Chapter Seven
"What do they think they're doing?" Ron cried in shock, "keeping that thing in Hogwarts, that's stupid!"
"You didn't see it did you?" Hermione cut in. The rest of us watched the scene with interest. "You didn't see what it was standing on?"
"No, I think I was a bit preoccupied with its heads," Ron protested sarcastically.
"It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."
Harry looked as if he suddenly remembered something.
"But, Ron, wait. When Hagrid took me to get school supplies and we went to Gringotts, he said that Gringotts was the best place if you wanted to keep something safe, except perhaps Hogwarts. And then he got that 'thing' from vault whatever and said not to mention anything about it. I bet that's what the monster is guarding. It's keeping it safe."
"From what though?" Mike interrupted, mischievously. Obviously, he knew what was going to happen. I cleared my throat loudly, looking significantly at him. Mike got the picture and shut up.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. Then he yawned. "I'm going to bed."
"And we have to finish this part of our project." I said, tossing the book onto the table. Sara and Mell sat down rather limply. I checked my watch. It was 12:03.
"Come on, you guys. If we get started now, it won't take long."
We did try to work fast, but one of us kept dozing off. Eventually, I had to get my Charms book and figure out how to squirt water at them (and myself) from my wand. Harry and Ron had gone off to bed. Hermione sat in front of the fire, staring into the flickering flames. I stared at her for a moment. She was obviously in deep thought.
Mike had fallen asleep on the couch. Well, at least he didn't snore. I poked him with my wand.
"Hey, go to bed. You fell asleep." He rubbed his eyes, looked at me for a second, and then turned over, going back to sleep again. I gave up and he slept there the whole night. I trudged back to the table.
"I just have t-t-t-to write," I gave a big yawn. "I have to write this and then we're done."
I got no answer. They were folded over on the table, their heads on the arms. I wrote something, I don't even remember what I wrote, and then put my head down too. But I couldn't help thinking as I drifted off, that things were about to get interesting.
I woke with my transfigurations book stuck to my face. I squinted in the sunlight that flooded the room and looked around. Mike was hunched over on the couch with one arm hanging off, dragging on the floor. Hermione must have gone up to bed. Sara and Mell were still asleep, Mell with her face in her arms and Sara must have fallen off the chair, for she was curled up like a cat on the carpet. I could hardly wait for the day to start. The mystery of the Sorcerer's Stone had begun.
Halloween had come. It was the end of October and brisk outside. The festivities began that morning at breakfast when we got pumpkin shaped waffles. Classes went slow. After Potions, Ron came out in a bad mood again; Hermione had aced the potions quiz.
"You know," he said, "I bet that's all she does, get good grades. I'll bet she's noticed she hasn't got any friends."
Someone ran past him up the corridor with bushy hair.
"I think she heard you, Ron." Harry looked after her.
Ron didn't say anything, but as I gazed at him, he looked rather uncomfortable this time.
Finally, the Halloween feast began. Oh, man, I had never seen so much candy in a one place in my entire life and everyone had their favorites on their plates. I wondered how they found out that one. Sara sat down gleefully at her seat and licked her lips at the huge pile of Snickers.
"Isn't that muggle candy?" I asked.
"Well, they had to make an exception for Halloween, Ann. I couldn't go through a Halloween without Snickers." I giggled and looked over at Mell's plate. There were tons of different kinds of candy. I nodded agreeing with her pile.
I looked down the row and saw Harry and Ron digging into their piles, hungrily. I noticed something.
"Hey Harry! Where's Hermione?"
He shrugged, a Chocolate Frog hanging from his mouth. He slurped it up, laughing, and then said, "I haven't seen her since Potions."
Neville spoke up. "Parvati Patil said Hermione's been in the bathroom all day, crying."
I saw Ron and Harry look uncertainly at each other. Good, I thought, they deserve their guilt for what they did. I turned back to my plate, which, in turn, was covered in some muggle candy and some wizard candy.
All of a sudden, a shrieking voice came from the entrance hall, coming into the Great Hall. It was Quirrel.
"TROLL!" he yelled, "Troll in the dungeons!" There was a pause, then, "Thought you ought to know." He dropped to the floor in a faint. There was a panic. Even us, who knew what was going to happen, freaked out. Everyone was screaming and running over each other to get out. It took quite a few explosions from Dumbledore's wand to restore order. Everyone quieted.
"Now, everyone, calmly follow your house prefects to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."
Everyone was silent, but hurried to get out. I ran over to Harry and Ron.
"Harry! Hermione!" He turned to me, looking quizzical.
