The Troll Incident

October 31st 1991, Hogwarts, Scotland

Strangely, Alexandra had not been surprised when Alex Sykes escaped once more the expulsion he so richly deserved. Five months ago she would have been, but the knowledge Professor Dumbledore had never expulsed someone from Hogwarts had reduced this hope to a utopia status. Oh, the fourth-year Ravenclaw and his two accomplices had been summoned to the Headmaster office and earned six months of detention, with the removal of every existing privilege until the end of their scholarship at Hogwarts, but truthfully, Alexandra did not believe it would be much a deterrent for a teenager ready to kill a girl three younger than him in cold blood. They had already lost a lot of privileges on the first day, and it had not stopped them to try again. Threats of being expulsed aside, there was a good chance they would make a third attempt. Still, a month has passed, and she had not been the recipient of another attack. Maybe the Ravenclaw students had learned some wisdom. There were far unlikely things having happened during the history of humanity after all.

Alexandra had been really busy for the rest of October: making sure she was in the top five best of her year academically, doing all her homework in time and exploring the castle were time-expensive hobbies. All the while the black-haired Ravenclaw tried to find a tactic to beat Flitwick in duel, without success. The rest of her spare time was spent petting Atalanta in the owlery, because for some reason her owl seemed disgruntled she had so few letters to carry and the only bribery accepted were owl treats and caresses. Thankfully, the month of October had seen a calmer atmosphere than September: apart from the now traditional spats between Malfoy and Longbottom, there had been no major incident of note. The fifth-year and seventh-year students were busy studying for their exams of the end of the year, crumbling under piles of book and looking like nocturnal animals. The Quidditch teams were training three times per week no matter if it rained or it snowed, and were as a result too exhausted the day after to do anything else of note. Gryffindor and Slytherin Houses had managed to cease to be in the negative points for the House Cup, although their chances to win it were definitely slim with Ravenclaws having a three hundred points' advantage. In the courses, the first-years had mastered the basics of each subject and were now advancing towards more advanced magic. In Transfiguration, they were changing metallic fork and knives into wood utensils. Charms taught them basic cleaning spells and methods to prepare properly ink and quills. The Potions were progressively harder and took longer to brew.

Today marked the moment she had been at Hogwarts for two months. While the magical castle felt more like home than the fourth of Privet Drive ever did, it was far to say she was in ecstasy concerning her school, or that she would pass her holidays here if she had another choice. Alas, the sole and only alternative was the Dursley family, of course. For the best or the worst, Alexandra's fate was linked to Hogwarts for the foreseeable future.

The present day was Halloween morning, and a delicious smell of pumpkin and other delicious meals floated in the corridors when they marched in the corridors for breakfast in the morning. At first, she had been surprised to see wizards celebrated a non-magical feast. Listening a red-haired Prefect pompously qualifying it as a Muggle-attraction had made her more curious and she had introduced enquiries on the subject in her last duelling lesson between two rounds where Flitwick sent her at every corner of the room with a disconcerting facility.

"The wizards celebrate Samhain and other important moments of the years like the equinoxes, Miss Potter. When they are following the Old traditions. Those witches and wizards practising call them the Old Ways." Flitwick's smile had turned to a more sombre expression."Alas, Headmaster Dumbledore had refused to celebrate these traditions since he was elevated to the position of Headmaster. The Headmaster has been very firm on his positions, and so there is a Halloween feast instead."

Seeing the disgusting looks the Slytherins threw all day at the orange decorations, she had not a hard time to wonder why. Halloween was a non-magical event which had been created in America as far as she knew: for purebloods to assist to this explosion of pumpkin, black and orange, it had to be a humiliation of the highest order. Promising to look in the books of the library for more information about the traditions, she walked to Charms class, where Professor Flitwick informed the Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors they were finally ready to try the art of levitation.

In his usual demonstration coming for each practical lesson, Flitwick levitated Nigel's toad, several books, ink pots and quills together, which made all the class even more motivated to attempt the spell.

