I do not own Harry Potter, only any OC that may appear in a story
Hello guys, Badger here. I hope you are all doing great today. Over the last couple of days, I've been on a massive writing high, so immediately after uploading Chapter 15 for Too Late To Correct Your Mistakes, I immediately started writing Chapter 7 for this story. And boy this chapter was a long one. I thought the chapter for the original story was long however this remastered chapter is even longer, close to 6500 words, roughly 3000 words longer than chapter 7 of the original story.
After the last couple of chapters being on the shorter side, I thought you'd appreciate the length.
Anyway, that is all I have to say for now, so you know what to do. Read on, enjoy and I will see you at the end.
…
Chapter 7
A Troll Attack Within The Castle Walls
…
Early one morning Harry made his way down the Hogwarts grounds, towards a small stone hut sitting along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. At breakfast, he had received a note from Hagrid, stating that the Half-Giant wanted to see Harry before his lessons began, so the two could catch up and maybe have some tea as well. Harry had immediately accepted the Hagrid's invite, as he hasn't seen the Half-Giant since he was abandoned at Kings Cross Station. Though he wasn't going to bring that up. Harry doubted Hagrid done it with ill intent. Harry had asked James if he wanted to come along with him, but his friend politely declined, stating that he wouldn't want to interrupt their little reunion and that he had something else to do, before lessons began. Harry had been initially curious, but chose not to question it and after breakfast the two parted ways as Harry made his way towards Hagrid's hut.
However, as excited as Harry was to see Hagrid again, he was a little nervous too. Hagrid's words about Slytherins being bad and evil were ringing in his head, as he approached the door to the Half-Giants hut. Whilst Hagrid didn't sound angry in the letter he wrote, Harry still hoped that wasn't the case as he knocked on the door. He heard the sound of a dog barking and heavy footsteps, before the door opened,
"Harry! I'm glad you could make it, my boy!" Hagrid said jovially, as he gave Harry a bone crushing hug, "Well, don't just stand there, come in, come in!"
Harry couldn't help but smile and let out a small sigh of relief, as he entered the hut. Hagrid didn't seem mad to seem him at all. Quite the opposite. He only hoped it stayed that way. Upon entering the hut Harry was immediately tackled by a large and black Neapolitan Mastiff, called Fang, causing Harry to stumble a little with a small laugh. He could've done without all the slobber though. As Hagrid called Fang to get off of him, Harry took a look around the hut. Whilst some would state that the hut was quite rustic, Harry would argue that it was quite cozy and warm. And, whilst Harry would usually admit that the place may seem a little cramped from how much was packed together within a small space, after spending the last decade practically living within the small cupboard under his relatives stairs, Harry found Hagrid's hut to be quite spacious in comparison.
Hagrid meanwhile, brewed some tea on his stove and gently poured a cup for Harry, who accepted it gratefully, as he sat down on one of the seats.
"Look Harry, I…" Hagrid said, fidgeting and looking ashamed, "I just…wanted to apologise…"
"Apologise about what?" Harry asked
"Apologise about what I said in Diagon Alley…you know, about Slytherin…" Hagrid replied, "About them being all evil…I may have been a little…unfair, with my statement and judgement and I feel like by doing so, I've inadvertently called you evil, which you're not…I hope you can forgive me…"
"Of course I can forgive you, Hagrid…I don't blame you…" Harry reassured, with a soft smile
Hagrid smiled in return, relief on his face as he offered one of his rock cakes to Harry, which Harry accepted gratefully. However, Harry quickly wished he didn't as when he bit into it, he felt like his teeth were close to breaking from how hard they were, taking the name 'rock cake' a little too literally, for his tastes. Harry didn't know what to do, as he didn't want to be rude, however he couldn't help but notice Hagrid didn't seem offended or hurt. The Half-Giant actually looked amused, chuckling softly, as if he knew how bad they were. That made Harry smile a little as he put the cake back down on the plate in front of him.
