(Y/n)'s POV
The next morning, I went to have breakfast. It was hard to get used to waking up so early, but I think I was managing it very well, and so, I sat next to Harry and Ron, mainly because they were the only two people, aside from Hermione and Neville, that I talked to.
"Uh, are you all right (Y/n)?" Said Ron "You look like someone pissed on your bed"
"I don't really understand the metaphor but yeah, you look annoyed" Said Harry.
"Uh? Oh, yeah, everything's just fancy, I just hate mornings and waking up" I said, I guess I'm not managing it that well...
"Mom always said I get in a bad mood when I have to wake up in the mornings, but don't worry, everything's all right, in fact, worry if I don't get annoyed" I said, laughing.
We were just talking and eating, when suddenly a parcel was dropped in front of Harry, I got startled and so did Harry and Ron, and a letter flew down, Harry opened the letter first, me and Ron got close so that we could read it.
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 pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session.
Professor M. McGonagall
Harry was obviously happy, and I patted his shoulder for it, trying to somehow show I was happy for him, but honestly, the whole sport looked scary, and I was more worried than happy.
But Ron looked even more happy than Harry was, and said
"A Nimbus Two Thousand! I've never even touched one!"
They started to leave, and I only noticed because they told me. I was focused more on eating and because of my mood, I could only focus on one thing at a time, but after they told me, I followed them.
"You guys are really excited about the pack-" Before I could even finish the sentence, when we went through the Entrance Hall, on the way upstairs, there was the idiot squad, Malfoy and his two friends who I couldn't honestly remember their names, and they took the package from Harry.
"That's a broomstick, you'll be for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them" Said Draco.
Feeling a surge of.... bravery? I guess you could call it that. I don't know if it was because I was already in a bad mood or what, but I said.
"I'm surprised you can even tell, you know, given how slow and stupid you are"
"Huh, the coward feels though now, I'm honestly surprised you can even talk, I thought all you could do was cry and stutter." Said Malfoy.
Before I could say anything else, apparently, Ron couldn't hold it for much longer.
"It's not any old broomstick, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you got at home, Malfoy? A Comet Two Sixty? Comets look flashy, but they're not on the same level as the Nimbus" Said Ron with a smile on his face.
"What would you know about it, Weasly, you couldn't afford half the handle, I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig." Malfoy snapped back.
"Even if Ron had the worst broomstick, I bet he's still worth ten of you in Quidditch, after all, it's the player that makes the broomstick great" I said, Man, what's going on? My mouth keeps running, I just hope they leave quickly.... I thought.
And as if my prayers were heard, Professor Flitwick arrived.
"Not arguing, I hope, boys?"
"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor." Said Malfoy quickly, trying to get Harry in trouble.
"Yes, yes, that's right, Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?" Said the tiny Professor, with a smile.
"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir, and it's all thanks to Malfoy." Said Harry, while Malfoy looked absolutely shocked.
Then, Harry and Ron headed upstairs, and I followed them, being a little bit behind, I heard someone stomping on the stairs. I turned around, and it was Hermione, and she looked.... really pissed off, more than me.
"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking the rules?" She said.
"I thought you weren't speaking with us?" Said Harry, looking annoyed, but Ron looked even more annoyed and said.
"Yes, don't stop now, it's doing us so much good."
"Hey! That was rude, Ron." He looked at me with a "I don't care" face, which.... annoyed me more to be honest.
She stormed off, I waved goodbye to Harry and Ron, and followed her.
She walks fast, like, really fast, when I finally catched up to her, she had the same annoyed face.
"I suppose you are on their side for this one? I guess you believe people should be rewarded for breaking the rules, and probably think I'm weird now" She said, while looking at me with a disapproving face.
"N-no, no, on the contrary, to be honest, I hate when Ron is just rude to you for no reason, and yeah, I think Harry should've been punished, even if just a little, but come on, Do you really think they're going to punish the Harry Potter?" I said, trying to get her to understand.
"Of course it annoys me, but at the same time, what can I do? It's not like there's more than I can do.... I'm a coward, remember?" I said, turning back to the usual me "Besides, rules... rules are supposed to be followed, right?"
Her whole face changed, like she was glad that I thought like her, and said.
"Yes! Rules are there for a reason, I mean, without rules, what would happen to our society?." I was just glad she turned to the usual Hermione.
