Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry, Y/n and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.
Indeed, by the next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. Y/n however did not quite share their excitement.
In the meantime, Harry had filled Ron in about discussion he and Y/n had gone through about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.
"It's either really valuable or really dangerous." said Ron.
"Or both." said Harry.
"Most likely both." Y/n agreed.
But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.
Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.
Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry, Y/n and Ron, but she was such a bossy know it all that Ron and Harry saw this as an added bonus. All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.
As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls.
Y/n looked up to see the owl's carrying the parcel and was curious who it could possibly be for but he was left surprised when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of Harry, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.
Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said. 'DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.'
'It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session.
Professor McGonagall
Harry had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Y/n and Ron to read.
"Wow Professor McGonagall must really... want to win if she bought you this." Y/n said in slight shock.
"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."
They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.
"That's a broomstick." he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."
Ron couldn't resist it.
"It's not any old broomstick." he said. "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."
"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle." Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."
Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.
"Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.
"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor." said Malfoy quickly.
"Yes, yes, that's right." said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"
"A Nimbus Two Thousand, it is." said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added.
Harry, Y/n and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.
"Well, it's true." Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team."
"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.
"Yes, don't stop now." said Ron. "it's doing us so much good."
Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.
Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch field where he'd be learning to play that night. He rushed his dinner that evening without noticing what he was eating, and then rushed upstairs with Y/n and Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last.
"Wow." Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto Harry's bedspread.
Even Y/n had to admit he was impressed by the broom as he looked down at it.
Harry, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.
As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field.
Y/n had started doing his potions homework while Ron had gone to talk to Seamus. Y/n had asked to compare notes with Hermione but her face still sported a grumpy look and she refused. Y/n just rolled his eyes and continued on with his roll of parchment.
Nearly two months had passed since Y/n had entered Hogwarts now and it was Halloween morning. They woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom.
Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan Much to Harry's relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye.
Y/n had been partnered with Dean Thomas. The two boys often spoke about football which Y/n had taken an interest in.
Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to any of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too...never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
It was very difficult. Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it.
Ron, at the next table, wasn't fairing any better.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," Y/n heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing- gar -dium Levi- o -sa, make the 'gar' nice and long. "
"You do it, then, if you're so clever." Ron snarled.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Y/n just closed his eyes now as he focused on trying to make the feather float. "Wingardium Leviosa..."He said calmly and soon his feather began to float in the air.
"Oh fantastic! Well done also Mr Grindelwald." Mr Flitwick said impressed as he saw Y/n's feather float in the air.
Hermione looked up at the feather floating just few inches below hers now as the corners of her mouth skewered with slight frustration of not being the only one to accomplish the task.
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.
"It's no wonder no one can stand her." he said to Y/n and Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "She's a nightmare, honestly."
Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Y/n and Harry caught a glimpse of her face and were startled to see that she was in tears.
"I think she heard you."
"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
"That is going to far." Y/n snapped at Ron now and the three boys stopped on the spot. "I will admit Hermione can be a bit much but the way you are behaving now is no better then how Malfoy and Atticus treat Neville." He told him.
Ron looked at Harry but even Harry couldn't deny that perhaps Ron had taken it too far.
Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Y/n and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone.
"You need to apologize the next time we see her." Y/n told him.
Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of his and Harry's minds.
A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
Y/n had just finished a steak while Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped.
"Troll in the dungeons!!! ...thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.
There was an uproar as students began to scream and panic. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
"Prefects." he rumbled. "Lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
Percy was in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"
"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.
"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."
"Not even Peeves would do something so stupid and dangerous." Y/n told him a they passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Y/n suddenly grabbed Harry and Ron's arms getting their attentions. "Hermione..."
"What about her?" Ron asked.
"...She doesn't know about the troll." Harry caught on with Y/n's train of thought.
"We have to go get her, No one else who will do anything knows where is she." Y/n reminded them.
