Guys, big news! Well, big for me at least. With the latest chapter I had written, chapter 42, I had passed 100K words for this fanfic!
(Word Count: 1,696)
Many of the students hadn't gone to bed and were waiting for news from the teachers about how things went with the troll. They were waiting in the common room, so when Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville entered, they were all dumbfounded that they were only now coming back.
Fred and George came up, looking at them as if they were crazy. "Ron! Harry! What were you two still doing out there? Don't you know there's a troll on the loose?"
"Not anymore, there's not! Harry here killed it!" Ron puffed up his chest and bragged loudly so everyone could hear.
"Ron…" Harry sighed. He should have warned him to keep things quiet. Ron seemed to have gotten into the habit of outing things he would have rather kept—if not secret—than at least on the down low.
There was a shock of disbelief, then everyone erupted into cheers.
"Gryffindor rules!"
"That's Harry Potter for you!"
"Our Gryffindor!"
"The Boy-Who-Lived!"
The crowd, led by Fred and George, picked Harry up and began toting him around the room excitedly.
"Oi! Put me down, you gits!"
Ron began telling the story of how he and Neville bravely went searching for Hermione, despite there being a troll on the loose, and how they managed to hold it off of them until Harry could show up.
The crowd cheered and gave Neville some slaps on the back. Neville blushed, but grinned widely, a new bud of confidence forming inside.
Ron continued his story, explaining in great detail how the troll smashed apart the doors and walls of the hallway as they all fought the troll. By the end of it, he had all four of them bruised and bleeding, but standing victoriously over the troll's corpse.
As much as the tale was exaggerated, Harry had to admit that Ron had a gift for storytelling. Everyone cheered with every blow they dealt, and gasped with each blow they took.
All through it all, Ron was grinning wildly, reveling in the spotlight.
'He should really get into writing,' Harry thought. The whole situation reminded him of Lockhart. 'Just so long as he doesn't actually claim the stories are real.'
Harry was just about to start casting some calming spells at everyone when a voice rang out over the noise.
"Alright! Alright! Enough of that, everybody!" Professor McGonagall came into the common room. It took a little while for everyone to quiet down, as they didn't notice the professor immediately. When they did, they froze, and nudged their neighbors.
Harry was thrown down onto the couch.
When it was quiet enough, she continued. "Calm yourselves. As you must have heard, the troll has been dealt with. But nevertheless! We ask that you remain in the common rooms for the night, as we will be going around the castle to make sure things are once again safe. That will be all."
She turned to Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Ron. "As for you four, I understand that you didn't get an opportunity to have dinner yet. I've taken the liberty of arranging your meal to be delivered to you. It should arrive any minute."
Just as quickly as she arrived, McGonagall left.
As soon as the portrait closed behind her, the room erupted into cheers again.
"Who wants some butterbeer? This calls for a celebration! It's still Halloween, isn't it!?" One of the seventh years yelled. Everyone cheered.
Soon enough, the senior students pulled out crates of smuggled butterbeer and a party was in full swing. The noise of the party brought down the students that had gone up to their rooms, and the common room was quickly getting crowded.
Harry quickly laid claim to a corner table, and pulled Hermione, Neville, and Ron to sit down with him. Even though they may have been the trigger for the party, they were quickly forgotten. The reason for the party wasn't nearly as important once it had started.
As soon as they sat down, their dinner appeared on the table. They were left overs from the Halloween feast.
"Muffliato!" He incanted. The noise of the party died down to a hum. Then he set a subtle Notice-Me-Not charm around them so they could eat and talk in peace.
Hermione smacked Ron in the shoulder. "You made me out to be some sort of damsel in distress!"
"Well, weren't you?" Ron asked.
"No more than you were!" She shot back. "If I remember correctly, you were the one that screamed in terror when the troll broke through the door!"
Ron flushed red. "You're probably remembering it wrong then, that wasn't me! Besides, if you had just made it to the feast on time like you said, none of this would have happened!"
Hermione flinched back, "I… I didn't…" Tears welled up.
"Ron. That's enough," Harry said firmly. "None of this is her fault. I was late to the feast too, remember?"
Ron scowled and snatched up some chicken and began eating angrily.
Harry turned to Hermione. "But I would like to know. What happened with Lavender and Eloise?"
Hermione panicked. "It was nothing!"
Sensing her emotions, Harry picked up on sadness, anger, shame, and loneliness.
