Simple Twist of Fate

Chapter 5: From the Darkness, There Springs Light
***

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys. I really appreciate all the time you all have taken to read my story and write something about it. Well, here’s the Halloween chapter of my story, it will also include a bit more with some of the final events of last chapter (with Quirrell and Dumbledore). Hope you all enjoy. Plus, there are bonus points to who can tell me where my title comes from (Hint: Think old music)

***

Harry truly wished that he had a camera for this moment, Muggle or otherwise, it really didn’t matter. If only he had something to be able to freeze Malfoy’s face in time because, to Harry’s immense pleasure, Malfoy had just found out about Harry being the youngest house Quidditch player in almost a century.

News of Harry’s success had spread fast. He barely had time to get back to the castle before everyone knew about it. For the most part, everyone congratulated him, even those in other houses, but that couldn’t be said for the majority of the Slytherins. “You only made it because your friends with The Weasleys. If Charlie Weasley hadn’t been there, Wood wouldn’t have even thought about giving you a spot.”

“Or maybe Harry’s more talented than you are.” Hermione retorted to Malfoy, causing him to turn a brilliant shade of pink.

“What would you know about Quidditch, mudblood?” He shouted before turning in the opposite direction to storm off. She still wasn’t entirely sure of the connotation, but it was starting to get to her. If wizards were so much more advanced than that of their non-magical counterparts, why couldn’t they get passed simple bigotry.

Hermione turned to Harry and saw that he looked furious as he gripped his wand and took a step to follow Malfoy. “And what do you suppose hexing him would accomplish?”

“I can’t let him say that stuff to you. You’re better at magic than he could ever dream of being.” Hermione shook her head and lead Harry back to the Gryffindor tower as she began to think about life before Hogwarts.

It wasn’t all that different, to be truthful. Sure she had Harry, Luna, and Ron, but there were still people who put her down. They still made fun of her for her bushy hair, bucked teeth, and her tendency to be a bookworm, but now they had the added bonus of being able to make fun of being a Muggleborn… or a mudblood as they preferred.

But she had Harry now. That’s what was important, not that she couldn’t stick up for herself, but it helped to have someone by her side, something that she wasn’t used to. If only she had Harry back then.

***

“What’s wrong, Grangey?” Chelsea, one of Hermione classmates asked her once she spotted her crying on a bench while the rest of her class was out for recess. Hermione looked up, afraid to answer after detecting the hate in her voice. “I asked you a question, Hermy One.”

Hermione shut her eyes hard, causing several more tears to flow out. She hated it when they called her that. Why did her mother have to give her such an odd name? Why did she have to save the name Jane for her middle name? They couldn’t have made fun of Jane… could they? She just shook her head as if to tell her to go away. “My gram died last night…” Hermione sobbed louder than she wanted to.

“How sad…” Chelsea shot back, causing Hermione to look up in shock. Chelsea was one of the meanest kids in her class; it wasn’t like her to be sympathetic. “She probably died because she couldn’t bear to live with such an ugly Granddaughter.” That one did it. If she was only crying before, she was sobbing now. But something happened that she hadn’t expected.

Out of nowhere, Chelsea was lifted off the ground and went hurtling towards the large oak tree that the bench was sitting next to, knocking her out cold. “HERMIONE GRANGER!” the teacher shouted after seeing Hermione standing over the knocked out Chelsea. Without thinking, Hermione started to run towards home as fast as she could. She couldn’t bear to stay at that school for any longer.

“MUMMY! DADDY!” Hermione cried as she plowed in through the front door, still in tears. “I WANT MUMMY AND DADDY!” She flew into the kitchen and saw her older sister Julie sitting at the counter, eating an apple. “Where’s Mummy and Daddy?”

“Hermione, honey… you’re supposed to be the smart one. They’re still at work. What’s wrong?” Julie got down from the counter and took Hermione, sitting her on her lap once they reached the couch. “What happened?”