He chose to stick with the cup of tea in his hands, as he spoke with Hagrid for a while, talking about his train ride to Hogwarts, as well as how Hogwarts has been for him so far and everything that has happened. Hagrid especially seemed proud of Harry, when Harry told him how he made it onto the Slytherin Quidditch Team. It turned out Hagrid was also a massive Quidditch fanatic. The two continued talking until Hagrid noticed the time and gently sent Harry on his way, so he wouldn't be late for his first lesson.
Whilst Harry was disappointed to leave so soon he still gave Hagrid a wave as he left, walking back towards the castle with a smile on his face.
…
Meanwhile inside the Hogwarts Dungeons, whilst Harry was talking with Hagrid, James made his way into the Potions Classroom. Now that he was free from Harry for the time being, James wanted to speak with Professor Snape before lessons began. He was on a small personal mission of his own. Entering the classroom he saw Snape at his desk, currently preparing everything for the first Potions lesson of the day. Not wanting to disturb the Potions Professor, James stood silently in front of Snapes desk, waiting for the man to notice and address him.
After a few minutes, Snape turned away from his desk and looked at James, looking a little surprised to see him there. Especially because First Years didn't have their next potions lesson, until tomorrow.
"Mr Badger, to what do I owe the pleasure of your arrival?" Snape asked, "And do make it quick, lessons do begin very soon, as I'm sure you know…"
"Yes sir" James nodded, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I needed to speak to you about Harry…"
"Really?" Snape asked, with a slight raise of his eyebrow, "Okay then, quickly now, what is it you needed to tell me about Mr Potter?"
"Well, it's not exactly good, sir…" James replied, with a sigh, "But Harry has been abused…"
Snape stopped what he was doing and stood there, looking at James in shock, his eyes widening to the point where they were close to popping out from their sockets. After a few seconds, Snape then cleared his throat and stood straighter.
"Abused?" Snape asked, "Do you have reasons for this belief?"
"I've seen the scars, sir" James said, "When I asked him about it, he said that his relatives have abused and starved him for years…I've already alerted the Head of the DMLE and a trial has been set for after the end of our First Year…seeing as you knew Harry's mother in Hogwarts, I theorised that you might've known her sister and if you did, it could help if you gave a statement about her at the trial…"
"I see…" Snape said, leaning against his desk from that information, "It's true that I knew Lily during our time at Hogwarts…and I had the displeasure of meeting her sister, Petunia…she was hateful towards her sister for having magic, and it seems that hasn't changed…I'll gladly give a statement at their trial Mr Badger, you have my word…now off you go, your first lesson starts very soon…"
"Yes sir, thank you sir…" James nodded, before he left the classroom
Snape watched as the boy left his classroom once more. As soon as the classroom door closed with a small thud, he grabbed a small cauldron sat on his desk and threw it across the classroom in a rage. The Potions Professor was tempted to march towards Dumbledore's office and blow the entire place into smithereens, whilst he gave the Headmaster a piece of his mind. Dumbledore had never told him where Harry had been placed after the deaths of Lily and James Potter, and now Snape was beginning to question the old man's sanity, and reasoning for placing Harry with his aunt and uncle of all people. Everyone who knew Lily, also knew how hateful her sister Petunia was. Snape had many meetings with the woman himself, when they were kids. The word 'Freak' was one he heard often. Whilst Snape never had the displeasure of meeting Petunia's husband, Vernon, he imagined the man was just as bad, if not worse.
And now, Harry was the victim of Petunia's hate.
Snape found his trust in the Headmaster had started to diminish even more. First the old man decided to raise Harry as a pig for slaughter and force a life of self sacrifice on his shoulders, and now this!
"Damn you Albus!" Snape cursed, "Merlin damns you!"
…
After making his way back from Hagrid's hut Harry soon entered the Charms Classroom for his first lesson of the day, taking a seat next to James, alongside the rest of the Slytherin First Years, on one side of the classroom, the Gryffindors sat on the other side. In front of each and every student, was a long and white feather resting gently on their desks. Harry was curious and watched as the tiny and loveable Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick, stood up on a massive stack of books, his wand in hand as he addressed the class with a jovial smile on his face.
