Alexithymia

The Great Hall was filled with chatter, the tables covered in sweets and treats. Over at the Gryffindor table, [Name] sat beside George and Neville rather than their own houses table because they are friendless. L mc.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asks, looking around the table for said girl. Upon hearing his question, Neville immediately turns to answer him,
"Parvati Patil said that she wouldn't come out of the girl's bathroom. She said that she'd been in there all afternoon, crying."

Harry turns to Ron as if to ask if he knows what that is all about, but Ron merely shrugs in response.
"It might be from what you said earlier." [Name] buds in, causing both Ron and Harry to turn to them in confusion.
"Earlier? How would you know if its from something we said earlier if you weren't even with us all day." Ron asks them.

[Name] doesn't respond.

Suddenly, the doors burst open with Professor Quirrell screaming, "Troll! In the dungeon!" He repeats, a slight whimper in his tone.
At his proclamation, Dumbledore and a few other professors stand up in concern as Professor Quirrell mutters out "Thought you ought to know." before passing out.
The sound of his body smacking against the hard floor rings throughout the room and within a second all students were panicking and screaming, people scrambling to get out of their seats and pushing each other over trying to escape. Of course, [Name] sat silently, continuing to eat their doughnut while students attempted to run past them.
"Silence!" Dumbledores voice boomed, immediately causing all students to freeze and the room to go completely silent.
"Everyone will please not panic!" Dumbledore continues, seeing all eyes on him. "Now... prefects will lead their house back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons." Once Dumbledore was done speaking, slight chatter was heard but the loud voices of the house prefects were heard over the crowd, letting the students know who to follow.

With the Gryffindors, Percy tries to calmly lead his house back to the Gryffindor Tower, "Gryffindors, keep up, please, and stay alert."

"How could a troll get in?" Harry whispers to Ron.
"Not on its own. Trolls are really stupid, Probably people playing jokes." Ron answers him, soon feeling a hard tug on his sleeve as Harry pulls him out of the line of Gryffindor students. "What!?" Ron looks at Harry in confusion, feeling panicked and still tense from the news of there being a troll in the building.
"Hermione! She doesn't know." Harry simply says before pulling Ron back out the way they came from. Running down the hallway, they soon come to a stop, the light from the lightning illuminating the shadow of a large inhuman figure.

"I think the troll's left the dungeon."

A hand reaches out, grabbing Harrys sleeve. Harry looks over, his eyes wide as he fights the urge to scream from fright.
There [Name] stood, hiding behind the pillar they stood next to. They put a finger to their lips signaling to be quiet as they pull Harry over to them, Harry grabbing onto Ron so that he can join them in hiding.
"What are you doing over here-"
"The troll is going into the girls bathroom." [Name] cuts Harry off, "Getting one of the Professors would take too long, we must go now."

_

Hermione exits the bathroom stall, wiping her eyes, her line of eyesight facing down towards the floor. She stops in her tracks as shes met with two large monstrous feet, a wooden club being held by the creature. Her eyes drift upwards to meet the face of that of a troll. Hermione backs up in fear before running into the stall, the troll following after her until she entered the stall, opting to raise its club and smash through all the bathroom stalls. Hermione screams as she ducks down to avoid getting hit, Harry, Ron, and [Name] bursting through the door.
"Hermione, move!" At Harrys words, Hermione attempts to crawl underneath to the next stall but the troll smashes through that row as well.
"Help! Help!" Hermione screams, Ron, Harry, and [Name] picking up the rubble from the destroyed stalls and throwing them at the troll to distract it from causing any harm to Hermione.
"Hey! Pea brain!" Ron throws a piece of wood at the troll, knocking it right in the head finally catching its attention. Seeing this, Hermione quickly runs over to hide under the sink, which the troll notices. The troll raises its club, getting ready to strike down on Hermione but before it could, "Flipendo." [Name] says, pointing their wand at the troll, effectively knocking it back into the wall behind it. The troll pushes itself off the wall and gets prepared to attempt another strike at Hermione. [Name] gets ready to use another spell but before they could, Harry runs up to the troll and jumps onto its club only to lose his grip and fall onto the troll itself. In an attempt to not fall, Harry wraps his arms and legs around the trolls head. The troll feeling Harry on him, begins to shake around trying to get him off, only for Harry to shove his wand up the trolls nose.
"Oh."
"Eugh!"

