Chapter 13: Thursdays with Trolls
In the weeks following the Hogsmeade trip with Minerva and Albus, Harry kept his vow to watch Hermione's friend interaction. As time wore on, he got more and more uncomfortable because the only time she was with her classmates was in class. She had to sit near classmates to eat, but nobody bothered to include her in their conversations, so she wound up eating quickly, then disappearing. He couldn't prove that she was alone all of the time since he wasn't about to stalk her or anything, but he had a sinking feeling that behind her know-it-all bossiness, she was very lonely.
On the Monday before Halloween, Harry's suspicions about Hermione proved true. He was headed for their family night like normal, but when he reached the office, he found that the door was open just a crack. This was very strange since Minerva usually had her door open all the way to welcome visitors, or shut all the way to tell people she either wasn't there or didn't want to be interrupted. Now, however, the door was open about an inch wide, and the light coming from inside the room made it obvious that someone was in there. Getting closer, Harry learned Minerva was indeed in there, but she wasn't alone.
"I just wish I could see them for a little while." Harry would know that voice anywhere. It was the voice he heard almost as often as the teacher's in every class. Right now, though, it wasn't full of confident knowledge like usual. Instead, it was tear-filled and lonely.
"Miss Granger, I know that this is a big adjustment." Harry couldn't see her, but Minerva sounded so calm and comforting. It was strange to think of her like that towards anyone but him. He guessed it didn't help any that she had referred to the student by her last name, which meant that she was in teacher mode, at least slightly.
"I was so excited when you told me. I've never left my parents before, but I wanted to learn so badly that I didn't give it much thought. It's not just that, though." Hermione's voice seemed even more hopeless than before. "Nothing has changed here. Not really."
"What do you mean, Miss Granger?"
"I still don't have any friends. They all just ignore me or even make fun of me."
"Who's been making fun of you, Miss Granger?" Minerva's voice now sounded like the stern professor Harry was used to.
"It doesn't matter."
"It does. This transition is hard enough without the other kids being mean to you. This is new to them as well. Most of them have never left home either."
"I know."
Harry decided he didn't want to hear anymore, and he didn't want to interrupt. It was obvious that Hermione needed to talk right now, and he could understand that. He would need to talk as well if he were in her position. Did she really not have any friends in the muggle world either?
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As the week wore on, Harry continued to watch Hermione. As often as he could, he would offer her a silent smile. He couldn't figure out how to do anything else, though, since he was very busy. One of his best friends acted like being near Hermione was the worst thing in the world, so Harry would have to find some time alone where he could somehow talk to the girl—after he got up the courage to go up to her, of course. How on earth was he supposed to approach her? What would he say? He couldn't tell her he'd overheard her crying to McGonagall. That would make him sound like a snoop, and she would probably refuse to talk to him.
Another hindrance Harry had to factor in was that he barely had time to breathe. All of his classes seemed to pile on the homework, and it was enough of a battle to get Ron to actually study. Neville spent quite a bit working on homework with Harry, but that was because Neville was just trying to stay afloat in school. He was a really bright boy, but he had to work at it and actually put time and effort into his work to make it of a passable quality.
Harry was lucky he was naturally pretty smart because he didn't have the time Neville did. Oliver Wood was a nice enough guy, but it turned out that he was completely nuts when it came to Quidditch. Harry couldn't help but think that he had his own personal drill instructor. Wood would schedule practice for the early morning on Saturdays and Sundays and would schedule practice practically until curfew during the week. Harry loved flying and loved being on the team, but he couldn't help but think he was glad Wood was only allowed to schedule a few practices a week or he'd never get done with the rest of his work.
Granted he could probably do his homework in the library, and it would be a fantastic opportunity to talk to Hermione. On the other hand, though, Harry usually had Ron and Neville working right alongside him, wondering what all he had written for his essay on the separation between the magic and muggle worlds to make it the required three feet.