The Charms Master put the class into pairs. As there were eleven Gryffindors and eleven Ravenclaws, a Raven had to be paired with a Lion. It was Alexandra as usual who drew the short straw, being paired with Nigel Wolpert, who was shaking from head to toe. She wondered briefly if it was because his toad had just been levitated or because of her own presence next to him. The second assassination attempt on her had seen a resurgence of the rumours describing her as a Dark Lady, but the timidity of the auburn-haired Gryffindor had reached the status of legend so Alexandra couldn't dismiss any option.

On the other side of the room Neville Longbottom was paired like in all classes with Leo Black. Seamus Finnegan was paired with Dean Thomas. Ron Weasley was paired with Hermione Granger. Parvati Patil with Lisa Turpin. And so on.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!" Chirmed Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his impressive pile of books. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Alexandra laughed at this anecdote like a good part of the class. Having a buffalo suddenly appear from nowhere had to be a surprise of the highest order. Well, for a few seconds. The weight of an adult buffalo was such Alexandra was sure the unfortunate wizard had been crushed in relatively short order. She was not sure becoming famous for this mishap was something to look for, but Baruffio's disaster at least proved the lethality of magic when you ignored or didn't know the rules.

Despite the initial encouragements of Flitwick, levitation was very difficult. It was not as hard to understand as the long and incomprehensible calculus the students did in Transfiguration, but it was not the facility of the Lumos spell either. Alexandra had used to levitate several objects without a wand before her eleventh birthday, but the sensations with a magical focus were really different. Nigel Wolpert was no help: the shy boy had not managed to even enounce the incantation once. After fifteen minutes, the only moment interesting was Seamus Finnigan reducing his quill in ashes in a formidable explosion. This Gryffindor was a danger for everyone around him, in Alexandra's opinion. A fact that Dean Thomas, who was now shaking under the table, would not be arguing against until the end of this year. Even Flitwick face had harboured a preoccupied expression for a few seconds and had rushed to heal the burn marks of the clumsy Irish boy.

Hermione Granger, at the other side of the classroom, was the first person to make her quill fly ten minutes before the bell rang. One minute later Padma Patil managed it.

Exasperated by the lack of compliance coming from the object in front of her, Alexandra shouted "Wingardium Leviosa!" The targeted quill skyrocketed and slammed down against the ceiling with the power of a gunshot.

"Less power, more control, Miss Potter!" Grinned Flitwick, who cancelled her charm to let her destroyed quill fall down on her desk. The Potter Heiress emitted a parody of military salute before casting a Reparo at the martyred object she had just vented her frustration on.

After two more failed tries, Alexandra finally levitated correctly her quill, the recipient of her efforts slowly rising from table to stop two feet over her head. Nigel was looking at her with awed eyes, and she noticed the Gryffindor boy was looking less scared now.

Looking around, she saw most of the other students hadn't had much luck. When they tried. Neville Longbottom and Leo Black were plunged into a deep conversation where levitation wasn't the main subject. Unless they planned to use it in a prank or two against the Slytherins. Lavender Brown and Thelma Holmes were gossiping about dresses and make-up. Seamus Finnegan had stopped his attempts for now, aware the next time he tried something with his wand might set the room on fire or another unpleasant catastrophic event.

But the main attraction was at the table where Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger sat. Hermione Granger had managed to make her quill fly. The efforts of the red-hair boy however, had led to nothing until now. Okay, nothing but a lot of noise and a headache for those who were in the vicinity.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ronald Weasley shouted every ten seconds, waving his long arms like a windmill or a baboon who had found a wand somewhere in a tree. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

"You're saying it wrong," Alexandra heard Hermione Granger snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the "gar" nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron shouted, clearly not appreciating the critic. Then the boy looked at Leo Black behind him, who emitted a nasty smile in return.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" Cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it again!"

