AN: Yes another chapter!

I don't usually leave comments in stories about particular reviews. However, I received a review from the last chapter saying how much they liked the story but I was a deviant pervert for making a slash story with an adult teacher and an underage child. They reached this conclusion because I originally identified Harry and Remus as the two main characters. Maybe this was because the original story was told from their two points of view? (No logic allowed!) Just to be clear: I have no plans to have any mention of sex (straight, gay, or necro-beastiality) in this story. Harry's eventual relationship with Remus is as mentor/pack member.

One other comment. Harry is AU but the other characters are canon until impacted by AU Harry. We are all the main characters in our own story. Like the previous chapters, most of this one is written someone other than Harry's point of view. We know Harry's thoughts and motivations from canon. What about Hermione and Ron?

Hogwarts

1 September 1991

To say Hermione Granger was excited to be heading off to her new school would be something of an understatement. Like saying Bill Gates had some money or calling the wreck of the Titanic a minor bump. She would finally have a place to belong; where she wasn't the odd ball that had weird things happen to her.

Since receiving her acceptance letter, she had worked to ensure she was completely prepared to succeed in her new environment. Every text book had been read cover to cover at least once (although she did have some concern that it wasn't enough) as well as the additional material she had purchased on Wizarding history and culture.

Hermione had arrived very early as her parents had appointments later in the morning. That was fine. It gave her time to find a compartment and review her Transfiguration text. The inquisitive witch did spend some time questioning the engineer on the magical operation of the Hogwarts Express. To her disappointment, while the man knew how to operate the train his knowledge of the magical theory behind it was sorely lacking.

Shortly before the train left the station, she was joined by a slightly chubby boy with brown hair. When she attempted to introduce herself he just mumbled out "Neville Longbottom". He seemed rather shy so she just went back to her book.

The train was about halfway to Hogwarts (based on her questioning of the engineer) when Neville suddenly let out a yelp and started searching about frantically.

"Did you lose something, Neville?" Hermione asked.

"Trevor. I've lost Trevor. Gram is going to be so angry." The boy was actually trembling.

"Nonsense," Hermione responded. "I will help you look. Now, what does your toad look like?" She had not noticed an owl or cat in the compartment. That meant the animal in question must be a toad.

Neville looked at her oddly. "He's a toad. He's green with warts."

Hermione huffed at the boy's lack of detail. "Oh, very well. There cannot be too many toads running about free, after all. You continue to check in here and I shall check the rest of this car."

The young witch received several no's with varying levels of politeness from the other students. Most of them were older students that didn't want to be bothered by a 'kid'. But it was at the compartment three down from hers that she received her strangest welcome.

An explosion

"What was that?" she asked in an indignant voice.

"Sorry about that," a boy's voice answered while she tried to clear her eyes. "I didn't expect anyone to open the door just then."

Her eyes clear, Hermione looked into the compartment with indignation written all over her face. Inside the car, two boys and two girls were sitting on the floor facing each other with a deck of cards spread out in front of them. Hermione absently noted the girls on the floor were twins. Another boy and girl were sitting on one of the bench seats. Both the boys on the floor were dark-haired while the one on the bench had brilliant red hair. The girl sitting on the bench with him had long blonde hair but a rather serious expression.

"I am sorry," a boy on the floor repeated. "I knew the card was about to go and I didn't want to be holding it."

Hermione noticed the boy had bright green eyes behind an old pair of glasses and very messy hair. She resisted the urge to go find a hair brush and a grooming kit.

"And what were you doing that caused that explosion?" she demanded.

One of the twins held up a card. "We were showing Harry and Tony how to play Exploding Snap."

"Exploding Snap? I've read about it but have not seen it before." Honestly, Hermione couldn't see the point of wasting time on such a thing when there was so much that they needed to learn.

The boy named Tony smiled up at her. "Are you Muggle-born like me or just raised in the Muggle world like Harry here?"

"My parents are dentists. I did not know about magic until Professor McGonagall called on us with my acceptance letter," Hermione answered. "But I've tried some spells since I purchased my wand and books. So far everything has worked for me rather well."

