Disclaimer: Not mine, I only own the plot of this fanfic and Carya, some parts are copied from the book, you might notice that some people got into different houses than in the books by JKR; this has only minor reasons, but I need them to be where they are now ^_^
Author's Notes: What do you think of the spacing in this story? Is it comfortable enough to read like this? It's also nice to know that someone actually reads this AND likes it too. That makes me really happy. At this point I again want to thank everyone who took his or her time to review my story.
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Chapter 07 - Halloween
The weeks flew by and soon it was October. School was still easy for the twins and their three friends because they spent many hours in the library doing research and homework. Harry and Draco were practising quidditch but since they weren't allowed to have their own brooms they had to use school brooms.
The girls sometimes watched or tried to learn some of the more difficult hexes or curses from Carya's book. They didn't know that they might need those spells in the near future. It happened on Halloween. Ron had been his usual bastard self and humiliated Hermione in one of their shared classes.
She didn't turn up for diner in the Great Hall and because of that missed Professor Quirrell storming into the hall and screaming. "Troll -- in the dungeons -- thought you ought to know."
And then he sank to the floor in a dead faint. There was an uproar. It took several purple Firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
The Slytherin prefect Marcus Flint was in his element just like Percy Weasley from Gryffindor. "Follow me! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Get out of my way, I'm a prefect!"
"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.
"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ginny.
"Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke," said Draco to hide his nervousness.
They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Draco's arm.
"I've just thought -- Hermione."
"What about her?" asked Draco.
Harry looked worried and Carya understood. "She doesn't know about the troll and I highly doubt that the Ravenclaws would try and look for her. They would never break the rules like that," she said.
Draco bit his lip. "Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Flint's better not to see us."
Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.
"Flint!" hissed Draco, pulling the others behind a large stone griffin.
Peering around it, however, they saw not Flint but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.
"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"
The others shrugged. Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.
"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Carya held up her hand. "Can you smell something, too?"
Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. And then they heard it -- a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Draco pointed -- at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward the girls bathroom.
They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight. It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet.
The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long. The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.
They heard someone scream – it was Hermione. They quickly considered their chances against a fully grown troll - they were four, five if you counted Hermione in but she might be too terrified right now. Then they ran into the toilet. The troll had started to crush the cabins.
Harry and Ginny shouted curse words at the troll to get his attention when Draco shouted:
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The creatures club floated in the air above its head and stayed there.
"Stupefy!" said Carya and the troll fell to the floor stunned.
As soon as they were sure the troll was out cold Harry ran over to Hermione, hugged her close and tried to calm and comfort her. It was pretty obvious that he liked her very much.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the five of them look up. They hadn't realised what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. Harry got up and stood besides his sister, just in case. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear.
Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Draco, Ginny, Hermione, Carya and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice.
Harry looked at Carya, who was still standing with her wand in hand.
"You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory? You will all receive det- ... "
She got no further because Snape spoke. "Let me deal with them Minerva. They are students from my house after all!" Snape threw in suddenly. His voice was cold and made the kids shiver slightly.
Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Carya would put her wand down. Then a small voice came out of the shadows.
"Please, Professor Snape -- they were looking for me and tried to warn me about the troll because I hadn't been at the feast.."
"And why weren't you at the feast, Miss Granger?" he asked curious.
Hermione suddenly looked very uncomfortable and decided to overhear the question. Instead she tried to help the others.
"Professor, if they hadn't found me I'd be dead now. Harry and Ginny distracted the troll while Draco disarmed and Carya stunned it then. They didn't have enough time to fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
"Well -- in that case..." said Professor Snape, staring at his four Slytherins, "Miss Granger, you are lucky to have these four as your friends! Well, I too think you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken out a fully-grown mountain troll. However, you each win Slytherin ten points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Slytherin dungeon or in your case the Ravenclaw common room, Miss Granger. Students are finishing the feast in their houses. You may go."
They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they were near their dungeon. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else. They had reached the portrait of the Salazar Slytherin. "Pureblood," they said and entered.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. No one noticed them coming in and they settled down in a corner to discuss the evening. Carya and Draco were quietly discussing their battle with the troll, Ginny still looked a bit shaken and Harry - Harry just hoped that Hermione was alright and now safe in her own common room.
Finally it was November and the Quidditch season would soon begin. The first match would be Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Draco and Harry were already plotting and scheming for some tricks they could pull off on the opposite team without being noticed. Their team almost always tried and cheated but this time they probably wouldn't need those tricks.
Gryffindor hadn't found a decent replacement for their seeker and because of that their reserve beater would take that position. Slytherin would surely win. They were already leading in the house championship because of Harry's and Carya's good marks (Not that anyone would admit that but it's the truth *grin*).
Harry and Draco enjoyed quidditch practise while Ginny, Carya and Hermione preferred to stay in the library studying. They weren't that interested in Quidditch and would only watch if there might be a chance that Harry or Draco would play (which was very unlikely since most of the times Slytherin beat up the other teams).
Ginny was doing her potions essay and Hermione rewrote her History of Magic essay the second time while Carya desperately tried to learn some new hexes and curses she had found in a non-restricted book on that topic (A/N: I think I don't need to mention that there are only few non-restricted books about that in Hogwarts, do I?).
