⋆.˚ Hallowe'en ⋆.˚
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“Who else Paddy? Hopefully you didn’t think that your mother was an option,” James teases, only for him and Lily to be bowled over by two sobbing grown men.
“Oof- Remus John Lupin, Sirius Orion Black the Third, you will let us up this instant!” Lily admonishes causing Remus and Sirius to cling tighter. Lily then sighs, recognising that their ability to get up would be hindered for the time being.
“How, in the name of all that's holy, did you do that?” James jokes, only to be whacked around the head by Lily for his cheek, resulting in James pouting.
“Others that have died may make an appearance, just a quick warning,” Thanatos says cheerily, causing Hades to shiver in apprehension (and not the good kind).
“Nothing good ever comes out of Thanatos being that cheerful,” Hades mutters to Persephone. “I can feel my paperwork stacking.”
Persephone just laughs lightly at Hades, finding his reaction funny.
CHAPTER 10
HALLOWE’EN
Malfoy couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that Hyacinth and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.
“Wow, Draco,you didn’t want your rival where you could see her?” Fred says with a conspiratorial gasp, leading to snickers from Percy and many other unnamed demigods.
Indeed, by the next morning, Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and he was quite keen to have another one.
“Of course he was,” Bill and Charlie sigh, despite them both working in dangerous jobs, they didn’t actively go out looking for dangerous and deadly ‘adventures’. Dragons don’t count because according to Charlie, they are just massive puppies with slight anger issues.
Many demigods, especially those that have been on quests before, give Ron strange looks, they face death on a daily basis, not all too dissimilar to how he had, and they had never been ‘ oh, that was fun, let's do it again!’
In the meantime, Hyacinth filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.
“It’s either really valuable or really dangerous,” said Ron.
“Or both,” said Hyacinth.
But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn’t have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.
“I’d say that they managed to find it out just fine,” George states, Lily and James look annoyed. Having watched over Hyacinth since their deaths, they were well aware of what had been going on and knew how they found it out.
Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. Not that Hyacinth could blame the poor boy, he looked haunted when he’d made it back to the common room.
“Poor Neville, he gets his constitution from his father you know, always the nervous wreck, unless the time called for it and he was the bravest and most confident person you would meet.” James says.
“It’s a shame what happened to them… stuck.” Lily adds sadly, they were trapped in their bodies, souls unable to travel on.
“What’s wrong with them? If you don’t mind me asking?” Malcolm Pace asks softly.
“They were under the cruciatus curse and it caused them to become unresponsive, they are stuck in their bodies with no ability to move on their own, unable to even open their eyes.” Lily replies softly, sadness clear in her tone.
“Oh, sorry for asking,” Malcolm apologises.
“Don’t apologise for asking a question you’re genuinely curious about,” Lily lightly scolds, causing him to laugh.
Hermione was now refusing to speak to Hyacinth and Ron, They had both seen it as a boon, Granger had a habit of nosing into places she wasn’t wanted. All Ron really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to his great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.
“You’d think, with how much he seems to fixate on you and you fixate on Hyacinth, that you both had a crush on her and Ron hated you for that,” George W teases Draco.
“Is that the best you can come up with Weasley?” Draco retorts, unimpressed at the tease.
“The kids right,” Sirius chortles, causing others, including James, to snicker.
As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone’s attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Hyacinth was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of her, knocking her bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.
Hyacinth opened the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:
DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don’t want everybody knowing you’ve got a broomstick or they’ll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o’clock for your first training session.
Professor M. McGonagall
“I knew it! Minnie loves us!” James cheers.
“Ha! Suck it Remus! You said it was only you she liked!” Sirius cheers with a wolfish grin, getting in Remus’ face.
“Yes, yes Padfoot, she likes all of us,” Remus sighs amused, sharing a commiserating look with Lily.
Sally had a far off look while seeing the interaction, her eyes holding longing. Sparing his mother a look, he notices his mothers downtrodden mood, giving her hand a quick squeeze, he smiles at her. Sally sees her son smiling at her and gives him a smile in response before turning back to the screen.
Hyacinth managed to hide the horror and distaste she felt at the broom as Ron takes the note from her hand.
“My child doesn’t like flying?!” James cries out melodramatically, Lily just rolls her eyes at him “Of course she doesn’t,” Lily says with an amused smirk, sending a wink towards Remus.
