Whilst his cousin was occupied at Quidditch practice, Draco decided to go to the library in order to begin researching three-headed dogs, and pored through several musty old tomes in the hope of finding some clue. Some three-headed dogs were described as having a mane of serpents, and Draco wondered briefly whether his cousin's Parseltongue ability might help them to get past the dog, but he couldn't remember having seen any serpents on this dog, nor had he heard any hissing.
Hercules, for his part, had supposedly got past a three-headed dog by wearing a magical lion skin that protected him from the dog's bite whilst he wrestled it into submission, but the boys hadn't any magical lion skins, and Draco thought that, even if they had, they would hardly be able to wrestle the monster.
Granger, the Muggle girl, was also in the library, studying—she didn't seem to have made any friends at school, and spent most of her time amongst the books. She looked miserable, but Draco had a hard time feeling sorry for her. If the Muggle wanted friends, she should try not to be such an insufferable know-it-all.
Draco's eyes were beginning to blur from fatigue, and he was nearly ready to call it a night. However, he forced himself to try one more book, and opened a thick leather-bound volume. He found what he was looking for on the first page.
'Eureka!' he exclaimed loudly, earning him a disapproving stare from Madam Pince and a curious look from Granger. The blond boy was astounded that he had not thought of it before. It seemed so obvious now. He re-shelved the books with a flick of his wand and ran back to Gryffindor Tower.
.....
Harry whistled as he walked back up to the castle from Quidditch practice. For the first time since he had come to Hogwarts, he felt as though he belonged. Wood and the rest of the team had been ecstatic about his family's donation, and everyone had been thrilled to see how well Harry could fly. He made his way up to his dormitory and found Draco in bed, already wearing his pyjamas.
'How was practice?' he asked.
Harry changed out of his Quidditch robes. 'It was wicked! You should have come.'
Draco shook his head. 'No thanks. I love Quidditch as much as anyone, but coming to practice is a bit much if I'm not even on the team.'
Harry pulled on his pyjamas and sat down on his own bed. He frowned. 'Do you mind that I made the team?'
'Why should I mind?'
'Well, you're a good Quidditch player too,' Harry said. 'It's not fair that you should have to take flying lessons with everyone else. And it would be nice if you could play.'
Draco rolled his eyes. 'Believe it or not, Aries, there is more to life than Quidditch. Like stealing the Philosopher's Stone.'
Ron walked into the dormitory and the boys switched to French.
'Qu'est-ce que tu as découvert? [What have you found out?]' Harry asked. Ron muttered darkly as he searched for his jumper.
'Tu te souviens d'Orphée? [Do you remember about Orpheus?]'
'Bien sûr [Of course],' Harry replied.
'Pourquoi Cerbère l'a laissé entrer l'Enfer? [Why did Cerberus let him into Hell?]' Draco replied smugly. Ron grabbed his jumper and left the dormitory, growling about 'ruddy foreigners'.
Harry grinned widely. 'You mean we have to sing to it?'
His cousin nodded.
'But that's so simple!' Harry exclaimed. 'I should have thought of it myself.'
'You were too busy thinking about broomsticks and Quidditch glory,' Draco retorted. 'Someone had to keep the important things in mind.'
Harry laughed. 'Whatever should I do without you, Draco?'
'I shudder to think,' the blond boy replied primly as he crawled into bed.
........
Harry wanted to go back to the third-floor corridor the very next morning in order to test their discovery, but Draco put his foot down.
'If a hell-hound is the first obstacle, the others are bound to be worse,' he pointed out reasonably.
'All the more reason for us to check them out,' Harry argued. 'We can find out what each obstacle is and then come back and research them.'
Draco shook his head. 'And what will you do when we run into an obstacle that kills us before we can get out of there?'
Harry pouted. 'So you're giving up then?'
His cousin took grave offence at that. 'What do you take me for, Aries? I just want to make sure we have a few more tricks up our sleeves before we go barging in where angels fear to tread.'
Harry reluctantly conceded that Draco had a point with that, and agreed to wait awhile. Their school work was still very straightforward, so they used their extra time to research spells that might help them get through whatever obstacles were guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Between that and homework - and Quidditch practice for Harry - they kept pretty busy over the next few weeks, though they still managed to find time for a few pranks here and there.
They still did not get on particularly well with Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnegan, but the influence of the Weasley twins and the rest of the Quidditch team meant that the other Gryffindors began to be much friendlier with both boys. After a few well-aimed hexes in the corridors, Harry and Draco established something of a reputation amongst the other Houses as well, and soon even the Slytherins did their best to avoid them.