The girl on the bench grinned at that. "You do realize that after we start school we won't be allowed to use our wands outside of school until we turn seventeen, right? The only reason you didn't get into trouble this summer was the charm wasn't on it yet."

Hermione felt shocked at that news. "Why? How will we be able to practice without magic?"

"They don't think we can be trusted not to do magic around Muggles during the summer. Which seems odd for those of us that live in the Wizarding World year round. We don't even have any Muggles living near my house. Plus the wards keep them out of sight."

The other one of twins looked up at the blonde girl saying, "Well I found out there are some loopholes in that law. If your house has heavy duty wards the Ministry can't detect your wand being used. Also, if you can use a wand that belongs to someone over seventeen the tracing charm is gone."

"Well, that hardly seems fair," Hermione huffed. "How are the Muggle-born supposed to keep up?"

The red-haired boy shrugged. "Mum wouldn't let us use that anyway. She always takes my older brothers' wands for the summer as soon as they got home. I'd rather fly anyway."

"I am sure there must be a logical explanation," Hermione commented, more to herself then to the other students. She resolved to look up the law on her first trip to the library. Then she remembered the original purpose of her visit.

"I am helping a boy named Neville look for his toad. Have any of you seen it?" she asked. She received all negative replies; noting the girls seemed to share her opinion of owning a toad.

"Okay, I will keep looking. Thank you." Hermione moved to close the compartment door.

"Wait, one of the girls called out. "What is your name?"

Hermione felt her face blush at her rudeness. "Oh, I am sorry. I am Hermione Granger."

"Hi Hermione. I am Parvati Patil. This is my sister Padma." She indicated the bench. "That is Daphne Greengrass and Ron Weasley. And these two are Harry Potter and Anthony …"

"Tony"

"Sorry, Tony Goldstein"

Hermione focused on the boy with messy hair and glasses. "Harry Potter? Are you really? I've read all about you of course. I picked up some extra material when we went to get our class texts."

Harry frowned. "I probably read some of the same rubbish. None of them got much right and they certainly didn't get my life after my parents' murder right."

"They could not publish it if it wasn't true," Hermione protested. "I read scholarly works that had proper citations and everything. Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts even won the Golden Quill award last year! So it must be the truth."

Harry scowled at her protest. "Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts provides a blow by blow account of the fight with my parents. How would they know? The book claims 'eyewitness accounts'. My parents couldn't tell them. Voldemort (here everyone jumped a bit at the name) wasn't in any condition to tell them, and I probably just wanted my nappies changed. On top of that, I can tell you I sure didn't grow up in a hidden Potter Manor or a castle floating in the clouds."

Harry paused to grin. "Okay, the castle in the clouds one would have been cool."

Then his grin dropped away as quickly as it came. "Not one fact of my life since that night is correct in those books. That rather throws the rest of their 'facts' into question too. Doesn't it?"

Hermione was taken aback by the vehemence in the Boy-Who-Lived's voice.

"I … I am sorry," she stammered before closing the door and making her escape. She felt like such a fool. She had embarrassed herself in front of the most famous young wizard in the entire world. This wasn't a great start to her Hogwarts career.

Well, she would just help Neville find his toad and focus on her classes. Surely if she performed well in her classes they would accept her and it would all be forgotten.

-I-

Ron Weasley was having a wonderful time on his first trip to Hogwarts.

The day hadn't started that great. He had stayed up late the night before in his excitement of finally going to Hogwarts. Then he'd overslept and barely had time to eat enough breakfast before leaving for Kings Cross.

When they had arrived at the station, his mum had led them through the Muggle potion of the station. He didn't remember doing that before with his brothers but he reckoned his mum knew what she was doing. He was a bit concerned when she asked what the platform number was though. Was she lost?

In the end they reached the platform just before the train was due to leave. Fred and George helped get his trunk on board before leaving to see their friend Lee and his pet spider. He'd be lucky if the gits didn't put it in his bed tonight. He swore he'd kill it if they did.

