See the end for Author's Notes.

Chapter Four

Professor Snape nodded once. "Acceptable, Mr. Potter. Perhaps you're not a complete dunderhead."

Harry looked up at his head of house in shock before his mouth split into a wide grin. "Thank you, Professor."

The potions master nodded once before he turned in a dramatic swirl of his black robes. "Weasley! Just what type of swill is in your cauldron?"

Next to him Malfoy harrumphed. "He didn't say anything about my potion because they're always perfect," he said matter-of-factly.

Harry didn't say anything. Partly because he thought Draco was right and partly because he didn't think his classmate needed a bigger ego than he already had. One would swear that Malfoy was Merlin himself with the way he went on and on.

Harry thought that it was better to be an unknown factor. In his case only Crabbe, Professor Sprout, and Professor Snape seemed to think he had any worth. (Disregarding how the Headmaster had been watching him. The upper years claim that he detests Slytherins as a whole thanks to the Dark Lord.)

He made quick work of bottling up a sample of his brew and cleaning his area by hand. He had seen Patil make the mistake of using a scourgify to clean her cauldron. She had been assigned a seven inch essay due the very next day. (And that had only been after the class had sat through the man's tirade on how spells could cause chain reactions in an active potions lab.) By the time Harry completed his cleaning, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Zabini were also done on the Slytherin side. Brown and Patil were still neutralizing their workspace and Finnigan's cauldron had caught on fire. Harry couldn't help but think that if the man was a little less intimidating, the Gryffindors might not cause as many potions mishaps on a daily basis.

By the time they were released and were heading to Charms Harry had forgotten what day it was. This wasn't such a big deal to the Slytherins who practiced more ancient rituals as a rule, but the chattering of the Ravenclaws ruined any peace Harry might have created.

"Potter! Hey Potter, you want to place a bet? We're taking wagers for how large the jack o' lantern will be this year. The average is around nine feet ranging from anywhere from five to fourteen."

"What are you all nattering about?" Zabini asked leaning further into the group.

The ravenclaw- the other Patil girl- smiled at his classmate. "Well our house takes bets every year for the size of the Great Hall jack o' lantern the groundskeeper brings in for Professor Vector to carve. It's open to everyone, mind you. Bagshot in fifth year is keeping track, but you only have until the end of last period to place your bets. So you'll have to talk to him at lunch."

"There's always the best sweets at the Samhain feast," Goyle smiled softly. "I hope the elves make chocolate biscuits."

Harry remained silent throughout. Samhain. This was the night he had almost killed his father. The night he had ruined his own life. It wasn't surprising honestly. Harry had a habit of wrecking everything he touched. (Ask Aunt Petunia.) It was probably the monster part of him that made it so easy to sow destruction and chaos wherever he went.

"We're going to be late for class if we wait around in the corridor," Vincent pointed out as he herded everyone towards the classroom.

"I hope there isn't another lecture today," Patil whined. "I was up all night trying to finish that Transfiguration Paper due this morning. My sister thinks it will be something interesting, but I know I'm going to fall asleep if he drones on all class."

"You could take a nap in Binns' class," Malfoy pointed out. "Not like his classes are getting any livelier."

Harry snorted at the horrible pun as they turned the corner and he immediately ran into someone. "Oof!"

Harry would've fallen right into Malfoy if it hadn't been for Crabbe's quick reflexes. The taller boy grabbed his flailing arm and prevented what was sure to be a head-on collision. Harry had only to see the smallest bit of bushy brown hair to know who he had run into. "Granger," Harry called after her but the girl continued to barrel through the crowd of students and back towards the Great Hall. "What's gotten into her?"

Malfoy scoffed. "Couldn't you tell? She was crying."

Harry frowned. He hadn't noticed. It had looked like she was in a bit of a rush. "It's probably Weasley," Crabbe mumbled as he nodded his head.

Sure enough, the red-head in question was coming down the hall with a gaggle of his fellow first year Gryffindor boys looking slightly guilty but completely unremorseful.

Patil and Turpin both narrowed their eyes in displeasure. Michael Corner, who had been quiet up until that point, glared. "We don't like her much either, but that's no reason to be as rude as her housemates are to her," he said as the group of Gryffindor boys passed them.

