Chapter 9: Chapter 9
37 books. That was the number of them on the Transfiguration bookshelf. A few of them were basic, introductory to the subject while the rest more advanced.
Harry gobbled them all down like a hungry wolf, but he was left slightly disappointed. There was only a single one about Conjuration, and it was a basic one. Nothing more than conjuring the smallest of items. His desire to conjure a bed in the reading room was crushed, but he found a way around it. With his vastly increased knowledge of Transfiguration, he transformed the table into a bed and the chair into a mattress. This way, he wouldn't have stiff shoulders every time he left the Chamber of Wisdom.
Professor McGonagall had noticed Harry's improvements. The boy had gone above and beyond, to the point that she was no longer sure how good he actually was. Third-year? Fourth-year or possibly even higher? McGonagall believed that Harry was the most talented student she had ever taught. She didn't know that he got 12 extra hours a day and was studying the books of Rowena Ravenclaw, however.
Nearly two months had passed since Harry started attending Hogwarts, and today was Halloween. It was a day he had no fond feeling, for he was orphaned on that day, after all. Everyone was celebrating the downfall of the Dark Lord in Hogwarts, yet they couldn't even say his name. They kept calling him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named. The Wizarding World sure loved their hyphens.
There was a feast in the Great Hall, but Harry couldn't bring himself to go and celebrate with the rest. It didn't feel right. If anything, he should be mourning rather than celebrating.
Harry looked down at the letter he was holding in his hand. It was from Jean, she would usually send him at least one every day. He missed the people at the mansion back in New York, especially Jean and Ororo, but every time he received a letter from the redhead, his body would fill with joy. Not this time, though. In her letter, Jean told him about a new resident at the mansion.
Scott Summers, a brown-haired boy who was a year older than them, had just arrived at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. He always had to wear glasses on due to his mutant power, which made him shoot lasers out of his eyes.
Harry knew that Jean was lonely as the only kid left in the mansion, but his heart tightened when almost the entire letter was about Scott. He wasn't sure what he was feeling and didn't know what to do, he was 11 years old, after all. For the briefest of moments, he considered writing a letter and telling Jean about all the kids he made friends in Hogwarts, but he decided against that. It didn't feel right. If he felt bad about Jean talking about her new friend, would she feel bad if he talked about all of his new friends? If so, he didn't want her to feel bad.
Halloween just wasn't his day. Harry dropped his mental shields and allowed Hogwarts to submerge him with her affection. The castle loved every single one of the students there, and it always made him feel better.
Everyone was in the Great Hall right now, so he figured he would go and check the library. He didn't feel like studying today, but he could at least check a few books. Harry wanted to check on the restrict section, so he donned his Invisibility Cloak before entering in case the librarian, Irma Pince, was still there. He wasn't as interested in the books that were available to all the students since he could always go through them as long as no one has taken them out.
Harry had just finished flipping through the Book of Spells when the affection he was feeling from Hogwarts turned to panic. The castle was afraid. It feared that one of the students was in danger and pleaded Harry for help.
The feelings Hogwarts was transmitting to him were overwhelming. Harry had the choice of helping whoever was in danger or to bring his mental shields up and close the connection with the castle. He didn't wish any of the students harm. Well, maybe a few of them, but he didn't want them to die. And from the panic Hogwarts was transmitting to him, he was sure that the life of someone was in danger.
Harry left the library as quickly as possible with the castle directing him. It was leading him somewhere on the second floor. He was getting closer to his destination and started smelling something foul. The stench was atrocious, a mixture of old socks and a public toilet that was never cleaned.
Growling and the sound of something banging heavily against the walls was heard, and after turning a corner, Harry saw the cause of it. A twelve feet tall monstrosity with a club in its hand.
'A mountain troll! What's a mountain troll doing here?' Harry recognized it from the DADA books.
For a moment, he froze on the spot, but when the mountain troll destroyed a door with his club, and Harry heard the scream of a girl, he sprang into action. He was fast with the wand, but his mind was even faster. Harry reached out with his telekinesis and grabbed the mountain troll. However, he wasn't strong enough to stop it in place. The beast weighed over a ton and was a physical specimen.
Harry's action didn't stop the troll, but it was enough to grab its attention. The beast turned towards him and let out a roar. Harry knew he couldn't stop it, so he tried grabbing the troll's club to use its own weapon against it. He almost succeeded, but the beast clutched it tightly when it felt the club leaving its grasp.
Harry was worried, very worried. This was the first time he was in such a dangerous situation, and against a mountain troll at that. He knew the creature was very resistant against magic, so his spells wouldn't help him much here. Yet, the Elder Wand appeared in his hand as its master summoned it.
Harry was most adept at Transfiguration. He couldn't transform the troll due to its magic resistant hide, but the club was a different story. It was made of wood, something he was very familiar with and good at transforming. It was the biggest object he would try to transfigure, but he was confident. It was just like the matchstick and the needle, just on a bigger scale.
