Reviews:

Lucifer-Satani: TBF, in canon that was pretty much the only thing that was gifted out in canon. McGonagall gave them like 10 points after taking five from Hermione (I think, I can't remember the exact number) so they only got like five points in total for surviving a troll at the ages of eleven and saving a classmate. (Also glad you're keeping it to one story, it's too much work for both sides if you do it on all of my stories).

Fire turtle: When he was adopted into the Black family, he inherited the family madness, therefore he has constant voices in his head and is crazy.

Fiction Haven: Bruda, are you Islam Makhachev?


Chapter 31 -

'Bloody hell,' Pansy thought to herself as she followed a short distance behind Daphne and Hydrus down to the Slytherin common room, today did not go how she planned it to.

Truth be told, she hadn't really had any plans, but it definitely was not like this. Classes had just finished and she had gone to the bathroom with Daphne where they had stumbled upon that mudblood Granger. The next thing she knew, an ugly and disgusting troll had burst into the bathroom. She didn't remember much after that, it was a bit fuzzy, the only thing she was sure about was that Hydrus had burst in and brutally killed the damn thing.

She knew he was strong, Draco was certainly happy to brag about being friends with such a strong wizard, but a part of her had always thought that Draco was exaggerating a bit, perhaps Draco was being humble when he admitted Hydrus was stronger than him. Pansy's father had told her many times that half-bloods were inferior and she knew that Hydrus was a half-blood, even if he had been adopted into the House of Black. But she was starting to struggle to believe that now because Hydrus was on top of most classes and he had just now killed a large troll in his first year, no normal first-year could do that.

She nearly tripped over a suit of armour as they rounded a corner, she looked ahead and saw that Daphne and Hydrus were discussing something, but what? Moving closer, she was able to hear bits and pieces.

"Patient...Gryffindor...your mother-" Daphne was saying.

"Spell...Cooper...we've got to keep an eye on her," She heard Hydrus say once she was near enough. "I want to talk to her, soon."

"Who? Cooper?" Pansy couldn't help but ask. "Why would you want to talk to her? She's just a stupid little mud -" A pair of hands grabbed her by the collar of her school shirt and robes, slamming her harshly into the nearest wall, she looked up into the blazing green eyes of one Hydrus Black.

"Parkinson, I am not in a good mood right now," Hydrus warned, slowly and coldly. "You had better stay quiet the whole way down to the common room or I'm going to cut off your tongue."

"But I - " Something cold and sharp pressed against her jaw, threatening to cut deep into it if she moved her mouth at all.

"Not a word," Hydrus said coldly, stepping back and putting the knife - one that she hadn't even seen him pull out - back into his robes. "Come on, Daph," He said, walking off, Daphne quickly coming after him, grabbing onto his arm. Pansy felt herself freeze for the second time that night, unable to move for a few moments, she shook her head and saw the two Slytherin students had nearly left her alone in the hallway, she gulped before rushing after them. Soon they arrived in the common room and found the Slytherins all waiting there. All of them looked up as the trio came in.

"Hydrus!" Draco called them over, the trio walked over to the other first years. "The rumours are already spreading, apparently you single-handedly defeated a troll!" He burst out.

"It wasn't single-handedly," Hydrus grunted as he sat down on a chair, Daphne sat down on the chair's armrest, leaning against him. Pansy stopped, looking awkward for a moment before sitting down next to Draco. "Daphne and Cooper held their own until I arrived,"

"But you did do the actual killing part," Daphne pointed out with a smirk, feeling quite happy as she listened to the other eavesdropping Slytherins currently looking at them and gossiping.

"That is true," Hydrus admitted with a smirk of his own.

"Ha, we're friends with a troll-slayer!" Draco grinned at the other first-year Slytherins. "Oh, I can't imagine the look on Longbottom and Weasley's face when they find out."

"Black," One of the older Slytherins called him, the rest of the room still listening in. "Word spreading around is that you saved a couple of mudbloods?"

"He went up there to save me, I'll have you know," Daphne said coldly. "Is there a problem with that? Or are you trying to imply that my life is worth less than their deaths?"

"No, no, just asking," He said quickly.

