FEATHERS AND TROLLS

Classes kept on going. Alex's first year at Hogwarts was great, and it was happening so fast. Hermione and her had become really good friends. Both girls used to visit the library to study together, and the courtyards to talk about everything. Her relationship with Draco was the same. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. She couldn't stand his friends. No one could. Except for him, apparently. With Neville things were better. Since she had returned to him the remembrall, he seemed to be less scared of her (for whatever reason it was…). She used to help him with the Potions homework, and protect him from Crabbe and Goyle whenever they felt like bullying the boy. They were also scared of her, and since she was Draco's family, they knew she was out of the table.

It was Halloween, and before the break and the feast at night, it was time for Charms class. The class was divided in six rows, three in front of three more. In the middle was a hallway full of books and papers and a desk. Professor Flitwick was very short, and in order to see the whole class, he was standing on a bunch of books. Alex was sitting in the front row, next to Hermione.

- One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation, the ability to make objects fly. Uh, do you all have your feathers? - Hermione raised hers while Alex nodded - Good. Now, uh, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practising, hmm? The swish and flick. Everyone.

- The swish and flick. - the whole class said at the same time while doing the movement with the wands.

- Good. And enunciate! Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest. - Alex wondered if she would end up levitating a student instead of the feather in front of her. - Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go then.

The whole class began to enunciate and did the movements on their feathers. There were some students enunciating the charm in the wrong way. Alex only took a couple tries, and with her third "Wingardium Leviosa" the feather started floating in the air.

- I made it!

- Well done, dear! Look! Miss Black has done it. - Professor Flitwick looked at her with pride and a smile on his face.

- Wingardium Levio-saaaa - Alex could hear Draco from across her.

- You're saying it wrong, Draco.

- No, I'm not.

- Then why is your feather not levitating? - Alex asked with irony. Draco rolled his eyes and kept on trying.

- Wingardium Leviosar! - Ron started waving his wand really fast numerous times. Hermione, who was next to him, stopped him.

- Stop, stop, stop. You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Levi-o-sa, not Leviosar. - she was just trying to help him out. However, Ron didn't seem to take it well.

- You do it then if you're so clever. Go on, go on. - with that, Hermione straightened up and swished her wand.

- Wingardium Leviosa. - just like Alex, Hermione's feather lifted up.

- Oh, well done! See here, everyone! Ms. Granger's done it as well! Oh, splendid! You two look very promising, ladies. - Hermione and Alex looked at each other with a grin on their faces. Ron put his head on his books dejectedly.

- Wingard Levosa. Wingard Levosa. - Seamus Finnegan began to say as he swished his wand. Suddenly, an almighty explosion flashed. Everyone turned to the source of the explosion, and there he was. Seamus was charred, and so was his feather.

- I think we're going to need another feather over here, Professor. - said Harry, who was sitting next to Seamus. Alex couldn't help but laugh.

Once the class came to an end, all of the students gathered their things to move to the next one. Alex and Hermione were walking through a courtyard, with other students all around. Neville, Harry, Seamus and Ron were walking in front of them.

- It's Levioooosa, not Leviosaaaar. - both girls heard how Ron was clearly mimicking Hermione. Alex looked at her, worried for her friend. She was quiet. - She's a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn't got any friends!

With that, Hermione rushed past Ron, hugging her books and sniffling in tears.

- Hermione! - Alex started to rush behind her friend.

- I think she heard you - Harry told Ron.

- Of course she heard you, we both did! What's your problem? She was just trying to help you out! - before Ron or any of the other boys could say anything, Alex lightly pushed Ron - And by the way, she does have friends.

Alex kept on walking, leaving the boys behind, and tried to catch Hermione. Lucky for them, Charms had been the last class of the day. She followed Hermione's silhouette around the halls, until she arrived at the girl's bathroom. Before she could catch her friend, she locked herself in one of the stalls.

- Hermione…Open up, c'mon. - Alex knocked on the stall's door, but got no answer. All she could hear was Hermione sobbing. She left her things on the ground, along with Hermione's. - He is just a stupid boy. You shouldn't care about what he says…

- You don't understand…It's always been like that… - Hermione started talking between sobs.

- What do you mean?

- At school, before Hogwarts…I've never had friends. Not really. They always said things like what Ronald said. No one likes me…

- I do like you…You're my friend, Hermione. And I think you are super smart. And funny too.

- So are you…

- He was just mad because you managed to get the spell right and he didn't. You hurt his ego in front of his friends. Boys are stupid like that.

- Are they?

- Yeah! One day, Draco and I were playing football. I scored a goal. And then another one. And another one. And he didn't score a single one. - Alex laughed at the memory - He grabbed the ball, punctured it with a knife, and stopped talking to me for a whole week.

- Ha ha ha, that's ridiculous

- I know, right?

- Thank you, Alex. I still need some time, but you cheered me up a little bit.

- You're welcome, Hermione. Take your time. I'll be waiting here, when you're ready.

And so, both girls stayed in the girl's bathroom. Some other students walked in and wondered about Hermione. But she still refused to leave her stall. It was already dinner time. Alex could smell it from there. She was hungry, but she didn't want to leave Hermione behind.

- Hermione?

- Yes?

- Don't you smell that? The feast has begun! I'm sure there's a lot of delicious food all around, since it is Halloween. We should get going, before all the good stuff is gone.

