Chapter 38: Self righteous Friendship
"Hermione! Do not be afraid! We are coming!"
The bathroom door burst open again, and Harry Potter and Ron Weasley rushed in, panting hard.
Wands raised, faces grim, they looked ready to fight the troll to the death in the next heartbeat.
Then their voices died.
There was no blood soaked chaos, no raging monster.
Harry and Ron stood in the doorway, frozen, staring at the enormous creature lying unconscious on the floor.
Beside it stood Tamara, calmly using a Scouring Charm to clean her cuffs.
"You... you did that?"
Ron's wand dipped so low it nearly fell onto his foot. He stared at Tamara as if she were the monster.
"That is a troll. A troll that even grown wizards struggle with!"
Tamara sighed and put her wand away.
"If I had been a moment later, Miss Granger would have been turned into a rug."
Harry swallowed, eyes flicking from the unconscious troll to the small Slytherin girl. Awe practically spilled out of him.
More hurried footsteps pounded down the corridor.
"Good heavens, what is all this noise?"
Professor McGonagall burst in first, followed by a dark faced Snape and a trembling Quirrell wrapped in his scarf.
Quirrell took one look at the troll, then at Tamara, let out a thin whimper, and sagged against a cistern, clutching his chest as if his heart might fail.
Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway, taking in the scene.
Burst pipes.
Stone fragments.
Water everywhere.
An unconscious troll.
Four first years.
For a moment she seemed too shocked to speak.
"You..." Her voice trembled slightly with lingering fear. "What on earth were you thinking?"
Snape strode to the troll, bent to inspect the injury on its head, then snapped his gaze up. His black eyes locked on Tamara, sharp and searching.
Professor McGonagall drew a breath.
"Explain yourselves. Why are you not in your dormitories?"
Harry and Ron opened their mouths at once, ready to explain or invent something.
"It is my fault, Professor."
A weak but steady voice cut through them.
Hermione pushed herself upright. Her legs still shook, but her eyes were oddly clear.
"I... I did not see the warning about the troll," she lied. She clearly did not want Professor McGonagall to know she had been hiding here crying because of what Ron had said.
"I came to use the bathroom and ran into it."
She glanced at Tamara, admiration flickering through her swollen eyes.
"If Miss Riddle had not knocked it unconscious with a spell, I would probably be dead."
Hermione looked at Harry and Ron and added quickly, "Harry and Ron came to find me too. So it is all my fault."
Professor McGonagall stared at Hermione, then at the other three.
Hermione was not the sort to wander off for nothing. The explanation was full of holes, but it was plausible enough.
"Miss Granger, you silly girl," Professor McGonagall said, her tone softening with concern and reproach.
"As long as you are all right, I do not think Gryffindor will lose points for this."
Hermione nodded, relief plain on her face.
Then Professor McGonagall turned to Harry, Ron, and Tamara.
"As for you three."
Her expression hardened again, though a faint trace of admiration flickered in her eyes.
"To face an adult mountain troll at your age and survive is not simply luck. It is extraordinarily dangerous."
Her gaze settled on Tamara and the holly wand in her hand.
"That was an advanced use of the Levitation Charm, was it not, Miss Riddle?"
"Yes, Professor," Tamara said with a slight nod, neither humble nor arrogant.
"Using repulsive force to alter an object's landing point is a basic application."
"Basic?"
Professor McGonagall's mouth twitched.
A first year using such a technique in real combat, and doing it precisely enough to knock out a troll, was beyond astonishing.
"Very well."
Professor McGonagall straightened.
"I must say, you were brave, but also reckless. I do not want to see any first year attempting to face a troll alone again. It is far too dangerous."
Then she paused, and a rare smile appeared.
"But given the courage shown in a moment of crisis, and your determination to protect a classmate..."
"Potter, Weasley, five points to Gryffindor each."
Harry and Ron stared at her, stunned.
"And you, Miss Riddle."
Professor McGonagall's tone carried more weight now.
"For superb spellcasting and calm judgement, ten points to Slytherin."
Snape stood to one side. His face remained dark, but he did not object.
He simply gave Tamara a long, unreadable look.
"Now then, all of you back to your dormitories," Professor McGonagall said briskly. "The feast is not yet finished."
They left the bathroom as if they had been granted a pardon.
"Tamara! How did you knock it down?" Ron waved his arms as they hurried along the corridor, excitement bubbling out of him. "That was brilliant!"
Now, whatever prejudice Ron carried about Slytherin did not land on Tamara.
Hermione had been in danger partly because of his words. Tamara's arrival had prevented something horrible, and Ron would not have to live with that guilt.
"It was the Levitation Charm, Weasley," Hermione said, catching her breath. Her eyes were still red, but she had recovered some of her composure.
"That level of control is simply unbelievable..."
"Thank you, Tamara," Harry said seriously, turning to look at her. "If it was not for you..."
"Enough."
Tamara cut off the praise, her face settling back into indifference.
"I did not do it for your gratitude."
She glanced at Hermione, and a faint curve, almost too small to notice, touched her lips.
"I just did not want Slytherin to lose points for standing by and doing nothing."
"And I hate the sort of noise that only knows how to scream when danger arrives."
The words were harsh, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged a look and smiled.
Even if Tamara refused to admit it, in their minds she had already stepped into their circle.
Tamara walked down the corridor, listening to the three Gryffindors chattering behind her.
Three fools, she judged silently.
But as cover and shields, they are useful.
Especially Granger.
Tamara glanced at Hermione, who was still stealing looks at her.
It seems even Gryffindors can be used.
.....
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