Remus then snickered into his hand, it was an inside joke the two had.
(⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆I might do a one shot⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆ )
“A Nimbus Two Thousand!” Ron moaned enviously. “I’ve never even touched one.”
They left the hall quickly, Ron dragging her away from her breakfast, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class.
“Your brother likes to complain about not being able to eat and yet he goes and pulls Hyacinth away from the food she oh so clearly needs?” Draco points out to the Weasley siblings.
“We know, he isn’t the most considerate type.” The Weasley’s respond in unison grimacing, yet again, due to their brothers actions.
However, halfway across the entrance hall, they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Hyacinth and felt it.
“That’s a broomstick,” he said, throwing it back to Hyacinth with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. “You’ll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren’t allowed them.”
“.....” there was silence until practically everyone burst out laughing, Hermes and Apollo being the loudest. Draco just put his head down, extremely embarrassed.
Ron couldn’t resist it.
“It’s not any old broomstick,” he said, “it’s a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you’ve got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?” Ron grinned at Hyacinth. “Comets look flashy, but they’re not in the same league as the Nimbus.”
“Its not like she cares Ron, she bloody hates the sport,” Charlie says with a playful huff.
James and Sirius sniffle at the reminder of Hyacinth not liking brooms.
“Ron.” Hyacinth says, trying to mask the annoyance she felt.
“What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn’t afford half the handle,” Malfoy snapped back. “I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig.”
“Make fun of them for their red hair, his big ears, or even forgetting to wipe dirt off his nose, but don’t make fun of their wealth.” Sirius tells Draco firmly with no room for argument.
Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy’s elbow.
“Gotta love Professor Flitwick,” Lily grins happily at the sight of her favourite teacher. Remus nods in agreement, he did enjoy charms.
“Not arguing, I hope, boys?” he squeaked.
“Potters been sent a broomstick, Professor,” said Malfoy quickly.
“£10 that Professor McGonagall was parading it around like a badge,” Lily challenges Remus.
“You don’t have money, but deal,” Remus agrees amused, and they shake on it.
“Yes, yes, that’s right,” said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Hyacinth. “Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?”
“That’s teacher talk for ‘she wouldn’t stop rubbing it in our faces’ “ Lily tells the kids in the room.
“A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir,” said Hyacinth, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy’s face. “And it’s really thanks to Malfoy here that I’ve got it,” she added snidely, shutting Malfoy up had taken president over her hatred for brooms.
“She’s all Lilys,” James ‘mourns’.
“Oh hush it you toe-rag.” Lily laughs.
Hyacinth and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy’s obvious rage and confusion.
“Well, it’s true,” Hyacinth chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, “If he hadn’t stolen Neville’s Remembrall I wouldn’t be on the team…”
“So I suppose you think that’s a reward for breaking rules?” came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Hyacinth’s hand.
Many in the room grimace at Hermiones’ voice. “Why is she this bad, honestly.” Remus sighs.
“I thought you weren’t speaking to us?” sighed Hyacinth.
“Yes, don’t stop now,” said Ron, “its doing us so much good.”
“That’s a bit harsh Ron,” Fred winces.
Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.
Hyacinth had a lot of trouble keeping her mind on her lessons that day. The dread of the incoming quidditch practice was daunting.
“The broom of doom,” Luna solemnly nods before her eyes brighten at the rhyme. Draco just pats her head lightly in response.
Taking a good look at the broom in her hand, Hyacinth, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top. Even with her fear of it, it hadn’t stopped her from admiring it.
“Hah! There’s hope!” James and Sirius celebrate, doing a silly little dance. Remus and Lily just roll their eyes at their respected lovers.
As seven o’clock drew near, Hyacinth left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. She’d never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Hyacinth of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high.
“Woah… imagine that,” One of the younger Hermes kids says airily in awe.
“Right?!” Another chimes in, with equal awe.
After a couple moments spent by herself, Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Hyacinth stood next to him with her broom in hand.
“Very nice,” said Wood, his eyes glinting. “I see what McGonagall meant... I’m just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you’ll be joining team practice three times a week.”
“Thats Oliver Wood for ya,” The Weasley twins say with a sigh.
“He still an extreme quidditch fan?” Charlie asks.
