Chapter 10: Halloween
Quidditch Pitch
Harry and Oliver walk outside to an open field to go over the basics of quidditch. Oliver brought the equipment that he's going to show Harry. "Quidditch is easy enough to understand, each team has seven players, three chasers, two beaters, one keeper, and a seeker, which is you-" he points to Harry as he opened the trunk showing the equipment, which was three balls, two of them tan, while the other is red. Oliver first shows the red one, "this one's a quaffle, now the chasers handle the quaffle and try to put it through one of those three hoops" he said as he points to the pitch that has three hoops on both sides. "The keeper, which is me, defends the hoops-" he said as he tossed the ball over to Harry, "with me so far?" he asked
Harry tosses the ball back, "I think so… what are those?" he asked, pointing to the two chained tan balls. Oliver looked at the two chained balls. "You better take this-" he said to Harry as he handed him the bat, while bending down to release one of the balls. The ball flew up faster than a speeding bullet. "Careful now it's coming back" he warned as the ball came down. Harry readies the bat and hits the ball hard as it soars through a statue opening. "Not bad, Potter, you'd make a fair beater… uh-oh" he said shoving Harry out of the way as the ball shot into Oliver's arm.
Oliver manages to put the ball back into the trunk after a brief struggle. "Bludger…nasty little buggers-" he said as he opened the small compartment of the trunk. "But the only ball you have to worry about is this… the golden snitch," he said showing a small golden ball as he hands it to Harry.
Harry was amazed by the ball, "I like this ball" he said. "Ah, you like it now, just wait, it's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see" Oliver explained. "What do I do with it?" Harry asked. "You catch it… before the other team's seeker, you catch this, the game is over, and we win" Oliver said as the snitch shows off two wings and flies in the air. "Wow" Harry said. Soon the two practiced for a bit.
Charms Class
The class listened to what their charms professor, Flitwick, had to say as they learned about levitation. "One of the wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation, the ability to make objects fly-" Flitwick stated. "Now do you all have your feathers?" he asked the class as they showed their feathers. "Good, now don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, hmmm? Swish and flick, everyone" he said, which the students repeated. "Good, and enunciate, Wingardium Leviosa, off you begin" he motioned for them to start.
"Wingardium Leviosa-" the students chanted as they tried the charm. Naruto managed to do the charm just fine along with Harry and Hermione. Ron, however, is in a bind. "Wingardium Leviosar-" Ron said as he attempted the charm only to fail miserably. Hermione sees the red heads problem, "stop, stop, stop, you're going to take someone's eye out, besides you're saying it wrong it's Leviosa, not Leviosar" she explained, which ticked off Ron.
"You do it then, if you're so clever, go on" he states rather annoyed. Hermione gets up and swishes her wand, "Wingardium Leviosa" she said casually as the feather begins to levitate high into the air. Everybody watched as Ron slams his head on his book dejectedly. "Oh well done! See here, everyone! Ms. Granger's done it! Oh splendid!" Flitwick states happily. All was well until a boom sound was heard. Everybody turns to see Seamus with his face and robes covered in soot, his hair shot back, and his feather burnt up, looking like he had tnt explode on him as if he were in a Loony Tunes cartoon. "I think we're going to need another feather over here, professor" Seamus states as he coughs out smoke.
After Class
Naruto, Harry, Neville, Ron and some of the boys were walking through the courtyard with the other students. "It's Leviosa, not Leviosar, honestly she's a nightmare, no wonder she hasn't got any friends" Ron ranted with some of the boys except Naruto, Harry, and Neville agreeing. As Ron ranted, they saw Hermione sniffle and walk away. Naruto and Harry turn to Ron with a glare. "What the hell is wrong with you Ron?! If what you said was true, then what are we?!" Naruto retorts, smacking Ron upside in the head as he goes after Hermione. "Agh… bloody hell, he hits hard" Ron said holding his head in pain. Harry looks at Ron and shakes his head in disappointment, "he's right though, aren't we her friends Ron?" Harry asked as Ron sighs and nods.
