Hi everybody, here is chapter 10. Thanks for all the reviews to those that left them.
For those that ask for a speedier update, this story simply takes longer to get the chapters ready as they are longer, so for now probably updates once a month. Despite that, happy reading.
Horrors of Halloween
Professor McGonagall was surprised to have three of her Gryffindor first-years visit her in her office.
"Miss Granger, Miss Lillowe and Mr Longbottom, what can I do for you?" She asked.
"I wanted to ask if you could arrange for me to go to Diagon Alley for me to get my own wand. My Gran said I should use my Dad's old wand to honour him, but from what we found out after asking Harry if he had an idea just why I couldn't get the spells we learned in Charms and Transfiguration to work for me, Dad's wand is incompatible with me. I had to concentrate a huge amount of magic for a few minutes until I got a colour changing charm on Hermione's hair to work and then I overloaded the spell." Neville said pointing at the still decoloured hair of his friend.
To say Professor McGonagall was angry with Augusta Longbottom was an understatement. To force her grandson to come to school with an incompatible wand wouldn't only be detrimental for his performance in class it would also undermine his already shaky confidence. She would definitely change that.
"Of course we can arrange that. Let me think. You are in the Wednesday Astronomy classes, so you have Wednesday afternoons free. I'll see if Hagrid can take you to Diagon Alley then to get you a proper wand. To not let you have your own wand; don't worry, I'll send Augusta a few well worded lines. She should know what problems an incompatible wand could cause. I'll inform you tomorrow at breakfast. Do you have enough money with you, or do you need to make a trip to your trust vault at Gringotts first?" She asked.
"Trust vault?" Neville asked confused.
"Don't tell me she didn't tell you about the trust vault your parents set up for you shortly after you were born. I am absolutely sure you have one. Alice and Frank and James and Lily took both you and Harry to Gringotts to open the vaults in your names. I know this because I was part of their guard to not be surprised by a Death Eater attack without additional protection for them. If she didn't tell you, ask at Gringotts if there is a possibility for you to get your own key and recall the one she has. Normally that isn't a problem. You just have to give a sample of your blood to prove who you are. As the vault is in your name and your parents stated that the vault should be yours to do with as you see fit once you turn eleven, you should have been given the key on your eleventh birthday.
"I'll tell Hagrid to take you to Gringotts. And Augusta gets a few more lines. If you want some good advice how to treat the goblins properly and in case you are interested how to manage your money successfully, I can recommend Mr Potter. I have seen how impressed the goblin who took us to his trust vault was during the first visit there. Only remember that goblins are a proud warrior race. They respect strength, cunning and if you treat them with respect as well. Never bow down though." She said.
"I will, thank you, Professor." Neville replied.
"You're welcome. And in case your grandmother reacts, let's say unpleasant, well, there are still many months until summer break." She said smirking.
Neville nodded with a small smile and the three first-years left her office. Professor McGonagall set up a rough draft for a letter. While she felt like sending a howler, she knew that wouldn't go over well with Augusta. But she was really disgusted with how she treated her grandson. She had heard the long-time rumours about Neville being a squib just because he didn't show magic early on. To put him under pressure like the Longbottoms did could only have made the problem worse. Perhaps she should let Poppy have a look at him. She didn't want to risk overlooking another case of abuse like it had happened with Harry.
Harry returned to the Ravenclaw common room where his classmates were busy playing Exploding Snap and Wizard.
"Hey, Harry, what took you so long?" Tony asked.
"I had to help Neville Longbottom with a problem. Seems like his Gran is a bit stupid about her belief he should be more like his father and sent him here with his father's wand instead of getting him his own wand. Hermione and Miranda had the idea, as I was the acknowledged genius of the year," Padma through a pillow at him, which he dodged while grinning "hey, their words, not mine, no need to vent your bottled up frustrations on me" that caused another pillow aimed at him from Sylveena, "yeah team up on the poor guy who tries to tell a story. So not fair." He complained.
The boys grinned while Harry played dodge the pillow with the girls.
"I yield." He cried out in the end, hands in the air, when they had surrounded him and were ready to pounce.
"Spoilsport." Lisa commented pouting still throwing her pillow at him.
"Continue telling the story." Michael told Harry who had caught the pillow.
"Okay, but the girls have to promise not to pelt me with pillows again." Harry asked, using his irresistible puppy eyes on the girls, who only nodded.
"Well, they had the idea to see if I had an idea how to help Neville with his casting and in Potions. The guy is a nervous wreck around Professor Snape. Well, I had Neville try to do the charm to change one's hair-colour. The plan was to make Hermione a blond. Well, he did everything right as far as I could see and I thought if the incantation was pronounced properly, the wand movements were correct and he concentrated on what he wanted to achieve, he should be able to get the charm right. The only thing I could think of was too little power, so I told him to concentrate as much magic as he could and then do the spell. Well, when the spell came out, Hermione got the blond hair and a few additional red strands. Well, as I said, it turned out that Neville has his father's wand. I advised him to ask Professor McGonagall to take him to Diagon Alley soon to get him a working wand." Harry ended the story.
"And for that you needed nearly an hour?" Lilian asked.
"No, we talked about some other things a bit, but they are private. Let's just say Neville and I have a lot of things in common." Harry said.