Harry didn't even bother pointing out that he didn't know how Binns would read the essays, since ghosts couldn't really pick up anything. For all he knew, he was very skilled in wandless magic and had the essays read themselves to him. Then again, this was Binns he was thinking about. He got the feeling that Binns didn't even realize he was teaching a class half the time but was rather content to just drone on endlessly. Harry couldn't help but wonder if Binns was a magical form of a video or tape recorder just set on repeat from year to year. It would definitely be interesting to see how much his current first year lectures varied from next year's first year lectures. Even Hermione didn't attempt to raise her hand in that class. There was no point.
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Halloween Day proved just as busy, although a bit more eventful. The day was a mixture of emotions for Harry. Now that he actually knew about his past, Harry had to realize that this was a day that had changed history. Ten years ago on this date, his parents had stood up against Voldemort and died protecting him. He had then destroyed Voldemort—even though he was little over a year old—and as a result had become the savior of the wizarding world. Knowing that all of this had happened on a specific day put it into a little bit more perspective for Harry, and he couldn't help but feel slightly depressed.
At the same time, however, he had only known all of this for three months to the date. He therefore didn't have much to dwell on, but the depression was more of a passing thought, as well as wondering whether he should feel guilty that he didn't feel really bad on the day his parents had died. Instead, he was actually kind of excited. Not that his parents were dead, mind you, but that this was his first holiday without the Dursleys. That by itself was enough for Harry to want to celebrate.
On top of the excitement of the promised feast, Charms was also proving exciting. Professor Flitwick had promised them that they were going to set theory and movement practice aside and actually learn a spell today. They had been practicing a wrist movement and incantation for the levitation charm, and today they were going to put it all into practice and make feathers levitate.
Harry couldn't help but groan internally when Professor Flitwick split them into partners. He honestly didn't mind working with Seamus, but Neville was with Lavender, and that left Ron with Hermione. Neville wouldn't have a problem with Lavender, but Harry didn't need to be a psychic to know that Ron and Hermione were not going to work well together.
He didn't have much time to dwell on his friend, though, because actually making the feather levitate proved extremely tricky. All week they had been reading about levitation charms and practicing the wand movement and incantation, so Harry had figured it would be easy work. However, once he actually had to try the spell, he found that all the theory in the world didn't really prepare you for actually performing the spells. No matter how hard he and Seamus tried, the feather wouldn't even twitch. Seamus finally poked it with the tip of his wand to see if they had glued it to the desk or something, and both boys jumped when it caught fire.
Neville and Lavender weren't having any more luck. Neville had held his breath until he was purple and Lavender had been afraid he'd pass out, but the feather didn't do anything. While Neville caught his breath, he and Lavender looked at the other pairs around the room to see if they could get any tips. Parvati had just put down her wand because her frustration level was growing considerably, since all she and Dean had managed to do was turn their feather green. Harry had to give them credit, though, since it was better than setting it on fire.
By the end of the period, both Harry and Lavender had managed to make their feathers float. Ron didn't seem to care that he wasn't the only one incapable of performing the spell; but rather, he seemed to take it as a personal offense that his partner had to be practically perfect at it. He didn't seem to mind that Harry had managed the spell, though, so Harry found that as a positive.
"Honestly, I can see why nobody can stand her," Ron grumbled as they walked away from the Charms classroom. "She's worse than Percy, and that's saying something."
"Come on, Ron, she has some good traits, too," Neville spoke up. He was covered in bright yellow ink because he had managed to make his feather explode ink at him and Lavender. Lavender had been furious, but Professor Flitwick had assured both of them that the laundry would get the ink out and their clothes would be as good as new.
"Like what?" Ron snapped, not even looking at Neville.
"She gets loads of points for Gryffindor," Harry pointed out.
Ron could only scoff. "Yeah I guess. If only she could do it in Snape's class. Everyone else hands out points like they're candy."
"Professor Snape believes you have to go above and beyond to get points," Harry stated simply. This actually caused Ron to look at him, and Neville raised an eyebrow in shock.
"Don't go defending the evil bat of the dungeons, Harry." Seamus and Dean had caught up, and Dean was the one to speak.
"Yeah, we might have to disown you as a Gryffindor," Seamus teased.
"Well, I'm not," Harry shrugged as he spoke. "I'm just repeating what he told me." This caused Neville to stop dead in his tracks and Seamus to drop the bag he had been fiddling with.
"What were you talking to him for?" Ron demanded.
