Chapter Five: Strengthening the Bonds
While Harry was out training with Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, Ron, Hermione, and Riley were heading to the hospital wing to check up on Tony, who was being released that day. As they walked down the corridor, Ron and Riley had told their friend about what they saw the previous night.
"A three-headed dog?" Tony repeated, quietly. "Sounds like that dog from the Greek Mythology."
"But he looks like any other dog you'd see at my mom's work." Riley told him. "Except with three heads, of course. Hermione said the dog was standing on something, too."
"So it must be there to guard something."
"That's what I said." agreed Hermione.
"A dangerous weapon?" asked Ron.
"Another magical creature?" guessed Riley.
"A hermit." joked Tony.
Hermione's response was a smack upside the head, which Ron started snickering at.
"So, when's Harry's very first game?" asked Tony.
"The afternoon after Halloween." replied Riley. "Shame we're not gonna be at grandpa's for Halloween, he loved taking us to the haunted houses."
"You go trick-or-treating?" asked Hermione.
"It was a favorite pasttime growing up." replied Tony.
"The best part was the costumes." agreed Riley. "Tony was in it for the scares, and tricking the school and neighborhood jerks."
Hermione stared at them, astonished at what she had heard, while Ron looked impressed.
"So, uh, what kind of tricks are we talking about?" asked the red head of the group.
"One guy's skin was green for about a week, another guy had his mask glued to his face," Tony described, listing things off on his fingers. "And then there was the snob with the car, I filled his car with glitter, I can't tell you how long it took to find enough glitter, but the look on his face was worth it."
"I can't believe you did all that!" Hermione exclaimed, astounded.
"Hermione, we had to transfer because we both hexed our teacher Prof. Manson's pants down in front of a lot of people." Riley told her.
"Riley!"
"He was a racist, sexist jerk!"
"The lady Prof. Manson was harrassing was so grateful that she took me and Ry out for ice cream, and told us that Prof. Manson had quit." Tony continued, grinning. "See, Hermione? Sometimes standing up to the bully is a good thing."
Ron didn't know what he had found more funnier: Tony and Riley's mischief, or Hermione's face at how casual they had sounded at admitting to it. His face was starting to turn red as he continued to laugh at the stories of Tony's pranks, and how he and Riley had ended up getting in trouble over the years. Eventually, they had found their way outside, and they heard a faint clunk in the distance, causing them to stop in their tracks.
"What was that?" asked Hermione.
Ron looked up, and pointed at a dark colored ball heading through the gap in the statue.
"Bludger!" he shouted.
He, Hermione, and Tony dove for color, while Riley scrambled around in his bag, and took out a textbook. He smacked the bludger as it came closer, and knocked it back where it came.
"Nice hit!" complimented Tony.
Riley looked at his textbook, and smiled.
"Who says books don't save lives?" he chuckled. "Thank you, school book!"
"Riley, that could've killed you!" Hermione exclaimed, storming over to him. "What was that anyway?"
"That would be a bludger, they attack the other players in Quidditch." explained Ron. "Must mean Harry's probably training nearby."
He then went into a long explanation about what Quidditch was, what kind of balls there were, the different positions, and how it was played. By the end of his explanation, Riley and Tony were very interested.
"I like Quidditch." said Tony. "Where do I sign up?"
"I don't think it's gonna be that easy, Tony." explained Ron. "Slytherin's kinda touchy about...Muggleborns."
"I know that, I get called...that name all the time."
"Tony, I'm talking about that they won't let you play on the team."
"Well, I'll just have to prove I'm game enough to play."
"That's my pal." Riley said, grinning at Ron and Hermione. "Dedicated to a fault."
A few weeks later, in Charms class, the first years were preparing for their final lesson of the day. Prof. Flitwick, an elderly half-dwarf, half human man in green robes, stood on a stack of books with his students sitting at desks on opposing sides of the room. Tony sat behind Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle, while Harry sat between Seamus and Ron, who sat on Hermione's right side, and Riley sat on her left.
"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation," explained Prof. Flitwick. "Or the ability to make objects fly. Do you have your feathers?"
He looked around at each of the students, and saw that each had their own feathers, then continued.
"Good. Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing." the elderly teacher reminded his students. "The swish and flick."
He demonstrated the movement by swishing his wand in a near complete circle, then tapping at the the air. The students followed suit to show they had learned it, much to their instructor's joy.