He started down the train looking for a compartment. Most of them seemed to be full or had much older students in them. A few had students that were probably Second or Third years but he really wanted to sit with some students in his own year.

Finally he came across a compartment that had some First years in it. It looked a bit full but he hadn't seen anything better yet. He opened the door just as the train jerked as it started to pull out of the station.

"Do you have room for one more?" he asked.

"Come on in," a boy invited. "We were outnumbered until now."

"Tony, you would be outnumbered in a room by yourself," a blonde girl commented with a sweet smile.

"Be careful, mate," Ron warned, "when my sister smiles like that I find someplace to hide."

The blonde turned her smile on Ron. "Oh how nice. A male that has already been partially trained." The girls started to laugh while the blokes shared commiserating looks.

"So, come on in," the boy who had been silent until now. "Have a seat. The girls have been trying to scare Tony and me with rumours of the Sorting."

"Well, my brothers said we have to fight a troll but I don't believe them."

Before Ron could sit down, one of the girls changed seats to sit between the other two boys. That left the only seat left between the two girls. The blonde patted the seat next to her.

The other girl, a twin to the one that moved, smiled and said, "Have a seat. We don't bite."

"Much," the blonde added.

Ron's face turned a tomato red as he sat down between the two girls. Fortunately, the seat was wide enough to fit three adults so there was plenty of room for three eleven year-olds to sit without touching.

Ron soon learned the twins were that Patil sisters while the blonde girl was Daphne Greengrass. All three were Purebloods raised in the magical world. The Patils were born in India but the family moved to London when they were three according to Parvati. Anthony (call me Tony!) Goldstein was a Muggleborn but his aunt was a witch that attended Hogwarts. His aunt and Daphne's mum were friends from school and were still best friends although his aunt worked in the Muggle world as a doctor. His aunt recognized his early accidental magic letting him in on the secret early. He had been introduced to Daphne and through her to the Patils back at the start of summer.

His biggest surprise was to find out the other boy was Harry Potter!

"Bloody hell! Do…do you have the scar?" he blurted out.

Harry looked a bit annoyed but brushed aside his fringe to reveal a thin, white lightning bolt shaped scar. It was highlighted slightly by the light tan colour of his skin but it blended in surprisingly well. Ron had to really look and he was just a short distance away.

"That's wicked, mate!"

Now Harry looked really annoyed.

"It is not wicked. It is a reminder of what killed my parents."

Ron felt like he'd been told the Quidditch season was called off. "Er, sorry mate. It's just … well my mum lost her two brothers in the war. We're just happy it's over."

Harry grimaced. "I guess. It still bothers me though."

Padma patted Harry's knee and said, "We won't talk about it anymore. Will we?" The last part was said to the rest of the compartment.

After a short, awkward period, the conversation turned to other areas. Ron was quiet for a bit but perked up when the talk turned to his favourite topic.

Quidditch

They started explaining Quidditch to Harry. Tony had managed to see three matches over the summer and was an instant fan. The Patils proved to be Harpies fans while Tony backed Montrose Magpies. Ron, of course, backed his beloved Cannons.

"Sure they had a few bad seasons, but they added Gowan as Seeker and Smyth as Keeper. Plus their coach is brilliant! They're on the ups!"

Daphne gave him a smirk. "So, you like their coach? I heard he's something of a goofball. Thinks he's something special just going by his first name."

Ron's face turned red with indignation. "Coach Steven has the best tactical mind in the game today!" he protested indignantly. "And Quidditch Week named him Leader of the Year after he became acting coach of the Wasps and led them to the league championships!"

Parvati grinned across to her sister. "I think Ron's in love."

"Do you sleep in a Cannons jersy?" Padma asked.

"Or maybe cuddled up with a stuffed Chudley the mascot?" Daphne asked. "That would be soooo cute!" she gushed.

Ron's indignation grew as the girls continued to wind him up. The other two boys wisely kept their mouths shut and enjoyed the show. The girls' taunting continued as Ron's face grew red. Parvati seemed to take great enjoyment out of commenting on Ron's adoration of Coach Steven.

