I own nothing.
Rose was well aware that the two of them were most probably making the single most foolish decision of their lives as they neared the corridor housing the bathroom Hermione was supposedly locked up in— part of her was convinced that this was all just a mistake, that this impulsive decision would only lead her towards certain danger that could end with her friends being injured or perhaps worse…
But the earnest look that appeared on Hermione's face whenever she would raise her hand to answer her question appeared in her mind and drove all her doubts away as a burning resolve burst inside of her. Then the stench hit her and Neville would have exclaimed out loudly in disgust had Rose not clamped a hand firmly over his mouth before she could make a single sound. Both of them paused in tandem as they leaned over slowly to carefully look around the corner and what they saw was beyond anything they had ever seen before.
The grotesque being was lumbering through the halls, its misshapenly muscular frame must have been nearly ten feet tall and it was absolutely massive—the dull grey skin gave it a dull sinister look which was only accentuated by its dumb, beady eyes.
Rose and Neville watched in transfixed horror as the thing stupidly walked headlong into a wall before growling at the cold stone and slamming its fist into the impediment as if violence would solve all its problems. Sensing a golden opportunity, the Girl-Who-Lived sprinted forward before her mind could even register her actions and lunged for the door before slamming it shut and turning the lock shut behind her. She knew that the walls of Hogwarts were enchanted to be impervious to physical force and could only hope that the doors had been given the same protection.
"Ha!" She turned towards Neville who had been quick enough to understand her plan before even began moving and had thankfully followed her inside the girl's washroom without question, relaxing for a moment at the thought of a job well done before a loud thud followed by the entire washroom shaking made in freeze in place. Their breath was snatched from them as suddenly as it might have been had they been doused in ice-cold water.
"It's trying to break in," Neville whispered furiously to her and Rose turned around to look for an escape before freezing at the sight of Hermione cowering fearfully against the far wall along the washbasins, apparently having caught sight of the creature before they had locked the door behind them.
The door was smashed open a second later and they all collectively shivered in fright as the troll towering tall entered the washrooms and scowled down at them with obviously murderous intent entered the washroom. They stood rooted in place before it took a step forward and snapped them out of her stupor, then Rose did the single most daring thing she had ever done in all her life.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Rose called out, swishing her wand at the row of sinks on the wall to her right even as the troll whirled to face her with a confused look on her face.
All but one of the stinks wrenched themselves from the wall with horrible shattering noises, and Neville darted out of the way as the Girl-Who-Lived experienced the pleasant rush of pure magic rushing through her body even before she thrust his wand towards the troll— as if in tandem, all of the sinks slammed hard against the thing's head and shattered one after another. The loud bangs created by marble shattering into sharp pieces as it crashed into an even harder substance echoed throughout the washroom.
The troll faltered but did not stop.
A part of her absently noticed Neville was desperately trying to get Hermione on her feet but her legs seemed too shaky to support her weight and her usually meek clubmate was having a hard time hauling her into an upright position. But most of her focus was on the now enraged troll that had started advancing on Rose with its beady eyes narrowed and club raised despite the scratches on skin.
"Wingardium Leviosa", Rose desperately shouted the same spell without even checking her aim, closing her eyes and bracing for the impact that was sure to follow—but lady luck seemed to be on their side as a miracle happened and the heavy club rose out of the troll's grasp. The dumb creature paused for a whole moment before reaching for its floating weapon in confusion, snorting and grunting as it forgot about the humans beside him and simply stared at the club which flew higher and higher. Soom it was looking up at the implement now hovering above its head with a dumbstruck expression.
Rose realized the chance that had been created and instantly released her hold on the spell, watching dumbfoundedly as the club stopped succumbed to gravity a moment later and smacked into the troll's head with a resounding CRACK!
The loud impact drove the troll to its knees and caused the creature to let out an agonized moan— the club breaking into sharp pieces as soon as it made contact with the troll's head even though a fall from that height should not have given it enough momentum to fragment the entire thing. The Girl-Who-Lived was so stunned at the sudden turn of events caused by a wayward levitation charm that she almost lost sight of the Troll's grubby hands desperately waving around as it roared in pain.
