It was Halloween morning, and I had my fifth years again.

As the students began to solve a problem in class, I began to wander around them per usual, to correct mistakes that I happened to see or answer questions.

Percy's voice floated into my ear. "You always do this. Does it ever occur to you to do your real work?"

With a resigned sigh, I headed over to them and found Oliver Wood drawing three circles at the height of Quidditch hoops.

"Mr. Wood, do tell me you've mastered the art of drawing multidimensional linked Runic Circles and that those aren't Quidditch hoops."

"Oh, no, they're not Quidditch hoops, Professor. They're, er, multidi- what you said," Oliver said guiltily.

It was hard to hold back a laugh, but I managed to keep my face stern.

Oliver suddenly broke into a rushed plea. "It's just that Gryffindor's finally found a new Seeker, Professor, and I only just realized I hadn't much prepared for Seekers. So, I've got to devise some new game plans, you see."

"I did hear about Gryffindor's new Seeker, and I'm very pleased for you," I replied. "But even if you focus in class, Mr. Wood, there's plenty of time to finish your game plans."

I started to walk away when Oliver said hesitantly, "My father mentioned that you were the Gryffindor Seeker once. Is that true?"

Aware of nearby students looking over curiously, I merely nodded my head once.

"Well, perhaps you could come and show us how it's done," Oliver said enthusiastically.

I couldn't help it. I laughed at this.

"I highly doubt it. Your father always had me practicing feints. If I attempted them now, I think I'd break my neck, or at least pull my back."

"No," Oliver said. "You're not that old, Professor. I'm sure you could show us-"

"How old are you, Professor?" someone else behind me asked.

"It's not polite to ask," Percy said stiffly.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley. But I don't mind. How's this? If all of you can finish the next set of problems without mistakes in the remaining time, I'll tell you. You may ask me questions and discuss amongst yourselves, but the answers must be spotless. Are we agreed?"

The students suddenly worked with burning fervor- even Oliver Wood.

Percy naturally finished first and then spent the rest of his time correcting (or some might say, terrorizing) his classmates. "No, not that Rune. Don't you listen? She said that that Rune cancels out this Rune. And for goodness' sake, the Rune literally means 'Fire'. You would kill us all in an explosion if you were to draw this Rune."

With five minutes remaining, I sorted through each students' answers. My smile grew as I realized they were all perfect, though some more the marks of frantic last-second editing. I finally tossed them onto the desk behind me and turning to the class, I announced, "I'm thirty."

There was a silence and then, someone whispered, "That's so old."

"Mind your manners," Percy whispered back.

"For Merlin's sake, will you shut it, Percy? I swear you're worse than my mum," someone else said.

I laughed and said, "I'm as surprised as you all are to be thirty, but I promise you, it's really not that old- just too old to be going about pulling off Wronski Feints. But I'm still alive, you know. I can move and everything."

"Yes, but you're nearly our parents' age," someone said.

"I expect so, for many of you," I replied.

"Then what about Professor Dumbledore? He must be ancient," someone else pitched in.

"Do you know how old he is, Professor Kingsley?"

"No," I said. "If you want to find out, I suggest you come up with a Runic circle that would impress even him, and so in light of your enthusiasm, I shall recommend you extra homework tonight! Let's say, pages eighty-seven to one hundred and-"

As predicted, my announcement was met was a loud groan by the class.

"But it's Halloween!" someone protested.

"All right, all right," I said, laughing again. "It'll be regular assignments, then, and I'll see you all at the Halloween Feast."


I stepped inside the Great Hall. Professor Flitwick and Hagrid together had done an incredible job. A thousand live bats swopped in the air, and floating pumpkins with candles inside hovered over the tables. As I made my way up to the Professor's table, I heard a frantic voice shout, "Watch it!"

I paused, and then saw Neville Longbottom scrambling towards me.

"Trevor!" he yelled, and then bent down in front of me.

Looking down, I saw that Trevor was croaking dangerously near my foot.

"I lost him after Potions," Neville explained. "Sorry, Professor Kingsley."

"No need to apologize, Neville," I said. "I'm glad I didn't hurt your frog."

"I'm always losing him," Neville explained. "I get nervous that something's going to happen to him. He's my frog, and I know Gran will get mad at me."

I smiled and said, "You know what, Neville? I'd wager Trevor knows the ins and outs of Hogwarts better than both me and you. I wouldn't worry too much about him. He'll find his way back to you."