From his tone many guessed he spoke about his abusive childhood. They knew he didn't like to talk about that and had only told them that he had been abused so that they wouldn't ask more questions.
"So, does he get a new wand now?" Padma asked.
"I think so. I didn't accompany them to Professor McGonagall. But I can't imagine that she wouldn't make sure he gets a wand that he can use." Harry said.
Harry sat in the hospital wing next to an uncomfortable looking Neville Longbottom, both waiting for Madam Pomfrey. Harry knew why he was here, but what reason did Neville have?
"Do you also have to get vaccinations?" Harry asked.
"I don't think so; I got them regularly since I was little. Professor McGonagall said I should go here to get an examination. But I don't know for what." Neville answered.
"Ah, Mr Potter and Mr Longbottom. It's been a long time since I saw you two together in the hospital wing. I think you were about a year old and got the vaccinations against the Hippogriff measles. You both didn't like that at all and tried to squirm from Alice and Lily's arms. Well, today, you Mr Potter will get a short examination if the measures Healer Ickings had taken at St. Mungo's were successful or if you need to get a few more potions to correct the problem with your immune system. And of course your next set of vaccinations. Mr Longbottom, you will also get a complete examination. From the medical documents your grandmother sent me, your last one has been three years ago, so I thought I could just do this in one go." Madam Pomfrey explained.
She started with the diagnosis spell on Harry. This was a variant of the spell Healer Ickings had used and showed her changes since the last full diagnostic spell.
"I see, well it has improved a lot, but I would rather you take one potion for strengthening your natural immune system before breakfast each day for a week, that should get it settled. I'll inform the house elves to send it up each morning. Okay, now let's get the vaccination done." She said and got a syringe out that was already filled with the vaccine. She quickly disinfected Harry's arm on his right shoulder and set the vaccination.
"Much better than the last time." She teased.
Harry rolled his eyes. He had had worse in the meantime. Then she did the diagnosis charm on Neville. The quill noted some things and finished after two minutes. She looked at the results and frowned.
"Okay, for you we will also need a potion before the breakfast. Your core is a bit shaky from overexertion and a subconscious suppression of your magic when you were younger. You also need the next vaccination against the Grindylow flu in a month so I'll just do it now." She informed Neville.
She went to her medicine cupboard and took out a bottle and filled another syringe. She repeated the procedure for the vaccination for Neville and then let both boys leave. When she was sure they were out of hearing range, she closed up the hospital wing and went to Minerva McGonagall's office. She found the Gryffindor head of house sitting in an armchair drinking a cup of tea, next to her a pack of graded essays.
"Hello, Poppy. I guess you just finished with Mr Longbottom?" She asked.
"Yes, him and Mr Potter. I did the examinations for them together so I could down play anything I might find with Mr Longbottom as a routine check-up as his last one was three years ago. I'm glad you sent him to me, Minerva, you were right, there are signs of abuse. Nothing as bad on the physical level as Mr Potter's, but bad enough. I had a two minute result of my check." Madam Pomfrey informed McGonagall.
"That's not good. If everything is okay and the regular checks have been made it only takes about fifteen seconds with the speed of your quill." McGonagall commented.
"Indeed. I didn't want to spook the boy, so I only told him that he had to take a potion for getting his shaky core back to normal. He has subconsciously suppressed his magic in his younger years, probably a consequence of what happened to Frank and Alice. From what I know, Augusta took him to his parents in St. Mungo's every year a few times. The problem probably is that, with Neville being told that he had to live up to his parents and to be proud of their courage, he was frightened. He knew his parents had been hurt by magic, so he thought magic was bad. He didn't want to have something that could hurt others like the Death Eaters did with his parents. He was too young to understand. So he subconsciously suppressed any and all accidental magic, which in turn led to the Longbottoms thinking he could be a squib and they tried to force the magic into the open.
"The next thing the check informed me of are some incidents where his magic had to act, but he fought against it to come out. When his family tried to force his magic out they achieved the opposite. Neville's young mind connected magic with something that hurt when he was one. Now others hurt him again to get him to use it. It was overload for his mind, which is the reason he has so many problems with remembering things. I have heard from him about the incident with the remembrall he got when he was in the hospital wing after the flying accident. Those things are useless as they don't tell you what you forgot; they only let him feel worse than before because it is a visible reminder of his weakness. We can be glad that nobody teased him about it.
"Next is an overexertion of his core in the last weeks. It made his core more instable. I think that is due to the incompatible wand he had to use. It shouldn't have long-term consequences as the situation was remedied this early on. If he had continued to use Frank's wand, he would probably have really damaged his core. With how shy and insecure he is, I think it would be best if we kept him here at Hogwarts until the next summer holidays. The boy was abused, in his case it was more emotionally, but it still left scars on him, even if they aren't visible. For him to get better, he needs to get the encouragement he missed out on during his childhood. And somebody needs to talk to Augusta. She needs to be made aware that with her behaviour she is harming her grandson. I can take care of keeping Neville here over Christmas, that's within my medical competence, but if he has to deal with the abuse over the summer again, things could fall back into bad habits if nothing was arranged beforehand." Madam Pomfrey said.
"I had feared something like this when Neville, Hermione Granger and Miranda Lillowe came to me about the issue with his wand. She didn't even tell him that he had a trust vault that Alice and Frank set up for him. Hagrid took him to Diagon Alley to get this remedied with the goblins, he now has his new key to his vault and the old one was recalled. He also got his own wand. I didn't have him in class since then, so I can't tell you if it worked already though." McGonagall sighed.
