The month leading up to Halloween was quite busy for the first year Gryffindors, but even more so for Harry, as he had quidditch practice three times a week starting on September twentieth, the day he got his broom. Percy did his best to help his brother with homework but was ultimately unsuccessful as he had to do his own.
The classes on Halloween were much shorter than usual owing to the massive feast that was going to take place that evening. In their first class that day, Charms, they were learning the Levitation Charm. Percy and Harry were paired together and Ron was paired with Hermione, much to the ginger's annoyance. Flitwick had given them all feathers to practice with for the lesson. Hermione, as usual, had completed the spell on her first try, lifting her feather three feet into the air before slowly lowering it back to her desk.
"Well done, Miss Granger. Well done!" Flitwick gave three points to Gryffindor, then turned to Ron, who was glowering heavily at his feather. "Let's see you try it, Mister Weasley."
Ron gave a small huff and attempted the spell. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Nothing happened.
While Percy and Harry snickered at Ron's red face Flitwick said, "Ah. Better luck next time," and retreated back behind his desk.
Frustrated, Ron began jabbing his wand furiously at the feather, chanting, "Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!"
Looking alarmed, Hermione grabbed Ron's arm, bringing it to a halt. "Stop, stop, stop! You could poke someone's eye out!" Ron glared at her. "Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Wingardium LeviOsa, not LeviosA."
Ron shook her hand from his arm and said, "Well, if you're so clever, let's see you do it then."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, amused. "I literally just did it, Ronald, what else do you expect me to do?" Percy sniggered even more at this and elbowed Harry, who was just trying to ignore them and levitate his feather.
Ron grinned smugly. "I guess you're just afraid you won't be able to do it again."
"Oh, come on, Ron. Really?" Percy thought that accusing her of incompetence was taking it just a little too far.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Fine." She turned back to her feather and said very clearly, "Wingardium Leviosa." As Percy had expected, her feather floated up into the air once more. Ron just scowled and slumped back into his chair, not even trying anymore.
There was a BANG and Percy turned to look at Seamus, who was sitting at the table next to Harry. Percy burst out laughing at the sight. Seamus had somehow managed to make his feather explode, covering himself, the girl next to him, and half of Harry's face in soot. "Professor," Harry said weakly, "I think that we're going to need another feather over here."
****
Harry, Percy, and Ron were walking across the courtyard to their next class, History of Magic. "I mean, can you believe her?" Ron was ranting about Hermione and how it was unfair that he had to sit next to her and Percy and Harry got to sit next to each other. He started to imitate her, doing a cruel impression of her large front teeth. "It's LeviOsa, not LeviosA! Honestly! It's no wonder she doesn't have any friends." A girl with a bush of brown hair shoved in between Ron and Harry, knocking Ron's bag off his shoulder.
They all stared after her and Harry said, "I think she heard you."
****
Hermione didn't show up to any of their classes all day after that. She didn't even show up for dinner. Percy leaned across the table to the girl that had been sitting next to Seamus in Charms. "Pavarti? Have you seen Hermione at all today?"
She shrugged. "No. Last I heard she was still in the girl's bathroom, crying her eyes out. Whatever he said," she nodded at Ron, "must have really upset her."
"Oh," Percy frowned. "Okay, thanks." He turned to Harry then. "Harry, I'm starting to kind of worry about her."
Harry sighed. "Percy, she'll be fine. Why don't you focus on the feast? We can find her after."
"Yeah. Yeah, sure." Feeling uneasy, Percy turned back to his food.
****
Once everyone had eaten their full, Dumbledore stood up from his throne-like chair and called for silence. "Now-"
The doors to the Great Hall crashed open. Heads everywhere turned to look at Professor Quirrell, the one who had opened the doors. He came rushing in, turban slightly askew and panic clear on his face. "Troll! Troll! In the dungeons! Troll in the dungeons! Thought you ought to know." His eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the floor in a dead faint.
Everyone started screaming and yelling, panicked about the troll. Students started getting up from the tables and running to the doors. Percy heard Malfoy give a loud shriek from the Slytherin table. There was a roar of "SILENCE!" Everyone looked at Dumbledore, the one who had yelled. "Prefects will escort all students back to their dormitories immediately. I can assure you, the troll will be gone by morning."
"But the Slytherins' dorm is in the dungeons!" a girl shrieked from the Slytherin table. In the sudden commotion, no one paid her any mind.
Everyone began following the prefects out of the Hall and to the common rooms. The three of them, Harry, Percy, and Ron were about to start climbing the staircase to the Gryffindor common room when Harry pulled the other two aside. "I've just remembered! Hermione!" Percy's eyes widened and he dashed to the stairs the led to the dungeons and went down them, followed by Harry and Ron.
They kept going, down and down, until they reached the dungeons. Percy, hearing the shuffling and heavy footsteps of the beast, quickly shushed Harry and Ron. Percy peeked his head around the corner and immediately drew back, pushing the other two farther up the stairs. The troll wasn't even fifteen feet away from them. The three boys waited with bated breath as the troll slowly stomped its way past the staircase. Once they could no longer hear the troll, they emerged from their corner and ran after it, making as little noise as possible.
"It's headed for the girls' bathroom!" Harry led the other two after the troll, still making as little noise as possible.
By the time they had rounded the corner, the troll had already entered the bathroom and the door had closed behind it. "Lock it in," Percy yelled. Ron ran forward and locked the door. "I just hope Hermione already left." There was suddenly a piercing scream from the bathroom, accompanied by a loud roar. "Never mind, then." Ron quickly unlocked the door and the three of them barged in. Hermione was huddled underneath one of the sinks, screaming her head off. Percy and Ron started throwing pieces of wood from the destroyed stalls at the troll's head while Harry yelled insults at it, trying to get its attention away from Hermione.