"Good morning, class" Flitwick said, in an enthusiastic and squeaky voice, "Today you will be learning a simple charm, on that can be useful in regular day to day life, or could even save your life when up against an opponent stronger than you…the charm is known as Wingardium Leviosa, a spell that makes objects, float…like any other spell, in order to cast the charm successfully, you need to perform the correct movement, now repeat after me…swish and flick…"
"Swish and flick…" The class said in unison
Flitwick's smile grew, before he turned around and waved his wand where instructions appeared on blackboards, detailing the pronunciation and wand movement, to get the charm to work. With a smile still on his face, Flitwick addressed the class once more.
"Now, today, I want you all to practice the charm for yourselves…" The Charms Professor said, "Points will be awarded to those who do so, and those who don't, do not be discouraged as even simple spells can be a struggle to get right, and remember…swish and flick!"
In unison, each student removed their wand and started practicing the spell, mutterings of 'Wingardium Leviosa' echoing across the classroom whilst Flitwick looked across the classroom to see which students needed the most help. Across the classroom, there was varying degrees of success and unsuccess. A few students were only to get their feathers to lift a mere centimetre for a brief second before it fell back onto their desks, whilst most of the class couldn't get their feather to lift off of their table at all. Ron Weasley, in particular, was flailing his wand wildly and almost taking out Neville's eye, as his feather stubbornly refused to move.
Meanwhile, across the table from Ron, Hermione sat with a furrowed brow as she attempted to lift her feather off her desk. She was getting more and more irate as the feather wouldn't float any higher then a few centimetres off her desk. She was getting close though. She was sure of it.
Meanwhile, on the Slytherin side, things weren't much better. Whilst students like Daphne Greengrass were slowly getting their feathers to lift higher off of their desks, most students like Draco Malfoy were struggling. However, everyone's attention was immediately subverted when they saw a feather floating high up into the air, before it slowly lowered back down onto the desk, where they saw that the feather in question belonged to James. Over on the Gryffindor side of the classroom, Hermione scowled at him, her eyes burning holes into his head. Professor Flitwick meanwhile, was ecstatic.
"Oh well done!" He cheered enthusiastically, "You see that everyone! Well done Mr Badger! Take 15 points for Slytherin!"
James nodded, with a smile, before he turned to Harry and started helping him as well. He watched as Harry performed the spell, where the feather lifted a little off of the desk, before falling down onto the desk again.
"Okay, do it again, but this time use your wrist instead of your whole arm…" James said, "It's all in the wrist…"
Harry nodded, taking a deep breath, before he said the spell again. Uttering the correct pronunciation, Harry twirled his wand with his wrist and watched as his feather effortlessly began to float up into the air and off of his desk. It went several feet up into the air, before it gently floated back onto his desk in front of him. Harry was too immersed with his feather, he didn't notice several Slytherins copying what James said.
"Brilliant work, Mr Potter, just like your mother, take 15 points for Slytherin as well!" Flitwick said, after witnessing the occurrence, before he noticed another feather floating in the air, on the Gryffindor side, "Oh well done Miss Granger, excellent work, take 15 points for Gryffindor!"
Hermione may have been smiling but, inside, she was disappointed and seething. Whilst she may be glad that she was the first out of all the Gryffindors to be able to succes cast the charm and make her feather float, she would've preferred it if she had been the first in the whole class to do so instead. But instead, James had taken her achievement away from her. Hermione refused to believe James was better than her. He had to be cheating in some way, just to make her look bad.
She didn't know how, but she'll prove it and show everyone that she is the brightest witch of their age.
…
Elsewhere in the castle, Quirrell quickly closed the doors, locking his distraction inside one of the many abandoned and forgotten rooms, in the dungeons of the castle. He made sure to cast an Unbreakable Charm on the doors too, as his distraction started banging on the doors to try and break free. He also made sure to cast a Silencing Charm, so no one could hear its bangs and crashes. It took a lot of work to try and smuggle it into the castle, without alerting the Headmaster as to what was going on, and Quirrell wasn't about to let his entire plan go to waste all because of some nosy First Year coming across the room and telling someone about it.
