Alone in The Wizarding World Chapter 4 (Hidden Magic and Bad Blood)

Malfoy seemed just as shocked that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts as he was about a long, thin package that had been carried into the hall by six owls and been dropped in front of Harry. Although the note attached from McGonagall clearly stated not to open it in the Great Hall, nobody had any trouble figuring out that it contained a broom.

Harry and Ron were amazed when they unwrapped it after lessons back in the common room to discover that it was a Nimbus Two Thousand.

"Woah! A Nimbus Two Thousand! I've never even touched one! They're the best model ever!" Ron gazed longingly at it. "What's so good about it, exactly?" Hermione walked up behind them and peered over their shoulders. She hadn't said a word to the boys at all since the incident the previous night.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" Ron raised an eyebrow at her. "I just came down to give Harry his jumper back." She spat at Ron before tossing Harry his jumper, "Thanks."

"Don't stop now; it's doing us so much good." Ron snarled. Hermione marched away with her nose in the air. Harry had long since given up on trying to get Ron and Hermione to be able to stay in the same room as each other without starting to bite each other's heads off.

***********

Harry woke up early on September 19th. As he got up, a smile spread across his face. Pulling his dressing gown on, Harry scanned the room to ensure all the other boys were still asleep - which they were - before pulling the little lilac parcel out from inside his trunk. Taking a deep breath, Harry slid through the half-open door before quietly shutting it behind him.

He crept downstairs and saw exactly what he'd wanted to: Hermione was sitting alone on the sofa, reading. Grinning, Harry snuck up behind her. "Happy birthday!" He whispered in her ear, causing her to squeal and leap up from the sofa, dropping her book. "Harry!" She cried, "You scared me."

"That was the point." Harry laughed and walked around the front of the sofa, "How are you?"

"Good. You?" Hermione replied as they both sat back down together. "I'm great, thanks. Here you go!" Harry handed her the parcel.

"Oh, Harry, you didn't have to get me anything!"

"Of course I did." Harry couldn't wipe the smile from his face, "Well, open it, then!" Hermione pulled the tag around so that she could read it. As her eyes sped across the little note, they slowly filled with tears. "I...oh, Harry, thank you!" She leaped onto him and squeezed him into a tight hug. "You've not even opened it yet!" Hermione let go of Harry and gently peeled the lilac paper off of the little black box that the bracelet was in.

She clicked open the tiny golden lock and lifted the lid. As she saw the bracelet, Hermione let out a gasp. "Oh, Harry, it's beautiful! Thank you so much!" She hugged him again.

"Don't worry about it. D'you want me to help you put it on?" Harry asked.

"Yes, please." Harry fiddled around with the bracelet for ages, trying and trying to clip it around Hermione's right wrist. She didn't help at all, however much she had tried. Her left hand would try to guide Harry's right as he fussed with the tiny silver clasp, but this only made his hand shake more.

Finally, Harry was able to fasten it properly on the second-to-last loop. He found that his right thumb was bleeding a little bit just under the nail's tip, where the clasp had caught him multiple times. "Thank goodness." He sighed, sucking on his bleeding thumb.

"Thanks again, Harry." Hermione beamed at him before pulling her robes down over her wrist. Harry was pleased that he had given Hermione her present when he had, for he did not get another chance to speak to her all day.

***********

Hallowe'en started off as a really good day for Harry and Ron. In Charms, Flitwick told them he thought they were ready to start making objects fly. Harry was partnered with Seamus Finnegan, but Ron and Hermione had been paired together on the table next to Harry. Hermione had not spoken adequately to Harry since her birthday, but she had not spoken to Ron at all since Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand had arrived.

Levitating was very difficult; Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skywards was still lying on the desk. Seamus became so impatient that he had managed to set fire to their feather, which Harry had had to put out with his robe. Ron, at the following table, was having as little luck as they were.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" He shouted, waving his arms around like a windmill. "Stop, stop, stop!" Hermione pushed Ron's arm down irritably, "You're going to take someone's eye out." She raised her eyebrows, "And besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Levi - oh - sa not Levio - sar."

"You do it then if you're so clever." Ron snarled. Hermione took a deep breath, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Their feather rose from the desk, completely under Hermione's control.

"Oh, well done!" Flitwick cried, "See here, everyone, Miss Granger's done it!" She moved it around a little in the air before allowing it to rest back down on the table in front of an utterly livid Ron.