The troll shakes around even more, eventually just grabbing Harry by the leg and holding him upside down. The troll swings its club at Harry, only for Harry to dodge. "Do something!"
Ron looks around in a panic, "What?"
"Anything!"
Ron looks at [Name] for either guidance or expecting them to do something about it. [Name] looks back at him, "Swish and flick." Is all they say.

Ron immediately takes out his hand, "Wingardium Leviosa." Ron points his wand at the wooden club, snatching it out of the trolls hand before it could attempt another swipe at Harry. The troll stops midswing, looking confusedly at its hand before looking up, seeing its weapon floating in the air above its head.
"Oh, wait." [Name] readys their wand again, aiming it at the trolls hand that is still holding Harry. "Expelliarmus."
The hand holding Harry immediately opens up, dropping Harry to the ground. At the same time, Rons spell stops its effect causing the club to stop floating and instead drop directly onto the head of the troll.
"Cool." Ron stares mesmerized at the usage of spells, both his and [Names].

The troll begins to wobble forwards, [Name] comes up from behind Harry, who is trying to scoot back away from the swaying troll, and crouches down, placing their arms around Harry and hoisting him up all the while stepping backwards as to not get crushed. The three, [Name], Ron, and Harry, continue to back up until the troll finally topples over, unconscious.
Hermione seeing the troll now laying on the floor defeated, gets up from her spot underneath the bathroom sinks and looks at the troll as she walks over to the group. "Is it.. dead?"

"I don't think so. Just knocked out." Harry answers before bending down to grab his wand from the trolls nostril. Pulling it out he and Ron make a disgusted noise, seeing the wand being covered in mucus.
"Eugh, Troll boogies."

The clicking of shoes catches the four students attention. Looking at the doorway of the bathroom, incomes three Professors, McGonagall, Quirrell, and Snape. "Oh! Oh, my goodness!" Professor McGonagall looks around the bathroom before her eyes lock on Harry, Ron, and [Name]. "Explain yourselves, all of you!"

Harry and Ron begin muttering, trying to come up with an excuse, "Well, what it is.."

"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall." Hermione cuts in, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Harry and Ron looking at each other and [Name] in confusion of what she is thinking.
"Miss Granger?" McGonagall questions in disbelief.

Hermione looks down,
"I went looking for the troll. I'd read about them and thought I could handle it. But I was wrong. If [Name], Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me, I'd probably be dead."

"Actually-" A sharp jab is felt against [Names] side, causing them to glance over at Ron who was looking at them in a panic. Seeing this, [Name] decided to keep their mouth shut from the truth, for now.

"Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do." While McGonagall was scolding them, Harrys eyes couldn't help but drift to Snape, more specifically the very obvious injury he sustains, causing Snape to quickly cover it and glare at the young boy.
"-I would've expected more rational behavior on your part and am very disappointed in you, Ms. Granger." McGonagalls scolding continues, Harry and Snape having a mini stare off in the background.
"Five points will be taken from Gryffindor.. for your serious lack of judgement." McGonagall then looks to the other three students, "As for you two(/three) gentlemen (/and lady).. I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many first-year students could take on a full grown mountain troll.. and live to tell the tale. Even though Mx. [Last Name] is not much further than you in years, I'd still say you were pretty lucky to have them here. Five points.. will be awarded to each of you.."
At Professor McGonagalls words, a smile breaks out onto the faces of Ron, Harry, and Hermione.
"-For sheer dumb luck." McGongall finishes, turning around to exit, Professor Snape following behind her.
Professor Quirrell steps further into the bathroom, looking at the four students, "P-Perhaps you ought to go. It m-might wake up." Quirrell lets out a small nervous laugh, the four students walking past him. He stares down at the troll, it letting out a loud snore, scaring the Professor.

