

"Or you could not." Hermione said slowly. Ron and Harry turned red, while the teachers watched them warily.

("Good idea," said Ron nervously.)

"No, bad idea. Very, very bad idea!" Hermione yelped, finally understanding that yes, they locked the troll in the bathroom with her.

"We didn't look closely enough at what room the thing was going in." Ron finally said, desperate.

"Yeah, if we'd known that was the girls bathroom, we wouldn't have done it!" Harry added. Both were watching Hermione and holding their breath. The younger Trio were watching with wide eyes, especially Hermione.

The boys locked her in the bathroom with a troll? Were they crazy? How could they not notice what room it was in while turning the lock? She thought Harry said he was observant!

The rest of the readers were watching the exchange with horror, and eyeing Hermione in concern. Severus and Minerva looked like they'd both eaten something sour. They had guessed correctly so far how all three of them ended up there with a Troll, but they never would have guessed that the boys locked the Troll in the bathroom with the girl.

(They edged toward the open... and lock it.

'Yes!")

"No!" Hermione burst out, horrified.

The boys flushed again. "Sorry, 'Mione." Harry muttered.

"We didn't know that was the bathroom." Ron said, hunching in on himself.

The others in the room were wide eyed, and Sirius and Remus were holding on to their boys, eyes closed. They were repeating something, over and over. Nobody could tell what it was though, because it was in a language that none of them spoke. Well, Severus understood a few words here and there, while the Draco's thought they recognized it from somewhere, but they couldn't understand it. Harry thought a few words sounded familiar, but couldn't think where he could have heard it from, nor did he know what they meant.

It was the language of the Black family. Legend had it, that a pair of Black Twins, generations ago, came up with it, as twins sometimes did between themselves. Then, when they had kids, they passed it down, and on through the generations until it became the Family language. The reason why neither Draco knew it, was because by the time he was old enough to learn, the war and inbreeding had destroyed the Black family and there weren't any of them left for him to speak with. It was just Narcissa, a couple of old Great-Aunts that didn't even live in the UK anymore, Sirius and Bellatrix in prison, and a squib cousin in Australia. Well, plus Walburga, but Narcissa wasn't taking her son anywhere near that shrew.

Sirius and James (who had been taught by his mother) had taught the language to Remus, and tried to teach Pettigrew, but he'd never been able to remember more than a few phrases and simple words. James had also taught Lily when they got married, and they had made sure to speak it around baby Harry just as much as they did English, as all Black parents did. But Harry was so young when they died, and the Dursleys obviously didn't know it to continue teaching him, even if they had wanted to. Severus understood the little he did simply from sitting in the Slytherin Common Room for seven years, listening to the various Black cousins that he shared it with conversing.

"Would you two please speak something that isn't the Black family language?" He asked, irritated. He hated it when the Blacks did it back in school, he hated it just as much now. The two looked at him, startled. They hadn't even realized they were doing that.

"Black family language?" Draco asked, surprised. His comment served to relieve some of the tension from events in the book.

"Narcissa didn't teach it to you?" Sirius asked, just as surprised. Draco shook his head no. He scowled. "Well, that's unexpected from her..." He sighed. "Remind me later, and I'll start to teach the four of you. It is your heritage, after all." He quickly jotted down a note to ask Narcissa why she didn't teach her son their language. She was always big on family traditions and all that.

(Flushed with their victory... that made their hearts stop -)

"What?" Sirius yelped, and started running his hands over his godson, looking for any kind of injury, or anything at all wrong with him.

"Sirius, calm down, it was an expression. My heart did not actually stop." Harry said firmly, stopping the wandering hands before he could start laughing because it tickled. "That, and this was years ago... for me, anyway." Remus shot Harry a Look, but Harry just shrugged it off.

Hermione was slowly turning white as the chapter went on, so Ron and Harry (after he gently untangled himself from Sirius' grip) gathered her up and held her tightly between them.

The Twins were watching the Trio carefully. Any sign that it was becoming too much, and they would crack a joke to relieve some of the tension and get people's minds off the reading for a few minutes.

(a high, petrified scream -)

Everyone winced, but they weren't surprised. They'd already figured out from the Trio's conversations that the one screaming was Hermione. Now, they could only listen in worry.

Dumbledore was sitting forward, concerned for his students safety. This, was not good. Surely he wasn't going to let this happen, he wanted to test Harry, not let students be put in danger like this.

(and it was coming from... as the Bloody Baron.)

"That's pretty pale." Luna muttered, staring at the Trio with that unnerving gaze that made it seem like she could see right through them.

Suddenly, Ron was ripped away from his grip on Hermione and found himself sitting between his oldest brothers, sitting on the floor in front of their parents couch (Arthur had abandoned his search of the Tapestry for the time being to be with his wife). He blinked, but decided not to say anything and just sit there. Sirius took it as his chance to pull both Harry and Hermione into his grip this time.

