CHAPTER 14:

HAPPY DEATHDAY

He didn't know whether it was Minerva's warning, or just a heightened sense of something wrong, but during the next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Harry felt himself become suspicious of an incident involving Quirrell. Harry had relayed Minerva's warning to Aerith, Jenova, and Dumbledore, and their lack of surprise suggested that they knew something about it. They had urged Harry not to divulge anything to anyone else: panic would spread like a plague. He understood, but he was also annoyed that he was being kept out of the loop, although he could understand why.

During DADA, Harry was called to the front of the room by Quirrell. Jenova was watching, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "N-n-n-now, G-G-Gainsborough, d-d-during your d-d-duel, you d-d-demonstrated some highly advanced m-m-magic. C-c-c-could you p-p-please explain?"

Harry looked at Quirrell, and then at Jenova, who nodded. It was decided some time ago to give the Materia a cover story, in order to conceal their origins from another world. "Less than a year ago, I ended up in an isolated community of magic users," he lied. Or almost lied. It wasn't that far from the truth. "Instead of using wands, they use a special focus called a Materia. Each Materia has a different effect. The one I used on Draco during the duel was an Enemy Skills Materia: it is able to memorise certain attacks performed by magical creatures and your adversaries, and allow you to use them. There are 24 known Enemy Skills, which are all on this Materia. They're not just offensive attacks, either. If you were at Potions, you might have seen me use Mighty Guard, a skill that places physical and magical shields over you. At the flying lesson, I used White Wind, a healing technique. Materia usually have a set purpose, so unlike a wand, they're not as versatile with magic. But they also have more powerful magic, and can 'grow' through use."

"Thank you, G-G-Gainsborough. M-m-may I see the M-m-materia?"

Harry rolled up his sleeve, exposing the bangle again. "W-w-why are they d-d-different c-c-colours?" Quirrell asked, his spidery hands a little too close to the bangle for Harry's comfort.

"They each have a separate purpose. A green Materia uses magic. The blue one is support Materia, and enhances the Materia it is linked to. The red one is a Summon Materia. Yellow Materia aren't necessarily magic, but are called Command Materia, because they help give you abilities you may not necessarily have, like the ability to sense the attributes of a monster. There's also purple Materia, called Independent Materia. They enhance health, magic, physical strength…"

Harry couldn't help but notice the faintest hungry gleam in Quirrell's eyes. He hoped he had imagined it, because it was gone when Jenova cleared her throat pointedly. "Thank you, G-G-Gainsborough. But if you d-d-didn't have the M-m-materia, or your w-w-wand, what would you d-d-do?"

"It depends on my opponent. I would either run away, or fight."

"Like a Muggle?" Draco sneered. Even after the duel and its conclusion, he still had a rather cocky attitude.

Quirrell rounded on the boy, an uncharacteristic flash of anger in his eyes. "Mr Malfoy, without a wand, a wizard has little to defend himself but by fighting like a Muggle, unless they know wandless magic! What would you do if an opponent cast Expelliarmus at you, or managed to take and snap your wand?"

Harry was startled. Quirrell had never been angry before, and he had shaken off his stutter only a few times before.

"I don't know!" Draco yelped.

"Then it is g-g-good that I am here to t-t-teach you," Quirrell said, his anger subsiding, and his stutter returning. "When f-f-fighting against any opponent outside a d-d-duel, you d-d-do whatever it t-t-takes to w-w-win. Even a M-m-muggle can get lucky and d-d-defeat a w-w-wizard."

The days went by after the duel, Pettigrew's capture, and that strange DADA lesson, where Harry found himself increasingly wary of Quirrell. Something about him stank, and it wasn't just garlic.

But there were other things to keep in mind. The news of Pettigrew's capture and subsequent questioning eventually made its way to the front page of the Daily Prophet. Fudge was promising Sirius Black a proper re-trial if he came out of hiding, and from what Aerith and Jenova had told him, Sirius had gone to the DMLE. He was now (albeit secretly) under house arrest at 12 Grimmauld Place, while Bones and Fudge set up the re-trial. At least one head was due to roll: Barty Crouch Senior, the DMLE head at the time, and the one to send Sirius to prison without trial.

