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thomasharrisonfoxtf — Tails Potter and the philosophers stone chapter 10
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Published: 2018-06-17 16:13:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 7137; Favourites: 5; Downloads: 0
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CHAPTER TEN HALLOWEEN
Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Tails and Sonic were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.
Indeed, by the next morning Tails and Sonic thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, Tails filled Sonic in about the
package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection. "It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Sonic.
"Or both," said Tails.
But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it
was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.
Neither Knuckles nor Amy showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Knuckles cared about was never going near the dog again.
Amy was now refusing to speak to Tails and Sonic, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus. All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.
As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Tails was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in
this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had
hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.
Tails ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:
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 field at seven o'clock for your first training session.
Professor Blaze McGonagall
Tails had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Sonic to read.
"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Sonic moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."
They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they
found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Tails and felt it.
"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Tails with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time,
Potter, first years aren't allowed them." Sonic couldn't resist it.
"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Sonic grinned at Tails. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same
league as the Nimbus."
"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."
Before Sonic could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow. "Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.
"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.
"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Tails. "Professor Blaze McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"
"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sit," said Tails, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added.
Tails and Sonic headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion. "Well, it's true," Tails chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Knuckles' Remembrall I wouln't be on the team...."
"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Amy was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Tails's hand.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Tails.
"Yes, don't stop now," said Sonic, "it's doing us so much good." Amy marched away with her nose in the air.
Tails had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch field where he'd be learning to play that night. He bolted his dinner that evening without noticing what he was eating, and then rushed upstairs with Sonic to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last.
"Wow," Sonic sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto Tails's bedspread.
Even Tails, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.
As seven o'clock drew nearer, Tails left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. Held never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end
of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Tails of the little plastic sticks Muggle
children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high.
Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Tails mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling -- he swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch.
"Hey, Potter, come down!'
Oliver Wood had arrived. fie was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Tails landed next to him.
"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant... you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."
He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.
"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side.
Three of them are called Chasers."
"Three Chasers," Tails repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a football ball.
"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"
"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Tails recited. "So -- that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"
"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.
"Never mind," said Tails quickly.
"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper -I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."
"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Tails, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are
they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box. "I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."
He handed Tails a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.
"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."
He showed Tails two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Tails noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.
"Stand back," Wood warned Tails. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.
At once, the black ball Granger high in the air and then pelted straight at Tails' face. Tails swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking his nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air -- it zoomed around
their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.
"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team -- the Weasley twins are ours -- it's their job to protect their
side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So
-- think you've got all that?"
"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Tails reeled off.
"Very good," said Wood.
"Er -- have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Tails asked, hoping he sounded offhand.
"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the
Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers unless they crack my head open."
"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers -- I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."
Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.
"This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and
difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they
nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages
-- I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. "Well, that's it -- any questions?"
Tails shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.
"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try
you out with a few of these."
He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Tails were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Tails to catch.
Tails didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.
"That Quidditch cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you
turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."
Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Tails could hardly believe it when he realized that he'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had. His lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.
On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced
in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Knuckles' toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Tails' partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Knuckles had been trying to catch his eye with help from Alexia Queen). Sonic, however, was to be working with Amy Granger. It was hard to tell whether Sonic or Amy was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of them since the day Tails' broomstick had arrived.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as
usual. "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."
It was very difficult. Tails and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it -- Tails had to put it out with his hat.
Sonic, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," Tails heard Amy snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Sonic snarled.
Amy rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Their feather flew off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Sonic was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Tails as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly. "
Someone knocked into Tails as they hurried past him. It was Amy. Tails caught a glimpse of her face -- and was startled to see that she was in tears.
"I think she heard you."
"So?" said Sonic, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
Amy didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all
afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Tails and Sonic overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender, Sally and Alexia that Amy was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Sonic looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Amy out of their minds.
A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
Tails was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face.
Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped in an very audible voice, "Troll -- in the dungeons -- thought you ought to know."
He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.
There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
Percy was in his element.
"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if
you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"
"How could a troll get in?" Tails asked as they climbed the stairs.
"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Sonic. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."
They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Tails suddenly grabbed Sonic's arm.
"I've just thought -- Amy." "What about her?"
"She doesn't know about the troll." Sonic bit his lip.
"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy better not see us."
Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.
"Percy!" hissed Sonic, pulling Tails behind a large stone griffin.
Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Shadow. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.
"What's he doing?" Tails whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"
"Search me."
Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Shadow's fading footsteps.
"He's heading for the third floor," Tails said, but Sonic held up his hand.
"Can you smell something?"
Tails sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.
And then they heard it -- a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Sonic pointed -- at the end of a passage to the left,
something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.
It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.
The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.
"The keys in the lock," Tails muttered. "We could lock it in." "Good idea," said Sonic nervously.
They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Tails managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.
'Yes!"
Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop -- a high, petrified scream -- and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.
"Oh, no," said Sonic, pale as the Bloody Baron.
"It's the girls' bathroom!" Tails gasped. "Amy!" they said together.
It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Tails pulled the door open and they ran inside.
Amy Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.
"Confuse it!" Tails said desperately to Sonic, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.
The troll stopped a few feet from Amy. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw
Tails. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.
"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Sonic from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning
its ugly snout toward Sonic instead, giving Tails time to run around it.
"Come on, run, run!" Tails yelled at Amy, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall,
her mouth open with terror.
The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Sonic, who was nearest and had no way to escape.
Tails then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Tails hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its
nose, and Tails' wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped -- it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.
Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Tails clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him
off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.
Amy had sunk to the floor in fright; Sonic pulled out his own wand -- not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, Granger high, high up into the air, turned slowly over -- and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.
Tails got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Sonic was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.
It was Amy who spoke first. "Is it -- dead?"
I don't think so," said Tails, I think it's just been knocked out."
He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.
"Urgh -- troll boogers."
He wiped it on the troll's trousers.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor Blaze McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Shadow, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly
down on a toilet, clutching his heart.
Shadow bent over the troll. Professor Blaze McGonagall was looking at Sonic and Tails. Tails had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white.
Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Tails's mind.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor Blaze McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Tails looked at Sonic, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in
your dormitory?"
Shadow gave Tails a swift, piercing look. Tails looked at the floor. He wished Sonic would put his wand down.
Then a small voice came out of the shadows.
"Please, Professor Blaze McGonagall -- they were looking for me." "Miss Granger!"
Amy had managed to get to her feet at last.
I went looking for the troll because I -- I thought I could deal with it on my own -- you know, because I've read all about them."
Sonic dropped his wand. Amy Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher? "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Tails stuck his wand up its nose and Sonic knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."
Tails and Sonic tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.
"Well -- in that case..." said Professor Blaze McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
Amy hung her head. Tails was speechless. Amy was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Shadow had started handing out sweets.
"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor Blaze McGonagall. "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."
Amy left.
Professor Blaze McGonagall turned to Tails and Sonic.
"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 twenty points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."
They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.
"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Sonic admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."
"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Tails reminded him.
They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pig snout," they said and entered.
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Amy, however, stood alone by the door, waiting
for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.
But from that moment on, Amy Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