Harry wasn't completely oblivious. He had noticed that Hermione Granger wasn't very well liked by her housemates. Unsurprising considering that her brand of intelligence consisted of vomiting out every book she's ever read word for word. As far as her eidetic memory went it was pretty astounding. But she hadn't yet learned how to temper her brusque way of handling that information overload. For a house like Gryffindor where the students were brash and reckless and favored quidditch over academic excellence, it was a bad place to be without friends.

"It could've been worse," Goyle pointed out. "She could've sorted into Ravenclaw."

Harry flinched and Corner let out a chuckle. "The eagle den would've driven her mad within the first week. 'What do you mean you didn't do your homework?' 'Why aren't you studying for a class you're actually taking?' 'Why do you need to know why a raven is like a writing desk?'"

"Michael," shouted Turpin as she hit him with her bag, "That's rude and you know it! We're not all like you and Boot!"

The golden-haired boy shrugged, looking completely unapologetic. Harry couldn't help but agree with him. From what he knew about Hermione Granger, she would've found herself ostracized in that house if not more so. Ravenclaws, even the most literal and up-tight ones, grew curious and loved to experiment no matter what exam was coming up or what paper's due. There were always a couple of ravenclaws that didn't hand in a homework assignment on time. During the charm exam last week three had looked like they had exorcised their souls and only their respect for their head of house had made them come to class that day.

Harry would have been impressed if he wasn't so terrified of getting dragged into a scholarly conversation with them. He had made the mistake of helping Kevin Entwhistle with something in Defense Against the Dark Arts once. He had ended up mobbed by four others by the end of the class period about standardized wards of all things. Crabbe had to bulldoze his way into the gaggle of eagles to save him. It made him curious about his own housemates- he had heard rumors that fifth and seventh year students tended to camp out in the common room all night during finals. He imagined that the image-obsessed Slytherins would make it a tad harder to recognize they were working on empty.

He looked back down the hall where Granger had disappeared. They weren't friends. Harry had learned his lesson that first week that Slytherins didn't make friends. They made associates, pawns, and allies. (A rather dark way of looking at the world, but it was his father's house and Harry had to learn.) He wasn't sure which one she would count as. "I wonder if she'll be okay?"

Malfoy sneered. Crabbe shook his head. "There you go again worrying about things that you have no business doing."

Harry thought it was ironic that Malfoy of all people would say that when he made it his purpose to be in the middle of everyone else's business. A quick look from Crabbe silenced him.

He had been taking 'Slytherin Lessons' for lack of a better term from the Crabbe heir the last two weeks. While he still called Harry a walking train wreck ("It's so bad, but I can't look away lest I miss it get any worse") he did seem to be of the belief that he was a redeemable train wreck. He hadn't initiated the help of any more of Harry's not-friends from Slytherins (mainly Malfoy and Goyle) which was a relief (again, Malfoy). Harry had gotten used to the silent communication that Crabbe and Goyle seemed to prefer to the hidden minefields that the other boys used.

This particular stare was something akin to 'If you dare open that ruddy mouth of yours I'll send a stinging hex hurtling at you so hard you'll have a bruise as big as Malfoy's ego covering your arse'.

Safe to say Harry kept his opinions to himself.

"That's because Potter's a nice guy," Patil said.

Turpin snorted but didn't comment either way as she continued into the classroom. Corner sent him a smile that was all teeth and winked once with his dark blue gaze and followed the other two ravenclaws into the charms classroom. "That," Crabbe informed him, "Was not a point in your favor."

Harry scowled. "I know that. It's not like I go out of my way to be nice to anyone. I'm just not an arsehole to our classmates."

Crabbe sighed. "Neither am I, but you won't hear one of them call me nice."

Harry wanted to snap back that was because he still acted like Malfoy's goon most days, but restrained himself. He knew from the boy's arched eyebrow that he hadn't been able to successfully maintain a mask at any point throughout their conversation. Reprimands were sure to follow later in the day. Instead of focusing on what was sure to be another discussion about pureblood etiquette, his mind wandered to Granger.

