I hope I wasn't too late this time. Anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter. Bye!

We were having dinner with the thunderstorm outside, keeping company to those not talking. It was Halloween. I had made friends. I had Harry and Ron with whom I talked even though we weren't in the same house. From my house, I had Susan and even Ernie, although he could be very annoying sometimes. I couldn't say I was friends with Hermione. To be honest, I was a bit afraid of her, but-

"TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" Professor Quirrell yelled after barging in the Dining Hall. The other Professors stood up.

"Thought you ought to know."Quirrell said before fainting.

Everyone started screaming, trying to leave the Hall and that wasn't a good sign.

"Silence." Dumbledore loudly said, and everyone stopped dead on their tracks.

"Everyone will please not panic! Now, prefects will lead their house back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

This time, everyone was calmer. Our prefect took us to our common room. Good, this place always managed to calm me down. I hope Harry and Ron got to their common room safely. I may not know much about trolls , but from everyone's reaction, I don't think they are anywhere near harmless. I'm sure the professors will take care of it. We shouldn't worry.

]

The next day was the Quidditch match, Gryffindor against Slytherin, and Harry was going to be Gryffindor's seeker. Oh dear. From what Ernie told me, I should already be mourning him. But, no. I believe in him. Harry's not only gonna survive this match, but he is going to win it. ...Right? Then, a conversation in my table gained my attention.

"Have you heard?" Hannah said, leaning in like she was going to roll out a conspiracy theory.

"What?"Justin asked.

"About the troll from yesterday?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Oh my Merlin, Justin. How do you not know?"

"Know what?"

"Yesterday, Granger from Gryffindor was in the girl's bathroom all afternoon so she didn't know that the troll came."

"And?" Susan asked, popping a slice of tomato in her mouth.

"And, I don't know what happened exactly, but... Harry Potter and that friend of his, Ron Weasley, saved her!"

"Like, they took her to their common room before the troll had the chance to eat her? Big deal."Justin said, unimpressed.

"No! They defeated the troll!" Hannah said in a 'whisper' that was more like a scream.

"That's impossible. First years and especially them, since they know a total of 1 spell, wouldn't be able to perform satisfactory to repell a troll attack." Ernie stated.

"Well, we are not talking about any first year. We are talking about Harry Potter, the boy who lived."Hannah said.

Harry had told me his story, but for some reason, it came as a surprise hearing my classmates talking about it. I knew there were whispers, but they were mostly from older students and were usually kept in the shadows. I instinctively looked towards Harry's direction and saw Snape talking to him. I wonder what he is telling him...

"Oh, yeah. What's the whole deal with Potter? Every time I ask someone, they look at me like I some kind of UFO." Justin said, taking a bite of his sandwich. He was a muggleborn, so it made sense he wouldn't know.

"What's a UFO?" Susan asked.

"It stands for 'unidentified flying object' it's something muggles often use to describe what aliens travel in."I said.

"Yeah, so what about Potter-" Justin started.

"Aliens?" Hannah asked with a curious look on her face.

"They are any living organism, that's not from earth. Susan, for example." Ernie said with a slight smirk in the end.

Susan took a piece of her toast and threw it at his face. He caught it before it slid down, staining his robes, but his face wasn't that lucky. It had tomatoes, strings of cheese, and oil from the bacon, on it. This time, it was Susan's turn to smirk, and she didn't try to hide the victorious look on her face, as we all started laughing. An owl flying through the Hall caught my attention, but Ernie started speaking.

"That... was highly unhygienic, Bones. I probably have your saliva and anything your fingers have touched on my face." Ernie said, clearly disgusted and frustrated.

"Deal with it." Susan said, turning back to her breakfast.

"So is anyone going to tell me about Potter -"

"JUSTIN" we all yelled at the same time.

]

"Hello! Welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season. Today's game, Slytherin versus Gryffindor!"

Everyone from Gryffindor and Slytherin was cheering for their house's team. There were some students from Ravenclaw, mostly 1st and 2nd years, and more than a couple dozens of us. But, regardless of their House, everyone had their eyes on Quidditch's new star: Harry Potter.

All the players flew towards the center of the field, and I could see Harry struggling a bit to control his broomstick.

"The players take their positions as Madam Hooch steps out onto the field to begin the game!"

Then Madam Hooch seemed to be telling them something. Maybe she's reminding them of the rules? She opened the chest in front of her, and two big balls followed by a smaller one flew out.