"Oi!" Harry threw some rock at its head. "Ugly! Down here!" The rock met its mark. The troll grunted, startled, and turned its great ugly head to look down at them. It raised its club and they scrambled backward. The troll swung its club and Harry rushed forward, grabbing onto it once it had reached the bottom of its arc.
With wide eyes, Ron yelled, "Harry, what the bloody hell are you doing!" Harry let go of the club as it swung up again, dropping down onto the troll's shoulders.
"Harry!" Percy was quite astounded at this point. The troll, having noticed that there was a boy on its shoulders, started jerking around, trying to get Harry off. It jerked again and Harry's wand, which was being held in his right hand, was swung around and shoved into the troll's nose. Apparently having had enough at this point, the troll reached up and grabbed Harry by the ankle, pulling him from around its neck. Harry, now defenseless, was trying his best to avoid the troll's club.
Hermione had finally stopped screaming. "Ron! Percy! Do something!"
"What!" they said in unison.
"Anything!" Harry was still trying to avoid getting smashed to death.
Percy suddenly had an idea. As soon as the troll's club was up in the air again, he raised his wand. Ron seemed to have the same idea. They said together, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Because there was more than one voice saying the spell aimed at the same object, it was exceptionally powerful. The troll's club launched out of its hand, crashed into the ceiling, and fell back down onto the beast's head. The troll swayed for a moment, dropped Harry, and fell forward, unconscious.
The four Gryffindors stared at the troll for a moment, then Hermione slowly crept out from under the sink. "Is it...is it dead?"
Harry shook his head. "I think it's just knocked out."
There was the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps from the doorway and someone gasped. "Goodness," Professor McGonagall breathed, "how in Merlin's name..."
Professor Snape stepped forward. "It's a miracle you four are alive. Not many people would live to tell the tale of defeating a mountain troll, let alone four first years."
McGonagall seemed to have gotten her bearings back. "I am very disappointed in you four. To think that-"
"Please, Professor," Hermione interrupted, "it's my fault. I went after the troll myself. I thought that since I had read about them...Percy, Harry, and Ron came after me. They're the only reason I'm still alive." Percy looked at her in disbelief. Hermione Granger, the Hermione Granger, was lying to a teacher?
"Be that as it may, Miss Granger, it was extremely irresponsible and you could have gotten killed. Five points from Gryffindor for your recklessness." McGonagall turned to the three boys then. "And now, you three, five points," They looked at each other, dismayed that they were going to lose more points, "for Gryffindor. Each." Then they smiled, elated. "Now, all of you, off to bed. You have classes in the morning." She left the bathroom with the four first years following, ushered on by a stuttering Professor Quirrell. Snape followed after taking one last look at the troll.
****
Once the four of them had gotten back to the common room, Hermione had immediately thanked the three boys. From then on, the four of them were best friends, Hermione having quickly been accepted into their group. The week after they had defeated the troll, the weather started to get colder. Everyone was always wearing their winter cloaks, and a few even wore their dragon hide gloves to protect their hands from the chill.
The first quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, was to be on the second Friday after Halloween, November ninth. In the week leading up to the game, Harry could be seen getting increasingly nervous, and despite attempts at keeping the fact quiet, the entire school knew that Harry was the seeker for the Gryffindor team. A couple of older Slytherins had taken to shoving him around in the corridors between classes, trying to unnerve him. Everyone was either offering encouragement towards him or jeering insults at him.
"We'll make sure to run around under you with a mattress in case you fall, yeah?" Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had tried their best to encourage Harry a few days before the game. Percy could tell that it hadn't really worked. The Wednesday before the game, Harry started carting his Quidditch Through the Ages book around with him, reading it whenever he had spare time.
The day before the game, Percy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled together in the courtyard, shielding a little blue fire-in-a-jar Hermione had created from prying eyes. "Mister Potter!" Snape had seen them from across the yard and was making his way over. The four of them hid the fire to the best of their abilities, thinking that they may be breaking some sort of a rule. "What have you got there?" he asked, gesturing to Harry's book.
"Oh, it's just Quidditch Through the Ages, Professor."
"Give it here." Harry handed him the book. "No library books are to be taken outside the building." With that, he strode away with a slight limp, black robes billowing out behind him.
Once Snape was a safe enough distance away, Percy spoke. "Did you see how he was limping?"
"He had blood on his leg," Harry said, "it looked like it was from a bite mark or something."
Hermione frowned. "Strange."
****
Classes had been canceled on Friday due to the quidditch game. It seemed like everyone was going, the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors cheering for Gryffindor, and Slytherin supporting themselves. Percy had grabbed a pair of binoculars a stand had been handing out and led Ron and Hermione over to a couple of seats in the front so they could see. Hagrid showed up a few minutes later. Once everyone, including the teachers, were all in the stands, Madam Hooch flew out on her broom, put her wand to her neck, and in an amplified voice said, "Welcome, everyone! Welcome to the first quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin! Lee Jordan will be your announcer." She flew back down to the ground and everyone erupted into cheers, for the players were walking out onto the field, brooms over their shoulders.
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Don't yell at me. I know I said I would update the next day, and I never did. I have literally no excuse for that. I made this one a little longer to make up for the lack of updates, so I hope you guys enjoyed. I have no idea when I'll be able to update next, seeing as school's started.
Comment any grammar or spelling mistakes and errors you find.
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