Chapter 2: First Forays

Several weeks later, Harry found himself levering his trunk up onto the Hogwarts' Express and thinking about his very first friend. Hagrid had been a wonderfully nice man all things considered but, Harry was forced to admit the gentle giant was a rather bad introduction to the magical world. Horrible even. He hadn't even told Harry how to get onto a seemingly nonexistent platform! Thankfully he had had time to read part of Hogwarts, A History so he knew about the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 but what if he hadn't? He might've been stuck outside! Harry suppressed a shudder at that nightmare.

On the other hand, Hagrid had gotten him his beautiful owl Hedwig which really made up for absolutely anything and everything. An actual birthday present? That giant of a man had firmly cemented Harry's loyalty for life. He smiled down at Hedwig who twisted her head and hooted softly at him reaching through the bars to nip his fingers a bit.

"Excuse me, is there anyone sitting over there? Most of the rest of the compartments are full and I'd prefer not to lug this thing any further," a red-headed young boy about Harry's age asked pushing into the compartment with a large trunk in tow.

"Sure, seat's open," Harry said. "I'm Harry by the way."

"Ron Weasley. Have you seen Harry Potter anywhere? I heard he was supposed to be here this year and I wanted to say hi before we reached the school."

"Err…" Harry ran a hand through his hair but before he could decide whether or not to admit his last name Ron's eyes widened and he pointed at Harry's forehead. Harry groaned realizing far too late he'd exposed the stupid, annoying scar.

"Blimey! YOU'RE Harry Potter! Why didn't you say so? I'm Ron Weasley!"

"Yeah, I know. You already introduced yourself a minute ago."

"Oh right, well, bloody hell! Harry Potter! So how did you do it? Do you remember it? Did it hurt?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it," Harry sighed reaching into his pocket and pulling out his mother's runes notebook. She had been right, it was a fantastic way to relax and studying the runes always helped him tune the world out. Granted the world had previously consisted of Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley but the theory was still sound. Right?

"But why not? You're famous, mate! It's awesome! What I wouldn't give to be in your position!" Ron yelled out with a grin almost splitting his face.

Harry just scowled. "You'd rather have your parents dead and live with relatives who hate you? Be my guest. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to read now."

Ron's mouth dropped open and he just sputtered for a few seconds. Harry caught the boy's face turning slightly red before he leaned down over his notes. He'd already been able to correct some of his mum's mistakes, add a few new notes and he even had a few ideas on some entirely new clusters. With a bit of luck he'd be able to figure out how to finish one of the simpler ones before the end of month. Two months tops. The carving sets from the shop in Diagon Alley had had everything he needed to get started. Convincing Hagrid that he'd wanted something two years early (why Ancient Runes only started Third Year he couldn't figure out; it wasn't like it was complicated) had been difficult until Harry had pulled the 'I want to be closer to my mum' card. Hagrid had melted like putty after that.

Thankfully Ron stayed quiet for a few hours for the most part...Harry could hear him grumbling under his breath every so often. It was a bit annoying but he still left Harry to his work. By the time the food trolley rolled around Harry had finished the current cluster he'd been studying and felt a bit bad about earlier. It wasn't Ron's fault the magical world in general seemed to idolize him. He bought a few extra snacks from the woman as a peace offering.

"Here, you want some? I got a bit too much I think."

"Really? You don't want it?" Ron started to reach for the Chocolate Frogs but his hand froze midway.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Thanks!" Ron lunged forward and grabbed two handfuls of food before ripping some of the wrappers off and stuffing them in his mouth. "You want a sandwich?" Ron asked with his mouth full of little cakes. "Mum made them for me. They're good but they're not sweets."

"Sure, thanks," Harry shrugged trying hard to hide the gleam in his eyes. That one sandwich had more meat than Harry had been allowed all week! No way was he going to turn that down. Sweet delicious ham...

The door to the compartment popped open and a set of twins came holding some sweets in their arms. From the red hair and freckles it was obvious they were related to Ron. "Hey, Ronnikins, need any chocolate?"

"Got some. Thanks."

"Sure you don't need more, o brother of ours?" Harry shuddered at the grin on the second twin – it was almost the exact same grin he got when he managed to get something over on Dudley. No way were those chocolates safe to eat!

"I'm good guys."

"Damn. Well guess we'll just have to go and find some other firsties eh, George?"