"She's still in the bathroom." He groaned, then dragged Ron and me away from Percy and the other Gryffindors. I grabbed Sara, Mell and Mike.
"Come on, we're helping them get Hermione!" I looked excited at them and they realized what we were about to do. Trying to keep quiet, they followed.
We passed through the crowd to the second corridor. I guessed she would be in the one near Defense Against the Dark Arts room. We were about to run there, when I smelt an awful stench coming from around the corner. Now, you can't exactly know what it's like, reading about a huge mountain troll, when you can't really smell it and you can't really see it with its huge waving arms and little head, carrying its big club. It was awful. We watched it in horror, stuck to the floor behind the statue where we were hiding. The troll went through a door on the right.
"That's the girls' bathroom!" I hissed. Slowly, we crept out from our hiding place, watching the door with both eyes, making sure the troll wouldn't suddenly come out and get us. There was a scream.
"Hermione's in this one!" Sara hissed at Harry and Ron. She raised her eyebrows and bit her lip to keep from shrieking from excitement.
"Come on," Harry said. I gripped my wand. Ron opened the door and found Hermione hiding under the sinks. The troll had already ambushed the stalls, tossing bits and pieces of wood around and swinging his club dangerously close to Hermione's head. Ron ran and picked up a fragment of wood.
"Oy! Pea-brain!" he threw the wood at him. The troll didn't even notice it. The stench was even more horrible in here. I looked around to find my friends. Mell was behind me, looking up at the hulk of the troll. Sara had pinched her nose and had backed away towards the wall where Mike was staring blankly up at the monster. Harry stood next to me, yelling.
"Hermione move!" he swung his arm to bring her over. She crawled under the sinks, looking up at the monster, horrified. Ron was still trying to throw stuff at the troll. It wasn't working. The troll was still looking for Hermione. Ron stuck his foot out as the troll stepped over towards us. I gasped as it tripped making the walls shake, but it didn't fall, instead it found Ron and hit him over the head with his arm, making him fall to the ground.
Sara grabbed hold of Mell's arm and ran for it. They jumped on the back of the troll, punching and kicking.
"Stupid troll! You can't do that to Ron!" they screamed. Mell was hurled onto his shoulders and her wand was stuck up his nose. The pieces of the stalls Harry, Mike and I were throwing at him didn't have the least effect. But of course he noticed when the little piece of wood was thrown up his nose.
"Ron! Do something!" Harry yelled, still throwing and staring desperately at my friends. Ron had gotten up dizzily.
"What?"
"Anything!" I yelled at him. He raised his wand and said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" the troll's club raised above the troll and then fell with a sickening crack on its head. The troll wavered and stumbled. I gasped because Mell and Sara were still on top of him. Mike raised his wand and yelled, "Accio Mell!" I looked at him in amazement; can you do that with people? Obviously, because Mell flew through the air and was caught by Mike. He put her down rather quickly.
"Rock that!" Mell yelled, grinning at the troll.
I laughed, then, "Accio Sara!" Sara flew from the troll's leaning back and crashed onto me. I collapsed to the floor and Sara rolled onto her knees and jumped back up. Hermione was hidden, terrified under the sinks. The troll finally fell and landed in a heap amid the flying of dust that followed. Ron still had his wand in the air. There was a silence as the dust settled. Then hurried footsteps sounded in the hall.
"Excuse-oh my!"
It was Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape and Quirrel. I swallowed, we all glanced at Ron, wishing he would put his wand down.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Wel-um-
"Yes?"
"It was my fault, Professor." Hermione got up from the rubble. "I went off to find the troll because I thought I could beat it, you know, because I've read all about them. And they came and rescued me."
We tried to look convincing; Ron and Harry were glancing at Hermione in shock. I slowly stood back up. Professor McGonagall looked at each of us.
"Well, I cannot deny that your intentions were well meant, but that does not cover it. Miss Granger, how could you be so ignorant? Taking a mountain troll by yourself, that's scandalous! As for the rest of you, as I said before, it was well meant, so I suppose that five points will be awarded to Gryffindor," she looked at us again, "for sheer dumb luck."
I grimaced, but followed them to the common room. As I walked I noticed Snape's pant leg was ripped and bloody. There was a foot long cut down his leg. I glanced at Harry; he saw it too. We caught each other's eyes with questioning looks. Snape caught us looking and covered his pants quickly with his robe.
When we stepped into the common room, we collapsed onto the welcoming armchairs.
I turned back to Harry, Ron and Hermione. They were shaking hands. I exhaled in relief. Yeah, we were all friends now. One big group. It felt really good.