***********

After the lesson, Ron was in a very bad mood. "Its Levi - oh - sa not Levio - sar." He mocked, "It's no wonder no one can stand her. She's a nightmare, honestly." Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him.

Harry took a single glance to notice that it was Hermione with tears in her eyes as she ran away; at that moment, Harry felt his blood boiling, and he turned furiously at Ron.

"What the hell is your problem?" Harry shouted before pushing him, his right eye turning red, making Ron's nose bleed as he hit the floor roughly.

"I don't want you to say that to Hermione again, and if you have a problem with her, then we are not friends anymore," Harry shouted, an uneasy feeling spread everywhere, making every student take a step back from Harry, who stormed off to find Hermione.

Ron saw him run away, his nose still bleeding, with a sad look on his face.

Harry walked around trying to find where Hermione went; sadly, Hogwarts was like a maze, and the many voices of people talking weren't helping, despite them being far away for him to actually hear them. Two girls passed by him, and he stopped one of them with a tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me, have you seen Hermione?" He asked with a worried tone.

"You mean the crying mess? We heard her in the bathroom," she said with a mocking chuckle at the end; from their clothes, he knew they were both Ravenclaw. Harry felt his blood boil again but decided to ignore them; he didn't want to intentionally or unintentionally do something he might regret. Might.

Reaching the girl's bathroom, he walked inside, not caring if someone noticed him, and soon heard the cries of Hermione from one of the doors.

"Hermione, please come out?" Harry pleaded, knocking on the bathroom door.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" She asked, wiping away the tears from her face, her voice hoarse.

"Please come out, Hermione; you know Ron is an absolute moron sometimes," Harry pleaded, his back slowly sliding down against the door. His back turned on the door, his head leaning against the door.

"H-he's right; I have no friends, no one likes me," she cried out. More tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I thought I was your friend Hermione, am I not?" Harry asked, slightly turning his head around.

Hermione stopped before using her sleeve to wipe the tears from her face, her eyes red and puffy.

"Y-you are; you are the only friend I have," she said with a little smile growing on her face.

"Then, open the door. I want to be there for you," Harry said kindly; for a moment, he heard nothing until he heard the sound of the door unlocking; he stopped leaning his back against the door just as the door opened, revealing Hermione coming out.

Harry stood up, a smile on his face, spreading his arms wide; the bushy-haired witch jumped on him, hugging him tightly.

Harry smiled, liking the hug, not caring that her wet tears were making his Gryffindor uniform wet, suddenly thinking that her hair had a pleasant aroma, but before he could tell her to go to the main hall, a terrible smell suddenly reached their noses, making both of them groan before pinching their noses, trying to stop the disgusting smell.

"What is that smell?" Harry asked before they both looked up, only to see a troll with a club in his hand, the door behind him closed. Hermione's eyes widened in terror; she was about to scream when Harry quickly shut her mouth closed, his finger on his lips telling her to keep quiet.

"We need to get out," Harry whispered, grabbing her hand tightly; they both hid inside Hermione's bathroom; the troll was busy looking at himself in the mirror; Harry crouched to look from the little opening that was between the bottom of the door and floor, enough for his eyes to see that the troll was still busy.

"We crawl until we reach the door," Harry whispered; Hermione, who had lost all color of her face, her skin pale, could only nod, her whole body shaking.

Harry started first crawling, going from one bathroom to another, soon followed by Hermione, almost reaching the last one; suddenly, they heard the sound of smashing but didn't bother with it.

Just as Hermione was about to reach Harry, the door of her bathroom opened; she immediately screamed in terror before desperately reaching Harry. He helped her just as the troll used his club to smash the sink to pieces.

"Run, Hermione," Harry shouted, opening the door, the girl went to open the door, but it was locked. "Is Locked!!" She screamed in terror as the troll used his club to smash the bathroom door.

Harry grabbed a tap from the floor and flung it at the back of the troll's head. It lumbered around and began advancing on Harry.

You Need My Help

"Oi, pea-brain!" Ron yelled, lobbing a metal pipe at it. Harry didn't know where Ron came from but didn't bother with it. The troll turned and looked at the source of the noise it had heard. Grumbling, the troll turned to face Ron. It was about to flatten Harry against the wall with its gigantic leg. It stopped in its tracks as something hit its arm with a small clunk. Hermione had thrown a piece of the sink at it. The chunk of sink seemed to have drawn blood. The troll turned to her once more and, suddenly angry about the pain the trio had inflicted upon it, began to move with somewhat more speed than it had done before. Hermione shrieked, covering her head.