"Guess so, Fred."

"What about this firstie?"

"Nah, he's nice and quiet-like. I don't reckon it's a good idea to prank the quiet ones. At least not before the first week." George winked at Harry.

"I appreciate that," Harry said with a laugh. "I'm Harry by the way."

"George, and my esteemed brother here is Fred." Both twins bowed low with grand flourishes somehow avoiding dropping any of their candy. "You wouldn't happen to be Harry Potter by any chance would you?"

Stifling a sigh, Harry nodded. At least these two were polite about it.

"Well, 'twas a pleasure meeting you, Harrykins! Welcome to Hogwarts and I hope you'll consider joining us in Gryffindor. We can guarantee less pranks if follow us to our grand house!" Fred said as he and his brother backed out.

'Well, that was actually the tamest response I've gotten to my name in the past month!' Harry thought grinning. The tact gene may have skipped their brother but the twins were pretty cool.

Ron grumbled before pulling out a rat and trying to feed it a piece of toffee. It was probably a good thing the rat was uninterested. It'd likely send the poor thing to the great sewer in the sky.

"Uh, Ron…why do you have a rat?"

"This is Scabbers. He's my pet. Been in the family for ages. Percy had him years ago." Ron scowled down at the rat. "He's really lazy though and kind of boring. Want to see a spell? Fred and George gave me one that's supposed to turn him yellow!" he said leaning over for his wand.

"Okay," Harry shrugged. It would be awesome to see some actual magic but...if the twins had given it the spell? Harry was not going to be holding his breath for this one.

As Ron pulled out his wand the compartment door opened again and this time a girl with bushy brown hair and a nervous looking boy entered. "Have either of you noticed a toad around here? Neville's has escaped."

"No," Harry said with a shake of his head. "Have you tried asking any of the upper years? They might have a spell to help search."

"No, we haven't but that's a good idea. Oh are going to do a spell? I've tried some of the simpler ones myself already and haven't had any issues at all. Come on then, what are going to do?" The girl plopped down on the seat next to Harry and stared at Ron.

"Um, well okay. Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!" A small bang came from the end of Ron's wand but nothing happened to Scabbers.

Harry groaned and covered his face with his palm. Before he could say anything the girl beat him to it. "Are you sure that's actually a spell? It certainly didn't seem like one did it? I suppose it could've been a sort of ritual but those tend to have a complicated set of diagrams drawn out before the incantation is started at least according to my research. Most normal spells seem to be in Latin, though I've read other countries use spells in different base languages which imply there is quite a bit more to the spell itself than simple motions and words which I assume we'll be learning all about when we get to Arithmancy and advanced spell theory. Here watch, your glasses are broken, yes? Sit still!" The girl brought her wand out pointed it between his eyes. Harry froze but before he could say anything she uttered a short phrase – in something that was probably Latin from her earlier comments – and the tape that held the bridge of his glasses together spun off while the plastic stitched itself back into one full piece.

Forgetting his quick lapse, Harry took his glasses off and stared at his brand new pair with his mouth slightly agape. 'What's more impressive, that she managed to finish that speech on a single breath or that she fixed my glasses before we even got to school?' he thought slipping them back on and turning to the girl.

"Wow, thanks! The tape was getting a little annoying. I haven't read most of the spells yet, I've been looking at…other things." He shifted a bit trying to discreetly cover his mother's notebook.

"You're welcome," she said, sitting up straighter as a wide grin spilled across her face. "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger."

"Harry. Nice to meet you."

"Yes, well Neville and I should really be off. Trevor's still missing after all."

"Do you guys want help?" Harry asked.

"No thank you, I think we'll just go and ask one of the prefects for their help."

After Hermione and Neville walked out Ron turned to Harry with his face red and his tone angry. "Why'd you offer to help? She was such a know-it-all!"

"That's not a reason to not help someone find their pet," Harry frowned. Ron's tone reminded him too much of Dudley at the moment. "Besides she was right. That spell obviously wasn't real. You said your brothers gave it to you right? I've known them for less than five minutes and I can already tell you they seem like the type to do that for a laugh."

"Well yeah, they would," Ron grumbled and leaned back slipping Scabbers into his pocket again. Harry shook his head feeling sorry for the ugly little thing. The way the rat was squeaking and squirming made Harry think of Boba Fett being dragged down into the Sarlacc.