Harry tried to think but couldn't find much of anything that could make him that distressed. Words were just words at the end of the day and once given a few minutes to accept Crabbe's words from last month Harry had ultimately moved on. Harry thought it was much worse to think one had friends and to be told otherwise than to know one doesn't have any friends and have it confirmed further.

But then again, he was also part-monster and Hermione Granger was a hundred percent human. And a girl. (That probably had a lot to do with it.)

By the time dinner came around Harry had heard from Zabini that Granger had locked herself in the girl's bathroom on the first floor. From the sounds of thinks she had been in there all afternoon and showed no signs of leaving. Harry was trying to figure out whether he should tell a professor or not. At the very least Professor McGonagall should have a house meeting about what constituted as 'house loyalty' for Gryffindors.

He got a little side-tracked when Professor Quirrell came running into the Great Hall screaming about a troll loose in the dungeons.

And of course the headmaster sent everyone back to their common rooms. Because that made perfect sense. "Wait, wait!" Harry tried to shout over the din of the quickly evacuating students.

He looked around frantically for Professor Snape. The Slytherin common room was in the dungeons! And besides what type of idiot sent students out into the school when there was a troll out and about? It was better to keep everyone within the Great Hall whilst some of the staff went to hunt for the bloody thing. But Professor Snape had disappeared from the head table and the mass of bodies pushed Harry further towards the door and into the corridor. It wasn't until he caught sight of the Gryffindors that he remembered another thing.

Hermione hadn't come to the feast.

"Potter!" Crabbe shouted after him.

He didn't know when his feet started moving because he sure didn't make the decision to move. Harry wasn't sure why Crabbe was chasing after him either because if anyone had some common sense out of all of his not-friends in Slytherin it was him. But they both ended up tearing down the second floor corridor just in time to hear a scream.

When they turned the corner in a flurry of robes it was to see Weasley and another Gryffindor boy tugging on a chained door. A crash echoed down the corridor and another scream. "Granger!" Harry shouted as he went straight for the now open doorway.

"Merlin and Morgana Potter isn't the troll in there?" Crabbe shouted.

Harry wasn't entirely sure what he expected to do to help. A fourth first year wasn't going to do anything the first three couldn't. But he had to, right? Even if they weren't friends, he couldn't imagine being wrong for wanting to help someone in trouble. When he came into the room the bathroom stalls were nothing more than timber, water was spewing out onto the floor, and the Gryffindors were about to be side-swiped by the troll's club. "Duck!" Harry screamed.

For all Slytherins talked about Gryffindors, there was something to be said about their quick reflexes. The two boys hit the ground like their lives depended on it. Considering the massive club that swung above their heads only a moment later, it probably had. Next to him Crabbe had out his wand but they both knew that nothing offensive they could hope to come up with would work. Trolls had skin almost as thick as dragonhide and required a strong adult at the very least to even stun it. Neither Crabbe nor he were adult wizards.

As all of this went through Harry's head the troll had reared its arm back and was going for another swipe down at the floor where the Gryffindor boys were still trying to get on their feet with little success. Harry flung out his magic and forced it through his wand. It felt something like trying to stuff a dripping faucet with an entire bedsheet and met with similar success. There was very little finesse to be had, but the bright sparks that erupted on the troll's face got his attention. "Harry, move!" Crabbe shouted and pushed him out of the way.

While he's sure his housemate meant well, the force at which he pushed Harry had him barreling at the stone wall and colliding with it in such a fashion that he was sure to have more than a few bruises the next day. A large boom echoed from behind him and the floor shook. When Harry turned back it was to see the club to the side of Vincent who had fallen back on his but beside the corridor. A quick glance showed that the two Gryffindors- who he now recognized as Weasley and Finnigan of all people- were tugging on each other's robes and waving their hands in frantic communication.

Hermione was still huddled in the far corner amongst the wreckage of sinks. Harry took out his own wand and tried to think through the pounding in his head. He knew a cutting charm, a stinging hex, a dancing jinx, a light charm, and maybe the unlocking one, but not much else. Disillusionment and silencing charms wouldn't be much help right now and those he only knew thanks to Crabbe. Obviously alohamora and lumos were completely useless at the present moment and without some extra oomph diffindo and pungo weren't much better. And the dancing jinx was just completely... huh. "TARANTELLA!" Harry shouted.

