Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Chapter 10 - Halloween
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Chapter 10
Halloween
Time passes at Hogwarts. Harry has been so busy with Quidditch practice and classes and homework that he does not realize that he has already been at the school for two months! The castle feels more like a home to him than Privet Drive ever did. His lessons are becoming more interesting, too, now that he understands the basics.
On Halloween day, all the children in Professor Flitwick’s Charms class finally get to practice making objects fly! They are very excited about this opportunity. Everyone except Ron. He has to work with Hermione. They do not seem to get along very well. And Harry has to work with Neville. Harry is a little scared about this partnership.
Professor Flitwick warns the children to pronounce the magic words correctly, and he warns them to use the correct movements of their magic wands. If they do not, tragic things might happen! It is very difficult for the children. It is their first time trying this kind of magic, after all.
Harry moves his wand back and forth in the air, but he is not able to make his feather move. Neville is so erratic with his movements and words that he sets his feather on fire, and Harry has to put it out with his hat! The day does not begin very well for either of them.
Ron is not having much luck, either. “Wingardium Leviosa!” he shouts, and he waves his wand in a large circle in the air. “You’re saying it wrong,” says Hermione in an impatient voice. “It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, you emphasize the ‘gar’.” “You do it, then, if you think you’re so smart,” says Ron angrily. Hermione rolls up the sleeves of her robes, moves her wand quickly in the air, and says “Wingardium Leviosa!”
The feather rises off the table and floats about one meter above their heads. All the children cheer for Hermione. Ron is in a bad mood for the rest of the class. “It’s no surprise that no one likes to be around her,” Ron says to Harry as they are leaving the class. “She’s a nightmare!” Hermione passes by at that very moment. Ron and Harry can see that she is crying. “I think she heard you, Ron,” says Harry. Ron looks a little uncomfortable.
Hermione does not come to the next class, and Ron and Harry do not see her all afternoon. Later that night, as they are walking to the Great Hall for the Halloween party, Ron overhears another student talking about Hermione: “I saw her earlier in the girls’ bathroom. She was crying so much. She wouldn't tell me what was wrong...” Ron now feels even more uncomfortable.
The children sit at the long tables in the Great Hall. Suddenly, all the empty plates are full of delicious food, and the empty cups are full of cool water and sweet juice. The Halloween festivities are about to begin! Harry is about to eat a giant spoonful of mashed potatoes when Professor Quirrell comes running into the hall. His turban is almost falling off and he has a terrified look on his face.
Professor Quirrell runs to the high table where Dumbledore is sitting and yells, “There’s a t-t-t-troll in the dungeons!” And then he falls to the floor, completely unconscious. There is total chaos! The children scream in fear, the teachers run up and down the aisles between the tables to try to calm the children. Professor Dumbledore has to set off exploding fireworks from his wand to quiet the children.
“Prefects,” he says in a stern voice, “take your Houses back to the dormitories immediately! Quickly now!” Percy and all the other prefects call their children, “Follow me! Stay together, first years! You do not need to be afraid of the troll if you do what I say! Stay behind me, now! Let’s go!” Percy moves through the confusion with all the Gryffindor children behind him.
“How could a troll get in?” Harry asks as they go up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. “Don’t ask me,” answers Ron. “Aren’t they supposed to be really stupid? Maybe one of the ghosts let it in.” The Gryffindor children pass different groups of children hurrying in all different directions.
As they pass through a crowded corridor, Harry suddenly remembers, “Ron, Hermione!” “What about Hermione?” answers Ron. “She’s still in the girls’ bathroom. She doesn’t know about the troll!” Ron looks at Harry with shock on his face. He knows what they must do, but he is afraid to do it. “Oh, all right,” he says. “But we can’t tell Percy. He would turn us into frogs if he found out!”
Carefully and quietly, Harry and Ron turn around in the chaos and run in the other direction towards the girls’ bathroom. They run down a deserted corridor and suddenly they hear the sound of footsteps behind them. They hide behind a large statue and wait. They think it must be Percy. But it is not Percy - it is Snape! He runs down the corridor and disappears around a corner.
“What is Snape doing here?” asks Harry. “Why isn’t he in the dungeons, helping the other teachers?” As quietly as possible, they follow Snape down the corridor. “He’s going to the third floor!” says Harry in surprise. Ron suddenly puts a hand on Harry’s shoulder, stopping him. “Can you smell something?” Ron asks.
Harry sniffs and he smells a terrible smell. It is a mixture of old socks and dirty toilets. And then they hear it - a low grunting sound, like a giant pig, and the sound of very heavy footsteps. Ron points. At the end of the corridor there is something huge moving towards them. They hide in the shadows. The thing moves into the moonlight from a window. It is a horrible creature.