The door to the compartment slammed open one more time and a blond haired boy with two stocky bodyguards stood outside. Harry just sighed. This one he remembered from the robes store. "So rumor has it that Harry Potter is in this compartment." The blond turned to Harry and smiled upon seeing the scar through his hair. "Ah so it's true." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Draco Malfoy. It's a good thing I came to find you. My father has told me all about the Weasley brood and a man of your status certainly shouldn't be forced to hang around with the wrong sort like them." He stuck out his hand completely missing Harry's narrowed eyes.

"Mr. Malfoy, we've met before and not only was I apparently insignificant enough to not remember but, you also managed to insult one of my first friends back then. Had you been a bit nicer now I'd be willing to let you try again but, again the first thing you do is insult who I'm with. Congratulations, you've just proven yourself as stuck up as my relatives." Harry scowled and continued in a low voice that practically left ice on the windows, "I deal with the Dursleys enough at home; the last thing I need is to deal with them here too. I'd appreciate being left alone."

Malfoy's eyes widened and his hand stayed extended for a moment before he sneered and pulled back like Harry had struck him. "When my father hears about this you'll regret spurning House Malfoy!"

"Am I supposed to know who your father is?" Harry scoffed with a low laugh. "Obviously I don't so, that's really not much of a threat now is it?"

Malfoy just snarled and turned around slamming the compartment door behind him.

After they had finally reached Hogwarts the Sorting Ceremony began and Harry had his first view of the Sorting Hat. And the endless possibilities such a thing implied! How had the Hat been created? Were there Thought runes embedded within it? Or maybe Perspective runes? Obviously some variant of a Perception rune was stitched into the lining somewhere. Cloth was likely a horrible magical conductor though so how had they made it permanent? Could he make anything permanent with the right combination? Could he make anything sentient? Could he make his own familiar out of a runic construct? No that was stupid, he already had Hedwig and she'd get jealous. What about etching runes into something else though? Maybe tattoos?

"…Potter…Harry Potter?"

"Huh?" Harry shook his head before turning to the tall, severe looking Professor McGonagall frowning at him. "Oh, right." He grimaced and walked forward to the stool with the Hat.

Ah, Mr. Potter. Quite a lot of possibilities there for my creation eh?

Harry flinched at the voice in his head and quickly glanced around but couldn't see anything besides the inner brim of the Sorting Hat. "Um, is this the Hat?" he whispered quietly.

Oh yes, that I am. Heldric Rowzar if you want to be technical, but most simply refer to me as: Hat. Please don't use Flopsy. I truly wish I had arms to smack the Headmaster whenever he insists on that foolish term. And just so you know, my creation was centered more around charms and enchantments instead of runes. Most people aren't quite at your level regarding those and the Founders preferred not to play with something that had the potential to blow them up when there were easier ways.

"Oh. Would my way have worked?"

Oh I have no doubt! I imagine it would take years to get right, but there is certainly more than one way to trim a mandrake, eh! Now, now where to put you, where to put you…hmm…I haven't had this many problems since your mother and then your cousin you know!

"My cousin!?"

Oh not that one. No, no, she's only very distantly related, something like a fifth cousin once removed. 'Cousin' was simpler than the full description. I settled on Hufflepuff for her in the end but that's really the only House not particularly suited for you. I think you'd do well in Slytherin however! Though in the past few weeks it appears that your interests and talents have shifted quite a bit, eh? Runes are certainly a fun specialty and Ravenclaw would lead the way to great things for your future. However I do see the burning desire to charge forward regardless of any consequences or obstacles. That is truly a trait Godric would admire. So many choices, so many choices!

"Ravenclaw was the one for people who liked to read and study right?"

Well I wouldn't have boiled it down quite so much but, yes, that is more or less correct.

"And Slytherin was for crafty and ambitious people?"

Generally, though pure-bloods that don't have many other stronger defining traits tend to go there as well.

"And Gryffindor is for the reckless?"

The Hat gave a rolling laugh in Harry's head. Oh I do like you, Mr. Potter! Don't let poor Minerva hear you say that!

"Um, do I get a say in this? Where did Hermione and Neville go? Ron has brothers here right? They're in Gryffindor right?"

All the current Weasleys, Mr. Longbottom and Miss Granger are all in Gryffindor. But I really think you'd fit in better with the Ravenclaws. This thirst for knowledge and experimentation is perfectly in line with dear Rowena's legacy.