"...and enunciate." Prof. Flitwick concluded. "'Wingardium Leviosa'. Off you go then."
So the students swish and flicked at the air, trying to make their feathers fly with the incantation they had learned, but to no avail. Ron was having the most trouble with it, as he was now waving his wand like he was trying to whack the feather with an invisible mallet. Hermione sighed, and decided to help him out.
"No, stop. Stop. Stop" she told him. "You're going to take someone's eye out."
Ron glared at her, stopping what he was doing. Riley looked at them, and watched as Hermione explained that Ron was pronouncing it wrong, which had annoyed him.
"You do it if you're so clever." Ron snapped, setting down his wand.
"Uh, Ron,-" Riley intervened, gesturing for him to stop.
"No, let's see if she can do better."
Hermione nodded, and pointed her wand at the feather.
"Wingardium Leviosa." she spoke, performing the swish-and-flick movement.
To Ron's surprise, the feather began to levitate, and watched as it began to rise up into the air. Riley sunk back in his seat, seeing the look on his face, while Hermione continued levitating the feather into the air with a smile on her face.
"Oh, well done!" Prof. Flitwick exclaimed, proudly. "See here, everyone, Ms. Granger's done it!"
Riley sunk back in his seat, and watched as Ron rested his head in his arms on his stack of books, while Hermione continued making the feather fly higher and higher. He was about to try to levitate his own feather, but then an explosion suddenly went off, causing all the other students to look at one student in particular. Seamus was once again found covered from hair to chin in soot, with his feather badly singed.
"I think we're going to need another feather over here, professor." said Harry.
Most of the other students laughed, while Tony stared at him in amazement.
"How does he keep doing that?" he asked.
"We're trying to figure that out." Riley told him, exasperated.
After class, Riley, Hermione, and Tony walked out of class together, talking about their lesson.
"So, what do you think they're going to do for Halloween here at Hogwarts?" asked Riley.
"Well, Jasmine Willows says it's supposed to be fun." replied Tony. "Sweets, scares, that kind of thing. Minus the costumes and going from house to house to get candy."
"Meh, works for me. So, Hermione, I was wondering, what are your plans for the holidays?"
"For Christmas?" asked Hermione. "I'm going home. Why?"
She then stopped to look at them.
"Wait, do you two live nearby London?" she asked.
"Yeah." both Riley and Tony answered.
"Well, my parents usually go caroling if you're up for it."
"Sure. That sounds like fun." agreed Riley.
"I'm game." added Tony. "I'll send mom and dad a letter, and see if they're okay with it. Ry, I'll ask your parents for you, too."
With that, he took off like the wind down another corridor, while Riley and Hermione began heading back to the Gryffindor Tower to put their stuff away. As they walked back, they heard Ron talking to Harry and a few other Gryffindors in front of them.
"...'it's "Leviosa", not "Leviosar"'!" Ron mimicked, annoyingly.
Riley narrowed his eyes, when he realized that he was referring to what happened in class moments ago, and his hand subconsciously clenched into a fist. He felt angry as his Housemates laughed at Ron making fun of Hermione, and right when she was in earshot.
"It's a nightmare, honestly!" Ron complained, look at Dean, Seamus, and Harry. "No wonder she hasn't got any friends."
Riley made to go grab him by the back of his robes when he saw Hermione push past the group, sniffing. He, Ron, Harry, Dean, and Seamus watched as she took off down the corridor quickly, and out of sight.
"I think she heard you." said Harry.
"She had it coming." Ron defended himself. "Nobody likes a know-it-all."
"But did you have to be a jerk about it?" asked Riley.
The other Gryffindors in front of him turned to look at him, as Riley glared at them.
"You should all be ashamed! All you had to do was ask her to tone it down a bit or something, not insult her when you think she's not around to hear!" he scolded them. "You're all no better than Malfoy and his goons!"
After it became clear that he made his point, Riley took off after Hermione, and followed her down the hall.
"Hermione!" he called. "Hermione, wait!"
"Leave me alone, Riley!" Hermione cried, as she ran.
"Hermione, please, stop. Ron's just being a jerk. Nobody's perfect. Neville and Seamus are living proof of that, same with Tony."
Riley could see that Hermione wasn't listening, and tried again.
"Hermione, please. Ron was wrong, I'm your friend. So is Tony." he pleaded with her. "You saw how irritated he was when he couldn't get that spell right on the first try, he was probably just a little jealous."