"No," Harry shouted, angry, the troll stopped dead in his tracks, and Ron gasped in fear as blood started leaking out of the side of his neck.

The troll suddenly moved his neck forcefully to his left, causing the skin and flesh on the right side of his neck to tear, but the rest of the body didn't move, not even an inch, as the troll moved his head to his left again forcefully, the force caused more skin to tear, the troll not acknowledging the pain, the troll moved his head back to Hermione completely ignoring the neck, the blood leaking from his neck, dripping to the floor, before moving his head with all his force to the right, causing his whole neck to forcefully SNAP, as his body was facing Hermione, his face was facing Harry at the opposite direction.

Harry felt dizzy as the troll fell to the ground dead; Ron felt his breath stuck in his throat, not knowing what to do, but saw his friend falling unconscious on the floor; he caught his head body before falling; Hermione rushed immediately, ignoring the dead troll and the blood.

"Harry, Harry, wake up," both asked at the unconscious Harry, who was breathing but not waking up.

A moment later, McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell stormed in. Quirrell took one look at the troll; his face looked pale. Snape narrowed his eyes before bending over the dead beast, and McGonagall was looking at Ron and Hermione, her face furious before her eyes noticed the pale face of Harry.

They had never seen her look so angry. "What on earth were you thinking of?" McGonagall said, cold fury in her voice, "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall."

"Miss Granger!"

"They were looking for me." Hermione looked up at the professor, avoiding making any eye contact at all with Ron, "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." Ron dropped his wand.

Before Hermione could continue, McGonagall stopped her. "Perhaps later, send mister Potter to the hospital wing; we can continue after Potter is better," she ordered strictly.

McGonagall used her wand to lift Harry in the air; Snape eyed the unconscious brat all the time; he knew these brats would never be able to defeat a troll.

He's just like his father, trying to always be in the spotlight, he thought, noticing the strange behavior of the other professor.

Arriving at the hospital wing, Madam Poppy Pomfrey almost angrily shouted at them.

"What Now?" She shouted before checking on Harry; Hermione held Harry's hand, almost crying, scared that Harry might die; Ron kept quiet and not crying but still felt like a piece of shit.

Why can't I just shut up sometimes? He thought, deciding to apologize after Harry woke up.

"Is Harry alright?" Hermione asked tearfully, holding Harry's hand almost as if Life depended on it.

Pomfrey checked on the unconscious Harry before turning and walking towards a cabinet; she grabbed a jar.

"He needs to drink this," she said, filling a glass with water; she dropped what Hermione thought was some antibiotics; she used a spoon to mix it with water before walking over to Harry.

"He's still unconscious, but he's in no danger, but after he wakes up, he should drink this," she ordered, putting the cup at a table near the bed.

Hermione released a sigh of relief, and so did Ron; McGonagall then told both Ron and Hermione to explain everything.

The bushy girl told her the rest of the story, how Harry and Ron had tried to help, how the troll then had somehow killed himself.

The professor's eyes widened; she told them to stay there as she needed to talk something with Dumbledore.

After a few hours, Harry woke up before being engulfed by a hug from a crying Hermione.

"Stupid, don't try something like that again," She sobbed on his shoulder, holding him tightly.

"I promise I won't," he promised before caressing her hair; he found it a relaxing thing.

Before Harry could say ask what happened to the troll, Ron approached slowly, keeping his head low, almost in shame.

"I'm really sorry, Hermione; I didn't really mean what I said," Ron apologized with a downcast look; Hermione turned to him, unsure of what to say.

"Don't do something like this again, and we will be fine," Harry spoke with a dark tone, making a shiver go through Ron, who gulped. Harry didn't care what his reasons were, but he didn't want to deal with people like Ron; if he decided to be a prick again, then Harry wouldn't care for his friendship anymore.

After drinking whatever was in the cup, Harry felt immediately better, soon being released from the hospital wing from Madam!

While walking there, Ron couldn't help but ask what happened in the bathroom.

"I don't know, he wanted to harm Hermione, and I just wanted to stop him," Harry replied with a small frown on his face, still not understanding what the voice in his head was.