Quirrell was already in enough trouble with his Master as it is. If it wasn't for the fact that his Master was currently reliant on him to stay alive, Quirrell would've been dead long ago by now, for his failures.
But that was going to change. Now that his distraction was smuggled into the castle and currently locked away, his plan was now ready to be put into action. However, he was going to wait just a little longer, before he set his distraction free. It had to be done at the right time. And he knew when to do it. Tonight, during the Halloween Feast. Once all the students are sent into a panic, whilst the Hogwarts Professors go to deal with the problem, Quirrell will be able to slip away during the chaos and explore the Third Floor and find the Stone that will bring his Master back to his full glory.
With a grin, Quirrell quickly left the dungeons and made his way to his classroom, before his absence was questioned.
…
After Charms class had ended, Harry and James followed the rest of the students out, to head for their next lesson of the day. However, the two of them barely made it down the corridor before their path was blocked by Hermione, who still had a scowl on her face. Her sudden appearance made James pinch the bridge of his nose, with a sigh.
"It's you again…" He said, "What do I owe this…pleasure?
"There was no way you could've successfully cast the spell before me!" Hermione accused, "Tell me how you cheated!"
Harry's eyes widened, as he watched the interaction. He couldn't believe the audacity of this girl. Ever since their brief encounter after their first Transfiguration lesson, Harry had seen Hermione glaring at the two of them in several of their lessons. She wasn't exactly discreet when doing so either. And her irate gaze was usually more directed at James, instead of himself. He had even seen it during their Charms lesson. Harry wasn't sure if James was aware of Hermione's glares. If he was, he never mentioned it. Harry thought her glaring would be the end of it, but now she was here accusing James of cheating, simply because he was able to cast the levitation charm before she did.
Harry couldn't help but feel like she should get checked by someone, for how big her superiority complex seemed to be.
"I can see that our previous conversation didn't stick into that head of yours…" James spoke up, crossing his arms as he looked at her
"I know you cheated!" Hermione continued, "So just tell me how you did it!"
"Hermione, give it a rest!" Harry snapped, startling the girl, "Just because James was able to cast the spell before you did, doesn't mean he cheated…so what if he's better at something then you, it doesn't matter, just leave us alone!"
"The Boy-Who-Lived has spoken, Granger…" James said, with a grin, "And I do have to agree and suggest that you leave us be…my patience is already thin enough as it is and you're one step away from cracking the ice…"
Hermione looked at the two, gaping like a fish, unsure on what to say. However, her scowl quickly crawled back onto her face and she gave the two one last glare, before turning on her heel and storming off. All the while, muttering about how rude they were. She didn't believe a word of it. James had to of cheated. He just had to. There was no other explanation. And she was going to find out what, one way or another.
James, meanwhile, rolled his eyes as he watched the bushy haired girl storm away, before he looked to Harry with a small, appreciative, smile on his face.
"Thanks for helping me out there Harry" He said, "Though you didn't have to, I could've handled her"
"I know, but I've just had enough of her" Harry replied, "I've seen her glare at you in classes, whenever you cast a spell, or answer a question correctly…it's like you offend her or something…"
"I know…I've seen it myself" James shrugged, "I'd like to think she comes to her senses, but if my first talk with her did nothing, I doubt anything will…"
The two of them continued making their way down the corridor, uninterrupted, heading towards their next lesson. Along the way they passed by Ron, who was talking to Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, two other Gryffindor First Years. As they continued walking, they overheard their conversation.
"That Granger girl is a blood nightmare" Ron said, "No wonder she hasn't got any friends!"
"I can't believe that, for once in my life, I agree with that carrot topped git…" James commented, causing Harry to laugh.