Rose could only watch dumbfoundedly as she was pulled behind from the collar of her robes by her friend's hand and shoved to the side before the meek outcast of Gryffindor rushed forward with a nearly desperate cry that sounded musical at the moment and leapt onto the kneeling troll's back. The beast was so distracted from the pain that it did not even notice the approach of Neville who seemed completely unsure what to do despite managing to dodge its waving arms twice and circle to its behind, unable to even react as the Gryffindor jumped to its back and withdrew his wand— driving it straight up the creature's nose as far as it went with as much force as he could muster.
The thing howled in pain and threw itself backwards, writhing as the wooden stick seemed to rub against its very brain. Blood was streaming from its nose like a grotesque waterfall and staining the bathroom floor like a dark wine might a fine piece of clothing even as Neville gritted his teeth and pushed forward with every bit of force he could muster, trying to channel magic through the mechanism as he did so in hopes of creating enough of an opening for his friends to escape.
The wand met resistance for but a second before it snapped with a crack that echoed through the bathroom like a broken branch in a noiseless forest. There was an explosion of raw energy so blindingly bright that Rose and Hermione were left blinking spots from their eyes for several minutes, though they had no trouble hearing the deafening thump of the troll's body hitting the floor nor the way the lone remaining sink precariously shook on the wall.
After they could all see once more, they noticed at once that the troll was indeed slumped, unmoving on the floor and that Neville's wand was lying near its head in two pieces.
"My wand! Dad's wand…" The usually meek wand cried, looking completely distraught and Rose would have laughed at his completely misplaced priorities were it not for the blood dripping down his arm. "Gran's gonna kill me!"
"Is… is it dead?" Hermione meekly stuttered, speaking for the first time since the entire debacle had begun.
Before Rose could even try to answer, the bathroom's entrance slammed open and Professors Dumbledore, Quirrell, Flitwick, McGonagall, and Snape burst through the door with wands outstretched and alarmed looks on their face which soon turned to incredulity when they noticed the sight laid out before them.
The Girl-Who-Lived could only wonder exactly how in the name of Merlin they were going to talk their way out of this one.
The headmaster's office at Hogwarts had always been traditionally situated in its highest tower and was a circular room that had always been decorated with the marks of its owner's eccentricities and taste. The current Headmaster was a very complex man who was considered insane by some— so the room was dotted with a large number of strange instruments; many of them being just as complex and eccentric as the man who owned and even created most of them.
The legendary wizard himself was sitting behind the large polished desk, whose surface he was drumming his fingers on to a rhythm only the old man himself could hear. On a perch not far from the desk was an immaculate crimson bird whose shadow miraculously shined gold with an untold radiance that brightened the room slept soundly without a single care in the world.
Almost as if the whole thing had been choreographed, there came a knock from the room's door and the headmaster gently moved a stack of parchments into one of the drawers nearest to him and looked ahead. "Ah, Severus. You are as punctual as ever. I thank you for your promptness in agreeing to such an impromptu meeting despite the injury."
The door opened and in stepped a sallow-skinned man with dark eyes and long black hair who stepped forward and took his seat across from the venerable headmaster without an invitation, robes flapping behind him despite his slow limp "Frankly, I would have been concerned had you not called for me after tonight's events."
"Yes, it has been quite the evening, hasn't it?" When Snape's expression did not so much as change, Dumbledore frowned slightly and leaned forward as his grandfatherly voice turned completely serious. "I see you are not in the mood for small talk, so I would deliberate no longer."
"Quirrell is after the stone," Snape stated in a flat tone of voice, tone completely certain as he declared the name of the culprit without leaving any room for question.
"Hmm," mused Dumbledore. "He is not the same man he was when he previously taught at this school. I remember Quirrell as a young but unambitious man, his views have shifted recently and not of his own violation it seems. But I cannot act on presumptions, he has a perfect alibi and was present in the Great Hall by my side throughout the whole ordeal."
"I am quite certain used Filch and Hagrid both. I suspect the usage of the Imperius Curse though I cannot prove anything." Snape reiterated, both the Potion Master and the Headmaster knew that there were ways to push events towards a certain direction without taking a single hand to act. "I don't know if you noticed, but Filch was gone from the hall before you even left it and Hagrid has been seen making regular visits to Hogsmeade."
