Chapter 7 - This is Halloween
Chaos ensued until Dumbledore spoke.
"QUIET" the word echoed as the students slowly settled.
"All students are to…"
As he gave his orders to the students and teachers, I walked from the Ravenclaw table to the 'unconscious' teacher.
As I past the Hufflepuff table people began to notice, Quirrel had been kind enough to 'faint' in the cross section of the house tables in view of everyone.
I went as if to roll Quirrel over, who stiffened a little as I did so.
Dumbledore had stopped his orders and somehow got from the head table to a foot behind me with not even a whisper.
"What are you doing Harry?" He asked.
"Well Professor Quirrel looked like he fell pretty hard, so I thought someone should check on him."
I lifted his limp hand by his robes and placed two fingers on his wrist as though to check for his pulse. (I'd stolen this right out of a fan fiction I read once, and hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.)
After a second or so his eyes snapped open and he began to scream.
"WHAT MAGIC IS THIS, IT'S BURNING ME."
"Kill the boy, kill the old man. Your usefulness is at its end, you will not last the night." A serpentine voice hissed.
A few seventh years drew their wands.
"I didn't do anything I S-ssss-ssswear." I laid it on thick.
"I was just trying to check his pulse, what's happening to him?"
Quirrel's left hand was starting to ash and flake, he went to grab me with his right.
As he put himself between me and Dumbledore a blast of raw magic seemed to release from Quirrel and the two faced monstrosity was revealed as the purple turban went flying.
"Dumbledore, we meet again, aaaaat last. You will not stop my return to power, Lord Voldemort will stalk these lands again, Quirrel, hurry up and kill the boy."
Most seventh years and some sixth years drew their wands. Some had even loosely surrounded us.
His right hand closed around my throat, suffocating me, starting at his fingers he began to turn to ash further.
Both he and Voldemort let out screams of pain all their own, Dumbledore came to his senses, brandished the elder wand and with a flick of the wrist separated me from him.
As the ash crept up his arms towards his torso the screaming intensified and without warning stopped.
Despite the cliché of it, the silence was truly deafening.
What remained of Quirrel crumbled into ash, but no newborn emerged as a phoenix might.
Suddenly a ghostly figure burst upwards.
"Pottttter, next we meet you shall die, and there won't be someone to take a curse for you or fight in your place."
The madness in his now blood red eyes was palpable.
The wraith accelerated towards the staff table and through the windows above and out into the black night. I wish I could add that it was never to be seen again but that would be too easy.
The stunned students were frozen in place. No one would be able to deny that that was anything other than Voldemort.
A confused and angry mountain troll turned out to be the thing that bright everyone back to their bodies as a loud roar came in through the great hall entrance, the theory that would later be put forward by Flitwick was that Quirrels screams attracted it. The damn thing looked like an over cooked jacket potato that had been left to rot. Smelled like it too.
Naturally panic once again took over the room.
It swung its club and hit the wall on its back swing causing a large section of wall to break away and fall towards the students, Dumbledore springing to action much quicker than before to slow and direct the debris away from students.
This was my moment to shine, I stood up straight and yelled "SAGITTA IACTUM!"
I threw as much magic as I could into it, and it turned out when overpowered it created something more akin to a short spear, rather than an arrow.
The gleaming silver spear launched with a gust of air shot backwards, it flew straight and pierced the Trolls thick skin, but didn't puncture through to the other side.
I sent two quick standard silver arrows and one was swatted away and the other pieces it's eye.
It stumbled and swung its club wildly, luckily only hitting the Gryffindor table which even though flung into a group of ten or so student, nothing fatal came of it.
On its back swing I went canon and cast wingardium leviosa ripping the club above its head.
Once in place it was lights out.
It stumbled before falling forward.
Right onto the silver spear sticking out of its chest, pushing it clean through.
There was silence again as blood began to pool outward from the eleven foot beasts corpse.
Half of Hogwarts was looking at the Troll and the other half at me. I was almost tempted to say 'trick or treat'.
Thought it might've been best not to.
