(Y/n)'s Pov
I said that, but all I did was run. He had a huge club, and was faster than one would expect, so I was running around the room, which looked more like a cavern, with stal- stalact-, rocks hanging on the ceiling.
I tried to sound brave, and I thought I wasn't afraid, but seeing that club try to stomp me in the ground made me run, thankfully, Blaze was throwing embers and hiding in the slightly dark cavern, which helped to distract the ugly troll.
I was dodging, but I couldn't keep doing it forever, the troll obviously had better stamina than I did, but still, there were spaces for me to hide while I thought of a way of dealing with it, Diffindo didn't work that much before, but I had to try it again, maybe if I put more emotion to it....
But I doubted, I didn't think I was going to make any difference if I fought or if I ran, but I had to push those thoughts out of my head, what good would it be if I kept thinking about it? Especially now, they depended on me, I was a dead weight on all of the other tests, now I had to show I wasn't useless, and I had my chance now, the thing I was good at, the only thing I worked for.
There must be a reason why Professor Flitwick taught me and Hermione these spells, he must've thought I had something, and now was the time to show it, even if a little, this wasn't a practice, this was life or death, and seeing Blaze being all motivated at this pumped my blood a bit too.
It was similar to the feeling I had in the Forest, something making me feel like my insides were burning alongside my wand. I don't know what it was, fear, excitement, adrenaline, I don't know, all I knew was that this made me sure I could do it now.
So I focused, gathered all my strength, and stood up while I did the wave movements, concentrating the air on my wand, and I slashed the air as I yelled.
"DIFFINDO!"
A slash of pure air shot out of my wand, the troll reacted faster than the other one, probably because he was facing me, but as he went to cover himself with his free arm, blood sprung out of him, as the slash hit him on his arm and face, he screamed in pain, and finally, after a long time trying to do it, I felt it.
I was happy, even in this deadly situation, the spell finally worked, it wasn't at Dad's level, but it was closer, and it made me happy, maybe I was crazy, but somehow, it filled me with confidence, not so much to be arrogant, but it made me want to try other spells I failed in the past, specifically one.
The troll didn't like it one bit though, and it gave me no room to breathe, almost hitting me at times. Thankfully, the blood that spilled from his face covered one of his eyes, but from the impact, rocks were hitting me, and it hurted like crazy.
I kept on hurling diffindo after diffindo at him, trolls apparently have good resistance to spells, but they worked, I was slowly but surely wearing him down, but it seemed like I made my moves too predictable, as I tried to take advantage of the fact that the troll was blind from one of his eyes, he saw that, and kicked me on the chest.
It threw me away a few metres, and I couldn't breathe but I had no time to lick my wounds, I had to keep moving, as tears filled my eyes from the pain. I didn't like the feeling, and every time I took a breath it hurted, but I had to prove them I wasn't useless, I couldn't let my friends down again.
Dad taught me a few spells, well, not taught, it was more like shown, I didn't keep track of all of them, for obvious reasons I couldn't stack them all on my twelve year old brain, but still, I could try one, it wasn't too flashy, but I liked it for that, it was simple, but first, I had to get rid of that club.
I ran around the room, and once again made the slashing motion as I yelled.
"DIFFINDO" The slash went out, and the troll tried to move it's head, but I wasn't pointing at him, I put all of my might and emotion into the slash, so that it could cut through his club, and it worked, it splitted in half, and as that part of the club was falling, I pointed at it, and yelled.
"OPPUGNO!" I spun on the same spot, as the half of the club came to me flying, following where my wand was pointing, and as I finished the spinning motion, I pointed my wand at the troll, and the half the club went flying at him, hitting him straight on the chest, almost knocking him off his feet.
I wouldn't have many chances at having time to breathe, so I kept slinging spells, the ones that came to mind at least, I didn't really have a plan so I thrusted my wand at the troll, and trying to push him off his feet I yelled.
"EVERTE STATUM!" A wave pulsated from my wand to the still stumbling troll, he tried to react but was too late to do so, as the spell hit him on the head it was thrown back a bit, and was starting to fall, I knew I had to take this chance, there wasn't going to be another one.
