The Great Hall became dead silent, and everyone directed their attention to Professor Dumbledore, who remained as calm as ever. He once again addressed the student body and faculty alike. "Meals will resume shortly in each house's common room, or faculty quarters, respectively," he added. He gestured toward Professors McGonagall and Snape, who led a detachment of faculty down toward the dungeons to deal with the threat.

Meanwhile, each house's prefects began shepherding their charges back to their common rooms. At the Gryffindor table, Daphne gave Hermione a quick goodbye hug. "You'd better re-join your housemates," Daphne said. "And thank you for joining us this evening. You're welcome to stop by our table anytime."

"Thank you for inviting me," replied Hermione. "I think I'd better get going… I'll see you around." Harry waved goodbye to her as she fled back toward her fellow Ravenclaws. Harry, Neville, and Daphne listened for the voice of Percy, Ron's older brother, as he guided his charges out of the Great Hall and upstairs to the Gryffindor common room.

For the next thirty minutes, the Gryffindors continued to munch on their meals until Professor McGonagall entered the common room to address her students. She nodded toward Percy and the other prefects. "Thank you for maintaining order in my absence, Prefects. Five points to Gryffindor," she said with a faint smile. She had a weary, yet relieved expression on her face. "I can't fathom how a mountain troll got loose in our castle walls, but no matter… thank Merlin nobody was injured, and our castle sustained only minor damage. To be safe, for rest of the evening, everyone is restricted to the dormitory and common room – this restriction will be lifted in the morning. That is all I have, and may each of you have a pleasant evening." She turned around without another word, and retreated back to her office.

Moments later, the formerly quiet common room erupted in boisterous chatter. Daphne politely excused herself from Harry and Neville so she could address Ron. She saw him sitting by himself on the floor in the corner of a room, nursing a bowl of chocolate mousse. Daphne folded her arms across her chest and glowered over Ron.

"We need to talk, Ron," she said in a serious tone.

Ron emerged from his stupor to look at Daphne. "Erm, now?" he asked timidly.

"Yes, now," Daphne confirmed. She then sat down across from him and looked him straight in the eye. "What the hell were you thinking, Ron?" she asked, maintaining her steely gaze. "I saw you tear into Hermione after Charms class today. I fortunately didn't catch everything you said to her, but I heard enough. Your words cut her, Ronald. Deeply, might I add. She was crying hysterically when I found her in the lavatory downstairs…"

Ron shook his head incredulously. "Why are you defending her, Daphne? I thought you were on my side…"

Daphne sighed. "I am on your side, Ron. I care enough about you to discuss this. Look, I know she's been a pain to everyone…"

"That's putting it mildly," interrupted Ron.

"Will you let me finish?" Daphne replied in an annoyed tone. "She ticked you off today, but you completely flew off the handle and made a complete arse of yourself after class. Who knows what other students – and even teachers – heard that little rant of yours? That's just unacceptable, Ron. She didn't deserve that. Lucky for her – and lucky for you – I saw her head down to the dungeons after you finished your tirade. What if I didn't see that? She could have still been down there when the troll was set loose…"

Ron's face went pallid.

Daphne nodded, then continued to chastise her friend. "Yes, Ron. She might not be here if I didn't intervene… I don't think you could live with yourself if Professor McGonagall announced the loss of a student this evening instead of giving us an all-clear." She shook her head in dismay. "You really pissed me off, mate. You called her 'ugly', and she wouldn't stop blubbering about that to me. I had to assure her that she's a cute girl – which she truly is. You've really struck a nerve with her. You know what she told me?"

Ron merely shook his head 'no'.

Daphne's eyes narrowed, and she lowered her voice to little more than a whisper. "She said that you frighten her; she can't even look at you because you intimidate her that badly. She also said that you've got a lot of unchecked anger in you. And frankly, I think she's right. If you can't control your anger, you're going to find yourself just like she was before tonight – without a friend in the world. She's a very fragile and self-conscious girl… having even one or two friends would make all the difference. I invited her to our table because I know that she doesn't have any friends in her own house, so why not have dinner with the one friend that she does have? And you know what else? She even made amends with Harry this evening."

Ron sighed, and his cheeks flushed with shame. "I s'pose I need to apologize to her tomorrow," he said in a resigned tone.

Daphne nodded. "Yes, Ronald, I suppose you should too. You'd better get used to Hermione being around our table a bit more now, because as it stands, her only friends are in Gryffindor. It might be a while before she makes any real friends in her own house."

Ron looked at Daphne. "I will, Daphne. I promise. Oh, and thank you for helping me out in Charms today. I know I didn't deserve your help, but you're probably the most talented student of our year… and I know I'm going to need your help every now and then… I don't want to mess that up."