"Well, good that you followed your instinct. This way we can neutralize the worst effects." Madam Pomfrey said.
Professor McGonagall just nodded.
It was Halloween. There were only two classes in the morning for the Ravenclaw first-years. First they had Herbology with Slytherin, followed by Charms with Gryffindor. Harry wasn't that excited at the prospect of the feast in the evening. Ever since his childhood he had disliked Halloween. While he couldn't really remember the murder of his parents, the Dursleys had made sure he never felt welcome at Halloween. While Dudley was taken out by his mother and father to go trick or treating, Harry was locked up in the cupboard under the stairs. Dudley had paraded around gleefully after returning and enjoyed eating all the treats he got in front of him with gleefully telling that he (Harry) wouldn't get a single thing.
Later the Dursleys had proceeded with using the day to remind him that it was that day that had brought his unwanted stay at their home. When Vernon had drunk too much that was always a painful experience. They had gone so far to insinuate that he should just have died with his parents instead of being a burden to his hard working relatives and that he could be grateful they didn't leave him at an orphanage. With every hit of the belt Harry had wished he was at an orphanage.
So now, knowing what really happened that day, Harry didn't want to celebrate. While for others it was a holiday, one of the most important in the wizarding world, and it doubled as the date when Voldemort had been defeated by him, for Harry it meant the start of his personal hell. Ten years of abuse because his parents had been murdered by Voldemort. Many overlooked that Halloween had made him an orphan and robbed him the chance to grow up loved. When the Ravenclaws took their seats in the Charms classroom after getting back inside after re-potting some plants in greenhouse one, the Gryffindors also entered.
The lesson was about the levitation charm. Professor Flitwick reminded them of the wand movement they had practiced. The swish and flick. Harry, like usual, managed to do the charm on the first attempt.
"Oh, look, Mr Potter has done it, ten points for Ravenclaw." Professor Flitwick said.
Then three more feathers rose. This time it was the feathers from Hermione, Neville and Miranda.
"Ah, three more successful attempts. Take five points each for Gryffindor." He delightedly said.
That was normal procedure in Flitwick's class. The one to first get a spell got ten points, those that were second got five points. Harry noticed that Hermione's partner Ron Weasley didn't look happy at all. To be honest, he looked downright pissed. What could be the reason? Well, he would have fun with his floating feather for now, trying to push the date back in his mind. He directed his feather over to Neville's and looked at the blond boy challenging. Neville nodded and took the challenge. They both used their wands to have their feathers race each other around the classroom.
"A very good demonstration of control over the charm, Mr Potter and Mr Longbottom. Take another five points for your house each. As you seem to have mastered levitating a feather, try it with something heavier." He instructed.
Harry took different things from his bag; he first folded a paper-airplane and sent that flying around. Then other students managed to let their feathers float and Harry played obstacle course with his paper-airplane through the feathers. Now he saw Weasley glaring at him and Hermione. He wondered just what the redhead's problem was. Finally the lesson was over and as it was Halloween Professor Flitwick let them go without homework. The Ravenclaws were the first to leave the room. They went to have lunch, but Harry couldn't eat much and left the table quickly. He went in the direction of their common room. He went to his room, opened the window and let Hedwig inside. She seemed to have felt that he didn't feel well today and was there to keep him company.
"Thanks, Hedwig. I could use some company that doesn't seem to be influenced by the Halloween mania." He told her morosely.
She hooted and nuzzled his cheek with her head. Harry just stroked her and that was how Rick found him. Lost in his thoughts, stroking Hedwig.
"Hey, Harry, are you okay?" Rick asked concerned.
"Not really, but you can't help me. It's just the day." Harry said looking up with pain in his eyes.
Rick thought about it shortly and then understood.
"Sorry, I never really thought what this day would mean for you. Do you want to be alone?" He asked.
"If you don't mind. I don't want to spoil anybody's fun, but I simply can't celebrate Halloween." Harry answered. Hedwig gave him and assuring hoot which made him smile a little bit.
In the evening the great feast was commencing, but there were two students missing. Hermione Granger was absent at the Gryffindor table, Miranda and Neville were glaring at the clueless Ron Weasley. And at the Ravenclaw table Harry Potter was missing. When Dumbledore opened the feast, he noticed Harry missing.
"Filius, where is Mr Potter? Surely he wouldn't want to miss the feast?" He asked.
"Damn, Miss Granger is also missing. I just noticed when you said that Mr Potter was missing and I counted the heads on my table. Let me ask Mr Longbottom and Miss Lillowe. They will probably know where she is. Perhaps Filius can do the same with Mr Potter's friends." McGonagall said.
Both she and Flitwick stood up and walked towards the first-years. When they returned Flitwick looked solemn and McGonagall furious.
"What did you find out?" Dumbledore asked.
"Mr Potter is in his room with his owl. He isn't hungry and doesn't want to celebrate Halloween as it is the day his parents were murdered." Flitwick said, making some of the teachers curse themselves for not thinking about that.