Hermione beamed, but her joy was short-lived as Leo Black threw her a Jelly-finger jinx in the back when Flitwick turned his attention to criticize the lack of efforts on the part of Lavender Brown, forcing her to let her wand fall on her desk. Alexandra saw the three Gryffindors look satisfied at this, like they had done something they should feel proud of. So much for Gryffindor being the House of nobility and courage. Why, the risk and the courage of cursing someone in the back were so dashing!

Weasley and most of the first-year Gryffindor having utterly failed in making their quill fly, they had to write a fifteen inches essay on the charm of the day and practise Wingardium Leviosa for the next lesson. It did not put Weasley in a better mood, and he profited from the occasion to lash with words at Hermione Granger:

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," Alexandra heard him tell Neville as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly." Neville and Leo nodded exaggeratedly and laughed, as if what Weasley hadn't just in public insulted a member of their House.

Someone knocked into Su Li as they hurried out down the corridor to get to lunch. It was Hermione. Alexandra caught a glimpse of her face from the corner of the corridor – and was not surprised to see that the bushy-haired girl was in tears.

"I think she heard you." The voice of Leo Black sounded a bit ill-at-ease, coming behind her.

"So?" Answered Ron Weasley in a condescending voice. "She must've noticed she's got no friends. Honestly, I'm not sure this girl is a true Gryffindor, really. Now what's up for Lunch? I'm so hungry I could eat..."

Alexandra had to approve at this last words. If Ron Weasley was a true Gryffindor, then Hermione Granger certainly wasn't. Weasley was not on the level of her cousin Dudley Dursley as a bully, but only because he cared so much about food, sleeping and commenting about Quidditch. He never earned a single point for Gryffindor and lost scores of it, while Hermione Granger earned a hundred points by herself in two weeks. Hermione was a model student, while Ron Weasley passed all his evenings in detention with a professor or another, direct result of his pranks and misadventures with Leo Black and Neville Longbottom. Still, the derogatory remarks of Weasley had had a bad effect on Hermione Granger, as the bushy-hair girl didn't turn up for lunch or for the rest of the afternoon classes.

Evening came, and on her way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Alexandra heard a third-year Gryffindor affirm that Hermione was crying in the toilet of the girls and wanted to be left alone. The Gryffindor group who spoke about it did not appear really sorry or desolated by the news, Alexandra noticed. Noticing the dark glance Alex Sykes threw her at that very moment on the other side of the corridor, Alexandra hurried down the stairs, forgetting for the moment the sad excuse of loyalty existing in Gryffindor.

As she entered the Great Hall, the Halloween decorations put all her problems out of her mind.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. There were different shadow and orange magical animations, a lot of pumpkins and several decorations like skeletons, spiders and gargoyles. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had on the Sorting Feast's day. Alexandra and the hundreds of students began to eat, some with more manners than others. A large majority of the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables served themselves with dignity and knew all the correct forks and knives to use for all the meals. Others had a less perfect behaviour. Ron Weasley was swallowing and chewing his food with the grace of a pig, Alexandra saw some Gryffindors next to him taking a green colour at this horrifying spectacle of mastication. Crabbe and Goyle were other examples of bad manners and disgracing conduct.

Alexandra had just taken a second part of a meat looking and tasting like chicken when the two Defence Against the Dark Arts Professors came sprinting into the Hall. Devkins had his "I forgot something important" look. Quirell had blood on his clothes, bruises on his arms, his turban was half-detached and he was looking terrified.

Everyone stared at them. Devkins tried to articulate "I forgot, forgot..."

Quirell brutally interrupted him, shouting in a panicked scream "TROLL! THERE IS A TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!"

"Thought you ought to know." He added unnecessarily in a comatose tone. And then he fainted and collapsed on the floor. Devkins was standing like a zombie, not reacting to the panic he had just unleashed.

The Great Hall dissolved immediately in chaos. Students shouted, cried, screamed, asked questions, try to make themselves heard. It took several purple spells with loud "BANGS!" exploding from Headmaster Dumbledore's wand to bring back silence.

