Note: The Troll chapter (Chapter 10 of the OG book) is crucial to the friendship between Harry, Draco and Hermione. I've changed as much as I could, but it's quite subtle, so I'm sorry if you think it's boring. But I needed it and I didn't want to cut it.

The next morning, Harry, Draco and Pansy thought their night-time adventure was actually quite exciting and wouldn't mind the next one. Harry told them about the parcel from Gringotts and the three of them pondered what such a protective effort might be worth.

'It's probably super valuable,' Draco mused aloud.

'Or super dangerous!' Pansy interjects.

Harry ponders. 'More dangerous than the dog?'

'Definitely!'

But apart from the size, they knew nothing about the contents and so, without any further clues, guessing what it might be was futile.

What concerned the three of them more than the parcel anyway was an opportunity to get back at Ron and the twins, and to their great delight, such an opportunity arrived in the post a week later.

Six large barn owls flew into the Great Hall in the morning with a thin, long parcel in tow, attracting everyone's attention. Harry was just as keen to find out who the recipient was. When the owls dropped the parcel in his lap, he was beside himself with excitement. The parcel also came with a letter from Professor McGonagall, which Harry was lucky enough to be the first to open.

The letter explicitly stated that he should never open the parcel in the Hall. It contained his new Nimbus Two Thousand and when his first training session with Oliver Wood would take place.

Harry struggled to hide his delight as he passed the letter to Draco and Pansy to read.

'A Nimbus Two Thousand! Very good, me father was gonna buy me that too, but then Hogwarts got in the way.'

Pansy pouted. 'My parents said it's far too expensive an' that me cousin's ol' Cleansweep is good enough fer me, bu' it's already missin' a few branches!'

They hurried towards Gryffindor Tower to open the broom before the first lesson, but the grand marble staircase was already blocked by Ron, Fred and George.

Ron scrutinised Harry's parcel with narrow eyes. 'What you've got, Potter?'

Before Harry could say anything, Fred snatched it out of his hand. 'A broom,' he said after a quick feel and tossed it back to Harry.

'I see. So, what did McGonagall buy her new great hope? An old Cleansweep?' Ron wanted to know casually, but Harry could probably tell that the redhead was actually bursting with curiosity and envy.

'Ha, Cleansweep!' cried Draco, grinning superiorly. 'A Nimbus Two Thousand, what else? Seekers have to be fast, after all. I bet you haven't even touched one yet, eh little weasel?'

Ron's face turned scarlet. 'As if you had one yourself!'

Draco shrugged. 'I'll have one next year. And do you know why, Weasley?' His grey eyes wandered back and forth between the three angry-looking boys. 'Because my family can afford it. You must be saving up for every single branch, eh?'

'And then it might be only enough for an hand-me-down comet!' added Pansy spitefully.

Draco and Pansy laughed boisterously, while the brothers looked as if they wanted to do very specific things with Harry's new broom and Draco.

Harry had already realised that the Weasley family had little money, and even though he found Ron and the twins rather annoying, he could still sympathise. In this world he suddenly had a lot of money, but in the Muggle world it was a different story, Harry still didn't have a single penny, had to wear old, worn and tattered clothes like Ron and make do with other second-hand things.

He really appreciated Draco and Pansy defending and sticking up for him. However, picking on the Weasleys because they obviously had very little did not sit well with Harry. It wasn't as if Ron, Fred and George could do anything about the fact that their parents were poor.

As Ron was about to reply, Professor Flitwick appeared beside him.

'Not arguing, I hope, boys?' he squeaked.

'Potter got a broom,' Ron complained.

'Yes, yes, that's right,' said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. 'Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. Ant what model is it?'

'A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir,' said Harry, and had to pull himself together not to burst out laughing at Ron's angry face. 'And it's really thanks to Ron Weasley here that I've got it,' he added.

Harry, Draco and Pansy hurried up the stairs, snorting. 'Well, it's rue. If Ron hadn't thrown Pansy's Remembrall, I wouldn't be on the team now …'

When they were out of earshot, Harry turned to his two friends. 'I know Ron and his brothers are gits, but I think it's mean to wind them up because they don't have any money.'