"If you don't mind, we're having a private conversation," Draco said snootily. "So would the rest of you please get back to minding your own business?" A great many Slytherins grumbled at that but slowly they all began doing as Draco had not-so-quite-suggested and were no longer eavesdropping...much.

"What did the teachers say?" Theo asked, giving Hydrus a curious look.

"There are talks of Hydrus getting a reward," Daphne revealed before her face darkened. "Though Professor Snape certainly had a lot to say,"

"Yeah," Hydrus growled, the temperature around them dropping slightly. "A little too much to say. That...that will not stand."

"He should be punished," Daphne told him matter-of-factly.

"Let's do it," Hydrus agreed.

"Fuck," Draco sighed.


"Are you sure that you're okay?" Percy Weasley asked for the third time.

Liv barely resisted the urge to point out that all of her limbs were still attached and that she was still amongst the living. Ever since she got back, the whole of Gryffindor House had been looking at her and Hermione like they were the best thing since sliced bread and cleaning charms. Professor McGonagall had come over, escorting the pair of them back to the common room and gave everyone a brief summary of what had happened before she informed Ron that he had detention for a week, starting tomorrow. That was probably why the redhead in question was sitting in a corner, red-faced and trying not to be noticed.

Professor McGonagall had told the Gryffindors that they were not to bother them, so naturally they had started bothering them as soon as Professor McGonagall had left and began asking question after question to try and work out what had happened beyond what Professor McGonagall had told them.

"We're fine, Percy, Madam Pomfrey checked us over," Liv told him. "I was wondering if we'd ever leave that place,"

"She is quite serious about her job," Hermione said diplomatically.

"We've been there," Fred and George said with a sigh and a dramatic shiver.

"That woman worries too much," Oliver Wood huffed, having had his fair share of run-ins with the school nurse.

"Can we get back on topic here? You're saying that Hydrus Black really fought a troll?!" One third-year student gaped at them.

"That's exactly what we're saying," Hermione gulped. "It was...well...it was quite...-"

"Intense?" Liv offered.

"Yes," Hermione gave her a thankful look. "I really thought we were all going to die. Then he came along...I still thought we were going to die...but...I think the troll pushed him a bit too far."

"Ya think?" Liv couldn't help but snort.

"How'd he do it?" A voice suddenly cut in and everyone looked towards Neville who was sitting on a chair, red-faced with his hands squeezing the armrests of the chair. "How did he beat a troll?" Neville asked. "He's a first-year, like us, there's no way he could beat a full-grown mountain troll. My gran said that's not possible, you'd need like...at least five really strong wizards to stop one."

"Five to stop one, yeah," A seventh-year agreed. "Not five to kill one,"

"He must have been using dark magic, right?!" Neville said loudly. "Why aren't the teachers expelling him?!"

"Neville, I...I don't think I remember everything...it was all quite terrifying...but I don't think Hydrus used any dark spells," Hermione said doubtfully, she knew that she was hardly an expert on dark magic, she was a first-year student, after all. But still, none of his spells seemed overly dark to her.

"He must have!" Neville insisted. "There's no way he couldn't have!"

"Neville," Liv said softly. "He used a lot of spells, but I don't think any of them were dark. He was just really smart about how he used them. At one point he used a cutting curse to damage a sink and send water everywhere, then Daphne Greengrass turned the water into ice and tripped the troll." Neville stared at her for a moment before he looked down, muttering something under his breath. Liv couldn't help but sigh, it appeared like Neville wasn't going to be cordial with Hydrus Black anytime soon.


"Cooper, Granger," Hydrus called as he and his fellow Slytherin yearmates arrived outside of the potions classroom, Granger and Cooper were waiting outside while the other Gryffindors had yet to arrive. "Still alive, I take it?" He asked with a snort.

"Surviving," Liv said as casually as she could, staring back at Hydrus who was staring at her. She watched as his gaze travelled down to her hands, for a second she saw an intense hunger in his multi-coloured orbs before he quickly snapped his gaze back up to her eyes.

"Hello," Hermione said politely, a small blush on her face as she stared at Hydrus. "I wanted to...thank you for your help last night."