“Do you adore dragons with your whole soul?” Fred asks with a deadpan, his whole demeanour screaming ‘What do you think?’.
He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.
“Right,” said Wood. “Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it’s not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers.”
“Three Chasers,” Hyacinth repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a football.
“This ball’s called the Quaffle,” said Wood. “The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?”
“So, like basketball, but with upright hoops… and in the air” Thalia G notes with hum.
“...Yeah…” Remus says.
“The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score,” Hyacinth recited deadly. “So—that’s sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn’t it?”
Thalia smirks, “I have the same thought process as your future girlfriend,” she playfully taunts Percy, causing him to poke his tongue out at her.
“What’s basketball?” said Wood curiously.
“You magical folk are so detached from the world its not even funny. We demigods can still interact with the mortal world and know more about current world events, and we’re the ones who can easily die because of our scent!” A daughter of Athena rants.
“You’re limiting the knowledge you have!” She continues.
“Its a sport in the non-magical world,” stated Hyacinth with a tired sigh.
“Even Hyacinth is tired of the lack of knowledge.” She huffs annoyed, before calming down.
“Now, there’s another player on each side who’s called the Keeper—I’m Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring.”
“Three Chasers, one Keeper,” said Hyacinth, who was determined to remember it all despite not liking it. “And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?” She pointed at the three balls left inside the box.
“I’ll show you now,” said Wood. “Take this.”
“I swear, he better not be doing what i think he’s doing.” Charlie says warningly, knowing the danger those balls hold.
Demigods look confused at his reaction and so do a couple of the gods that were actually interested in the conversation.
He handed Hyacinth a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.
“I’m going to show you what the Bludgers do,” Wood said. “These two are the Bludgers.”
He showed Hyacinth two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Hyacinth noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.
“Back away.” Percy and many other demigods say, recognising them to be dangerous, but not why.
“Stand back,” Wood warned her. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.
At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Hyacinth’s face. Hyacinth swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking her nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air—it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.
“You dumbass! That could have seriously hurt her! She didn’t know what to do in that situation! You’re lucky that her instincts were working!” Charlie rambles causing a soft smile to appear on a few women's faces, the care he was showing for Hyacinth, despite only seeing her once, was sweet.
“See?” Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. “The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That’s why you have two Beaters on each team—the Weasley twins are ours—it’s their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So—think you’ve got all that?”
At the mention of their names, Fred and George begin to playfully flex, Lily, Remus, James, Sirius and Sally couldn’t help but see the figures of Gideon and Fabian Prewitt behind them, Sally didn’t recognise them, but her soul did, and it filled her with grief.
“Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team,” Hyacinth reeled off.
“Very good,” said Wood.
“Er—have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?” Hyacinth asked, hoping she sounded offhand.
“You definitely didn’t sound ‘offhand’ Potter, you sounded as scared as you probably are,” Draco playfully snarks.
“Never at Hogwarts. We’ve had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That’s you. And you don’t have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers—”
“—unless they crack my head open.” she cuts in dryly.
“That’s my daughter/goddaughter,” James and Sirius tear up proudly.
“Don’t worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers—I mean, they’re like a pair of human Bludgers themselves.”
Fred and George fist bump with matching grins on their faces, only difference is that Freds was more mischievous. Bill and Charlie just roll their eyes in amusement.
Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.
“The snitch,” The Quidditch players chant out with massive grins on their faces.
“This,” said Wood, “is the Golden Snitch, and it’s the most important ball of the lot. It’s very hard to catch because it’s so fast and difficult to see. It’s the Seeker’s job to catch it. You’ve got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team’s Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That’s why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages—I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep.
Well, that’s it—any questions?”
“Wow, talk about an information dump,” Percy says, clutching at his head slightly.
Hyacinth shook her head. She understood what she had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.
Many snicker at her amusing thoughts, “And yet you still manage to knock any competition out of the park,” Draco says, trying to mask the awe he held for her skill on the broom, sure he was jealous, but that made it more fulfilling when he beats her.
“We won’t practise with the Snitch yet,” said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, “it’s too dark, we might lose it. Let’s try you out with a few of these.”
He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Hyacinth were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Hyacinth to catch.
“Being focused on everything other than your fear is a good way to forget it,” Luna says airily.
Hyacinth didn’t miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn’t carry on.