"Prefects," the silver-haired wizard rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Alexandra groaned. They were in a secure position in the Great Hall, but the man who believed he was Merlin reborn was sending them with just older students to their common room. What a strategic mistake. Alexandra had just a horrible thought then. Was not the Slytherin common room located in the dungeons? Unfortunately, before she had the time to signal this minor problem to a figure of authority, a prefect took her with her fellow first-years towards the double doors.

"Follow me!" Shouted the black-haired boy, who looked submerged by the chaos and not in the figurative sense. "Follow me! Stick together, first-years! Make way, first-years coming through! Prefect coming through! Excuse me! First-years! Prefect!"

His efforts were...insufficient to say the least. The crowd of students was coming in every direction, and Alexandra was not long in losing sight both of the Prefect and her year-mates. She nearly avoided crashing in a fifth-year Gryffindor on the second floor, but was pushed by an elder Ravenclaw not ten seconds later. Vexed from being a punching ball in the stairs, Alexandra took a moment in a nearby corridor to regain her breath and think about another path to reach the Ravenclaw common room.

After ten seconds of observing her surroundings, she knew approximately where she was, and hurried down a corridor to the left to go in the direction of a secret passage which would let her reach the fourth floor rapidly. After that...

She had just turned a corner when she heard quick footsteps coming in front of her. Quickly she hid behind the statue of a stone griffin which was fortunately not far from here. To Alexandra's surprise, it was not a Prefect but the Senior Potions Master, Professor Snape himself. Strange, as all the teachers were supposed to go with Dumbledore in the dungeons to deal with the troll, and she had thought the Head of House Slytherin would care about the fate of his students, who perhaps were on their way to meet a troll at this very instant. Snape appeared to be at the limit of running, turned to the left in a dark corridor and disappeared from her view. She breathed quite loudly in relief. If the professor had seen her, she would have had a lot of points deducted and...

"Potter!"

Alexandra had just left the place behind the griffin statue that a voice in front of her called her. But it was not Snape. It was Alex Sykes.

Groaning, Alexandra realised the fourth-year student had had to follow her when she was separated from the rest of the Ravenclaw students. Seeing his face, his intentions were not hard to guess.

"BOMBARDA!"

"Seriously, Sykes?" she replied, rolling again the griffin to escape the shockwave the fourth-year had sent towards her. "Do you know only that spell?"

"You will die Potter! BOMBARDA! BOMBARDA!"

Seeing her enemy was doing his best to destroy the corridor, Alexandra replied by drawing her wand, casting an overpowered "LUMOS!", and Sykes stopped instantly his spells, falling to his knee and screaming:

"My eyes! My eyes!"

She was debating with herself what spell to use to finish him when a disgusting smell interrupted her reflexion. It was really foul, like if someone hadn't washed in a year, or the kind of odour one obtained when dustbins were left open a long time to rot. A low grunting echoed in the deserted corridor.

"Oh no."

She realised after a moment of stupor it was her own voice. BLAM. BLAM. The floor was shaking, warning of the sign a thing really heavy was coming in their direction. Alexandra was still hidden behind the griffin, but Sykes was still screaming and crying "My eyes!", attracting the thing approaching.

To the end of a passage situated to her right, a colossal form was advancing. BLAM. BLAM. It was in the shadows, so she could not see as clearly as she wanted, but it was huge. Bigger than the gatekeeper Hagrid for sure.

And then the huge being passed near a torch. Alexandra did her best not to scream but it was hard. Twelve feet high, a darker and putrid grey as skin. A great and large body with a small bald head on top of it. Short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was horrible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long. Mountain troll. Alexandra had never seen one, of course, but she read a lot of books about magical creatures in the library. Classed a creature on the XXXX level, the mountain trolls had extremely heavy skins resistant to magical attacks and a very limited intelligence. Only the most powerful spells could take apart their natural protection. Spells that Alexandra didn't know and wouldn't have had the power to cast anyway.

"WHAT IS THIS? POTTER!"