…
That night, Harry sat next to James, with the rest of Slytherin House for the Halloween Feast. Spooky decorations adorned and moved across the walls. The Hogwarts ghosts roamed the halls to playfully scare the students, and the House tables completely disappeared under all the platters of sweets and other treats for the students to enjoy. It was a night of celebration after all. However Harry wasn't in the mood for such an event. For Harry, this was the night his parents were murdered by Voldemort and so he didn't feel like celebrating. James, however, was able to convince Harry to go to the Great Hall instead of brooding in their dorm all night. Even if it was just for a small bite to eat, if nothing else.
Now, though, Harry was glad he came. As the night went on, and he tried many of the foods on the table, Harry was beginning to feel a lot better. He still thought about his parents though. Once the Dursleys were convicted, Harry wondered if they had graves he could visit. He'd ask Professor Snape about it, at some point. Harry was certain Snape would know. Whilst the two of them continued to talk and eat the large variety of food and sweets they could get their hands on, Blaise and Daphne approached and sat with them.
"Hey Daphne, Blaise…" James greeted, "What brought the two of you over here?"
"Malfoy, of course" Blaise rolled his eyes, as if James was crazy to ask
"Ah, I see…" James said, nodding, "Is the ferret being insufferable again?"
"No more then usual" Daphne replied, carefully putting some food onto her plate, "He's currently boasting to anyone who will listen, that his father is currently trying to negotiate with my father to write up a Marriage Contract between Draco and me…"
"He's still on about that?" James asked
"Of course he is" Daphne rolled her eyes, "It won't work though, my father has already rejected the Marriage Contract three times already"
"The Malfoy's aren't ones to take 'No' for an answer…" Blaise commented beside her
"You can say that again" Daphne sighed, before turning to Harry, "And how are you, Harry? Me and Blaise haven't forgotten about what this day must mean, for you"
"I'm feeling a lot better now" Harry nodded, "I'm still not great, but James has helped cheer me up a bit"
Daphne gave him a small smile, a rare sight indeed, before the four of them continued to chat, as they ate their food. However, after a few minutes, the entire Great Hall stopped eating and chatting, when they heard the sound of someone giggling followed by what sounded like crashes and bangs, getting closer and closer to the Great Hall. The First Year students whispered to one another, about what it could be, whilst the rest of the students groaned and prepared themselves for the worst, as if they knew what was about to happen as the giggling and bangs got closer and closer to the Great Hall.
Then, after a few minutes, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and a poltergeist wearing a multicoloured tuxedo and top hat, Peeves, flew in with a manic grin. He did a strange and erratic dance, before he broke out in song, singing in a childish and squeaky tone.
"I'm off to the shop,
With a skip and a hop,
For a pretty balloon, that won't go pop!
A red, or a blue,
Or even a yellow will do,
Or the finest green,
That you have ever seen!"
At the end of Peeves' childish rhyme, all of a sudden, dozens of balloons came flying into the Great Hall, launching across each and every table. Not even the Professors were safe. Upon impact, the balloons burst and exploded. However, instead of water like Harry was expecting, the balloons were full of brightly coloured paint. The instant the first balloons burst, Harry found himself being grabbed by James and the two ended up ducking under the table, whilst the food, students and professors all got splattered and covered in various colours of paint, causing many to scream in shock and anger. Peeves meanwhile, laughed maniacally at the chaos that he had caused, before he flew out of the Great Hall once again, his giggles fading away down the corridors.
Once the chaos had ended, Harry and James slowly climbed out from under the table, relatively unscathed save for a few more splats of paint on their robes. Daphne and Blaise weren't so lucky. The two Slytherins were both covered in bright pink and yellow paint. Blaise merely looked annoyed about the whole ordeal, whilst Daphne looked incredibly murderous from what just happened.
"I can't believe that dead git!" She snapped, as she stood up from her seat, "Excuse me, I'm going to the bathroom to calm down, before I hex someone!"
James and Blaise winced a little, both knowing how angry Daphne could get, whilst Harry merely watched the girl storm off, out of the Great Hall. Meanwhile over at the Professors table, where most of the Professors looked less then happy, Dumbledore merely stood up with a jovial smile and removed his wand, giving it a wave. Instantly the paint disappeared, leaving both the students and the food clean and unblemished, as if they hadn't been assaulted with paint balloons in the first place.