Draco shrugged boredly. 'So wha'? They've only got themselves ter blame fer that. Arthur Weasley's wastin' his time in a lousy job at the Ministry an' Molly Weasley's jus' sittin' aroun' at home, as far as I know. She could earn some extra money, now tha' all her children are attending Hogwarts.'

Harry just grumbled. He still thought that Ron and his brothers shouldn't be punished for their parents actions, but he didn't want to spoil their good mood now. Besides, he was really looking forward to his new broom.

In class, Harry just couldn't focus, no matter how hard he tried. His mind kept wandering to his new broom and his first Quidditch training lesson. He shovelled his dinner into him without really tasting it, then rushed into the common room with Draco and Pansy to finally unpack the Nimbus Two Thousand. Thanks to Ron's interference, they hadn't found the time this morning.

After the paper was finally off, Draco looked at the broom with a connoisseur's eye.

'Yeah, looks good. No scratches, nuffin' bent, was well packaged. Hope mine will look like this when I get it,' said Draco, while Harry had the impression that his friend was going to pull a magnifying glass out of his pocket at any moment to get an even better look at the broom.

Pansy just sighed dreamily and longingly. 'I'd be happy if I could sit on one jus' once …'

Harry smiled at her encouragingly. 'I'm sure it can be arranged.'

She tore her eyes away from the broom and looked at Harry in astonishment. 'What, fer real?'

Harry nodded. 'Of course. And I'm certain Draco will be happy to share his broom with you, too.'

Draco opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, his eyes travelling back and forth between Harry and Pansy in surprise. Harry knew how much his friend hated to lend things, but he had decided that Draco needed to learn to get over himself. Besides, it wasn't as if he couldn't afford ten Nimbus Two Thousand.

Harry turned his attention back to his new broom, and even though he really didn't know anything about racing brooms, even he could tell that this was a very expensive and classy flying contraption.

At 7, he made his way to the Quidditch pitch. Oliver Wood explained to him the positions of the players and which balls did what. They then practised with golf balls. Harry caught every single one and Oliver was completely blown away.

'The Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year. I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if … Anyway, we're going to win, Harry! I'm sure of it!'

Harry frowned. This was the second time Ron's older brother had been mentioned in connection with Quidditch and everyone seemed to be favourably disposed towards him.

'Oliver, which house did Charlie actually belong to?'

The older boy looked up, lost in thought, as they trotted on towards the castle, darkness already falling.

'Charlie was a Gryffindor.'

Harry looked up at Oliver in surprise. 'What, really?'

'Yes, really. And it's a real shame the Weasley twins ended up in Slytherin. They're bloody good Beaters.'

Harry suddenly remembered Fred and George's spiteful threats that they would send him to the hospital wing at the very first match … A shiver ran down his spine.

Oliver hadn't missed Harry's worried expression and patted his shoulders encouragingly. 'Don't worry, we've got our Beater twins. Galanthus and Snowdrop Meadows, better known as Gale and Snow. They're pretty good,

Harry. You got this, I can feel it in my guts.'

Harry was astonished when he realised that he had already been attending Hogwarts for two months. Time had never flown by so quickly in his life, but thanks to regular Quidditch training and lots of homework, time passed like nothing.

The lessons had also become a lot more interesting once they had internalised the basics. In Charms that Gryffindor had with Ravenclaw, Professor Flitwick revealed that they would now be learning how to levitate objects. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs, Harry worked with Seamus, but Draco had got Hermione and was looking glum.

'Now don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising. Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick.'

But no matter how much Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, their feathers wouldn't budge. Seamus finally lost his patience and poked his feather with his wand, setting it on fire.

Draco didn't really fare much better. He was a genius when it came to potions, but Charms was another story. Tongue between his lips, he tried to swish and flick in every conceivable way, but his feather stayed where it was. Finally, as so often, he insisted that the feather must be broken.

'No, Draco. Your feather isn't broken! You're saying it wrong!' said Hermione irritably. 'Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa and not Levio-sa!'