("It's the girls' bathroom!"... thing they wanted to do,)

"What?" Hermione yelped. Hermione looked more understanding.

"Going towards a Mountain Troll is the height of insanity. Of course we didn't want to do it." Harry defended.

"But we did, anyway, because 'Mione was in there!" Ron said.

"Because you put her there." They younger girl huffed. "She wouldn't have been in there to begin with if you weren't so mean!" She glared at Ron a bit. Hermione grimaced a little, and didn't say anything.

She had a point, but at the same time, she shouldn't have let it get to her to the point of spending the rest of the day crying in a bathroom. Or, she should have at least gone to the dorms instead... Pomona patted the younger girl on the back, but she didn't say anything, either.

(but what choice did they... if she was about to faint.)

"Don't blame you, lass. I've seen experienced Aurors do the same." Moody grunted. The younger kids actually screamed a bit while some other people jumped, he'd been so quiet lately, they'd forgotten he was there. He just rolled his eyes and, surprisingly, didn't say anything else. His fake eye was fixed on the Trio.

(The troll was advancing... off the walls as it went.)

Minerva winced. "At least Hogwarts is designed to repair herself, unless the damage is too extensive." She muttered to her colleagues. The only reason she was so calm was because she and Severus were the ones to find the kids with the Troll, she'd already seen for herself that they were uninjured. Just a few scrapes that had been healed up on their own by morning. She winced, Poppy was probably going to take her ear off for not sending the kids to her.

The other Heads and Dumbledore nodded in agreement, all sitting on the edge of their seats except for Severus. He was leaning back, lost in thought about something

("Confuse it!" Harry said desperately... could against the wall.)

Sirius leaned forward so fast the kids he had his arms around all fell forward a bit and flailed to catch their balance. "No! Don't make loud noises, don't try to confuse it! That'll just make it worse." He yelled, looking at the boys in a panic.

Harry grimaced. "I didn't know that! Making noise and confusing it is what your supposed to do to scare off wild animals, so..." He shrugged helplessly. Sirius bit his lip but settled back down and pulled the three into his arms again.

"Trolls aren't wild animals, Potter. They are dangerous, semi-sentient Beings." Draco drawled with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't know that." Harry said firmly, frowning. "Until this incident, I didn't even know Trolls existed." He countered.

The teachers all frowned and Minerva made a note to make a class, probably would just be extra on the side just from September until winter holidays, about the dangers and such of the Magical World. It could tie in with the Magic Studies she was thinking of making mandatory for all Muggle-raised students while Muggle Studies would become mandatory for all Wizard-raised students. Obviously, there were students like Seamus Finnigan who were raised in both worlds equally, but she would cross that road when she came to it.

"Next time you see a Troll, don't try to distract it, bludgeon it from behind!" Remus instructed the Trio quickly. They nodded in agreement, mostly to satisfy him. If they had their way, they wouldn't be seeing another Troll.

(The troll stopped a few... had made the noise.)

"No, no, no, no." Sirius muttered while Remus just closed his eyes and held Harry tighter, still being mindful of his werewolf strength.

Bill and Charlie tightened their own grip on their baby brother.

(Its mean little eyes saw Harry.)

"No, don't go for Harry. Don't go for Harry." Sirius muttered under his breath.

(It hesitated, then made... its club as it went.)

"Run, find a wall, stand in front of it, and dodge. Get out of there." Sirius started muttering different advice on what to do now. Harry sighed and started patting him on the arm from where it was wrapped around him. He absently wondered if it wouldn't be kinder to let Sirius sleep through chapters like this one.

Especially considering he was still under the effects of Azkaban. His mental state wasn't the best right now, and hearing about his pup being in dangerous situations probably wasn't helping.

Everyone else was on the edge of their seats, doing very good statue imitations.

Harry was having a hard time breathing, but didn't say anything.

("Oy, pea-brain!" yelled... threw a metal pipe at it.)

"If your going to make noise, then don't stay in the same spot, move." Remus said, tense. Ron shuddered lightly, but nodded.

"And, that pipe isn't going to do anything. Probably won't even feel it." Moody grunted. Ron just grimaced.

(The troll didn't even... the yell and paused again,)

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, his pup was safe. But then he glanced at Ron, worried for his pups best friend now.

(turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead,)

Molly finally got the whimper she'd barely been holding back out. Arthur tightened his grip on her while leaning forward and putting his hand on his youngest sons head. It was the only part of him that he could reach, his two oldest had themselves wrapped around him like a cocoon.

Poppy glared at the other teachers as she remembered something, but decided not to say anything just yet.