"Miss Granger is in a toilet crying because Mr Weasley said some really repulsive things to her after Charms class. From what Mr Longbottom told me, he called Miss Granger horrible names and said that she didn't really have friends and that those she thought that were her friends were only staying around her to get an easy helper for their schoolwork. Miss Lillowe tried to get her out of the toilet, but she wouldn't come out. I already took twenty points from Mr Weasley and I think a detention with Argus will make him think just what he says in the future." McGonagall informed the others.
"Oh my, I had noticed that he was angry in Charms. Miss Granger had tried to help him with the levitation charm, but he didn't get it and when she did the charm correctly just after Mr Potter, he got even angrier. But I didn't think it would lead to something like this." Flitwick said.
Meanwhile Harry had decided to take a little walk to the owlery. He wanted to get some exercise, only sitting on his bed didn't work to calm him down from his feelings. Hedwig sat on his shoulder. She wouldn't leave him today. When they walked down the staircase to change from the wing the Ravenclaw common room was in to the one with the owlery, they heard a loud noise. Harry wondered what was happening and walked there. Did Peeves cause mayhem again? It would be like him, especially on Halloween. But what Harry saw wasn't Peeves; it was a twelve foot mountain troll. Harry's first instinct was running away, but then when the troll trudged into a room, he heard a female scream he knew. That was Hermione's voice. He quickly took out a piece of parchment and a pen and scribbled a note that he needed help.
"Hedwig, quickly get this to the Great Hall to Professor Dumbledore. I need the teachers up here." He said.
Hedwig nodded and took off as fast as she could. Harry only saw one chance for him; he needed to distract the troll from Hermione. That room was a bathroom. Hermione would be caught inside if the troll passed the door completely.
"Hey, ugly. Why don't you take on somebody who can fight back?" He shouted.
The troll ignored him.
Harry didn't want to get in close; the troll was massively stronger than him. He looked around and saw one of the suits of armour. He had the perfect idea. He quickly ran over there and crashed it on the ground. The troll, having reacted to the noise, looked towards him. Harry had the helmet placed at his foot and lifted his right leg back and kicked the helmet at the troll's head with all his strength. The troll got the helmet directly on his nose and his eyes and was yelling out in pain. Then his eyes, swollen now from the hit, concentrated on Harry and he roared and came running at him with his club raised. Harry sped off towards the staircases. From there the teachers would come. It worked to a degree. Harry was faster than the troll thanks to his years of football training.
The troll followed Harry, but when he was about to run down, the stairs changed directions and his only choice to escape was running up again. He just hoped he would soon get help. From downstairs he heard voices of the teachers shouting, but he didn't hear what they said. He just kept running. Then Hedwig appeared in front of him and grabbed his collar. He felt strange. As if the weight of his body didn't exist anymore. The troll had cornered him. He needed to get away, but behind him was the troll running at him and in front of him the not existing staircase that really seemed to hate him right now. He had planned running down from here before it moved away just a few seconds prior.
'Jump!' He heard a shout in his head.
While he normally wouldn't listen to voices in his head he didn't know, he was in a dire situation. He either could jump and hope whatever Hedwig had done would protect him or get smashed. Even if he did fall, it was only a distance of ten metres, nothing more than broken bones would result from that and Madam Pomfrey could heal those in a minute. So Harry pushed forwards from the platform and suddenly knew what Hedwig had meant with 'Jump!' He was so light that he glided down to the platform under him. It wasn't like flying; he was just too light to take damage from the landing. His feet landed on the platform and he was greeted by the concerned Professor Sprout. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape were shooting spells at the troll while running up the stairs.
But just when it seemed they had the upper hand, a giant Cerberus crashed onto the platform where they were battling the troll. Where the hell did a Cerberus come from? The Cerberus saw the troll as his most problematic enemy though and started attacking it, ending the former work of the Professors. When the troll lay bloody on the floor, the Cerberus turned to the others. The Professors seemed to be too shocked to really react. In Harry's mind flashed a memory.
Flashback
"Who is Fluffy?" Harry asked, not being capable of imagining anything called Fluffy scaring the Dursleys.
"A three headed dog I got from a Greek chappie a while ago. Real softy he is, yer only need ter know how ter handle him. Play 'im a bit of music an' he falls asleep. Mos' magical creatures are only misunderstood, I think. Look at 'em callin' Thestrals dangerous creatures. Only 'cause they can only be seen by those who've seen death. Thestrals can look after 'emselves. Ministry fools don' like tha'. We've a 'hole herd at Hogwarts. They pull the carriages for the students when they come with the Hogwarts Express every year." Hagrid said while they walked through the part of London where St. Mungo's was located towards Diagon Alley.
Flashback end
Harry knew that this was probably Fluffy. So he opened his mouth and started singing the first song that came to his mind.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see.
'T was grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear?
The hour I first believed.
Fluffy seemed to sway on his feet and Harry continued singing.
Through many dangers toils and snares
I have already come
'T was grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.
Fluffy was now peacefully sleeping and Dumbledore conjured a harp to keep playing music while he levitated the Cerberus back into the third floor corridor. Snape was following him. Harry meanwhile began shaking like a leaf. His adrenaline that had been sky high was falling now. Professor Sprout saw the problem and sat him on the floor.
"Breath deep in and out, Mr Potter, you are safe now, the troll has been dealt with. You reacted fabulously to the Cerberus. How did you know what to do?" She asked, trying to distract him.
"Hagrid told me about Fluffy. He falls asleep when he hears music. The only thing I could think of was singing." Harry said.