As for the professors, most were delighted with their high level of achievement. Severus Snape was the sole exception. He never hid his obvious dislike for Harry, and generally did his best to ignore him, except to glare at him darkly from time to time. If he wanted to tell Harry something in class, he almost always addressed Draco, which amused both boys greatly.
With the end of October came Halloween, and the grand Halloween feast. Halloween celebrations in the Black family home had been muted, to say the least. Marius and Clytemnestra had thought it indecent to celebrate the anniversary of the Potters' deaths with Harry, and had always found some pretext to avoid it. Sirius had done nothing to alter that tradition, choosing instead to spend the entire day locked in his bedroom with a few bottles of firewhisky the year before. As for the Malfoys, they too avoided Halloween celebrations, if for rather a different reason: for them, the holiday marked the defeat of the Dark Lord.
The school, however, was very much in a mood to celebrate, and Harry and Draco found themselves caught up in the general excitement. The food was excellent, as always. Harry particularly enjoyed the roast beef, whilst Draco savoured the stuffed turkey. They sat with Dean Thomas, Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins, much as they always did, and plotted their first joint prank, to take place immediately before the Christmas holidays.
About half an hour into the feast, Quirrell burst in, causing a bit of an uproar.
'There's a troll,' he stammered. 'In the dungeons.' Having delivered his message, he promptly fainted.
The Hall exploded with terror, and Dumbledore struggled to calm the students down. Harry and Draco, however, grinned at each other in mutual understanding. They thought having a troll loose in the castle was simply wicked. The prefects gathered the students to send them back to their dormitories. The cousins, however, held back with one accord, and slipped into a side corridor. They couldn't let an opportunity like this pass them by.
'How do you suppose we kill a mountain troll?' Draco asked Harry as they ran past a series of locked doors.
'Blasting Curse?' Harry suggested.
Draco shook his head. 'Their skin is awfully tough. How about the Disintegration Hex?'
'That won't work either,' Harry replied with a frown. 'It only works on inanimate objects.' He paused. 'I think the Blood-Boiling Curse is the best option.'
Draco nodded. 'We haven't learnt the Killing Curse yet.'
They turned a corner and found themselves directly in the path of a monstrous troll. It roared when it saw them, troll spit flinging everywhere, and raised its club.
Draco aimed his wand. 'Sanguiferveo!' he shouted. His curse hit it target, but seemed only to succeed in making the troll angrier. Harry lifted his own wand.
'SANGUIFERVEO!' he cried. This time the troll stopped momentarily and hissed in pain, but after less than a minute he raised his club again to attack Draco. Harry drew up all his strength and focus, and cast the spell again, this time hissing it in Parseltongue.
The troll roared in agony and fell to its massive knees, shaking the whole corridor. Harry kept his wand trained on the monster as red vapour continued to rise from all its pores. After thirty seconds, the vapour ceased, and the troll collapsed to the floor.
At just that moment, Professor Snape came round the corner at the far side of the corridor, accompanied by Professor McGonagall and Professor Quirrell.
'Malfoy!' he called out angrily. 'What are you two doing out here? You're supposed to be in your dormitory.'
Harry smiled widely. 'We went looking for the troll, sir,' he replied.
'You foolish children!' McGonagall snapped. 'Have you any idea of the danger you were in?'
Draco gestured at the troll's corpse. 'I think we managed all right.'
The teachers stopped and looked at the troll's body. Quirrell looked as though he was going to be sick, but Snape walked right over to the troll and cast a number of diagnostic spells.
'It's dead,' he said in surprise.
'Dead?' McGonagall was stunned. She turned to the boys. 'How did you two manage to kill a twelve-foot mountain troll?'
Harry shrugged. 'The Blood-Boiling Curse, Professor.'
Snape's eyes darted to the black-haired boy in shock. 'The Blood-Boiling Curse is very Dark magic, Black.'
'Is it, sir?' Harry replied innocently. 'It seemed quite effective.'
McGonagall looked flustered for a moment, but quickly recovered her composure.
'Not many first-years could handle a mountain troll on their own,' she said. 'I still say you should have done as you were told, but I am awarding five points each to Gryffindor. Now run off to your Common Room. Students will be finishing the feast in their Houses.'
Harry and Draco nodded and ran back to Gryffindor Tower as fast as they could, Snape watching them suspiciously as they left. No one noticed a red-eyed Hermione Granger hiding behind a suit of armour, a suspicious frown on her face.
.....
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