“That Quidditch Cup’ll have our name on it this year,” said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn’t gone off chasing dragons.”
Charlie let out a wounded noise at Oliver’s words, “What is with all these people saying she’s better than me,” Charlie playfully weeps. Bill just pats his shoulder, playing along.
“Oh Charlie… She just is,” Bill says with a snicker.
Perhaps it was because she was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all her homework, but Hyacinth could hardly believe it when she realised that she’d already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had. Her lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.
“Time goes by when you’re having fun and not worrying about every slight mistake you make,” Sirius answers in understanding.
On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they’d seen him make Neville’s toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practise. Hyacinth’s partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was terrifying, she’d seen the boy blow things up while attempting to cast spells).
Draco winced at the reminder of Seamus Finnigan. “He makes everything explode, except for things he wants to explode,” Draco mutters in exasperation, he was free to act as he wanted to in this room, free of the expectations that came with being a Malfoy.
Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn’t spoken to either of them since the day Hyacinth’s broomstick had arrived.
“Now, don’t forget that nice wrist movement we’ve been practising!” squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. “Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said ‘s’ instead of ‘f’ and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.”
“We tried it and it doesn’t work,” James, Sirius, George and Fred say dejectedly before turning to look at eachother.
“You did too?” They ask, in unison once more, before they laugh.
It was very difficult. Hyacinth and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it—Hyacinth had seen this coming at some point and put the fire out quickly.
“Forethought daughter, forethought,” Lily says ‘sagely’ before breaking out into a grin.
Ron, at the next table, wasn’t having much more luck.
“Wingardium Leviosa!” he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
“You’re saying it wrong,” Hyacinth heard Hermione snap, she’d also seen that coming. “It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.”
“She is rather annoying, isn’t she?” Athena mutters, understanding why the others had been annoyed with Hermione earlier.
“You do it, then, if you’re so clever,” Ron snarled.
“Never challenge people like that,” Percy shivers, having done the same with Annabeth and gotten thoroughly beaten.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
“As I said, they will leave you in the dirt.” Percy continues, sending a weary glance to Annabeth who sends him a grin full of teeth.
“Oh, well done!” cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. “Everyone see here, Miss Granger’s done it!”
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.
“Man… Ron has to calm down on the jealousy, i get that he isn’t good at certain things, but he’s good at things that others aren’t, like strategy games,” Fred huffs, annoyed at the way his little brothers acting.
“Don’t forget that he’s only 11,” George reminds him,
“So? he acts the same way now.” Fred continues.
“It’s no wonder no one can stand her,” he said to Hyacinth who wasn’t listening to him, as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, “she’s a nightmare, honestly.”
Someone knocked into Hyacinth as they hurried past her. It was Hermione. Hyacinth caught a glimpse of her face—and was startled to see that she was in tears.
“She heard you Ron.” Hyacinth sighs annoyed.
“James’ daughter,” Lily states simply, James does the same stating the obvious.
“So?” said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. “She must’ve noticed she’s got no friends.”
“Emotional range of a teaspoon,” Sally and Lily sigh.
Hermione didn’t turn up for the next class and wasn’t seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Hyacinth and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls’ bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Hearing this, Hyacinth sent a pointed look towards Ron.
“Being passive aggressive won’t get you anywhere with him, we’ve tried, and failed,” the twins remark, with a nod from Bill and Charlie.
Ron looked more awkward at it, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations were, he’d put Hermione out of his mind.
“Of course he did, no matter what, food comes first,” Bill says distastefully, he can’t help but feel guilty at his words and thoughts, even if it was true, it was still his 11 year old brother.
A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
“It’s good… for if you like plain ass food,” James mutters with a nod from Lily. James had grown up on foods with spices, and Lily had been blessed with her husband's cooking more often than not.
(⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆My headcanon⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆)
Hyacinth was just helping herself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore’s chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, “Troll—in the dungeons—thought you ought to know.”
“Ohhhh, we’re gonna see what happened then?” The twins say in interest.
Many of the room's occupants turn to look at them in confusion, but decide that it's better that they don’t ask.
He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.
“So much for a ‘defence against the dark arts’ teacher, he probably gets scared at his own shadow,” James cackles.
There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore’s wand to bring silence.
“Prefects,” he rumbled, “lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!”