- You are right…give me a second…

Alex was standing up and looking at the stall where Hermione was wiping her tears. She didn't see what came through the door…Only when Hermione walked out of the stall and both girls turned to the exit, they saw. A giant, green monster. A troll. And he had a club on his hands. They didn't have time to grab their wands before the troll attacked. Both girls backed up into the stall. The troll smashed the top part of the stalls and both Alex and Hermione screamed. Suddenly, they heard Harry talk.

- Hermione, Alex, move!

They tried to slither between the stalls, but the troll kept on smashing them. They barely managed to get out. Hermione hid under the sinks, but before Alex could do the same, the troll attacked them again. Alex jumped back, and the troll almost hit Hermione. Harry got out his wand and grabbed the troll's club, landing on his head. As the troll tried to get rid of him, Harry's wand ended up inside the troll's nose. The other three kids were disgusted by it. Now, it was Harry the one in danger, as the troll grabbed him by his feet and tried to hit him with the cub.

- Ron, do something!

- What?

- Anything! Hurry up! - Ron looked lost while Harry was trying to avoid the troll's cub. Alex was trying to pass by the troll to get her wand. Meanwhile, Hermione looked at Ron and said:

- Swish and flick!

- Wingardium Leviosa! - Ron managed to say the spell the right way. Suddenly, the troll's cub was lifted out from its hand and hovered above its head. The troll looked up, confused, just as the club came crashing back down. - Cool.

It hit the troll's head so hard that the troll wavered and dropped Harry, who crawled away, and slowly came crashing down, knocking him out. Hermione and Alex approached carefully.

- Is it…dead? - asked Hermione.

- I don't think so. Just knocked out. - Harry grabbed his wand, which was covered in mucus.

- Ew. Troll bogies. - said Alex with a face of disgust.

Harry wiped his wand on his robes. Suddenly, McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell came rushing in. They all gasped at the knocked-out troll.

- Oh! Oh, my goodness! E-Explain yourselves, all of you! McGonagall was clearly mad at all of them.

- Well, what it is… - Alex, Harry and Ron started to talk at the same time, trying to explain what had happened.

- It's my fault, Professor McGonagall. - The teachers, Alex, Ron and Harry look at Hermione.

- Miss Granger?

- I went looking for the troll. I'd read about them and thought I could handle it. But I was wrong. If Alex, Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me…I'd probably be dead.

- Be that as it may be…it was an extremely foolish thing to do. I would have expected more rational behaviour on your part, Miss Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgement. - Alex was impressed by Hermione. She had taken full blame for what just happened. - As for you three, gentlemen and lady, just hope you realise how fortunate you are. Not many students could take on a fully-grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points…will be awarded to each of you. For sheer dumb luck. - they all looked at each other grinning. They all had won points for their houses. Gryffindor would have 10 points, yeah, but since they had lost 5, it was an even win for both the Gryffindors and the Slytherin.

Snape and McGonagall left the bathroom, but professor Quirrell stayed behind.

- Perhaps you ought to go…M-might wake up…heh. - he had a stutter when he spoke and a turban around his head. The four students left the bathroom and the professor behind as they started walking towards their common rooms.

- Good for you to get us out of trouble like that. - Harry said to Hermione.

- Mind you, I mean, we did save her life. Well, their lives - Said Ron looking at both Alex and Hermione.

- Mind you, we didn't need saving if you hadn't insulted Hermione. - answer Alex with some anger in her voice, as they all looked at each other.

- What are friends for? - said Ron extending his hand towards Hermione, who grabbed it with a smile. Then he turned to Alex. - Sorry about everything. - Alex shook his hand as well.

- Well, we should all be heading back to our dorms… See you tomorrow, guys!

With that, Alex said goodbye to the Gryffindor trio, and headed towards the Slytherin common room. When she arrived, everyone was chattering about the troll. Draco saw her arrive and went to her.

- Alex! - the boy hugged her. He was clearly worried. - Where the hell were you? Didn't you hear? There's a troll on the loose!

- Sorry, yeah, I know…I saw it - Draco's face turned completely pale as she said that.

- Are you okay?

- Yeah, I was with Hermione in the girl's bathroom when it suddenly showed up. Lucky us, Harry and Ron came to the rescue. They managed to leave the damn troll unconscious.

- Potter and Weasley? They left the troll unconscious? Hard to believe…

- Well, believe it or not, I'm here thanks to them. The teachers wouldn't have arrived on time.

- …I'm glad you're okay… - he looked worried and relieved at the same time.

- Thanks… - Alex suddenly remembered the Halloween feast that she had just missed. - No! I missed the feast! - she facepalmed herself.

- Lucky you, I grabbed something in case you actually missed it - he got some napkins out of his cloak. Inside, there was a waffle and some candies. Alex looked at it with sparkling eyes.

- Oh my god! Thank you, Draco! - she grabbed the food and hugged her dear friend.

- It's okay - he said grinning - I knew you'd like it.

They both sat by the fireplace. Alex started eating as Draco looked at her with a smile on his face. He was lucky to have her. And he was happy that she was okay. He wouldn't say thank you to Potter and Weasley, but deep down, he was grateful. The rest of the students kept on talking about the events, until the prefects sent everyone to sleep. It was late, and they all needed some rest. That night, Alex dreamt with trolls and waffles.