Phil, I told you in computers, NO! And if you read the last chapter correctly, Jeanna is NOT taking the place of Hermione!!

Chapter Eight: Livin' In Troll Time

Malfoy was stunned the next day to see that Harry and Ron had made it back to their Common Room without getting caught. He was so furious that he forgot to make fun of Harry and Ron. Meanwhile, the red-head and the brown- head were keen to have another adventure. But under the watchful eye of Hermione and Mrs. Norris, it seemed their chances were very slim.

The morning after they had found the three-headed dog, Hermione pointed out a fact.

"Didn't you notice what it was standing on?" Hermione queried.

"The floor?" Jeanna suggested.

"I wasn't looking at the floor! I was too busy with its heads!" Ron said. "It had three of them if you noticed!"

"No, not the floor," Hermione said. "And I did notice that it had three heads. It was standing on a trapdoor! It's obviously guarding something."

"Well, whatever it is, it's either really dangerous or really valuable," Harry said, thinking. Then a thought struck him. "Wait a minute!" All three of them turned to stare at Harry, who was deep in thought. "When my father, Brooke, and I went to Gringotts, we didn't visit just our vault, we visited..." His mind raced to remember the number. "Vault Seven-Hundred and Thirteen. And my dad said it was on Hogwarts business!!"

Hermione clapped her hands together and smiled. "Well, we know that whatever was in that vault, someone else wants it. I remember you reading about a break-in at Gringotts in Hagrid's cabin, and when you asked him if he knew anything, he changed the subject rather quickly." She furrowed her brow. "He must know something, but there's no way we can visit him anytime soon, we've got too much homework." As soon as she had stopped talking to think some more, the owls swooped in, bringing the mail.

Moon swooped down and landed on Harry's shoulder, nipping his ear affectionately. Her silver feathers sparkled in the candlelit Hall. Harry quickly untied the letter addressed to him and handed her a small piece of toast. She hooted thankfully and swooped down next to Jeanna's plate. "Oh!" she said. "She's so beautiful!" She patted Moon on the head, who hooted lazily, still eating the bit of toast. "What's it's name?" she inquired to Harry.

"Moon," he replied. "And Moon's a she." He opened up the letter. It was from Lily. "Oh no, I forgot to write home!" he muttered.

The letter read:

Dear Harry,

I know that going away to school and making new friends (and finding your way around the castle) has overwhelmed your mind, so your father and I aren't mad that you forgot to write to us. However, we do insist that you write us back, telling us all about school so far ("Should we tell them about the three-headed dog?" Ron asked, reading the letter over Harry's shoulder. "No," he replied, reading on.). I want to know all of your teachers and what friends you have. Did you know anybody who came?

Your father isn't here right now, he's helping calm a situation at an ex- Aurors house. He does hope that you write back and he is really sorry that he couldn't write anything, but you know how it is working for the Ministry.

Write back soon! Oh, and leave Moon in the Owlery to rest from her long flight. Your father and I are waiting for an answer!

Love

Mom

PS- Brooke and your father say 'hi'.

On the far corner of the note was a note scribbled by Brooke. It read:

Harry,

HI!!! Write soon! I want to hear all about Hogwarts! I can't wait until I come next year!

Brooke

Harry smiled at the sight of his family's writing. He folded the letter up and put it in his robe's pocket as another parcel, this one much larger than the last, landed in front of him. As Ron reached out to tear it open, Hermione grabbed his wrist. "No!" she said. She pointed to the note attached. Harry grabbed the note and opened it. It read:

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.

It contains your new Nimbus 2000, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. This was not purchased by me, I sent a note to your parents who immediately agreed to buy this for you as a "Getting Accepted to Hogwarts" Present.

Professor M. McGonagall

"Whoa," Ron and Jeanna both said, reading the note over his shoulders.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked, biting into her toast.

"It's a Nimbus 2000!!" Ron said.

"SHH!!" Jeanna hissed at him.

"I've never even touched one!!" Ron moaned.

"Come on, let's put this up in my room," Harry said. He then added. "Quickly."

They made it all they way to the steps without being asked any questions. As they reached the top step, however, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle showed up. Malfoy grabbed the package and realized what it was.

"You've got a broomstick, Potter?" Malfoy said, smiling his evil smile. "You'll be in for this one! We aren't allowed to have broomsticks."

"It's not any ol' broomstick," Jeanna piped in.

"It's a Nimbus 2000!" Hermione squeaked.

"Well, Weasley," Malfoy said. "You probably couldn't even afford a broom like this! You and your brothers would have to save up for it twig by twig."

As Ron took a step forward, Professor Flitwick came up. "I hope we aren't fighting, boys and girls." He said.

