Light in the Dark

The Aftermath

A/N: For tgose of you who are curious as to what Enperadorea looks like. The image above is him only instead of lava/fire coloring, he has green mixed in to his scales and only the "plumage" his hood is red. The size in this picture will be important later, but he is generally around the size of a normal Boa when Harry carries him and can shrink down or larger if needed.

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Word had spread all over the school about the three Slytherins who took out a full grown Mountain Troll. Many were wary what with the Slytherins' having the reputation for being 'evil', but the others were impressed or in awe of them. It certainly got them the attention of a number of girls and a few boys 1st-4th years attempting to flirt and land the position of girl/boyfriend. Draco rejected a number of them as Blaise enjoyed the attention, but made it clear he was not interested in anyone being only 11. Tom straight up ignored everyone. It also got around that it was Harry and Hermione who were rescued from the Troll and that Harry's familiar was in critical condition.

Draco took advantage of the mass confusion and everyone wanting to tell their families and friends at home about their eventful Halloween. While the Headmaster managed to convince and prevent the mass of letters from leaving, he ultimately could not prevent them all since a few smarter students either gave their letters to someone who had a Hogsmeade Weekend to mail out the letter from the local postal office, spelled their letters to prevent unauthorized persons from reading them or had a trusted professor send the letters in secret. Draco smirked as he watched the Board of Governors stormed in a few days later, Dumbledore looking quite thrown and floundering spectacularly as the women of the group demanded to know why they were not informed of the danger to their children/nieces and nephews/grandchildren. The old man tried to calm them down and explain, no doubt internally cursing whoever managed to inform the Governors.

Lucius took full advantage to have one of their secret Death Eaters in the Auror Department to be present and as Harry's temporary guardian, that was slowly becoming permanent if Narcissa had her way, he can check on Harry and Enperadorea. According to the letter he got from Draco, Harry's hardly slept and eaten, too worried for Enperadorea's condition to care for himself. He only ate when Tom and Draco came to visit, because they gently bullied him into eating, even if it was some broth and a piece of bread. He took naps when Tom forced him to cuddle for an hour or two, but otherwise, he neglected his needs.

"We have logged a formal complaint with the ICW to have the wards examined and are paying out of our pockets to have expert Goblin Warders to revamp the wards. You cannot and will not stop this from happening!" Lady Augusta Longbottom snapped out. She glared him into submission, which he hated because he knows she is formidable even if she lived like a proper, pampered Pureblood noble woman. Between her and Minerva, he never wanted to cross wands with either of them and both women knew it.

"The Troll is dead... surely we do not need to examine the wards?" He tried to cajole, but Amelia Bones, the head of the Auror Department stopped him in his tracks. She was another one of the scary women on the Board because she refused to bend to anyone's will but her own. Never mind that she would hex you something fierce if you crossed her.

"The Troll should not have been on the grounds in the first place. Regardless if it is dead now, does not mean another one would not find its way into the school and the children would not be so lucky to be at a feast to keep them all safe and protected! Now how did you kill the Troll, according to the letters I received, your Defense Professor, who is supposedly proficient on taming and dealing with Trolls, fainted dead away in the middle of the hall after giving his warning and yet it is dead?" She glares at him.