(giving Harry time to... but she couldn't move,)

Hermione winced, ashamed of her performance here. Moody noticed and narrowed his eye.

"Nothing to be ashamed of lass, even experienced Aurors will freeze up at the sight of Troll. Ugly things that they are." He said with a shrug. Of course, he wasn't happy when they did that, especially since he taught them better than that. But, he supposed that there were some things that only personal experience could ever prepare you for.

Sirius nodded in agreement with his old mentor, snickering when he remembered the first time his squad ran into a Troll... James and Frank had screamed like little girls before they calmed down and remembered their training. None of them let it go for weeks afterward. Moody glanced at him and smirked, remembering the incident as well. "We'll tell you two, well... three- the story of when your fathers ran into their first Troll as Aurors, later." He promised the Harry's and Neville when he saw them looking curiously.

Hermione looked relieved that her reaction wasn't out of the ordinary.

Nobody noticed Severus had his hand clamped almost painfully on Draco's knee, keeping him quiet. Draco kept quiet because he knew how he reacted to just hearing about the Troll, also he'd seen one. Since the Dark Lord thought it a good idea to house some of them on Malfoy lands... that idea didn't last longer than a week until he had them moved. Much to the relief of the Malfoy's and their Peacock breeding 'operation'.

Who knew Trolls would like roast Peacock so much?

Also, Draco didn't feel like getting punched again, or hexed. He knew what the three of them were capable of magically, and Hermione was no slouch with her fists, either.

(she was still flat against... mouth open with terror.)

There was some absent nodding from the adults, that was normal as well. They didn't say anything, though. They were too busy sitting on the edge of their seats and watching the teens in worry. Sirius was still chanting under his breath while holding the two teens and one ten year old, although he seemed to be switching from one language to another every few words.

(The shouting and the... driving the troll berserk.)

"Oh, no." Sirius breathed. He got a desperate look in his eyes, and it honestly worried Harry and everyone else who saw it. Poppy quickly spelled a Calming Draught into him, to try and lessen some of the emotional roller coaster he was on.

She then held up a few more vials and levitated them towards other people, like the Weasley parents and Remus, and glared at them until they took them.

"You kids might want to get out of there, quick. Berserk Trolls are when they're the most dangerous." Moody advised.

"Alastor!" Minerva hissed at him, he had not helped the situation with Sirius and Remus at all. He shrugged, unrepentant.

(It roared again and... had no way to escape.)

Molly let loose a strangled scream (despite the Calming Draughts in her system) and hauled Ron out of his oldest brothers arms and squeezed him in between herself and her husband, who said nothing and just adjusted so his arm was now wrapped around both of them.

Everyone else looked a little ill, while Pomona hauled Hermione onto the couch beside her and wrapped an arm around her to comfort the girl, Percy took charge of Ron, and of course Harry and Draco were in the care of their godfathers.

(Harry then did something... brave and very stupid:)

"Try stupidly reckless." Hermione muttered. Ron nodded along beside her, in full agreement. Harry scowled. This wasn't he first time they'd made it clear that they found his actions during something to be stupidly reckless while others thought it to be brave and what needed to be done.

Sirius seemed to pale even more, and he gained a lost look in his eye as he desperately tried not to think of just what his godson could be doing around a Troll that his two best friends considered stupid and reckless.

Everyone was leaning forward in their seats, wanting to hear what happened next, how the Trio got out of this mess.

Fred and George suddenly remembered something from earlier in the book, how they'd tried to tease their brother that the Sorting consisted of wrestling a Troll. Or at the beginning of the book, when Harry jumped on Vernon to get his letters, and Ron joked that he was getting practice in. They looked at each other in horror.

Oh. No.

(He took a great running... troll's neck from behind.)

"Just like with your uncle when those letters were coming." Luna said. Vernon shot him a glare, but it went unnoticed.

Sirius whimpered and held his boys tighter, Remus was growling while his eyes turned a more solid amber and glowed a bit, proof of his wolf and a sign that he was not happy about his cub being in danger and there being nothing he could do about it. Ron and Draco spotted his glowing eyes and, understandably, panicked.

"Oh, dear." Minerva muttered. She and Severus quietly got up and pulled the two boys into the other room so they could explain a few things and not have them keeping Remus at arms length just because they suddenly knew something they hadn't known five minutes ago. The reading continued without them, with Harry whispering in Mooney's ear, trying to calm him down.

(The troll couldn't feel Harry... long bit of wood up its nose,)

A few people winced at the thought of that happening, and more than one hand reached up to cover their noses, as if to stop that very thing from happening in the next few minutes.

(and Harry's wand had still... up one of the troll's nostrils.)