"No, Professor," they all chorused.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," Malfoy quickly said.

"Oh, yes!" Flitwick said excitedly. "What model is it?"

"A Nimbus 2000, sir" Harry said, smiling. "And it's actually thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jeanna all walked past Malfoy, laughing at the disgusted, raging, and confused look on Malfoy's face. As Harry packed it away in his trunk, he could hear Hermione calling, "FIVE MINUTES UNTIL DOUBLE POTIONS!!"

"Oh, this will be fun!!" Ron said, laughing.


It may have been the fact that he had Quidditch practice three times a week, or that he has so much homework every night that Harry couldn't believe that it was almost Halloween. Most classes were slowing down their amount of homework, except for the normal two; Transfiguration and Potions.

On Halloween morning, Harry woke up to the delicious smell of baked goods wafting in the air. The moment before he opened his eyes, he could have sworn that he was back at his house, with Lily in the kitchen, baking cookies or some other tasty treat that he and Brooke would eat. But when he opened his eyes, homesickness kicking in, he realized that he was still at Hogwarts.

But the thought of being at home was pushed out of his mind as Ron smacked Harry in the head with his pillow.

"OWWW!" Harry said.

With that, the daily routine began. In Charms, they began to work on the Levitating Charm, so Professor Flitwick split them up into pairs. Harry was paired with Jeanna, Ron with Hermione, who, like most classes, was showing off her know-it-all-bility. Although Ron was friends with Hermione, he still looked disgusted at getting paired up with her.

"Now don't forget that nice wrist movement," Professor Flitwick cried. "Swish and flick! And saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Baruffio who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.

No matter how many times he and Jeanna tried, the feather they were supposed to be floating in the air wouldn't move at all. But Ron wasn't doing so good either.

At the next table, he cried, "Wingardium Leviosa!" And he twirled his wand around like a windmill.

"Ron, your saying it wrong!" Hermione snapped. "It's Win-gar-dium Levi-o- sa. Make the 'gar' nice and long, and put an emphasis on the 'o'."

"If you think it's so simple," Ron fumed at her. "then you try it."

"Fine." She rolled up her sleeves, and did the swish and flick while saying, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather rose about five feet in the air and stopped there as Hermione continued to swish and flick her wand.

"Oh look class!" Professor Flitwick cried. "Miss Granger's done it!"

By the end of class, Ron was in a very bad mood.

"It's no wonder she only has us for friends," Ron said, aggravated, after class. "No one else can stand her!"

Someone brushed by them in a hurry, but they didn't do it on accident. From the bushy hair, it was not easy to mistake who it was.

"I think she heard you," Jeanna said from behind them.

"So?" Ron said.

"She's your FRIEND Ron!" Jeanna fumed at him.

"Why does that matter?" Ron shot back

"You're supposed to be nice to your friends!" Jeanna shot back. When Ron glared at her, she sighed and shot off after Hermione.

"Good riddance!" Ron said.

Harry said nothing. He knew that Hermione was a know-it-all, but Ron didn't have to say it, and it was true, Hermione was their friend. He knew Jeanna was right, but if he said anything to Ron, Ron would just get mad at him, so he said nothing.

Neither Hermione or Jeanna was present at the rest of their classes. Harry and Ron began to worry.

But Hermione and Jeanna were soon pushed out of their minds when they say the Great Hall's decorations. Jack-o-lanterns with lit candles in them were floating around the Great Hall, and fake bats flew around their heads. Each of the tables were filled with many treats. Harry overheard Parvati Patil saying something about Hermione and Jeanna. "Hermione's crying in the girl's bathroom. She just wants to be left alone, and that girl, Jeanna, is making sure no one comes in and I think she's trying to comfort Hermione." Harry felt bad, but as he and Ron began to eat, Dumbledore stood up.

"Dig in!" Is all he said. And dig in they did. There was pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs, and normal dinner food as well (though no one touched it). As Harry was helping himself to a baked potato (he was the only one who was eating the normal food), Professor Quirrell came running in.

"TROLL—IN THE DUNGEON!" He stopped halfway to the teachers table. "Thought you ought to know..." He fell unconscious onto the floor. All of the students began to scream, but their screams couldn't match the volume of Dumbledore's booming voice.

"SILENCE!" Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at the teachers table. "Prefects lead your students to their Common Rooms where the feast will be continued. Teachers, follow me to the dungeons."

Ron and Harry followed the rest of the Gryffindors who were being led to their Common Rooms by Percy and a few other prefects. When they passed the out of order girl's bathroom, Harry pulled Ron to the side. "Hermione and Jeanna!"

"What?" Ron said.

"Hermione and Jeanna don't know about the troll!"