She started.... info dumping me with rules, and I just listened, it would be mean to not hear what my first friend has to say, right?
Before I even noticed it, we got to the library. I guess Hermione just walked here by instinct, and I guess she noticed it when we sat down in one of the many rows of seats.
"I'm sorry, I tend to talk a lot when I like certain topics.... you can go if you want, I'm pretty sure you would have more fun with those two." She said, I just laughed and said.
"Don't worry Hermione, I'm not really a good talker, but I like hearing you talk, it really shows how much you love certain things, I think I could only talk like that about videogames or magic that my dad showed me, b-besides, you're my first friend, why wouldn't I want to spend t-time with you?"
She looked a lot more relaxed, and smiled at me, and like I just remembered something, I said.
Oh yeah! Today's your birthday, right? September 19th" I said.
"Uh? Oh, yeah, I didn't think anyone would remember," Said Hermione, with a sad look on her face.
"I mean, a lot has happened since the start of the year, but I could never forget the birthday of my first friend, besides, it was something we talked about when we first met, don't you remember? Anyways, I don't really have a present now, but expect one for christmas, I'll get you two presents to make up for it, happy birthday!" I said and smiled at her.
"Don't worry, it's enough that you remembered it, at least someone did, thanks (Y/n)" She looked more cheered up, so I said
"A-actually, if we're talking about something else, do you... do you think you could help me with herbology? I just can't get the gist of it.... and we could also use this time so that you could show me books you've read in here that you liked, i-if you'd like that, obviously." I said, I guess asking for help is really embarrassing, at least for me.... I hate it when the Professor asks something in class and I can't answer it, it makes me anxious.
"It wouldn't be a problem to teach you, and besides, I can show you some good books about magical creatures, and even about fire dwelling salamanders, like Blaze!"
When she heard her name, she got out of my pocket. She got a little bit bigger in the past few days, but could still fit in my hand made pocket.
"Don't worry girl, we weren't calling you, you can go back to sleep" I said.
"Thanks, (Y/n), I mean it, I'm glad I got to meet a friend like you." She said
"You don't have to thank me, I mean, isn't that what friends are for? Being there for each other and spending time together having fun? Not that I would know, but, uh, in movies they are like that" I said, thinking about all the movies I've watched about friendship.
She laughed, and said.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right" And suddenly, her eyes got serious again "We have some free time now, so let's start the studying session"
"U-um, now? I-i thought we would start later in the week, I'm not prepar-" Before I could even finish, she took out a BIG book, about herbology, which seemed... more advanced than what we needed this year.
"Don't worry (Y/n), after we're done with all the sessions, you'll be a master of herbology in no time, besides, this is only light reading." She said, dismissing the thousands of pages the book had, and that's how my green hell started, it was tedious, but because I was there with a friend, the time studying herbology wasn't so bad.
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Time passed, and it was Hallowe'en morning, and finally, after only reading in Charms class, Professor Flitwick said we would learn a spell, this time it was a spell my dad already showed me, Wingardium Leviosa, the spell to make things levitate, so at least I had visual experience, but now it was my turn, to see if I could do it too.
Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs, which filled me with anxiety, I didn't get to be with Hermione, but at least I got to be with Neville, who was a familiar face, so I wasn't that nervous, the bad part? Hermione got paired with Ron, those two were like oil and water.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing! 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" Said Professor Flitwick
If that was meant to calm the nerves, well... it didn't, but we kept on practicing, Neville was trying with all of his might, but his wand, which belonged to his father, didn't want to make the feather levitate, was sent to the right or the left at random, I kept giving him advice on how to do it, and he seemed more embarrassed each time, even though I told him it was all right, and when I was about to try and do it myself, I heard Ron yell.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" waving his long arms, but to no avail.
"You're saying it wrong!" Said Hermione, she used to get frustrated with herself and other people, when things didn't work out, but I think it frustrated her more to be paired with Ron, who to be fair wasn't nice to her. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the "gar" nice and long"
"You do it then, if you're so clever" Said Ron, clearly not knowing Hermione as well as I did, knowing her, she practiced the movement and pronunciation a thousand times before class.
She rolled up the sleeves of her gown, and moving her wand said
"Wingardium Leviosa!" And as she did, the feather rose up from the desk and went up a few meters in the air.
