– CHAPTER TEN –

For Whom the Bell Trolls

In the following days, Harmony, Ron and Hermione kept their little encounter with the three-headed dog to themselves, but each had their own way of dealing with it. Ron couldn't seem to stop talking about it, reliving the fear with every retelling, whilst Hermione didn't want to linger on it and poke her nose where it wasn't supposed to be. Meanwhile, Harmony relayed her theory about the dog guarding the mysterious package Hagrid had withdrawn from Gringotts.

'Whatever is under that thing, it's got to be really valuable,' opined Ron, 'or even more dangerous.'

'It doesn't matter,' said Hermione. 'Not to us, anyway. Now stop talking about it, and maybe we'll stay out of trouble.'

Since their incident on the third floor, none of them had gotten a chance to speak with Pansy about it. They only had two classes together, Potions and flying, and she was always with the other Slytherins, even as they continued to snub her.

Harmony had since had time to reveal her offer to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and the reaction from her fellow first-years was all-around positive. The only major exception, unsurprisingly, was still Malfoy and his friends. Crabbe even tried to argue it was unfair for Harmony to play because she had "a physical male advantage", until Ebony Way reminded him that Quidditch was a mixed-gender sport.

Ron and Seamus were incredibly jealous, whilst Fay Dunbar was ecstatic by the prospect of a majority female team. Hermione reacted with typical sisterly concern, worried that Harmony might get hurt, but Harmony herself was fully aware of the risks and promised her she'd be OK.

Another day at Hogwarts came as Harmony and her friends sat down for breakfast. As the morning post arrived as usual, Harmony had stopped even hoping Hedwig would bring her anything, but that day it was quite the opposite. Clutched in her tiny claws, Hedwig flew in with the biggest package of the day, dropping right it in front of Harmony and knocking her orange juice all over her toast. Harmony wasn't too concerned, far more fascinated by the long, thin and heavy parcel.

Atop the package was an envelope with a message inside, which Harmony opened and read first:

DO NOT OPEN THIS PACKAGE AT THE TABLE.

Inside is your new broomstick for Quidditch: a Nimbus Two-Thousand. Please refrain from opening it until later, so as to avoid jealousy from your fellow first-years. As such, any use of this broom outside of practice and matches is still strictly forbidden until next year. Oliver Wood will meet you for your first session tonight at 7pm on the Quidditch pitch.

Professor McGonagall

Whilst Harmony tried her best to keep the message to herself, Ron couldn't help but peer over her shoulder and read it. Upon seeing the name of the broom, his jaw figuratively dropped to the floor.

'A Nimbus Two –' he started to shout before Harmony cupped her hand over his mouth, trying not to draw attention.

'Shut up,' she warned. 'I'd better stash this before class. Don't want to carry it around all day. Hermione, do you mind…?'

Hermione sighed. 'I'll let you up to dorm.'

After they finished their breakfast, Hermione accompanied Harmony out of the Great Hall and towards Gryffindor Tower. As they reached the top of the entrance hall stairs, the pair just so happened to pass Pansy Parkinson. It was the first time they had crossed paths since their little incident, and there were no other Slytherins around. This was the best chance to speak to her privately.

'Hey, Pansy,' Harmony greeted her, awkwardly but friendly. 'You doing good?'

'Hey,' she replied hesitantly. 'I'm…fine, I guess?'

'Yeah, true. You, um, you haven't talked to anyone else about…you know?'

'Merlin's beard, no! Do you think anyone would believe me?'

'Best keep it that way,' Hermione interjected. 'It's none of our business anyway. Right, Harmony?'

Harmony gulped and nodded along as Hermione shot her an aggressive look. 'Yeah. Sure.' She turned her attention back to Pansy. 'So, um…we good, then?'

Pansy had to think about it for a moment. Harmony could tell she wanted to say so much, but all she could get out was, 'Yeah, we're cool. See ya,' before storming off back towards the dungeons.

