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Author's Note: I'm back! Losing my beta really impacted my writing but I'm finally turning the corner.

Chapter Eleven - All Hallows Eve

The morning after, word quickly spread throughout the school –- thanks to Fred and George –- about Malfoy and Filch’s new look. The teachers seemed to take it in stride, Professor Dumbledore’s beard twitched at the news, and the Gamekeeper, Hagrid, bellowed out a few laughs. Snape didn’t seem to find the situation funny at all; in fact his glare and sneer were far more intense than Harry had ever seen from the Potions Master before.

Harry didn’t let that bother him. Neither victim showed their face during mealtimes, so Harry was glad to be free of the two annoyances for the time being. He wasn’t celebrating as much as the Weasley twins were, because Harry’s mind continued to wander off to the mystery of the trap door that was guarded by that three-headed dog and Malfoy’s remarks regarding Gringotts.

He didn’t have any idea what the meaning behind either situation was, but that didn’t stop Harry from having to answer someone else’s questions later on that week, at Quidditch practice. He was walking off the pitch, exhausted after his first day as a member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, when he was confronted by a petite Asian girl with long black hair, the Ravenclaw Seeker-to-be, Cho Chang.

“Excuse me, Harry?” interrupted Cho, cutting off Harry’s path to the locker rooms.

“Yeah?” replied Harry. He raised his arm to shade his eyes from the sun.

“So you’re the new Chaser?” said Cho, “No wonder it’s being kept a secret. How did you pull this off? Is this because you’re the Boy-Who-Lived?” She finished angrily, her hands clenched tightly into fists at her side.

“Hey, hold on a second,” said Harry hastily. “I am the new chaser, but it was not my idea. Professor Flitwick saw me make a catch during my flying lesson, and that was it. I’m lucky I wasn’t punished, although I’m sure who I am didn’t hurt. I certainly didn’t demand anything.”

“I’m surprised you weren’t made Seeker if you fly as well as you handled that Snitch at King’s Cross.” Cho reddened at her inadvertent admission.

“You saw that? Well, I was just lucky Jorgensen was only staying on the team because there wasn’t anyone else available. Besides, Stevens has that position, and I did hear the captain and Professor Flitwick mention that you were pretty good yourself,” Harry said with a grin.

“Oh, I’m glad I was mistaken then,” said Cho, smiling shyly. She looked past Harry for a moment –- towards the Quidditch Pitch in the background –- before turning her attention back to him with an idea in mind. “Even though I couldn’t join the team, I got permission to watch practice last year. I always fly for a bit afterward, once the team is finished. They won’t let me use the school Snitch, but it’s still fun to get up in the air. And this year I got to bring my own broom!” She motioned to the Comet Two-Sixty in her hands. “Care to join me?”

“Well,” Harry looked down at his blue Quidditch robes for a moment. “That sounds really nice, but I think I’d better get changed first. Sutcliffe would kill me if someone caught a glimpse of me in these before we play Hufflepuff.”

Realization flooded over the older Ravenclaw. “You’re right,” Cho gasped. “What was I thinking holding you up right out here in the open? Go change, quickly!” She grabbed a hold of Harry’s robes and pulled him along the end of the pitch and into the Ravenclaw locker room, making sure to let out a low whistle only after the door closed behind Harry. She leaned back against the closed door and gave a wistful sigh before walking back towards the pitch with a bright smile on her face.

By the time Harry exited the locker room, Cho was already up in the air zooming around the hoops of the fifty-foot-tall poles on the far end of the pitch. He took a second to admire her enthusiastic aerial work, before placing his cloak down on top of hers that was resting on the lawn and launching into the air after her on the Cleansweep Seven he’d been flying on during practice. It was a slight improvement from the normal school brooms; it was one of the few brooms that Ravenclaw House owned for the rare occasions a team member did not have their own broomstick available to use.

