Chapter 8: Halloween & The Troll

Harry Potter was used to how the Dursleys do on Halloween. A holiday where Dudley gets to dress up in different costumes (usually superheroes) and go out to get candy for trick-or-treating. Harry had to stay home and hide in the cupboard and pretend like he didn't exist. But he's not at the Dursleys. He's at Hogwarts, and he heard from other students that Hogwarts has a massive feast (he also heard sneers from older Slytherins about the Muggleborn traditions), but the point was that the feast included things that Harry never had before. Sugar, candy, pumpkin pasties, and warm treacle tart, which he discovers are his favorite desserts, he eats at Hogwarts. There are, of course, times that he stuffs his pockets filled with leftover foods, but after a month of being in Hogwarts, he realizes he will get another meal. Things like that the Dursleys taught him that he sees other students giving him weird looks. Luckily, none of his roommates ever said anything, although he thought he could hear Malfoy make some sniggering comments about it, but no one outright said they wouldn't take food. He made his own plans for what food he could take at the feast.

The Great Hall was filled with excitement because of the Halloween feast laid out. There were plenty of foods at all the tables, but Harry got to spy with his eyes splatters of roast meats, pumpkin pasties, warm treacle tart, and cups filled with warm cider at the Slytherin table. Harry sat at the side of the table that the first years usually sat in and listened to the rest of his classmates stories about Halloween. Blaise was recounting a tale about a haunted manor that his family members own in Italy, and right when Blaise got to the "scary moment," Professor Quirrell slammed the doors with a loud bang where he stumbled in, saying, "Troll—in the dungeons," gasping, "thought you ought to know—" before collapsing in dead faint.

After the announcement, students were screaming, shrieking, plates were clattering on the table,, and some of the younger years clung to their own housemates out of terror. Harry thought it was unusual that the stuttering defense teacher was able to say his sentence without any stutters and continued eating his warm treacle tart. Professor Dumbledore stood up swiftly, trying to calm the students, and told the student body, "Prefects, lead your houses back to their dormitories immediately. Professors, follow me to the dungeons."

The Slytherins looked at Professor Snape until they saw him leave to go to the dungeons. Harry thought he saw a flicker of something in Snape's expression, as if the Potions Master knew what Professor Dumbledore would say at the end. Harry's stomach twisted because he realized that something wasn't right after this. And the fact that the Slytherins had to go down to the dungeons to get their dormitories was a concern for him. The prefects moved swiftly, laying orders for the Slytherins to move and to go together as one. Harry didn't want to leave the Great Hall until his classmate, Daphne Greengrass, was coming to his aid.

"Come on, Potter!" Daphne Greengrass hissed, tugging at his sleeve. "We need to go!"

The thing is, Harry can be stubborn when he makes a decision, and he even knew that something was going on with Professor Snape. He wasn't going to the dungeons; he was going to find out where Professor Snape was going. He made sure to look around while walking with his housemate to make a run when he realized no one was paying attention to him. He hung on the back and was able to get away from his housemates.

It didn't help the ominous feeling he had for leaving the halls trying to find his own professor. He can hear his own footsteps pounding away. Wouldn't this be a good time for someone to sneak into the third-floor corridor? Someone could have brought in the Troll to distract people away from this area, Harry thought. He ended up going halfway up the third-floor corridor when he heard a guttural grunting noise. Something massive was crashing into the stone wall.

Harry decided to move cautiously and peer around the corner for whatever was on the third floor so as not to see him. He froze after seeing what was around the corner. He saw the troll. It was massive, with rough skin, warts, and swung a club around. The troll is swinging at armors. And then Harry saw another student lying down near the door on the third-floor corridor. The troll was coming near that student, Hermione Granger, who was trembling her own wand in her hand.

He wondered why Hermione Granger was here. He didn't see her all day long, and he heard from the rumor mill that Hermione Granger was crying after something harsh was told to her. He heard other classmates sniggering and saying that the "Mudblood" deserved it.

Harry didn't think, but he reacted; he reached for something he could grab from the wall, a torch to hurl at the troll's back. It wasn't like he could do much, but he didn't want Hermione to be in the crossfire by this creature. The flame didn't do anything but startle the troll, making him turn away from Hermione and look directly at Harry.

"Oi, ugly!" Harry shouted, stepping back quickly while seeing the troll swing his massive club in his own direction. He was able to duck just in time, seeing the club slamming into the stone floor. He felt the jolt running through his legs, but he finally got the troll distracted.

He can hear Hermione screaming at him, "What are you doing?" with panic in her voice.

He didn't want to spell it out to her, but it's obvious he wasn't going to leave her behind because a troll was there. "Saving your life, apparently!" he shot back. "Run!"

Hermione hesitated for a second, but she scrambled towards the door, and that was when the troll turned around, noticing her, and raising his club again. Before Harry could throw another torch at the troll, he heard Professor Snape ring out "Wingardium Leviosa" at the club that the troll was trying to swing at Hermione.

Therefore, by the professor doing that, the club was taken out of the troll's grip, hovering in the air before the club went down to hit the troll in the head. The troll groaned before toppling over unconscious.

Silence filled in the corridor. Harry can't believe what happened,, but he's not shocked that the professor saved their lives. He just wondered where Professor Snape went if he wasn't here in the third-floor corridor.

Harry let out a breath he didn't notice he was holding. "Well, that was something."

Before anyone could say anything, he saw Professor Snape come closer to them, his robes billowing like they usually do, his dark eyes flickering between the unconscious troll and the two students, and he scowled at them. He also flicked his wand, and an animal (doe) came out of the wand, where he said the following, "Professor McGonagall, I found a foolish Gryffindor student in the third-floor corridor." After sending the message, he turned toward them, "Foolish and absolutely reckless."

Harry didn't like what Professor Snape was telling him. He wasn't being foolish. He was being strategic. Someone set the troll to distract everyone about the third-floor corridor.

"I was trying to do something," Harry told Professor Snape.

Professor Snape tsked him and glared at him, "Do not mistake luck for doing something, Potter. A second slower and you would have been crushed. Five points from Slytherin for your stupidity." He then turned to Hermione. "And five points from Gryffindor for being here in the first place."

Harry was confused about what was going on. But he heard Professor Snape muttering under his breath about incompetent Defense professors.

As for Hermione, she came over and gave a nervous laugh but turned to Harry to thank him.

Harry couldn't help but think Professor Snape was trying to warn him of something.

Professor Snape turned around and told Harry to follow him back to the dungeon when he saw Professor McGonagall coming up the stairs to collect her student.

"Potter, detention tomorrow night for being foolish for chasing after a troll."

Harry followed Professor Snape and wished he could have taken some more treacle tarts with him after the feast.