Outside the Girls Bathroom
Naruto followed Hermione to the girls bathroom. "Come on Hermione, I'm sure Ron didn't mean it-" the blond said as he pleaded for his friend to come out of the bathroom. "Why should I… if I'm just a bother to all of you?" she said between sobs. "That's not true, you know it's not" he replied. Naruto listened to the girl as she continued sobbing, "Hermione, don't you remember what you said to me in potion's class… we're family now… if they don't want it, then they're missing out on a great friend… and you Hermione… you're my best friend and I can never thank you enough-" Naruto said softly. Hermione was shocked at what she heard Naruto said, especially her being Naruto's best friend given that's all he ever wanted. Naruto heard her sobs getting quieter, "Naruto… can I just be alone for a while?" she asked. Naruto sighed, "take all the time you need" he said sadly as he walked away.
Great Hall- Night Time
It was the night of Halloween as the great hall's decorations have changed to fit in with the holiday. Everyone was having a wonderful time as they ate candy and chatted amongst themselves. "Where's Hermione?" Harry asked. Neville spoke as he gulped down some candy, "Parvati Patil said that she wouldn't come out of the girl's bathroom, she said that she's been in there all afternoon crying…" he explained. Harry looks at Ron with a wtf expression, the red-head turns to see Naruto having a dark look on his face. "Hey I said I was sorry" Ron retorts. "Apologize to Hermione, not me you idiot, and you better do so, otherwise you wouldn't like what I have in store with you, and I never go back on my word when I say you wouldn't like it" Naruto said rather darkly. Ron looked rather pale at what he had just heard, whereas Harry sweatdropped at the scene.
Just as he said that, Professor Quirrell bursts into the hall. "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! T-TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" he yells out frantically as everyone stops what they are doing and looks at him. "Thought you ought to know," he said before fainting. Soon everyone screamed and as they started to panic, Dumbledore got up from his seat, "SILEEEEEEEEEEENCE!" he yells out, everyone stops. "Everyone please do not panic; Now, prefects will lead their houses back to their dormitories, teachers will follow me to the dungeons" he said. Soon every prefect from their respective houses led them away to the dorms. "Gryffindor keep up please and stay alert!" Percy stated, leading his house back to the dormitory. "How'd a troll get in?" Harry asked. "Not by itself, trolls are really stupid, probably someone's playing a prank" Ron replied. Naruto pulls both Harry and Ron to the side.
"What?" Ron questioned. "Guy's Hermione is still out there, she doesn't know about the troll, come on let's go!" he said. Harry nods and follows the blond, with Ron catching up to them. The three ran through the dark corridors of the castle, and as they ran through the corridor they stopped to hide as they found a silhouette of the troll dragging its club as the troll entered a room. "The troll's going into the girl's bathroom" Ron warned. "Oh no! Hermione!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran into the bathroom.
Girl's Bathroom
Hermione walks out of the stall after crying for some time. As she washes her hands, she stopped when she heard a grunting noise. She turns to see a troll standing there; she gasps and backs up to a stall in fear. The troll uses its club and smashes through the stalls. "Someone help!" She cries as Naruto, Harry, and Ron arrive in time. The troll keeps smashing through the remaining stalls. "Hey pea brain!" Ron shouts as he throws a piece of wood at the troll's head, getting its attention.
Hermione rushes out of the broken stall and under a sink, but the troll see's her and proceeds to break through them. "Hermione!" Naruto calls out to her as he brings out his wand, "Vermillious!" he yells out as he shoots red sparks at the troll. The beast covers its face from the sparks, grunting in pain. Hermione runs out and into Naruto's arms. "Guys, I think we should go now!" Harry states as the troll turns to them, pissed off. The four got out of the bathroom, with the troll chasing them. The troll trips the four with its club, sending them tumbling to the floor. As the troll was going to raise its club and swing at them, Naruto was scared that he and his friends won't make it. Suddenly it seems that time slowed down or rather stopped, well only in Naruto's perspective, when all of a sudden he heard a voice in his head. "Do you want to save them?" the voice said in his head. Naruto hears the voice and asks, "who are you and what are you?" "Now is not the time to be asking those questions! Like I said, do you want to save your friends?" the voice said gruffly. Naruto nods, "you know I want to, tell me what to do?" The voice responds, "Charge your chakra and channel it to your wand like you would with your magic. Show that abomination what it means to cross us and your friends! Go Naruto!" the voice yells out.