A couple of warm up laps around the pitch soon dissolved into games of tag between Harry and Cho. For the next few moments, their laughter and exuberance filled the skies over Hogwarts. As the sun began to set –- signaling that their time in the air that day had come to an end –- Harry and Cho slowed their brooms to a steady downward float towards their cloaks. Harry figured this would be an ideal moment to see if Cho could help to put his wandering mind at ease.

“Cho,” said Harry, turning his head to his flying partner as they gently landed on the lawn. “Why would Gringotts be hiring?”

“Gringotts hiring?” repeated a slightly startled Cho. “I don’t think the goblins would be hiring wizards anytime soon after what happened during the summer.”

“Something happened?” asked Harry, picking up his cloak and handing Cho hers.

“Yeah, didn’t you hear about it?” replied Cho. “It was all over the Daily Prophet last month, Harry. Having such a breakdown in security, and someone crazy enough to attempt it, I never understood how they were able to keep it quiet for weeks after the fact.”

“So you’re telling me someone tried to break into Gringotts this summer?” asked an astonished Harry.

“Basically,” answered Cho, “and they got away with it. I think that’s the most surprising aspect of the whole mess. The goblins didn’t release any information on what they tried to steal, only that the vault in question had been emptied earlier that same day.”

Harry knew that Gringotts was regarded as one of the safest places in the wizarding world, save for Hogwarts. He wondered if there was any connection to the attempted robbery and the sudden appearance of that giant three-headed dog in Hogwarts.

*

Adding Quidditch practices –- that happened at least twice a week –- along with flying with Cho afterwards to Harry’s class schedule kept him so busy that it surprised him when he woke up to find it was Halloween one morning. He had been at Hogwarts for two months. Harry was finally feeling that he knew the castle pretty well; he couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten lost on his way to class. Most of his classes were beginning to get interesting as lessons moved away from the introductory basics that the first years must learn first.

Living at Hogwarts was different from home for Harry. He did miss not having his family constantly around him, his only contact with them were the letters they exchanged on a near daily basis. He had exchanged being surrounded by siblings, with surrounding himself with his friends. Most of the time Daphne, Hannah or Ron would be found at his side depending on the class he was attending. Usually Harry would be with Nym or Fred and George Weasley during detentions and of his housemates, Penelope, Padma and Terry Boot were among some of the Ravenclaws he talked to frequently, not forgetting Cho and the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

Waking up to the aroma of fresh pumpkin pie in the air reminded Harry of previous Halloweens spent with his family, and the pies that his mum and aunts would help the house-elves bake. For the walk down for breakfast, the grin on Harry’s face grew wider the closer he got to the Great Hall. By the time Harry sat down and helped himself to a few helpings of pie, owls began swooping down into the hall, dropping packages to their recipients. Landing on the table right next to Harry’s plate was his beautiful snowy owl, Hedwig, a letter tied to her leg.

“Hello girl,” greeted Harry, putting down his fork and reaching over to release the owl of her burden. Hedwig moved forward and stuck her leg out, aiding Harry’s cause.

Once Harry had removed the letter, Hedwig brushed his hand with her wing before moving to his plate where she began to peck at his remaining pieces of pie. Harry turned the envelope over to see the Potter Black seal, and quickly opened it to reveal a letter from his father.

Happy Halloween, Harry!

I’m slowly bringing your mum around on the Quidditch agenda. I know your first match is coming up shortly, but unfortunately you’ll have to use a school broom. I’ve already spoken with your headmaster and Head of House about it. When you come home for Winter Break, we’ll go to Diagon Alley and pick out a broom of your own at QQS. How does that sound?

I can’t say that the weekly owl from Hogwarts listing your detentions is helping matters. (I don’t think we Marauders set a pace that steady until our third year!) Keep up with the pranking though, I have to show you this deck of Exploding Snap that I rigged up. When it exploded, Sirius’s hair caught fire and it couldn’t be put out for hours. He still has a grumpy look on his face whenever he looks my way, but it was worth it! Your aunts, Andromeda and Narcissa have been taking the mickey out of him on a daily basis since.