He wanted to scowl at the thought of Lavender and Eloise bullying Hermione, but he suppressed it for now, and spoke gently. "Hermione. You're one of my best friends. I know they must have done or said something stupid. Please, tell me."
Hermione stayed silent, biting her lip and trying not to cry, staring into her lap stubbornly.
Harry scooted over, and gently took her hands into his.
She looked up, and saw the earnestness in his eyes. Her unwillingness faded away, and her emotions exploded.
"I GOT BANNED FROM THE LIBRARY!" She wailed in despair and started sobbing into Harry's chest.
Harry hugged her, patting her back gently as she cried.
He blinked in surprise. 'Okay, that's not what I was expecting.' Hermione? Banned from the library? It's no wonder she was distraught enough to forget about the troll. For anyone that loved books, the Hogwarts library was the most magical place on earth. Losing access to that must have killed her. 'But how?'
Obviously, it had to do with Lavender and Eloise, since Hermione had gone with them to the library. They must have started fighting with her, and Madam Pince kicked them out.
"For how long?" He asked.
"A whole month!"
Ron sighed somewhat exasperatedly, somewhat relieved. "That's nothing! I thought something bad had happened. Here I was, worried for nothing."
Hermione stiffened.
Harry glared at him, and even Neville looked shocked. Ron looked between them and had the decency to look apologetic. "I think I'll just… go grab us a few butterbeers, yeah?"
He awkwardly left the table.
"Keep telling us what happened, Mione. Don't worry, Ron's gone," Harry urged gently.
She sniffled. "Mione?"
"Er… yeah. A nickname. I thought it would be better than 'Hermy' or "Herms" or something," Harry joked.
She giggled, wiping away her tears. "Much better."
Harry smiled. She pulled away, sitting back in her chair properly, and drank some of the pumpkin juice that came with the dinner. Then she began explaining.
"I was with Lavender and Eloise, because they said that they wanted some help with their charms essay on Wingardium Leviosa. But when I got there, they wanted me to do their essays for them, saying that since I was a part of your study group that I had plenty of time to do their homework for them.
"I obviously refused, and they got mad at me, saying that you were the only reason I had any friends, and that I was lucky that they even wanted to talk to me. We started fighting, and Eloise even cast a spell—I think it was the Jelly-Leg Curse—that hit another student. That's when Madam Pince showed up and kicked us all out.
"She banned all three of us from the library for a month, we all lost 5 points for fighting, and Eloise got detention with Madam Pince."
'Looks like we have our targets for the next few pranks,' Harry thought maliciously. It was no wonder why they had looked so guilty when he asked about Hermione. Still, he couldn't help but wonder. Had Fate somehow pushed them into bullying her so that Hermione would still encounter the troll? Sure, it happened somewhat differently than in canon, but it still happened.
Was this what it was going to be like for everything else?
Thinking of Fate, he pulled up her Quests.
[Fate Quest: Troll in the Dungeon!
You've saved Hermione's life and killed the troll! You looked quite dashing. Well done!
Go With Canon!: The teachers won't arrive in time! Bring the rest of the gang along and rush to Hermione's rescue! Save her life from the troll.
Reward: +1 Magizoology
Go A Step Further: Don't just knock the troll out! You're much more powerful than the OG Harry was when he faced the troll. Show off your skills and slay the beast!
Reward: +1 Dueling]
It was the first time he had gotten two rewards from the same quest, so he was somewhat pacified. At least there was something good about tonight.
[Name: Harry James Potter-Black
Level: 22 45.8%
Stats:
Power: 70, [8]
Control: 89
Focus: 90
Classes: Mind Arts 12, Magizoology 10 => 11, Dueling 1 => 2, [+2]
Skills: Occlumency 4, Legilimency 1, Serpensortia 5,
Perks: Potter Family Magic, A Mother's Love, Horcrux, Parselmouth, Black Family Magic, Animagus, Natural Occlumens, Magical Growth, Emotional Empowerment, Harvester, Empathetic Sensing, Insight, Seer, Wide Wormhole, Teamwork Makes the Dream Work]
Now that he looked, he realized he never used his Class Points, and placed both of them into Dueling.
Dueling 2 => 4
It would help him deal with anything else coming his way.
"Come on, let's finish eating, then let's get a good night's sleep."
~~ ITW, H ~~
Meanwhile, Ron was searching up and down the common room holding a few bottles of butterbeer, feeling frustrated. 'Where in Merlin's name is our table? I could have sworn it was right here!'
No matter how much he searched, he couldn't get past the Notice-Me-Not spell Harry had placed.