"Don't worry everyone" Dumbledore said, calmly, "It was a mere harmless prank, nothing more…however, I will have a talk with Peeves about this behaviour…until then, tuck back in and enjoy the rest of the feast"
There were quiet mutterings amongst the students, as they all sat back down at their seats, with many feeling less then certain about eating the food that had just been covered in paint mere moments before. However, for students like Ron Weasley that wasn't a problem at all, as the red head immediately starting pigging out on all the food he could, once again.
Slowly but surely, the students started to go back to eating their meals and continued their conversations, as if nothing had happened. Over at the Slytherin table, Harry continued to talk with James and Blaise before the doors to the Great Hall burst open once more, startling everyone from how sudden it was. Harry looked up from his seat, to see Professor Quirrell running in, where Harry couldn't help but notice the Defence Professor looked absolutely terrified. More so then usual, making Harry wonder what scared him. Harry didn't have to wait long, to find out.
"TROLL, IN THE DUNGEON!" Quirrell yelled, "THERE'S A TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!"
His cries were met with complete silence from the entire Great Hall, with many students looking at the Professor in shock and fear. Meanwhile, over at the Professors table, Dumbledore stood out of his chair in surprise, whilst Snape's eyes narrowed suspiciously, as he remained sitting in his chair.
"I…I thought you needed to know…" Quirrell said weakly, before he collapsed to the floor, unconscious
Immediately, the moment Quirrell's body hit the stone floor, the students began to scream in terror, their screams echoing across the walls. One by one each student scrambled from their seats, dropping whatever they had in their hands, trying to escape from the Great Hall with many students getting trampled.
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore yelled, bringing an end to the chaos as all students stopped and look towards him, "Prefects, please escort your Houses to your Common Rooms…I want all students to remain in their Common Rooms, until you are given the all clear by your Heads of Houses, whilst the Professors and myself go to the Dungeons to deal with the Troll…now, be on your way"
One by one the students started flooding out of the Great Hall, this time in a more calm manner, as they followed their Prefects to their Common Rooms. However, instead of heading to their Common Room, Flint led Slytherin House to the library instead, due to their Common Room being in the dungeons and Flint didn't feel like risking everyone's lives due to the Headmasters lack of awareness regarding the Hogwart Castles layout.
As the Slytherins were making their way towards the Hogwarts library, Blaise looked around the crowd of students, as if looking for something, or someone. When realisation came to him his eyes widened in shock and he panicked slightly, before reaching over and grabbing James' shoulder, causing both James and Harry to stop as they both looked at him.
"What is it, Blaise?" James asked, with a raised eyebrow
"Daphne!" Blaise replied, "She's still in the bathroom, she doesn't know about the Troll!"
"Shit!" James exclaimed, running a hand through his hair in panic
"W…what can we do?" Harry asked, as he went a bit pale
"What else do you think?" James asked, slightly snapping, "We need to quickly get her and warn her, before something bad happens!"
Whilst the rest of Slytherin House continued making their way to the library, Harry, James and Blaise were able to sneak away from them and run back in the opposite direction, towards the bathrooms, to get Daphne. Harry had to run rather quickly in order to catch up with James and Blaise, as the two boys were moving like a blur. As they ran around a corner, the three came to a sudden halt as they felt the castle around them rumble and shake, followed by the sounds of heavy footsteps crashing onto the stone floors. As the footsteps got closer, causing the corridors to shake more violently, the three Slytherins saw a large, dark shadow appear on the furthest wall, coming from around the corner.
Seeing the large shadow, James quickly grabbed both Harry and Blaise and the three of them hid behind a wall, out of sight. Peeking out from behind their hiding place, the three were met with a horrifying sight of a large, green skinned, Mountain Troll appearing from around the corner. It's foul and disgusting stench filled the air, hitting their nostrils.
"Shit!" James cursed, "The troll has left the dungeon!"
"What are we going to do?" Harry asked, as they watched the troll disappear down the corridors, "It's heading towards the bathrooms!"
