The King of Slytherin: A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 16: Tension

Neville Longbottom. He was the only one whose name Harry had cared to remember. He was, after all, part of a very influential and rich family. The other two Harry had met before, and probably heard their names as well, but he couldn't quite place them. The know-it-all brown-haired girl from the train, and the red-haired one. Wesly and Grainly, or something like that.

There was a moment of silence between the three Slytherins, glancing at each other. It was soon broken by Wesley.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" He looks confused. "Slytherins aren't allowed in the kitchens."

This completely broke any and all tension the three Slytherins had been feeling. Blaise burst out laughing, Harry grinned, and even Daphne let out a small, very unladylike snort. 

"I think we might need to leave after all," said Blaise, smirking.

"Yes, his utter stupidity may be contagious," added Daphne. Harry rolled his eyes, still looking slightly amused, and turned to ask one of the many scurrying elves for a glass of water. 

Grainly, however, was very much not amused. Her face reddened slightly, and she opened her mouth.

"Of all the rude, outrageous things to say to a fellow classmate! You know, in Hogwarts: A History, it is specifically stated in chapter 5 that is most definitely not scholarly and polite to-" 

"And no, I didn't ask. Go find someone who cares, Granger." Harry looked up at this, curious. Oh, her name is Granger then. The newly named "Granger" then turned to him.

"And you! How could you side with these-these bullies? I met you on the train, and thought you were alright!" Harry rolled his eyes.

"I saw you once, and we exchanged a very short, very unpleasant conversation that I barely remember other than the fact that someone was acting as though she was above the rest of us 'bullies.' Because sure, of course you already knew that spell, not like you thanked me or anything, Little Miss Know-It-All." Okay, maybe he was still a bit salty about that encounter. 

The red haired one snorted. Granger turned around to look at him in betrayal.

"What?" He shrugged,  chewing loudly on an overstuffed BLT sandwhich. "You are kind of a know-it-all. It's no wonder you have no friends, really." Granger's eyes filled with tears. This made Harry feel a tiny bit bad, because hearing that from someone who she thought was her friend must have been harsh. She fled the room, pushing past Daphne, who made a face as Grangers slightly dirty robe brushed her sleeve. And finally, finally Longbottom spoke up. Harry had been worried that he was too afraid to talk, which was unbecoming of a pureblood heir, really.

"Th-that was really m-mean Ron. You should apologize." He spoke quietly, stuttering a bit when Wesly (Ron?) turned to face him. 

"C'mon, Neville, you can't really be siding with her..." At this point, Harry turned around, disgusted at having to both see and hear Wesly's horrible chewing. He nodded at Daphne and Blaise, nodding towards the door. They both got the message, and the three departed quietly, unbeknownst to the two boys bickering behind them.

It was after a rather long day of exploring that Harry, Daphne and Blaise returned to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry now had extensive notes on the secret passageways, and was becoming very interested in creating some sort of map of Hogwarts. He was buzzing with ideas for projects, although he doubted he would be able to easily complete them all. The three sat down at a table, Daphne and Blaise talking together about some designer robe shop in Diagon. Harry turned to them and scooped some mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"Maybe we should try getting to the village soon," mused Harry. "We're not supposed to go until 3rd year, but I'd really rather get out of here sooner than that. I'm in need of some shopping." 

"Yes!" Blaise looked especially excited. "There's this amazing quill shop, they make-"

"Hey, Daph!"  A small, brown haired girl was walking towards them, seating herself across from Daphne. She was part of their dorm, and Harry was fairly sure her name was Tracy Davis. She nodded at both Harry and Blaise politely, and the conversation resumed, this time with one more member. About halfway through the meal, the two giant doors to the hall opened loudly. Everyone quieted, and turned to stare. Professor Quirrel stood, pale faced and shaken.

"Troll!" He yelled. "Troll in the dungeon." Everyone sat still in shook. Quirrel looked around. "Thought you'd like to know." He proceeded to faint, rather dramatically. As the hall burst into chaotic screaming and shoving, Harry furrowed his brows. Quirrel wasn't showing the usual signs of an unconcious person (he had taken a pre-med course a year or two ago), and his behavior prior to the fainting seemed rather unusual-

"QUIET!" Dumbledore boomed. Harry was faintly impressed when everyone went silent. That was a good skill to have. "Everyone follow your prefects back to your houses..." Harry tuned out the rest of his instructions. Why would they send the Slytherins back to their dorms? The troll was in the dungeons, afterall. Maybe this was time to make use of another secret passage. Tracy turned to Daphne, eyes wide.

"Hermione is still in the bathroom. I was there earlier, I heard her crying. She doesn't know about the troll." Daphne rolled her eyes.

"She'll be fine. We need to leave it to the professors." Tracy shook her head resolutely. 

"What if she gets hurt? We need to be the ones to get her, no one's going to listen to us in this mess anyways." She turned, and before any of them could stop her, ran off down the hallway. Daphne was quick to follow, yelling after her to stop. Blaise and Harry shared a look.

"Of all the stupid, Gryffindorish things to do..." Harry scowled before chasing after them, Blaise in tow. They caught up quickly, and the four peeked around a corner. Tracy glanced back.

"We're almost there, and the troll is in the dungeons anyway, so theres nothing-" She stopped talking as an enormous shadow covered the wall infront of them. They watched, frozen, as a giant, ugly grey beast lumbered past. He dragged a club behind him, and had a tiny head in comparison to the rest of him. His chin was covered in saliva, and the club carried some sort of sticky looking goo. Daphne gagged silently, and the rest looked disgusted. Harry was the first to take charge, leading them quietly towards a shortcut. They broke into a sprint, desperate to get there before the troll. The door to the bathroom slammed open, and they saw Granger at a sink, eyes red and nose running. She spun to face them, confused.

"What are you-"

"No time to explain," Harry rushed. "There's a troll and we need to get out of here now." Tracy tapped his shoulder.

"Um... Harry? I don't think that's an option anymore." Harry turned slowly.

The troll stood in the doorway, crouching under the low ceiling. He looked at them, and grunted. No one dared move. The troll tilted its head, smiling, showing crooked and yellowed teeth. Granger screamed.