Finally, Daphne took pity on him.

"Oh, relax Weasley before you hurt yourself." Ron continued to huff. "Do you know your hero's last name?"

"Yes!" Ron spit out. "It's Green…" Ron's eyes popped out a bit.

Daphne nodded. "He's my father. We were just having some fun with you."

The rest of the compartment's occupants started to laugh at the look of shock on Ron's face as Daphne grinned impishly at him.

"That's not funny," he grumbled. "That was mean. I was right about you being as bad as Ginny."

Eventually, Ron and Daphne started up a serious conversation about the Cannons chances at the League Cup that year. The others started playing Exploding Snap on the floor.

They were interrupted by a girl with buck teeth and thick bushy hair looking for a toad. While her visit started nicely enough, it soon turned nasty when the girl mentioned the published accounts of the fall of You-Know-Who. The girl fled soon afterwards.

The compartment was quiet for several moments after she left.

"I shouldn't have blown up like that," Harry admitted quietly.

"Maybe not," Padma allowed, "but it was kind of understandable."

Parvati nodded agreement. "She was a bit pushy about it."

"Definitely a future Ravenclaw," Daphne commented condescendingly. "Too much time with her nose in a book, her head in the clouds and a wand up her arse."

Padma glared back at the girl. "I want to be in Ravenclaw."

Daphne smiled back innocently. "Oh, I forgot that. Sorry." Parvati and Tony started to laugh at the two friends while Ron just shook his head in disbelief.

'She's even worse than Ginny! Girls, they are all barmy. But at least she likes the Cannons

-II-

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was nice but not much happened. They introduced Harry to Chocolate Frogs and Wizard Cards. No one visited them although they saw several people moving up and down the passageway.

Once they arrived in Hogsmeade, the older students went one direction while the First years were called over to a giant man. Ron guessed from Fred and George's stories that this was Hagrid. Hagrid led them to the Black Lake where a bunch of small boats were waiting.

It was during the walk to the lake that the whispering started. Some people had seen Harry's scar and guessing if it was really him. Ron looked over at the silent boy. He must have heard them also but he ignored them.

When they reached the boats Hagrid seated them four to a boat. Ron joined Harry and Tony. A fourth boy named Neville joined them with a toad grasped tightly in his hands. The girls were in the boat in front of them joined by a girl with long, auburn hair.

Hagrid delivered the First years to Professor McGonagall. He had definitely heard of her. For the last two years it didn't seem a week went by that Mum hadn't received an owl from the Gryffindor Head of House reporting on something the twins had done. Ron had caught the brunt of Molly Weasley's rants on their behaviour as the only Weasley son there. It left an impression on him.

The stern professor welcomed them to Hogwarts and then told them to wait until she returned. It was as they waited that the trouble started.

A boy with almost white blond hair strutted up to Harry. Just watching the boy walk made Ron want to hex him.

"They are saying you are Harry Potter."

"Are they?" Harry responded. "That's good to know."

The boy scowled briefly. "Are you?"

Harry shrugged. The other boy took is as confirmation though. He put out his hand.

"I'm Draco Malfoy. I can help you settle into our world. You don't want to make the mistake of taking up with the wrong sort now do you." The boy glanced at Ron with a sneer as he added the last part. Now Ron really wanted to smack him. Plus he had heard plenty about the Malfoy family from his dad.

To Ron's disbelief, Harry reached out to shake blonde ponce's hand!

"Nice to meet you Draco." Harry gave the boy's hand a firm shake but didn't let go.

"Wasn't your father forced to serve Voldemort by that mind curse? Thank goodness what happened to Voldemort was able to free his mind. Imagine being stuck under a curse that you weren't strong enough to fight! That would be horrible!"

Ron was confused. Harry seemed sympathetic but Malfoy seemed to be getting paler and seemed to be wincing a bit.