Hermione stopped and turned on her heel to look at him, her face tear-streaked and red.
"Well I'm sorry that I was able to get it right on the first try, but he didn't have to be so hurtful about it! I wasn't trying to show off, and I wasn't trying to be a know-it-all!"
Riley couldn't help but feel a little hurt for his friend, and stood there stunned as she continued marching down the hall. After a momentary pause, the male Gryffindor hurried after his Housemate.
"Hermione, wait-" he called.
He stopped when he watched her disappear into the girl's bathroom, and sighed.
"Wonder how Superman would've solved this crisis," he muttered to himself. "'Cause I'm lost."
Later on, the students were sitting down to dinner, where sure enough, Hogwarts was celebrating with a Halloween theme. Jack-o-Lanterns floated up into the air over the students' heads, and the tables were decorated with Halloween decorations, dishes filled with sweets, and gold coins. Harry scanned up and down the hall, looking for any sign of Hermione or Riley, but to no avail.
"Where's Hermione and Riley?" he asked his Housemates.
"Parvati Patil said she wouldn't come out of the bathroom." explained Neville. "She said that according to Riley Cross that she'd been in there all afternoon, crying. He's been sitting outside the door, waiting and begging her to come out."
Harry looked at Ron, who just shrugged at him. The two were about to resume eating when Prof. Quirrell rushed into the Great Hall, pale-faced and panicked.
"Troll!" he screamed, rushing down the aisle. "In the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon!"
The chatter came to a deathly, silent halt, as all eyes fell on him.
"Thought you ought to know." the timid professor finished.
A microsecond later, he collapsed in a dead faint, and all Hell broke loose. Screams filled the Hall, as students went into a panicked frenzy, until Prof. Dumbledore called for the students to be silent. His voice carried across the Great Hall, stopping the students and calming them down.
"Everyone will please not panic!" he commanded, sternly. "Now, prefects will lead their house to their dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."
The students did as he ordered, and the teachers set off to the dungeons, all moving quickly. As Percy led the Gryffindor first years back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry was wondering how a troll had gotten into Hogwarts.
"How could a troll get in?" he asked.
"Not on it's own, trolls are really stupid." replied Ron. "Probably people playing jokes."
Harry then suddenly tugged on his arm, his expression alarmed.
"What?" asked Ron.
"Hermione and Ry, they don't know!" gasped Harry.
Ron's eyes widened a little in horror, and the two of them rushed back into the corridors. Along the way, they saw Tony rushing their way.
"Tony!" Harry called, hurrying over to him. "Tony, what are you doing here?"
"I heard from Malfoy that Ry was hanging by the girl's bathroom." replied Tony. "Which way is it?"
While the students were evacuating back to their dormitories, Riley was standing with his back against the wall, nearby the door leading to the girl's bathroom.
"Hermione, you can't stay in there forever." he called. "You have to come out eventually."
"Give me one good reason why I should come out!" demanded Hermione.
Riley opened his mouth to answer, then his jaw dropped in horror as he saw a giant, grey-skinned creature limping his way. It wore a tattered brown vest, and carried a large wooden club.
"Hermione, what's the worse that could happen if a boy ran into the girl's bathroom?" the young Gryffindor male asked.
"Probably expulsion." Hermione answered on the other side.
"I'll take it!"
Riley rushed into the bathroom and pulled the door close behind him, much to Hermione's confusion.
"Riley, what are you doing?" she asked slowly.
Riley couldn't answer articulately, as he was trying to tell his friend about the creature that was outside the door. Hermione rolled her eyes, and made to brush past him, but Riley kept her back.
"For goodness sake, Riley, what is the problem?!" she demanded.
"Monster!" Riley screamed, pointing at the door.
"What are you talking about?!"
Her answer came in the form of the doors opening, revealing the creature on the other side. The two kids slowly backed up away from it, as the monster advanced on them.
"Riley, that would be a troll." Hermione explained, fearfully.
"I thought trolls were smaller than that." said Riley.
The troll continued to advance on them, and Hermione grabbed Riley's hand and yanked him into the stall.
"Get down!" she ordered, pulling him down into a crouching position.
The moment they had crouched down, the stalls suddenly shattered. Hermione screamed and clung onto Riley, shaking. Seconds later, footsteps alerted them to new occupants in the bathroom, and they saw that Harry, Ron, and Tony now stood a few feet away from them.
"Hermione, Riley, move!" yelled Harry.