They had reached the Fat Lady. "Pig snout." They said and entered. The common room was packed and noisy.

But from that moment on, Hermione Granger truly became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and killing a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them. Maybe?

In the week leading up to his first Quidditch match against Slytherin, Harry was especially grateful for the fact that he and Hermione were now properly friends. He didn't know how on earth he'd have gotten through all of his homework without her, what with the last-minute Quidditch practices Wood was making them do.

She had also lent him Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a fascinating read. The day before the big match, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were standing outside in the freezing courtyard, warming themselves on a little blue fire Hermione had made in a jam jar.

Snape had limped over to them and snarled, "What's that you've got there, Potter?" Harry was relieved that Snape couldn't seem to see the little fire that Ron and Hermione were standing tightly together in front of to block from his view.

"It's a book, Professor." Harry showed Snape his Quidditch Through the Ages copy. "Library books are not to be taken outside of the school. Give it to me." He snatched the book from Harry's hand, "Five points from Gryffindor.

"He's just made that rule up!" Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped off. "I wonder what's wrong with his leg?" Hermione gazed after the professor quizzically.

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," Ron said bitterly. "You know," Ron turned to Hermione, "That reminds me. When I was looking for you teo on Hallowe'en, I saw Snape running across the corridor. I don't know where he was going, but he didn't look as though he wanted anyone to know that he was going there."

"Perhaps it has something to do with his limp..." Hermione gasped, "The dog! He must have gone to the dog! I think we were right, Harry. Whatever is under that dog must be important, and Snape wants it so desperately that this has happened to his leg."

"Yeah, but surely he couldn't have just decided to go when the troll got in..."

"...so he must have let it in himself!" Harry finished Ron's sentence for him.

"You know what?" Hermione said thoughtfully, "Harry, I think he knows we're onto him. I mean, it's obvious that he's had it in for you lately, and he's been doing everything he can to get you into trouble one way or another. He must know..." She shot Harry a grave look,"...so we must be close to figuring this out."

**********

Harry's broom was twisting and turning uncontrollably in the air. It lurched forwards and backward of its own accord. Suddenly, Harry heard an eruption of noise from the crowd as they noticed him one by one. After a few seconds, he could hear hundreds of people yelling his name.

Harry had to use all of his willpower to keep his consciousness, but - no matter how hard he tried - he could not stop his broom from trying to fling him halfway across the pitch.

"What d'you think's wrong with him, Hagrid?" Ron asked nervously, "Maybe something happened to the broom in a tackle or-"

"Can't have." Hagrid peered through his binoculars, "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except Dark Magic."

At these words, Hermione let out a gasp, grabbed Hagrid's binoculars, and started looking frantically around the crowd. "What are you doing?" Ron moaned, pale-faced and looking as though he was about to be sick.

"I knew it! Snape - look!" Ron snatched the binoculars. Snape was in the stands opposite them. His eyes were fixed on Harry, and he was muttering non-stop under his breath.

"He's jinxing the broom!" Hermione snarled. "Can't be. Snape's a teacher an'-" Hagrid snorted. "He is, Hagrid!" Hermione insisted.

"What should we do?" Ron asked.

"Leave it to me." Hermione turned with an evil smirk and shoved her way through the crowd before Ron or Hagrid could object. The sounds of the Gryffindor team's frantic yells only made her push harder. She found a small set of rickety stairs that led to just underneath the seating section of the stands and scrambled down them.

Once she had made her way over to the stand Snape was sitting in, Hermione crouched under his seat, pulled a tiny jar from her pocket, and opened it. Pressing the edge of the jar to the hem of Snape's robes, Hermione watched as the little blue flame escaped and lit up the dark little gap that she was standing in.

Burn in hell, she thought with a devil smirk.

Snape yelped, standing up and twisting around frantically. Hermione had gotten a face full of sawdust that had fallen from the stands as Quirrell had toppled from his seat behind Snape. The Potions master had stopped flailing about for just long enough so that Hermione could scoop the little blue fire off of him. She stuffed the jar back into her pocket and bolted back along the row. She stopped at the end of a stand to catch her breath. Looking up at the blurs of red and green, Hermione smiled.

She had done her job, and now Harry was safe, and Snape would never know it was her who had set him on fire. Hermione let out a gasp as she watched Harry speeding towards the ground. He wasn't going to stop. He hit the pitch on all fours and clapped a hand to his mouth, looking as though he was about to be sick. Harry coughed, and something golden fell into his hand.