Hermione let out a long sob before she was able to talk. “They said grandma wasn’t proud of me… that’s why she died.” Julie’s blood began to boil after hearing what Hermione had to say. “Why did you have to get the normal name? Why did you have to be the pretty one? Why does everyone love you?”

Julie was seven years Hermione’s senior, making her sixteen at the time, and she really was the anti Hermione. She was drop dead gorgeous, all the boys were after her, she had loads of friends, and she was athletic. She certainly wasn’t as smart as Hermione, but she was intelligent in her own right. “Sweetie, Dad gave up being a musician so he could help raise you. He couldn’t possibly love you more.”

“I don’t mean, Mum and Dad… I know they love me, I mean everyone else.” Hermione cried again onto Julie’s shoulder. “Why do they hate me?”

Julie smiled and kissed her little sister on the forehead. “They don’t hate you… they’re scared of you. You’re smarter than all of them put together, and if you actually cared about such shallow things, you would look better than all of them.” Hermione grunted. She knew that she wasn’t capable to be pretty, but she did have her brains and that would have to be enough for now.

A few moments later, both of Hermione’s parents came plowing through the door much like Hermione did a little bit earlier. “Hermione! Your teacher called. We were so worried. What were you thinking?!?!” her mother, Marie, screamed, hugging her daughter tightly.

“They were mean to me…” Hermione cried on to her mother’s shoulder.

“That’s no excuse, you could have been killed!” Her mother screamed again, causing Hermione to burst into tears.

“Marie, it’s okay. No harm done, now why don’t you go back to the office and finish up, I can take it from here.” Not that Hermione didn’t love her mother, but she always had a special connection with her father and it was self evident in this situation. It was even more apparent when she got her letter to Hogwarts. David was ready to send her before McGonagall showed up; it took Marie a little while.

***

The weeks that followed Harry’s successes on the Quidditch field were very exciting, yet stressful for the first year students. In their classes they started going passed the basics and learning actually useful bits of magic.

“Okay, now students take your feather and perform the spell. Remember the flick and swish.” Professor Flitwick instructed from a stack of books adjacent to his desk. All the students did as they were told, but only Hermione’s moved anywhere and that was just to float to the ground.

Next to Professor Quirrell, Professor Flitwick was probably his favorite teacher. His classes weren’t as in depth, but he had a true enthusiasm for his subject and for teaching in general. Apparently, he was really talented too. Hermione had read in Hogwarts, a History that Flitwick used to teach an elective class on Dueling, before the Ministry deemed it inappropriate.

Suddenly, there was a large explosion on the opposite side of the room. Every head in the room spun around to see Ron and Seamus covered in soot and a flaming feather fall to the ground. “They probably forgot to flick…” Hermione turned towards Harry and began to laugh.

“Err… um… class dismissed!” Flitwick yelled as he ran over towards the table in question. The class let out a collective laugh and filed out of the classroom. Charms was always pretty low stress, since it was with the Hufflepuffs. Not that the Hufflepuffs were bad at magic, but they were a lot less competitive than Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins.

Since they had an extra half hour before Lunch, Harry and Hermione decided that they would go take a walk down by the lake and unwind for a bit before their double potions class with the Slytherins. “So, I was thinking, Harry, what do you want to do for Halloween? The fourth years and up have the Halloween Ball and most of the other under classmen will be trying to sneak in… so it’ll pretty much just be us stuck in the common room alone.”

“What are you getting at, Miss Granger?” Harry winked at her, running away before she could figure out the double meaning.

“HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU GIT!” She shrieked, chasing after him once she realized what he meant. Without much trouble, she caught up to him and tackled him to the ground. “I was only wondering what you wanted to do so we wouldn’t get bored.”

Harry snickered a bit. “Well, I don’t think we’d get bored…” Still on top of him, she hit him with all of her might. She probably would have been terrifying if she wasn’t laughing while she smacked him. She got off of him and then helped him back to his feet. “Actually, I was thinking I could invite my Uncles and Carolyn to come up for the night. Carolyn just mentioned in her last letter that she enjoyed spending the day with you a couple weeks ago and I don’t think that you’ve met my Uncles yet.”