Alexandra snarled. Alex Sykes had chosen the worst moment to recover his sight. Worse, he had walked in direction of the griffin where she was hidden, and judging by the guttural groan of the troll, both of them had been noticed by the monster. Her chances to vanquish a troll were so low it would take a miracle. She did the only sane thing she could. She ran.

"RUN! SYKES! RUN!" She shouted as she rushed towards the end of the corridor. Of course the fourth-year wanted her dead, but she figured she could wait one hour or two before demanding Flitwick to lambast the imbecile for another unsuccessful assassination attempt.

"BOMBARDA!" Or not. She turned in her race to see what had Sykes had decided to do.

Just in time to see the troll taking a full dose of the Blasting Charm in his torso. It had no effect whatsoever, apart from the obvious one of angering further the troll. Sykes was planted in the middle of the corridor, looking stupefied, as if couldn't believe his magic had failed him. And then the troll raised the club, before smashing the head and the rest of Sykes body into a bloody pulp.

"No..." Alexandra whispered, staying open-mouthed for a few seconds. BLAM. BLAM. BLAM. The troll accelerated in her direction, apparently not satisfied by having scored his first kill of the day. She ran, but she realised rapidly it was futile. At each turn of the corridor, she managed to gain a bit of time, but the troll was faster than her in straight lines. The beast had almost caught already, being far faster than it looked.

She saw an opened door on her right, and threw herself inside before closing the door.

"Alexandra? What are you doing here?"

At this moment, Alexandra remarked three things. One, the key for the door had been left outside. Two, she had entered a girl's toilets. Three, she was face to face with Hermione Granger, who by her look had been busy crying in said place for the best part of the day.

CRAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The door almost fell from the first assault of the troll.

"Granger, there's a mountain troll outside this room who wants every human in this castle dead!" Alexandra knew her tone was full of panic and despair but she simply didn't care. "Is there another door where we can escape?"

"What ? No, no..." Hermione Granger was in the verge of panic and Alexandra took her by the arm and led her in the back of the toilets. The girl was terrified and already emotionally unstable from the morning classes. She would not be of any help.

CRAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!

This time the door of the toilets didn't resist the new assault of brute force. It exploded in a cloud of debris, creating a cloud of dust where noting was visible for an instant. The troll had to slouch slowly by the passage it had just created to come into the room, but it managed to enter the toilets, in all its ugly splendour.

And then it roared. The smell was incredibly nauseating, and Alexandra heard Hermione behind her softly crying. In a large movement of his club, the troll demolished a dozen of sinks, forcing her to jump.

"Granger, close your eyes!" Alexandra ordered. "LUMOS!"

Reopening her eyes after three seconds, Alexandra saw the troll pulverising the mirrors and the toilets near him, blinded by the explosion of sunlight she had just generated. It had enraged the troll beyond measure, but it had worked. The troll was evidently blind and howling in pain from her spell. So indirect attacks against the trolls had a chance to work.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Alexandra incanted the spell they had just learnt the morning before, as it was obvious her hexes and jinxes were useless against the creature. And then she threw everything she had at her disposition in the room in the direction of the troll, funnelling all her rage, frustration and anger she had in her. Four sinks, nine toilets, and three pipes were sent hurling towards the troll in close succession.

The last toilet was the good one: the troll took it directly in the head, his head was slammed against the wall and the troll fell on the floor in an impact that shook Hogwarts to its foundations. Closing the distance, she saw the toll had impaled its head on one of the pipes she had just thrown, creating an explosion of blood, brain and gore.

Alexandra fell on her knees and vomited all her dinner on the floor, not able to bear the sight of the carnage she had just provoked. She was tired. She was exhausted. She had seen too much tonight, and the death of the troll was the breaking point. She fell on her knees and vomited the rest of her dinner in front of her.

"Is it... is it dead?" asked Hermione Granger behind her, who by her looks was also green.