"I've got it!" Harry stared at it in awe, "I've got the Snitch!" He thrust his hand into the air, showing the crowd what he had done. The stands erupted with noise: humongous whoops and applause from the Gryffindors, boo's, hisses, and shouts of unfairness from the Slytherins, and some applause from the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, most of whom were just happy that Slytherin hadn't won.

Hermione stood under the stands clapping and cheering as hard as she could. She watched Harry as he gazed around the crowd, a huge grin plastered across his sweaty face. Suddenly, he caught Hermione's eye. Harry gave her a look of sheer bewilderment, but she simply beamed back at him as if to say, don't worry, everything's fine. He seemed to get her message; Harry turned back to the crowd and waved the Snitch in the air once more.

***********

"It was Snape!" Ron persisted,

"We saw him, Hagrid!" Hagrid, however, wasn't having any of it, "Rubbish! Why would Snape do somethin' like that? hes a teacher!" Harry looked back at Ron and Hermione in confusion.

He asked them, "Wait...what happened, exactly?" They were all sitting in Hagrid's hut just after the match had ended.

"Alright," Hermione began, "First, we saw your broom trying to throw you off, then Hagrid said that only Dark Magic could interfere with a broomstick. That got me thinking, so I used Hagrid's binoculars to look around the stands, and I saw Snape staring at you and muttering quickly - he was jinxing your broom, Harry. So, I went under the stands and found his seat. I used some more of the little blue fire to set his robes alight for just a minute, and he jumped up and started to panic. That was when you were able to get control of your broom again."

"Codswallop!" Hagrid snorted,

"Snape'd do nothin' of the sort!"

"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid. You have to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking."

"Look, Hagrid," Harry jumped in before he could object, "I saw Snape on Hallowe'en. He tried to get past the three-headed dog. It bit him, and we think he was trying to steal whatever is underneath it." Hagrid dropped the teapot, leaning in towards the three intrigued students.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" He whispered.

"Fluffy?" Ron gave Hagrid an incredulous look.

"Yeah, he's mine. Bought 'im off some Greek bloke in the pub las' year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"

"Yes?" Harry was on the edge of his seat.

"I should not 'ave said that..." Hagrid muttered to himself angrily.

"Don' yeh go askin' any more questions, yeh hear me? Tha's top secret that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it!" Ron yelled.

"Rubbish! He's a teacher an' I told yeh, he'd do nothin' of the sort!"

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" Hermione cried. This made something click inside Harry's brain. Hermione had just saved his life. He looked at her desperate face. She wanted answers just as much as he did.

Hermione continued, "Like I said, I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid-"

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong! I don' know why 'arry's broom acted like that, but I'm sure as anythin' Snape wasn' doin' nothin' ter try an' get yeh killed. Now, listen ter me. Yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. Jus' forget the dog, an' what it's gurdin'. Tha's between Dumbledore an' Nicholas Flamel-"

"Aha!" Harry jumped from his seat with joy, "So, there's someone called Nicholas Flamel involved, is there?" Hagrid looked furious with himself.

*********

Christmas was fast approaching. Snow was settling outside thick and fast. Soon enough, the school found itself covered in several feet of snow. Although the weather excited the students, lessons were, as usual, rather tiresome. However, there were a few things that could lighten their spirits. Fred and George Weasley, for example, had bewitched snowballs to fly around after Quirrell and bounce off the back of his ridiculous turban. It was Thursday evening, the last Thursday before most of the Hogwarts students were to go home to their families for the holidays. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat together on the common room sofa.

Hermione was reading through the boys' Charms essays that were due in the next day irritably. "Honestly, you both really ought to have done these sooner; we had just under a week to finish them," she sighed, "Ron, you spelled incantation wrong." Hermione drew a line through a word on Ron's essay and wrote the correct spelling above it.

"I can't believe you're both just leaving me here for two whole weeks!" Harry demanded, "What am I supposed to do with myself?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you, mate?" Ron asked, "Mum's canceled our trip to Egypt. They've gone up to Romania to visit Charlie instead. Think we're going in the summer, now." Harry turned hopefully to Hermione.

"Sorry, Harry," she sighed.

"We aren't going anywhere, my parents and me. We're just staying at home for Christmas, so there aren't really any plans to cancel, are there? Ron, there isn't an e in individual. Look, I wish I could stay here...perhaps I can persuade them to let me next year."

