Alohomora

6) Halloween

Halloween arrived and excited filled the castle. Everyone was looking foward to the Halloween feast! But before the celebrations began, we had Transfiguaration. Today, we were starting to learn how to make object fly, which the whole class was looking forward to. With a swish and flick of the wand, and the incantation "Wingardium Leviosa" Hermione was the only person who managed to make her feather fly properly. My feather hovered off the desk, but i still needed practice. Hermione was shouting at Ron about saying the spell wrong. " its levi-o-sa not levi-oh-sar" she snapped, making me and Seamus laugh. But a distracted Seamus accidentally set fire to his feather making me laugh even more. Professer Flitwick gave him a new one, but by the end of the lesson, Hermione was still the only person to make her feather fly. 

The class rushed out quickly at the end to make their way to the Great Hall. I walked with Hermione who was talking me through 'Wingardium Leviosa'. She was always willing to give me extra help, which i was grateful for. We reached the courtyard when things turned. "its no wonder no one can stand her, shes a nightmare!" exclaimed Ron. I glanced at Hermione. She walked past them quickly, bumping into Ron as she passed, a tear visible falling down her face. "i think she heard you"said Harry. "so?" replied Ron, sounding uncomfortable. I got past the boys and ran after Hermione, before i lost her in the crowd. She entered the bathroom and as i was about to Percy Weasley pulled on my arm. "come on Ruby! you don't want to miss the start of the feast!" he said, and i had no choice but to make my way to the Great Hall and save Hermione a seat.

The hall had been transformed once more. Candles were floating above the tables, thousands of bats flying above the tables, pumpkins dotted around. Halloween at Hogwarts was fantastic. But as the food started to appear on the plates, Hermione was still missing. "Where's Hermione?"asked Parvarti as she helped herself to some potatoes. Harry and Ron listened in. "She disappeared into the toilets, she should be here any minute"i replied, glancing towards the doors again. 

5 minutes later, she still hadn't turned up and i was getting worried. But just then, Professor Quirrell came running through the doors. His face was as white as snow. "troll, in the dungeons, thought you ought to know"he said, before he legs gave way and he fell to the floor. He had fainted. It took about a minute for the school to process what he had just said, then everyone started shouting and jumping up in panic. Parvarti and i looked at each other in shock. Dumbledore stood and purple sparks shot from the tip of his wand, bringing an instant silence to the room. "Prefects, lead your houses back to your common rooms immediately!"he roared. Percy Weasley stood up sticking out his chest so his prefect badge was visible for everyone to see. "follow me!"he shouted, as the Gryffindors left their seats and bunched up in a large group behind Percy. "i've just thought Hermione" cried Harry, who was next to me. "what about her?"asked Ron. "she doesn't know about the troll!" replied Harry. Both boys looked at me. "We need to help her"i said. Harry nodded. "we better not get caught by Percy" sighed Ron.

We slowed down and blended in with the Hufflepuffs until we reached an empty corridor which we took and hurried to the toilets. Foot steps could be heard behind us so we ducked behind a statue. "Snape!whars he doing here and not with the other teachers?"hissed Harry. We waited for Snape to pass before carrying on. "he's heading for the third floor" Harry told us. Then we were hit with a foul smell. And a growling sound. From the darkened end of the corridor, i could see a huge figure moving in our direction. I held back a scream. Ahead of us, a creature, 12 feet tall with a lumpy body, huge feet and legs like tree trunks. The troll. It walked into a room. "we should lock it in there quick"Harry suggested and Ron agreed, so we crept over. Harry yanked the door shut and Ron turned the key, breathing a sigh of relief. "oh no"i said, making the boys look at me. "thats the girls toilets!" i cried. "Hermione!" the boys shouted. We rushed to unlock the door as a scream filled the empty corridor. At last the door swung open to reveal Hermione shrinking against the wall, the troll approaching her, knocking things out of its way with a wooden club. Thinking quickly, Harry threw some of the rubble at the trolls head. The troll stopped and turned, confused to see what was going on. Its beady eyes falling on Harry. "oy pea-brain!" Ron yelled from beside me, causing the troll to sway as it spun to face us. Ron picked up some more rubble and aimed for the trolls stomach. But it didn't feel the blow and made its way towards us. "Hermione, run!" screamed Harry, but Hermione was rooted to the spot, too scared to move. The troll kept moving closer, panic rising over me and Ron. Without really thinking, Harry took a run and a huge leap and landed onto the trolls back. his wand going straight up the trolls nose.  The trolls stopped moving and howled in pain. Hermione was now on the floor, just like Quirrell had been a short time ago. Ron pulled out his wand and yelled "Wingardium Leviosa!". The club flew out of the trolls hand and then landed on its head. The troll swayed again and crashed down onto the floor, nearly crushing Harry. A shaking Hermione stood up and joined us, all eyes were on the creature. "is it dead?"asked Hermione timidly. "I dont think so" replied Harry, reaching down to remove his wand from the trolls nostril. "ew, troll bogies" laughed Ron and Harry wiped the wand on his cloak. The new silence was broken by a door slamming and footsteps. 

Professor McGonagall burst into the toilets, followed by Professors Quirrel and Snape. Quirrel whimpered and took a seat on the floor, still pale. Snape examined the troll whist Professor McGonagall started at us looking very angry. "what were you thinking?!you're lucky you weren't killed!why aren't you in the common room?!"she shouted, making Ron step backwards. "Please, they were looking for me"replied Hermione, he voice barely above a whisper. "I went looking for the troll because i thought i could deal with it on my own after i read a book about them" Harry, Ron and I exchanged confused looks. Hermione Granger lying to a teacher? "if they hadn't found me, i'd be dead by now"she finished. McGonagall still had her eyes on us. "in that case, Miss Granger you stupid girl, how could you believe you could tackle a mountain troll by yourself?" she asked, Hermione was staring at her feet. "five points will be taken from Gryffindor, im very disappointed in you, you better get back to the Gryffindor Tower, they are finishing the feast in there"Hermione nodded then left the toilets. Professor McGonagall turned to us. "five points each will be award to Gryffindor fot helping take down the troll, although ill still say you're very lucky, you may go too". We hurried out, not believing we had avoided a detention.

"Good of her to get us out of trouble" said Ron, as we made our way back down the corridor. "she might not have needed saving if we didn't lock it in there with her!" replied Harry. Rons ears went pink. We reached the portrait of the Fat Lady to see Hermione waiting. "thanks"she said, before i joined her to get the last of the food.

But from that moment, Harry and Ron became our friends.