Troll in the Dungeon!

The Slytherin prefects were annoyed as they led their charges down into the Slytherin dorms. It was all well and good that the teachers were searching for the troll, but the dorms were in the dungeon. No staff member, not even their Head of House, had paused to consider that fact. No. Instead they all listened to that barmy muggle-loving fool and sent them off.

The irritation became anger – and fear – as the group encountered the very troll that they were warned was in the castle.

Miles Belchley, Seventh-year prefect, smelled it first. As soon as he got a whiff, he remembered a lesson from his Care of Magical Creatures lessons and yelled, "Stop!" Suddenly, he could see the troll a few yards down the hallway, coming around a corner. The troll's eyes lit up as he saw the students.

"ANYONE WHO CAN CAST A BLUDGEONING HEX OR KNOCKBACK JINX, GET READY TO DO IT! EVERYONE ELSE, RUN BACK TO THE GREAT HALL! NOW!"

The vast majority of younger years quickly rushed back toward the direction they had come. Beltchley could hear some cursing and jostling but had no time to take care of it. He glanced around and saw a couple of other upper years, and surprisingly, some of the quidditch team members. "Okay! Cast … NOW!"

There were a myriad of spells which hit the troll. It did stop it momentarily. But the troll's hide was far too magically resistant and so, with a roar, it surged forward.

Beltchley called, "Dodge!" even as he did so. However, even as he was dodging, he saw something that chilled his blood: There were a couple of first years which had not retreated with the rest, and one of them was the Malfoy brat. And the troll was going right for them. Cursing the ponce as he went, Beltchley tried to distract the troll away from the first years – and succeeded for just a moment: He was knocked back with the club and hit his head on the wall, knocking him out.

Marcus Flint, Captain of the quidditch team, wasn't very good with much magic, but he was good with brute force spells. However, once Beltchley went down, he was feeling quite a bit less confident that they could get out of this. When the female Sixth year prefect was knocked into a corner and got cut on the edge of a suit of armor, he started feeling real fear.

He saw the troll bring its club up to hit the first years who were stupid enough not to have run and didn't know what to do. Suddenly, a voice caught his (and everyone except the troll's) attention. From behind he heard the incantation, "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!"

Harry looked around at where he had just arrived. His eyes grew wide at what he was seeing: A troll was about to squish what looked to be Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott.

Taking a page out of Ron Weasley's book, instead of concentrating on the troll, he concentrated on the club and cried, "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!"

When the troll's arm came down, it was without his club. Confused the troll looked at his hand for a moment and then looked up. Just as Ron had done all those years ago, Harry picked that moment to release the spell. And just like in his own first year, the confused troll was knocked unconscious when hit with his own club.

He had to quickly knock back the two dumb first years as they stupidly just stood there instead of running.

Rushing forward, Harry quickly chained the troll with an incarcerous spell or three and then looked around. A few older Slyherins were standing around, looking as though they had been trying to attack the troll. Two were down. And then there were the two first years. He only recognized one by name: "Flint! What the hell happened?"

Confused as to how this man knew his name, Flint nevertheless answered. "Quirrell came into the Great Hall and said there was a troll in the dungeons. The Headmaster sent all the students to their dorms with the prefects leading. Beltchley saw the troll and ordered anyone who could do a bludgeoning hex or knockback jinx to stay and for everyone else to run back to the Great Hall. We were doing okay until we saw the two firsties."

Annoyed, Harry nodded and said, "Good thinking on Beltchley's part. Which one is Beltchley?"

Flint pointed to one of the two students down. Harry quickly moved to the downed students and performed some diagnostic spells. The male was just knocked out. The female however, was bleeding heavily.

Harry performed several spells which slowed down the blood but the damage was massive. "Okay. Stand back!"

The students did so and Harry, after turning the girl over and ensuring her wound was visible, changed into his animagus form and cried tears into the girls wounds. Thankfully, the bleeding slowed and stopped. Harry turned back and, after another diagnostic spell, confirmed she was out of the woods.

Harry called out, "I NEED A HOUSE ELF!"

Suddenly, one of the castle elves popped in. "Master needs an elf?"

"Yes. Thank you. Can you take a student to another part of the castle?"