"But who's going to help us do our homework?" Ron whined.

"Homework? But it's the holidays..." Hermione looked puzzled, "Oh, you mean the homework you've not done yet, don't you? Well, I've done it all already, so all I'll have is whatever they give us tomorrow, which will hopefully be nothing. You know, you two really should have done all your homework before the holidays so that you have more time to search the library for Nicholas Flamel." Ron groaned.

"But we've been looking for ages, and we haven't found anything!" Hermione put Ron's Charms essay down on the coffee table and scowled at him, "I'd love to help you both, but I can't really do that from my house, now can I?"

"Don't worry, Hermione." Harry said, "I know I've read his name somewhere before."

"Can't have been a book, then, can it, mate? You've hardly read anything since you've been here." Ron grinned.

Harry laughed, "You can talk!"

"Alright, then." Hermione cut in, "So, we know that you didn't read his name in a book. Let's think about this; what do we know about him already?"

"Er...he knows Dumbledore..." Ron started.

"...and...no, that's it." Hermione looked disheartened, "Oh. Okay, so we know one thing. Surely it can help us somehow..." After a few minutes of thoughtful silence, Ron yawned.

"I suppose we really ought to go to bed now." Hermione handed Ron his Charms essay back, "There, good enough for Flitwick to be pleased with, but not so good that he doesn't believe it's yours."

"You're the best, Hermione, thanks." Ron took his essay appreciatively. The trio said their goodnights and climbed up to their dorms.

"One day left!" Ron said as he got into bed, "Are any of you three staying here over Christmas?"

"Nah, mate." Seamus Finnegan said, "I'm going back to Ireland with my mam and pap."

"I'm not staying either." Dean Thomas grinned excitedly, "My dad's taking me to see West Ham!" Ron looked at Harry, confusion spreading across his face.

"Neville?" Ron shook his confusion about what West Ham was off and glanced over at the bed by the door.

"Um...no, sorry. My gran wants me to come home for Christmas." Neville sighed.

"Oh well." Ron shrugged, "I guess it's just you and me then, Harry!" Harry was suddenly very pleased that Ron's trip to Egypt had been canceled.

***********

"I'll write to you every day! You write back too, or I'll think something's wrong. Keep looking for anything you can about Nicholas Flam-"

"We know, Hermione!" Ron chuckled. "Bye, both of you. Stay safe, and for goodness' sake, try not to get caught!" Hermione gave them a small smile and waved to them before climbing out of the portrait hole.

Harry sighed. The common room was really quiet. Only Ron, Percy, and the twins were staying with Harry over Christmas. Hopefully - if they wound up going home next year - someone else would be staying at Hogwarts.

"Hermione was right about us not getting any more homework." Ron sighed and flopped down onto the sofa, "It's going to be really quiet."

"Is it, now?" One of the twins raised an eyebrow.

"Because we don't like quiet, do we, Georgie?" Fred grinned.

"No, we don't," George said.

"Watch out, Harry..."

"You're in for the best Christmas ever!" The pair chorused.

"Oh, Merlin..." Ron groaned.

"You lot had better keep out of trouble," Percy snarled, "or I'll tell Mum, then you'll really be for it." As Percy turned on his heel and strode upstairs, the twins pulled ridiculous faces at his back.

Harry and Ron had to shove their faces into cushions to stop Percy from hearing their laughter. Harry climbed into bed that night with a hole in his heart. It had occurred to him that Hogwarts was his home now, and everyone in it was - as Professor McGonagall had said at the start-of-term banquet - like Harry's family.

But now, with Hermione not there, Harry felt as though a piece of it had been torn away. It wasn't right anymore. It didn't feel like home.

***********

Dear Harry, I'm back home, but it doesn't really feel like it. Neither my mum nor my dad talked to me at all during the drive back. I hoped they would be more excited to see me, as I've been away for three and a half months, but apparently not.

I honestly can't think why. I hope that Hogwarts isn't too quiet for you. I'm sure that Fred and George will be able to keep everyone's spirits up. Is it still snowing? There's a tiny bit where I am, but nowhere near as much as there was at Hogwarts. I didn't really want to unpack, as it felt as though I wasn't coming back, so I've just shoved my trunk under my bed. Hopefully, it won't take long for you both to find something out about Nicholas Flamel.