Harry flicked his wand towards the club, and it started changing. It elongated, and the wood turned to metal. The troll lost its grasp on the weapon due to its change, and Harry immediately grabbed ahold of it with his telekinesis.
With as much mental power he could muster, he hurled the metal spear he created towards the troll. Like a lightning bolt, the spear shot towards the small head of the beast and pierced through it before plunging into the walls of the castle. The spear stayed there for a moment, with part of it still inside the troll's head, before the weight of the beast was too much for the weapon to bear. The troll fell on the ground with a loud thud, and the spear still sticking through its head.
Harry stared at the beast, his heart beating wildly and adrenaline coursing through his veins. He wasn't sure what he was feeling at that moment, but a weird and proud smile had formed on his face. He snapped out of his daze when a brown bushy-haired girl popped out of the door the troll had destroyed.
Hermione looked at the fallen troll with wide eyes before looking at Harry. Her eyes were so wide, he thought they might pop out of her sockets. He did note her eyes were visibly red, she had probably cried out of fear.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked her.
"I...Uh...You..." Hermione was at a loss for words.
Today couldn't have been any worse for the brown-haired girl. For the past two months, she had been trying hard to make friends. She really had. Hermione thought that by doing her best, proving that she is a capable witch, and trying to help the other kids at the same time, she would be accepted by them in Hogwarts. That was far from the truth, however.
Most of the kids shunned her for her appearance and rejected her help. Hermione had been brought to tears more than a few times in the past two months. Today, today was the worst. She had tried helping Ron Weasly earlier, but that hadn't ended well. He lashed out at her, called her annoying, awful, horrible, and bossy. Ron told her, "No wonder you don't have any friends, and no one likes you."
That hurt her badly. Hermione thought that Hogwarts might not really be for her. She didn't feel like studying magic anymore, as amazing as it was. She just wanted to go home where her parents would comfort her. They always did, ever since she was a young kid that got bullied in school for her appearance.
Hermione entered the girls' bathroom and shut herself in after lunch. She didn't want to see anyone, she just wanted to be alone. Hermione wasn't sure how long she had stayed there, and she was starting to get hungry.
That's when it happened. Hermione started feeling a few tremors, and shortly after, the doors to the bathroom got smashed. The atrocious stench filled the bathroom, and the mountain trolls ugly head peered inside.
Hermione thought she was a goner when the beast suddenly turned around and roared. She didn't know what happened, but a few moments later, she heard a thud. No more sound came after.
Hermione didn't know where her courage came from, but she walked up to the broken door and peeked her head. There laid the troll with a spear through its head, and in front of the troll, stood Harry Potter with his wand in his hand. She wasn't sure how she felt about the boy. He wasn't anything like the books described him as, and he was also the top student. Something she was envious of.
Harry asked her if she was okay, but she didn't know how to answer. Hermione had so many things she wanted to say, so many questions to ask. Before she could formulate a response, the enraged voice of the head of her house was heard.
"What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall furiously stomped towards them with the rest of the Professors behind her.
Harry looked at them before he gave them a toothy grin. "I fought a troll! Now, at least one or two of the books about me might actually be correct."
McGonagall blinked a few times to process his statement before started berating him. "Why aren't you in the Great Hall with the rest of the students! We specifically told you not to go out! You are lucky you weren't killed! What were you thinking facing off against a troll?"
Harry's grin turned into a frown. "Unlike most people, I don't feel like celebrating today, and I wasn't in the Great Hall." There was a mixture of emotions on McGonagall's face from that answer. "I was strolling through the castle when I encountered the troll banging on the door of the girls' bathroom and heard a scream from within it."
"And you took down an adult mountain troll," said Dumbledore while observing the corpse. "It pains me to see the death of the creatures, but I would take that over the death of a student."
"That's some very impressive Transfiguration skills, Harry," Dumbledore noted as he looked at the spear. He knew Harry didn't carry spears randomly with him and that mountain trolls usually carried clubs. "And levitation skills, as well," the old man added with a twinkle in his eyes.
"You transformed its club into a metal spear?" McGonagall asked in wonder. "That's indeed very impressive."
The Professors were more than amazed by what Harry had done. Snape looked at the boy with a complicated expression. Harry had been very studious, acting like his mother, but now, he looked like his father in Severus' eyes. He wasn't sure how to feel about the boy.
"Ms. Granger." McGonagall turned towards Hermione. "Why weren't you at the feast. And come to think of it, Professor Sprout told me you missed her class today."
"I..." Hermione looked down. "I was in the bathroom hiding all day," she mumbled.
McGonagall's face softened a bit before she turned to Harry. "That would be 50 points to Ravenclaw for your impressive skills and bravery, Mr. Potter."
"And you, Ms. Granger, come with me to the Medical Wing so Madam Pomfrey can check up on you. You could also tell me the reason why you were hiding in the bathroom on the way." McGonagall gently ushered Hermione towards the Medical Wing.