Harmony only had just enough time to shove her broomstick under her bed before rushing off to her first class, and all day she could only think about flying. She wasn't even fully sold on the idea of Quidditch yet, still not understanding the rules, but just the thought of getting back in the air on a quality broom motivated her to get through the day. After finishing all her lessons and wolfing down some dinner, Harmony excitedly skurried back up to Gryffindor Tower and finally opened the package with the other girls.

The Nimbus Two Thousand was a far cry from the withering sticks that were the school practice brooms. The shaft was sleek and polished, the brush twigs were bundled and shaped into a neat swish, it had proper footrests at its tail, and the words Nimbus Two Thousand embossed in gold at its tip. Harmony was over the moon, and her fellow Gryffindors were equally impressed.

'Wow!' gawked Parvati. 'That is a gorgeous broom.'

'Harmony, you've got to let me have a go!' demanded Fay.

The only one in the dorm not fully invested was Lavender Brown, who sat quietly on her own trying to do some homework.

'Looks alright, I guess,' she snidely butted in. 'It'll be out of date by next year.'

Harmony and the others just ignored Lavender as they encouraged her to get off to practice, with Hermione once again warning her to be careful like an overly doting mother. She headed out of the castle and down towards the Quidditch pitch as the sun started to set, and once she arrived, she was only more overwhelmed.

The stadium was massive, with the stands raised high above the field so that spectators could get the best view of the aerial action, with even higher towering boxes adorned with the four house colours. At either end of the pitch were three golden hoops on elongated stems of varying lengths; they looked like giant badminton rackets, but without the netting.

As seven o'clock drew closer, there was still no sign of Wood, so Harmony decided to give her Nimbus a little test run. As she mounted her brush and kicked off into the air, she could suddenly feel the difference a good broomstick made. Not only was the Nimbus much faster, it was also more comfortable to ride and much easier to handle. She could make sharp turns quickly, drop and gain altitude with little effort, and even do tricks like spins and flips without losing airspeed. After only a few minutes, Harmony was zipping around the stadium and in between the hoops like a stunt pilot. The experience alone quickly convinced her that Quidditch might be up her street, and training hadn't even begun yet.

Oliver Wood soon arrived, carrying a large wooden crate with him as he entered the stadium and looked up to see Harmony zooming high above the field.

'Well done, lassie!' he exclaimed as she came in for a landing. 'Madame Hooch said you were a natural on a broom, but…that was bloody fantastic! That said, fancy flying will only get you so far. You need to understand the actual game first.'

Wood opened up the chest, inside of which were four balls of varying sizes. He took out the largest of them: a red leather ball, roughly the size of a football, but with two rounded notches on either side.

'Quidditch, at its core, is a simple ball game,' he explained. 'There are seven players to a team. Three of them are called Chasers, and their role is centred around this ball: the Quaffle. The Chasers pass this between each other and try to throw it through the opposing hoops; each successful throw nets your team ten points. Then there's the Keeper, which is my position. It's my job to defend our team's hoops from the opposing Chasers. With me so far?'

Harmony nodded. It seemed basic enough so far; it was like basketball, but fifty feet in the air. As she noticed the next two balls, which were black and resembled cannonballs, shaking to break free from their restraints, she was quickly back to being confused.

'Ah, the Bludgers!' said Wood excitedly. 'I'll show you how they work. Hold this.'

Oliver Wood gave Harmony a one-handed wooden bat before releasing the irons on one of the Bludgers. The ball quickly shot up into the air and started careening dangerously around the stadium in no discernible pattern. It then started to head straight toward Harmony.

'Hit it, Harmony! Hit it!' shouted Wood.

Harmony readied her bat and took a swing at the Bludger as it flew towards her, knocking it off-course and into another loop-de-loop. A few moments later, it started to head back, with Wood carefully catching it out of the air and forcing it back into the box.

'So that's a Bludger,' he explained. 'They fly around the stadium, trying to knock Chasers off their brooms. That's where each team's pair of Beaters come in; the Weasley twins are ours. They keep the Bludgers away from our Chasers, whilst also trying to bat them toward the opposing Chasers. Makes sense?'