I knew I wasn't going to get any other chance, so I took it, as fire began to fill my soul I wasn't afraid anymore, somehow I knew it, I was in my element, I didn't have time to think about being afraid, all I knew was this thing was in front of me trying to kill me, and I couldn't die, not now.
I moved my wand as I ran to him, I couldn't allow it for this spell to disperse as the last time, so I made sure I was close enough so that it would hit, again, my body filled with the warm feeling, and so did my wand, filling with fire between the scales of it.
Blaze came running to me, as if she read my mind, climbed my body as I moved and put herself on the hand I had my wand on, and when I was below him, I yelled with all my strength as I thrusted my wand towards me.
"INCENDIO!" And as soon as those words left my mouth, fire went out from the tip of my wand, alongside with the strongest flame Blaze could muster, illuminating the room, as the flame engulfed him and the troll was squirming around, I thought it was over and let my guard down.
I was wrong.
I saw how the smoke the flame generated move, and I reacted, although a bit late, I dodged to the side, the troll smashed the place I was in a second ago with both of his hands, but after he saw I dodged it, he moved his hand to the side, and it hit me with almost full force on my left side, throwing me almost to the entrance of the room.
First I looked for Blaze, but she was fine, she jumped out of the way, and after that, I tried to stand up with strained breaths, but as I put weight on my left arm I fell again, I put the weight on my right arm and this time I was able to stand up properly, but that was when I realised it.
My left arm was twisted a bit, I don't know much about medicine, but even I could tell it wasn't supposed to look like that, I thought that after I looked at it I would feel the pain, but strangely enough, I didn't, my brain didn't send the pain through my body, I had other things to worry about.
I looked in front of me and saw the troll standing up, I was running out of time, it seemed like anything I did to him it wouldn't work, so I had to think outside the box, I don't like doing it, I don't have good imagination, but I was desperate, my eyes were looking everywhere.
Until I looked at the ceiling, and saw that some of the rocks were about to fall off, it gave me an idea, if magic doesn't work, maybe...
I pointed my wand at the troll, and he stopped in his tracks, as if he thought I was going to sling a spell at him, and prepared to evade.
I started the wand movements with the remaining of my strength, I knew this would be it, do or die, but instead of pointing at the troll, I pointed at the half of his club still on the ground, and yelled.
"OPPUGNO!" His club came towards me, and then I moved my arm and pointed above him, towards the rocks on the ceiling, the club went flying at a blinding speed, too fast for the troll to react, and as it hit the ceiling, giants boulders started to rain on the troll, it gave a last cry, until his voice was drowned out by the sound of rocks falling.
After a while, the troll stopped moving, his feets the only thing visible of him, as his upper part was buried in rocks.
Finally, after all that was over, I started to slowly walk towards where Harry went, to check on him, or help him, although, I don't know how much help I'd be in this state, I still had to, as I started to take steps towards there, I felt dizzy, and my arm shot up a sharp pain through my body.
I guess now that the danger was over, my body started to realise the wounds I had, breathing became even more difficult, but still I made my way to the door, and with difficulty I opened it.
I don't know what I expected to see, but Harry was picking up something, as a sort of smoke raised up behind him. I couldn't do much, I couldn't even yell properly, but I managed to get out a shaky.
"Harry!" He turned around, and the ghost passed through him, and he fell to the ground, I tried to go to him, but the ghost went for me too. I was in too much pain to react properly and the ghost was fast.
So that gave it the chance to phase through me, but instead of going through my chest, the thing went through my head, he couldn't get a hold of me, but it said some words, words that wouldn't let me sleep and it made the pain in my head even worse making it so all I could see was black.
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I woke up and was startled, as I sat quickly but immediately regretted my decision, as my left arm screamed in pain, I realised I was on the Hospital Wing, and that I had a bunch of candy in front of me too, I was alone, maybe Madam Pomfrey didn't let Hermione and the others to get in, or so I thought, until a voice made me take notice of him.
"At last, it was rather concerning for you to sleep as much as you did, considering your wounds" Said Dumbledore.