Ollivander gasped in horror at the thought of that happening. For a moment, he considered taking that poor wand away from the boy until he learned how to take care of it better.

Harry grimaced and pulled his wand out, reflexively rubbing it on his shirt to clean it up a bit. Ollivander made a face, but seemed somewhat mollified by the absent action.

There was some hysterical laughter at the thought of that happening. Only Harry could do something like that.

It was then that Severus and Minerva brought the eleven year olds back into the room, and they all settled back in after a brief update on what happened in their absence, with only a single glance towards Remus. Otherwise, Ron avoided looking at him while Draco glanced at him curiously.

(Howling with pain, the... clinging on for dear life;)

Sirius and Remus both whimpered a bit and held on tighter, while Molly gave a muffled scream and looked at Harry in concern. The only reason she stayed put was because she was busy squeezing the life out of her son.

The Dursley adults got a gleam in their eyes, clearly they were looking forward to hearing about the little Freak being injured. Severus narrowed his eyes at them and pointed his finger in their direction for a brief moment.

Molly, Sirius, and Remus all jumped and yelled when a horrified screech was let out from two Petunia Dursley's while the respective husbands yelled.

The room was silent for a split second while everyone tried to process what they were seeing, but then Luna snorted in laughter. That was all it took to make Severus smile (not that anybody but those who knew him well enough could tell) in satisfaction as everyone else burst out laughing as well at the image of the four Muggles with donkey ears, nose, tail, and fur. What made it even better was the fur was polka-dotted with neon colors.

At any other point in the books, it wouldn't have been so funny. Earlier in the book, when something similar was done, nobody even blinked twice. But here, when everyone was so tense from the Troll attack, they found it hysterical. Also, it was very sudden and random.

(any second, the troll was... terrible blow with the club.)

Just like that, the tension that had disappeared was back, thicker than before.

(Hermione had sunk to the... his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!")

"But you just started on that spell that day!" Fred said in horror.

"And didn't manage to get it!" George finished. How on earth did the two of them not know about any of this? Sure, they knew that the Trio had wrestled a Troll, but they hadn't known details. They had rumors with names attached. They hadn't even thought the rumors were true until they overheard the Trio talking about this event during the Tournament.

Ron shrugged. "Guess desperation is a good motivator." He said, trying to breathe through the death-grip his mother had on him. His answer did not reassure anyone.

Not at all.

(The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand,)

"You did it!" Ginny said, relieved. Ron just smirked in response.

"Sometimes the best teacher is a bad situation and desperation." Harry muttered. That was his experience, anyway. As proven by the fact that he performed better under pressure.

(rose high, high up into... crack, onto its owner's head.)

There was silence for a moment as everyone held their breaths, although some people had their hands already held up, half out of their seats ready to stand up cheering in celebration. Especially Sirius and Remus, who had let go of their pup/cub, respectively.

(The troll swayed on the... made the whole room tremble.)

"YES!" Was the cry. Anybody standing outside the Room would have thought a bomb went off.

Then, Sirius had a thought. "Wait!" He cried and turned to Harry. "Weren't you on top of that thing?" He demanded. Instantly, everyone went silent in horror. What if that club had hit Harry instead?

Harry grimaced. He'd hoped that they all had forgotten that detail. "I avoided the club and simply rode it's shoulders the whole way down and rolled a little once my feet hit the floor. I would have come out of it standing, but the dumb thing slid a little and my foot landed on a rock. I was fine, a bruise here and there, and my ankle was a little sore the next morning. I was fine." He repeated. And ignored Ron and Hermione muttering how he would claim to be fine even if he was bleeding out on the floor.

"Good job, boy." Moody praised Ron. Ron beamed at the praise. Getting praise from Mad-Eye Moody was like pulling teeth sometimes. "Next time, though. Make sure your partner is out of the way and/or knows what your about to do so they can get out of the way." He instructed.

Ron accepted the small bit of criticism with just a small dimming of his grin, but nodded his understanding. Arthur squeezed his son proudly.

The Dursley's looked disappointed (through the new donkey look) that the Freak walked away alright and without any need for medical attention even.

(Harry got to his feet. He... staring at what he had done.)

"I really had not expected it to work." Ron said, shaking his head with a small laugh.

"Well, it's a good thing it did." Sirius said. He looked better now, but he was still a little pale, and his eyes were still a little wild looking from his pup having been in danger. Remus and everyone else nodded in agreement.

(It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Is it - dead?")

Moody snorted a bit. "You would have to hit it a lot harder than just dropping its own club on top of it to kill it, Lass." She turned red and muttered something that nobody quite caught.

("I don't think so," said... wand out of the troll's nose.)

"Eew." Ginny muttered, looking a little green. Harry grimaced in agreement.

(It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.)

"Eew." Everyone said. Ginny turned even greener now.