"Think so." replied Alexandra weakly." Unless it re-grows a head in the next minute." Unlikely, as mountain troll had no regeneration power for his organs or his arms, never mind its head, but with her out of breath, she wasn't in condition to fight anymore today. She really hoped there wasn't a second mountain troll in the school this evening, because she wouldn't have a chance in hell to defeat it tired as she was.

Loud footsteps made the two girls look up. Alexandra hadn't realised what a racket she and the troll had been making in the toilets, but in the few minutes they were there, they had made enough noise to wake up the dead in every part of the castle. Professor McGonagall came bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape and Flitwick, with Quirell and Devkins in the rear.

Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. Devkins looked absently at the creature, his brain apparently refusing to see the creature in front of him. Pathetic spectacle for pathetic Defence Against the Dark Arts Professors.

Snape and Flitwick went closer, bending over the troll, and examining its corpse. Professor McGonagall was looking at Alexandra and Hermione. Alexandra had never seen her look so angry. Her face was livid and her lips were white.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" Said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"Doing your job, Professor" Alexandra replied, insisting on her title. The venom in her voice surprised even her.

"I lost my way in the crowd to go back to my common room. Then I duelled Alex Sykes for his third assassination attempt of the year, and then the troll pursued me across the second floor before I found refuge here. Finding no other door, I was forced to fight the troll. I killed it. End of the story."

" Potter. Was it necessary to kill the troll to prove your point?" Asked Snape in his typical menacing tone.

" Was it necessary for the troll to massacre Alex Sykes ?" She saw all the professors except Snape going livid at her rhetorical question. Good, they understood how much they had screwed up. " Absolutely not, but it was me or the troll. I preferred it was the troll."

"Is Alex Sykes dead?" Asked Flitwick in deceptive calm voice, his eyes throwing lightning at Dumbledore.

Alexandra grimaced before nodding positively. "Without most of his head and his body smashed by the club of the troll, he is surely dead. Even if he had survived, no one was here to heal him, so I suppose he would have succumbed to his injuries."

"Very well," Said McGonagall in a shocked voice." Severus? "

Snape nodded and then left the room, no doubt going searching the mortal remains of the Ravenclaw fourth-year.

"You were extremely lucky to survive this troll, Miss Potter and Miss Granger, fifty points for each of you." Affirmed McGonagall."You may return to your common room."

Alexandra looked at the head of Gryffindor House, wondering what was wrong with the woman. She had just killed a monster, told them a student was dead, both she and Hermione were looking dead on their feet and she sent them back to their beds? At that moment, any respect she could have had for Minerva McGonagall as Deputy Headmaster and authority figure inside Hogwarts died.

She passed her Head of House, whispering she would like to come to his office tomorrow, before leaving the toilets. Flitwick flicked his wand in answer, cleaning her of the dust and the vomit she had on her robes on the spot. Throwing a last glance at the troll corpse, Alexandra swore she would avoid these toilets for the rest of her life at Hogwarts.

She was on her way to climb up the stairs to the fourth floor, when Hermione Granger ran to her and held her in her arms thanking her. Perhaps after all, mused Alexandra, they were some advantages to kill a fully grown mountain troll.

Everyone had long gone to sleep inside the castle when two dark figures met in an abandoned section of the sixth floor.

"Our plan has failed. My superiors are not going to be happy."

"Yes, but how could I suspect Dumbledore would put a bloody Cerberus to guard the Stone?"

"You couldn't. Now that we know, how do we get rid of this beast? A Killing Curse could do the job..."

"Fool! An Unforgiveable would alert Dumbledore and all the Professors the moment we cast it! Find another solution. I will deal with Snape and concoct an excuse for the Muggle-lover."

"I'm sure your so-called spy is working for the enemy now."

"That's always the risk with double and triple-agents. And I promise you he will pay the price. I will make sure his agony will be long and painful when it comes."

"Next meeting on Friday? I should have an answer by then and a troll of replacement ready. Did you see what the Potter girl did to the beast?"

"Yes. I must admit this Ravenclaw has...potential."

Then the two figures went each their way and the silence came back in the corridor.