He was usually a rather calm person, but looking at him now felt as if he was trying to maintain that image of his, as drops of sweat dripped in his forehead, his voice had a tinge of relief, and his blue eyes were scanning me, as if to see if I had any more damage.
"I couldn't help but notice you winced, are you still in pain, child?"
"Um, kind of... I think the tr- The Stone! Harry! Is he okay?!" How could I forget about it? It just happened!
"Do not fret, dear child, Harry is fine, he slept a little bit less than you, and he just left to find your friends, he was worried too."
"A-And the Stone?" I asked.
"As I said to Harry, the Stone will be destroyed, Nicholas and his wife have enough elixir to sort out their things and then die."
"I guess... I guess they don't have much to do... At least they'll be together on their next adventure." I said with sadness, looking at the window.
"I am glad you think that way, dear child, death is a part of life, and if one's lived good enough, it's a great adventure." He put it in a way that made me feel better about it, they lived long, they probably experienced more things than any living being on this planet.
"So that means Voldemort's dead?" I asked, not fully believing it.
"No, he left Quirrel to die, his soul went after another body to possess - or rather - share, but it does pick my interest, why do you call him that?"
"Oh, my parents, they, um, told me to call him like that, said something like 'fear of the name gives it power', and they're right, I mean, it's just a name, no?" I said, and his blue eyes looked like they were shining, and with a warm smile he said.
"That's right my dear child, always use the proper name for things, I see your mother has taught you well."
"Oh, it was mostly my dad, actually" As soon as those words left my mouth, he looked... even more impressed.
"Then with more reason, I'm glad to see they're teaching you all of that, I know you must have a lot of questions, but as of now, I believe we're running late for the end of the year feast, we should get go-" I had to interrupt him, there was a question that bothered me, and I've been burning to ask it after Voldemort whispered those words to me.
"Sir, why... Why did Voldemort attack my family? My parents- they won't tell me, they said..." I trailed off.
"That you're too young to know, and I think so too, I know it must hurt to be denied such truth, it pains me too, dear child, but when you're older... you will understand." He said, with such calmness, but I couldn't help but feel sadness on his tone, on the vibe he let out.
I knew I couldn't ask him anything else, he had the same look mom has when she doesn't want me to ask more questions, just a bit more calm.
And maybe because he felt it too, he added.
"But I am truly glad to see those extra lessons are paying off, Professor Flitwick and I knew you had a knack for Charms."
I blushed a bit, "T-Thanks sir, I wouldn't have done it without any of my friends, you were right, they gave me the strength I needed." He looked at me through his half moon spectacles, and patted my head, I just looked at him, and said
"Sir, could you help me stand up? I'd love to go to the feast but my arm still feels a bit sore."
Dumbledore helped me up my feet, and waited for me to get ready, I waved goodbye to Madam Pomfrey and we went to the Great Hall, it was full, Professor Dumbledore went to his usual place, and I went to my friends, who all greeted me with hugs, except Ron, he patted my back, but still.
There, Harry told me everything, how it wasn't Snape and that it was Quirrel, who had half his head be Voldemort, how he got the Stone, and how he defeated him, all I could say was.
"Mate, you're on a streak! Voldemort can't do anything to you!" Hermione eeped, and Ron looked shocked that I said that name so nonchalantly, but I just didn't care anymore. I fought a troll and survived - though barely - and one of my closest friends fought against a Dark Lord and won.
We all laughed and kept on talking until Dumbledore got on his feet and approached the stand, as he put his wand on his neck and talked.
"Another year gone! And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little bit fuller than they were, you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before the next year starts."
"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: fourth place, Gryffindor" My head hung a bit low, since it was partly our fault that we were on fourth place, "with two hundred and sixty two; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty six, and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy two."
As soon as he finished speaking, the whole Slytherin table exploded with cheerings and screams, but before they could continue, they were interrupted.
"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account. Ahem, I have a few last minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes..."
"To Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." The whole table erupted in cheers, Ron looked like he was choking, and Percy was yelling things about how it was his brother and stuff.
