58 A Surprise Ally

In the evening the great feast was commencing, but there were two students missing. Hermione Granger was absent at the Gryffindor table, Miranda and Neville were glaring at the clueless Ron Weasley. And at the Ravenclaw table Harry Potter was missing. When Dumbledore opened the feast, he noticed Harry missing.

"Filius, where is Mr Potter? Surely he wouldn't want to miss the feast?" He asked.

"Damn, Miss Granger is also missing. I just noticed when you said that Mr Potter was missing and I counted the heads on my table. Let me ask Mr Longbottom and Miss Lillowe. They will probably know where she is. Perhaps Filius can do the same with Mr Potter's friends." McGonagall said.

Both she and Flitwick stood up and walked towards the first-years. When they returned Flitwick looked solemn and McGonagall furious.

"What did you find out?" Dumbledore asked.

"Mr Potter is in his room with his owl. He isn't hungry and doesn't want to celebrate Halloween as it is the day his parents were murdered." Flitwick said, making some of the teachers curse themselves for not thinking about that.

"Miss Granger is in a toilet crying because Mr Weasley said some really repulsive things to her after Charms class. From what Mr Longbottom told me, he called Miss Granger horrible names and said that she didn't really have friends and that those she thought that were her friends were only staying around her to get an easy helper for their schoolwork. Miss Lillowe tried to get her out of the toilet, but she wouldn't come out. I already took twenty points from Mr Weasley and I think a detention with Argus will make him think just what he says in the future." McGonagall informed the others.

"Oh my, I had noticed that he was angry in Charms. Miss Granger had tried to help him with the levitation charm, but he didn't get it and when she did the charm correctly just after Mr Potter, he got even angrier. But I didn't think it would lead to something like this." Flitwick said.

....

Meanwhile Harry had decided to take a little walk to the owlery. He wanted to get some exercise, only sitting on his bed didn't work to calm him down from his feelings. Hedwig sat on his shoulder. She wouldn't leave him today. When they walked down the staircase to change from the wing the Ravenclaw common room was in to the one with the owlery, they heard a loud noise. Harry wondered what was happening and walked there. Did Peeves cause mayhem again? It would be like him, especially on Halloween. But what Harry saw wasn't Peeves; it was a twelve foot mountain troll. Harry's first instinct was running away, but then when the troll trudged into a room, he heard a female scream he knew. That was Hermione's voice. He quickly took out a piece of parchment and a pen and scribbled a note that he needed help.

"Hedwig, quickly get this to the Great Hall to Professor Dumbledore. I need the teachers up here." He said.

Hedwig nodded and took off as fast as she could. Harry only saw one chance for him; he needed to distract the troll from Hermione. That room was a bathroom. Hermione would be caught inside if the troll passed the door completely.

"Hey, ugly. Why don't you take on somebody who can fight back?" He shouted.

The troll ignored him.

Harry didn't want to get in close; the troll was massively stronger than him. He looked around and saw one of the suits of armour. He had the perfect idea. He quickly ran over there and crashed it on the ground. The troll, having reacted to the noise, looked towards him. Harry had the helmet placed at his foot and lifted his right leg back and kicked the helmet at the troll's head with all his strength. The troll got the helmet directly on his nose and his eyes and was yelling out in pain. Then his eyes, swollen now from the hit, concentrated on Harry and he roared and came running at him with his club raised. Harry sped off towards the staircases. From there the teachers would come. It worked to a degree. Harry was faster than the troll thanks to his years of football training.

The troll followed Harry, but when he was about to run down, the stairs changed directions and his only choice to escape was running up again. He just hoped he would soon get help. From downstairs he heard voices of the teachers shouting, but he didn't hear what they said. He just kept running. Then Hedwig appeared in front of him and grabbed his collar. He felt strange. As if the weight of his body didn't exist anymore. The troll had cornered him. He needed to get away, but behind him was the troll running at him and in front of him the not existing staircase that really seemed to hate him right now. He had planned running down from here before it moved away just a few seconds prior.

'Jump!' He heard a shout in his head.

While he normally wouldn't listen to voices in his head he didn't know, he was in a dire situation. He either could jump and hope whatever Hedwig had done would protect him or get smashed. Even if he did fall, it was only a distance of ten metres, nothing more than broken bones would result from that and Madam Pomfrey could heal those in a minute. So Harry pushed forwards from the platform and suddenly knew what Hedwig had meant with 'Jump!' He was so light that he glided down to the platform under him. It wasn't like flying; he was just too light to take damage from the landing. His feet landed on the platform and he was greeted by the concerned Professor Sprout. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape were shooting spells at the troll while running up the stairs.

But just when it seemed they had the upper hand, a giant Cerberus crashed onto the platform where they were battling the troll. Where the hell did a Cerberus come from? The Cerberus saw the troll as his most problematic enemy though and started attacking it, ending the former work of the Professors. When the troll lay bloody on the floor, the Cerberus turned to the others. The Professors seemed to be too shocked to really react. In Harry's mind flashed a memory.

Flashback

"Who is Fluffy?" Harry asked, not being capable of imagining anything called Fluffy scaring the Dursleys.

"A three headed dog I got from a Greek chappie a while ago. Real softy he is, yer only need ter know how ter handle him. Play 'im a bit of music an' he falls asleep. Mos' magical creatures are only misunderstood, I think. Look at 'em callin' Thestrals dangerous creatures. Only 'cause they can only be seen by those who've seen death. Thestrals can look after 'emselves. Ministry fools don' like tha'. We've a 'hole herd at Hogwarts. They pull the carriages for the students when they come with the Hogwarts Express every year." Hagrid said while they walked through the part of London where St. Mungo's was located towards Diagon Alley.

Flashback end

Harry knew that this was probably Fluffy. So he opened his mouth and started singing the first song that came to his mind.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind, but now I see.

'T was grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear?

The hour I first believed.

Fluffy seemed to sway on his feet and Harry continued singing.

Through many dangers toils and snares

I have already come

'T was grace that brought me safe thus far

And grace will lead me home.

Fluffy was now peacefully sleeping and Dumbledore conjured a harp to keep playing music while he levitated the Cerberus back into the third floor corridor. Snape was following him. Harry meanwhile began shaking like a leaf. His adrenaline that had been sky high was falling now. Professor Sprout saw the problem and sat him on the floor.

"Breath deep in and out, Mr Potter, you are safe now, the troll has been dealt with. You reacted fabulously to the Cerberus. How did you know what to do?" She asked, trying to distract him.

"Hagrid told me about Fluffy. He falls asleep when he hears music. The only thing I could think of was singing." Harry said.

"That was a beautiful song. I've never heard it before. What is it called?" She asked.

From downstairs Madam Pomfrey was running upstairs.

"It's called Amazing Grace. It's a muggle song. I always liked to sing at school, but my cousin made always fun of me for being girly." Harry answered embarrassed.

"I don't think it's girly. You also have a very nice singing voice." She praised him.

Harry couldn't help but blush. He didn't get many compliments like that. Madam Pomfrey reached them.

....

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