Not wanting to fall behind, I pulled out my wand, flicked it, and mimicked, with a quiet voice, Hermione's pronunciation.
"Wingardium Leviosa" And just as Hermione's feather, mine too went up in the air, obviously not as far as hers did, but it was still something, they were almost at the same height, we locked eyes, and she looked like... her eyes were on fire? It must've been my imagination, or Hermione Granger was really competitive...
"Oh, well done! Look everyone, Miss Granger and Mister (L/n) did it!" Said Professor Fliwtick
It was embarrassing that he called my name in front of the class, but honestly, it felt good to, you know, not fail, I spent the following hours of class trying to get Neville's feather to fly, and by the end of it, he could get it a few centimeters up in the air, and apparently he was really happy so it worked out.
At the end of the class I was walking with Hermione while exiting the classroom, who looked at me weirdly.
"Um, is everything okay? Did I do something to annoy you?" I said, with anxiety filling my heart.
"No, it's just... I can't fall behind you, it feels good to have someone I can see as a rival" She said, laughing, but at the same time, her eyes were filled with determination.
"So you are competitive" I said laughing "Don't worry Hermione, there's no way I can compete with you, you're amazing in every class, I'm only decent in most of them except herbology"
"Don't underestimate you, (Y/n), I'm telling you, you're good at classes, but it's fine, it's not like I'm mad at that, if anything, it makes me more motivated to learn more and read more! I can't lose to you. " said Hermione, she looked determined, so I was happy, and didn't keep up with what I said.
"Okay okay, just don't oversaturate yourself with that, I don't think studying all day is good for your health." I said, she was about to say something, but we heard Ron talking to Harry in front of us.
"It's no wonder no one can stand her, only (Y/n), but he never complains about anything, she's a nightmare, honestly."
Hermione's face changed in an instant, she went from being happy, to tears falling from her face, and went running, pushing Harry a bit, and disappeared.
"I think she heard you." Said Harry.
"So? She must've noticed she has no friends." Said Ron, and after all that exchange, I felt something I never really felt, anger, which filled me with courage, that showed because I picked pace and slapped Ron in the back of his head, and said.
"Of course she has friends you dimwit! I'm her friend!" Ron looked annoyed, and said.
"If you do that again, I swear I-" And before he could say anything, apparently Blaze felt someone was threatening me, and went out of her pocket, climbed up my arm, which I lifted pointing at Ron, and she started... growling? And flames started to spew out of her body, Ron looked taken aback, and before he could say something, I said.
"Honestly, I can expect it from you, Ron, you are an idiot, and you've always been mean to Hermione, but from you Harry? I expected more, I didn't think you would support that kind of thing" And before he could answer, I left to find Hermione.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I spent hours looking for her, and it was obvious she knew more about Hogwarts than me, because she clearly knows how to hide, I was too nervous to ask about her to any other student, luckily, I heard Paravati? Honestly I tried but couldn't tell who was who of the patil sisters, but anyways, I heard her say that Hermione has been crying in the bathroom for hours, so I went there.
When I got there, there was no one, obviously, as it was dinner time, so I gathered courage, and went into the girls bathroom, and, loudly as I could, I said.
"H-Hermione, are you there?" I didn't get an answer, but I did hear sobs coming from one of the stalls, so I went in front of it and said.
"Hermione? Are... are you all right? If you want to talk, I know I'm not the best talker, but I can hear you if you want, just, please, open the door." I said, feeling impotent at what happened.
The sobs quietly disappeared, and she opened the door, to say she was a mess was... an understatement, her eyes were sore and she had tears in her uniform, I didn't really know what to say so I just did what my mom did when I was sad, and I went in and hugged her, she hugged back, and we stayed that way for a few minutes, until I said.
"You know, if it helps, I hit Ron in the back of his head."
"Usually, I would scold you, but... thanks, it does help in a way" She said
"Yeah, and Blaze did her part too, she scared Ron when he tried to hit me back." I said, pointing out where Blaze was "I don't know why I did it, usually I wouldn't have the courage for it, but my body moved by itself."
"(Y/n)... Am I really that bad of a friend? Am I really a... Nightmare to deal with?" She suddenly asked.
It took me a moment to answer her, not because she really was a nightmare, but because I wanted to carefully choose my words.