“Uncle Sirus and Uncle Remus?” Hermione asked and Harry nodded. “You’ve mentioned a lot about them, but now, I’ve never met them.”

Harry smiled. “They’ve both been an awful influence on me.”

“Oh then I can’t wait.” Hermione gave Harry another friendly slap as they began to walk up to the castle. Suddenly they saw Snape and Quirrell fly out of a passage way towards them.

Without thinking, the two jumped out of their way and hid in a corner. “Quirinus, won’t you see reason?”

“Reason? It’s hidden for a reason, Severus. Dumbledore trusted me to help keep it hidden and I’m not about to tell a former Death Eater where the object of Voldemort’s desire is hidden.” Quirrell asserted towards Snape with his wand drawn, as if he was afraid Snape was going to take the information from him with magic.

Though he didn’t look like he was about to attack, Snape still looked livid, as if he were about to explode. “That, my dear Professor Quirrell is your first mistake. Isn’t Dumbledore the one who wants everyone to trust one another?” Snape asked in a voice that elicited he didn’t feel the same way.

“Look, Severus, I don’t know why you want to know where it is, but I am not in the position to tell you where it is. Good day, Professor Snape.” Quirrell said coolly and walked away, leaving Snape in the hallway with a murderous look on his face.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in a state between confusion and fear at the short conversation between their favorite and least favorite Professors. Without words, they both began to run towards Gryffindor Tower with much haste. Once they got their, they got into Harry’s empty dorm room and jumped on his bed. “What in Merlin’s name was that about?”

“Snape… A Death Eater?” Hermione gasped at the thought of being taught by one of Voldemort’s followers. “Do you know what this means?”

Harry violently shook his head, as if he wanted to not think about it. “I’m more worried about what he wants. What could it be? Some kind of wea…” Harry then stopped dead mid sentence.

“Harry, what is it?” Hermione walked over to Harry and put a comforting hand on his arm.

It took Harry a few seconds before he could completely form words. “My Dad always told me that the prophecy isn’t exactly common knowledge in the Wizarding World. Maybe Snape knows that will be the end of Voldemort is here and he wants to destroy it. Maybe he wants me.”

“Harry, that’s crazy. Voldemort knows about the prophecy, so I’m sure Professor Snape would too. You can’t think that way.” Hermione pulled him in for a vice like hug, which did kind of make him feel a bit better.

They sat their in silence, not even moving for the lunch bell. They weren’t hungry. But, once one o’clock hit, the two decided that they couldn’t skip out on Potions, no matter how much their stomachs told them they shouldn’t go.

For obvious reasons, that Potions class wasn’t the best one in the world, not that there were others that were much better. This one took the cake though. Neither Harry nor Hermione could look at Snape with out getting an odd shiver down their spines. “Not in the Know-it-All mood today, Miss Granger?” Snape sneered as he asked his sixth unanswered question of the day.

“No, sir…” She didn’t even try to meet his gaze; she just kept looking down at her Potions book. “Not feeling well.”

“Then perhaps, you should leave my class and quit wasting my time… Potter, take her to the hospital wing.” Snape commanded, pointing her and Harry towards the door. Without question, Harry put their books in their bags and carried them both out, leading Hermione by the hand.

Harry and Hermione were half way to the hospital wing before either of them could talk. “Hermione, you lied…”

“No, I didn’t. I really wasn’t feeling well. But we’re going to have to deal with it for now, because we can’t miss every potions class… wait.” Hermione saw the girl’s bathroom and quickly made a run for it, so she could relieve her stomach. A few moments later, she emerged from the bathroom, looking significantly paler. “I think I just need a spot of tea.” Harry nodded and put his arm around her waste to lead her towards their common room.