"Yeah, mate, were you asking for detention or something? That's suicide that is," Dean piped in with his own two pence.
Harry could just sigh. "I didn't go looking for him. I was doing family night with Minerva and Albus when he showed up."
"What's he showing up at family night for?" Seamus had picked up his bag and flung it over his shoulder.
"He had Fred and George Weasley. They'd been caught trying to play a prank on him." Harry was getting kind of irritated at the interruptions and accusations of his dormmates. Well, besides Neville. He was still too dumbstruck to really join the conversation. "After Fred and George left, he stayed a moment to talk to Albus and Minerva, and I kinda interrogated him."
"Alright, you've got Gryffindor points back," spoke up Dean. The other three just nodded. "Interrogating Snape; that definitely takes some Gryffindor-sized courage."
"If you'll notice, none of the teachers award the Slytherins tons of points."
"That's because they don't deserve it," Ron all but spat.
"Even though they manage a lot of the same work we do?" Harry probed. The other three boys stayed firm in their disbelief, so Harry decided to move on. "I asked why he never gives even Hermione any points and he said that she doesn't do anything spectacular."
"She knows absolutely everything and brews a perfect potion." Neville had finally found his voice, and Harry was glad he wanted to defend the girl.
"I know that, and Professor Snape knows that. At the same time, however, she knows all of the answers because she's done the reading. We are all supposed to know the answers since we are all supposed to do the reading. We are also in Potions brewing, and are supposed to make good ones." Harry was met with stunned stares and held up his hands. "I'm just repeating what he told me. He said that he doesn't give points to people for doing things they are supposed to do."
"Either way, that's twisted," Seamus put in. Dean and Neville could just nod.
"Well it serves her right." Ron could just shake his head as he started his grumbling again. "She's such a know-it-all that it's really annoying."
"Really, Ron?" Harry stated in disgust.
"She knows it, too." Ron didn't pay any attention to the interruption. "She has to notice she hasn't got any friends. Nobody can stand her. She's such a freak."
At those words, Harry felt a shove and just caught himself in time to see a girl with bushy brown hair squeeze between him and Ron before taking off running while clutching her book bag to her chest. As he watched her go, he couldn't help but wonder how much of that conversation she had heard. Then, when he thought of the conversation he had overheard between Hermione and Minerva, he couldn't help but realize that Ron must have hit a nerve.
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Hermione had been in the bathroom since Charms had ended. She'd been walking behind Ron and Harry since they had left Charms and had heard the entire conversation. Ron's early words had stung, but she had been interested to know why Professor Snape never seemed impressed with her. She had been trying to think of a way to go above and beyond when Ron had started in again. He flat out said she didn't have any friends and then continued on to call her a freak. That was exactly how it had been at her primary school back home in England. On top of knowing everything, she had random spurts of magic that she couldn't control. Everyone had thought of her as a freak and had therefore avoided her.
Now she was at school with children just like her, and nothing had changed. It's exactly what she had told Professor McGonagall; she might be with students like her, but she still didn't fit in, and she didn't think she ever would. Professor McGonagall had listened to Hermione's tears Monday night, but there really wasn't anything she could do to help. Hermione really was just a freak.
Hermione stayed in the bathroom all day and didn't even bother to show up for Transfiguration or Flying. Usually she would have been distraught over the possibility of missing a class, but today, she didn't care. Let everyone think what they wanted. She was already so far ahead that it wouldn't be like she would miss much. She didn't even worry about detention, for once, but couldn't help but wonder if it would keep her busy enough to just forget about everything.
Parvati Patil had come in around lunchtime and tried to talk to her, but Hermione had just told her to leave her alone. Parvati hadn't exactly been nice to her either, and right now she really needed to just cry. She wished desperately for a cup of her mum's calming tea; it had always helped soothe her after a public display of magic that made the kids disown her even more.
It was around dinnertime when Hermione started pulling herself together. She'd had her pity party, and now it was time to jump back into life. She had lived with being a freak for eleven years, so she could handle seven more. Then she would really show them because she could become anything she wanted to be, and she would be absolutely amazing. She would outshine any of them, and they would be sorry. One thing was for sure, though: she couldn't do it if she starved herself to death.