"You're welcome, Ron," replied Daphne. "Now promise me you won't ever blow up like that on anyone ever again. You're better than that… and if you think you can't manage your anger, then maybe you need to talk to Professor McGonagall. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to help, or at least point you in the right direction."

"I promise," Ron said sincerely. "I s'pose I did make a bit of a fool of myself today…"

Daphne smiled at Ron. "Thank you for listening to me, and taking this seriously." She then pointed a stern finger at Ron. "If I ever hear of you doing that again to Hermione – or anyone else for that matter – I'll owl my mother, who will owl your mother, and I swear, Ronald B. Weasley, you'll get the worst howler Hogwarts has seen in generations. Don't test me, buddy, because I will make that happen."

Ron's eyes widened with fear – all he could do is nod in response.

The next morning at breakfast, Ron sat as far away from Daphne as he could. Although he wasn't as afraid of her as Hermione was of him, he was a little wary, and felt it best to keep his distance at least for a little while. The very last thing he wanted was a dreaded howler from his mother... he knew how terrifying they were. All of his brothers - save Percy - had received at least one howler from the cantankerous Weasley matriarch, Margaret (better known as Molly) at their time at Hogwarts. Even his fun-loving, happy-go-lucky twin brothers Fred and George were quickly put back in line with one concise howler from last year.

Meanwhile, several seats over, Daphne, Harry, and Neville were of course seated together. Daphne was going over Transfiguration with the boys when she heard somebody clear their throat.

There was a high-pitched squeak. "Erm, hi, d... d'you mind if I sit here?"

Daphne looked up and saw a rather nervous-looking Hermione Granger standing behind Harry and Neville. She smiled at Hermione. "You don't ever have to ask permission as long as I'm here, Hermione." She patted an open seat next to her. "Come sit by me. How are you this morning?"

Hermione plopped her heavy-looking bookbag on the table and daintily took her seat next to Daphne. "I'm okay, I suppose," she said softly.

"Are you still upset about yesterday?" Daphne asked Hermione as gently as she could. "Are Ron's words still bothering you?"

"Erm, a little bit, I guess," sighed Hermione. "They don't hurt as much today, thankfully, but they do bother me some still."

Daphne nodded and then smiled at her new friend. "I spoke with Ron last night. I believe I got through to him in no uncertain terms. He won't be doing that to you again. In fact, he promised me that he'll apologize to you at some point today. He knows he did wrong."

"Thank you, Daphne," squeaked Hermione. "But why is he sitting all the way over there? He looks like he's trying to stay as far away from you as possible."

Daphne giggled. "Oh, don't worry about that. I told him that if he ever treated you like that again, that he can expect a particularly nasty howler from his mother. And Molly Weasley is an expert at making nasty howlers, from what I gather."

"Howlers? I've never heard of those," admitted Hermione.

Daphne giggled again. "Hopefully you'll never get one. They're red, enchanted letters that explode if you don't open them... but if you do open them, you'll wish it was Ron ranting at you instead - they're so utterly dreadful!"

Hermione winced. "Ugh," she replied, shuddering slightly.

"How are things going with your fellow Ravenclaws?" Daphne asked sweetly.

Hermione shook her head sadly. "They still won't touch me with a ten foot pole," she replied in a soft voice. She started sniffling.

"You'll just have to give them time," Daphne said. "They'll start to come around sooner or later. I'm sure that you'll have one or two friends in your own house, but you just have to keep being you." She motioned with her head. "Do you want me to grab Ron so he can apologize?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, Daphne. I don't want you to force him if he's not ready. And to be honest, I'm not sure if I'm ready yet either. If he's going to apologize, I want him to initiate it, because it means that he'll be sincere. Right now it would be little more than empty words. When the time's right, he knows where to find me."

"Fair enough, Hermione," replied Daphne. "So, would you care to join us? I know we don't share Transfiguration, but you're welcome to review with us..." She pointed at Harry and Neville. "Merlin knows, these two bozos need all the help they can get!" Harry and Neville rolled their eyes.

"I don't see why not," Hermione replied with a shrug. She then shook her head at Daphne. "I still can't get over the fact that a bloody Gryffindor is top of our class so far this term. Way to make my house look bad, Greengrass."

"It's a long term," replied Daphne. "And you're not far behind. I've seen you in the library - you bust your bum like no other. You are a credit to your house - you're exceptionally bright, studious, and inquisitive. I'm pretty sure Professor Flitwick drooled when the hat sorted you in Ravenclaw." Both girls giggled.

"You must have the magic touch - no pun intended," admitted Hermione. "You got those two blockheads to be in the top half of our class... I mean, Neville melted his cauldron twice in his first month!" Again, the girls burst into giggles.

"Hey, we're right here, you know," groaned Neville.