Professor McGonagall appeared in the doorway and ordered them to line up. When Ron looked back, Harry had release Malfoy's hand. The Boy-Who-Lived said, "I am sure we can get together sometime soon and you can tell me all about who the right sort are. Good luck with your Sorting!" The blonde ponce disappeared without a word.

"Harry, be careful of him," Ron whispered earnestly. "The Malfoys are as Dark as they come. Every one of them have been in Slytherin!"

Ron felt someone smack his arm. He turned in surprise to see Daphne standing there. "Whadja do that for?" he demanded.

"My family has all been in Slytherin too! Including my father, you git!" The girl them stormed off in the direction the professor had gone.

Ron just stood in shock. Coach Steven was a slimy Slytherin?

-III-

Two months into school and Ron felt like his world was upside down. And it had started off so well.

The ride on the Express was brilliant; everything he had been told it would be. He was accepted into a compartment with a bunch of other new students. It was very different to be around a lot of people he wasn't related to. He was the only red-head in the compartment. Also during that ride, Ron met his first celebrity (Harry), his first Jew (Tony) and his first Indians (the Patil sisters). And then he met someone as excited about the Cannons as he was.

Like most eleven year-old boys, Ron still thought of girls as incomprehensible alien creatures that he really didn't want anything much to do with. But here was someone that knew as much about the Cannons' history as Ron did himself with the added bonus of inside information through her father. When Ron started in on his analysis of the Cannons Daphne was right there with him agreeing on some points while arguing back when she thought he was off base. Ron had never been so excited and happy in his life.

That was when it all came crashing down on him. First he saw Harry Potter shake Draco Malfoy's hand of all people. Then Daphne told him that her entire family including her father had been in Slytherin! Ten minutes later he watched her go to the Snake House.

He thought things were turning around when he was put into Gryffindor along with Harry and one of the Patil sisters. The pushy know-it-all from the Express, Granger, was there too but he just ignored her. His three older brothers had stood to welcome him to Gryffindor. It was fantastic.

Then classes started.

The Weasley's could not afford to send their children to a Wizarding day-school for their early years. It was almost as much as Hogwarts and they needed all of their money plus their scholarships for that school. So the Weasley children were schooled at home by their mum. Their 'classes' were very informal They didn't have homework really and Ron was able to move around frequently. He couldn't stand sitting still too long. Mrs Weasley would often let him out to run about the garden a bit or toss some gnomes to burn off energy.

Hogwarts was a shock to Ron. Every class gave homework every night! Ron's poor hand was so cramped. He swore he wrote more feet of parchment in his first week then in all his time at the Barrow. When was he supposed to find the time for all of it? And that crazy bint Granger kept volunteering to do more of it! Ron just wanted to get out of the castle and into the fresh air, away from the smells of parchment and ink.

Casting spells was alright but it took him a bit to get the hang of it. Mum had tried to teach him some Latin but it was weird trying to pronounce some of the words. Why couldn't they just cast spells in plain old English? None of this foreign mumbo-jumbo.

The social side wasn't much better.

Harry was still friendly but the Patils and Tony were not happy over his comments to Daphne. Which wasn't even fair. He never said anything to Daphne. He was talking to Harry. How was he supposed to know he family was Slytherin? She seemed so nice on the train. When he tried to talk to Parvati in the Gryffindor Common room, she called him a 'gormless git with the brains of a flobber worm." Of course it didn't help that Ron's mouth took over and called her a traitor to Gryffindor for defending a Slytherin. Harry started avoiding him after that.

Daphne was not someone he wanted to think about. She had seemed so nice. How could she be a Snake? It didn't fit with everything he had heard growing up. Ron had been ranting on that one night when Harry got sick of it and said the Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin. Then he asked Ron if that made him evil too.

Ron was shocked to his core. But once again he mouth started before his brain. "Well, of course not. You chose to be here, not with them!" Harry walked away in disgust and wouldn't speak of it again.

Now it was Halloween, two months since arriving at Hogwarts and Ron's frustration and anger were at their peak. He just couldn't take it anymore. And then it all came to a head in Charms class.