Dumbledore directed all the teachers and me to the teachers lounge on the second floor, this section though from the window had similar views to the fifth floor, which made no sense, so for my own sanity decided to ignore this.
Snape was arguing for my expulsion from the school as I'd sort of killed a teacher, and McGonagall was vehemently opposed to this.
"What are you on about Severus, he was trying to check on him with muggle methods, he had no clue about his true intentions. And even then, he inadvertently protected the school from you-know-who, then again from the troll he'd let into a school of children." Towards the end of the tirade her Scottish brogue came into full force.
"He still murdered a teacher in full view of the school body. That could see him in front of the Wizenmagot and even headed to Azkaban."
The two irate teachers bickered while Dumbledore rested his chin on his hands with eyes closed, probably thinking of Riddle's plans. Despite being headmaster he had a blind spot for where his immediate priorities should lie, maybe looking at the 'bigger picture' for too long makes you miss the small details.
The other teachers had furrowed brows and were whisper between each other. I saw Flitwick give a knowing nod to Sprout, who then slowly slipped out the door.
The arguing continued until Sprout returned with three others.
"Dumbledore, what in the blazes happened tonight?"
And so the circus continued.
Once everyone had settled down and Amelia Bones head of the DMLE, Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour and Senior Auror Shacklebolt had introduced themselves to me, Amelia took control of the room.
"Dumbledore, talk. What happened?"
Everyone look expectantly at him wondering if or how he could even spin this.
But I didn't want to give him that chance.
"Miss Bones? Can I explain from my point of view?"
She frowned but nodded her head.
I walked her through the whole evening, until Quirrels collapse, the ashing, then the spirit.
Scrimgeour and Shacklebolt didn't show much reaction but both gasped when I said the spirit called itself Voldemort.
After the evening had been retold, Amelia's head snapped towards a few of the teachers.
"Well."
She paused.
"Did he miss anything out?"
Sprout broke the silence.
"No, that about sums it up, I have to say it was some quick and excellent spell work too Mr. Potter. I don't think it's been said but well done. Take fifty points for Ravenclaw."
"Well…in that case. Shacklebolt, witness statement and copies of the memories of at least five of age students in every house and ideally from different viewpoints; and if Mr. Potter is consenting, his memory too.
Scrimgeour, send through a squad for the clean up of the troll and a sweep of the castle."
"Urrmmmm… Miss Bones?" I asked, trying to sound as young as possible.
"I killed the Troll in single combat, doesn't the corpse belong to me?"
Having read this in multiple fan fictions I had to look into this and it wasn't as clear cut as most made it out to be, by legal rights I had to claim it within a time frame to own it in whole.
The room focused on me.
Amelia had a gleam in her eyes.
"Are you staking your claim?"
"I am."
"I'll contact your accounts manager at Gringotts."
"I'm unsure if I currently have one, I've met Griphook and he seems to know the accounts, might be worth contacting him. And thank you Miss Bones."
With that the three Aurors left the room.
Flitwick lead me from the staff room to the base of Ravenclaw tower, as I ascended the staircase I reflected on the conversation after the DMLE left.
"I still think the boy should've been arrested." Snape said scowl back in place.
"Pish Severus." McGonagall huffed.
"I think that in all honestly we teachers should be ashamed, while the Headmaster protected the students and Mr. Potter dealt with the Troll before anyone was killed, most of us had failed to draw our wands. I think I'd like to recommend Mr. Potter for an award for services to the school and regardless of your thoughts, another thirty points for Ravenclaw." Flitwick said with a hint of sharpness towards the staff.
"Now, it's been an eventful night and this young man probably just wants to eat and sleep, so I'll walk him back to the roost. Good night."
Flitwick gave a small, somewhat sad smile as he said his goodnight.
"You are so much like them both, but don't let that make you think that you have to be them.
"Goodnight young Eagle."
I had reached the brass eagle knocker.
"It begins but has no end and ends all things with beginnings…"
"Death."
The door swung inwards.
The rest of the evening meal was served in the common rooms, a rare occasion where the elves were visible to the students.
Most people were sat around tables that had been placed in the common room that night, they were still eating when I walked in and all light conversation stopped.