The troll was about to swing at them, when all of a sudden a barrage of red sparks staggered the troll. Harry, Ron, and Hermione look to see what happened and it was Naruto who shot those sparks. What they didn't notice at the moment was the change in Naruto's appearance as his hair looks wild like an untamed beast, his nails sharp, his teeth turned sharp, his whiskers feral, and his eyes red and slit. Naruto glares at the troll with pure hatred and readies his wand, which seems to be glowing through its gems as if it were amplifying his magic mixed with his chakra. "Vermillious!" he shouts, firing multiple red sparks making the troll grunt in pain. Hermione and Harry helped out Naruto as well, but the troll somehow grabbed Harry. Luckily Harry shouts "Periculum!" as he fired some sparks at the troll as the troll grunted in pain releasing Harry. "Ron-" Hermione said as the troll was swinging blindly. "Swish and flick-" she continued. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron said as the club the troll was holding levitated away from his hand. The troll looks up only to have the club slam his head hard, knocking the troll out and rendering the troll unconscious. Naruto soon turned back to normal after the dust was clear, and the four looked at each other before they checked out the troll. "Is it dead?" Hermione asked. "I don't think so, just unconscious," Harry said, stowing his wand away.
Just then, McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell arrive at the scene looking shocked. "Oh! Oh my goodness! E-Explain yourselves, the four of you!" McGonagall demanded. Harry and Ron were babbling, and right as Naruto was about to step in Hermione interrupted, "It's my doing Professor McGonagall." The three looked at the brunette in shock, "I went looking for the troll, I read about them and I thought I could handle it… but I was wrong, if Naruto, Harry, and Ron hadn't come and found me… I'd probably be dead" she half lied. McGonagall shook her head in disbelief, "be that as it may… it was an extremely foolish thing to do-" she said, as Harry noticed a large gash on Snape's leg, which Snape covered up.
"I would've expected much more rational behavior on your part, Ms. Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment-" she says as she turns to the three boys. "As for you three gentlemen… I just hope you realize how fortunate you are, not many students let alone first years can take on a full grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale, five points… will be added to each of you for sheer dumb luck" she states as she leaves with Snape. "Perhaps you ought to go… m-might wake up, heh" Quirrell said as the four students left. The troll moaned, frightening the timid teacher.
Gryffindor Common Room
As the four were walking back to the common room, Naruto was thinking, 'man who or what was that voice in my head?' Naruto shakes off that thought, probably focusing on it later. Now that they have arrived, first thing was first, "Hermione, look I'm sorry for what I said earlier today and it's my fault for almost getting you killed in the first place" Ron apologizes. Hermione smiled and accepted the apology. The four laughed it off and decided to call it a night after what just happened. As they were about to go to their respective dorms, Hermione calls Naruto for a moment. "What's up?" asked Naruto when he was hugged by Hermione. "Thank you… for coming to save me" she whispered. Naruto blushed at the moment, but smiled softly "It's ok…that's what friends are for. After all, you are my best friend and one of my precious ones" he said. The brunette looks at him "really?" she asks. "Yes, after what happened tonight I made a vow that I'll protect the ones I hold dear to my heart no matter what… believe it" he said. The brunette smiled at his words and nodded. The two wished each other good night, and as Naruto was about to enter the dorm, he sees Harry and Ron smirking at him. Naruto, seeing Ron smirking, decided to retort "just because you apologized to Hermione, it doesn't mean that you're getting away that easily, I still have that surprise I promise." Ron, looking like he's seen a ghost said "n-now let's be rational here mate, surely you wouldn't do it to me?" he asked. Oh, but Naruto was smiling like a cheshire cat for what he's about to unleash, as Ron gulped in fear, while Harry shook his head at what's going on. The next day, Ron and a couple of other boys who made fun of Hermione ran down the hallway covered in orange paint and glitter as everybody laughed at them