"I'd prefer to go with them please. Neville looks like he could use a friend and Hermione actually seemed interesting from the train – even if she was a little bossy. The twins didn't even really question me about my scar…I'd really prefer to be with them. Please?"

Well if you're sure…better be – GRYFFINDOR! The Hat finished with a loud shout to the rest of the room. Harry smiled and, with a whispered thanks, took the head-covering off before hurrying over to the cheering table to sit down across from the people he'd met a few hours ago.

Several hours later Harry was sitting on a couch near the fire in the Gryffindor common room. The Welcoming Feast had ended with some time left before curfew so Harry had switched out his mother's notes for the third year Ancient Runes text and curled up to start his research. He smiled faintly as he searched through the textbook trying to find one of the missing components to complete his primer sequence.

"Harry, why are reading? Let's play chess!" Ron said striding up with a small board cradled in his arms.

"Sorry, I can't. I'm kinda busy, Ron."

"What could possibly be more interesting than chess? We don't even have homework yet!" Harry glanced up and almost fell over from the horror crossing Ron's face. His mouth was open and his face had gone white with his hands just hanging limp by his sides. It looked like someone had told him to eat Scabbers alive! Harry shook his head quickly deciding he was never going to study with the other boy.

"I'm looking for an Extinguisher. The current configuration is a bit too explosive when all I want is a fancy light show. An Extinguisher should damp the reaction before it combusts." Harry responded glancing up. Ron's expression of utter confusion was priceless. Hermione however, seemed worried as she walked over to the boys.

"An extinguisher? Muggle tech doesn't work at Hogwarts. It says so in Hogwarts, A History. I imagine an extinguisher might work as it doesn't have any electronic components but still I highly doubt you'll find one lying around the grounds."

Harry shook his head. "I know that tech doesn't work. I read that part in Hogwarts, A History too." Hermione's face morphed from confusion, to shock, and finally to amazement before he'd even started his next sentence. "But I don't mean a fire extinguisher. I mean a rune for extinguishing. My mum never wrote that one down. I'm hoping it's in one of the first two course books because I didn't have enough money on me to buy the fifth-seventh year curriculum ones. It seems like it should be pretty basic though so I'm guessing she just didn't see the need to write it down."

"You've – You've – You've," Hermione still seemed frozen, "You've read Hogwarts, A History?!" she finished in a high pitched squeak.

"Yeeeaaaah…" he said slowly. Was that supposed to be odd? Wouldn't it make sense to read a book about the history of the school you were about to attend?

"I – I – Wait! Did you say you're researching runes?" she demanded. Harry just nodded. "That's incredibly advanced. We don't start runes until Third Year!"

"Blimey, mate! Why the bloody hell are looking at stuff two years ahead?!" Harry was starting to get seriously worried that if Ron's eyes widened any further they would fall out of his skull.

"Because it's interesting?" He really didn't understand why people kept making such a big deal out of this. It wasn't rocket science! It was just a language, a set of power symbols and a series of interactions!

Ron just grumbled and walked away shaking his head as if in a daze, his chess set hanging limply from his hand. Hermione frowned but also wandered off frantically muttering about being so far behind. Harry shrugged and was about to go back to his research when Neville sat down beside him. "You know, they are right, Harry. Runes can be pretty dangerous if you're not careful. My Gran said my dad once almost blew up the house because he etched one wrong." Neville shook his head and drooped a bit lower. "I'd probably actually blow up the house if I ever tried it."

"Don't sell yourself short, Neville," Harry said with a soft smile and a pat on the other boy's shoulder. "They really aren't that difficult. If you ever want help with them let me know."

"I will. But I think I'll wait until we actually get to that class," Neville smiled shyly and moved off to the dorms.

Harry's first two months at Hogwarts had practically flown by. He was enjoying most of the classes except Potions and History of Magic. History was good for a short nap though and when he wasn't tired it was the perfect opportunity to work on improving his developing clusters. The Extinguisher hadn't quite worked out but he figured weaving in a Soften rune to the scheme should offset the effect enough to make his Extravagance Rune Show impressive but harmless. It would be perfect for Dudley!

It had taken Harry less than a week to realize that he didn't have the same luck with any of the other magical topics that he did with runes. It was a bit disappointing that he hadn't seemed to inherit his mum's skill in Charms or Potions. At least he could at least partially blame the latter on Snape.