Everyone misses you son. They can’t wait to see you for Christmas. Bonnie’s been hanging out a lot lately with your little quill pal Ginny Weasley. It has become rare to see those two apart, either here at the estate or over at the Weasleys. It’s good to see, I know she’s missing both you and Daphne. You three had been inseparable ever since Daphne’s mum started working for the family.

Anyway, good luck with your first game against Hufflepuff. Pay attention in practice and learn how to fly with your fellow chasers. That’s the most important aspect when starting out, Harry. As you gain experience against competition, your talent will naturally shine through and you’ll make all your fans swoon I bet!

Love,

Dad

Harry smiled to himself as he folded up the letter and put it away in his book bag. Getting up from his seat at the Ravenclaw table, Harry sent Hedwig back to the Owlery, and waved to Nym before he caught up to a passing Ron heading out of the Great Hall towards their mutual class, Transfiguration.

Unfortunately for Harry, the good feelings that the morning had brought would not last. They arrived to class slightly late after being delayed –- and nearly derailed –- by a giant gelatinous ball that Fred and George pushed down a busy corridor that forced everyone walking by to dive out of its path. Entering the classroom they quickly sat in the nearest open seats. Ron ended up next to Hermione, who was the recipient of a groan once Ron realized where he had sat down. Harry sat down in the seat right behind Ron, next to a blonde Gryffindor girl he recognized as a friend of Padma Patil’s sister. The girl turned pink and mumbled a hello at Harry’s greeting.

Once the students had settled down, Professor McGonagall announced that she felt they had all made excellent progress with their current assignments and as a treat had decided to show them something new. She placed two items on her desk: a rubber duck and a potted plant.

“Class, here we have a Muggle rubber duck,” McGonagall said, pointing to the small yellow object. “As well as a plant I borrowed from Professor Sprout’s Herbology Greenhouses. The spell I will be showing you today is not one you will be learning until later in your Hogwarts career. This is an example of how easily things can be done with proper practice and experience.”

McGonagall moved far enough away from her desk so that the entire class could see both objects clearly before proceeding to wave her wand at the duck and plant. Both items shimmered and shifted right before the students’ eyes. The rubber duck lost its bill and sprouted branches all over its body, while the plant hardly resembled a plant anymore. It was now only a single stem with the missing duckbill connected to it.

“Now what is the proper term for the Transfiguration technique I just used?” McGonagall questioned the class.

Harry recognized the spell right away having seen his Uncle Remus use it on his godfather quite a few times around the dinner table. He raised his hand at the same time as Hermione Granger, but McGonagall chose the closer student, Hermione.

“Yes, Miss Granger?” said McGonagall.

“Professor, you used a Switching Spell on the items,” answered Hermione. “You didn’t create anything new, or physically change the object. The spell basically makes it possible to replace an item or a piece of an item with another that exists elsewhere.”

“That is correct, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor!” exclaimed Professor McGonagall.

Hermione beamed up at McGonagall but the smile quickly left her face when she turned to Ron and was greeted with a scowl. McGonagall continued with the demonstration, transfiguring the objects on the desk to different shapes and sizes, creating new situations to show off the Switching Spell. Harry was a little put out at not getting the opportunity to earn points, but as the class went on he forgot all about it. The same couldn’t be said for Ron, whose sour mood hadn’t changed by the end of class.

“Can you believe her?!” Ron exclaimed loudly as he squeezed between Harry and Lavender, the girl Harry had sat next to during class, not too gently pushing the girl out of Harry’s space.

“Erm, what?” Harry asked distractedly as he helplessly watched Lavender get lost in the bustle of the crowd of students.

“Hermione. She’s a nightmare, that’s what,” Ron answered emphatically, waving his hands about. “Nobody can stand her. Why do you think the seat next to her was empty?”

“C’mon Ron, she —” Harry was cut off when someone knocked him aside as they hurried past. Seeing Hermione’s teary face caused Harry to frown. “I think she heard you.”

“So?” Ron replied, refusing to meet Harry’s eyes. “It’s not my fault she has no friends.” Ron quickly muttered a half-hearted goodbye and turned down the next corridor, disappearing amongst the crowd.