The Double Potions class that next day was equally tough, but the two friends made a goal to at least answer two questions, wrong or not. If they got questions wrong, they probably could have used that as an excuse.

“How much longer until summer?” Harry and Hermione both gave a weak laugh as they left the Potions room in the dungeons. “This is harder than I thought it was going to be… oh well, I’m going to go check if there’s anything from Sirius or Remus yet… If they come tomorrow, we can tell them about Snape.”

Once the two got the Owlry, Hedwig swooped down and dropped a letter from Sirius and Remus into Harry’s hands. He opened it up and began to read aloud:

---

Dear Harry… and Hermione if you’re with him,

It would be our pleasure to come visit you after the Halloween dinner on Thursday. It has been far too long since we last saw you. The week before you left, if I remember correctly. Harry, a lot has happened in the world since you got into school that the Prophet isn’t telling the world. I would be interested in sharing it with you… and Quirrell if we get the chance.

It was also quite considerate of you to include your sister into your plan. She simply can’t wait to see you. Christopher on the other hand isn’t exactly thrilled about it, but he’s too young at this point. By the time we arrive it will probably be passed his bed time. Well, I really must be going; I have to do some things before I arrive. I will see you soon.

Sincerely

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin

---

Harry smiled widely as he finished reading the letter. That was just the pick-me-up he needed, so much that it almost made potions bearable. “Now this is exciting!” Harry looked brightly at Hermione and almost skipped back towards the Common room.

***

Both Harry and Hermione were very happy that Thursdays was an easy day. Herbology in the morning, then double Defense Against the Dark Arts with lunch in the middle and a nice nap afterwards that came in the form of History of Magic. And all of it went normally that is until the second dose of D.A.D.A.

“Now, remember the protection spells we were working on?” Quirrell asked the class, to which they all responded with nods. “Now partner up… err… um… Potter why don’t you work with Malfoy and Granger with Entwistle… just for the sake of variation.” He said once he saw Hermione and Harry instantly move together.

Harry and Hermione looked timidly at each other, but then decided not to argue with their favorite teacher. Shocked at the new turn of events, the rest of the groups formed in their normal states, until he discouraged all of them, reforming the groups in a very odd manner. “Now, this is better. Believe me, when you’re out in the field, you don’t have the luxury of knowing the style of your enemy.

“Now, one partner will send sparks at the other partner while they use the shielding spell. I don’t expect anyone to be able to defend from more than sparks at this point, but you’ll get there.” Quirrell smiled at the students and gave the cue to start.

What at first Quirrell thought was a good idea soon turned out to be more than he had hoped. Before the first ten minutes were up, he had to put out flames on three students robes and send Demelza Robbins and Blaise Zabini to the hospital wing. The only one able to produce a stable shield was Hermione Granger.

“Um… now switch.” The students who started out on the receiving end of the sparks gladly changed positions. The problem with the first group happened in the switch too. No one was ready to produce a shield this early.

“You’re doing it wrong, Oscar. See the shield is produced with the force and meaning you have in your voice… There’s no fancy wand work with this.” Hermione instructed her partner as he failed for the fifth time.

Entwistle was effectively getting annoyed with Hermione. She wasn’t supposed to be good at magic. She was a Muggleborn. A mudblood. They were supposed to be just a small step up from Squibs… or at least that’s what his parents told him. Hermione raised her wand and once again sent sparks towards him. “Protego!” He spoke in an angry voice, but the sparks still managed to hit him and knock him down.

“Oscar, It’s about will power, you need to feel stronger to be stronger.” Hermione rushed to his side to help him up, but to her surprise, he whipped his wand out and sent her flying backwards into the bookshelf with an undistinguishable hex.

Oscar picked up her wand that she had dropped and threw it towards her. “What do you know, you filthy little Mudblood? There’s a reason your only friend is Harry.”