'Wing-gar-dium Lev... Levi-o-saaa.' Draco waved his wand impressively, Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance.

'You're stuttering, Draco!'

'You're annoying, Hermione!'

'I'll show you how to do it!'

'Yeah, go on then!'

Hermione snorted, rolled up her sleeves, waved her wand, said the incantation and the feather took off towards the ceiling, where it floated casually.

Draco looked sulkily at her feather and insisted, muttering, that his must be broken.

Right after Hermione, Theodore had finally done it too, much to Draco's dismay with the supposedly broken feather. Frustrated and annoyed, Draco grabbed his pile of books and rested his chin on them, grumbling.

When the lesson was over and they left the classroom, he growled in annoyance: 'No wonder nobody can stand Granger. She gets on me nerves every lesson we have tergether! She knows everythin' better, I do everythin' wrong and then she has ter keep rubbin' it in! I'm so glad she's in Ravenclaw!'

Harry was pushed roughly. It was Hermione, striding hastily past him. He caught a glimpse of her face and was startled to see that she was crying.

'I think she heard you,' he said quietly to Draco.

Draco just clicked his tongue. 'Well, yeh reap wha' yeh sow.'

Pansy, who was walking beside them, looked sharply at her friend. 'She's a bit of a handful, but this was over the top, Drake. It's not her fault y're too daft fer Charms.'

Draco turned to his friend, hissing. 'Oh, shut up already! Yer feather hadn' moved either!'

'Nah, but I don' take my frustration out on others.'

Harry sighed. ' Stop it, both of you.'

On their way to the Great Hall, heading towards the Halloween feast, Harry, Draco and Pansy were caught up with by Theodore.

'Well done, Draco,' Theodore said, giving his friend a sour look.

Draco frowned at him. 'Any details, or what're yeh on about?'

'Hermione skipped the rest of her lessons. Mandy told me that she locked herself in the girls' bathroom. She's crying and wants to be left alone.'

Draco tried to look expressionless, but Harry realised that he was far less indifferent than he pretended to be. He didn't answer his friend. Theodore snorted, left the three of them and rejoined his house mates.

However, when they reached the Great Hall, the stunning Halloween decorations effortlessly swept Hermione from her mind. Swarms of real bats fluttered through the hall, causing the candles in the hollowed-out, eerily grinning pumpkins to flicker. The food appeared on golden plates and platters, just like at the start-of-term banquet.

Harry was just helping himself to a jacket potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. He ran for all he was worth to Professor Dumbledore's table, slumped against it, panting heavily, and said, 'Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know.'

He then sank to the ground unconscious.

All hell broke loose in the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore had to let off a few firecracker until calm was finally restored.

'Prefects, lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!'

Danny clapped his hands and shooed the younger Gryffindors together. 'Alright, you heard the Headmaster. Let's go, let's go to the Gryffindor Common room!'

Harry glanced towards the Slytherin table, where he saw Percy grab the twins by the collar with one hand and Ron with the other and drag them back to the table.

'You three stay here! Where are you going? You two are supposed to be looking after Ron and not putting his life in danger!

'First-years to me! Stick together, don't worry, everything will be fine!'

'But Perce, the troll's in the dungeon!' shouted Fred.

'And where's our common room?' continued George. 'In the dungeon! Does that ring a bell?'

'Well … Everything'll be fine … Professor Dumbledore will know what he's doing, I hope. Follow me, now get going!' Percy ordered annoyed and shooed his first-years, who all looked rather pale and frightened, out of the Hall.

Harry, Draco and Pansy followed Danny and the other Gryffindor first-years towards their tower.

Harry whispered to Draco, 'How does a troll get into the castle?'

'No idea, trolls are pretty stupid. But Ron made it in here too, so …'

Pansy chortled softly.

As they made their way through the crowds of students, Harry suddenly remembered something and grabbed his friend by the arm. 'Draco! Hermione!'

'Wha' abou' her?'

'She doesn't know about the troll!'

He looked at Harry hesitantly. 'Hm, are yeh sure? Maybe one o' the Ravenclaws has already taken care o' it. Theo, perhaps.'