Then, there was Quidditch. True to her word, McGonagall had persuaded Dumbledore to allow Harry onto the Gryffindor team, as well as hold tryouts for interested first years. Not many actually did, though Ron did try out himself, namely for Keeper. Oliver Wood himself was the Keeper for the Gryffindor team, but he encouraged Ron to try out for other positions. He told the disappointed redhead that, in a few years' time, Oliver would graduate from Hogwarts, and Ron could try out again: he did have good potential as a Keeper after all.

Harry managed to prove himself as a Seeker. Unfortunately, his desire to try and make sure he wasn't seen as exploiting his fame did backfire: Malfoy managed to become Seeker of the Slytherin team, helped, possibly, by his father buying the Slytherin team Nimbus Two Thousand brooms. Harry was disgusted, but Oliver noted that, for all his bragging, Malfoy did have some potential as a Seeker.

Harry got his own Nimbus Two Thousand, and was soon practising with the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Practise took up three evenings each week. Harry found that he was rather good at being a Seeker. He wondered how much of it was natural talent, and how much of it had been honed by dodging Petunia's frying pan, or fighting battles back home on the Planet.

He could now definitely count Hermione and Neville amongst his friends. Hermione was definitely still a bossy know-it-all, and she had a choice comment or two to make about both the flying lesson and the duel (and the attendant rule-breaking, as she saw it), but her interest in the Planet had brought them together, and in a conversation with Harry as they discussed History homework, she admitted that she had made few friends at Muggle schools. And many of those mostly wanted her help with homework. Harry did admit she was a help, particularly with the boring History homework, but he wanted her to be more than just a source of information. Ron was somewhat more ambivalent, but Harry pointed out that Hermione, being a Muggleborn, might be at sea with the magical world, and he could help her with things that she couldn't get out of books.

Neville was definitely a contrast to Hermione. Compared to her assured nature, he lacked self-esteem. His formidable grandmother had compared him to his parents, and especially his father, many times, and held Frank Longbottom as someone to aspire to. Harry didn't have any problem with having Frank Longbottom as someone to look up to, but Neville's domineering grandmother had gone about it the wrong way. Neville even had to use his father's wand, despite the fact it may not be suited for his magic.

And that was without Snape targeting Neville in Potions. Harry had asked the Potions Master once whether he could team up with Neville, but Snape refused to budge. So, instead, Harry, Hermione, and Ron took it upon themselves to help tutor Neville on Potions theory, their presences more salutary than Snape's.

Halloween arrived, and with it, the smell of baking pumpkin, and the latest Charms lesson. Ron and Hermione were teamed up, but unfortunately, Hermione's oft-abrasive personality struck again. Harry and Seamus Finnegan had been trying to levitate their feather, but Seamus had set it on fire by accident. Harry managed to get it to float about an inch off the table, but that was it.

Hermione had corrected Ron on his pronunciation of the incantation of the Levitation Charm, Wingardium Leviosa. Ron, annoyed, had told Hermione to try it herself, which she promptly did, making it float all the way to the ceiling, earning praise and points from Flitwick.

Ron was in a rather sour mood afterwards. He looked like he had some choice words to say to Hermione, but Harry stopped him. As they made their way to the next class, however, Harry talked to Hermione himself. "Hermione…I know you were trying to help Ron…but I don't know whether that was the way to do it."

"How is he going to learn if he doesn't do it right?" Hermione asked irritably.

"Well…there's a saying I heard once: you get more flies with honey than vinegar," Harry said. "Look, Hermione…I'm saying this because you're a friend. I don't want you and Ron blowing up at each other. We'll try to work on it with Ron together, okay?"

Hermione looked sceptical, and to tell the truth, both she and Ron were shooting each other annoyed looks during later classes. But it was better than what could have happened.

Soon, the evening came, and Harry and his friends, along with Aerith, made their way to the dungeons for Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday celebration. Harry missed what could have been a grand feast, but he knew that one of the reasons for Halloween being celebrated here wasn't just because it was a date related to the occult and magic. It was the day Voldemort was defeated, and thus, the day he was robbed of his parents. The day his legend was started. He'd go another year, but he had to admit to being curious about the Deathday Party. Plus, Myrtle might be there. Hermione seemed eager to go, given that she was curious, though Ron and Neville less so. After all, the dungeon area where the party was being held was cold, and the eerie black tapers decorating the corridor didn't help.