The four exit the bathroom and enter the hallway, walking in the direction of their dorms. [Name] splits away from the group, going in the opposite direction seeing as that's the way their house is.
"Good of you to get us out of trouble like that." They could hear Harry's voice echoing throughout the hall.
"Mind you, we did save her life."
"Mind you, she might not have needed saving if you hadn't insulted her."
At Harry's words, Ron looks down at the ground before looking over at Hermione. "What are friends for?" Hermione smiles at his words, and [Name] feeling a twinge of warmth hit them at the three first years interaction.

The next morning all the students were seated in the Great Hall eating their breakfast. Ron and [Name] sitting together, Harry and Hermione across from them. The group chatters idly while eating, Harry picking at his food which soon catches the three around hims attention.
"Take a bit of toast, mate. Go on."
"Ron's right, Harry. You're gonna need your strength today."
Harry simply looks at Hermione and Ron, "I'm not hungry."

"Good luck today, Potter." The four quickly look up at Professor Snape, who now stands behind Harry. "Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll. A little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you. Even if it is against Slytherin." Snape glances around the table before walking off, the group watching his every move.

"That explains the blood." Harry whispers.
"Blood?" Hermione looks over at him in confusion.
"Listen, last night, I'm guessing Snape let the troll in as a diversion.. so he could try and get past that three headed dog. But, he got himself bitten, that's why he's limping."
"But why would anyone go near that dog?"
"The day I was at Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults. He said it was Hogwarts business, very secret." Harry turns to the other two across from him to see their reactions. Ron raises his eyebrow while [Name] unsurprisingly doesn't react at all.
"So you're saying..."
"That's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape wants."

"Snape didn't release the troll-" A screeching of an owl cuts [Name] off, everyone looking up as a white owl comes swooping down with a large package held tightly in its claws. Once it was close enough to Harry, it swiftly dropped it down onto the table in front of him and flew off, landing next to Professor McGonagall.
"Bit early for mail, isn't it?"
"But I never get mail." Harry seems confused and cautious of the random package delivery he just got, while Ron looks a bit excited.
"Let's open it."

The four grab onto the tied up ribbon closest to them, easily untying it, and ripping off the packaging paper. Once all the wrapping was off, it was revealed to be a broomstick.
"It's a broomstick."

"That's not just a broomstick, Harry, It's a Nimbus 2000!"

"But who..?" [Name] reaches across the table, lightly tugging at Harry's sleeve. Once having his attention, they pointed at the front of the room where McGonagall was seen looking over at them, smiling and petting the owl that just made the delivery. Harry smiles back at her, nodding his head in thanks.

...

The doors open, revealing the stadium. Both teams fly out and onto the track, getting a feel of the wind as they fly around in circles.
"Hello! Welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season. Today's game, Slytherin versus Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor side of the stadiums cheer loudly for their team, the Slytherin side doing the same.
Before flying into their respective spots on the field, Fred and George take off towards the Gryffindor stands, keeping an eye out for an outstretched hand to give their traditional 'good luck' high fives before the game starts. Spotting it, almost in sync they slow down in line with eachother, with George in the lead, to lean over and individually give their high fives to [Name].

All Quidditch players move into the middle of the field, all players forming a circle except for the two seekers who are stationed above the rest.
"The players take their positions as Madam Hooch steps out onto the field to begin the game!"
Professor Hooch walks over to the wooden box left out in the middle of the field, "Now, I want a nice, clean game.. from all of you!" Hooch says, releasing three of the quidditch balls.