I sat down at the only empty table and ate in silence.
When I was done I left the room without a sound.
The next morning breakfast was served in the common rooms, as I ate in silence I stared at the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw.
She stood arms in front of her holding a book and her wand, at her feet stood an eagle, on her head the diadem.
I was so focused on the details I didn't notice Terry Boot and Kevin Entwhistle sit down next to me.
"Sooooo, I was thinking about Halloween next year and decided it wouldn't be cool if I went as a troll."
"You think? That's news to me." said Kevin.
"Yeah, you can see it when he looks confused or frown-y." I say reactively.
"Oi you two." Terry said looking shocked that Kevin who had earned the nickname quiet Kevin would take the mick like that.
"No fair, two v one."
"Wild night though wasn't it?" I said in the hopes of getting a gauge on what the school rumour mill was saying.
"Yeah, yeah it was…also luckily no one got troll squished."
Kevin look at me as though he was analysing me.
"What spell was that, some of the upper year boys were trying to find it and couldn't."
"Oh, just one I read in a book." I said even unconvincingly even to myself.
"Bullshit." Kevin said without missing a beat.
"Well, I'm just saying there's more than a few people who want to know. But you keep your secrets Harry."
"Stop being so dramatic Kevin." Terry said while rolling his eyes.
We carried on chatting while we ate until Anthony Goldstein waltzed through the common room like he owned the place.
"Mornin' lads. So Potter, the Aurors not come to collect you for murdering a professor yet?"
"Oh shove off Goldstein, Harry didn't know that'd happen." Terry snapped at him.
"I'm just saying, shame it wasn't Snape, or maybe you're saving him for Christmas."
"Pipe down, Gold-stain." Kevin said quietly. Anthony paled.
"You should be careful Entwhistle. Hanging around trash like these will never see the Entwhistle name return to prominence." He huffed and went to sit elsewhere.
"What is his problem?" I asked. As a barely seen character I knew nothing of this pompous ass-hat.
"Ahhhh, do you know about the so-called 'sacred 28?' Families?" Replied Terry.
"Vaguely?"
"Well, it was originally going to be the 'sacred 32' and the whole book titled 'The Pureblood Directory.'
Anyway, two pureblood wizards partnered to write it and started in 1932, one on the darker end of the magical spectrum, Cantankerous Nott, and one on the light, Zephyr McDougall-Entwhistle.
Now the Potters were considered for the list but both agreed that they had too much muggle in them and the Peverell name they descended from had been lost and folded into the Potter name, so between that and the much more muggle surname they were cut.
Well suddenly it's 1936 and at this point the book is nearly done, but Grindelwald after disappearing a few years prior and was now resurfacing, causing problems and stirring up old grudges. He also had some up significantly more magically stronger. Anyway, tensions rose, and Nott and McDougall-Entwhistle came to blows with Entwhistle leaving.
"What happened then? And also, McDougall-Entwhistle?" I asked, loving this lore dump.
"Ah, so the McDougalls and Entwhistles where two pureblood families at risk of collapse, so when married the McDougall name folded into the Entwhistle, in the hopes that they would have two boys allowing one to take the McDougall line, and one the Entwhistle name.
Unfortunately, after this split between Authors, Nott broke the contract.
He went ahead and finished his version of the manuscript and sent it off to publication in 1937.
He did so without including the Potters, the McDougalls, the Entwhistles and one other family, the Goldsteins. The reason being is Nott had a grudge of some sort against Anthony's great-great-grandfather and kept him off the list even though there had been a branch of Goldsteins in Britain longer than Notts. That's how it went from 32 to 28." Terry finished his mini lesson with a deep breathe in.
"And now Anthony wants to do everything he can to get his family back on that list?" I ask.
"Exactly, though it's impossible as everytime a vote is brought up to the Lords the Notts shut it down. See if all 32 had been included it would've swayed the wizengamot to light leaning, bad for dark wizard business." Kevin responded.
"Also, true Goldstein's had for two generations married muggles, so there wasn't much holding them on to their 'pureblood' status. Anthony is the first since then. During that time one of his grandparent was given a position within the English monarchies hierarchy, a baron I think or similar. Meaning he'll be a Lord in both Magical and Muggle settings." Terry continued.