"It was quite curious, wasn't it?" The headmaster leaned forward and thoughtfully raised his brows.
Snape pointedly ignored the question and levelled Dumbledore with an intense glare, knowing all too well that the old man was more than aware of everything happening in his castle. "When exiting the hall, I took the time to check up on the third-floor corridor. Imagine my surprise when I saw Filch attempting to open the door with a knife enchanted to unlock any door that is not hidden behind the most potent of wards."
"So you think Quirinus meant to have Argus retrieve the Philosopher's Stone on his behalf?"
"Not likely. Not with the knowledge that all of the professors had set traps to prevent one from doing just that. He would have to be more foolish than I remember him to think a squib capable of such a thing. I think it much more likely that he was using Filch to test the wards." His stare turned accusatory and he glared furiously at the old man before him, "Something I think you are somehow well aware of."
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded slowly with the air of one discussing the next day's weather, tone completely nonchalant, "I believe that to be a perfectly reasonable and altogether likely conclusion to the night's events."
"Yet you do nothing?" Snape questioned.
"Oh, I assure you I am doing something," Dumbledore continued, meeting his gaze with a pointed gaze as his eyes twinkled, "I cannot say exactly explain what though even though my trust in you has never once been misplaced. I prefer to remain on the side of caution, especially when dealing with such sensitive matters as the one we have at hand. But I doubt a move would be made on the Philosopher's Stone anytime soon, I find the possibility to be slim to none."
Snape's face was set in a hard line as he took in the answer and his jaw clenched tightly and he could only respond curtly with a brief nod that conveyed tales of his dissatisfaction, "I cannot decide whether your certainty is more enviable than it is hopeless."
Dumbledore smiled thinly as the twinkling of his eyes intensified, his tone was a reminder that called for an end to this line of questioning as he answered curtly "I do admittedly tend to see the best in most people but I usually tend to know far more about those people than the individuals judging them otherwise."
Realizing this argument was lost, Snape changed tact. He had already done what was asked of him by supervising the corridor where the stone had been placed when everyone was distracted by the troll, doing anything more than reporting what he had seen was an overreach for it was apparent that the Headmaster had a plan he was not ready to share just yet. "Speaking of judgment, do you buy the story put forth by Potter, Longbottom, and Granger?"
"I think most of it is likely the truth. I asked Augusta and Longbottom Heir really had been using his father's wand all this time," The headmaster leaned back and smiled, all traces of solemnity gone from his face as he fondly spoke of his students, "As for Miss Granger running off after a mountain troll, I find the tale as amusing as it is unlikely though I admit I know little of the girl."
"I didn't believe a word of her fairytale." Snape frowned, begrudgingly impressed by the tale of mere first-years taking down a troll just to save their friend. At the same time, their actions had been the height of stupidity and they should have just informed a Professor rather than rushing away themselves.
"No, I certainly wouldn't have expected you to." Dumbledore laughed, leaning back against his chair as he stroked his beard, "Nevertheless, the youngest Potter is proving to be quite the interesting addition to Hogwarts."
"Interesting in the sense that just as every other Gryffindor, she is deafeningly loud and sickeningly brash," Snape sneered, the sheer amount of danger the young Gryffindors had placed themselves in was astounding and the consequences would have been unimaginable had any one of them been hurt— Longbottom was the last scion of an influential pureblood house whereas Potter was a celebrity who had played a part in the previous Dark Lord's defeat, both the conservatives and the liberals would've been up in arms had anything happened to either one of them.
Dumbledore chuckled, seemingly looking through his concerns and casually ignoring them as he continued stroking his beard "An interesting profile for an entire house. I much prefer to think of them as gifted students having a remarkable penchant for bravery but perhaps that's just me."
"In that regard, she takes much more after her mother than her father." The way Snape carefully enunciated and emphasized every syllable of the word 'father' spoke volumes to how he felt about the man in question even now, years later.
The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes returned full force. "How interesting."
Thanks for reading.