Till The End | h.p

troll in the dungeon

Ron, Harry and Sam are walking out of Charms class when Ron begins to rant about his dislike of Hermione.

"It's Leviosa, not Leviosar. She's a nightmare, honestly! No wonder she hasn't got any friends."

Hermione quickly brushes past Ron with a sniffle. The trio comes to a halt.

"I think she heard you," Harry says.

Sam punches Ron in the arm as he lets out a howl of pain.

"Ron! Don't be a prat! Honestly! I'm telling Fred to put dye in your shampoo next time I see him."

Sam follows Hermione to fix the pain Ron caused as the boys make their way to their next class.

"Hermione, wait!" Sam raced to catch up with her and finds her in the girls' bathroom. She can hear quiet sniffles coming from the second stall.

She sits down next to the door, "I'm not going to leave you in here all alone. Even if you don't want to talk."

All she could hear was Hermione's crying.

"I love Ron like a brother, but he really is a prat. I punched him, for you, if that helps."

Hermione stifles a small laugh, "I was only trying to help."

Sam shakes her head slightly, even though Hermione can't see, "I know that, but the way it comes off is more like showing off. Ron is a hot-head and if someone can do something he can't, it really upsets him. It's not your fault, but try helping them in a different way."

"I'll be okay, I just want to be alone for awhile."

"Okay, I'll save you some food, then?"

Silence is all that follows. Sam slowly stands up and makes her way to the Great Hall. She sits down with the boys, but doesn't say a word to either of them.

Harry looks up, "Where's Hermione?"

Without looking up at him, Sam responds, "She's in the girls' bathroom, crying."

Harry looks to Ron, who shrugs his shoulders, as Sam eats her food in silence. The doors to the hall abruptly swing open as Professor Quirrell runs in shouting, "Troll in the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon!" He stops for a second, growing considerably more pale and says, "Thought you ought to know." He then faints as all the students begin to scream and panic.

Dumbledore yells out, "Silence! Everyone will please not panic! Now, prefects will lead their house back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

Everyone begins to file out and follow their prefects.

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asks.

"Not on its own. Trolls are really stupid. Probably people playing jokes."

Sam grabs onto their robes, "Hermione! She doesn't know."

They run out of line and rush to the girl's bathroom to find Hermione. They weave through corridors, until they see the large shadow of a troll walking down a hall.

"I think the troll's left the dungeon," Ron informs.

Sam grabs them both and pulls them behind one of the many columns lining the hall. They all peer around and see the troll. It walks slowly, while dragging a large club behind it.

"It's going into the girls' bathroom," Harry alerts.

They slowly follow behind the troll, until they heard a loud crash and the sound of splintering wood. Sam runs ahead to get to Hermione as she hears a scream. She pushes the doors open and looks up at the troll. It stands several feet taller than her.

Harry shouts, "Hermione, move!"

Hermione looks up at the troll and moves under the stalls. As the troll swings it's club again, she ducks and covers her head.

Hermione begins to shout, "Help! Help!"

Harry, Ron and Sam grab pieces of wood and begin throwing it at the troll.

"Hey, pea brain!" Ron yells as he throws another chunk of wood.

It hits the troll in the face. While it's distracted, Hermione crawls out from under the stalls and dives under the sinks. The troll turns back to her and swings it club down to the sink directly behind her. Harry pulls out his wand and grabs the club. He holds on while it's being lifted into the air. Harry ends up falling onto the troll's shoulders and holds on for dear life. The troll begins to move violently, trying to remove Harry from around its neck. Harry flails about until he accidentally sticks his wand up the troll's nose. Ron and Hermione make a disgusted noise while it tries to sneeze it out. The troll grabs Harry and rips him off; still holding onto him, he tries to hit him with the club.

Harry continues to dodge the hits and yells, "Do something!"

Ron looks to Hermione who shouts, "Swish and flick!"

Ron pulls out his wand and looks at Sam as she repeats the movements they learned.

He turns to the troll and shouts, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The troll swings its arm, but the club doesn't follow. Instead, it hovers above its head. The troll looks up in confusion, before the club falls and hits him on the head. He drops Harry and stumbles forward before crashing to the ground.

Hermione creeps out from the sink, "Is it- dead?"

Sam looks at the troll, "I don't think so. Just knocked out."

Harry reaches down and pulls his wand out from its nose. He gives a disgusted sound, "Troll boogers."

Professor McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell run into the bathroom while the former cries, "Oh, my goodness! Explain yourselves, the three of you!"

They all started trying to explain, before Hermione interjected, "It's my fault, Professor McGonagall."

Harry and Ron turn to each other with shocked expressions.

"Miss Granger?"

"I went looking for the troll. I've read about them and thought I could handle it. But I was wrong. If Harry, Ron and Sam hadn't come and found me, I'd probably be dead."

"Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do."

Harry looks down at Snape's leg and notices a large gash.

"I would have expected more rational behavior on your part and am very disappointed in you, Miss Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment. As for you three gentlemen, well, I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many first-year students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points... will be awarded to each of you..."

They all look at each other in surprise and awe.

"For sheer dumb luck."

Professor Quirrell ushers them out, "Perhaps you ought to go. It might wake up."

They four of them rush out and back to their common room.

"Thank you for taking the fall for us, Hermione," Sam says.

"Yeah, uh, thanks," Ron says while not meeting her eyes.

As they go their separate ways, Sam turns to Hermione with a big smile, "Helping like that, is a great start."

Hermione chuckles.