"That was a beautiful song. I've never heard it before. What is it called?" She asked.
From downstairs Madam Pomfrey was running upstairs.
"It's called Amazing Grace. It's a muggle song. I always liked to sing at school, but my cousin made always fun of me for being girly." Harry answered embarrassed.
"I don't think it's girly. You also have a very nice singing voice." She praised him.
Harry couldn't help but blush. He didn't get many compliments like that. Madam Pomfrey reached them.
"Hermione, she was in that toilet." Harry then remembered in panic again. "Somebody needs to look for her. I managed to distract the troll before it could get in there and led it here to the stairs as I thought Hedwig would bring the teachers here."
"Don't worry, Mr Potter. Professor Vector has gone to get her. She will escort her to the hospital wing. And you will also accompany me there. You have a shock and it will be best if you get to lie down and take a calming draught." Madam Pomfrey said soothingly.
"Can't I just go to my room in Ravenclaw tower and sleep there?" He asked pleadingly.
"No, I'm sorry; I want to observe you over the night. Especially as we don't know if what your familiar did to prevent you from breaking all the bones in your legs has after-effects." Madam Pomfrey insisted.
'It was perfectly safe.' He heard the voice from before that he now knew belonged to Hedwig.
"Thank you, Hedwig." He said, caressing the plumage of his owl.
'You're welcome, but you can answer me in your mind, then others can't hear what you say to me.' She replied.
'Like this?' Harry asked trying it.
'Yes, that's it. I'm happy that we now can really talk with each other.' She said.
'I like this too. What did you do? I felt like a feather when you took my collar.' Harry asked.
'That's more or less what I did. I have the ability to influence the weight of things. I can either turn things feather-light or make them weigh as much as a boulder.' She explained. 'I'm still learning all about my powers. With every full moon I learn more.'
"Mr Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"Sorry, I was talking to Hedwig." He answered.
"But you didn't say a thing." She commented.
"We can mind talk." Harry explained. "She said she turned me feather-light and that it wasn't harmful but perfectly safe. And right now I'm feeling like I normally feel, well my weight that is."
"Very interesting. But now, I'll take you to the hospital wing. No complaints anymore." She ordered.
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." Harry said resignedly.
Quirinius Quirrell was silently cursing. His plan to get more information and perhaps even make an attempt at the Philosopher's Stone had failed. While everything had gone to plan when he stormed into the Great Hall, announcing that a troll was in the dungeons and pretending to faint, things then went to hell. That moon owl of the Potter boy had swooped into the hall, flown directly at Dumbledore and gave him a note. Dumbledore called all the teachers except Babbling, Sinistra, Tonks and Burbage to follow him upstairs as Harry Potter was currently confronted with the troll, it had to have gone upstairs from the dungeons.
After that, he had just managed to leave the Great Hall unnoticed from the teachers keeping watch over the students. He sped towards the third floor. Hopefully he would have enough time to look what was behind the door. But there he only was confronted with a monstrous Cerberus. The dog attacked him and injured him in the leg. He jumped behind the door, which led to the Cerberus running along the floor towards the noise in the direction of the stairs. He looked out from behind the door and saw an empty corridor. Damn that dog, now he couldn't go farther with his leg like it was. And they would soon send somebody here to ensure the safety of the stone. He saw that there was a trapdoor in the room, which would lead down to the next obstacle probably. He didn't know whose was next and what it was.
The uproar in the direction of the stairs suddenly ended. Then footsteps came closer. It were two persons. Quirrell didn't wait until they were close enough to see him or even hear him, he retreated deeper back, as fast as his leg could carry him. This was a failure. A complete and utter failure. His master wouldn't be pleased.
Dumbledore, followed by Snape, who kept the harp playing, levitated Fluffy back into the room.
"Somebody tried to get inside, headmaster." Snape said.
"Indeed. But Fluffy must have been a nasty surprise for him. Look, here is blood on the floor." He pointed out.
"Yes, we should follow the trail as soon as the beast is back in his place. By the way, don't you think it would be a bit unsafe to just keep the door locked? I mean now that many more people know about the beast's weakness." Snape reminded Dumbledore.
"Yes, I was really surprised to see and hear Harry singing like that. A truly beautiful song, even if a bit sad. I guess Hagrid must have mentioned Fluffy to Harry before I told him to keep anything regarding the Cerberus a secret to use him as a protection for the stone." Dumbledore mused.
"In this case his habit to talk rather much was an advantage. With Potter reacting that quickly we didn't need to injure the Cerberus and it can retake his guarding position for now."
Dumbledore locked the door again and he and Snape went following the trail of blood until it stopped abruptly.
"He noticed the trail he left and either vanished the blood from here on or managed to stop the bleeding." Snape observed.
"Well, we won't find him now. Let's return and see how Harry and Miss Granger are." Dumbledore said.
"I will leave that to you. I will return to the Great Hall and look after my house." Snape said and left.
In the Great Hall the students were talking with each other, scared about the troll. The four teachers that had been left to keep watch and in case the troll managed to get past the other teachers somehow, tried to keep people calm. Then finally Professor Snape returned and walked towards the podium in front of the head table. All eyes were on him.
"The troll has been dealt with and doesn't pose a threat anymore. All houses are to follow their prefects back to their common rooms. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors should take the alternative routes that avoid the main staircase as there are still cleaning up and repairs to do. Nobody was hurt by the troll as far as we know at the moment." He said.
