Redo - Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter Seventeen

Everything was quiet for precisely two seconds, then chaos ensued. When Harry spared a glance at Xira, he was immensely entertained by the look on her face. She looked wholly done, her mouth still open and the food millimeters away from her mouth.

Harry wanted to laugh, but she probably would snap at him. His eyes left her and went to Dumbledore, who was attempting to silence the students. He finally did by using his wand, calling the prefects to lead the students back to their dormitories.

Harry sneered at the man; how had he been so blind before? Of course, he gave no care to the Hufflepuffs nor the Slytherins. Didn't Quirrell just say the troll was in the dungeons, just where both the Hufflepuff and Slytherin dorms happened to be?

No student seemed to think about that though, maybe some did but just weren't brave enough to say anything. As the Slytherin prefects were getting all the students together, Harry spared a glance to the Gryffindor table. He cursed under his breath.

There was a distinct lack of a bushy head of hair among the other kids. Hermione was probably in the girl's bathroom sobbing. Who knows what that troll could do to her? But technically, they weren't friends. He wasn't the one who hurt her feelings.

If he didn't do anything, he wouldn't be blamed. Could he just let her potentially get hurt? Why was he considering it? No, he would make sure she was alright. He was utterly disgusted that he contemplated letting Hermione get hurt.

No matter if he was different now, she wasn't. The same bright witch that was once one of his best friends. She supported him and would one day become a great woman; she deserved nothing but the best.

Harry was about to sneak away from the Slytherins; nobody was paying attention to him anyway. Xira, though, noticed him and gave him a questioning look.

"What are you doing?" She asked, and Harry gulped. What was he supposed to say? He already predicted that Xira would pester him later about how he knew something was going to happen.

"Nothing," Harry said, but he knew that just made him sound all the more suspicious. Xira gave him an unimpressed look, bright blue eyes seeing straight through his lie.

"Don't lie to me." Xira seemed to stare straight into his soul; he knew she wanted him to just tell her. Harry felt a strong compulsion to just spill it all right there, but he stopped himself. He'd have to lie once more; the truth was too much.

"I saw a girl break away from her group and head off. She probably wanted to stop the troll herself or something as she was a Gryffindor. I don't want her to get hurt or worse, so I thought I should check on her." He thought it was a believable fib, but he saw her doubt.

"Well then, I'll come with you; two kids aren't much better than one against a troll." She said with a grin. Harry felt though she knew that what he said wasn't the absolute truth.

"So, three kids would be better?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, hoping to avoid the lie. She shook her head, still smirking, shoving Harry slightly so he'd go to where he supposedly saw the girl go. Harry pretty much sprinted, hoping to get there as fast as he could.

Xira followed behind, right on his tail. She stopped for a minute, and Harry turned to look back at her, wondering why she quit.

"Wait, I thought Quirrell said the troll was in the dungeons. Why are we going up?" Harry kind of stood there for a second, trying to think of a reasonable explanation.

"Well, I saw her go up here; maybe she's not trying to find the troll. But she could still be in danger." She looked at Harry skeptically but didn't say anything. Harry continued running, and as they got closer to the girl's bathroom, he smelt the horrible stench of the troll.