"I don't think you are, Hermione, if you were, do you really think I would be your friend? Besides, don't you remember what you said to me about Malfoy? You shouldn't believe in the words of someone who's just a... a prat, he's obviously not on the level of Malfoy kind of prat, but, he doesn't know you, he doesn't want to put the effort to really know you, to see that you're not just a bookworm, but also a great friend, and if anyone tries to say otherwise, well, uh... I'll deal with them! Somehow...." I said, trying to get her to feel better.
At first I thought it didn't work, because she started to cry more. I panicked, but she said.
"No, there aren't sad tears, these are happy tears, thank you for being here for me, (Y/n), you're my best friend." She said with a smile, I got into a paralyzed status, because... did she really call me her best friend? Was it okay for me to be blessed with a best friend, after not having one for all of my life? Tears started to gather in my eyes, I just rubbed my eyes, and said.
"Thanks Hermione, I didn't want to apply pressure to you, but you're also my be-" And before I could finish the sentence, we heard something breaking the door and smashing a few stalls.
I got paralyzed and the bathroom was filled with the most awful smell you could imagine, Blaze got into a defensive mode too, coming out of the hand made pocket, looking at me in the eyes, I just looked to Blaze and then to Hermione, and as if she read my mind, she jumped from my shoulder, to Hermione's shoulder.
I got out of the stall, and was horrified to see a giant, fat, green, humanoid looking creature, which I recognized as a troll, with an even more giant club, and as the troll locked eyes with me, it started to move the giant club it had, smashing through various stalls, and I yelled, maybe for the first time since Hermione met me.
"Hermione! Get down!" The force of the impact destroyed several stalls, and forced the troll to move, only because of the power that was behind it, forcing me to roll on the ground, to avoid his stompings and the hit. I ended up near the entrance of the bathroom, where I saw Ron and Harry enter.
I didn't pay much attention to them, and I yelled, again.
"Hermione, get over here!"
Harry said something to Ron, and the latter said.
"Oy, Pea-brain!"
The troll looked at us, and Blaze, who was still in Hermione's shoulder, surrounded her face on flames, and threw a few embers at the troll's face, Blaze was still a baby, so her flames weren't that strong, and probably wanted to protect me, but all that did was make the troll angrier, and because Blaze was small, all the troll could think was that the girl threw that fire, so the troll turned around, giving us its back, and started to reach to grab Hermione, who started to scream.
Think! THINK! STOP BEING A COWARD AND THINK! I tried to remember anything that could help us, and suddenly, I remembered the words of my dad.
It was in the middle of the summer, and dad was teaching me spells, though, mostly were more for showing off, more than actually showing me spells that we were going to review in the first year. It was surprising to see but my dad really liked showing off in front of me.... I think it was just all the pent down years from wanting to show me how great he was at magic but never being able to shot it to me.
He showed me a spell, with his obviously perfect wand waving and pronunciation, and said.
"Okay, don't try that one, I just did it to show off to my son." He said laughing "But honestly, even if you did try it, I think you would injure yourself more than anything, just, I'm showing you this so that you know this spell exists, they shouldn't teach you this until third year... But it is dangerous, so if you really want to be prepared, imagine you have your wand in your hand, and follow my movements and pronunciation, so, come one, say it with me."
I opened my eyes, took out my wand, made an U in the air the best I could, and just as I brought down my wand in a downward diagonal line, I yelled, as best as I could remember, and at the same time as my dad in my mind and memory.
"DIFFINDO"
From my wand, a slash made of pure air went off, and hit the troll in its back, ripping his small brown jacket, the troll groaned, obviously, as I had no experience with the spell's wand movement or pronunciation, it didn't deal the same damage as if my dad said it, but a superficial cut was more than enough to draw his attention to us, blood appeared from where the cut was made.
The troll turned to us now, but he hesitated for just one second, which was enough time for Harry to run at him, climb him as best as he could, and put his wand into his nose, and possibly, his brain.
This stunned the troll and he let go of his club, but Harry was still clinging on to him. I looked at Ron and he pulled out his wand, but apparently, that's as far as his plan went, I tried to do the spell again, but my arm hurt, as if I just did a massive amount of exercise and had muscle fatigue, again, I looked at Ron.
"Do something!" I yelled.
Hermione, who was now ducking, screamed.