"Not without permissions from Headmaster."

"Okay. I need you to pop to the infirmary and tell Madam Pomphrey that there are two injured coming in, both serious and mostly stable."

The elf nodded and popped away.

"Okay." He then quickly conjured two stretchers and levitated the two injured to them. He got four of the Slytherins to carry them to the infirmary and told them to return to the Great Hall when the had delivered them.

"Okay – Flint? You're in charge of the rest of the Slytherins – take them back to the Great Hall and wait for instructions from the staff."

Flint nodded. He was staring at this man who had turned into a phoenix – he had never heard of such a thing. Quickly, he did as ordered.

Harry stood there for a moment and then sent a Mmmr Patronus to Amelia Bones – whether she was the head of the DMLE at this time or not he didn't know, but he knew she was at least an Auror.

Thinking, he then sent a second patronus to Lucius Malfoy. As much as he hated the man, he was on the Board of Governors. And he had a plan.

Harry then went to the Great Hall to wait with the students.

The Slytherin students were milling about when the man who had stopped the troll came into the room. They got very quiet. Harry called out, "I NEED A HOUSE ELF!"

Once again, the same elf who had went to the infirmary appeared. "Master calls for elf?"

"Yes. The Slytherin students were not able to finish their meal in their common room due to the troll. Perhaps the elves can feed them here?"

The house elf looked at the Slytherins who were looking quite hopeful and nodded. He popped out and very soon food appeared on the Slytherin table. The students quickly set into it. The four who had taken the stretchers arrived and also started eating.

A short while later, the doors opened and the Headmaster appeared with several staff members. Looking around, he asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

Harry stood up from where he was eating his own dinner and said, "The meaning of what? Life? The Universe? Everything?"

Taken aback, the Headmaster asked, "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm known in many worlds as the Lone Traveler. You can call me Harry Potter. And I was the one who prevented the troll from smooshing several of your Slytherins in the dungeon." Harry stood there calmly. Harry quite like the work "smooshing" it was amusing.

At that, quite a number of people in the hall stared at him. None of the students had realized his identity. The staff was shocked silent for a moment.

Into this silence, Amelia Bones came in leading a few Aurors. She looked around and asked, "What is going on?"

Harry answered before the Headmaster could say anything. "Thank you for coming. Just a little matter of attempted murder." As Harry talked, he walked toward the staff and the Aurors, absently twirling his wand as we walked. As soon as everyone was distracted, Harry used his almost preternatural speed to incarcerous the Defense professor and stupefy him.

Once again, Dumbledore asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

Without looking at the man he had downed, Harry silently accio'ed the mans turban. Suddenly, everyone could see the face on the back of the man's head.

"Meet Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. He let a troll into the school tonight, I guess in an attempt to distract the staff away from whatever Dumbledore is hiding on the third floor."

It should be noted that Riddle, at this point, did not have the strength that he would later have had if he had a chance to feast of the life of Quirrell over the several months until the end of the year. So, all that came from the face on the back of Quirrell's head was a groan of pain at being exposed.

There was pandemonium for a few moments until Harry sent a concussive hex to get everyone's attention. The Headmaster looked almost pole axed.

Amelia quickly sent the Aurors to take the man into custody. Harry said, "Just don't let Avery or Yaxley watch them – they're closet Death Eaters."

Amelia looked at the man with shock. "How do you know this?"

Harry shrugged. "Experience from my own world."

Amelia finally got annoyed, "What is going on in this place?"

Just as the Aurors were portkeying the Defense Professor away, Lucius Malfoy arrived. He said, "Just what I wished to know."

Harry gave a grin even as Amelia and Dumbledore almost groaned.

"Hello. My name is Harry Potter. I am known as the Lone Traveler. I just had to save your son from being killed tonight. We're just about to review the facts about what happened. Any problem with that?"

As much as he tried to protest, the Headmaster eventually resigned himself to having to deal with this tonight with all of the Slytherin students as witnesses.

The final part of the ordeal was shown when Harry conjured a Pensieve and showed the memory of his arrival until he had went back to the Great Hall.

Many were looking at him with some awe – none had heard of a phoenix animagus before.