If worst comes to worst, you could always try and squeeze a little more out of Hagrid. I am going to reread every single one of my school books while I am here, just in case I've missed something about him in there too. Have a lovely day. Please reply soon; it's really boring here without anyone to talk to.

Bye, Hermione.

Harry frowned as he read through the letter. Why on earth didn't Hermione's parents want to talk to her?

"Is that from Hermione?" Ron peered over Harry's shoulder, putting his fork down. It was breakfast time for those who remained at Hogwarts (which, granted, was not many at all), and the boys were sitting as close to one of the roaring fires as they could, for a cold chill spread around the large room.

"Yeah." Harry folded it up and put it in his pocket, "I'm going to go reply."

He stood up and left Ron sitting with the twins. Hurrying up the stairs to the common room, Harry's mind was still racing.

"Jingle Bells." He said hastily to the Fat Lady, who was decked out in fancy Christmas wear. "Would you like to hear a song? 'Tis the season, after all." Her melodic voice rang out through the empty corridor.

"Er...I'd love to, but I can't right now. See, I've got to reply to my friend; she's sent me a letter and-"

"Just one little ditty?"

"No!" The Fat Lady sighed, "Oh, alright. Where's your Christmas spirit?" she swung open for Harry.

Harry scrambled through the hole and up to his dorm. He sat on his bed, pulled out some fresh parchment and a quill, and wrote:

Dear Hermione, I really miss you. I don't really know why your parents don't want to talk to you. I suppose it must be quite strange for them, as you've been away for so long. Whatever it is, I'm sure they'll come around. They're your parents, and they love you more than anything. It'll be fine, I promise.

Yes, Fred and George are really lifting everyone's spirits. They've been playing pranks on everyone, and they've taught me this game called Exploding Snap. It's excellent, and we played it for hours yesterday until Percy threatened to tear up the cards as we were making such a racket. I'll have to teach you when you get back.

There's more snow here now than when you left if that's even possible! The twins are still getting snowballs to bounce off of Quirrell's turban wherever he goes. We went out on our brooms yesterday in the snow, which was great until McGonagall came out and shouted at us.

So, we had a massive snowball fight instead. Me and Ron were completely flattened by Fred and George, but it was fun all the same. Ron keeps whining every time I mention Nicholas Flamel. He says we've already looked everywhere there is to look a million times. I don't know what else we can do. Hogwarts is really weird without you here; it doesn't feel right.

Me and Ron will keep looking through books. Don't worry about your parents; it'll all blow over, and you'll be talking again by tomorrow. That's what you said, right? Two weeks isn't that long, is it?

See you soon, Harry.

Harry read the letter through again before running up to the owlery. Hedwig stood out among the rest of the owls, what with her snowy white feathers and beautiful jewel-like eyes.

"Here you go, Hedwig." Harry reached up and stroked the snowy owl's feathers gently, "Give this to Hermione for me? If she wants to reply, could you wait for her? She hasn't got an owl, and I think it'd be quite hard for her to get one to come to her house." Hedwig gave a small nod before spreading her wings and taking off.

Harry watched as she flew elegantly across the cold blue skyline, blending in perfectly with the snow. It was only when she disappeared from his view that Harry tore his eyes away from the sky. He slowly descended the stone stairs and made his way back to the common room, where Ron was playing chess.

"Hi, mate." Ron grinned up at him. The chess pieces looked a little different from normal. They were all people, and each one held in its hand a small sword. Harry watched the chessboard in awe as a white bishop took out a black pawn. The bishop had lifted its sword high into the air and taken a mighty swing. The black pawn smashed into pieces as the sword struck its back.

"I...what?" Harry couldn't believe his eyes.

"What?" Ron asked.

"That...that's barbaric!" Ron grinned, "That's wizard's chess!"

"Whoa, can I try?" Harry gazed at the board.

"Sure!" Ron reset the pieces as Harry sat down, "Alright, your move first!" And so, the game began.

That night Harry rolled around on his bed, hearing a deep voice on his head, his right eye-opening; his pupil had shrunk, his eye color as red as blood, with a dark shade at the edges.

Harry Potter, I offer you an accord.

Dumbledore

He had heard what McGonagall told him; even Snape said the same before adding that the boy was just like his father, much to the annoyance of McGonagall.

I need to see what is going on inside his head; soon, he should find the mirror of Erised. I will know the truth soon...