It was just before dinner when Harry overheard Pansy giggling with the other First Year Slytherin girls. Rumor had it that Ronald Weasley had driven Granger to tears and she ran off to the Girl's Washroom on the main floor. Harry found it increasingly interesting that Weasley would actively alienate his own house. Harry shrugged it off and made his way to the Slytherin table to start his dinner.
A few minutes passed as Harry reached for a second helping of mashed potatoes when the doors to the Great Hall burst open. Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know."
He then sank to the floor in a dead faint. There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
Rebecca stood up and started delegating collecting the different years of students to different prefects. "Flint, we're short on Prefects, you take of the First Years. Take them to the Library. Now!" She demanded with not an ounce of insecurity.
Flint scowled but nodded. "Potter! Front and center." Flint said pointing at Harry who quickly ran towards Flint. "Ok, I'm not gonna pretend I know all the Firsties, are they all here?" .
Harry did a quick scan and head count of his friends and other first years. "Yeah, we're all here." He said as soon as he was sure.
Flint nodded. "Alright, First Years, this way!" He shouted waving his arm, gesturing them out of the Great Hall.
"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they turned a corner towards the Library. Draco merely shrugged and followed Flint.
They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. Harry caught a glimpse of the First Year Gryffindors and his mind slowed down. Like he was forgetting something important. He say Percy shouting and leading them in the same arrogant manner he did anything regarding his Prefect Authority. Harry saw Ronald for a moment and then it clicked in his head.
Harry stopped and grabbed Draco by the arm. "Granger!" Harry said looking back towards the Great Hall. "She doesn't know about the Troll."
Draco frowned. "So, leave her, we should get to the Library." he said nodding back towards the group.
Harry shook his head. "I can't do it. I'm gonna go find her. You coming?" Harry said before running towards the Great Hall.
There was a moment of apprehension on Draco's face before resignation and running after Harry. They avoided the other groups of students and made their way to the Girl's Washroom.
They were a hallway away when they heard footsteps behind them. "Prefect! Hide." Harry hissed grabbing Draco and shuffling behind a suit of armor.
Peering around it, however, they saw not a Prefect, but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.
"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"
Draco only had a look of bewilderment and shrugged.
Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.
"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said.
"Can you smell something?" Draco said holding his sleave to his nose.
Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. And then they heard it — a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Draco pointed at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.
It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.
The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.
"The keys in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."
Draco scowled, clearly masking fear. "Then just do it!" he hissed.
They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.
"Yes!"
Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop. A high, petrified scream, and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.
"Oh, come on!" Draco shouted under his breath.
"It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped.
It was the last thing Harry wanted to do, but what choice did he have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran inside.
Harry and Draco were confronted with the sight of Granger backed up against the far wall in shock; the Troll was slowly advancing on her.
"Well, oh great and mighty Potter, what do we do now?" Draco mocked.
"How do I know? I've never faced a troll before!" Harry scathingly replied.
"You'd better think of something quick as Granger is about to become troll meat!" Draco said, his voice slightly higher than usual and in any other situation, Harry would have found it hilarious.
Hermione Granger let out a scream that could rival a banshee that caused Harry and Draco to wince slightly and Harry had to cover his ears at the high pitched sound.
"For God's sake, enough of the hysterics Granger!" Draco shouted, and surprised with the sound of his voice, she immediately shut up.
"Help me please! Do something, anything..." Granger pitifully whimpered.
The Troll, that was shocked with the loud shout abruptly turned around waving it's club slightly in the air smashed all of the sinks on the left hand side as it turned round to face Harry and Draco; consequently sending shards of porcelain everywhere and the boys had no time to duck the attack of bits of sink, pipe and water that came their way.
"Nice one Draco." Harry snarled, wiping the bleeding cut at his cheek where a sharp bit of porcelain from the sink had hit him. Hermione, it seemed, had been able to discover the wonders of movement and had decided to duck and she was now curled in a ball I the corner; slightly wet from the water spurting from the nearby taps.
Harry too was half drenched and Harry saw that Draco fared not that better. Draco also had a cut but it was on his eyebrow, the water dripping down from his hair caused the blood to run further down his face.
