Harry watched as the spell bounced off the troll harmlessly and he recalled, how like giant skin, troll skin was notoriously resilient to spells. To bring one down you should focus on their eyes, unless you have a large enough magical core. Hermione, however, didn't seem to know this and kept sending an array of first year spells, which had no effect on the troll.
Harry watched as it grew closer to its target and finally brought down its club before he turned away. He didn't see the impact, but he hurt a sickening crunch which left him feeling distinctly sick.
The doors slammed open at that point as Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell appeared.
" Oh, dear god," McGonagall whispered, seeing the carnage.
Harry picked that moment to slip out, their distraction at the scene allowing him to pass unnoticed. Making his way as quickly as he could to the tower, Harry slipped off his cloak and removed the silencing charm when he reached the tower's guardian.
"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?"
Thinking for a moment, Harry answered, "Footsteps."
"Correct."
Rushing up the stairs, Harry entered the common room, slipping into place with the other first years.
"Where have you been?" asked Padma,who was closest to him.
"Sorry," Harry replied. "I got lost, the stairs changed," he explained.
"Well, as long as you're okay," she said, relieved he had returned unharmed.
"I'm fine," Harry assured.
"Are you sure? You're looking a bit green," she commented, looking at him with concern.
Harry, thinking of that sickening crunch, barely withheld his shudder. "Yeah," Harry said. "I just never really liked Halloween."
Padma developed a look of understanding before she nodded. "Of course, I'm sorry I didn't realise," she said.
After the commotion calmed down, the Ravenclaws continued the feast in their common room, the house elves providing food and drinks for them. Harry, however, left, saying he wasn't feeling well, and, taking one look at his pale, drawn out face, the rest let him go to bed without much fuss.
Getting upstairs, Harry quickly stripped out of his clothes and entered the bathroom. He stood under the shower for a long time, his skin eventually wrinkling. Although he was glad he had gotten his revenge, Harry felt off. He kept hearing the crunch, over and over again. Eventually exiting the water, unable to feel truly cleansed, he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to the mirrors, glad for the charms that kept them from becoming steamed up. Looking at his reflection, Harry didn't see anything different from what he had seen just that morning, yet he felt like a stranger. Sighing, Harry looked away and, after a quick drying charm, dressed himself in his pajamas. Getting into bed, Harry set his customary wards and spells before he slipped into his mindscape.
Harry would always remember the days that followed that fateful Halloween. Hermione had not died in the troll accident, although she would probably wish she had. Harry, however, was selfishly relieved about this fact; she was instead going to be the next resident of the Janus Thickey ward at St. Mungo's. Apparently, in a fit to survive, her magic had reacted accidently, causing massive damage to her already broken body. If she ever recovered, it would be a miracle on the scale of Merlin. Harry didn't care that it was selfish of him to be happy about her fate; he had finally come to terms with his actions when he thought about how her eyes had filled with greed and glee when talking about his death in his last life.
The teachers had deemed the whole affair a tragic accident and offered counselling to the students if they needed it. Many were shocked, but not really overly affected by the event as Hermione had had no friends and, as a first year, had yet to make an impact on the student population as anything other than a rude muggleborn. Ron, however, was effected as he was now being ostracized by the majority of the school as it had come out that he was the reason she had been in the bathroom in the first place. Even though the students were not traumatised by the accident, that didn't mean they would simply ignore the fact that Ron was to blame.
Another break in the repetitive dullness that was Harry's life came when he received a note from Hagrid. Harry was shocked at this as he had yet to even talk to the half-giant in this life. Taking Neville with him, they had visited Hagrid together.
"'Ello, Harry," Hagrid greeted him when he knocked on the wooden door.
"Hello, Mr. Hagrid," Harry said in a neutral but friendly tone. He wanted to believe that the half giant was innocent to Dumbledore's schemes, but he couldn't. It had been Hagrid who preached light propaganda to him in his first life, who had praised Dumbledore as the greatest wizard in the world. Harry also realised that it had been during his first tea visit with Hagrid in his first life that he had been set on the path to play boy hero. Realising that, with a barely covered growl, Harry added another name to his list of people he would have revenge against.
"Call me Hagrid, none of that mister stuff with me," Hagrid said joyfully. Seeing Neville, he asked, "Now, who've you got here, then?"
Harry watched as Neville seemed to stare at the half-giant with a mixture of awe and horror. "N-Neville. My name's Neville Longbottom."
"Good t'meet you, Neville," Hagrid said, showing them inside his hut. Showing them to his table, he produced a large tea pot. "Now then, who's for a spot of tea?"
Harry spared Neville a look of slight trepidation and accepted, "Please."
"So then Harry, I bet you're wondering why I called you down 'ere?"
"Yes, sir," Harry said, taking a sip of his tea before carefully putting the toxic liquid down on the table. Shooting Neville a look of warning, the other boy quickly fumbled his cup in his haste to put in down.
"Well ya' see, originally I was going to come 'nd pick ya up for your school shoppin', but ya obviously didn't need it, so I just wanted to meet ya, really," the half giant said.
"Oh, that's nice of you," Harry replied.
A silence fell then, with Neville awkwardly patting Fang, who had come over and rested his giant head on his lap. Harry continued to pretend to drink his tea.
"So anyway, Harry, 'ow's school goin' for ya?" Hagrid asked.
"It's great, really," Harry said enthusiastically.
"I see you've obviously made friends," Hagrid said with a nod to Neville.
"Oh yeah, Neville's great," Harry said, happy to see Neville smile.
"Good, good, an' yer teachers?"
"Oh, they're all fine," Harry said. "I mean, sometimes Professor Snape can be a bit strict, but apart from that there's nothing to complain about."
"Professor Snape, eh? He's a funny one, good man, mind, but ya should watch yourself - I mean, with 'ow much he hated yer father n'all."
....
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