"Oh, my dear Miss Granger, it was my absolute pleasure to help such a delightful person," Hydrus assured her with a charming smile, causing the existing blush to amplify. "You are not hurt, I'm sure?" He asked, sounding like her health was a genuine priority for him.

"Oh no!" Hermione squeaked before taking a moment to compose herself. "I mean...I'm fine,"

"That's good," Hydrus smiled before turning to Liv. "And yourself, Miss Cooper?"

"I've had worse," She shrugged.

"I'm sure," Hydrus said, sounding amused. "I was wondering, Miss Cooper, if we could talk in private?" He asked politely.

"About what?" Liv asked suspiciously.

"About our hard-fought battle against the troll, of course," Hydrus said in a voice that made it clear he expected her to already have known that.

"I don't know what there is to talk about," She said lightly. "You showed up, killed a troll, saved us girls, yippee. Why not just take the credit?"

"Don't for a moment think that I'm not taking credit," Hydrus replied, sounding mildly offended that she thought he wouldn't. "But it was a team effort, you and Daphne were both holding your own until I got there. Now, I simply just want to have a small talk with you, nothing bad, I assure you. So...what do you- "

"Black!" A voice blurted out, announcing the arrival of the other Gryffindors. Liv looked at Hydrus and saw his face twitch and watched as his eyes burned with restrained anger before he turned to her, his expression smoothed out and the seemingly genuine smile was fired at her and the look in his eyes had died down...mostly. 'Soon,' He mouthed to her before looking past her.

"Longbottom," Hydrus said patiently. "You've not gotten lost again? Shame,"

"One of the Ravenclaws must have pitied him enough to draw him a map," Draco grinned.

"Shut it, Malfoy!" Ron snapped at him.

"Going to make me, Weasley?" Draco asked, rolling his eyes.

"I just might!" Ron growled and took a step forward, only to pause when Hydrus did the same.

"Oh, give me a reason, I beg of you," Hydrus licked his lips, staring at the four Gryffindor boys in front of him. "The troll didn't quite do it for me, how about you four?"

"No!" Liv said, quickly stepping between them.

"You need to stop! You'll get in trouble!" Hermione pleaded.

"Liv, we don't need your help!" Neville hissed.

"I saw what he did to the troll, trust me...you definitely need my help here!" She glared at Neville, she looked back, only to blink and jump back when she saw Hydrus a couple of inches from her.

"If you want to keep them safe, you'll talk with me," Hydrus whispered. "Don't make me wait," He told her before taking a step back, giving her a polite smile before rejoining his fellow Slytherins.

"Hey, what did you say to her?!" Neville demanded.

"That's between me and her, isn't it, Bottom?" Hydrus smirked.

"You crazy-"

"Is there a problem here?" The irritated voice of Snape cut in as he arrived.

"No, Sir," Neville muttered, bowing his head.

"I'm sure," Snape drawled. "That'll be ten points from Gryffindor and detention, tonight. Now, in!" He flicked his wand and the door opened, revealing what appeared to be a black wall. "What?" Snape blurted out, staring at it.

"It...it's moving?" Dean Thomas blinked.

"I...is that what I think it is?" Theo gulped.

"Dean's right, it's moving!" Hermione realised.

Snape had been staring at the wall with horror, he raised his wand and was about to fire off a spell when the wall erupted into a large swarm of spiders, seemingly thousands. The spiders charged the dour potion master, he fired off a spell, destroying a very large amount of them but was unable to stop all of them. He fell back, banging his head off the floor, the remaining spiders climbed up him, some under his clothes even. A few managed to get up to his face, one big one had leapt into Professor Snape's mouth.

Fortunately for Snape, he still had his wand, a couple more waves and all of the spiders were gone. Snape gasped loudly, lying on the floor in pain, spider bites spread all over his body, his vision blurry and he was nearly unconscious.

"I guess lessons are cancelled today," Hydrus said under his breath, his lips twitching as he resisted the urge to grin, he felt someone staring at him. While everyone was focusing on Snape, he was being watched by Cooper. He looked back at her, he knew that somehow she knew he did it. He couldn't help but smile at her, something that caused her to become stiff. 'This girl is getting quite interesting.' He thought.