Ron grumbled something about them not being there to smell it. Harry grimaced in agreement. The three boys they shared a dorm with, made him wash his wand in the bathroom multiple times and then got an older student to cast air freshening charms on their room.

"Please tell me you washed and polished that poor wand later on? Because that, that is just cruel." Ginny said.

"I did. Believe me, I did. Borrowed some polish from Oliver even. And then, my wand wouldn't work properly for me for a few weeks afterwards..." Harry said sheepishly from within the protective circle of Sirius' arms. He didn't mention the cleaning he had to do with it before that, though.

"Well, I wouldn't either, if my wielder had shoved me up a trolls nose." Ollivander snapped.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Harry defended. "It's not like I thought, 'Hmm, let's shove my wand up its nose, that will distract it.' Sorry, didn't happen." He said sarcastically.

"Ok, ok, how about we keep reading." Mrs. Figg finally broke the argument up, she knew that her godfather could go on for hours about how to properly treat a wand. He and her father certainly got into enough arguments about it when she was younger. When Ollivander turned to her, she could swear he was pouting at being cut off. She just smiled and shook her head fondly. It had been too long since she saw him. She was honestly loving the chance to just spend time with him again in between sessions where they were reading.

("Urgh - troll boogers."

He wiped it on the troll's trousers.)

"Good, try and keep it off your own clothes." Ginny muttered in approval. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

(A sudden slamming and... the three of them look up.)

"Oh, please be backup." Sirius said quickly, looking hopeful.

"Well, better late than never, I suppose." Remus muttered back.

(They hadn't realized what... crashes and the troll's roars.)

"It's in these times where the school's size is really inconvenient." Sirius said with a scowl. They might have gotten there sooner if it weren't for the size of the school getting in the way.

"That may be, but it is a good thing that sound travels so well, despite its size." Minerva said in agreement. Sirius cocked his head to the side before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, everyone else heard the fight, too. Even us up in the Tower. We had no idea what was going on, and the first years were terrified, of course." Percy said.

"So were we, when we realized that three..."

"... firsties were gone, and our little brother was one of them." The Twins said.

(A moment later, Professor... Quirrell bringing up the rear.)

Dumbledore, who had been quietly listening in horror as three students fought a Troll, paled when he realized that he wasn't among the group checking out the noise. Where was he? While he was pleased that young Harry had risen to the occasion so spectacularly, this wasn't at all what he had in mind. He wanted to test the boy in controlled ways, with him nearby in case something went horribly wrong.

Why was he not here? If he wasn't nearby, then what would have happened to the students if Mr. Weasley hadn't managed the Levitation Charm?

He was so deep in thought that he didn't noticed Sirius and Remus thanking the Professors for coming so quickly once they realized something was up. Although they did cast Severus a quick look in suspicion.

"Wait, where were you two?" Molly suddenly asked, looking at Filius and Pomona.

"We were searching for where the Troll got in, so we could make sure there weren't more of them, and so we could close it up." Filius said, motioning between himself and his colleague.

"I asked them to, while I investigated the noise, and the others were told to keep scouring the dungeons just in case." Minerva said, shrugging. "Severus and Quirrell were already on the third floor, checking on things with the Cerberus."

Molly nodded, satisfied. "And where was the Headmaster?" She asked, suspiciously. Where was he during all this?

"I don't remember." Minerva said after a moment of thinking, Dumbledore visibly deflated and looked even more concerned. Several dark looks were cast in his direction.

(Quirrell took one look... a toilet, clutching his heart.)

Sirius, Remus, and Moody looked disgusted. "He was the Defense Professor?" Moody growled, disgusted.

Everyone who was in class with Quirrell nodded that, yes. That was the Defense professor that year. "Believe it or not, but he's one of the better professor's we had." Harry said grimly. "Moony and the fake-Moody were tied for first place, obviously." Remus turned a slight red while everyone who sat in class with him nodded their agreement, even Draco.

"Fake-Moody?" Moody asked suspiciously.

Harry grimaced. "Should be the fourth book, if these go by year. As much as I hate to say it considering who he was, he was one of the best teachers we ever had." And wasn't that just sad? An unreadable look crossed Neville's face.

Moody glanced at Dumbledore, suspicious and honestly wishing they could just skip to the fourth book then and there.

(Snape bent over the troll... seen her look so angry.)

"I wouldn't say angry, more upset and worried." Remus whispered to Harry, leaning around Harry and Sirius to do so. "Very, very worried." Harry grimaced, but nodded. He felt bad for worrying her so much, but if he had to do all this again, he wouldn't change a thing.

He would still go after Hermione and fight that Troll for her.

"If I find out you went anywhere near another Troll..." Molly threatened, and left it hanging. Ron's eyes widened and he nodded quickly.

