The calendar soon flipped to October, and with it, the leaves' colors turned steadily from the delicate green to a subtle orange.
Inside the walls of Hogwarts, the Fateful Eight were slowly anticipating Halloween, but not for any normal reason. They knew that Professor Quirrell would let a troll into the castle, sprint up to the Great Hall, announce the troll's presence (to avoid suspicion) and fall faint on the floor. This caused some worry to the Eight, as without Harry to remind Ron about Hermione, their friendship would never start. Tom though, cool-headed as ever, had a plan. He would simply act as a place-holder for Harry if needed.
They were not so lucky. Despite Tom's efforts to de-escalate tension it still followed canon. Tom gave Eddie, Natalie, and Lily a look that plainly said, Guess I have to do it. Minor inconvenience, ah well.
When they arrived in the Great Hall that evening, they took time to admire the decorations, but their minds were elsewhere. As expected, halfway during the feast, Quirrell burst in.
"TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL!"
Then he fainted.
Dumbledore called for silence among the commotion. All students who were running helter skelter stopped at once. Then, the Headmaster ordered the prefects to lead their students to their dormitories.
Eddie saw Tom go up to Ron, then the pair of them dashed off to the girl's bathroom.
When Eddie returned to the common room, he found that there were tables with food everywhere. He remembered a throwaway line in Sorcerer's Stone:
"Students are finishing the feast in their dormitories."
Eddie supposed that this was the feast. He sat down at a table with Ernie, Justin, Susan, and Lily, and began to eat. Excited chatter filled the room.
"How did a troll get in?" Susan asked. "Aren't they supposed to be really stupid?"
"Dunno," Eddie said, feigning confusion, "Maybe Peeves let it in?"
As the rest of them talked, Eddie's mind wandered to Tom, he wondered how he was handling a troll. Because he knew what he was doing, he guessed, probably more ably than Harry did. He couldn't wait to hear his story in the morning.
Tom, for his part, was rushing down to the girl's bathroom with Ron, hoping he wouldn't be too late.
It wasn't long before they saw the troll. It had to be at least ten feet in height, and its skin a dull gray, resembling that of pencil lead. And the smell- Ron and Tom had to cover their noses, for they could hardly breathe. It was dragging a long wooden club along the floor.
Quickly hurrying after it, the two Gryffindor boys barged into the bathroom instead of locking the door as Harry and Ron had done in the book. Wasting no time, Tom bellowed, Wingardium Levio- when wham! He was met by a vicious blow from the troll's club, which it had been swinging wildly around the room. Tom flew against the wall, and was knocked out.
Now all alone with the troll gaining on him, Ron began to panic. Frantically, he thought back to earlier in the day. Hermione's bossy tones rang out in his head.
"It's LeviOHsa, not Leviosaaaaa….."
Plucking up what courage remained in his veins, Ron picked up a bit of shattered sink and threw it against the wall to distract the troll. He raised his wand and shouted
Wingardium Leviosa!
The troll's club slipped out of its hand, much to the troll's bewilderment, and floated high above it. The troll glanced at it with a stupid expression before Ron let it drop with a loud clunk on the troll's head.
Minutes later, Tom came to, surprised that Ron had been able to knock out the troll. The two of them took a moment to catch their breath, and for the first time, Hermione spoke.
"That-that was really brave, both of you.." She still looked shell-shocked.
Almost on cue, McGonagall, Snape (with his bleeding leg), and Quirrell dashed into the room, with Filch bringing up the rear.
Snape, in his lazy drawl, spoke first. "Would any of you care to explain what in the devil is going on here?"
Tom froze. Snape may have been aware of their secret, but those cold black eyes intimidated him into silence. Fortunately, Hermione bailed him out.
"It was...It was my fault, Professor. I went into the bathroom well before the troll attacked. Fortunately, Tom and Ron realized that I had no idea about the troll and went to find me..if they hadn't tried, I'd likely be dead right now."