Ron bit his lip. "Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."
Ducking down, the three boys joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.
"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Y/n and Harry behind a large stone griffin.
Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.
"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"
"Search me." Ron shrugged.
"Come on, He is going now so we can move." Y/n said moving from behind the griffin.
Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.
"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.
"Can you smell something?" Ron asked the two.
Y/n quickly covered his nose while Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.
And then they heard it, a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.
"You have got to be kidding me..." Y/n whispered.
It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.
The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.
"The keys in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."
"Good idea." said Ron nervously.
They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it. "Yes!"
Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop, a high, petrified scream and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.
"Oh, no." said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.
"It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped.
"Hermione!" they all said together.
"Come on we have got to help her!" Y/n said as he bolted forward first towards the bathroom.
It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran inside.
Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.
"How the hell are we going to stop that!" Ron said looking up at the monstrous troll.
"I have a spell that might work but it's advanced magic and I've never tried it before. I need some time!" Y/n told the two.
"Alright Ron help me confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.
The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.
Y/n took out his wand now with a slightly shaky hand as he pointed it at the troll and prepared himself.
"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.
"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.
The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.
"Ebublio!" Y/n cried out as the troll suddenly became encased in a bubble.
Harry and Ron took a step back in shock as Hermione just stared at it.
"Get... Hermione... out... of... there..." Y/n said clearly struggling as he focused on keeping his spell up.
The troll struggle slammed it's fists hard at the bubble but it would not break and only caused the bubble to wobble with each hit.
Harry and Ron quickly and carefully hurried past the encased troll as they helped Hermione to her feet and back over to Y/n where they all stood behind them.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up as Y/n concentrated on the spell he was using to keep the troll contained. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.
Y/n could longer keep the spell up any longer as his bubble dissipated and he fell to his knees exhausted.
"Flipendo Maxima!" Professor McGonagall cried as she pointed her wand at the troll and it flew into the wall and was knocked out.
She then turned looking at Ron, Y/n and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Y/n who was still on his knees wand in hand. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor.
Then a small voice came out of the shadows. "Please, Professor McGonagall...they were looking for me."
"Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall said shocked.
"I went looking for the troll because I...I thought I could deal with it on my own...you know, because I've read all about them." Hermione lied.
Ron looked at Harry in shock. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?
"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Y/n performed the Ebublio Jinx, giving Harry and Ron time to rescue me. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.
"Well... in that case... " said Professor McGonagall, staring at the four of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this." said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."
Hermione left the bathroom now her head still low.
Professor McGonagall turned to Harry, Y/n and Ron.
"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."
"I...cannot move my legs." Y/n said now as the the teachers turned to him and McGonagall gave a slightly sympathetic look.
"Potter, Weasley. Help Mr Grindelwald back to the tower." She told them.
Harry and Ron both supporting Y/n on either side helped him out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.
"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Ron grumbled.
"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's." Harry said.
"We are just lucky we got to Hermione in time..." Y/n said tiredly.
"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."
"Y/n saved her..." Harry corrected him. "She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her." Harry reminded him.
They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Pig snout." they said and entered.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks." and Hermione helped Harry and Ron take Y/n to an armchair that a fellow student had moved out at the sight of him being helped.
Harry and Ron then hurried off to get plates while Hermione filled one for herself and then one for Y/n and the four sat together and began to all talk properly for the first time.
Y/n made Ron apologize properly to Hermione and then the four started to talk about why he knew the Ebublio jinx. Y/n told them he tried learning it back when they were going to duel Malfoy and Atticus just in case he needed it.
From that moment on, Hermione Granger had become their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and surviving a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
It was the next day and Harry, Ron, Y/n and Hermione were sat at the Gryffindor table together eating lunch and talking to one another when Professor McGonagall arrived.
"Professor?" Harry asked wondering if she was here about last night's incident or maybe to tell him something about Quidditch practice.