Nearly Headless Nick was waiting for them, solemnly, near a doorway covered by black drapes. "My dear friends," he said quietly, sweeping off his plumed hat in greetings, "welcome. So pleased you could come."

"No trouble at all, Nicholas," Aerith said, smiling. "It was Helena who recommended we come. I trust you have made catering arrangements for us, though?"

"Indeed I have, Miss Gainsborough," Nicholas said. "It is rare that the living come to such a party, though. Where is Professor Calamitas?"

"She decided not to come," Aerith said. Jenova had felt uneasy about being around ghosts who might know she was the Calamity from the Skies from the legends of the Cetra Exodus. So she was currently attending the Halloween feast. "That's all right, isn't it?"

"Indeed. To tell the truth, Miss Gainsborough, she makes many of us nervous," Nicholas admitted. "But enough of that! Please, this way!"

The room beyond was an incredible sight, filled with hundreds of ghosts of various kinds. Not all of them were from Hogwarts, Nicholas explained. Harry recognised the Fat Friar, the Grey Lady (aka Helena Ravenclaw, according to his mother) and the Bloody Baron. Myrtle was also present, and gave Harry a little wave, although she still looked somewhat glum.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, "why did Moaning Myrtle wave at you?"

"Long story," Harry said, having not mentioned his sojourn into the closed girl's toilet after his duel with Malfoy, save to Aerith and Jenova. They had admonished him somewhat, but in good humour. The toilet, after all, was signposted as out of order, and Aerith had actually gone to meet the young (relatively speaking) ghost.

True to his word, Nearly Headless Nick had made sure that some food was present, or at least some that wasn't rotten. As they ate, Helena Ravenclaw glided over, and sat opposite them. "It's good to see you again, Aerith," the young woman said.

"Likewise," Aerith said with a smile. "This is my adopted brother, Harry, and his friends, Ron, Hermione, and Neville."

The four friends introduced themselves politely to Helena Ravenclaw, who smiled. "It is good to have the living and the young here. And I have heard good things about you from Sir Nicholas, Hermione. It's a shame you weren't Sorted into my House. But now is not the time to consider would-have-beens."

Aerith nodded, but before she could make any kind of reply, a rather unwelcome presence made itself known, sliding out from underneath the table with a malicious grin. Wearing a bright orange party hat, a spinning bow tie, and a wide smile was none other than Peeves the Poltergeist. "Nibbles?" he asked in an unctuous tone, offering Aerith a plate of mouldy peanuts.

"No thanks," Aerith said, with a somewhat forced, sweet smile. When Peeves all but shoved the plate into her face, she then said, rather less sweetly, "Seal Evil."

With a flash, and an indignant squawk, Peeve froze like a statue, before falling to the ground, his plate clattering away. "What did you do?" Helena asked. "Not that I mind you doing it to Peeves, but…"

"A Limit Break," Aerith explained with a smile. "Don't worry, he's just paralysed for a little while." A high-pitched growl wormed itself out of Peeves' frozen lips. With an impish smile, Aerith took one of the mouldy peanuts and gently pushed it between Peeves' lips. "Nibbles?" she asked sweetly.

If the looks of a poltergeist could kill, Aerith would have needed a Phoenix Down right then and there. Of course, an even less likely event occurred shortly thereafter.

A dark chuckle began to build into a deep, hoarse roar of laughter. Aerith turned to the source, to find the chain-bedecked ghost of Slytherin, the Bloody Baron, laughing his head off. A macabre sight that was, given how gaunt and blood-soaked and impassive he usually was, but he was laughing.

"Why is he laughing?" Harry asked, uncertainly.

Helena, who had more than a little history with the Baron (he had been her murderer, apparently), grimaced, but said, "Until now, he has been the only person who could control Peeves and put him in his place. Aerith is now the second."