Ignoring the fact that he was seventeen now... He had a sudden thought. "Do hired security Trolls count in that threat?" He asked carefully. She glared at him suspiciously.

"What hired security Trolls?" She asked.

"There was a team of them guarding the Tower during third year." Hermione spoke up. She blinked, but finally relented that security Trolls would be alright, because they were trained.

Those who were there did not look at Sirius when he asked Moony what they would need to hire security Trolls for.

(Her lips were white... quickly from Harry's mind.)

"I should hope so." Minerva said primly, eyebrow raised. Severus sneered at the very thought.

"Be lucky we didn't take fifty or more from Gryffindor." He said bitingly. His magic had not been happy when he saw that his charge had been in danger and he wasn't nearby to protect him. That was the primary reason he'd gone running when he heard the noise, and didn't just let somebody else handle it.

The Trio winced, but didn't say anything. They had a point. A very good point.

("What on earth were you thinking of?")

"I was thinking that somebody was in danger, we were the only two that knew about it, and we didn't have time to tell anybody else." Harry answered the question, looking at the Professor defiantly.

The professor in question glared at him balefully. "I about had a heart attack, going into that bathroom only to see three of my first years, first years, surrounding an unconscious Troll." She snapped. She turned to the Trio. "If I see any of you three anywhere near a Troll at any point during your schooling..." She threatened, holding up her list and letter to her younger self warningly. The three looked at her with wide eyes and nodded quickly their agreement.

"I don't want to be anywhere near a Troll myself, Professor." Hermione said in a small voice. The other two boys nodded in agreement. They didn't want to be anywhere near it, either.

(said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice.)

"It was terror and worry, but as soon as I saw they were alright..." She trailed off while the other adults in the room nodded in understanding. They'd all been there before.

Initially, they were worried and terrified for the student in question. But, once they were alright, it didn't take long for anger at the student to take over. Anger that they had been so reckless as to put themselves in that position. Or, in some circumstances, anger at at the one who put them there, if it was the case that they were attacked or put in a position where they had no choice but to cooperate for some reason or other.

Something like that happened a surprising amount at Hogwarts. Especially with so many Pureblood children around who hated the Muggleborn for no other reason than the fact they were Muggleborn.

(Harry looked at Ron, who... you in your dormitory?")

"That's your first question? Not, 'what happened here, are you alright?'" Sirius asked, incredulous. Molly made a noise of indignant agreement.

"No wonder the students do not come to us, if they perceive that we do not care for their health as much as do whether or not they were where they were supposed to be and behaving themselves." Severus said lowly to the other teachers. They nodded in agreement.

Minerva sighed and put her head in her hands, shaking it. She was really starting to see how some of her actions could have been bad for the students. Especially the students confidence in the teaching staff.

(Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look.)

"I was wondering why he wasn't already boasting about his achievement. I was also making sure he was truly alright, because of my Oath." He said the last bit quieter, and a few had to strain to hear him. Minerva gasped slightly while everyone else looked confused.

She was the only one besides Dumbledore that had known he swore an Oath on his magic to protect Lily Potter's only son. For Harry to have been in danger and for Severus to have only arrived afterward... Albus himself looked at his Potions Master concerned.

He hadn't even taken into account how the test he had planned for the boy would affect Severus. His very magic would turn on him every time Harry was in danger and he wasn't nearby to help him. He should probably start thinking of another way... hopefully these books would provide the answer. He needed Severus intact, that and he put Severus in enough danger as it was. The students didn't even know that the days when Severus was in the worst of moods, was because he had spent the night gathering intel on the remaining Death Eaters and infiltrating pockets and different groups that could cause trouble.

Only Albus really knew the efforts Severus had gone to to keeping everybody safe.

(Harry looked at the floor... would put his wand down.)

A few people snorted while Ron turned a little red. He hadn't even realized he had it raised until they left the bathroom to go back to the Tower and Harry pushed his arm down.

(Then a small voice came... they were looking for me.")

"Well, you started out telling us the truth at least." Minerva said with a sigh.

Hermione blinked in shock. She lied to a teacher!? Was her older self insane? Why would she do that? And for two boys that had only been mean to her up to that point?

A few others blinked in shock at Hermione lying to a teacher, but she'd done worse over the years, so they dismissed it fairly easily.

("Miss Granger!")

"I hadn't even noticed her at this point." Minerva admitted. "I was more focused on the Troll lying in the middle of the room with the two boys standing around it. One of them still trying to wipe his wand off."

"She was kind of hidden where she was standing. Especially with the Troll grabbing your attention once you entered the room." Severus nodded in agreement. He wasn't going to admit that he had almost jumped in surprise when she made herself known. He made it a point of observing everything about a room once he entered.