"Is this true?" Snape shifted his gaze back to Tom, almost staring into his very soul.
"Yes, Professor." There was a pause afterwards, and Tom knew Snape was looking into his mind. With the tiniest smirk at Tom, Snape fixed his attention back on Hermione.
"That was highly irresponsible of you, Miss Granger. Risking not only your life but the life of two fellow students as well? Twenty points from Gryffindor."
Hermione bowed her head.
Now it was McGonagall's turn to speak.
"Now, I don't know how you two managed to take down the mountain troll, but that was no small feat. Five points to each-"
"Actually, Minerva," Snape cut in once more. "I would say that such a feat as this warrants much more than five points. Especially when they are responsible for saving not only Miss Granger's life, but the lives of other students as well. Sixty points to Gryffindor, now off to bed, all three of you, before I change my mind. Good night."
And he walked out, glancing slighty at Quirrell as he passed.
When Eddie went down to breakfast, Tom was telling the story to the rest of the Fateful Eight.
"That's awesome!" Eddie exclaimed. Then, under his breath. "I figured Snape might've helped you out.
"We did," Tom said, "Course, she took off Hermione's."
When Natalie showed up in the Great Hall, they each wished her good luck as she had her Quidditch match against Slytherin in a few hours. She ate rather a lot for breakfast and was a little nervous as she walked out and down to the pitch.
The rest of them went down with the school. It was a clear, fine, day, and Eddie wondered whether Natalie was as gifted a Seeker as Harry was. They decided to sit in their own house sections, and just as Lily sat down next to Eddie she clapped a hand to her forehead.
"Oh, my, I almost forgot, I'm supposed to be Lee's color commentator. Gotta go!"
When the match started, Lee's voice emanated through the crowd as usual, but there was a little shock at hearing Lily's.
"And off they go, as Angelina Johnson takes the Quaffle and begins streaking toward the Slytherin end. Incidentally, I'm joined by Lily Jackson, who's told me there's a new position of "color commentator". No idea what that means. And now Johnson'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 - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"
Now Lily had her chance to speak.
"That's Johnson's 15th career goal, a milestone. Course, the all-time record is way off from there, and astounding 180 scored by Hugh Biggs in his six-year career. She has time to catch him, though."
Lee's voice rang out once more,
"And it's interesting facts like that why Professor McGonagall told me we have this position, anyways, back to the commentary and now it'll be Flint with the Quaffle…"
At one point Natalie saw the elusive Golden Snitch and dove for it, but missed, and it flew away again.
Eddie was watching the match intently, trying to see if Quirrell was going to pull any antics. He doubted it, but was on his guard nonetheless.
Katie Bell scored to extend Gryffindor's lead to 40-10.
"Now Spinnet," Lily was saying, "last year, like you said, a reserve, scored 3 goals in the last match, filling in for Christopher Flack who was out at the time with a nasty case of-"
But she was cut off by Natalie seeing the Snitch for the second time.
"Hold on, Lily, I'm gonna have to cut you off there, Rogers has just seen the Snitch and now she's diving for it, and whoa! Flint, with a nasty hit on Rogers, and yep, that's going to be a foul!"
Shaking his head in disgust, Eddie understood that the Slytherins would be playing no less dirty then they had in the past.
"So - after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-"
"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul..."
"Jordan, I'm warning you-"
"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession." He then muttered just loud enough for the crowd to hear, "Serves you right, you cheating scum." Lily struggled to hold back her laughing.
As the match progressed, it became clear that Quirrell wasn't going to pull anything. Natalie eventually caught the Snitch, and Gryffindor won, 300-120.
The following two weeks passed with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw preparing for their match on the 16th. As they would be playing each other, Nathan and Eddie often traded playful banter whenever they met.
Finally, they reached the day. As Eddie walked into the Great Hall, he noticed a difference in tension. The school seemed more relaxed. A few people wished Eddie luck as he made his way to his seat and started to discuss the conditions with Ernie.