I patted his shoulder and said, "Enjoy the feast, Neville," before I moved on.

I took my seat between Professors Sinistra and Vector and we chatted while the rest of the students filtered in.

The feast began shortly after. As we began to help ourselves to the food, Professor Vector frowned and said, "Are we missing someone? There's an empty seat."

I looked around and saw that there was an empty seat at the other end of the table.

"Oh, I know," Professor Sinistra started to say, "it's Qui-"

Before she could finish, Professor Quirrell himself came sprinting into the hall. He looked terrified of something. I wonder if he was being chased. Reflexively, I reached for my wand beneath my robes.

Professor Quirrell ran all the way up to our table before slumping forward and gasping, "Troll - in the dungeons – thought you ought to know." He fainted on the spot.

The students panicked. Madam Pomfrey immediately rushed over to Quirrell.

Dumbledore raised his wand and let off several purple fireworks.

"Prefects," he commanded, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

"Professors, we must search the grounds and castles for any other threats or to apprehend the person behind this."

Just then, Quirrell seemed to be coming to his senses.

"You should rest, Professor," Professor Sinistra said, before taking off to check the Astronomy Tower.

"Ms. Kingsley, you come with me," McGonagall said. "In the absence of our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, we shall go down to the dungeons to subdue the troll."


McGonagall and I rushed out of the Great Hall together. The dungeons weren't exactly close to the Great Hall. Furthermore, the Hogwarts dungeons were a vast area to cover.

"Professor," I said, as we hurried towards the dungeons. "Do you have any idea who could have let in the troll?"

"No, Raylynx, and I suggest we put the question out of our minds until the troll is captured. The students' safety must come first. We can play detective afterwards."

"Yes, Professor," I said.

We had finally arrived at the dungeons.

"Wands out," McGonagall said softly, drawing her own. "Remember that Stunning Spells won't do the trick. They'll be too weak against the sheer bruteness of any troll."

I nodded.

We ventured forward, but we didn't come across the troll.

Then, I grabbed McGonagall's shoulder to stop here.

"Wait, listen. Do you hear that?" I asked her.

We stopped, and past the sounds of the dripping of the water, I thought I could hear a distant smashing sound and a high-pitched scream.

"This way!" I said, and we started to run.

A few seconds later, and I could hear the sounds most distinctly. There were more smashing sounds, the troll's grunts, shouting, and the spray of water as though pipes were breaking-

"It's the girls' bathroom!" I realized.

Just before we reached the bathroom, we ran into Snape and Quirrell from the opposite direction. We all reached the bathroom door at the same moment. McGonagall reached forward and wrenched it open and went in and we all followed in after her.

I gasped and lifted my hand over my mouth in surprise when I saw Harry, Ron, and another girl with bushy hair and wearing Gryffindor robes standing before me and just behind them, a massive troll, who was knocked on the ground. Ron's wand was raised in the air. A terrible odor was in the air, a mixture of bathroom water and the troll.

Professor McGonagall exclaimed in surprise, and said angrily, "What on earth were you thinking of?" Beside us, Quirrell gave out a feeble whimper and sat down quickly on the toilet. Both Snape and I were staring at Harry. I quickly looked him over. I couldn't see any major injuries on him or the other two, thank goodness. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Merlin.

The three students looked at us, stunned.

"You're lucky you weren't killed," McGonagall snapped. "Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"Please, Professor McGonagall," the girl spoke in a small voice, "they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

Granger… Dimly, I seemed to recall her from the Sorting. Hermione Granger, or something like that.

"I went looking for the troll because I- I thought I could deal with it on my own- you know, because I've read all about them," she explained.

Ron dropped his wand.

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

I could tell clearly that this was clearly not the full truth from the shifting expressions on their faces, but it seemed that they were all right, and for now, that was the most important thing.

"Well- in that case…" McGonagall said, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

The girl hung her head, and the boys looked speechless.

Beside me, Snape looked sour, and I knew that he, like me, did not buy this story at all. But Snape also remained silent. Then, I noticed something for the first time. Snape seemed to be leaning against the wall. It was subtle, but he seemed to be deliberately putting his weight on one leg. I looked at him questioningly, but he continued to stare at the students.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you."

"If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower," I added. "Students are finishing the feast in their Houses." Miss Granger nodded and left.

Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

Snape's lip curled at the awarding of points, but he said nothing and remained in his place as Harry and Ron passed us by.

"Are you sure you boys aren't hurt?" I asked them.

"Yes, Professor," Ron said, and gave me a hesitant smile. He recognized me from all those days I had spent at the Weasley house. That made me happy, and I found that I was quite glad that Ron Weasley was Harry's friend.

"We should fetch both the Headmaster and Hagrid," McGonagall said. "I can alert the Professor Dumbledore, as I must report Potter, Weasley, and Granger's behavior anyways."

"I can go f-fetch Hagrid," Quirrell volunteered. "A bit of f-fresh air might d-do me good."

That left Snape and me guarding the troll while we waited.

Thinking of variations of Repairing spells, I waved my wand. The pipes mended themselves and the wood and metal flew back into their original shapes.

"Scourgify," I murmured next, and the bathroom cleaned itself.

The troll grumbled and breathed out and I wrinkled my nose at the smell.

Then, I heard Snape murmuring, "Vulnera Sanentur… Vulnera Sanentur…"

I turned to see Snape drawing his wand over a nasty gash in his shin.

"Merlin, what did you do?" I asked him.

"I went to the third-floor corridor, of course," Snape said impatiently, irritated that I was interrupting him.

"The third-floor corridor?" I said, surprised. "What gave you that bite down there? Not Devil's Snare, I imagine."
"You didn't see Hagrid's beast?" Snape replied. "The three-headed dog he calls Fluffy?"

"No, I haven't seen the other Professor's defenses since I finished ours," I said.

Snape ignored me and began to heal himself again.

But I had a burning question on the tip of my tongue. "Why?" I asked. "Why did you head to the third-floor corridor?"

"To head off an intruder, obviously," Snape said. "Now, if you would let me concentrate in peace, Kingsley."

"But why would you head straight to the third-floor corridor instead of checking the perimeter with the other Professors? If the troll was a diversion, the intruder couldn't head to the third-floor corridor from the dungeons that quickly and would likely have run away after he or she heard the whole school moving…"

I slowly fell quiet as I saw a condescending smile on Snape's face growing.

"Ah," Snape said. "So he didn't tell you."

"Who?"

"Dumbledore," Snape replied. "He didn't see fit to tell you…"

"Didn't tell me what?" I said.

Snape merely smirked.

"What, Snape?"

But before I could press any more, the man himself arrived.

"All is well, I take it?" Dumbledore said, striding in.

"Other than the smell," I said. I stared at Dumbledore. What is he keeping from me?

"Severus, you should head to the Hospital Wing, if you're able," Dumbledore said, looking at Snape's wound.

Snape shook his head. "It's best if I avoid the Hospital Wing. And it's a flesh wound. Only time can truly heal it."

"I'll send for some salve for you, Severus," Dumbledore offered. "Poppy makes a most effective numbing concoction."

"Professor," I said, addressing Dumbledore. "Do you have any idea as to who the intruder was? Was it the same intruder who went after Gringotts?"

Dumbledore raised his hand just then, for Hagrid and Quirrell had just arrived.

"Professor," Hagrid greeted Dumbledore.

"Ah, Hagrid."

"No sign of any 'ntruder on the grounds, sir," Hagrid reported. "Least not near the Forbidden Forest."

"Very well," Dumbledore said.

The troll let out another grunt. It seemed to be waking up.

"Ah, H-Headmaster," Quirrell said. "Well, it seems that I'm n-no longer n-needed, so I'll just head b-back to my chambers, then."

He bowed and left quickly.

My eyes fixed on the troll, I didn't notice Dumbledore's glance towards Snape, or Snape's curt nod in return.


But later that night, I thought about what had happened tonight.

Quirrell came in to alert us about the troll. McGonagall and I had gone down to the dungeons and ran into Snape and Quirrell. By then, Snape's leg had already been injured and Quirrell was with him.

There was something odd about that. Why was Quirrell with Snape? Quirrell wasn't feeling well. How did he suddenly catch up with Snape?

I hesitated, thinking all the way back to the Feast now. Professor Vector had noticed Quirrell's absence first. Why wasn't Quirrell with us at the start of the Feast? How did he know that the troll was down in the dungeons in the first place?

I had no answers, and I fell asleep that night still pondering what it all meant.