Hermione blushed again, slightly embarrassed that she had startled her teachers on top of everything else.

(Hermione had managed to... I've read all about them.")

"What haven't you read all about?" Harry asked, teasing. She just stuck her tongue out at him, to his and Ron's amusement. The amount she read would always be a small source of teasing. And she knew it was just teasing, they had always been thankful for her reading habits, it helped them out of many spots when they didn't know something, but she did because she read all about it.

"What I want to know, is why you thought is necessary to lie in the first place. The only one that might get in trouble if you were to tell the truth would have been Ron, and that would be because it was his making fun of you that put you in that bathroom in the first place." Sirius said, giving a warning glance to the teachers to let them know that he was serious about that. He saw no reason for Harry and Hermione to be punished in this instance.

Hermione for obvious reasons, since she didn't even know about the Troll until it was right in front of her. And, while he did wish that Harry at least dragged a Prefect with him, he also accepted and understood Harry's reasoning in that there was no time. They had to get her out of the bathroom and be on their way before any chance of running into the Troll came up. He stood by what he said earlier in that the stop by the bathroom was only a quick detour down a different hallway. He made sure Harry knew this opinion of his, and he made sure Harry knew there would be consequences if something like this happened with him.

Hermione turned red at his question. "I didn't know what had happened from the time I got into the bathroom up to when the Troll appeared and they burst in to fight it a few moments later. For all I knew, the Troll had been loose all day and the students had been confined to the dorms while the students hunted for it. Which meant they would have snuck out after the fact." She said with a shrug. "I was covering my bases so they wouldn't get in trouble for saving me."

The teachers sighed. Of course.

(Ron dropped his wand... lie to a teacher?)

"I know, I couldn't believe it myself." Minerva said with a shrug. Hermione went pink.

("If they hadn't found me... his wand up its nose)

Ollivander scowled at the reminder while everyone else grimaced.

(and Ron knocked it out with its own club.)

The room erupted into more cheers while Bill and Charlie clapped their baby brother on the knee, since they couldn't reach his back to pat it in congratulations.

(They didn't have time to... off when they arrived.")

"Huh." Remus said, blinking.

"The only part of your explanation that was a lie was that you went looking for it." Sirius commented.

"Pretty good for someone who had no idea what had been happening outside the bathroom all day." Remus said, Hermione's pink face got darker while the teachers looked at the two in disapproval.

(Harry and Ron tried to... story wasn't new to them.)

"You failed, at that, by the way." Severus informed them dryly.

Both Ron and Harry turned a little red in embarrassment. Harry grumbled something about observant bats, Hermione whacked him upside the head, and Harry wondered why he wasn't pulling excuses out of nowhere like he usually did.

("Well - in that case..."... at the three of them,)

"I didn't believe you, by the way. I just decided to let it slide since I believed the attack to have been punishment enough for whatever really happened, which I now know." She glared lightly, but didn't say anything else. The boys winced slightly.

Sirius and Remus nodded in approval and agreement.

("Miss Granger, you foolish... mountain troll on your own?")

Minerva sighed. She now wished she hadn't decided to just go with it.

(Hermione hung her head... to get them out of trouble.)

Several people privately thought that it was a nice sentiment, even if it was unnecessary.

(It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.)

"Not going to happen." Severus sneered while the more immature readers snickered at the mental image. He glared at them all.

Although, most of the reason it wasn't going to happen was because when it came to sweets or coffee, he didn't share. It was his. That and, he wasn't the type to hand it out, even if he was so inclined.

("Miss Granger, five points... said Professor McGonagall.)

"That was for lying to a teacher." She said. Hermione winced, but nodded in acceptance.

("I'm very disappointed in... off to Gryffindor tower.)

"Wouldn't it have been better to send them to me, anyway Minerva? So I could make sure nothing was wrong?" Poppy asked, icily. Finally asking what she had been wanting to ask since they started the Troll attack part of the chapter.

Minerva looked at her, shocked. "That... was my first thought, to send them to you." She said slowly. "But I was so relieved that they were alright, I just sent them straight to the Common Room instead." She said, wincing. She should have sent them to Poppy. Her not doing so only reinforced the image that the teachers didn't care all that much for their personal health and safety so much as if they were behaving.

(Students are finishing the... win Gryffindor five points.)

"That was for managing to stay alive and handle it on their own. Although, I wish I could take points right now, you should have gone to a teacher. Or at least taken a Prefect with you." She grumbled the last part.

Sirius raised a hand. "I understand that you boys felt like there was no time, and I realize that you barely made it on time as it was, but you could have grabbed a Prefect and dragged them along behind, explaining as you went." He reminded them. Ron and Harry looked at each other, and grimaced. "And now the subject is closed. They know what they could have done differently, the younger ones now know to avoid situations like this one in future, lets move on." He said, honestly tired of hearing about it now that his pup was safe.