Harmony wasn't quite so convinced. 'I think so. Can Bludgers…kill?'

'No. They could easily break your bones though, but hey: that's what the hospital wing is for. Now you understand those roles, you don't have to worry about them too much. As Seeker, the only ball you need to be worried about is this one.'

Wood retrieved the final ball from the chest. It was small, no bigger than a chestnut, and shone a shiny gold. Wood let go of the ball, at which point little hummingbird-like wings sprouted from it and started to flutter about. Harmony tried to catch it out of the air, but it quickly zipped out of her grasp in the blink of an eye.

'This is the Golden Snitch,' said Wood proudly. 'The Seeker's job is simple on paper: you just need to catch it. Actually doing so is incredibly difficult, but a game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, and whichever team catches it is awarded one hundred and fifty points. That's the game in a nutshell. So, Harmony: you in?'

Harmony was only half-listening at this point, as she was so preoccupied with trying to snatch the Snitch out of the air, but every attempt failed as she flailed about like a cat chasing a laser pointer. Eventually, Wood had to catch the ball out of the air with his wand and put it back in the trunk before Harmony would pay attention again.

'I'll take that as a yes,' Wood grinned, 'but let's start with something a little easier. Tonight, we're going to practice catching and manoeuvring in the air using these.' He then took out a tin, which contained about a dozen small, white, hard spheres.

'Golf balls?' Harmony questioned.

'Is that what they're called?' asked Wood. 'I've always just called them Muggle Pellets.'

For the rest of the training session, Wood simply threw the golf balls into the air and Harmony tried to catch them, which she almost always did. After another half-hour, any semblance of sunlight dipped behind the mountains and there was next to no visibility on the pitch.

'Lumos Maxima!' declared Wood, creating a bright light that shone from the tip of his wand, illuminating the field. 'Nice work today, Harmony. Practice with the whole team is three times a week, straight after dinner. With a little more training, that cup is ours for the taking!'

Two months into her time at Hogwarts, Harmony was still struggling to find her footing in some aspects, but in others she was thriving. She felt most at home now on the Quidditch pitch, where Oliver Wood and the entire team were behind her and doing their utmost to help her be the best Seeker she could be. Her friend group was still fairly small, and there was still the odd speedbump with the likes of Snape and Malfoy, but she'd take one brief moment of discrimination at Hogwarts over the unending blunt torture of the Dursleys any day.

Harmony had especially been looking forward to that day's Charms class. Professor Flitwick had promised them they'd finally start on something a lot of the students had been anxious to learn: levitation spells. The excitable teacher provided each student with a large feather, which they were tasked with lifting into the air.

'Remember to swish and flick with your wand,' reminded Flitwick, 'and carefully pronounce the incantation: Wingardium Leviosa! Like so:' He cast the charm on a nearby book, which proceeded to lightly float across the room as Flitwick guided it with the tip of his wand.

It seemed so effortless to the professor, but the rest of the first-years struggled. Harmony flicked and swished every which way whilst reciting the incantation over and over, but she could only get the feather to wiggle about a bit. She was at least doing better than Seamus and Neville, who respectively set their quill on fire and accidentally made it too heavy to even lift. Ron grew incredibly frustrated as he began wildly flailing his wand to avail.

'Ronald, stop,' intervened Hermione. 'You're being too violent with your wand movements, and you're pronouncing it wrong. It's le-VEE-oh-sah, not lev-ee-oh-SAH!'

Ron shot Hermione a scornful look. 'I supposed you've already been practicing?' he said sarcastically.

Hermione didn't bother to respond. She simply cleared her throat and cast the spell. 'Wingardium Leviosa!' Her feather quickly sprung off her desk and wavered about above her head and across the classroom. Upon seeing it, Professor Flitwick was absolutely delighted.

'Well done, Miss Granger, well done!' he praised profusely. 'Look, everyone. That is how you cast a charm!'