"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
I know Hermione, and she looked ready to cry, so before she even had the chance to bury her head in her arms, I hugged her, and with all my strength - which wasn't much - I lifted her up a bit and cheered.
"Third, to Mr (Y/n) (L/n), for a struggle that pushed him to the limit of his abilities and an outstanding showcase of his magical prowess, I award Gryiffindor house fifty points."
Now it was my turn to be in the spotlight, and by Merlin's beard I didn't like it, I blushed so hard, but before I even had the chance of hiding myself, Hermione hugged me, alongside with the rest of the Gryffindor table.
"Fourth, to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points"
I had to put my hands on my ears, otherwise I'm pretty sure they would've start hurting pretty bad, as the yell was deafening, we all went to Harry, but I said.
"W-Wait, doesn't that mean..." Hermione, being quick on her mind as she is, realised what I meant.
"We have the exact same points as Slytherin!" All the tables went dead silent, as Dumbledore spoke again.
"There are all kinds of courage, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."
The sound the Great Hall managed to accomplish was like an explosion, but for once, I didn't mind it, I ran towards Neville and hugged him as I said.
"We've won Neville, all thanks to you! You're amazing!" Neville looked ready to cry, as we all lifted him up in the air.
"So that means we need a little change of decoration" Dumbledore clapped, and the Slytherin flags and banners that were hanging all through the Great Hall changed to become crimson and gold with the Gryffindor icon.
We spent the rest of the night celebrating, Neville looked much better than before, and I just knew Malfoy was crying on the table, which made it all the more sweet, I'm not one for revenge, but he deserved it
I knew there were many days and nights that would come at me while staying at Hogwarts, many would be good, many would be bad, but nothing would replace the feeling this place made me feel, as if I finally belonged, and I knew I would never forget this night.
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The next days, we received the results of the exams, Harry and Ron passed with good marks, Hermione obviously passed with perfect marks and on top, all but except one subject.
"Y-You what?!" She asked.
"I-I-I got 115% on my Charms exam! I finally beat you on one!" I stood proud, even if it was by 3%, it was an honour to say I finally surpassed Hermione on something.
"Y-Y-You- Agh, I'm happy for you, (Y/n)" She said, I knew she was forcing herself, it must've picked her the wrong way not being the top on all classes, even if it was for a bit.
"Well, don't worry Hermione, you've got six more years to prove you're better than me in Charms."
She looked a bit irritated, but also a bit happy, with a spark of competitiveness in her eyes.
"Challenge accepted, (Y/n)" She said, it wasn't a challenge, but oh well, what can you do, I guess everyone who likes to study is a bit competitive.
We didn't even realise, and we were already on our way to King's Cross, mom and dad were supposed to be there waiting for me, and as much as I was excited to meet them, I was also scared, mostly scared about mom, she overreacted a bit about the troll in the bathroom, I can't even imagine how she'll react about the troll I fought alone...
When we got out of the Hogwarts express and into the platform, Ron said.
"You three must come to stay this summer, I'll send an Owl."
"Oh! Oh! You guys have to come to my house too! We'll play board games! A-And videogames too! And I've got loads of books!" I said, excited, Harry and Hermione looked excited, but Ron simply looked at me as if I said something wrong and narrowed his eyes.
"What's a video game?" He asked, we just looked at him and laughed.
"Thanks you two, I'll need something to look forward to" Said Harry, wiping a tear off his eye, we were moving towards the gate, and people kept calling out to Harry, of course they would, he's basically a celebrity.
"Still famous," Said Ron.
"Not where I'm going, I promise you" Said back Harry, and I felt uneasiness in his voice. I wanted to ask him if there was something wrong, but before I could even say one word, a voice called out to us.
"There he is mum! There he is, look!" Said a tiny red headed girl, who was pointing at Harry "Harry Potter! Look Mum! I can se-"
"Be quiet Ginny, it's rude to point" Said who I recognized to be Ron's mom, I think her name was Molly.
"Busy year?" Mrs Weasley asked.
"Very" Said Harry, with a tired look on his face.
"T-Thank you for the hand made sweater ma'am, I'll be sure to get something for you n-next year!" I said.