"What about Harry and Hermione?" Neville asked.
"Mr Potter wasn't hurt, but is being treated in the hospital wing for a shock after leading away the troll from Miss Granger's position. She too is being treated for a shock. That is all I know about that. Now return to your common rooms." Snape said and walked over to the Slytherin table and gave his prefects more instructions.
Slowly all the students left the Great Hall.
The next morning when Harry awoke, he was confronted with a sobbing and shaking Hermione at the side of his bed.
"Hermione?" He asked confused.
"Oh, Harry. Thank you so much. The troll caught me completely by surprise, I couldn't move. It was like I was frozen on the spot. If you hadn't distracted it, it would have attacked me, it was about to come in and smash me with its club." She said, hugging the dear life out of him.
He was tense, but tried to relax.
"Hey, it's okay, I didn't get hurt." He said.
"But you put yourself in danger just to protect me." She sobbed.
"Indeed a very noble act, Mr Potter." Dumbledore's voice sounded.
Behind Hermione with his usually twinkling eyes Albus Dumbledore was watching them. Hermione let go of Harry embarrassed.
"I only did it because I knew that if you were trapped in the room with the troll there would be nothing anybody could have done to help you. I didn't have any idea how to deal with a troll. All the spells any book mentioned are above my level. I only knew I was faster than it. So I decided to play a game of cat and mouse and get it into the direction from where the teachers would come after Hedwig delivered my note." Harry said. "I kicked the helmet of one of the suits of armour into its face and it followed me. Without Hedwig making me feather light when the stairs I wanted to take disconnected from the floor I was on, I wouldn't have got away like I did."
"Yes, indeed a very interesting act from your familiar. I didn't know moon owls could do that, but then again, there are nearly no documents on moon owls beside how they look like. Madam Pomfrey also told me you could mind talk to her." Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, it happened for the first time yesterday. Hedwig said she didn't know all her powers she is still learning about them." Harry answered.
"Remarkable. Well, Madam Pomfrey wants to examine you one last time, then she will let you return to your common rooms. Oh and before I forget it, Mr Potter, fifty points for Ravenclaw for outstanding thinking on your feet in a dangerous situation." Dumbledore said smiling.
"Thank you, sir." Harry said.
Dumbledore left.
"By the way, Hermione, why were you in that bathroom? I mean, you should have been at the feast." Harry asked.
Hermione looked sad.
"Hey, what happened? Contrary to me you don't have any reason to not like Halloween, do you?" Harry asked.
"No, it wasn't because of Halloween. It was because of Ron Weasley. In Charms I corrected his pronunciation of the charm because with how he said it and how he trashed around with his wand he would have hurt himself or others. After class he told his friends, while I was just behind them, he said that I was an insufferable know-it-all and that I didn't have any friends. And that once Neville and Miranda noticed how unbearable I was and didn't need my help for homework anymore they would leave me as well. And he said that I had no right to correct him as I didn't know anything about the wizarding world as a muggleborn." She said and sobbed again.
Harry, still uncomfortable about much physical contact, put a hand on her back and rubbed it awkwardly. Miranda was right; he wasn't good at relationships with kids his age as he had been isolated from them most of the time. The only ones he got along with better were his team-mates. But that was never really that close beyond playing football and talking about playing and a few non important topics. And he had had a lot of time to get used to them and know how they would react to certain behaviour from him.
"Forget what he said. You know it isn't true. Neville and Miranda are your friends. They would never abandon you. And they don't just use you for their homework. That's probably what Weasley would do. I guess that has happened when you were in primary school?" Harry asked.
"Yes, the other kids always teased me about my large front teeth and that I was a bookworm and a teacher's pet. When another girl was being nice to me, I was so happy. I didn't think anything about helping her with her schoolwork, I thought that was just what a friend would do, but I overheard her talking to some others that asked her why she was even talking to me that I was useful for her homework. It hurt so much, finding out that my only friend only used me to be better in school and didn't like me really." She said.
Harry decided he would corner Weasley and give him a proper dressing down. He hated people who hurt others because they felt inadequate themselves and needed to make themselves feel better about others being miserable.
"If your front teeth are a problem for you, why don't you ask Madam Pomfrey if she could shrink them a bit for you? It would only take a little bit and if it means so much to you, I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Harry asked.
"I don't know if my parents would allow that. They're dentists and think I should just use my braces." She answered.
"Well, what can they do if you just have it done? It's nothing harmful and it seems to mean a lot to you. While they may be a bit disgruntled in the beginning, they'll get over it soon when they see how happy it makes you." Harry argued.
"Perhaps, I'll think about it. Thank you, Harry."
"You're welcome, Hermione. Uhm, would you mind to leave me alone for a moment so I can change?" He asked.
"Oh, of course, sorry, Harry." She said blushing and practically raced to the other side of the curtains that closed off Harry's bed from view.
Harry changed from his pyjama into his free-time clothes which were placed on a chair next to his bed. When he was done, he came out from behind the curtains. It didn't take long for Madam Pomfrey to clear them both to leave the hospital wing.