*

When the time arrived for the Halloween Feast to start, Harry still hadn’t seen Hermione again. He curiously made his way to the Gryffindor table, moving past some of the more elaborate Halloween decorations that were put up by the Hogwarts Staff: bats fluttering about the Great Hall, as well as spiders the size of baby Aromantulas crawling along the walls.

Harry didn’t find Hermione, but did discover Ron sitting quietly beside his boisterous twin brothers. He stopped in his tracks when he passed a conversation that fellow first year Gryffindors Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were having.

“— and she wouldn’t come out of the stall,” finished Lavender.

“That’s horrible,” replied Parvati, as she finished loading food onto her plate. “She’s going to miss out on this wonderful feast.”

“Are you girls talking about Hermione?” asked Harry as he squeezed himself in between Lavender and some older Gryffindor boy he didn’t recognize.

“Oh, hi Harry,” greeted Lavender, turning in her seat to look at him. “Yes, poor Hermione has been crying her eyes out all day.”

“She hasn’t been to any classes since Charms this morning,” added Parvati. “It’s so unlike her to miss class.”

“Well, Ron wasn’t really thinking this morning,” replied Harry awkwardly.

“Weasley was the cause?” Lavender asked incredulously. “We’ve been here two months and everyone knows he doesn’t think before he speaks, you’d think Hermione would know better than to care what he thinks.”

“I suppose everyone still has plenty to learn when it comes to life,” conceded Harry, taking a sip from his goblet.

Parvati was about to reply when the doors to the Great Hall slammed open and Professor Quirrell sprinted inside, his turban askew and his face full of terror.

All the students in the Great Hall fell silent as he reached Professor Dumbledore’s chair, slumping over the table. “There’s a troll … in the dungeons!” he gasped. “I thought you should know.”

As Quirrell fainted, the students rose from their seats in a panic. Girls screamed and everyone started to scramble frantically for the doors. Professor Dumbledore leapt into action, letting out a series of loud pops from his wand spraying the area with sparks, getting the attention of the students.

“ATTENTION!” Dumbledore’s voice easily carried through the now silent Great Hall. “Head students and Prefects please guide your house back to their dormitories in an orderly fashion.”

Professor Dumbledore turned his attention to the Hogwarts staff standing up from their seats around the Head Table. “We shall approach the dungeons from all sides, should you encounter the troll do not initiate contact! Send out sparks or a messenger spell depending on your location and wait for assistance, provided there is no eminent danger.”

All the professors solemnly nodded their heads at Dumbledore’s words, pulling out their wands as they moved to leave the slowly emptying Great Hall.

In the slow departing line of Gryffindor students, Harry tuned out Lavender and Parvati’s nervous chatter, instead he was thinking up ways of sneaking across to the line of his own departing housemates before they got too far away. Ready to make his dash across the hall, Ron passed through Harry’s peripheral vision, reminding Harry something he had forgotten with the Troll hysteria.

“/Hermione!/” The sudden exclamation from Harry startled an older male Gryffindor in front of him. Ignoring the odd look he got, Harry pushed his way through the crowd, finally reaching Ron and pulling the surprised Weasley behind the very next suit of armor they passed.

“Harry?” asked a startled Ron. “Why’d you go and do that for?” Ron waved at the piece of pie he was now wearing on his uniform thanks to Harry’s brisk retrieval.

“Hermione, Ron,” stated Harry as if it was the most obvious answer.

Ron’s ears reddened a bit at her name. “What about her?” he asked warily.

“Lavender and Parvati told me she’s been in the bathroom all day /crying/,” Ron flinched at Harry’s tone. “There’s no way she knows about the troll in the dungeons. We have to go warn her.”

Ron looked like he was about to refuse, if not for the pointed look from Harry. He sighed and turned to look if anyone had seen them stop. “Fine, Harry,” he said softly, “but Percy better not catch us!”

Despite the caution of the two boys, their departure did not escape the notice of a concerned pair of hazel eyes.