"The Bludgers are up, followed by the Golden Snitch. Remember, the Snitch is worth one hundred fifty points." The snitch flies around Harry a bit before moving onto the other teams Seeker. "The Seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game." The Snitch flies off into the air, signally for Hooch to take the last ball and throw it up into the air.
"The Quaffle is released and the game begins!"

Everyone immediately dives for the Quaffle, one of the members from the Gryffindor team catching it. She flies off as the Slytherin team chases after her, bumping into her and nearly ramming into one of the guest stands. She swerves out of the way and continues on her path in attempt to score, two men from the Slytherin team hot on her trail. Before either could stop her, she throws the Quaffle in, scoring a point for her team.

The crowd cheers for the Gryffindor team. "Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points for Gryffindor!"

"Well done!" Hagrid cheers from the stands.

"Slytherin takes possession of the Quaffle. Bletchley passes to Captain Marcus Flint." Just as the announcer says, Marcus obtains the ball, now being the one targeted by the Gryffindor team. He expertly dodges any of their advances, even kicking one of the female players away, which elicited a "aww" from the crowd. Dodging a bludger, Marcus attempts to throw the Quaffle into one of the hoops, only for Oliver to appear and blocks it from entering.
The Gryffindor team grabs a hold of the Quaffle, passing it back and forth between teammates while the Slytherin players try to intercept, failing, as the Gryffindors make another score.
"Another 10 points to Gryffindor!"

Slytherins are given the Quaffle once again, passing through their Gryffindor opponents and attempting another score into the hoop only to be blocked yet again by Oliver who catches the Quaffle and throws it to one of his teammates.
"Give me that!" Marcus rams himself into his Slytherin beater teammate, taking his bat and swinging a oncoming Bludger right into Oliver. Oliver gets knocked through the hoop and slowly descends to the ground, passed out.
The crowd boo's excluding the Slytherin side of the stadium, who instead laughs at the misfortune of Oliver Wood.

Two Slytherin members come up behind Fred, doing a very unnecessary but kind of sick ass jump over him before passing the Quaffle over to their teammate. They throw the Quaffle through the hoop, finally scoring a point for Slytherin. Marcus flies over to one of his teammates, pointing to the left side of the stadium, "Take that side!"
Marcus chases after the Gryffindor player who has the Quaffle, closing in on one side as the teammate he previously directed, comes in from the other side. The two Slytherins slam repeatedly into the Gryffindor, before finally taking the ball from her, allowing her to fly right into one of the clothes hanging off one of the towers, causing her to tumble her way to the ground. The crowd "ooo"'s at another loss from Gryffindors team.
Now with Slytherin having the Quaffle, they make quick work to throw the ball in the hoop, giving them another point.
The Slytherin filled side of the stadium cheers, the Gryffindors booing.

After waiting for so long, a buzzing noise is heard in Harry's ear, causing him to look over and catch sight of the Snitch flying past him. Not wasting a second longer, he quickly chases after the golden ball. Harry weaves his way through the players, dodging a Bludger as well, only to be stopped suddenly in mid air. Harry holds on tightly to his broom as his starts to thrash him around in every direction. The crowd becomes audibly confused as to whats going on with him, Hagrid even asking, "What's going on with Harry's broomstick?"

Hermione looks at Harry using her binoculars, then looks around at the stadium trying to see if theres someone from the crowd causing Harry to lose control of his broom. She comes to a stop as she sees Snape staring intently at Harry, seemingly chanting something. Hermione quickly steps closer to [Name], "It's Snape. He's jinxing the broom!"
"Jinxing the broom? What do we do?" Ron asks worriedly, overhearing Hermione.
"Leave it to me." Hermione simply says, putting her binoculars into [Names] hands.
"Hey, wait. I don't think it's Snape who's-" [Name] stops mid sentence, seeing as Hermione had already left.

Harrys broom finally knocks him off but he quickly clings onto the handle using one arm. The crowd becomes increasingly worried but all the Slytherins do is laugh. Harry tries his best to keep from falling, now holding onto the broom with two hands, but that doesn't stop his broom from thrashing around, still trying to get him to let go.