Harmony was incredibly pleased for Hermione. A lot of people assumed she was only booksmart and wouldn't do so well with actual spells, but she proved them very wrong that day. In contrast though, Ron looked livid and utterly embarrassed. Having known Hermione long enough, Harmony knew she hadn't been trying to humiliate Ron. Hermione just had an unfortunate tone of voice that often made her sound condescending, when all she was really trying to do was help.

With class finally over, Harmony and Hermione were equally excited for different reasons. Hermione was still basking in being able to prove herself to Flitwick, whilst Harmony was looking forward to that night's Halloween feast.

Fred and George had hyped up Halloween at Hogwarts as a massive binge of candied treats, which Harmony had never been able to indulge herself in. Whilst Dudley always got a nice costume at Halloween to go trick-or-treating in, Uncle Vernon wouldn't even let Harmony go outside on the night.

As the pair made their way back towards Gryffindor Tower, they were walking a few paces behind Ron and some of the other boys. Harmony hadn't been particularly paying attention, only being able to tell that whatever they were talking about was funny to them. That changed when Ron decided to raise his voice a little too loudly.

'"It's le-VEE-oh-sah, not lev-ee-oh-SAH!"' he said in a mocking tone as Seamus laughed along. 'She's so annoying! I'm surprised she even has any friends.'

Harmony looked at Hermione, who began to shut in on herself. Any sense of pride she had completely evaporated, and she now looked on the verge of tears. Harmony had faced far worse in her life, even at Hogwarts, but Hermione had done nothing to provoke anyone other than be smart. After Hermione had stood up for her so many times before, Harmony felt like she was long overdue in returning the favour.

Taking a deep breath, Harmony strode forward to catch up with the boys and tapped on Ron's shoulder.

'Hey! Not cool, dude,' she said, nodding towards Hermione.

Ron looked at Hermione and saw how upset she was but, unfortunately, he immediately deflected. 'I was just joking, Hermione. Chill out.'

'She didn't think it was funny,' rebutted Harmony, 'and neither do I. Now apologise.'

Ron's ire bubbled. Harmony could quickly tell he was now even less likely to show remorse.

'Hermione, I'm sorry that I'm so crap at Charms,' said Ron contemptuously, 'but constantly reminding me about it isn't helpful. Do you want to apologise now?'

The waterworks officially burst. As Hermione cried her eyes out, a crowd of passing students gathered. Some were shocked, whereas others just laughed. Even the likes of Seamus and Dean were awkwardly tugging on their collars in second-hand embarrassment. Harmony was neither stunned nor amused. She was furious.

'What is your problem?' she asked bluntly as she comforted Hermione. 'Like, seriously?'

Ron didn't answer. Harmony could tell he knew he'd messed up, but was far too proud to admit it, just by the uncomfortable expression on his speckled face. Instead, Ron stormed off, leaving Harmony to deal with a distraught Hermione.

'C'mon,' said Harmony, 'let's get you out of here.'

Harmony ended up practically dragging Hermione to the nearest girls' bathroom, locking themselves in a stall and just letting Hermione bawl out her feelings. There were certainly awkward encounters and unkind things said by other girls coming and going from the facilities, particularly a gaggle of Slytherins who gossiped right in front of them, but otherwise most folks knew to leave well enough alone.

Harmony didn't really know what else to do, and Hermione was in no state to answer any questions, so she just simply sat with her and passed the time by getting a head start on some Charms homework.

It was soon dark outside, and Harmony knew that the Halloween feast was likely already underway. As much as she had been looking forward to it, she couldn't in good conscience leave Hermione behind. At the end of the day, the wellbeing of her closest friend was more important than pumpkin pie, no matter how delicious it was.

Hermione finally pulled her head out of her hands. Her eyes were wet and bloodshot, and a steady stream of watery snot was streaming out of her nose.

'You going to be okay?' Harmony asked her.

Hermione shrugged. 'Harmony…why does everyone hate me?' she said weepily.

'That's not true!' Harmony shot back effusively. 'Don't ever believe that! You know I've got your back, and so do the other Gryffindor gals.'

'But…but what about Ron –?'

'Who cares what Ron thinks? He's an insecure whiner who picks on you because you make him look bad. You're amazing, Hermione. I don't think I'd still be here without you.'