"Oh, it was nothing, dearies." She said, I felt some weird vibe coming from behind us, and when I turned there was a huge purple-faced guy, looking furious at us, but especially at Harry.
"You must be Harry's family!" Said Mrs Weasley.
"In a manner of speaking, hurry up boy, we haven't got all day" Said the fat man, and then walked away, I looked at Harry, and he looked a bit defeated, I patted his shoulder and said.
"Don't worry Harry, we'll see you in the summer, right?"
"Yeah, at least that's something I'll be expecting, and don't worry, I think I'll have a better time than before, they don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home." He answered back, I just grinned at him, Hermione hugged him, Ron patted him, and I hugged him too, as he left for his home.
Shortly after, Ron left with his family, which left Hermione and me all alone while we waited for our parents, so we sat down on a bench nearby.
"Crazy year, huh? I don't know about you Hermione, but I never expected it to be anything like this." I said
"Took the words out of my mouth, but overall, I'd say it was fun." She said,
"Yeah, guess I was lucky enough to be put in the same house as you, honestly, I don't know what I would've done if I was alone." I said back, petting Blaze as I did so, though I had to be careful, as there were muggles around.
"I think you would have done plenty well on your own, (Y/n), there's this... calmness around you, you attract people." I simply looked at her, then down as I blushed a bit, and said.
"Thanks... Oh! I've just remembered, there's a bunch of books I want to lend you!"
We started to chat a bit about it, until we heard a voice behind where we were sitting.
"Hermione! I'm sorry we took so long, a client came late, and we were held back for a bit" Said a woman's voice, who I figured was Hermione's mom, because aside from what she had said, she had the same eyes and brown hair Hermione had.
Next to her, I saw a man with short hair, but it obviously denoted it had the same hair type as Hermione, I'm sure that if he had his hair a bit longer, their hairs would be both bushy, but he had black hair and glasses.
"H-Hi! I-I'm (Y/n) (L/n- Agh!" I got nervous, and bit my tongue by accident, at least I got my full name before anything...
"So you're the famous (Y/n)" Said the man, "My name's Richard Granger" He extended his hand, I took it, and then who I assumed to be his wife talked.
"Yes, Hermione's told us all about you" Hermione whispered something to her that I couldn't quite catch, but she just laughed it off and continued, "I'm Jean Granger, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." She extended her hand too and I shook it.
Before they could even ask me anything, Hermione pushed them away, while she said.
"I'll see you in the summer, (Y/n)!" I waved goodbye to her, and I waited for my parents to come.
In the end, only Mom was able to come and pick me up, mainly because Dad was caught up with work at the ministry, and that just made me feel worse, because I'd have to face Mom alone, at least Dad would give me some back up...
On the way home, I told her all about my latest adventure on Hogwarts, and she obviously scolded me like never before, but I knew it came from a place of worry, so I pushed it aside, they've always been quite protective of me.
We arrived home, and after a few hours of just practising the wand movements with my wand, Dad arrived. I just went ahead and hugged him, didn't even give him time to shower, and told him all about my fight with the troll.
He was obviously worried, I could see it in his eyes, but he was also proud.
"Alright then, little man, that means we've gotta amp up the lessons you receive here at home, no? Time to show you more of my arsenal" He said, I just smiled and nodded, something told me this summer was also going to be exhausting in the good way.
We spent the day talking away, as I played around with Blaze on the courtyard, careful so she wouldn't burn anything, and before I even noticed it, it was already night time, I didn't want to bed, but I had to, my parents wished me good night, and I stayed up with Blaze a bit more.
We just talked away for a few hours, of course I couldn't understand her, but again, I think we were getting there.
After feeding her for the last time, I finally laid on the bed, thinking back on those words Voldemort's soul told me, they made shivers run through all of my body, hearing them felt disgusting, and yet... more revealing that anything my parents have said about me.
As those words were the last thing in my head before falling asleep, it kept repeating itself as if it was a machine, with his horrendous hoarse voice.
Your blood is strong enough to have it all... but you're a coward nonetheless.
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