"The Bludgers are up, followed by the Golden Snitch. Remember, the Snitch is worth 150 points. The Seeker, who catches the Snitch, ends the game."

Madam Hooch takes another ball and launches it up in the air.

"The Quaffle is released, and the game begins!"

Everyone was flying around so fast, and in different directions, it was getting hard to keep track of them.

"Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points for Gryffindor!"

"Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle. Bletchley passes to Captain Marcus Flint."

"Another ten points to Gryffindor!"

Then I saw Gryffindor's keeper get hit with a... Bludger I think? And fall to the ground... Poor thing.

"Ugh, Slytherins, always were cheaters." I heard Ernie say from next to me.

Harry was still, watching the game from above. As the Slytherins started taking out members of the Gryffindor team with devious techniques, Harry seemed to be chasing something... the Golden Snitch.

"Let's see what he's made of..." Ernie said and leaned forward, his chin on his fist, seemingly following Harry with his now squinted eyes.

Suddenly, Harry's broomstick got a mind of his own and started doing weird things, almost like it was trying to push Harry off. Oh no. He's gonna fall, like Neville, and this time, it will be worse.

Now Harry was barely hanging from his broomstick, as the Slytherins were laughing and yelling for him to fall.

Oh, Harry...

Some kind of commosion from where the professors were caught my eye, and suddenly Harry's broomstick turned back to normal again, and he flew towards the Snitch.

Yes! Go Harry!

"Curious..." Ernie trailed off.

Harry got back in the game. Both he and Slytherin's seeker were pushing each other while in pursuit of the Snitch. It started flying towards the ground, lower and lower and lower, until Slytherin's seeker gave up. Harry pulled a maneuver and managed to keep his broomstick just above the ground. He stepped on it and dived to catch the Snitch.

He fell to the ground, and when he got up, he seemed like he was going to throw up. Then..

"He's got the Snitch. Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!"

Madam Hooch whistled. "Gryffindor wins!"

All of Gryffindor and many from us, including me, yelled and cheered and laughed with this incredible and unexpected win.

]

Christmas holidays were coming up, and everyone was talking about seeing their family again. We were in the common room, sitting around a table, spending together our last night at Hogwarts for the year 1991.

"Although I've missed my parents, I think it's going to be kind of boring back home in comparison to Hogwarts." Susan said.

"Yeah."Hannah sighed, resting her head on her palms.

"You guys are lucky. My parents are going to bombard me with questions about Hogwarts and magic and all that, once I go home, and I'm not looking forward to explaining everything I've learned these past 4 months to them." Justin said.

"I agree." I said. "But I have to say, no matter how exciting all this was for me, I miss my parents so much, and I'm feeling a little home-sick."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Mhm."

"I don't." Ernie said.

"Oh come ooon. Can't you be normal for just one second?" Susan said with an exasperated sigh.

"Hey! First of all, that wasn't nice. I am normal, I just have different experiences, ideals, and priorities."

"Like?"

"My parents will most likely be gone all the time for business matters, and our house library isn't as big as Hogwarts' is. After the first couple of days of relaxation, I'll admit I need, I'll be bored to the core, waiting for school to open up again." He said.

"What kind of business matters keep your parents from spending Christmas with their son?" Hannah asked.

"I don't know, and I don't care." Ernie said nonchalantly, but I could tell he was holding something back.

]

The next day, we were all leaving for the Christmas holidays. 'Happy' or 'Merry Christmas' was heard all around the school.

We all got on the train, and I sat in the same compartment with Susan, Hannah, and Justin while Ernie was in the opposite one all alone... We told him that we could make room for him, but he insisted on being alone.

Something was going on in his mind, and it worried me. I hadn't known him for long, but I considered him a friend, and it saddened me seeing him like this...

I just hope whatever's troubling him gets sorted out.

The trip seemed longer in the silence that had befallen. Susan and Hannah had fallen asleep, and Justin was alternating between writing or drawing something on his notebook and looking out the window. I chose to savor the peace and quiet and admire the scenery out of the window.

Sometime halfway through, I pulled out a muggle teen romance book I've been periodically reading whenever I was bored.

When we finally arrived, my parents were waiting for me on the muggle platform 9. Needless to say, they were so excited to see their little girl again. All my friends were happy, hugging their parents again for the first time since summer. But... no one was there to welcome Ernie, only an elf? that took his hand, and they immediately disappeared.

Oh, Ernie... I hope you'll be okay. Merry Christmas.