The first Potions lesson was…well getting run over by a lorry would probably have been more fun. Snape's first few questions were trick ones to see if Harry had read the year's textbook. From cover to cover. And memorized it. When he – somehow – managed to get those few right Snape had moved on to more complicated questions – things from the 4th and 5th Year curriculums according to Hermione later on. Harry still managed to get those questions right thanks to remembering some things from his mother's notebook. Snape then proceeded to take points off for being "insufferably superior" and "reading dangerously far ahead". When Harry had had the audacity to actually ask why stirring clockwise vs. counter-clockwise made such a huge difference Snape had vanished his potion since "obviously if you cannot grasp such a simple concept than there's no point in seeing the horrific results of your work." When Harry afterward tried to stay quiet and avoid eye contact Snape picked on Neville instead, leaning over the boy's shoulder and degrading him for his shaking hands and fumbling of ingredients. By the time the class had ended Harry had been sorely tempted to set off his defective Extravagance Rune Show in the man's cauldron.

When one's teacher took every opportunity to insult and degrade you there was little point in putting forth any effort. Harry had agreed in principle that learning Potions was important though so…on the weekend after that first class he had grabbed Neville, commandeered an unused classroom and set about teaching the coursework to each other. Harry had invited Ron as well but the red head just laughed hysterically at doing any extra work. Within a few weeks Neville and Harry had made excellent progress and Harry always cackled like a madman when thinking of the end of term exams and how they was going to show the bigoted teacher exactly what they could do!

Transfiguration and Charms were topics that, while interesting as hell, seemed to be a huge waste of energy. Something that he finally decided to bring up during the lesson on Halloween.

"Professor, why use a charm for this when a rune would be just as easy and more permanent?" Harry asked while most of the rest of the class was attempting to get their feather levitating.

"Well it would be quite difficult to etch a rune onto a feather, Mr. Potter," Professor Flitwick responded with a chuckle. "Besides, runes are far too advanced for a first year course."

"Well yeah, you can't etch the rune on the feather but still it seems silly to try and memorize such a precise wand movement when I can just draw and link the rune to it in a few seconds instead. Here, watch." Harry shifted his feather over to the side and inked a quick Flight rune onto his paper before adding a small Synchronization rune and a Feather rune entwined within. Less than thirty seconds after he started, Harry touched his wand to the paper and energized the cluster. Harry smirked as his feather floated off the desk and hovered neatly in the air for about five seconds.

Then the parchment with his cluster burned to ash.

Scowling, Harry glared down at the parchment. "Stupid paper. Horrible conductor. I should've torn a strip from my robes instead. That would've lasted at least a minute." He sighed as the feather floated back down in front of him. "Well it made my point at least right?" Looking up at Professor Flitwick Harry's eyes widened a bit and he jerked back slightly in his seat. The little man's eyes were bulging out of his skull, his mouth was hanging open, his hand was clenched so tightly on his wand it had gone white and his entire body seemed stiff as a board. Harry had seen that expression enough from his relatives. The Freak had shown his true colors yet again. Frantically blinking Harry desperately started to mentally draw and recite the most complicated runes he could think of. He would not cry in class. He had stopped crying years ago. It was not going to happen!

"Mr. Potter, how…how did you…?" Before Professor Flitwick could finish his thought, from several seats down Hermione loudly corrected Ron's pronunciation and her feather soared into the air. "Five points to Gryffindor for excellent spellwork, Miss Granger," the Professor commented without even taking his eyes off Harry. He opened his mouth to try again before Seamus Finnegan's feather literally exploded in his face. Professor Flitwick shook his head and moved off to make certain the boy was alright.

Harry slowly exhaled and stopped his mental exercises. 'I should've known not to ask questions. I'll just do the clusters on my own and study the normal things with everyone else for now.'

The bell signaling the end of class sounded and Harry grabbed his bag walking out with Neville and Ron before Professor Flitwick could try to stop him. He was not going to let the Freak come out again. Not here. Not with people who knew and liked his parents. Not with someone his mum had liked.

"She's mental! Mental, I tell you!" Ron prattled on beside Harry and Harry just nodded not bothering to listen. "Levi-OH-sa not Levi-oh-SAH! She's such a bossy little know-it-all! Why can't she just mind her own business for once?! I'm not surprised she has no friends. No one's ever going to be able to stand her!"