"Draco, go and get Hermione. I'll deal with the troll." Harry muttered, not keeping his eye on the troll that was slowly advancing on him. It took Harry a second to realise that it wasn't him that the troll was coming, but Draco.
With no rational thought Harry reacted. He leapt for a large piece of a broken sink. As soon as he had the piece in hand he ran at the troll and drove the broken piece into the troll's leg. The troll yelled out with a deep grunt voice and swung it club in Harry's direction, but he had already moved behind it.
After pulling out the broken sink piece the troll limped over quickly, making a loud noise that echoed off the walls, it gave a loud roar and with a grunt the troll lifted its club high in the air.
Harry retaliated by pulling his wand out of his sleeve, Harry saw that Draco had reached Hermione and he was pulling by the hem of her robe; quite violently in fact to get her to move.
Harry lifted his own wand higher, and just as the troll was going to bring down his arm to strike him, Harry moved his wrist in a 'swish and flick' motion and calmly and determinedly said,
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club hovered above the Troll's head. the Troll looked dumbly at his now empty hand before he looked up. Harry swiftly and forcefully whipped his wand in a downward movement, causing the club to accelerate down onto the troll's head obviously caving it in. The troll stood still for a few seconds before toppling on itself, its huge feet nearly knocking Harry's chin as they rose up in the air before hitting the ground. The sound of the troll falling made the whole room tremble and a blanket of dust fall on them.
Harry wiped some of the dust out of his hair all the while hoping that the cut on his cheek had stopped bleeding, Harry looked up and felt his heartbeat quicken. The troll had fallen in front of the door. They couldn't leave.
Hermione Granger had a hold of Draco's robes in a vice like grip due to her white knuckles and she had buried her head in his chest. Her shoulders moved occasionally so Harry surmised that she had just finished crying.
Draco caught Harry's smirk and glared, all the while trying to untangle the girl's grip from his robes without much success. Draco's cut in his eyebrow had stopped bleeding but half of his face was covered in watery blood, and his pristine white-blond hair looked grey due to the dust that covered all three of them.
Draco finally admitted defeat and mouthed 'Help me!' and Harry just shrugged his shoulders and dust off his robes. Hermione broke out in deep wheezing sobs again, but this time she cried into Draco's shoulder.
Eventually Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape arrived. They were able to remove the Troll corpse and then demanded to know what exactly had happened.
Snape bent over the troll. He quickly stood at his full height and had a stone cold look on his face. "Dead." he simply said
Professor McGonagall was looking at Draco and Harry. Harry had never
seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of getting out of the Girl's Washroom unpunished rapidly faded from Harry's mind.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice.
Harry looked at Draco, who was still standing with Hermione clutching to him. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Hermione would stop crying and as if his prayers were answered she did indeed stop crying and found her voice.
"Please, Professor McGonagall, they were looking for me." Hermione said releasing Draco and stepping forward.
"Miss Granger!" McGonagall said sounding equal parts furious and concerned.
"I had been here since my last class. I avoided dinner and hadn't heard about the troll." Hermione said as she wiped her face on her sleeve, not that it helped much.
"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Draco manage to distract it and Harry hit it with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
"Well, in that case..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger,
you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Hermione hung her head. "Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."
Hermione left.
Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Draco. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll." she said. She was about to continue but was cut short by Professor Snape.
"Indeed. Lucky is a more polite phrasing of what you did!" Snape said sounding furious, but with the lack of venom Harry had come a custom to. "You're actions not only saved the life of another student, but protected Hogwarts from a dangerous beast. I find that most deserving of 20 points each. Now return to your Common Room before I change my mind and decide punishment in order."
They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they approached the dungeons. It
was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.
"Can you believe it? 40 Points, just for saving Granger from that Troll." Draco asked sounding incredulous.
"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him. "Well she wouldn't have needed saving in the first place if it wasn't for Weasley." Harry scowled, but then had an epiphany. "But all in all, I'd say 40 points was worth it. The House Cup will be Slytherin's for sure this year."
Draco laughed and nodded. Harry just smiled as he knew that Granger would be so grateful of him that she'd do practically anything, even if it meant helping him ensure Ginny Weasley was sorted into Slytherin.
