Harry Potter's Chaotic Twin (Ch 54) (Patreon)

Two months have passed by quickly between homework, hanging out with my friends, and pranking people. I’ve even managed to get my group of Slytherin friends to hang out with Hermione, and Clarity’s group of Hufflepuff friends! That was one heck of an ordeal given how hostile the Houses are against each other. Even the first years!

I’ve tried to get Harry to hang out with us too, but his rivalry with Draco is getting in the way! Plus Ron is probably whispering into his ear at night about how evil Slytherins are and how I’m evil now too. Coincidentally, doing that exact thing is how I got him to clap his hands whenever he hears the word ‘troglodyte’.

On the bright side, after smacking Draco a few times for trying to spout nonsense about Clarity and Hermione being ‘muggle borns’, we’ve all managed to get along! Susan is pretty nice, though she did seem a bit on edge with us Slytherins before she got to know us.

But anyways, at the moment we’re in Charms classroom listening to Professor Flitwick emphasize the importance of wrist and wand movement as well as pronunciation. Heh. I wonder what spell that Baruffio guy mispronounced to get a buffalo on his chest?

But it doesn’t matter to me, really. If I do it properly, for all I know everyone in the room could start floating. So instead I simply mouth the words while doing a swish and flick movement with my wand. Seeing the feather easily float, I smirk at the Professor’s praise.

On the other side of the room I see Hermione partnered with Ron, trying to explain how to do it right. He snaps at her. “You do it then, if you’re so clever.” He snarls.

Rolling up her sleeves, she does just that. “Wingardium Leviosa!” Seeing her feather float as well, the Professor includes her in his praise as well. Looking at each other, we exchange smiles.

At the Halloween dinner I don’t see Hermione at the Gryffindor table, making me frown. After hearing that I’d been learning about goblin culture from Professor Flitwick, we’d been planning to get together and talk about it. So it surprises me that she’s not here given how interested she was. But maybe she’s just running late?

After some time passes and she’s still not here, I walk over to the Gryffindor table and ask if anyone knows where she is. Harry and Ron exchange guilty glances, causing my eyes to narrow before my attention is drawn to a Gryffindor girl.

“She’s in the girl’s bathroom. Something upset her earlier.” Sending a glare at the two who probably had something to do with it, I ask which one and prepare to go check on her. But at that moment Professor Quirrell sprints into the hall, his turban skew and terror on his face.

“Troll… in the dungeons… thought you ought to know.” He falls to the floor in a dead faint. There’s silence for a few moments, then everyone bursts into panicked screaming. It takes several purple firecrackers exploding from the tip of Professor Dumbledore’s wand to silence them.

“Prefects,” he rumbles, “lead your Houses back to their dormitories immediately.”

“You realize that the Slytherin dormitories are in the dungeons, right?” All eyes are drawn to me, surprise evident at how I’m contradicting the Headmaster. Only for the Slytherin table to burst into an uproar at how Dumbledore was planning to send them to the troll like one of the dinner turkeys on a golden platter.

While everyone is distracted by the commotion, I head off to the still open doors, only to be stopped when Harry grabs my wrist. “Where are you going?” He hisses. “There’s a troll out there!”

I roll my eyes, tugging myself free. “Yeah, which  is why I’m going to go get Hermione. She doesn’t know about it!”

Seeing the realization dawn on his face, I roll my eyes. “Look, I’m going to go get her and bring her back here. If we pass any of the teachers we’ll stick with them, so don’t worry about it. But you should let someone know just in case we run into any trouble.”

He nods and I leave, everyone too distracted by the panicking Slytherins to notice that I’m leaving. Thankfully it doesn’t take long for me to get to the bathroom I was told Hermione is at. Opening the door, I hear soft sobbing coming from one of the stalls.

Walking to it, I knock on the door. I hear shuffling on the other side before it opens, revealing a tear-stained Hermione on the other side.

“Oh,” she sniffs, “hello Misha.”

Now, I know that there’s a troll wandering around the castle, but this girl looks like she needs a hug. So hug her I do! She clings onto me once I do, and my mind goes back to when I saw Harry and Ron at dinner. I swear, once I find out what those to did they’re going to get it…

Putting aside thoughts of revenge though, I feel Hermione pull away. She smiles at me. “Thanks for coming to check on me.”

I scratch my cheek. “Weeelll…”

Her eyes narrow and she takes a step back. “Ok, what have you done this time?”

I put a hand on my chest and give her an offended look. “What makes you think whatever happened is my fault!?”

She sniffs at me. “The stink bomb on the grand staircase. The disembodied voice coming from a suit of armor. The exploding bludgers at the Quidditch practices. The banana peels scattered around the area leading to the Ravenclaw dormitories.” She pauses to think for a moment. “And Peeves flying around the castle yelling about how someone is trying to steal his spot as the number one troublemaker in the school.”

“One: there’s no proof any of those were me. Two: most of those weren’t me.” She raises an eyebrow at my second point, but I think it’s time we got back on track. “Either way, there’s no way I could be responsible for what’s happening now. I was with everyone else in the Great Hall.”

Holding eye contact for a moment, she sighs after coming to the conclusion that I’m telling the truth. “Fine then. What's going on?”

Before I can reply, we hear deep thumping noises coming from the hallway. Turning around slowly, I watch as a huge shape blocks the doorway. It’s easily twelve feet tall, its skin a dull gray color and covered in lumps. Its head kind of looks like a coconut. I think idly to myself.

In its hand is a large wooden club, though it’s dragging on the floor due to how long its arms are. Behind me, I hear Hermione start backing away, stammering out a question.

“Wh-wh-wh-what’s th-th-th-that!?” It comes out as a whisper, but the panic is clear in her voice.

“That,” I say calmly, drawing my wand, “is a troll. It’s also the reason I came to find you. Too bad I’m not the only one.”

Seriously, wasn’t this thing supposed to be in the dungeons!? Stupid Quirrell. I’m not calling you Professor anymore! Do your job!

Sigh. Well, I knew that I would have to fight something eventually. But I didn’t expect it to be so soon! At least I looked up some fight-worthy spells. Now it’s time to put them to the test.