Hermione pushed past Harry's shoulder and the sound of sniffling broke through his reverie. "Hermione?" She practically sprinted down the corridor and disappeared before Harry could do more than extend a hand in her direction. Frowning he turned to Ron. "What did you say to her?"

"Weren't you listening? I just said the truth! It's not my fault if she heard me."

"That was really mean, Ron," Neville said quietly from his other side. "She was just trying to help you. And she was right."

"She should mind her own business!" Ron's face had gone as red as his hair. "I didn't ask for her help and I didn't need it! She's too bossy. She thinks she knows everything just because she's the best in class and because she turns in double the homework that we do. She wants to go and cry about it, well serves her right. Maybe now she'll stop making the rest of us look bad!"

Harry froze. The rest of his classmates flowed around him and a few steps later Ron and Neville turned back to look at him stopped in the middle of the corridor. Harry's hands clenched and his teeth ground together. "You," he stepped forward and his mouth curled into a snarl, as he jabbed a finger accusingly in the redhead's chest not even realizing he was still holding his wand. Or that it was glowing. "You want her to make herself dumber just so she doesn't look better than lazy idiots like you." Harry's voice was like ice. Neville hurriedly took a few steps away from Ron and worriedly tried to get his wand out though he seemed nervous about which boy he should be pointing it at. "You're jealous that she's better than you. That she understands the subject while you can't even be bothered to try. How dare you! Dudley was bad enough! I can't do anything about him yet but, I can do something about you!" Harry thrust his hand forward not even realizing his wand was in it. "You stay the hell away from, Hermione! And stay the hell away from me too!"

"Wha – " Ron sputtered backing away from Harry. He tripped over his robes and landed on his butt on the floor. "Harry – "

"Shut up, Ronald! I don't like bullies and that's all you are. You're just like Dudley! Stay away from us!" Harry turned on his heel and scanned the small crowd that had formed nearby as the rest of the class had gathered to view the rising chaos. "Lavender! Did you see where she went?"

The girl's eyes widened, afraid to be in his sights, and she quickly shook her head. "Um, no, but she usually goes into the second floor bathroom to cry. She should be out by the end of the feast though…"

"If you see her before I do tell her to stay away from Ron and that I want to talk to her," Harry's voice had dropped back down to a normal volume and he had stopped breathing heavily. Lavender nodded and the crowd slowly started to mill away towards the Great Hall, the show apparently over.

"You coming, Neville?" Harry asked as he walked off.

Neville jerked and stared at Harry. "Yeah. Coming." He sent a baleful glare at Ron who was still staring up from the floor before hurrying after his friend.

Harry had kept watching the doors to the Great Hall during the entire feast. Halloween was turning into a right awful day. Flitwick was still casting glances at him from the staff table. Everyone was celebrating his parents' death. He'd thrown aside one of his few friends. Hermione still hadn't shown up. What the hell else could happen to make this day worse?

"Troll! There's a troll in the dungeons!" Professor Quirrell yelled as he ran into the room and barely even reaching the center of the room before fainting.

'Note to self: never ever tempt fate. Even in my head. She obviously hates me – or at minimum – loves to play around with me, all the while cackling madly in the background.'

The Great Hall exploded into chaos as the professors called for the Houses to follow their prefects back to the dorm rooms. As they left the room, Harry scowled and shifted to the back of the crowd. Neville noticed his friend slowing down and leaned over to whisper, "Harry, what's going on?"

"Hermione doesn't know about the troll, Nev. What if she's still in the bathroom?"

"Shouldn't we tell the prefects?" he suggested with a slight quaver.

"They're busy with everyone else. Come on, it's only a few corridors over. We can get there faster if we just go ourselves. The troll isn't even supposed to up here anyway. I don't want Hermione to get into trouble for something Ron did!"

Harry saw Neville's face drain of color and gave a sad smile. "It's okay, Nev. I'll go get her and we'll meet you guys up in the Common Room." He turned to run away from the staircase but Neville grabbed his arm.

"No – no. I'm coming too. I may not be much help but, I'm not letting you go alone and I don't want Hermione to get in trouble either." Harry smiled back in reply and the two sprinted off. Harry's opinion of Neville jumped up several notches seeing the boy would actually stand up for himself and others when push came to shove.