'But the Ravenclaw first-years were all at the feast, I saw them!' insisted Harry.

'Fer real? Crap,' Draco muttered, his eyes wandering to Danny, who, for a change, didn't look like he was going to turn a blind eye if Harry and Draco didn't play by the rules and tried to get away.

'And how're we s'posed ter get away? Danny has eagle eyes,' Draco muttered nervously to Harry.

'Leave it to me, boys!' whispered Pansy, winking at Harry and hurrying off to the Gryffindor Prefect.

When she got to Danny, she suddenly started howling loudly, as if she was in excruciating pain. She doubled over and collapsed in the corridor, taking Danny completely by surprise; Pansy put on a convincing show, causing Danny to take his eyes off Harry and the other first-years.

'Now!' hissed Harry, grabbing Draco and dragging him along, away from the other first-years.

They ducked between a few Hufflepuffs and finally managed to make their way down a small corridor, soon they were on their way to the girls' bathroom. The two had just turned the corner when they heard footsteps behind them.

'Danny!' hissed Draco, hiding behind a statue with Harry.

But it wasn't Danny, it was Professor Snape, hurrying along the corridor and finally disappearing from their sight.

'What's he doing here?' whispered Harry. 'Why isn't he in the dungeons with the other teachers?'

Draco shrugged. 'Dunno.'

As quietly as possible, the two followed Snape.

'He's heading for the third floor,' Harry said, but Draco had stopped and was sniffing with a wrinkled nose.

'Eww, d'you smell that?'

Harry also sniffed and a smell of old socks and dirty public toilets wafted into his nose.

And then they heard it. A deep grunt and the dragging of gigantic feet over the stone floor. Draco, pale and trembling, pointed at a huge figure at the end of the corridor. They backed away and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped at a door and peered in. It didn't seem to have much on its mind, but probably enough to decide that it wanted to go in there; the troll shuffled sluggishly into the room.

'The key's in the lock,' Harry muttered. 'We could lock it in.'

'Go on then,' Draco whispered, swallowing hard.

Trembling with fear, they crept to the door, Harry made a great leap, pulled the door shut and turned the key in the lock.

'Yes!'

Fuelled by their victory, they both ran back down the corridor, but as they turned the corner a scream reached their ears, causing their hearts to skip a beat. It came straight from the chamber where they had locked the troll.

'Oh no, I've locked it in the girls' bathroom!' it dawned on Harry.

Draco looked at him in shock and whispered, 'Hermione!'

The last thing they wanted to do in their lives was face the troll, but what other choice did they have? They turned round, sprinted back to the door and unlocked it.

Hermione Granger stood facing the troll, pressed against the wall, looking like she was going to faint from fear at any moment. The troll moved towards her, ripping the sinks off the wall.

'Confuse it!' Harry shouted at Draco, grabbing a tap and throwing it across the room.

The troll paused and turned round to see where the noise had come from. It eyed Harry dully, then decided in his favour and shuffled towards Harry with its club raised.

Draco pushed past the troll to Hermione, grabbed her by the arm and tried to move her towards the exit, but Hermione was so scared she wouldn't budge.

The troll came closer and closer and Harry glanced at Draco in panic. 'Do something!'

Draco let go of Hermione, looked around frantically, found a piece of pipe and threw it against the troll's shoulder.

'Over here!' shouted Draco, the troll turned round sluggishly.

Draco tried again to get Hermione to leave, but to no avail. Her eyes widened in fear as she stared open-mouthed at the approaching troll.

Draco's shouts seemed to whip up the troll's rage, it raised its club and stomped towards him and Hermione.

Both Harry and Draco did very brave but also very stupid things. Draco pushed himself in front of Hermione, refusing to leave her to the troll, even though he had no idea how to protect her except with his body.

Harry, on the other hand, ran at the troll from behind, jumped on its back and managed to wrap his arms around its neck. As he did so, he jammed his wand into one of its nostrils.

Howling in pain, the troll whirled round and swung its club, Harry clung to it with all his might. He was sure that at any moment the troll would pluck him from his back or catch him with its club.