“Bloody Dumbledore,” Draco grumbles in hatred. “Slytherin common room is in the dungeons.”
Percy was in his element.
“Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I’m a prefect!”
“Perfect Prefect Percy,” Fred and George chant playfully, earning swats at their heads by Bill and Charlie who looked somewhat amused at their brothers chant.
“How could a troll get in?” Hyacinth asked as they climbed the stairs.
“Don’t ask me, they’re supposed to be really stupid,” said Ron. “Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke.”
They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Hyacinth suddenly grabbed Ron’s arm.
“I’ve just thought—Hermione.”
“Oh yeah! She’s in the girls toilets!” Annabeth says in remembrance.
“What about her?”
“She doesn’t know about the troll.”
Ron bit his lip.
“Wow. I get that you don't like her, but that's horrible, having to think about helping her, because i know for a fact that he wasn’t thinking about whether they should tell a teacher.” Draco says in distaste, at the very least, he’d go to a teacher,
“Oh, all right,” he snapped. “But Percy’d better not see us.”
Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls’ bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.
“Hide,” The many pranksters in the room hiss.
“Percy!” hissed Ron, pulling Hyacinth behind a large stone gryphon.
Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.
“What’s he doing?” Hyacinth whispered. “Why isn’t he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?”
“That's a good question, daughter ‘o mine,” Lily grins softly.
“Search me.”
Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape’s fading footsteps.
“He’s heading for the third floor,” Hyacinth said, but Ron held up his hand.
“Can you smell something?”
Hyacinth sniffed and a foul stench reached her nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.
“.....No… please….no…” Lily, james and the others that recognised the description mutter horrified,
And then they heard it—a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed—at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.
It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, it's great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.
“Ewww!” Was the oncoming complaint, the troll was as horrendous as it was terrifying.
The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.
“The key’s in the lock,” Hyacinth muttered. “We could lock it in.”
“Good idea,” said Ron nervously.
“It’s not, they can break it down.” Remus, James and everyone with common sense states.
They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn’t about to come out of it. With one great leap, Hyacinth managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.
“Yes!”
Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop—a high, petrified scream—and it was coming from the chamber they’d just chained up.
“....Hermione,” Was muttered with worry in their tone.
“Oh, no,” said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.
“It’s the girls’ bathroom!” Hyacinth gasped.
“Hermione!” they said together.
It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Hyacinth pulled the door open and they ran inside.
Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.
“Confuse it!” Hyacinth shouted desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, she threw it as hard as she could against the wall.
“Damn, for a child that’s clearly underfed and isn’t a demigod, she has some strength to her,” Zeus mutters with interest in his eyes, Hera felt something ugly rear its head in her. However, this time,it wasn’t directed towards the girl, it was directed towards Zeus.
The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Hyacinth. It hesitated, then made for her instead, lifting its club as it went. All she could think was ‘Eww’.
“Not even scared, just disgusted at this point,”Percy J and Lily snicker, Lily because she got it from her, and Percy because it sounded like how a seasoned demigod would react.
“Oy, pea-brain!” yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn’t even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Hyacinth time to run around it.
“Quick legs too,” Zeus continues to mutter. Hera narrows her eyes at him and looks towards Hecate, Hestia and Thanatos. All four share looks of promise to each other, if Zeus tries anything, he was a done god.
“Come on, run, run!” Hyacinth yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn’t move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.
The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.
Hyacinth couldn't help but swear under her breath before doing something that was both very brave and very stupid:
“Story of her life isn’t it?” Percy J snickers, before stopping when Annabeth adds;
“The story of yours as well.”
She took a great running jump and managed to fasten her arms around the troll’s neck from behind. The troll couldn’t feel Hyacinth hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Hyacinth’s wand had still been in her hand when she’d jumped—it had gone straight up one of the troll’s nostrils.
“Wrestling a troll,” The Weasley twins and Sirius mutter in awe, whereas many others like James, Lily and Remus, mutter it in horror.
She whispered an apology to both her wand and mother magic at the poor treatment of her wand in this moment.
Hecate smiles softly at her chosens thoughts. Persephone was happy that her friend was getting the attention and praise she deserves.
Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Hyacinth clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip her off or catch her a terrible blow with the club.
Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand—not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: “Wingardium Leviosa!”