The head of Gryffindor took her own, so it was only right for the head of Ravenclaw to take his own as well. Flitwick brought Harry to his office and served him some tea.
"Mr. Potter, would you tell me about your encounter with the troll," Flitwick's tone suggested that was a request rather than a question.
"I don't know what to tell you, sir. I... I felt scared at first, but then... I got excited? I'm not quite sure," Harry told him honestly.
"Excited? Excited about what?" Flitwick inquired.
Harry pondered for a moment and answered. "I think I was excited I got to test my magic in action."
"And you decided to test your magic against a mountain troll?" Flitwick had an amused smiled.
"I didn't have much choice, sir. It was either fighting the troll or leaving Hermione to her demise." Flitwick nodded thoughtfully at his reply. "Walk me through what happened."
Harry explained his encounter without mentioning his telekinesis. He replaced his last action with a very strong Levitation Charm. Flitwick was a bit suspicious at that part, but under dire stress and extreme emotions, magic could act in a very unpredictable way.
"Well, Mr. Potter, what you did was quite the incredible feat, but a dangerous one as well. You were awarded points for our house, but... you will have to serve detention with me every Tuesday from 5 to 6 PM until the holiday break."
"I understand, Professor." Harry nodded. He wasn't happy with being given detention, but he didn't think Flitwick would change his mind.
And the points he received? He didn't care about them at all. They meant absolutely nothing to him. Harry had asked what's the benefit of winning the House Cup, and he was disappointed with the answer. It was just that, the winning house would receive the House Cup. Nothing more, nothing less.
The next day, Harry learned that the biggest rumor mills in Hogwarts weren't the live residents.
"Harry, did you really kill the mountain troll?" Tracey asked him excitedly after class.
"How did you know?" Harry was sure he hadn't talked with anyone about it, and he didn't think that Hermione would tell anyone as well.
"So it's true? I heard it from the paintings on the third floor, and they heard it from the Professors when they were passing by them," Tracey said as a matter of fact.
"How did you do it?" Daphne asked in interest. She knew trolls were magically resistant, and they haven't been taught any spell that could outright kill one. Daphne was aware that Harry was ahead than the rest and studied more advanced spells, but was he THAT far ahead than them?
"I punched it," Harry told her with a straight face, which resulted in the blonde raising a questioning eyebrow, so he continued. "Very hard and in the face."
"Didn't you say the stories about you were false?" Blaise asked with an amused smile, knowing that Harry was joking.
"I just might end up living up to them." Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"Seriously, how did you do it?" Tracey asked, eager to know.
"Transfiguration and the Levitation Charm. I turned its club into a spear and shot it towards its coconut head," said Harry.
"Like the matchstick and the needle. Just on a bigger scale," Daphne nodded in acknowledgment.
"Weren't you like... scared?" Tracey asked in her typical excited manner.
"I was, the troll was about 12 feet tall and very ugly," said Harry. "But I was also excited."
"Only an idiot would be excited about fighting a troll." Daphne rolled her eyes.
"Ouch." Before the conversation could continue any further, they were approached by Hermione.
"Uhm, Harry? Could I speak with you for a moment?" She asked and looked at the other three. "Alone?"
"Sure," said Harry and addressed his friends. "I'll see you later in the usual place." They usually met in one of the empty classrooms to practice together.
"I'm sorry!" Once they were alone, Hermione apologized immediately. "I'm sorry for calling you a liar on the train. It's just... the books said you have a scar! And, and, they've never been wrong. Books have been my only friend since the other kids didn't like me, and, and, they never lied to me before."
Hermione was sobbing and crying. She hadn't been nice to Harry, and yet he had ended up saving her life. She felt terrible.
"And I wanted to thank you, as well. If you hadn't come, I, I could've-"
"It's okay, Hermione." Harry patted her shoulder, which only resulted in her wrapping him in a hug. "It's okay." He repeated and rubbed her bag while delving into her mind to understand her better.
It took her a while, but Hermione finally calmed down and released him. "I'm annoying, awful, horrible, bossy, and no one likes me. I don't even know why I'm still here." She repeated the words Ron had told her.
Harry wasn't on friendly terms with her, but it still hurt him to see her cry like this. "You are a very intelligent and smart witch. That's why you are here to study magic."
"But no one likes me here! No one wants to be friends with me." Hermione started crying again.
"I could be your friend." Harry decided to at least give her a chance.
Hermione's eyes opened wide, and she asked with a trembling tone. "Really?"
"Really." Harry nodded, and she wrapped her arms around him once more. "Thank you! Thank you! I promise I will try to be a good friend. I've never had one before, but I will do my best! I promise!"
"I believe we have to be going to class." Harry's words made her eyes nearly pop out of her sockets. "Professor McGonagall is going to kill us! Let's hurry!"
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