Hermione had sunk to the ground in fear, Draco stood helplessly beside her.

Finally, he drew his wand and shouted the first spell that came to his mind: 'Wingardium Leviosa!'

The club suddenly flew out of the troll's hand, flew high, high into the air, spun slowly and landed with a sickening crash on its owner's head. The troll fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Harry got to his feet, panting and trembling. Draco stood there for a moment, wand raised high, staring at what he had done. Then he put it away with shaking hands and stumbled towards Hermione.

'Hermione, c'mon, we have ter get outta here!'

'Is … is it dead?' Hermione asked quietly, getting to her feet on wobbly knees.

'Don't think so,' Harry said breathlessly. 'Guess we just knocked it out.'

He bent down and pulled his wand out of its nostril, it was covered in greyish slime. Harry wiped it more or less clean on the troll's trousers.

The door to the girls' bathroom flew open with a clatter and all three of them looked up in surprise. They hadn't realised what a racket they must have made, but of course the teachers hadn't missed the troll's screaming and shouting.

Professor McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell had stormed into the room. Professor Quirrell took one quick look at the troll, whimpered softly, collapsed onto one of the few intact toilets and clutched his heart.

Professor McGonagall stared at Harry and Draco, Harry had never seen her so angry. Her lips were white; his hopes of scoring fifty points for Gryffindor instantly evaporated.

'What on earth were you thinking of?' said Professor McGoangall with cold fury in her voice.

Harry glanced at Draco, who was still holding Hermione's arm.

'You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?'

Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked down at the floor while Draco put his arm around Hermione, lost in thought.

'Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me.'

'Miss Granger!'

Hermione freed herself from Draco and stepped forward. '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.'

Draco dropped his hand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?

'If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Draco 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.'

Harry and Draco tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.

'Well – in that case …' said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them. 'Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?'

Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless.

Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble.

It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.

'Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Ravenclaw for this. I'm very disapointed in you, I will have to inform Professor Flitwick. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Ravenclaw Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses.'

Hermione left.

Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Draco.

'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.'

Harry and Draco dashed out of the girls' bathroom and didn't say a word until they had climbed two floors up.

'Ten points, better than nuffin'. Sucks fer Ravenclaw though, we really owe Hermione,' Draco muttered.

'We do, we locked the troll in with her after all!' Harry reminded him.

'Well,' Draco said, stretching and grinning mischievously. 'She doesn' need ter know that, does she …?'

The two arrived where the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws usually split up to go to their common rooms. Right there, Hermione was standing by one of the staircases, waiting for them.

She looked up as the others caught up with her. Embarrassed, all three stood around until they murmured a 'Thank you!' to each other.

'So,' Hermione began, kneading her hands, 'I'll see you tomorrow? In the Great Hall, at breakfast?'

''Course,' Draco said, grinning wryly.

Harry nodded and smiled broadly.

Then everyone went their ways, Hermione to the Ravenclaw Common room and the others to theirs.

Once there, the party was already in full swing, groups had formed everywhere and everyone was eating.

Pansy was standing alone with her plate, saw Harry and Draco and rushed towards them.

'Danny's panicking because he's lost you! Oh no, here he comes!'

The aforementioned Prefect stormed towards the two of them, fuming with rage. 'Where have you been?' he hissed, grabbing both of them by the collar. 'Are you out of your minds? There's a troll running through the castle! What on earth have you done?'

'Took out the troll,' Draco said bluntly, smirking smugly.

Danny stared at him open-mouthed for a moment, then caught himself. 'Bollocks! I'm serious! You better not do that again! Not on my watch!'

'Draco said the truth, you can ask McGonagall – we've taken out the troll,' Harry confirmed and couldn't stop himself from grinning.

Pansy looked at her two friends with wide eyes. 'What? How did you do that?'

Danny let go of the two of them and crossed his arms in front of his chest. 'Go on, you two. Tell me then!'

And while Harry and Draco went to get food, they told Pansy and Danny how they had knocked out the troll and saved Hermione.

However, they conviniently left out the part where Harry had accidentally locked the troll in the girls' bathroom.