"What do they think they're doing?" Ron cried in shock, "keeping that thing in Hogwarts, that's stupid!"
"You didn't see it did you?" Hermione cut in. The rest of us watched the scene with interest. "You didn't see what it was standing on?"
"No, I think I was a bit preoccupied with its heads," Ron protested sarcastically.
"It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."
Harry looked as if he suddenly remembered something.
"But, Ron, wait. When Hagrid took me to get school supplies and we went to Gringotts, he said that Gringotts was the best place if you wanted to keep something safe, except perhaps Hogwarts. And then he got that 'thing' from vault whatever and said not to mention anything about it. I bet that's what the monster is guarding. It's keeping it safe."
"From what though?" Mike interrupted, mischievously. Obviously, he knew what was going to happen. I cleared my throat loudly, looking significantly at him. Mike got the picture and shut up.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. Then he yawned. "I'm going to bed."
"And we have to finish this part of our project." I said, tossing the book onto the table. Sara and Mell sat down rather limply. I checked my watch. It was 12:03.
"Come on, you guys. If we get started now, it won't take long."
We did try to work fast, but one of us kept dozing off. Eventually, I had to get my Charms book and figure out how to squirt water at them (and myself) from my wand. Harry and Ron had gone off to bed. Hermione sat in front of the fire, staring into the flickering flames. I stared at her for a moment. She was obviously in deep thought.
Mike had fallen asleep on the couch. Well, at least he didn't snore. I poked him with my wand.
"Hey, go to bed. You fell asleep." He rubbed his eyes, looked at me for a second, and then turned over, going back to sleep again. I gave up and he slept there the whole night. I trudged back to the table.
"I just have t-t-t-to write," I gave a big yawn. "I have to write this and then we're done."
I got no answer. They were folded over on the table, their heads on the arms. I wrote something, I don't even remember what I wrote, and then put my head down too. But I couldn't help thinking as I drifted off, that things were about to get interesting.
I woke with my transfigurations book stuck to my face. I squinted in the sunlight that flooded the room and looked around. Mike was hunched over on the couch with one arm hanging off, dragging on the floor. Hermione must have gone up to bed. Sara and Mell were still asleep, Mell with her face in her arms and Sara must have fallen off the chair, for she was curled up like a cat on the carpet. I could hardly wait for the day to start. The mystery of the Sorcerer's Stone had begun.
Halloween had come. It was the end of October and brisk outside. The festivities began that morning at breakfast when we got pumpkin shaped waffles. Classes went slow. After Potions, Ron came out in a bad mood again; Hermione had aced the potions quiz.
"You know," he said, "I bet that's all she does, get good grades. I'll bet she's noticed she hasn't got any friends."
Someone ran past him up the corridor with bushy hair.
"I think she heard you, Ron." Harry looked after her.
Ron didn't say anything, but as I gazed at him, he looked rather uncomfortable this time.
Finally, the Halloween feast began. Oh, man, I had never seen so much candy in a one place in my entire life and everyone had their favorites on their plates. I wondered how they found out that one. Sara sat down gleefully at her seat and licked her lips at the huge pile of Snickers.
"Isn't that muggle candy?" I asked.
"Well, they had to make an exception for Halloween, Ann. I couldn't go through a Halloween without Snickers." I giggled and looked over at Mell's plate. There were tons of different kinds of candy. I nodded agreeing with her pile.
I looked down the row and saw Harry and Ron digging into their piles, hungrily. I noticed something.
"Hey Harry! Where's Hermione?"
He shrugged, a Chocolate Frog hanging from his mouth. He slurped it up, laughing, and then said, "I haven't seen her since Potions."
Neville spoke up. "Parvati Patil said Hermione's been in the bathroom all day, crying."
I saw Ron and Harry look uncertainly at each other. Good, I thought, they deserve their guilt for what they did. I turned back to my plate, which, in turn, was covered in some muggle candy and some wizard candy.
All of a sudden, a shrieking voice came from the entrance hall, coming into the Great Hall. It was Quirrel.
"TROLL!" he yelled, "Troll in the dungeons!" There was a pause, then, "Thought you ought to know." He dropped to the floor in a faint. There was a panic. Even us, who knew what was going to happen, freaked out. Everyone was screaming and running over each other to get out. It took quite a few explosions from Dumbledore's wand to restore order. Everyone quieted.
"Now, everyone, calmly follow your house prefects to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."
Everyone was silent, but hurried to get out. I ran over to Harry and Ron.
"Harry! Hermione!" He turned to me, looking quizzical.