Finally Harry got to his point, "Now. A few things I have to say: Miles Beltchley?" He looked to Severus Snape, who nodded that the name was correct, "Miles Beltchley was the most intelligent of everyone here tonight. He ended up in the infirmary due to the stupidity of Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott, who – instead of retreating as ordered – decided to stay and see the troll, distracting the prefects and other students who were trying to keep the troll from harming the other students. I am certain," harry said as he stared down the younger Malfoy, "that some form of penalty needs to be applied."

Dumbledore tut-tutted. "I am certain that Mr. Malfoy has learned his lesson."

Angry, Harry turned. "ALBUS DUMBLEDORE! YOU ARE A FOOL!" Everyone was taken aback by the vehemence of the visitor's comment.

"You are creating a complete new generation of criminals and thugs! Do you want to know how? You allow them to do the most horrible things and then punish those who get upset about it. Your Potions Master is a miserable prick almost solely due to the fact that you coddled four young bullies because 'boys will be boys' and you wanted them to like you. As much as I love my father, he and his friends were bullying arses until they grew up. Malfoy there," he thumbed toward the younger one, "has consistently insulted and belittled others and behaved without manners and you allow it to continue without comment. Congratulations. You've made a new Pureblood supremacist who thinks he can get away with murder."

Lucius protested. "I object to you vilifying my son! He is the epitome of a Great House and deserves respect!"

Harry turned to Malfoy and asked in a deadly quiet voice, "Do you really believe that?"

Lucius put his nose up and said, "Of course I do!"

"Well, let's see the video …" Harry dropped the memories he had of his interactions with Draco Malfoy before Halloween 1991 into the pensieve and put it on 'Play.' The several interactions were quite … educational.

Lucius looked over to his son to ask if these were accurate. The boy's whole demeanour answered before he could ask. His son really had been that much of an ass.

Draco decided to but in. "It doesn't matter! He's just a half-blooded Gryffindor."

Harry smirked evilly. "Your fault, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco was taken aback. "What do you mean 'my fault'?" he asked with anger and confusion.

"If the local Harry is anything like me, the only reason he wasn't put into Slytherin was because he begged the hat not to put him there after meeting you: You remind him of his bullying cousin – who is a Muggle."

The entire room was taken aback at that, including Minerva and the Headmaster. Severus Snape said, "You have got to be lying."

Harry shook his head. "Have a neutral third party ask him this: 'Who does Draco Malfoy most remind you of?' and if his answer is 'Dudley' than the rest of it is likely true as well." Just to mess with the minds of the Slytherins present Harry added with the evil smile fully on, "It's amazing how easy it is to fool the entire Wizarding world. You get sorted into Gryffindor and they don't realize that every insult and every attack is catalogued against future payback. It's almost fun watching my dimensional counterparts destroying – legally – those who slighted him throughout his Hogwarts years."

Harry really didn't know why he did it. But making the Slytherins afraid at that moment just seemed … fun.

"Of course, we've got nothing on the Hufflepuffs."

The room suddenly was thrown into confusion. Amelia Bones even widened her eyes at that. "What do you mean?"

Harry looked at Amelia with a gimlet eye. "I've been to a whole bunch of different worlds. Do you want to know the biggest thing they have in common? The Hufflepuffs run everything from behind the scenes. They boast that they've never had a Dark wizard or witch come out of Hufflepuff, but who controls the records? Hufflepuffs. Who is in charge of the DMLE? Hufflepuffs. Who runs the Wizarding Examination Authority? A Hufflepuff. Who runs St. Mungo's? A Hufflepuff. And most of the obliviators? What house were they in? Who actually does the approvals for new businesses in the Ministry? What House were they in?"

Amelia protested. "That's all just a coincidence!"

"Yeah, right. What House was Fudge in?"

Dumbledore said with a certain amount of surprise, "He was a Hufflepuff as well."

Harry motioned as thought to say, "See what I mean?" Instead he said, "Yeah – Hufflepuff. The house of the 'Duffers' that just happen to be running everything. 'It's just a coincidence!' Yeah, right."

Pamona Sprout was getting annoyed. "Can we just get back to what happened this evening?"