It is almost four meters tall. Its skin is a sick gray color. There are lumps all over its body, like blisters. It has a small head, like a coconut, on its shoulders. Its legs are short and as thick as tree trunks. The smell coming from the creature is incredible. It is holding a large, wooden club in its long arms. The troll stops next to a doorway and looks inside. Then it slowly enters the room and closes the door behind it.
“Oh, no!” says Ron. His face is as white as paper. “The troll went into the girls’ bathroom.” “Hermione is in there!” Harry shouts in desperation. They look at each other with fear in their eyes. They know they have no choice: they run to the bathroom door, throw it open and jump inside. Hermione Granger is on the floor against the opposite wall. The look on her face is complete terror. The troll slowly moves towards her. It breaks all the sinks along the wall with its large club. Water begins to spray everywhere. “We have to confuse it!” Harry tells Ron.
Harry picks up a broken piece of sink and throws it against the wall next to the troll’s head. The troll has a shocked look on its face. It turns around and sees Harry. It roars a wild, terrifying roar. It begins to move towards Harry. Then Ron acts. He takes a metal pipe and throws it at the troll from the other side of the room. The pipe hits the troll on the back! It turns the other way and sees Ron. Now it is in total confusion. It roars again! It raises its huge club to hit Ron. “Hermione,” Harry yells, “get up! Move! Get out of the bathroom!”
Hermione cannot move. She is frozen with fear. Harry then does something that is very courageous and very stupid: he runs as fast as he can and jumps as high as he can and lands on the troll’s back. He throws his arms around the troll’s neck. By pure luck, Harry’s wand is in his hand when he puts his arms around the troll’s neck. The wand goes straight up into the troll’s nose. Trolls are large and strong, but a sharp stick stuck far up into its nose will get its attention.
The troll howls in pain and spins and twirls around and around. Its club breaks all the walls and the ceiling of the bathroom. Now the club is moving towards Hermione! Ron reacts without thinking: he waves his wand quickly in the air and says in a loud voice, “Wingardium Leviosa!” The club suddenly flies out of the troll’s hand, rises high into the air, and falls down with a loud “crack”, right on the top of its head!
The troll's eyes begin to roll in its head. Then it begins to fall forward. Harry jumps off just before the troll hits the ground with its face. The whole room shakes! Harry is shaking and confused. Ron is standing near the door. His wand is still raised in the air. He cannot believe what he has done. Hermione has a look of amazement on her face. “Is it dead?” she asks.
“I don’t think so,” answers Harry, “I think we just knocked it out.” He takes his wand and pulls it out of the troll’s nose. It is covered in disgusting gray slime, like glue. “Yuck, troll boogers.” He cleans the wand on the troll’s pants. There is a sudden sound from outside the bathroom, and the sound of many footsteps coming towards them.
A moment later, Professor McGonagall comes into the bathroom. Behind her is Snape and then Quirrell. Quirrell looks at the troll, turns around, and almost vomits into one of the broken toilets. Professor McGonagall looks at Ron with white anger in her face. Harry thinks there is no way they will win any points for this victory. “What on earth were you thinking of?” asks Professor McGonagall, as she looks at Harry and Ron.
“Please, Professor McGonagall, they were looking for me.” It is Hermione. She finally gets up off the floor. She is still shaking in fear. “I went to look for the troll myself,” she continues. “I thought I could defeat it alone.” Ron and Harry look at each other in amazement - Hermione is telling an obvious lie to the teacher! “If they hadn’t found me, I would be dead right now. Harry stuck his wand up the troll’s nose, and Ron cast a spell to knock its club out of its hand.”
“There was no time for them to find anyone to help,” she continues the lie. “Well, in that case…” says Professor McGonagall, looking at the three children, “Miss Granger, you are a foolish girl. Did you really think you could defeat a mountain troll by yourself?” Hermione looks embarrassed. Harry can’t believe what is happening. Hermione is the last person in the world to tell a lie.
“Miss Granger,” continues Professor McGongall, “Gryffindor will lose five points because of your actions. If you are not hurt, you may return to your common room.” She turns to look at Harry and Ron. “You two are very lucky. An adult mountain troll is difficult to destroy, even for an experienced witch or wizard. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed. You all may go now.”
They all run quickly from the room! They finally arrive at the secret entrance to house Gryffindor. They say the magic words and pass the fat woman in the painting. Before going to their separate common rooms, the three of them look at each other, embarrassed.
“Thanks” they all say at the same time. Then Harry and Ron run to the boys’ side, and Hermione walks quickly to the girls’ side. From that moment on, the three of them become fast friends. Because there are some things that you do that bring you together, and make a friendship strong. Especially defeating a four-meter tall adult mountain troll in a girls’ bathroom at Hogwarts.