"She's still in the bathroom." He groaned, then dragged Ron and me away from Percy and the other Gryffindors. I grabbed Sara, Mell and Mike.
"Come on, we're helping them get Hermione!" I looked excited at them and they realized what we were about to do. Trying to keep quiet, they followed.
We passed through the crowd to the second corridor. I guessed she would be in the one near Defense Against the Dark Arts room. We were about to run there, when I smelt an awful stench coming from around the corner. Now, you can't exactly know what it's like, reading about a huge mountain troll, when you can't really smell it and you can't really see it with its huge waving arms and little head, carrying its big club. It was awful. We watched it in horror, stuck to the floor behind the statue where we were hiding. The troll went through a door on the right.
"That's the girls' bathroom!" I hissed. Slowly, we crept out from our hiding place, watching the door with both eyes, making sure the troll wouldn't suddenly come out and get us. There was a scream.
"Hermione's in this one!" Sara hissed at Harry and Ron. She raised her eyebrows and bit her lip to keep from shrieking from excitement.
"Come on," Harry said. I gripped my wand. Ron opened the door and found Hermione hiding under the sinks. The troll had already ambushed the stalls, tossing bits and pieces of wood around and swinging his club dangerously close to Hermione's head. Ron ran and picked up a fragment of wood.
"Oy! Pea-brain!" he threw the wood at him. The troll didn't even notice it. The stench was even more horrible in here. I looked around to find my friends. Mell was behind me, looking up at the hulk of the troll. Sara had pinched her nose and had backed away towards the wall where Mike was staring blankly up at the monster. Harry stood next to me, yelling.
"Hermione move!" he swung his arm to bring her over. She crawled under the sinks, looking up at the monster, horrified. Ron was still trying to throw stuff at the troll. It wasn't working. The troll was still looking for Hermione. Ron stuck his foot out as the troll stepped over towards us. I gasped as it tripped making the walls shake, but it didn't fall, instead it found Ron and hit him over the head with his arm, making him fall to the ground.
Sara grabbed hold of Mell's arm and ran for it. They jumped on the back of the troll, punching and kicking.
"Stupid troll! You can't do that to Ron!" they screamed. Mell was hurled onto his shoulders and her wand was stuck up his nose. The pieces of the stalls Harry, Mike and I were throwing at him didn't have the least effect. But of course he noticed when the little piece of wood was thrown up his nose.
"Ron! Do something!" Harry yelled, still throwing and staring desperately at my friends. Ron had gotten up dizzily.
"What?"
"Anything!" I yelled at him. He raised his wand and said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" the troll's club raised above the troll and then fell with a sickening crack on its head. The troll wavered and stumbled. I gasped because Mell and Sara were still on top of him. Mike raised his wand and yelled, "Accio Mell!" I looked at him in amazement; can you do that with people? Obviously, because Mell flew through the air and was caught by Mike. He put her down rather quickly.
"Rock that!" Mell yelled, grinning at the troll.
I laughed, then, "Accio Sara!" Sara flew from the troll's leaning back and crashed onto me. I collapsed to the floor and Sara rolled onto her knees and jumped back up. Hermione was hidden, terrified under the sinks. The troll finally fell and landed in a heap amid the flying of dust that followed. Ron still had his wand in the air. There was a silence as the dust settled. Then hurried footsteps sounded in the hall.
"Excuse-oh my!"
It was Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape and Quirrel. I swallowed, we all glanced at Ron, wishing he would put his wand down.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Wel-um-
"Yes?"
"It was my fault, Professor." Hermione got up from the rubble. "I went off to find the troll because I thought I could beat it, you know, because I've read all about them. And they came and rescued me."
We tried to look convincing; Ron and Harry were glancing at Hermione in shock. I slowly stood back up. Professor McGonagall looked at each of us.
"Well, I cannot deny that your intentions were well meant, but that does not cover it. Miss Granger, how could you be so ignorant? Taking a mountain troll by yourself, that's scandalous! As for the rest of you, as I said before, it was well meant, so I suppose that five points will be awarded to Gryffindor," she looked at us again, "for sheer dumb luck."
I grimaced, but followed them to the common room. As I walked I noticed Snape's pant leg was ripped and bloody. There was a foot long cut down his leg. I glanced at Harry; he saw it too. We caught each other's eyes with questioning looks. Snape caught us looking and covered his pants quickly with his robe.
When we stepped into the common room, we collapsed onto the welcoming armchairs.
I turned back to Harry, Ron and Hermione. They were shaking hands. I exhaled in relief. Yeah, we were all friends now. One big group. It felt really good.