As Hermione looked at herself in the mirror, she could only sigh. Her bushy hair had always been awful, but now she had a tear-stained face with red, puffy, bloodshot eyes. Her hair was also stringy, and snot was running heavily out of her nose. Because of all the crying, her nose was clogged, and she could barely breathe, let alone smell. As a result, her first clue that something was off was the sound of heavy footsteps and some deep grunts.
Hermione looked up in the mirror again, and her eyes went wide. Walking towards her carrying a club was a ten-foot tall mountain troll. She quickly spun around but found that she couldn't do anything but stare. She then saw the door shut quickly, heard the click of a lock, and realized that somehow she had just been locked in the bathroom alone with this giant beast. It took her a few seconds to find her voice, and then she could only let out a high-pitched scream of terror as she ducked beneath the sinks to give herself some protection.
The troll kept advancing toward her, however, and she was realizing that she was probably not going to live long enough to make everyone regret calling her a freak. The bathroom door flung open once more and Hermione immediately glanced up. Upon seeing who it was, she groaned but reminded herself that at least it was help. Her three rescuers seemed just as scared as her though, but at least they had come back for her. She wasn't entirely sure she would have been that brave, and that was with knowing more about magic than the three combined.
On the other hand, she had completely forgotten about magic. Hermione was a bright girl, but she had yet to learn to think properly under pressure, and her life being on the line was a big reason to feel pressure. Especially when the troll had already started swinging his club and knocking some of the porcelain sinks off the wall.
Thankfully, Harry, Ron, and Neville didn't freeze up as bad as she did. From the look on his face, Neville was ready to pass out at the sight of the troll, but the presence of his friends seemed to keep him halfway focused. Hermione could just stare in shocked terror. She was vaguely aware of Neville rushing to her side while Harry and Ron started throwing sink taps at the monster's head to try and distract him. Hermione couldn't help but wonder what on earth the boys planned to do if they succeeded since then they would be unarmed while the ten-foot troll advanced towards them.
Hermione's thoughts proved corrected when the troll actually turned around, and Harry and Ron looked at each other as they realized that now they didn't know what they were going to do. Hermione had to give them credit, though, because they seemed to think a little quicker than she had since the troll swung at Harry and he quickly ducked out of the way. When another swing came, Hermione let out a small gasp, and Neville flung his hands over his eyes as Harry grasped hold of the troll's club and was flung up onto the creature's shoulders. Hermione didn't know if it would have truly mattered if Harry hadn't had his wand in his mouth when he jumped, but the thin stick was now shoved deep into the troll's nose.
The troll thrashed about violently as it tried to figure out what had just been shoved up its nose, and Hermione and Neville clung together as they ducked to avoid the wildly swinging club. Harry, on the giant shoulders, was having an even rougher time since he had to figure out how to not get thrown off as the troll threw his large body all over.
It didn't take long for the troll to grab ahold of Harry and dangle him in the air. Ron still had his wand, and Hermione and Neville watched both boys with bated breath as he raised it. Hermione couldn't help but groan internally when she heard him shout, "Wingardrium Leviosa!" Ron hadn't managed the spell that morning, and now Harry's life—and probably all four of theirs—depended on it. Of course, just how that spell would help them was beyond Hermione.
Ron's panic seemed to pay off because suddenly the heavy club the troll had been trying to hit Harry with was now floating in the air ten feet above the troll's head. The troll was even more confused that its weapon was no longer in his hand, and Ron looked just as shocked as Hermione at being able to perform the spell. He lost focus as he took in the fact he had managed the spell, and the heavy club dropped square onto the troll's head. The beast dropped Harry, and the boy had a few seconds to get away while the troll swayed before falling heavily to the floor.
The four kids hadn't even had time to catch their breath before Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrel came running in. McGonagall had a hand clutched to her heart and looked as if she was ready to pass out. That's when Hermione remembered that Harry was practically her son now, and he could have easily been killed.
Snape was looking, if possible, even more angry than normal, and Hermione was extremely glad neither of them was in Slytherin right now. She could just imagine all sorts of horrific things he would put them through. Of course, he could still torture them pretty badly since they had to endure Potions with him every week.