"Swish and flick!" Ron caught the idea, pointed towards the troll's club, and said.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The club that the troll let go of, went up in the air until it touched the ceiling, and then fell into the troll's head, his eyes went blank, and he fell with his back pointing to the ceiling.
After all was done, I ran towards Hermione.
"Are you okay?!" I said, examining her arms, she just laughed, I guess it was the nervousness, and said.
"I'm fine, how did you do that Diffindo spell? That's something years ahead!" She seemed more interested in that than the attack of the troll, Blaze took this chance and went up again into my hand made pocket. I just said thanks to her, because she looked really sleepy, gotta remember to give her more food today.
"Yeah! That was bloody brilliant" Said Ron
"It's like you cut him with a knife or something" Said Harry.
"My dad showed it to me, he did it only to show off but... it really worked, it wasn't as powerful as his, but thankfully it gave us the time we needed, I'm just glad you're okay."
"So... is it dead?" Hermione said.
"Even though he was slashed by (Y/n) and hit in the head by Ron, I don't think so, I think it's just been knocked out." Harry approached the troll and took out his wand from the troll's nose, which was now covered in a gray glue.
"Ugh, troll bogies" Said Harry.
Loud footsteps made us all look to the entrance of the girls bathroom, and Professor McGonagall, followed by Professor Snape, Professor Quirrel, who almost fainted at the sight of the troll, and Professor Flitwick.
Professor Snape and Flitwick went to check on the troll with their wands out, and Professor McGonagall said to us.
"What on earth were you thinking of? You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
I gulped, and Hermione said.
"Please, Professor McGonagall, they were looking for me" Before she continued, sensing what she wanted to do, I said.
"And me! Um, B-blaze got lost, probably got startled by something or some loud noise, and r-ran away, I started to chase her, and Hermione helped me, because she knows the castle better t-than me." Hermione looked at me like she was mad for one second, and Professor McGonagall said.
"Miss Granger! Mister (L/n)!" Hermione followed
"Yeah, and we went into the girls bathroom and before we knew it, the troll appeared. I thought I could deal with the troll, because I've read all about them. If it wasn't because (Y/n) was with me and those two appeared, I'd be dead."
"My oh my" Said Professor Flitwick, as if he was in awe "The troll's back seems to be slashed, how did any of you manage to do that?"
Hermione took the lead and said
"You should've seen him, Professor! (Y/n) here managed to do an almost perfect Diffindo spell!" Almost perfect? It was awful, my wand movements were all sloppy and my pronunciation wasn't any better, my dad would've cut the troll in half... "Then Harry stuck his wand up its nose, and Ron knocked it out with its own club. It was about to finish me off when those two arrived." Said Hermione.
"Well, in that case, Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own? Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this, 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" Said Professor McGonagall, and with that, Hermione left, and it was only us three now.
Professor McGonagall turned to us, and said,
"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 have to say, Mister (L/n), I'm impressed."
We were silent until we almost reached the common room, and Ron said, in an annoyed tone.
"We should have got more than ten points"
"Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's." Said Harry.
"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that" Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."
This annoyed me, and I said.
"Well, maybe if you weren't a prat and said those awful things to her, she wouldn't have been almost killed by that thing, you seriously owe her an apology" Ron was taller than most, but I don't know if it was him understanding what I meant, or he just started to respect me after what happened with the troll, but he just nodded, and Harry said.
"Yeah, she might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her, I'm with (Y/n) on this one, you should apologize."
We reached the portrait of the fat lady, and we all said.
"Pig snout" And entered.
The common room was packed, and everyone was eating. Apparently the whole troll thing made it so that all students evacuated and went to their common room to eat there, I didn't like crowds that much.
Hermione was standing alone, as if she was waiting for us to come back, no one said anything for a few moments, and the three of them said "Thanks" I could see what was going to happen, so I grabbed Hermione's hand and Ron's arm, and said.
"Ahem! Ron, don't you have something you need to say to Hermione?"
Ron looked embarrassed again, his face turning as red as his hair, and said.
"I'm... I'm sorry for saying what I said Hermione, I uh, I don't think you're a nightmare to deal with."
Hermione just said a very normal "Okay" and we all went to eat. I always considered Harry and Ron friends, in a way, but from that moment onwards, we just started to hang out all four of us together, almost all the time. I guess you can't fight a troll without ending up liking each other.