I sat while absorbing all that information.
"What did you call him earlier that got him to shut up and go away?" I asked Kevin.
"Oh, Anthony, a Hufflepuff called Justin Finch-Fletchly and I all used to go to the same boarding school before Hogwarts, some bully threw apple juice on him on a school trip and called him Gold-stain like he'd pissed himself. He was called that for the rest of our time there."
As wrong as it was I laughed along to that. Kids can be little shits sometimes.
It was at this moment an owl I didn't recognise dropped a letter in front of me and stole a slice of toast of my plate before taking flight.
Mr. Potter,
I had a rather interesting talk with the Head of the DMLE, even though there has not been a Potter accounts manager since the passing of the last Lord Potter, I have been authorised to act as such in the matter pertaining to the Troll you vanquished in battle.
Meet myself and the Goblin removal squad that shall accompany me at the beast's corpse.
Immediately.
We shall discuss this matter further then.
Signed
Griphook
Junior Gringotts account manager and Senior Teller
As I walked from the roost to the great hall I realised how lucky I had been that Dumbledore hadn't cornered me and just legilimens'd right into my brain and ruined my whole plan.
There had been far too many variables for yesterday's performance, but then again it had been nescessary.
Classes had been cancelled to allow for a long weekend and to resume on monday, so I saw maybe four or five people on the way to the library. All of them gave me a wide berth.
When I got to the grand hall I could see fifteen Goblins in all, ten in clear light armour with an eleventh in a sturdier looking armour, I assumed the squad and squad leader.
Griphook was with three others and talking fast in their language.
One of the three went over to speak with Dumbledore.
Griphook spotted me as I came to the doors to the hall.
"Mr. Potter, well met and well done on your victory in combat over the troll. Gringotts' Head banker Ragnok told me to pass on the message that Gringotts sings your praises. An honour very few wizards have had in the last century."
"Thank you Griphook, please pass on my thanks to the Head banker and that I hope his gold overflows and enemies cower at his name."
"Ahhhh you have put that book to good use young Wizard."
I had done my homework.
"Right then, let's get to it. The Troll is yours bar the fact that it happened on what is considered private property, the castle being owned by the office of the board of governors and the Schools trust, which funds it.
As a result they have a legal claim to no more than 10%, but that said it is you who can decide which 10%. You could give a larger percentage if desired.
I would recommend keeping the hide, it can be fashioned into a number of things if desired. As odd as it sounds, the Troll's club also comes under your ownership, and I personally think this makes a fine trophy."
"Of course the decision is yours, I am merely here as an acting account manager who, by Gringotts standing, has your best financial interests in mind."
I thought for a minute.
"Do as you said, keep the hide and both feet, and the club, give anything that can be used for potions to the school as part of the 10% and the rest of the 10% in gold from sale of the rest of the troll." I listed out my requests.
"It will be done… may I ask, why keep the feet?"
"They will make a nice pair of umbrella stands for some people I know. They'll hate them, but it'll give me a laugh."
Griphook let out a laugh that sounds like crushed glass.
"You are a strange wizard Mr. Potter, very strange indeed." He said while drawing out the indeeeeeed.
"Oh before I go, could you give a copy of the memory, the Head banker requested I'd at the very least ask."
Once I'd provided the memory, I asked.
"I was going over the papers you gave me of the Potter accounts, but there was no mention of a will, could you tell me more?"
The Goblins face twisted as though sucking a lemon.
"No, there appears to be something amiss with th wills and the corresponding paperwork in the Ministry, it is being looked into as we speak. When we know more you can expect my owl."
"Thank you Griphook, till next time we meet, may your pockets grow heavy with gold."
"And may you find wealth within your vaults and beyond. He replied, before heading off to speak to the Goblin Squad leader.
I left them to their work, and made a hasty retreat before the Headmaster decided to corner me like I now feared he may try.
A/N : Oooohhhhh, two chapters this quick? Guess the muse has struck.
Till next time, onwards.