"You're saying it wrong," Granger harped in her bossy know-it-all voice. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it then if you're so clever," Ron snarled.1

Then the bushy haired witch rolled up her sleeves and did just that! That this Muggle-born could simply come in here and make all his struggles look effortless was infuriating! But Ron grit his teeth and struggle through the rest of class. What she got on her first try, he took the entire class period.

The sight of the witch asking Flitwick for an extra credit assignment was too much for Ron.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly"

Harry bumped into Ron as someone else shoved past the dark-haired boy. Ron recognized the hair as coming from his nemesis.

"I think she heard you," Harry muttered. Ron could see that Harry was not happy about the what Ron had said.

The anger in Ron faltered at Harry's expression. Then he thought about what his mum would say if she had seen what happened. A voice inside told him he was wrong, but he tried to justify it anyway.

"So? She must've noticed she's got no friends," Ron muttered back. Harry just gave him that look again and moved off. Ron tried to follow him but lost the other boy in the crowd.

-IV-

Ron was rather quiet the rest of the day. Harry didn't talk to him either although he did allow Ron to sit next to him in classes. The other Gryffindor boys didn't seem to know what happened although from their glares the girls sure did. Ron tried to ignore the fact Granger never showed up for the rest of the day's classes or lunch.

Ron was looking forward to the forgetting the day's problems at the Halloween feast. He was trailing Harry when Parvati approached the Boy-Who-Lived with Lavender in tow. Ron could just hear the conversation.

"Hermione's been crying in the bathroom since after Charms class. She won't come out," Parvati said.

"Yah. I don't like her much but this does seem a bit over the top doesn't it?" Lavender commented in an airy voice.

Parvati shot her friend a glance. "Hermione's been having a hard time of it. I think she's a bit homesick and feels like she doesn't fit in. Weasley seems to have a real talent for chocking things up."

The Great Hall looked fantastic but Ron didn't really notice. He just concentrated on eating and not meeting anyone's eyes.

Ron looked up with a start when the doors to the Great Hall suddenly swung open. Professor Quirrell sprinted in his robe and turban askew and a look of pure terror on his face.

The Defence professor reached the main table and gasped out, "Troll- in the dungeon- thought you ought to know."

Then he sank to the floor in a dead faint.

The hall want crazy as the students (and some teachers) started to panic. Dumbledore used his wand to create some loud noises and get everyone's attention. Then he ordered to the Prefects to take the students back to their dorms while the staff dealt with the troll.

Ron was starting to follow the group his brother Percy was leading when Harry grabbed him.

"Hermione, she doesn't know about the troll."

Ron saw the expression on Harry's face and his conscience flared bit. "Oh, all right. But Percy better not see us."

The two First years trailed Percy's group out of the Great Hall but turned up another corridor and started off towards the girls bathroom.

"Someone's coming," Harry hissed. "Back in the alcove."

Ron complied but muttered, "I don't hear anyone."

"Shh!"

Sure enough, ten seconds later Professor Snape stalks past their hiding spot with his robe flaring out dramatically behind. Ron tensed as the man passed. The greasy git would love to catch them out.

"Come on," Harry said. "We have to hurry."

They had just about reached the girls bathroom when Harry stopped suddenly. Ron almost plowed right into him.

"Whadja do that for?" Ron asked irritably.

"The troll- its nearby."

"How do you know that?"

A sudden scream erupted from within the bathroom. Then a roar and the sounds of cracking wood.

"Hermione!" Ron said in shock.

"Hurry!" Harry shouted as he sprinted towards the bathroom. Ron was right behind him running into the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom they were greeted by the sight of a giant troll holding a club and standing in the wreckage of several bathroom stalls. Water was spraying everywhere from the shattered porcelain toilets. Hermione Granger was huddled on the ground against the wall just outside the last stall remaining. The troll seemed to be looking for the girl. Ron guessed the water spraying about and Hermione's black school robes made it hard for the dim-witted troll to see her.

"Confuse it!" Harry shouted.