"Well," Aerith said, thinking to herself, "the effect will take a while to wear off. Anyone have any ideas on what to do with him?"

"Oh, lots," Nicholas said, with a grin on his face.

Jenova was enjoying herself in the Great Hall. She had been discussing Potions theory with Snape when a rather brutal interruption happened: Quirrell, who mysteriously had been absent, suddenly ran into the Great Hall. "TROLLLL!" he screamed. "TROLL! IN THE DUNGEONS!" He made it to the High Table, and panted, "Thought you'd like to know," before sagging to the ground in an apparent dead faint(1).

The ensuing commotion was quietened by Dumbledore, who showed his authority by calling for silence, and telling the prefects to take the students back to the House dorms.

Jenova, however, caught Dumbledore's sleeve as the students filed out. "Dumbledore, the troll was spotted in the dungeons. The Slytherin dorms are there, and Hufflepuff isn't too far from them."

"I know, Professor Calamitas," Dumbledore said quietly. "The teachers who aren't helping me deal with the troll will escort those students there. They will come to no harm.(2)"

"Wait!" Jenova said, frowning. "Aerith, Harry, and his friends…they're in the dungeons for Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party. And they don't know about it!" She looked around, only to realise that Quirrell had gone. "Quirrell!" she hissed. "He's after the Stone!"

"I know. Severus is heading him off. Professor, go find the others. Warn them about the troll."

Jenova nodded, and began running out of the Great Hall. Once she had a clear corridor, she allowed her wings to burst from her back. She literally flew down the corridor, her wings beating as she sped down. Harry! she yelled through the connection. Where are you?

We're getting out of the dungeons. We've finished with the Deathday Party. Let's just say that Peeves didn't like it. What's the matter?

There's a troll in the dungeons! Find somewhere safe! I'm coming to get you!

Even as Jenova shouted that into Harry's mind, an overwhelming smell, of disused toilets and old socks, tugged at Harry's nostrils. And around the corner came the troll, a big lumpy brute of a creature.

"Oh, shit," Harry muttered.

"Language," chided Aerith and Hermione, albeit half-heartedly. They could see the troll themselves, after all.

"What do we do?" Neville whimpered.

"Run," Aerith said quietly. And as one, the quintet turned and ran, the troll behind them giving a triumphant howl, and running after them…

CHAPTER 14 ANNOTATIONS:

The events of Halloween shaping up differently, it seems. Hermione and Ron don't have as big a falling out, a Deathday Party, and the troll!

Now, firstly, you may be wondering why Ron didn't say Hermione was friendless, like in canon. The reason why is that their relationship is at a better level than it was in canon, so while he's angry at her, he doesn't insult her, though he's sorely tempted. Harry wants to head things off, though, and acts as a peacemaker (in canon, it tends to be Hermione keeping the peace between Ron and Harry, I noticed).

Secondly, why hasn't Harry used his Materia against the troll, you might ask? Well, Jenova has already covered trolls (in order to make up for Quirrell's stammering), and discussed their resistance to magic. In addition, Harry is not sure what magics he can use, and to be fair to him, he's also a little tuckered out after a day of lessons at Hogwarts. In other words, he lacks MP, and may not be able to use his best magic against the troll. We'll discuss this in the next chapter.

By the way, how many of you guys like Aerith owning Peeves? :P

1. I mentioned this in a similar annotation in Lux in Tenebris Lucet (my original version, anyway: soon, I may do the rewrite), but I like the movie version of the scene, if only for the comedy value.

2. One of the common criticisms levelled at Dumbledore is his handling of the troll incident. Here, I add some extra information that could have happened in canon. Keep in mind that Snape is not the only Slytherin teacher, and that others could have gone with the students from Slytherin to protect them.

CHAPTER 14 SOUNDTRACK:

The Deathday: Phantom Train, from Final Fantasy VI, composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

PEEVES!: Kefka, from Final Fantasy VI, composed by Nobuo Uematsu. This is a perfect theme for Peeves, don't you think?

Flight and Fight (Fleeing and Fighting the Troll): Memories of the World (aka The Fierce Battle from Final Fantasy VI), from Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu, and arranged by Yuzo Takahashi