He, Ron, and Tony hurried over to the pile of debris on the ground behind the troll, and started throwing it at the troll to distract it as the massive beast decimated more of the stalls.
"It's not working!" Tony declared, looking at his friends. "Stupid troll's skin's too thick to feel anything!"
"Less talking, more throwing!" snapped Harry.
They continued throwing more and more of the pieces of wood, while Hermione screamed for help.
"Hey, pea brain!" shouted Ron.
He threw a piece of wood at the troll's head, and that seemed to get it's attention. Not for long though, as it spotted Hermione scrambling over to the sinks. Hermione let out a scream as the troll swung it's club down toward her, and nearly hit her when she crawled under the next sink. The boys all stared, shocked, at how close it came to actually hitting her.
"Help!" Hermione cried out, from her hiding place.
Tony looked around, wondering what to do, when he saw Riley jumping out from the remains of the bathroom stalls, and grabbing onto one of the troll's legs.
"What are you doing, you maniac?!" asked Ron.
"Improvising!" replied Riley.
Harry stared at him for a moment, then nudged Tony.
"Come on!" he told him, drawing his wand.
The two of them charged at the troll, and grabbed onto it's club, as it rose into the air. The troll swung the club into the air again, and made to smash at the ground again, but both Tony and Harry jumped onto the troll's back. Harry sat on the troll's shoulders, while Tony hung onto the collar of it's vest.
"Harry! Situation!" Tony screamed, as he tried to pull himself up. "Situation!"
"Hold on, Tony!" Harry yelled to him.
The troll suddenly started bucking, and tried to get the three kids off of him. Harry grabbed onto the troll's head to try and steady himself, but the hand holding his wand slipped as the head jerked downward for a moment. A squishing sound alerted the troll, Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Harry had accidentally stuck his wand up the troll's nose.
"Ugh!" grimaced Ron.
"What?" asked Riley.
"What happened?" Tony added, looking up at Harry.
"Don't ask." Hermione told them.
Suddenly, the troll began bucking violently, and finally, it's hand had found Harry's foot.
"Tony!" shouted Harry.
Tony climbed up and clung to the troll's hand as it yanked Harry off it's shoulders.
"Do something!" Harry yelled to Ron.
Tony gasped when the troll let out a ferocious bellow, and reached for Harry's hands. The troll made to swing it's club at Harry, but the Gryffindor student reached up in time and grabbed Tony's hand so the club could miss him. Meanwhile, Ron was looking around for some way to help his friends.
"What?!" he asked.
Harry lowered himself again, now that the club was away from him.
"Anything!" he answered.
Ron watched as Harry reached up again to grab Tony's hand, and tried to think of something. He could see that Harry was starting to get worn out, and that meant it was only a matter of time before he was finished.
"Hurry up!" Harry yelled.
Hermione watched as Ron whipped out his wand, and reminded him of the wand movement they had learned earlier.
"Swish and flick!" she called.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron shouted, waving his wand at the troll.
As he said this, the troll made to swing it's club at Harry, who reached up to grab Tony's hand before the club hit him. However, the club had suddenly disappeared from it's grip.
"Where'd the club go?" asked Tony.
He saw that Harry was looking at the air above the troll, and followed his gaze to see the club was floating over the troll's head. The troll followed their gaze and looked up also. As it did, the club fell and struck the beast on the head with a dull thud.
"Cool." Ron said, grinning in awe.
The troll groaned and dropped Harry to the ground, and Tony clambered off after him. Riley looked up and saw that the troll was starting to look drowsy and let go of it's leg, then hurried back against the wall. The troll slowly turned to face Harry, Ron, and Tony, and stumbled forward. Harry backed away, still on the ground, and watched as the troll looked like it was ready to collapse. Tony darted forward and yanked on the back of his friend's robes.
"Timber!" he called.
Harry felt himself being pulled backwards, and just in time, too. The troll collapsed inches away from where Harry's feet was, and the room fell silent, with the exception of the water spraying out of the broken pipes. Riley and Hermione walked towards the troll, and looked down at it.
"Is it...dead?" Hermione asked, quietly.
"I don't think so." replied Harry. "Just knocked out."
He reached down and retrieved his wand from the troll's nose, and saw that it was nearly covered in snot, much to the five kids' disgust.
"Ugh, troll boogers." groaned Harry.
He made to wipe the snot off on his robes, but instead Tony took it from him.