Hermione remained unconvinced, still wrapped up in her own head. Harmony knew she had to kick it up a notch.

'Hermione, I'm not doing this 'cos I feel sorry or forced or whatever. It's because you've always been there for me. I know you think what I'm going through dwarfs your problems, and maybe it does, but that doesn't mean they matter less. You're a bloody amazing witch. Don't let anyone tell you different, especially yourself. Now can we please go to dinner?'

Hermione cracked a smile through her tears. 'Okay,' she said quietly, before sitting up off the toilet.

Harmony reached for the latch to unlock the stall, but before she could touch it, CRA-THOOM! What looked like a large tree trunk crashed along the cubicles, shredding them to splinters. Harmony grabbed Hermione and pulled her down before the humungous log pulverised them. Covered in broken wood and bathroom tiles, the girls looked up to see what had wrought the destruction.

Towering over them at an overwhelming height was a slovenly mountain troll. It wielded a gigantic wooden club, the very implement that had just wrecked the toilets, which they dragged on the floor with their abnormally long arms. The creature's skin was a blueish grey, incredibly coarse and dry, and there was even moss and fungi growing out of it. The brainless expression that permanently rested on the troll's face was both hilarious and terrifying in equal measure, not helped by their relative lack of teeth and hair.

The troll raised its weighty club, ready to swing it right down on Harmony and Hermione, but its slow and heavy movements gave them plenty of time to react. Grabbing the petrified Hermione by the shoulders, Harmony pulled her away from the impact point, narrowly missing the club.

'Hermione, confuse it!' Harmony yelled. 'You must know a spell for this!'

'I…I can't,' Hermione quivered. After finally pulling herself together, the sudden attack had thrown her plummeting back into despair.

'Hermione, c'mon,' Harmony pleaded. 'You can do this. I know it!'

The pep talk had to take a quick break, as Harmony dragged Hermione out of the way of another club swing from the troll. Harmony had no idea what she could do to combat the colossal creature, not knowing any spells that would prove useful against it, other than repelling its club swings with the occasional Flipendo. She once again cursed Professor Quirrell's inadequate lessons; this was the kind of thing she'd hoped Defence Against the Dark Arts was made for.

With little other recourse, Harmony thought she could at least attract attention away from Hermione. She dashed over to where the sinks used to be and started chucking the broken porcelain and piping at the troll.

The immense creature shrugged off the debris impacting its leathery body, but it still had the desired effect. It turned away from Hermione and lumbered over to Harmony before raising its club again. Instead of just dodging this time though, Harmony decided to be a bit more daring.

As the club came crashing down, Harmony sidestepped its impact and clambered atop the troll's arm, climbing up and onto the creature's shoulders. She held on as tight as she could with her legs around its neck, thinking maybe she could choke it out, but the skin was just too thick and her thighs were not nearly strong enough. The creature instead started swatting at Harmony with its free arm, eventually able to grab her off its shoulder by her cloak. It gripped Harmony tight in its hand whilst readying its club.

Harmony looked down at Hermione. She hadn't moved at all. She barely even looked conscious. In that moment, Harmony thought she was done for. This was how she would die.

'Wingardium Leviosa!' shouted a voice. The troll's club flew out of its grasp and high above its head. It looked up, confused and scared, before the weapon suddenly dropped out of the air and on top of its head. The troll stumbled for a moment before crashing down to the floor, releasing Harmony in the process as she rolled across the smashed flooring.

Harmony looked up and saw the figure of her saviour. It was Pansy Parkinson.

'Thanks,' said Harmony.

'No worries,' she said plainly. 'Guess we're even now.'

Pansy helped Harmony to her feet before they both checked in on Hermione. She was luckily just out of the way of the troll before it collapsed, and with the danger over she was starting to come to her senses.

'Is…is it dead?' Hermione asked.

'Nah, just unconscious,' said Pansy.

'What the hell happened?' asked Harmony.