Harry looked at the Slytherins as if to say, "See who really is controlling things?" but then said, "Certainly. Anyway – Mr. Malfoy needs a proper penalty for putting his fellow Slytherins in danger when he didn't follow the orders of the Prefect."

Snape said, "I will take care of it." Malfoy looked unhappy so Harry assumed that Snape really would take care of it.

Lucius Malfoy finally broke from his speculative gaze toward the Hufflepuffs in the room and said, "The Board of Governors will be looking into this incident."

Harry said, "Mr. Malfoy, I need to speak to you."

"What is it? I am a busy man."

"Let's talk outside for a moment."

Harry and Lucius stood outside of the Great Hall. Harry set up a privacy spell.

Lucius asked, "What is it?" with his most superior tone.

"Well, considering I just saved your son's life, you owe me. And payment is quite simple."

"What payment do you require?" Lucius asked, sneering.

"The Diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle that you have hidden below your drawing room floor, delivered in a silk bag within a locked steel or iron box so as to prevent the compulsions on it from functioning."

Taken aback Lucius was about to deny it but, looking at the man in front of him, he knew that would be pointless. "And where will you be?"

"Oh – right here. Dumbledore won't be able to keep me out. No one can – certain rights having to do with my specific situation."

Lucius nodded. "Very well. I will deliver it tomorrow."

Harry nodded. "Good. I should warn you: If the Dark Lord returns, he will destroy the Malfoy family. I've seen it happen in a number of worlds. Helping me only helps your family."

"I will take that under advisement." Lucius quickly retreated.

Harry grinned as he returned to the Great Hall. The witness statements were finished and the Slytherins.

Finally, Amelia asked, "And if we need your input, where will we find you?"

"Oh – I'll be here at Hogwarts. I have a room and everything," Harry said with a smile. "I'll make certain the Headmaster can contact me."

Amelia nodded and turned away before stopping and asking, "You don't really think that there is a big Hufflepuff conspiracy, do you?" He could see she was really curious.

The Slytherins, including Snape, had all left and so Harry could answer honestly. "Actually? No. I just decided to have some fun with the Slytherins. They expect everyone to be as sneaky as they are so they will be watching my alternate and the Hufflepuffs like they're poisonous snakes for a while. It will be funny."

Dumbledore asked with some worry, "So your various alternates don't work on destroying their enemies?"

Harry shrugged. "Not really. Actually, the various worlds which my alternate goes dark in are almost universally due to the way your various alternates manipulate them. The constant demand that they return to abusive relatives, refuse to tell him about the prophecy, refuse to actually teach him what is needed to defeat Voldemort, refuse to allow him to learn what it means to be a Potter, refuse to allow him to choose his own friends, the way you try to control his life, basically the way many of your alternates seem to be setting my alternates up to die, binding their magical core, binding their innate gifts, blocking their mental capabilities, often stealing the heirlooms and things that he should have inherited because 'he doesn't need them', allowing Severus Snape – or ordering him – to be abusive in the way he teaches, forced legilemency … it can get quite ugly. I've had to actually put a few of my alternates down because they'd gone quite evil. More Harry Potters have gone on to become Dark Lords because of Albus Dumbledore than anything that Tom Riddle ever did. Oh, and trying to force him into a marriage using potions or allowing others to do so. That's a common part of them going evil too." The serious way that Harry said this was quite chilling.

Albus, Minerva, and Filius had gone quite white in the face as Harry spoke. Amelia's eyes widened. "Another joke?" Dumbledore asked in a strained voice.

"In this case? Not even a little." Harry turned and walked out of the Great Hall, using his abilities to travel to the Room of Requirement.

Amelia Bones watched the Traveler leave the Hall and then turned on Dumbledore. "I hope that none of what he just said is going on in this particular world."

Albus said, "I assure you that I have done none of the things that the older Mr. Potter has alluded to."

Amelia looked at him for a moment and said, "I should hope note. I will be keeping an eye on Mr. Potter's progress." She turned and left herself. She needed to secure a Dark Lord.

Minerva turned on Albus and said, "Did you catch the part about abusive relatives? I warned you about them when you left the boy those many years ago."

Albus was about to protest that everything was fine … but realized that it wouldn't work. So instead he said nothing. He really needed to rethink the way he treated the boy.