(Professor Dumbledore will be... from the smell of the troll,)

Ron snorted. "Of course, we didn't realize how much of its smell we carried with us until everyone in the Common Room forbade us from eating until after we showered, with some older years guarding the bathroom doors to make sure we really got rid of the smell."

"Yeah, and then the rest of us got to our dorm and realized just how filthy and smelly your clothes were and had to get the room aired out and freshening charms from the older years." Neville said with an eyeroll.

Hermione snorted. "At least those three didn't burn your robes and then send for replacements like Parvati and Lavender did." She reminded.

(quite apart from anything else... ten points," Ron grumbled.)

"Be more glad that you made it out alive." Molly snapped, glaring slightly at her son.

The teachers exchanged looks, wondering if maybe students didn't put too much stock into the point system. If a student was more worried over the fact that they got so few points, when they should have been celebrating the fact they were still alive and uninjured.

Minerva got a separate sheet of parchment out and marked it down.

("Five, you mean, once she's... "Mind you, we did save her.")

"She wouldn't have needed it if you hadn't said those things and then locked her in with the thing." Hermione snapped again. Ron raised his arms in surrender with wide eyes.

She just was not going to let that go, was she?

Hermione cleared her throat and gave her younger self a stern look, but she just looked away stubbornly. Ron put a hand on her arm in concern, and she just looked at him and shook her head with a small smile. She'd decided that the younger Ron would not be held responsible for anything his older self said and did in the books. She would chew the older one out all day long if she could though.

Hermione herself sent a glare Ron's way, and he grimaced while his father gave him a warning look of his own.

("She might not have needed... her," Harry reminded him.)

Hermione blinked, but didn't say anything. Although she had a pleased grin on her face. At least one of the boys acknowledged the mistake that was made.

"Which wouldn't have happened if you had paid more attention to your surroundings. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody suddenly made himself known, and the Trio jumped, reaching for their wands at the suddenness of it. Moody nodded in approval of their reactions.

(They had reached the portrait... they said and entered.)

"Another pig reference." Dudley grumbled. What was with that?" Harry blinked in his direction, but shrugged in the end. Dudley sighed and grabbed a couple of chocolate frogs to munch on for a bit. He was interested in expanding his new collection. Too bad he couldn't share these with the few friends he had, they were all Muggles like him, but unless one of them had a family member who was magical and wasn't telling him... (for obvious reasons).

Hmm... maybe he could drop a few hints that he knew about magic, see how they responded. If they clearly had no idea what he was talking, he could play it off as a joke.

(The common room was... that had been sent up.)

"And speculating on whether or not the teachers were alright and the Troll taken care of." Percy said.

"Or calming firsties down now that the noise had stopped and the fight was obviously over." Fred added, watching what his twin was doing while he tinkered with something.

(Hermione, however, stood alone... off to get plates.)

Hermione snorted. "We didn't get that far before being corralled to the showers." She informed the room. There were a few snickers.

"Or ambushed by siblings." Ron muttered. His brothers shrugged, unrepentant. Harry felt a familiar flash of jealousy, that he quickly squashed down, like always.

(But from that moment on... troll is one of them.)

"Yeah, that is one way to become the best of friends..." Sirius said blankly, regaining the lost and worried look at the mention of Harry earning a friend through fighting a Troll. Very, very worried. Especially at the mention of the Troll's size. And, of course, still crushing Harry to his side while Remus held Harry.

"Next time, Cub, find a safer way to make friends with somebody." Remus implored his younger cub. Who just nodded blankly, trying not to think of wrestling a troll. Absently, his hands moved and started drawing the scene.

"Shall we move on?" Severus asked after taking a breath.

Harry shook his head and struggled out of Sirius' hold. He pulled Sirius up with him and gave his younger self a look, and the boy followed as Harry gently led Sirius out of the room. They were going to get their godfather sorted out before anything else happened.

Everyone else waited until they were gone before they nodded in agreement that they should move on, and the book started again. Chapter 11, Quidditch.


*This has honestly always bugged me. When they're children, they do magic all the time without saying incantations, they want it to happen and it happens. But, then they go to Hogwarts and suddenly they need an incantation to do anything? As if words are what makes the magic happen? I hope that my explanation on why so much emphasis is put on incantations makes sense, it makes sense in my head, but sometimes explanations don't always transfer well on the page. (Hopefully, that made sense, too. Again, it made sense in my head).

And, I will admit to taking this general idea of the reason behind incantations from the Eragon series. That the incantation is simply a way of focusing your thoughts and therefore directing the magic how and where you want it to go.