Ron looked green in the face. While they were running in the shadows so no one could see them, Ron asked, "Where are they?"

"I overheard Parvati saying that Hermione and Jeanna are in the girl's bathroom." Harry said, pulling Ron around a deserted corner. They retreated behind a statue as they saw Snape round the corner. "Why isn't he down in the dungeon's with the other—"Harry stopped. "He's heading towards the Third Floor!" As Snape left the corridor, they felt the ground shake. Harry peered from around the side of the statue. He saw the hideous troll. It was a grey-green and was pretty ugly.

He turned back to Ron as the troll went through a doorway. "I think the troll left the dungeon." Ron's face lost all of its color.

They both bolted towards the door that the troll had walked through and locked it. "There!" Ron said.

But as they walked away, they heard two screams. "Oh, bloody hell!" Ron muttered and his face went pale again. Harry ran over and unlocked the door and ran inside. The troll had knocked down the stalls. He could see Hermione's bushy hair sticking out from underneath one of the stall's walls. Jeanna was standing up in the corner, her wand halfway across the bathroom. All of a sudden, the troll grabbed Harry by the ankle and was trying to hit him with his club. Harry was urging Jeanna on. "Go grab your—"He lifted his head up as the troll swung his club. "wand and get Hermione out of here!" Jeanna simply shook her head and shrunk down in the corner.

"Ron—"another swing. "DO SOMETHING!"

Ron looked around for help. He saw Hermione mouthing to him 'swish and flick!' "Right!" Ron said. He looked determined. He threw a pipe at the Troll's head, which missed, but caught his attention. "Oy! Peabrain!" He looked sick. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The club that the troll was swinging was floating just out of reach of the troll's grasp. As the troll jumped for it, Ron stopped the levitating charm and it fell on the troll's head. The troll remained standing for a moment, swayed on the spot, and fell onto the ground.

Harry stood up, shakily and out of breath. It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Is it—dead?"

"No, just knocked out," Harry said, grabbing Jeanna's wand and handing it to her.

"Th—thanks," she managed to say. A sink had been knocked off by the troll and had landed on Jeanna's left foot. Although it didn't break her foot, she winced in pain as she put a little weight on it.

All of a sudden, they heard slamming and footsteps; the teachers had found them! A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bustling into the bathroom, closely followed by Snape, Quirrell bringing up the rear. He took one look at the troll, whimpered, and retreated into the corner where Jeanna had been.

Snape examined the troll while McGonagall looked from Harry to Ron to Jeanna, who was moving some stall walls off of the floor. Her lips were completely white. "What on earth were you two thinking?" She was thinking that Jeanna had gone to the bathroom so she was in no trouble. "You're lucky you weren't killed! Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Harry a piercing look. But a small voice came out of the shadows. "Please, professor, it's our fault." Hermione was being held up by a wincing Jeanna. "We went looking for the troll."

"Misses Granger and Hanale!"

Jeanna piped in, "We both have read a lot about them and thought that we could take it on."

Ron dropped his wand. Hermione and Jeanna were telling a downright lie to a teacher?

"If they hadn't found us, we'd both be dead now. Ron knocked it out with its own club. Neither of them had any time to go fetch anyone. It was about to finish us off when they came," Hermione finished.

Harry and Ron tried not to look surprised at Hermione and Jeanna's story. "Well, in that case," McGonagall said, staring at the four of them. "How could you two think of tackling a fully grown mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione and Jeanna hung their heads. "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I am very disappointed in you both. You better go off to Gryffindor tower to finish the feast." Hermione and Jeanna exited quickly and quietly. Jeanna cast a glance at Harry who gave her a quizzical look.

Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron. "Well, I still say you two are lucky that you could take on a fully grown mountain troll on your own. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will hear about this. You may go."

They hurried out of the bathroom quickly and didn't speak until they were at the Fat Lady Portrait. "We should have gotten more than ten points!" Ron said.

"Five, after they took off Hermione and Jeanna's," Harry said.

"Good of them to get us out of trouble like that," Ron said.

"Mind you, they might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with them!" Harry said.

The Common Room was packed and noisy. Jeanna and Hermione were waiting for them to come. There was an awkward pause as they all muttered "Thanks" to one another and hurried off to get some food.

From that moment on, all four of them were closer friends than they were before...


And if anyone can tell me (in their reviews) where I got the Living in Troll Time from, you all earn ten zillion not-kristal points. (head bangs to Ghostbusters theme)

I am beginning to write another Harry Potter fanfic. Although I won't tell you what it's about yet! Phil, you'll probably go crazy for not knowing, but you can wait.

Oh, and for all you who care (or are going to one), the Eric Clapton concert ROCKS!!!!