The Last Violet | Harry Potter x OC

16

The Troll

The first time Anastasia noticed the absence of Hermione Granger was during the Halloween feast. She hadn't noticed that the muggle-born witch wasn't in any of her classes all afternoon. She looked around the Great Hall, specifically down the Gryffindor table to see if she could catch a glimpse of the bushy haired girl but there was no luck.

"Do you know where Hermione is?" Anastasia asked Harry, who looked to Ron who only shrugged.

"Parvati Patil said that she wouldn't come out of the girl's bathroom," Neville, who heard from his seat, informed Harry, Ron, and Anastasia. "She said that she'd been in there all afternoon, crying."

Harry immediately looked to Ron who shrugged once again but with a slightly guilty look to him.

"Why's Hermione crying?" Anastasia asked as she was in the dark about the situation. She narrowed her eyes at Ron, seeing the reaction of Harry and deduced that somehow Ron was involved with Hermione crying. 

Before Harry could explain the situation to Anastasia, the double doors of the Great Hall opened and Professor Quirrell ran into the hall where all the students were eating and having a great time with complete horror in his eyes.

"Troll in the dungeon!" He exclaimed so loudly that everyone heard him and the excitement in the room vanished instantaneously. "Troll in the dungeon!" He cried once more. "Thought you ought to know." Then he dropped to the floor unconscious.

The silence hall erupted into panic as the students digested the information that was given to them by their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor before he fainted.

"Silence!" The normally calm and collected Professor Dumbledore announced, his voice booming. His voice seemed to carry much louder than the panicked screams of the students, effectively causing the room to quiet down once again. "Everyone will please, not panic." Then softer and in his regular tone, "Now, prefects will lead their house back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeon."

After Professor Dumbledore giving the orders, Percy, the eldest of the Weasley family and the prefect of Gryffindor house, looked as if he was given the orders by the prime minister himself. With his chest puffed, he began calling upon his house to lead the younger students to the Gryffindor tower. "Gryffindor's keep up and stay alert!"

Anastasia and Isabel locked eyes. It was the first time Anastasia had seen the panic in Isabel's eyes and the young Violet knew exactly why. The Slytherin house had their dormitories in the dungeons. The two girls looked away as they began to follow their respective prefects from the Great Hall.

"How'd a troll get in?" Harry asked Ron.

"Not on it's own. Trolls are really stupid," Ron explained. "Probably people playing jokes."

Anastasia was walking behind Ron and Harry when suddenly she remembered. She gasped and gripped Harry's robe. The two famous children locked eyes before Harry knew exactly what Anastasia was thinking. Harry quickly grabbed Ron's robe and pulled him away from the line that was following Percy.

"What?" Ron grunted as he was pulled away from the line.

"Hermione," Anastasia explained.

"She doesn't know!" Harry added on.

It was then that Ron seemed to understand what his friends were saying and the three of them quickly headed towards the girl's bathroom, not really minding their surroundings since the troll was in the dungeon.

It was only when they heard the loud footsteps and smelt the god-awful smell that they stopped in their tracks. At the end of the hall, they could see the large shadow of the troll walking in their general direction.

"I think the troll's left the dungeon," Ron announced the elephant in the room.

Harry grabbed Ron and Anastasia's elbow and pulled his friends to hide behind a very thick column. From where they were hiding, they could see the troll moving down the hallway and opening a door.

"It's going into the girl's bathroom!" Harry whispered. 

"Oh no," Anastasia gulped, scared for the bushy haired girl who was going to get the biggest scare of her life.

And just like that, the three could hear the high pitched terrified scream of Hermione from the bathroom. After exchanging looks, the three didn't need to be told before they all rushed to the girl's bathroom as quickly as they could.