It was Quirrel Hermione didn't know what to make of. She had gone to his class for two months now and was used to him being terrified of everything. Why on Earth he was the Defense Professor Hermione was sure she would never know. Now, however, he looked as angry as Snape. The difference was that behind his anger, Quirrel was chalk white and looked as if he was about to pass out at any moment. McGonagall ignored both of her colleagues and rounded on Harry and Ron.
"Would you care to explain yourselves?" McGonagall's lips were so thin Hermione couldn't see them anymore. It seemed that once she had recovered from the shock of finding four first year students with the unconscious troll, her own anger set in.
"Well..." Harry was now staring just past the professors as if talking to the wall, and Ron still had his wand in the air and looked as if he was a statue. Neville was still beside Hermione with wide eyes and incapable of speech. Hermione guessed that that was because of Snape's presence. With the three boys clearly at a loss as to how to explain this, Hermione took a deep breath, got to her feet, and stepped forward.
"It was my fault, Professor McGonagall." This stunned everyone in the room, and now it was Hermione's turn to keep from shrinking back in fear, especially since she was inventing this on the fly.
"Miss Granger?" McGonagall's voice was completely shocked, and Hermione couldn't blame her. However, when the boys turned to stare at her, she groaned inwardly and silently pleaded that they caught on. They had saved her, after all, so she might as well try to get them out of trouble. Of course, there was no guarantee since 1) they had just faced a mountain troll, and 2) they were in the girls' lavatory.
"I know it's stupid, but I came looking for the troll. I've read so much about them, and I thought I could handle it. I just wanted to help." Hermione saw the shock on McGonagall and Snape's faces and prayed silently that the story was believable. It was half true, after all. She had in fact read about trolls, and that wouldn't be hard to believe. She was also top of her class, so she hoped it wouldn't take too much of a stretch for people to think she would believe she could handle it on her own.
"Harry, Neville, and Ron noticed I was missing and came after me. They got here just in time, and Harry and Ron knocked him out with the troll's club while Neville tried to calm me down and see if I was okay." That part Hermione didn't have a problem with since it was completely true. She heard the scoff from Snape at hearing Neville's part, but it wasn't terribly off base with what had happened. Besides, Neville had shown a lot of bravery just by coming, and he really had come right to her.
McGonagall seemed to consider this and finally nodded her acceptance. "Very well, Miss Granger." Her lips were invisibly thin again, and Hermione had to take a deep breath to calm herself down. "You know that this was very foolish of you correct?" Hermione could only nod because her voice seemed to have failed her. "You could have been seriously hurt, and you directly disobeyed the headmaster's orders to head to your common rooms." Hermione couldn't help but wince at this part since she hadn't known going to her tower was a direct order. Still, she nodded. "As such, 5 points will be taken from Gryffindor for such poor judgment. You will also serve a night of detention with me." It looked physically painful for Minerva to take points from her, and Hermione had to look down at the floor to keep from tearing up and spilling the whole story.
"As for the three of you," Minerva now rounded on the boys, and Hermione bit her lip. Hopefully it had been enough to keep them out of trouble. "This was also extremely foolish, and you should have gone for a teacher the instant you noticed Miss Granger was missing. However, there aren't very many first year students that could take on a fully grown mountain troll and make it out alive. As such, 5 points will be awarded to each of you." At this comment Hermione managed to look up and give a soft smile. It had worked! She had kept the boys out of trouble, and they had even gotten house points for saving her. More house points than she had lost actually. Things couldn't have worked out much better, besides not having to face the troll at all, of course.
Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I was really busy trying to hold on to my student teaching position, and then they finally just pulled me. Now I'm home all day long with my baby but haven't felt like writing, so I've just been lazy. I'll get better though so hopefully you all hold in there. I want to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews you left me. I was so surprised to see so many people review last chapter! It was extremely encouraging.
You're all ready for some action, and I hope that this chapter helped satisfy that craving. Next chapter brings a bit more action but it also deviates from the original book quite a bit. I haven't gotten chapters written out way far in advance like I used to with my stories in High school when I when I wrote in class, but I do have a plan in my mind, and I just have to make my writing catch up so you guys don't start crying for my blood.
~Lily~