Ernie had gotten off to a rough start in practice, but thanks to rigorous training with Eddie he had improved greatly. Then Nathan walked up to them.
"I wonder," he said with mock thoughtfulness, "whether this is going to be as lopsided as last year's division series between the Yankees and Red Sox."
"Ha, you wish," Eddie shot back, grinning.
"Anyways, good luck," Nathan said, offering his hand.
"You too," Eddie replied, shaking it.
When they got down to the pitch, they split up, each heading for their respective changing room.
As Eddie sat in the changing room pulling on his Quidditch robes with butterflies in his stomach, Hufflepuff captain Terry Strickland walked into the room. His nerves were coming from the fact that this was his first game and it was only against Ravenclaw, a formidable opponent but nowhere near the two powerhouses wearing crimson and green.
Terry's pregame speech seemed to be speaking to those butterflies.
"Alright team, listen up, I know most of them out there aren't giving us much of a chance, but give it everything you've got, okay?"
Eddie glanced at Ernie quickly, who seemed to be suffering from the same nervousness, and wouldn't return it.
When they walked onto the field it was mostly to cheers but for a few notable exceptions.
Patricia Stimpson took the faceoff against Roger Davies and won it, quickly passing it to Robert Hawking, who passed it to Eddie. Now this was his chance to make an impact.
Wind whipping his ears, he swerved around Davies, ducked a Bludger from one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, he couldn't see which, passed it to Patricia, got it back, aimed at the right hand goal, got the Ravenclaw Keeper, Grant Page, to go for it, and then fired it through the abandoned center goal. He grinned at Nathan and mouthed, Your turn. He was in a bit of a daze after that, until a Bludger swooshed past his ear and almost knocked it clean off his broom. Struggling to regain his balance slightly, he clambered back on and took off after the play.
Nathan took Eddie up on the offer, scoring to tie the game at 10-10.
"So Turner scores," Lee was saying, "Both first year Chasers have now." He turned to Lily. "Any interesting statistic on that?"
"As a matter of fact there is," Lily answered, and Eddie could see she was truly excited, as Lily struggled to keep her expression straight. "That's the first time two opposing first year Chasers have scored the first two goals of the game since Sophia Prickett of Gryffindor and Katie Rayknolls of Slytherin in 1720."
Resuming play, Eddie snatched the Quaffle immediately, loped it over Nathan's head to try and mess with him, and- no, he dropped it. Shaking his head, trying to ignore what a fool he'd just made himself off, he chased back after it, with Ravenclaw now on the offensive thanks to his blunder. Fortunately, Terry made a nice play with a Bludger, causing Hufflepuff to get the Quaffle back almost right away, wiping the slate clean.
Eddie scored another goal before the first real excitement of the day, when Cho Chang thought she saw the snitch, but no dice.
Eddie desperately wanted to outscore Nathan, and as it was, they were deadlocked at five apiece when Eddie scored to give himself a personal lead, and it was just in time, as Eddie turned around, saw Cedric's outstretched arm, Cho plenty behind...
"Diggory catches the Snitch, and that's it!" Lee Jordan said. "Hufflepuff wins, 290-160, and what a game! A fantastic effort from both teams."
Terry Strickland later informed Eddie and Ernie that that was the first game Hufflepuff had won in three years.
"Yikes," Eddie said. Then, without thinking, "We're like the Orioles."
"The who?" Terry asked with interest.
"Muggle sports team that lost 21 straight games to open the season a few years back," Eddie replied, thinking quickly, remembering something Lily had said the other day, so as not to let the cat out of the bag.
There was a victory party in the common room that lasted almost all afternoon and into the night. Being so close to the kitchens, it was optimal to easily sneak food and drinks, and the house elves, being house elves were more than willing to help out. Eddie, Lily, Ernie, Justin, Hannah, and Susan found a corner where they talked and talked about not just Quidditch, but all kinds of topics, until around ten thirty, the prefects declared it was time for them all to get some well-needed, and (in Eddie's case) well-enjoyed sleep.