A burst of fiery orange light shot out of his wand and splashed against the troll's arm. For a second it didn't look like anything would happen, but then it began doing a sort of... jig, maybe? The troll hopped, skipped and tripped over a puddle of water and in a fashion befitting a Saturday morning cartoon threw its club in the air and promptly knocked itself out when the large piece of wood came down right on its head.

Harry stood gaping at the entire thing, his wand still pointed out. "I can't believe that worked," he whispered.

"Neither can I," Crabbe groaned from the floor as he got up. "What in Morgana's name were you thinking going after the sodding troll by yourself?"

"Well I wasn't. Granger hadn't been at dinner then I saw these two," Harry motioned to Weasley and Finnigan who were passing incredulous gazes between each other, "run off from the crowd."

Crabbe gave him the same exasperated gaze he was prone to when Harry did something especially unSlytherin-like. He shot his housemate a sheepish grin, but turned back to the trio of Gryffindors. "You two are lucky that the troll didn't kill her," he pointed out.

He had seen the two boys untying some chains from around the door and assumed that it was them that had locked the troll in the girl's bathroom to begin with. Weasley's face flushed red. "We were here so it wouldn't. And it would have worked out perfectly well if you slimy snakes hadn't come around. Now look what you've done."

Harry gaped at the red-head. "What I've done? I've saved you three- you're welcome by the way!"

"Well no one asked you to," barked Finnigan, "So you can just get along now."

Hermione had finally begun to uncurl herself from out of the corner by the broken sinks and was staring at the four boys in the girls lavatory with complete shock. Harry felt much of the same way, but for a very different reason. What was with these Gryffindors? He had saved them from a bloody mountain troll and they still thought he was evil (which he was, but he doubted they knew about his heritage).

"Harry. Professor Snape."

Harry turned to Crabbe, but then heard the sound of footsteps. If their head of house found them here there would be hell to pay. With an ease that was coached into him by several sessions with Crabbe, Harry cast a disillusionment charm and then a notice-me-not just in case. And not a moment too soon.

Just as Weasley turned red and started to shout at the spot where they disappeared, Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell appeared in the doorway.

"Oh!" the Transfiguration mistress gasped upon seeing the mountain troll and again upon the state of the bathroom. "You three, explain yourselves at once!"

Harry quickly slipped out of the door and down the corridor towards the dungeons. It wasn't until he passed the last portrait leading into Slytherin's territory that he released the illusions and waited for Crabbe. He was only a few seconds behind him.

"Circe, Harry," Crabbe- or maybe he was Vincent now- swore, "You certainly know how to keep a bloke on his toes."

Harry smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "We best be getting back to the common room before Professor Snape returns or else we'll be in serious trouble."

A/N: I initially had this story outlined for thirty chapters. And that was with added space for fourteen through sixteen and then twenty-three to twenty-five where I didn't have a plan for what was supposed to happen, but I knew there was going to be some more plot to help round out the story. Now that was the plan, but this chapter four was initially part of chapter two if you could believe it. Right now I have written straight through up til chapter fifteen which is annoyingly enough when Tom is finally introduced (when before he showed up in chapter six).

So we might be looking at thirty-five, forty chapters by the time everything is all said and done with. A bit longer than I was expecting, but I hope to just get this story out of my head and crossed off my list. I'll let you know on any updates within the story itself. This will be the last small chapter for a while as they've gotten longer and longer for the next six or so updates. Mostly because Harry is getting older and will become more involved in the world around him. (Chapter eight was massive once it was done and then chapter nine wasn't even fully plotted before it had twenty pages of ideas and plans.)

Also, it has come to my attention that for some reason on the mobile app the story is listed as a Drarry fanfic. I do adore that pairing and much of my writing in this fandom tends to result in Harry and Draco together, but this is not the case here as you will have noticed if you looked at the warnings section in the first chapter. Just a heads up to anyone who might have clicked on this story because of that. I've already tried removing the listed characters and adding them again but it seems to make no difference at all. Sorry about the confusion.

Updated: January 2021

À la prochaine~