As they got closer to the bathroom an awful smell drifted toward them. "Neville, do trolls smell?" Harry tried to keep his voice calm but there was a small tremor running through it.

"Yeah..." Neville's face had reached nearly pure white.

"Maybe we should've gotten a prefect…"

They twisted around the last turn just in time to see a twelve foot tall troll amble through the door to the bathroom, a giant club half as big dragging in its wake. Harry's face joined Neville's in color loss. "That's the girls' bathroom…" A scream rang through the air from the room the troll had entered.

"Hermione!" Both boys shouted and sprinted straight through the door.

In front of them the troll was standing and raising its club. Hermione was crouched on the floor among broken toilets and stall doors. Harry didn't think; he just immediately jumped onto the troll's back and grabbed its head trying to twist it away from Hermione and back towards the door. "Neville! Distract it! Hermione, run!"

Hermione didn't run. She stayed frozen and whimpering in the corner of the room. Neville stayed frozen for a moment too before he snapped out it. He grabbed his wand and tried to shout out a spell but only a weak red light came out that bounced harmlessly off the troll's skin. The troll's club swiped out and Neville jumped back. He managed to avoid getting hit but his wand wasn't so lucky. As the boy fell back, his wand got caught by the edge of the club and snapped right in half.

It had bought enough time though. Harry, one hand wrapped around the troll's neck, the other digging through his pack, triumphantly raised his arm clutching his incomplete Extravagance Rune Show. Thrusting his hand around the troll's head Harry activated the rune stone and thrust it into the troll's open mouth. He dropped off the back of the troll and rolled away just as a dull bang sounded through the bathroom. Covering his head, Harry felt himself splattered with something sticky and smelly as a second later there was a great crash when the troll fell to the floor, its loincloth passing so close that it brushed against Harry's arm.

Slowly, Harry lowered his arms and scanned the room. Neville was sitting on the floor staring dumbly. Hermione was still crouched in the corner but with her mouth wide open. Next to Harry, on the floor was the troll. Most of the top of its head was missing. Steaming meat chunks squelched down the wall of the bathroom and dripped off the ceiling.

Without the Extinguisher and Soften runes weaved into the cluster, the Extravagance Rune Show was still rather explosive.

"Umm…" Anything else Harry was going to say was cut off as a blurry, bushy, brown bullet slammed into his chest nearly knocking him over. Hermione's arms wrapped around him and her head buried into his chest. Harry froze; this was the first hug he could ever remember receiving. "Hermione? Are you okay?" Cautiously Harry reaching a hand out and patted her head. A small nod was the only answer he got as the girl's arms tightened around his chest and he felt his stomach get wet. She was sobbing right through his shirt. "Neville? You good?"

"I'm okay. I broke my wand but, I'm okay. Did you blow off its head?" Neville's voice was strained – like he couldn't decide between whether to cry or laugh. Harry commiserated.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I did."

"Did you mean to do that?"

"Um, maybe? I knew it would explode. I didn't mean to kill it but…I didn't know what else to do. Did I kill it?"

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Longbottom? Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall's shocked voice sounded into the small bathroom. "Is that…? How…? Are…are you three hurt?" she finally managed to say.

"We're okay, Professor. Neville's wand got broken though."

"How did this…?" The teacher abruptly cut off as a piece of brain from the ceiling dropped an inch in front of her face.

"What the blazes?" Professor Flitwick squeaked as he came around the older woman. "What happened to its head?"

"Obviously it smacked itself with an errant swing," Snape drawled swishing in behind the other two.

"No it didn't, Sir," Neville said softly from the floor, still staring at the troll. He shook his head, stood up, grabbed his broken wand and moved to stand with Harry and Hermione. "Harry killed it, Sir."

"Impossible!" Snape sneered.

"Mr. Potter? Perhaps you should explain what just happened," Professor McGonagall could barely tear her eyes from the troll's twitching remains long enough to glance at the trio of students.