”DETENTION! DETENTION EVERYDAY UNTIL CHRISTMAS, ENTWISTLE!” Quirrell screamed at the top of his lungs. Though it wasn’t directed towards Harry, he still backed off a bit. He had never heard Quirrell go off on a student like that, not that he didn’t deserve it. “You are damned lucky that you two are in the same house or else I would have taken all your points away. Now get out of my classroom. You aren’t welcome here anymore.”

Oscar just scoffed it off and stormed out of the room, leaving a very shaken up D.A.D.A class. Even the Slytherins were silent. “Hermione…?” Harry ran over to her and helped her up, his heart broken once he saw the tears flowing down her face.

“I’m fine… I just have to… go…” She sobbed, running out of the classroom. Quirrell offered to let Harry go after her, but he knew that he shouldn’t. She just needed to cool off on here own.

After that the class was so shaken that they all knew they wouldn’t be able to get anymore progress done, so Quirrell let them leave. “Harry... may I have a moment?” Harry turned around at the door and looked at Quirrell. “Harry, I need to talk to you about Voldemort.” Harry was immediately attentive.

“What is it?” Harry asked quickly.

Quirrell hesitated. “Um… well, I just wanted to let you know that Voldemort’s fear is his own humanity… He’s done everything in his power to make himself inhuman and there are certain… items he’s used or had the desire to use.”

Harry gave his Professor a quizzical look. “Couldn’t this have waited until next meeting?”

“No… you see, all the deaths that have been taking place have had something in common. They all possess knowledge of extra long life.” Quirrell explained, leaving Harry in shock. “Jonathan Poncedelon claimed to have the map that led to the Fountain of Youth. Adam and Eva Godwin were thought to know the location of Eden. And other things like that. Dumbledore being the clever wizard that he is figured this out and was able to get to some items before Voldemort could off the people.”

Harry gave Quirrell another quizzical look. “There are some things of such nature at Hogwarts being protected… and Voldemort could be lead here by them. I don’t want to see him try to knock out two birds with one stone.”

Harry finally realized why Quirrell needed to tell him immediately. “Professor…”

“Harry, I can’t teach you enough to prepare you if it comes soon… but the one thing I can tell you is to not take your friends for granted. Especially Hermione. Remember when I told you that I knew what it was like to be alone?” Harry nodded. “Well, I wasn’t lying… one day I’ll reveal it all to you, but for now take my word for it.”

“What do I have to do?” Harry looked down at his shoes.

“Go find Hermione and see if she’s okay… and watch your back.”

But that was easier said than done. Hermione wasn’t there at History of Magic when it started, nor did she come in late. To be fair, she was pretty shaken when she left Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Harry really started to get worried when he didn’t see her when he got back to the common room. “Parvati, Lavender? Have you seen Hermione?”

“Sorry, Harry. You might want to ask Luna or Anna.” So Harry did, but it was still no good, although Anna remembered that Hermione was in the bathroom when she went in between Defense and History.

“Harry, it’ll be best not to bother her, she was pretty upset.” Anna said sweetly. She was a Muggleborn, like Hermione, yet not as headstrong or clever, although what she didn’t have in skill, she made up for in enthusiasm. She was very excitable and naive in a very adorable way.

Harry nodded and then went down with Ron and Luna to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. “I’ll kill him, Ron. There he is… he’s lucky that McGonagall is punishing him, because my punishment would be a hell of a lot worse.”

“Don’t get to angry, Harry, it attracts the polyphemus.” Luna simply said as they took their seats. Harry couldn’t seem to focus on the wonderful feast, as he kept staring at Entwistle with a look of death in his eye.

Luna and Ron quietly debated on how to get Harry to get away from the point of wanting to kill Entwistle in his sleep. “Harry, he’s not worth it. I doubt Hermione would think much of you if you were expelled for killing him.”

Harry grumbled at went back to his food, looking at the Professors’ table at the front and noticed something very peculiar. “Ron, where’s Professor Snape… or Quirrell?”

“Couldn’t tell you, mate, but the less I see of Snape, the better. Quirrell’s okay though.” Ron said between chews. Suddenly, Professor Quirrell came flying through the Great Hall with a look of terror on his face.