"We need to come up with some sort of plan…" James started
James was the suddenly cut off as at that moment, a loud scream had echoed down the corridors, quickly followed by a loud crash and sounds of objects breaking.
"Okay, forget the plan!" James said immediately, "Let's just get Daphne quickly…Blaise, go and find the Professors, we're going to need them!"
"Okay, but…" Blaise started
"No buts, just do it, we don't have time!" James said, as he started running towards the bathrooms
Blaise stood there, gaping like a fish trying to say something, as he watched Harry and James running down the corridor, towards the bathrooms. Deciding to just shut up, he quickly turned around and started running towards the dungeons, hoping he could find the Professors. And quickly. He hoped he could find them in time, before anything bad could happen.
…
Daphne wasn't sure how long she had been inside the bathroom stall for. However, after using several Cleaning Charms to clean and remove all the paint that had covered her robes, skin and even hair, she took a few minutes to calm down before leaving her stall and splashing some water onto her face at the sink. It was that moment when a disgusting stench had hit her nostrils harder than a Bludger. It was so foul, she gagged and recoiled a little from how powerful the smell was. Once her senses had come back to her, she looked to see the last thing she was expecting standing in front of her. A massive and ugly Mountain Troll, that must've been more then three times her size. She took a step back from fear, as it looked down at her.
The Troll then growled as it raised its massive club into the air. Daphne screamed and dived out of the way as its club crashed against the bathroom stalls, completely obliterating them, before it crashed onto the floor where she was standing just a few seconds ago. With her escape blocked, she hid under the sinks as the Mountain Troll walked closer towards her.
…
As Harry and James burst into the bathroom, they were met with the destructive sight of the wood of the stalls scattered across the bathroom floors, whilst the Troll ambled towards Daphne, who was trapped under the sinks.
"What do we do?!" Harry asked
"I'll distract the Troll, you go and get Daphne!" James replied
Harry nodded, as James removed his wand from his robes before firing a spark at the Trolls head. The spark did nothing but cause the Troll to stumble forward a little, but it was able to distract it away from Daphne, as the Troll turned around curiously to see Harry and James standing behind it. The Troll let out an angry growl when it saw the two of them and raised its club, where the two quickly jumped out of the way before they were crushed, as the club crashed onto the floor, causing the toilet walls to shake violently from the impact.
The Troll growled again, when it watched the small squishy things jump away from its club, and started to approach Harry, raising its club again.
"Oh, no you don't!" James said, gripping his wand tightly
He stood up quickly and fired another spark, which once again his the Troll in the back of the head. Letting out a guttural roar, the Troll turned away from Harry and started to quickly amble towards James, who dodged its club again, as it crashed onto the ground.
With the Troll now distracted, Harry quickly rushed towards where Daphne was hiding under the sinks and helped her out. With Daphne now safe, Harry turned around to see James dodge the Troll's club once again. However this time, when the club hit the ground, the force of the impact threw James across the room where he hit his head against the wall, causing him to drop his wand as his vision began to blur and his head spin, feeling disoriented. Harry panicked as he watched the Troll approach his friend, raising its club, with James too disoriented to do anything. He had to do something.
Quickly removing his own wand from his robes, Harry pointed it at the Trolls club as it was raised in the air and yelled:
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
As the Troll raised its club high into the air, it then swung its arm down to crush James, only to look confused when it saw that the club was no longer in its hand. It let out a small, curious growl before it looked up to see its club floating in the air. Harry smiled to see that his plan worked, before he cancelled the spell, dropping the club, which hit the Troll on the head. The impact caused the Troll to sway back and forth slightly, before it began to fall forward. James was able to regain his senses long enough, to see the Troll falling towards him and quickly got out of the way before it could fall and crush him.
As the troll fell, it broke its neck against the wall with a sickening crunch, before collapsing onto the floor, causing it to shake. James let out a sigh of relief, before he fell onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. His ears were ringing and his head was pounding, as Harry and Daphne rushed over to see if he was okay.