“Well, ain’t that handy,” The Weasley twins say with matching feral child grins, having found something to base a new prank on.
The club flew suddenly out of the troll’s hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over—and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner’s head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.
Hyacinth got to her feet. She was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.
It was Hermione who spoke first.
“Is it—dead?”
“I highly doubt it,” Remus answers, in shock over three 11 year old children, two of which, only having been introduced to magic for a couple of months, were able to defeat a troll.
“A blow to the head like that would cause some serious damage to a human's head, however, I am unsure as to its effects on trolls,” said Hyacinth, “Most likely however, it’s just been knocked out.”
“That's my daughter,” James says proudly causing amusement to bloom in Lily’s chest, along with adoration towards her husband.
She bent down and pulled her wand out of the troll’s nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.
“Urgh—troll boogers.”
She wiped it on the troll’s trousers, swearing to herself to give it a wand spa day afterwards.
“Is there such thing as a wand spa day?” A demigod asks.
“No , but there is a wand care kit you use, and it's basically like giving the wand a spa,” Sirius says.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn’t realised what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll’s roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.
“A bit late for the entrance Minnie,” James and Remus sigh, the kids had already beat the troll and had an additional five minutes by the time they got there.
Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Hyacinth. Hyacinth had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hyacinth couldn't help but dread the next possible words out of her mouth.
“Trauma~” Sirius can't help but sing song, causing James, Remus and Lily to sigh, used to it, Some demigods snicker, having used similar coping mechanisms.
“What on earth were you thinking of?” said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Hyacinth looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed. Why aren’t you in your dormitory?”
Snape gave Hyacinth a swift, piercing look. Hyacinth averted her eyes, as to not glare at the potions master. She wished Ron would put his wand down.
“Yeah Ron, put the damn wand down.” Bill sighs in exhausted older brother, causing his younger siblings present, to wilt slightly.
Then a small voice came out of the shadows.
“Please, Professor McGonagall—they were looking for me.”
“Miss Granger!”
“Woah, I didn't know she knew how to do that,” Fred, George and Draco mutter with wide eyes.
(⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆John Mulany voice: The horse used the elevator? I didn’t know it knew how to do that ⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆)
Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.
“I went looking for the troll because I—I thought I could deal with it on my own—you know, because I’ve read all about them.”
Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?
“We’re just as surprised as you are,” Someone said from the sea of demigods, earning hums of agreement.
“If they hadn’t found me, I’d be dead now. Hyacinth stuck her wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn’t have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived.”
Hyacinth and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn’t new to them.
“You definitely failed,” Snickered Sirius.
“Well—in that case…” said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, “Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?”
Hermione hung her head. Hyacinth was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.
“Never going to happen, Severus wasn’t too keen on sweet things, always preferred sour,” Lily notes, she held an angerfor his attitude towards her daughter, however, he was still her childhood friend deep down, even after the stint with calling her a ‘mudblood’.
“Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this,” said Professor McGonagall. “I’m very disappointed in you. If you’re not hurt at all, you’d better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses.”
Hermione left.
Professor McGonagall turned to Hyacinth and Ron.
“Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go.”
“They should have been sent to Poppy!” The Hogwarts students, aside from Draco and Luna, call out horrified at the negligence.
“Sure, you might not have seen anything wrong with them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t injured!”
They hurried out of the chamber and didn’t speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.
“We should have gotten more than ten points,” Ron grumbled.
“Five, you mean, once she’s taken off Hermione’s.”
“Good of her to get us out of trouble like that,” Ron admitted. “Mind you, we did save her.”
“Ron, for once, keep your mouth shut,” Bill sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“She might not have needed saving if we hadn’t locked the thing in with her, or had you kept your thoughts to yourself” Hyacinth reminded him as though she was chiding a toddler.
“My child again,” Lily says proudly.
They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
“Pig snout,” they said and entered.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said “Thanks,” and hurried off to get plates.
“Wow, that.. Was interesting.” Was muttered
But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend, well, Ron’s friend, she was Hyacinth's begrudging acquaintance. There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
“Oh I don’t doubt,” Thanatos remarks, before standing up again.
“Feel free to have a talk, rest, eat, sleep, whatever for a couple hours, i have some… business i need to tend to,” Thanatos says before disappearing in a, now common, puff of black smoke.
⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆ ⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆ ⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧｡⋆
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