When Hermione was finished with her essay she returned to her search about Nicolas Flamel whose name Hagrid had let slip a while ago. She hadn't found anything so far. But she also knew that she and Carya had seen or read the name somewhere before. Hermione just couldn't remember where that had been.
The week flew by and soon it was Saturday. The first Quidditch match of the season. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Although Hermione was a Ravenclaw she stood with Ginny, Carya and the other Slytherins (her own house doesn't like her that much because of her friendship with the Potter twins, Draco and Ginny).
In the Slytherin changing room the captain, Marcus Flint, was shouting at his team and basically telling them: Get out, win the game or die trying! They knew this was his style to tell them to do their best.
"Mount your brooms, please." Came Madam Hooch's voice from the outside.
Harry and Draco watched the others fly onto the field. They were waiting with all other reserve players just in case someone got injured and couldn't continue playing. Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.
"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor -- what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too --"
"JORDAN!"
"Sorry, Professor." Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor third year, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.
"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve -- back to Johnson and -- no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes -- Flint flying like an eagle up there -- he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle -- that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and -- OUCH -- that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger.
Quaffle taken by the Slytherins -- that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger -- sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which -- nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes -- she's really flying -- dodges a speeding Bludger -- the goal posts are ahead -- come on, now, Angelina -- Keeper Bletchley dives -- misses -- GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"
Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins. This went back and forth for about an hour. Soon it was 180 - 150 for Gryffindor. Suddenly the two seekers flew past their team mates at full speed. It seemed that they had spotted the snitch.
But then it happened. One of the Weasley twins send a bludger in Terence Higgs's way (he is the Slytherin seeker). Not only got the Slytherin hit, Fred Weasley endangered his own team mate. This got Fred a severe berating from his own team-captain, Oliver Wood. Higgs fell off his broom and crashed into the ground.
Madam Hooch stopped the game and Higgs who was unconscious and had his right arm broken in what seemed more than one place was brought to the infirmary. Harry and Draco hoped he would be alright. Neither of them realised what this meant for the rest of the game.
But then Flint yelled:" Potter, get your ass onto a broom! You're playing!"
Draco congratulated Harry who suddenly was very nervous. Soon the game continued and Harry's nervousness faded. He enjoyed the game and went looking for the snitch. It was as Harry dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past his head, that it happened. His broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a split second, he thought he was going to fall.
He gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and knees. He'd never felt anything like that. It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off. But brooms did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Harry tried to turn back toward the Slytherin goal- posts -- he had half a mind to ask Flint to call time-out -- and then he realised that his broom was completely out of his control.
He couldn't turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air, and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated him. Lee was still commentating.
"Slytherin in possession -- Flint with the Quaffle -- passes Spinnet -- passes Bell -- hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose -- only joking, Professor -- Slytherins score -- A no..."
The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying- him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.
"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hermione mumbled.
She stared through Hagrid's binoculars. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom... but he can't have...."
Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.
"Did something happen to it when they blocked him?" Ginny whispered.
"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic -- no kid could do that to a broom."
At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars once again, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.
"What are you doing?" moaned Ginny, gray-faced.
"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "It's Quirrell -- look."
Carya grabbed the binoculars. Quirrell was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry. Besides him stood Snape and was muttering non-stop under his breath.
"He's doing something -- jinxing the broom," said Hermione.
"And Snape's trying to help," added Carya in a thoughtful and bewildered voice.
"What should we do?" asked Ginny timidly.
"Leave it to me," answered Carya.
Before Ginny or Hermione could say another word, Carya had disappeared. Ginny turned the binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the Slytherins flew up to try and pull Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good -- every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still.
They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. Alicia Spinnet seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.
"Come on, Carya," Ginny muttered desperately.
Carya had fought her way across to the stand where Snape and Quirrell stood, and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Flitwick headfirst into the row in front. Reaching them, she crouched down, pulled out her wand, and whispered a few, well-chosen words.
"Frigesco!" Carya whispered.
Quirrell froze. Carya had cast a temporary freezing charm on him. It would only last for about thirty seconds but that had to be enough. And it was. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom.
But Quirrell had noticed and seen her. He gave her a murderous look. She was really frightened for a moment and quickly hurried back to her friends. Ginny and Hermione were glad that nothing bad had happened.
"You should have seen that look Quirrell gave me. He knows. It was like hell freezing over. I was actually scared for a few seconds, can you imagine that?" Carya said and the two girls just looked at her with their mouths hanging open.
"Hey look, Harry has seen something!" shouted Ginny all of a sudden.
Harry was speeding toward the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick -- he hit the field on all fours -- coughed -- and something gold fell into his hand.
"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.
"He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it," Wood was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference -- Harry hadn't broken any rules and Marcus Flint was still happily shouting the results -- Slytherin had won by three hundred points to one hundred and thirty.
Harry heard none of this, though. He was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Ginny, Carya and Hermione. Draco stayed with the team to inform them what was being said.
"It was Quirrell," Ginny was explaining, "Hermione, Carya and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."
"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Quirrell do somethin' like that? He's a teacher in Hogwarts!"
Harry, Ginny, Carya and Hermione looked at one another, wondering what to tell him. They decided to let it drop for now. You couldn't argue with Hagrid on something like that. He was plain stubborn on such topics.
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Review Responses in Author's Note!
Please Read AND Review.
Thx ^_^,
Carya