Ron Weasley was walking from Gryffindor Tower towards the Great Hall for lunch. Yesterday the incident with the troll in the castle had cut the feast short. It was a shame, so many good things to eat and they hadn't got the chance to really enjoy them over the fear that the troll would come there. And then of course Harry Potter again was in the spotlight. That arrogant show-off. Potter the Boy-Who-Simply-Could-Do-Everything. Now he had even got onto his house's Quidditch team and it was said he had led the troll on a race of cat and mouse until the teachers could get the troll. There also were rumours he had sung a Cerberus to sleep. Pah, as if anybody could do that. Potter the traitor should have been a Gryffindor and then he would have become his best friend. That was what his mother had always said. A boy as brave as Harry Potter would have to become a Gryffindor. After all both his parents had been in Gryffindor, but where did the traitor go? To the Ravenclaw bookworms. And instead of seeing what a boring nerd and bookworm he was, everybody seemed to fall over him.
Suddenly he froze and was dragged into an empty classroom. Then he was unfrozen, grabbed by the collar and stared down by furious green eyes. The eyes of the one he had just mentally ranted about.
"Do you know that I would love to beat you up for what you caused yesterday, Weasley? I have noticed that you are incapable of thinking before you talk, so I will make my message really clear. You, Ronald Weasley, have nearly become the cause for the death of a fellow student." Harry spat.
"Wha? What the hell are you talking about, Potter? I would never kill somebody. Only dark wizards do that." Ron shouted.
"SHUT UP!" Harry shouted back making Ron shiver in fear.
"Yesterday in Charms you were angry because Hermione was better than you again. You were jealous that Neville and I got the attention in class, while you failed to do the charm. Hermione even tried to help you. She told you what you did wrong, but you, the stupid, stuck up on false pride, moron that you are, couldn't just accept the help and had to make fun of her after class. You knew she was walking behind you, yet you still had to say that her friends would only stay with her because she was helping them with their homework and that nobody could stand a know-it-all-bookworm.
"Your words made her run away, miss lunch and lock herself into the toilet on the second floor, crying her eyes out over your cruel words. The same toilet the troll nearly went into. Miranda tried to get her out of there, but thanks to you, she didn't want to come out. You, Ronald Weasley, and your cruel words are the reason she was in that toilet when the troll came. Hadn't I just been walking around with Hedwig to stretch my legs, she would be dead by now. No first year would be able to take on a mountain troll and win. I'm the best in our year and I could only make it change attention to me and chase me instead of Hermione. And that I got away unharmed was only because I was lucky, it had nothing to do with any mystique skills or such nonsense. Do you feel good now? Do you feel superior? What does it feel like to nearly have caused the death of a girl that only tried to help you?" Harry coldly asked.
With every word of the story Ron had paled more.
"You said only dark wizards would cause the death of somebody? Are you a dark wizard, Weasley? Does it feel good that your words were hurting her more than any wound you could have dealt her physically? Should I show you just how much words can hurt?" Harry asked again, not getting an answer from the shaking boy.
"Should I take that as a yes? You are not even worth being beaten up. You are scum, nothing more. You get turned on by making others cry. Did you even try to apologize to Hermione when you heard Parvati and Miranda talk about where she was? No, you continued on to the feast. When you found out that a troll was in the castle, did you think about the danger Hermione could be in? It was a coincidence that Professor McGonagall noticed she was missing and asked Neville and Miranda where she was so that a teacher went there as soon as they knew about the troll. But you were only interested in your food. You begrudge Hermione and me that we are good in class, but you only laze around from what I hear, not making any effort to do better in class, so you don#t have any right to be jealous of those that get praised for good results. If I ever hear that you do something like that again, you will have to deal with me, Weasley. I take offence to anybody hurting those I care about. And don't make any mistake; I am an unforgiving enemy to have." Harry said, let Ron fall to the ground and walked out of the room.
Things didn't get better for Ron Weasley the next few days. The verbal beating Harry had given him was replayed in his mind over and over again, especially the accusation of being a dark wizard for liking to make others hurt. Worse, the twins had found out about his part in Hermione's near fatal contact with the troll. He got pranked horribly and Percy told him in very clear words that he was disgusted to have to hear how his brother could say something like he did to Hermione. He had written their mother to inform her about his abysmal behaviour. The rest of the first years were shunning him. Even Dean and Seamus. They all thought that until he honestly apologized to Hermione, he deserved their treatment.
The next thing was the howler he got two days after the incident. The day where he had hoped to get a reprieve as it was the day where the first Quidditch mazch, Gryffindor against Slytherin would take place. But the loud, booming voice of Molly Weasley, who told him how disgusted she was with his behaviour, made him feel very small. It didn't help that those cold, hard, green eyes were constantly drilling into his head. And Potter hadn't even got points deducted.
Harry had been called into Professor Flitwick's office and his head of house had asked him to explain what had happened between him and Ron. Somehow rumours had spread that he had given Ron a thorough dressing down. Harry had informed Flitwick that he had told Ron what he thought about his actions, made him realize just what his insensitive words had nearly caused and asked him if he was proud of his actions. He didn't hurt him, the only thing he could have been held accountable for was the body bind hex, for which he was ready to take full responsibility. He said his reason was that he wanted to do it without witnesses to not let things get further out of control.
Flitwick had told Harry that he should have left things to the teachers and had given him a warning to not repeat his action. But as it hadn't technically been wrong and it was much more effective that a student called Ron out for his stupidity, he let it slide.
