A/N: I'm soooo sorry about the wait for this chap! I made it like four pages though, to make up for it. Everything was just so busy because my birthday was today, and we had to go out and stuff, it was just crazy. R&R, hope you like it.
Chapter Twelve
The morning of Halloween, Harry was telling Lina and Ron what had happened at his practice with Wood the night before. Just then the bell rang and they hurried off to Charms, taught by the tiny Professor Flitwick.
"Now then," he squeaked five minutes later, "Swish and flick, that motion we've been practicing. The incantation is, 'Wingardium Leviosa'," he finished. He then paired everyone up, so that Lina and Harry were together and so that, much to Ron's chagrin, Ron and Hermione were also paired.
"Wingardium Leviosa-a," he muttered, flicking his wand. Nothing happened. He tried again, but still nothing happened. "Oh! You don't say it, 'Wingardium Leviosa-a,' it's 'Wingardium Levio-osa'!" Hermione snapped.
"If you're so smart, you do it then!" Ron retorted. "Fine then, I will!" she muttered the incantation, the feather they were supposed to be lifting flew into the air.
"No wonder she hasn't got any friends," Ron fumed as he, Harry, and Lina were heading for Transfiguration.
Just then someone ran past them. Lina recognized the person as Hermione. She was crying. Lina said, "Oh, mate, you made her cry." Ron looked uncomfortable, and said, "Well, she must've noticed she didn't have any friends!"
Later on in the day, Lina heard Lavender Brown tell Parvati Patil that, "Hermione Granger locked herself in the first floor girl's bathroom right after Charms and won't come out."
Ron looked even more uncomfortable at this, but forgot himself when they arrived at the Great Hall for dinner. It was magnificent. The huge carved pumpkins Hagrid had brought in that morning were now filled with brightly lit candles, and live bats had hung themselves in clusters above each one.
"I don't want to keep you from your dinner, so only two words do I have for you," said Dumbledore when everyone had seated themselves. "Tuck in," he finished, and food magically filled the plates.
They were halfway through the first course when all of a sudden, Professor Quirrel burst through the doors of the Great Hall. "T-t-troll!" he stuttered. "Troll! I-in the d-d-dungeon!" he yelled. Then he fell over in a dead faint. Immediately, everyone started yelling and screaming. "STOP!" yelled Dumbledore over the noise. "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories in a calm manner led by your prefects." He and the rest of the teacher swept out of te Great Hall through a small door behind the teachers' table. Quirrel had by now woken up, so he followed the other teachers out of the Hall.
"Right then!" said Percy. "Come on then." He led the way back to the Gryffindor common room, but Lina pulled Ron and Harry back. "Wait! Hermione doesn't know about the troll! She's still in the bathroom, remember?!"
"Fine, but we can't let Percy see us." They ducked down and joined a group of Ravenclaws, until they came to the bathroom.
Snape came along the hall, heading not toward the dungeon but to the third floor. Harry, Ron, and Lina ducked out of sight. Moments after he'd gone, the troll lumbered into the bathroom. Lina, Ron, and Harry jumped on the door and locked it. "We did it!" they exclaimed.
But then Lina remembered, "Hermione's in there! We locked her in with the troll!" They unlocked the door, flung it open and ran inside. The bathroom was a mess. Parts of the sinks were strewn about, and a few were shooting water into the air. Hermione cowered in a corner at the end of the line of sinks, covering her head with her arms. The troll was standing above her like a small hill. Hermione spotted them.
"Come on, move!" Lina mouthed silently to her. But Hermione was too frightened to move. Lina picked up a piece of sink and threw it at the troll. It didn't feel a thing. Harry then took a running leap and landed on the troll's back, and Harry's wand got pushed up the troll's nose. The troll, being so thick skinned, didn't feel Harry, but it did feel the long bit of wood that had been thrust up its nose.
The troll lifted its club and began to whack at where ever it thought Harry was. "Help –me!" Harry gasped, ducking out of the way of the heavy club. Lina ran in and grabbed Hermione, pulling her towards the door, and Ron distracted the troll, muttering, Wingardium Leviosa!"
He pointed his wand at the troll's club. The club was pulled from the troll's grasp, and Harry jumped off its back just as the club hit the troll in the head. The troll swayed for a moment, then fell to the floor with a great crash. Harry, Ron, Lina, and Hermione turned toward the door.
Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick and Professor Quirrel were all standing there, looking dumbstruck. Professor McGonagall shook herself and said, "Never, in all my days! What did you think you were doing?" Lina, Ron, and Harry all started talking at once. "Well you see, Professor-" "What he means is-"
"It's my fault, Professor," Hermione cut in. "I'd read about trolls, and I thought I could handle it." Harry, Lina and Ron glanced at each other. Hermione Granger telling a lie to a teacher? "Harry, Lina, and Ron saved me," she finished.
"Why, you foolish girl! You could have been killed! Ten points from Gryffindor for your behavior. Go to your common room."
Hermione left with one last glance at the unconscious troll.
"Now then, as for you three! What you did was foolish. However, not many first years could have handled a full grown mountain troll. Five points to Gryffindor for each of you. Now off to your common room!" she barked.
They ran to their common room, where the rest of the Gryffindors were eating food left over from the feast. Hermione was waiting by the door with a plate in her hand. She gave a small smile, which they returned, and they all ate. From that moment on, they were friends.
After everyone had gone to sleep, Lina zapped herself out into the Forest. She told Lena what had happened, and would have fallen asleep, but Lena flew her up to her dormitory window, where she slept deeply.