Ron stepped into the room and started waving his arms over his head. "Oy, pea-brain! Over here!"

The troll turned to see the boy at the other end of the room. It let out a roar and started towards him while raising his club.

Harry sprinted down the wall to Hermione. Ron saw him grab her arm and try to get her to stand up. The girl's face was so white with fear Ron could see it clearly the whole length of the room away. Ron was still jumping about distracting the troll but he did see Harry suddenly grab Hermione and pick her up before turning and running right past the troll and out of the room.

Ron turned to follow but the troll swung its club knocking debris everywhere. A piece of porcelain smashed into Ron sending him to the ground. Several pieces of the stall landed between Ron and the door cutting off his escape.

His wand out, Ron thought feverishly to come up with a spell that would help him. He didn't know many damn it!

Then a black furry shape shot into the room and leapt onto the trolls back. The troll shrieked in agony as the creature latched its teeth onto the troll's neck. Even the troll's thick skin gave into the pressure from the jaws and sharp teeth. The troll's thick green blood was rolling down its side.

The troll dropped its club whipped around trying to dislodge its attacker. It wasn't until the troll's back was to Ron that he could clearly see the creature. It looked sort of like a werewolf but not like any he'd ever seen pictures of. It was then Ron noticed the new creature was wearing the same baggy pants Ron had seen earlier that day. Except now they weren't baggy at all. It was Harry. Somehow the creature was Harry Potter!

The troll was winning its fight to shake Harry loose. Ron knew he had to do something to help.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The trolls club smashed down onto its own head just as Harry was thrown off. The troll gave a groan as it dropped to its knees and then slumped to the ground.

Ron stood shocked at what he'd managed to do. Then he noticed the creature walking towards him. Yet as it walked, Ron saw its hair shrinking and its features changing. By the time it reached Ron, it was a topless human Harry Potter in baggy pants.

Harry clapped Ron on the shoulder. "I'm glad you learned that spell." Ron was too stunned to speak.

"What the bloody hell was that?" a new voice shrieked.

Standing in the doorway was a drenched Hermione Granger. She was looking at Harry with wide eyes. She was also holding the rest of Harry's clothes.

Harry frowned and said, "Look, we don't have time for this right now. The professors are almost here. We just tell them what happened but not mention my other form, okay? I'll explain later."

Ron said okay, but Hermione just nodded and held out Harry's clothes. Harry smiled but first went over to one of the water sprays to wash off the troll blood. He'd just gotten his robe and shoes back on when McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell burst into the room.

McGonagall took in the unconscious troll, the destruction of the room and her three First years. Quirrell looked ready to faint and Snape went to check on the troll but McGonagall turned on her students demanding what had happened.

Harry started to talk but was cut off by Hermione.

"I wanted to research my assignment for Charms and missed dinner. I was on my way back to the dorm when the troll found me. It chased me in here. Harry and Ron realized I didn't know about the troll and came to find me. If they hadn't the troll would have killed me."

Ron was staring at the girl in shock. The little know-it-all and rules follower was lying to a teacher? He was impressed.

A modified version of the story came out starting from Hermione's point of view and then Harry took over at the point he and Ron arrived. For once, Ron was able to keep his mouth shut and not mess things up. McGonagall actually looked impressed at Ron's use of the Levitation Charm to knock out the troll.

"Very well, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley five points each for managing to defeat a full-grown mountain troll and help a fellow student. I would give more but if you had simply told a prefect you wouldn't have had to do so. It is one thing to be brave and another to be foolish. Now off with you."

They thanked the professor and left immediately. The trio remained quiet the whole walk back to Gryffindor tower. Just before they reached the entrance to the tower, Hermion grabbed both of them and pulled them into an unused classroom. She shut the door behind them and fixed Harry with a stern look.

"Now, what was that?" she demanded.

AN: I wanted to use this Yoda quote for Ron but the movie wasn't even out yet.

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

-YODA, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

1 Taken from HP and the Sorcerer's Stone (US hardcover edition), p171-2