The Quidditch match Gryffindor vs. Slytherin was brutal. After the initial success of the Gryffindor chasers, the Slytherin team acted with more brutality than before. Angelina Johnson was sent tumbling down behind a banner after being smashed into the side by Slytherin captain Flint. Oliver Wood, who had kept his team in the lead with his saves despite the cheating of Slytherin, was hit in the stomach by a bludger when Madam Hooch was dressing down Flint. While both actions against Johnson and Wood resulted in penalty shots for Gryffindor, after two key players were weakened, Slytherin's chaser trio had much more leeway in their attacks. The only saving grace for Gryffindor were the Weasley twins who had taken personal offence to the way Slytherin had attacked their team-mates and shot dangerous bludger attacks at the attacking chasers and made sure the Slytherin seeker didn't have a reprieve to find the snitch.
In the end, when Slytherin was already leading in the game with 120 to 70, Terrence Higgs, the Slytherin seeker finally got the snitch and the match ended 270 to 70 for Slytherin, much to the chagrin of the Gryffindors.
"You have seen how Slytherin plays. They use every dirty trick in the book to get their way." Daniel told the assembled Ravenclaw team, who had got orders to be present to study their opponents.
"If they notice that they can't get their way they commit fouls. For them, taking penalty shots isn't an issue if they can weaken the most dangerous players on the opponent team. The only reason Gryffindor didn't lose worse are that Wood is a hard nut to crack and the Weasley twins can be vicious as you have seen. The only position Gryffindor is weak at if they play against Hufflepuff or us, is the seeker. Their new seeker is inexperienced and doesn't have a good eye for the snitch. In fact Gryffindor didn't have a good seeker since Charlie Weasley left two years ago. The best way to beat Gryffindor is fast play. If the twins don't get a chance to hit you with a bludger, they can't disturb our moves.
"Slytherin will be less vicious against us than against Gryffindor, that's a long standing rivalry there that gets moods heated up every time they face each other. They will still play brutally though. We will work on strategies for them once the games come up. Next week we will have to play against Hufflepuff. We will have four training units instead of the normal three, one being a strategy meeting directly before the game." Daniel announced.
"Okay, captain." The younger ones answered. Pomarel just nodded.
The next week Harry was kept really busy with his training and cut his morning workouts short to do some homework. Finally it was the day of the match. The weather was dry with a few clouds in the sky, meaning light changes from sun to cloudy could happen. Well, that would mainly concern Daniel as he was the seeker. For the others it didn't matter as much.
"Okay, you all know the plan. We have trained hard, we know our moves and we are good. For a new team we are astonishingly good. Don't underestimate the Hufflepuffs, concentrate and we will win this." Daniel told them before they had to move out on the field.
"Yes!" They all shouted.
They walked out onto the field, seeing the Hufflepuffs in their yellow Quidditch robes appearing from the other side of the field. Daniel and the Hufflepuff captain, sixth year Ignatio Renner, shook hands before they kicked off and took their positions. Madam Hooch released the balls and then threw up the quaffle and took off into the air herself. Roger Davies got the ball and dodged the Hufflepuff chaser that tried to catch the ball herself. Roger sped off, passed to Quentana when confronted with the second chaser, who then flew towards the goals, Roger flanking her left, Harry slightly down to the right. She dodged a bludger that was aimed at her and shortly before she reached the hoops, passed surprisingly at Roger, who put the quaffle through the left hoop and scored the first points for Ravenclaw.
The Hufflepuff keeper got the quaffle and passed to his chaser, but Harry had been waiting for that, intercepted the ball and put it through the right hoop.
"Look at that, Potter just used the weak pass to Ericson to intercept the pass from keeper Tyler to score the second time for Ravenclaw. 20 to 0 Ravenclaw." The voice of Lee Jordan sounded through the loudspeakers.
The game went back and forth. Hufflepuff was more careful now with their passes, but Harry was simply good at stealing the quaffle. Daniel had spotted that ability of his early in the team training and built some fast counter strategies on it. Harry was to take the quaffle away from another chaser, speed up towards the goal where Quentana and Roger were already waiting in position. A well-aimed pass at one or the other without the keeper knowing whom Harry would serve, got Ravenclaw more goals in fast succession.
When the Hufflepuffs got used to that play after four goals they took through that, Ravenclaw quickly changed strategy again and Harry and Roger demonstrated perfect fast paced passes around the Hufflepuff defence. Harry also showed his spinning shots that were incalculable for Tyler. On the Ravenclaw side of the field, Pomarel showed his skill as a keeper and stopped five of the eight attempts Hufflepuff got through the Ravenclaw defence on their hoops. After forty five minutes Ravenclaw led 180 to 30. Then Barkaim shot down, followed by Diggory, the Hufflepuff seeker. Harry used the confusion of the Hufflepuff team to score once more. Barkaim just managed to grab the snitch before Diggory could close his hand around it.
"And Barkaim in a fantastic showdown against Diggory catches the snitch, winning Ravenclaw the game. Damn if any of us had the Ravenclaw team on our list of favourites for the Cup this year with having more than half of their team to replace. Ravenclaw wins with 340 to 30!" Lee shouted.
The Ravenclaws were surrounding their captain who still held the snitch in his hands and cheered for this great victory.
Alright, that covers Halloween and the first Quidditch matches. Till next time.