"Don't, Harry." the latter said, walking to the sink. "I got it."
"What was a troll doing here anyway?" asked Riley. "Bit of a safety hazard, isn't it?"
Tony, who had been rinsing the troll snot off of Harry's wand, paused, and looked at his friends.
"Didn't Prof. Quirrell say that the troll was heading for the dungeons?" he asked. "Yet it ended up here."
"Just be glad no one got hurt." said Harry.
Tony walked back over and returned his now-clean wand to him, and then they were joined by Prof. McGonagall, Prof. Quirrell, and Prof. Snape. Upon entering, Prof. McGonagall gave a gasp of horror at the sight of the troll laying on the ground.
"Oh, my goodness!" she gasped.
Her eyes then fell on Harry, Ron, and Tony, who were standing by the troll's head.
"Explain yourselves, the three of you!" the head of Gryffindor demanded.
The three students started to try and defend themselves and explain the situation when Hermione stepped forward.
"It's my fault, Prof. McGonagall." she declared, quickly.
The room fell near-silent again, as all eyes fell on her.
"Ms. Granger?" Prof. McGonagall spoke, surprised.
"I went looking for the troll. I read about it, and thought I could handle it." explained Hermione. "But I was wrong, and Riley here tried his best to warn me, I wouldn't listen. If Harry, Ron, and Tony hadn't come and found us, we'd probably be dead."
Ron and Tony looked at each other, stunned, while Riley looked back down at the troll. Harry, however, looked at the ground, and noticed that Prof. Snape's leg was torn and bloody.
"Be that as it may," Prof. McGonagall started, furiously. "It was an extremely foolish thing to do."
As she continued to scold her model student, Prof. Snape quickly covered his injured leg with his cloak to hide it from view. Harry locked eyes with the professor, and his eyes narrowed a little in curiosity, then returned his attention to Prof. McGonagall, who had deducted five points from their House for Hermione's supposed lack of judgment.
"...And for you three gentlemen, and Mr. Cross over there," the professor continued, turning her attention to the four boys. "I just hope you realize how fortunate you are, not many first-year students could take on a fully-grown mountain troll, and live to tell the tale. Five points..."
The four boys prepared themselves for the big punishment.
"...will be awarded to each of you." said Prof. McGonagall.
Harry, Ron, and Tony looked at one another, amazed.
"For sheer dumb luck." the teacher concluded.
With that, she stormed out of the bathroom. Tony departed next with Prof. Snape, who patted his student on the shoulder. Then finally Hermione followed Ron and Harry out, while Prof. Quirrell remained behind.
"Perhaps you ought to go." the turban-clad teacher said to the students. "It might wake up."
Riley looked at the troll as he slowly walked past it, and suddenly the troll let out a ferocious growl, startling him and the teacher.
"That might be soon." Riley agreed, looking up at Prof. Quirrell.
He hurried out of the bathroom, then caught sight of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were talking.
"Good of you to get us out of trouble like that." said Harry.
"Mind you, we did save her life." Ron pointed out.
"Mind you, she might not have needed saving if you hadn't insulted her."
"...What are friends for."
Hermione looked over at Ron, and saw Riley walking their way out of the corner of her eye, and looked at him.
"Come on, Ry." she called.
Riley nodded, and ran until he caught up with them.
"So, what now?" he asked.
"Guess we go back to the Tower." replied Harry.
"Bummer. I'm starving."
The two reached the Fat Lady's portrait, and gave the password, then headed inside. Much to their surprise, the students were all still awake, and they were eating dinner and drinking goblets of juice.
"Looks like you're in luck, Riley." said Ron.
"Thank you, Powers that Be." muttered Riley.
The four of them each got a plate of food and some juice, and sat together by the fire.
"So, are we all friends now?" asked Harry.
"That depends, are we gonna have a repeat of this afternoon?" Riley asked, looking at Ron and Hermione. "If we're all gonna be friends, we have to work out a compromise."
"That's right. So, can you two call a truce?"
Hermione and Ron looked at each other, then smiled, and shook hands.
"Deal." said Ron.
"Deal." agreed Hermione.
Just goes to show, sometimes, you need more than a shove to bring friends together. Sometimes, you need a big frickin' mountain troll to do the trick. I'm sure I'm not the first to say that, but I won't be the last. Moving on, next chapter is Harry's first Quidditch match.
Disclaimer: I own the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics or books that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys,...okay, you guys get the picture.