"Is it…dead?" Daphne asked
"I…I think so…" Harry replied as he started helping James to his feet, who stumbled a little, "Are you okay James?"
"Yeah…I think I'm okay…" James said, putting a hand to the back of his head and looked to see warm blood on his fingers, "Then again, maybe not…"
James stumbled again, as his ears began ringing louder, however Harry caught him and put an arm over his shoulder to keep him upright, where they heard a voice behind them.
"Dear Merlin!"
The three of them turned around to see Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell standing behind them, at the entrance to the bathrooms. Blaise was with them, looking shocked at the sight in front of them all, as well as relieved to see the three of them still alive. However when he saw the state that James was in, he rushed over and put his other arm over his own shoulder to help Harry hold him up, who was currently struggling to do so on his own. Meanwhile, the Professors continued looking at the sight in front of them all, trying to process what they were seeing.
"Mr Zabini had found us and told us about Miss Greengrass" Dumbledore said smoothly, after a moment, "Mr Potter, Mr Badger, would you kindly tell us what happened here?"
"Well, when we saw that the Troll was heading to the girls bathroom, me and James went to save Daphne…" Harry said, "When we arrived, James distracted the Troll whilst I went to save Daphne…however, James got injured and I quickly dropped the Trolls club onto its head and…umm…I think it's dead…"
Deputy Headmistress, McGonagall, took in the sight before her as Harry explained the events that occurred mere moments ago. From the way the Trolls neck was bent at unnatural and sickening angles, she had no doubt it was dead. And from how pale James currently looked, and currently needed support from Harry and James to stand properly, she had no doubt that he was going to need some medical attention from Madam Pomfrey.
"Whilst the three of you didn't follow strict instructions by the Headmaster, your intentions were indeed good ones…" She said, "And by doing so, you were able to save Miss Greengrass's life so, Mr Potter, Mr Badger, take 50 points each for saving Miss Greengrass and sheer, dumb luck…now, Mr Potter, Mr Zabini, please take Mr Badger to the infirmary, for immediate medical attention"
"Yes Professor…" Harry nodded, as he and Blaise carried James out of the bathrooms, Daphne following behind them
…
Whilst Dumbledore, and the other Professors started to clean up the bathroom and remove the Trolls corpse, Professor Quirrell watched with a murderous gaze as his entire plan went up in smoke. He wasn't even able to make it close to the Third Floor, before he was cut off by another Professor and was dragged to help with the Troll. A Troll that had now been killed by the same brat that destroyed his Masters body. Now Quirrell was back at square one, in his plans to fully resurrect his Master and give him a new body. Quirrell could feel his Masters rage, because of his failures, as Quirrell felt the back of his skull begin to burn once again.
Wincing in pain, Quirrell wrung his hands together as he watched the main cause for his plans failure, as the brat carried his friend to the infirmary. Quirrell didn't know how he was going to move forward with his plans from here. He couldn't cause another distraction like this. At least, not without raising massive suspicion. Especially from the Headmaster himself. Quirrell was almost certain that Dumbledore was beginning to suspect something and he wasn't going to give the Headmaster any more reasons to do so.
But what was he going to do now?
…
And that is Chapter 7 done. What did you all think?
Honestly, probably my favourite chapter I've written so far. And as I write each chapter of this story, I look forward to writing the next one, as it feels like the original story I had in mind, when I started writing all the way back in January of 2022 is slowly, but surely coming to life.
Out of all the changes to this chapter, the biggest change was with James asking Snape to give a statement at the Dursleys trial. This was actually a late inclusion when writing this chapter, as when I thought about it, I felt like it was something Snape would do if he knew Harry was being abused. Plus it helps to drive the wedge between Snape and Dumbledore that I'm trying to make in this remastered story.
And speaking of the Dursleys. Originally, I had planned for this chapter to end with the Dursleys getting arrested by Amelia. However, with how long this chapter was already, and with how much there is already happening in the chapter, I decided to save it for next chapter. So don't worry people, the Dursleys will meet their fate very soon.
But that is all for now. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all next time, in whatever story I see you in.
Badger Out.
…