"Hermione didn't know about the troll because she had been in the bathroom, Professor. Neville and I ran to get her but the troll was already here. It was trying to kill Hermione so Neville distracted it while I fed it my activated Extravagance Rune Show." Harry looked down and grimaced. "I didn't mean to kill it," he continued softly. "I designed the Extravagance Rune Show to emit a lot of bright lights and sounds to scare my cousin if he started in on me but I had to base it off of some of the Thunder and Explosion runes to get the cluster to work. An Extinguisher rune stopped the whole thing completely so I took it out. I knew adding in a Soften rune in conjunction with the Extinguisher would get it to work perfectly, but I only figured that out this morning and haven't had enough time to etch it in with the others. I knew the cluster was still pretty explosive and that's why I kept it in my bag. I didn't want anyone playing around with it while it was still dangerous…I didn't really mean to kill the troll. I just didn't know what else to do…" Harry trailed off.

Hermione gave him one more squeeze and finally let go. She turned to the gathered staff that had been joined by Professor Babbling at some point. "Please don't punish, Harry or Neville. They were only here because of me. I should be the one punished. It was going to kill me and they only did want they could to help. I'm the one who deserves punishment," she pleaded. The tears threatened to fall again and Harry reached out and squeezed her hand.

"Mr. Potter," Professor Babbling said with a note of awe evident in her voice, "do you mean to tell me that you designed an entire rune cluster fully understanding the interweaves, chained reactions and inherent complexities of the completed scheme without even fully finishing the etchings?" Harry nodded still looking at the floor. "100 points to Gryffindor for ingenuity, brilliance and having the foresight to keep a potential hazard from others. 25 points from Gryffindor for carrying a potential hazard on your person around others." At the massive point awards Harry jerked his head up catching a huge smile on the woman's face. Snape on the other hand, was turning cherry red.

"And 50 points to Gryffindor to you both for immediately coming to the aid of classmate in trouble and triumphing over incredible odds," Professor Flitwick commented as he poked at the troll's body. Snape's mouth clenched so tightly Harry was amazed his teeth didn't shatter. "This is amazing. Mr. Potter that was quite brilliant thinking. You would do exceptionally well in the dueling circuit I think. If you are ever interested let me know. Oh and 15 points from each of you for not informing a prefect or teacher that Miss Granger was missing." Harry stared in shock at the small man. After his comments in class earlier Flitwick was praising him? That was...wow.

"POTTER!" Snape had apparently finally regained his voice. He was practically spitting and his face was so red Harry wondered for a moment whether the man was about to pass out. "DETENTION! Dangerous, forbidden magical constructs are prohibited!" Harry just nodded; for once that was actually a totally warranted punishment.

Professor Babbling scowled at Snape. "Runic clusters are not forbidden magical constructs! They require care yes, but if they were 'forbidden magical constructs' then you might as well arrest me and the entirety of my NEWTS class, Severus!"

"Mr. Potter, you will serve that detention with me," Professor McGonagall glared at Snape before turning to Harry and the others with a far softer look. "We will discuss carrying around a potential hazard at that time. As disappointed as I am that you did not come to one of your seniors, I do understand that the troll was not initially reported as being in this section of the castle." She paused before continuing softly, "I have never lost one of my lions before and I am extremely glad that, because of your actions, I do not have need to revise that statement. I am very proud of all three of you." Three sets of jaws dropped open before snapping closed again. "Now, run along back to the Common Room and get yourselves cleaned up. Mr. Longbottom, I will contact your grandmother to arrange a date over the weekend for you to acquire a new wand."

The three students nodded and started to leave the bathroom. "Potter?" Professor Babbling said with a smile. "Whenever you get a chance stop by to see me. Nothing urgent. I think I can help you though if you'd like." It was all Harry could do not to gape at the woman as pride surged through him. He damped it down a bit and nodding, proceeded to follow his friends out.

Harry, Hermione and Neville trooped through the portrait hole and into a crowded Common Room. "There you are!" Percy Weasley immediately yelled out. "Where have you three been? The troll – "

"Is dead," Hermione stated. "Harry killed it. Neville helped. They saved my life." Percy's mouth dropped open. The rest of the room immediately went quiet.

"The Professors already know," Neville commented. "Excuse us, but we smell horrible and I really need to go and lie down."

"Hermione, you okay?" Harry asked before she could sprint away again.

"I'm fine, Harry. Thank you," she hugged him once more and turned to go up the stairs to her dorm. "See you tomorrow?" she finished in a quiet, questioning voice.

"Yeah," Harry said, giving her his warmest smile possible. "Definitely."

As Harry walked to the showers he chuckled slightly. For Halloween, this day actually hadn't really ended too badly.