"Come on, Hermione!"

In the staff stands, Professor Snapes clothing catches on fire, causing one of his coworkers to stand up and point it out, "Fire, you're on fire!" The surrounding people try to stomp out his clothes, knocking Quirrell over in the process.

Finally, Harry's broom stops moving, allowing Harry to swing himself over and sit back on top of his broom. Without a moments waste, he dashes off trying to find the Snitch again. The crowd cheers at his recovery, members from Gryffindor screaming "Go, go, go, go!"
Harry catches up with the other Seeker who was hot on the Snitches trail. Harry rams himself into the Slytherin Seeker, causing a shoving battle between the two. The Slytherin Seeker knocks Harry outside the stadium but Harry quickly recovers and returns back to the Slytherins side.
The snitch dives down, close to the ground. Both Seekers dive after it but seeing how close they're getting to the ground, they look back and forth between each other getting worried. Not wanting to risk it, the Slytherin Seeker pulls up while Harry continues diving down. He pulls up just enough to not smack straight into the earth but still be level with the Snitch. Finally getting close enough, Harry stands up on his broom and reaches out towards the Snitch, trying to grab it. Taking a step forward, Harry forgot to account for how close he really was to the end of his broom, causing his broom to hit directly into the ground and flipping him over. Harry hits the ground but quickly regains balance, holding onto his stomach looking as if he's about to throw up.

The crowd looks concerned, gasping at yet another Gryffindor down on the ground and for the state he looks to be in.
"Looks like he's gonna be sick." Hagrid comments, using his own pair of binoculars to examine Harry's condition.

Finally, something pops out of Harry's mouth, and it's not throw up. He catches it in his hand and stares down in amazement.
"He's got the Snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!"
Professor Hooch flies around the Stadium with her own broom, blowing a whistle. "Gryffindor wins!" She cheers, causing the crowd to go wild.
Ron excitedly grabs onto [Name], jumping up and down screaming as they stare blankly at him.
The Gryffindor team surrounds Harry, cheering him on and celebrating with the crowd.

...

Harry, Hermione, Ron, [Name], and Hagrid walk out of the Hogwarts castle and onto a path leading into a more lush forest area.
"Nonsense! Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?" Hagrid says to the four students beside him.
"Who knows? Why was he trying to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween?" Harry snaps back.

"He wasn't."

The four of them all look towards [Name] in confusion.
"And how would you know? The evidence seems pretty clear to me." Harry asks them, a slight sharp tone to his voice.

"You don't have the full picture."

"And you do?-"

Hagrid clears his throat loudly, catching the four students attention again, which stopped them from trying to question [Name].
"Uh.. Who told you about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?"
"That thing has a name?"

"Of course he's got a name. He's mine. I bought him off an Irish feller I met down at the pub last year. Then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the.."

"Yes?"

"Shouldn't have said that. No more questions!" Hagrid points at the students, "Don't ask any more questions.. That's top-secret, that is."

Harry looks down at the ground like a dejected puppy, "But Hagrid, whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal it."

Hagrid stops walking to directly face the four, "Codswallop. Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."
Hermione steps out of the line they formed to face Hagrid directly, "Hogwarts teacher or not, I know a spell when I see one. I've read all about them. You've got to keep eye contact and Snape wasn't blinking."
Harry nods in agreement, "Exactly."

Hagrid takes a breath in, in exasperation. "Now, you listen to me, all four of you. You're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous. What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."
The four students take great notice of the last mentioned name, Harry even questioning, "Nicolas Flamel?"
"I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that." Hagrid repeats, walking away from the students.

"Nicolas Flamel. Who's Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asks his friends, "I don't know." Hermione responds.
"[Name], you've been here longer. Do you know Nicolas Flamel?"
[Name] stops to think for a bit, only to shake their head. "I think I've heard that name from somewhere but I do not know either."