"Mr Grindelwald, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office, now." McGonagall however said as Y/n eye's widened slightly and he stood up.
"No way one of the Grindelwald's are already been kicked out?" He heard a student whisper.
"It's not surprising really." Another whispered.
"That is enough." Professor McGonagall said and the students whispers stopped before she turned to Y/n. "You will follow me." She told him and turned walking away and Y/n followed reluctantly.
Y/n stayed quiet as he followed Professor McGonagall and after what felt like forever they finally stopped in front of a gargoyle.
"Chocolate Frogs." Professor McGonagall suddenly said confusing Y/n but after a few moments the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall in front of him split in two. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. Professor McGonagall urged Y/n forward and he stepped onto it with her following behind, Y/n heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last Y/n saw a large oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.
The two stepped off the stone stair case now as they approached the door.
"You will wait here a moment." Professor McGonagall instructed and she knocked before heading inside.
Y/n looked down at his feet for a moment as he steeled is nerves. While he was sure he had done nothing wrong he was still nervous to have been summoned to Dumbledore's office.
The door opened again now as McGonagall held it open for Y/n. "Professor Dumbledore will see you now."
Y/n entered the room now as the door closed behind him and he began to look around. It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw footed desk.
Sat at the desk was Dumbledore as his eyes looked over the half moon spectacles at him.
Y/n stayed silent.
"Mr Grindelwald... How are you feeling after your encounter with the troll?" Dumbledore began to ask. "The Ebublio jinx, is an advanced magic very rarely fully utilized by someone of your age. It was not a surprise you were tired after using such a magic."
"Am I in trouble Professor?" Y/n asked worried.
"Trouble?" Dumbledore repeated the word and paused for a moment before smiling . "No Y/n. You are not in trouble."
Y/n just let out a relieved sigh he didn't know he had been holding.
"You showed great knowledge and bravery in the girls bathroom last night." Dumbledore began again. "You are very clearly a talented young wizard. Much...like your grand uncle once was." Dumblerdore said carefully.
"It was you who defeated him was it not sir?" Y/n asked.
"Yes." Dumbledore admitted but Y/n was sure he could sense some form of sadness and regret in his voice as perhaps memories played in Dumbledore's mind.
"I cannot speak for most of my family sir." Y/n bravely began. "But I do not harbour any grudges or hatred towards you for doing so." He continued as Dumbledore sat and listened. "My grand uncle was a powerful wizard...but he did not use that power correctly. What I mean to say is I don't agree with what he was trying to do."
"You have wisdom beyond your age Y/n." Dumbledore said softly. "Your grandmother I'm sure will be proud of you when I write to her about last night's incident."
"You know my Grandmother?" Y/n asked surprised.
"I met your grandmother after the downfall of her brother Gellert. Rather like you, she shared the sentiments of him being in the wrong. She has been a good friend over the years."
"I never knew..." Y/n said surprised.
"Well, I'm sure your grandmother doesn't know everything that you, nor your bother Atticus gets up herself to either." Dumbledore said wisely.
"May I ask why you called for me Professor if I am not in trouble?" Y/n asked now.
"Ah." Dumbledore remembering the purpose of Y/n's visit. "After your impressive demonstration of the Ebublio jinx, I have asked Professor Flitwick to give you some more advanced lessons twice a week. He was eager to accept a talented student but the choice is yours Mr Grindelwald."
Y/n didn't need a moment to think as he quickly nodded his head accepting this gratefully.
"Then I shall inform Professor Flitwick who will expect you for your first lesson Thursday evening after dinner." Dumbledore smiled. "Now go, be young and enjoy your time with your friends." He excused Y/n.
Y/n turned around now as he headed for the door.
"Oh and Y/n, It is not our family names that make us who we are deep down, but our choices in life." Dumbledore imparted on him.
Y/n just nodded and thanked Professor Dumbledore now before he left his office.