Pansy shrugged. 'I don't know. Professor Quirrell came running into the middle of dinner saying a troll had gotten into the dungeons. We were all getting escorted back to our houses when I heard that ginger prefect of yours asking where you were. I knew you were here because Millicent had been gossiping about it, so I-'

Just then, they heard the rapid thumping of footsteps on concrete. Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell burst into the room and were each shocked in their own way at what they saw. McGonagall gasped loudly, Quirrell went pale and nearly fainted, whilst Snape's surprise quickly curdled into frustration.

'What happened here?' asked McGonagall. 'Why aren't you back in your houses?'

'We weren't at dinner, Professor,' explained Harmony. 'I was here because Hermione had-'

'I was feeling sick,' interrupted Hermione. It was not in character for her to lie like that, but she clearly didn't want to explain her tiff with Ron at that time.

Snape stepped forward and approached Pansy. 'And you, Miss Parkinson? Why were you here?'

Pansy looked up at Snape, shivering and intimidated by his vacant stare. 'I…I knew they were here and didn't know the danger. I tried to get help from the prefects, but they thought I was playing a joke or something-'

'I understand that much,' Snape pressed, gritting his teeth and raising his voice, 'but why, dear girl, did you put yourself in so much danger for the sake of other students?'

Pansy looked at Harmony and smiled. 'Because it was the right thing to do.'

'She saved us, Professor,' Hermione spoke up. 'If it hadn't been for her, we-'

McGonagall and Snape looked at each other, silently disagreeing on how to proceed.

'Very well,' said Snape. 'Miss Parkinson, I commend your abilities, but you must learn that the line between bravery and stupidity can be very thin. Ten points to Slytherin.'

'Well, Miss Granger, Miss Potter,' said McGonagall, 'I'm just glad you're safe. I promise you, this is far from a regular occurrence at Hogwarts. Professor Quirrell, would you and Mr Hagrid see to this creature being safely removed from the castle?'

'A-a-a-h, yes, of-of-of course,' stammered Quirrell as he looked reticently at the comatose troll. 'I-I-I-I can take care of that n-n-n-n-no problem.'

Quirrell stayed behind with the troll whilst Harmony, Hermione and Pansy were escorted by McGonagall and Snape back toward their houses. The three children hung back behind the teachers as Pansy leaned in close.

'Something's going on with Professor Quirrell,' she whispered. 'I think it's to do with you-know-what on the third floor.'

'What do you mean?' asked Harmony.

'Quirrell fainted in the Great Hall after he told everyone about the troll, but after we all started to leave, I saw him running off into some secret passageway in the entrance hall. While we were being ushered back to dorm, I heard Snape mutter something about "the beast", and then he made a dash for the Grand Staircase. I thought he meant the troll at first, but all the other teachers were heading to the dungeon.'

'Maybe they were just securing it?' Hermione suggested. 'If a troll somehow got loose, imagine what would happen if that dog got out?'

'I don't think so,' Pansy rejected. 'Did you notice what that dog was standing-?'

'A trap door, yes,' Harmony interjected. 'What about it?'

'I bet Quirrell wants whatever's under there. I've never trusted the bloke.'

'What if you've got it the wrong way round? What if Quirrell was ensuring the dog was safe, and Snape was trying to-'

Pansy scoffed. 'No way. You gals have got Snape all wrong. I bet-'

'This way, Miss Parkinson,' Snape interrupted as they reached a fork in the corridors. One way led back to the Grand Staircase, the other down towards the dungeons.

With little other recourse, Pansy and Snape parted ways with the Gryffindors. Harmony tried to make the 'call me' sign with her hand, but Pansy didn't understand the Muggle expression.

Once Harmony and Hermione were safely back in Gryffindor Tower, Harmony was delighted to find that leftovers from the Halloween feast had been brought to the common room. They helped themselves to a hefty plate of treats and went to sit by the fire, doing their best to ignore Ron and the other boys in the corner. They sat silently for a while, still trying to take in the tumultuous events of the whole day.

'So,' Hermione realised, 'are we friends with a Slytherin now?'

'Yeah,' Harmony agreed, 'and what's so wrong with that?'