“There’s a troll in the dungeon, Albus!” And for the first time since Harry started school, Dumbledore looked scared and furious at the same time.

“Prefects direct your houses back to the dormitories! NOW!” Dumbledore bellowed and the whole Great Hall went into action. Before he could manage to get into the Gryffindor line, Harry’s heart sank.

His eyes grew wide and he quickly turned to Ron and Luna. “Hermione!” They both returned his look of fear, though Luna probably couldn’t help it. That’s just how her face was. “I’ve got to go find her.”

“Not without help you aren’t.” Harry spun around and saw Oscar right behind him with his wand out. “Percy will have too close of an eye on Ron and Luna. Face the facts, Potter. You need me.”

Harry looked as if he were about to protest, but he soon realized that there was no time to argue. He gave Entwistle a quick nod and the broke the line and began heading towards the dungeons. “She’s in the girl’s bathroom.” Before Harry could finish his sentence, he caught sight of the troll smashing into the loo in question. “Bollocks.”

“Potter, we should go get help. I didn’t think we’d actually have to take on the troll.” Entwistle’s voice quavered so much that it almost made Harry laugh. In fact, he would have if the situation weren’t different.

“You go. If we both went, Hermione could be dead before got back. I’ll keep the troll away from her.” Harry commanded as he began to run towards the bathroom with his wand drawn.

Once he got in the bathroom, he saw Hermione crouched in the corner with the troll above her, holding out his club as if he was ready to bring it down on her. “EXPELLIARMUS!” Harry bellowed, pointing his wand at the club. He really hoped the spell worked with non magical weapons, there was no time to test it.

Sure enough, to Harry’s immense pleasure, the club hurtled out of his hand, but unfortunately for him, the club started falling towards him. “PROTEGO!” shouted a voice from behind him, knocking the club off its path and into the opposite corner of the loo.

Harry turned around and saw Oscar behind him with wand drawn. “I didn’t want to come back and see you both dead. Conscience couldn’t have taken that.” Harry let out a bit of a snicker and then put his full attention back onto the troll. “Any ideas, Harry?”

“Just one and you just called me Harry.” With all his strength, Harry jumped up onto the top of one of the toilet stalls and leaped onto the troll’s back from there. “Hermione! I need your best Expelliarmus!” Hermione nodded and raised her wand a little bit.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” they both shouted at the same time. Both jets hit the troll at opposite ends, sending it into a top spin, sending Harry flying to the ground. “EXPELLIARMUS!” They both shouted again, doing the same thing to the troll, but this time its head found a wall, knocking it out cold.

“HARRY!” Hermione screamed rushing to his side to make sure he was okay. Thank God, he wasn’t hurt. Once Hermione go to his side, he got right up, despite being a little bit sore. “That was amazing.”

The three students walked over the fallen troll to admire their handy work, but were interrupted by the shrill voice of Professor McGonagall. “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” She screamed. Harry and Hermione spun around and saw her standing with Quirrell, Flitwick, and Sprout

To Entwistle’s slight amusement, the two Gryffindors began to babble incoherently to create a good story for why they weren’t in their dormitories finishing their Halloween dinner. Entwistle then felt oddly sorry for them and spoke up. “It was me, Professor. I made a fool out of myself in Defense Against the Dark Arts today that I wanted to take on the troll to prove myself. Harry and Hermione came after me to try and stop me… If it weren’t for them I’d probably be dead.”

”Oscar Entwistle. I have never in my life seen such foolishness in a student. Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention with Filch next Saturday… I believe that makes double detentions that day.” Oscar bowed his head as McGonagall turned to Harry and Hermione. “Now… not many first years could take on a mountain troll. 50 points each to Gryffindor.” She smiled as she walked towards the troll to examine it.

Harry quickly looked for Quirrell, who was obviously scowling as he walked towards the troll, but the second no one but Harry was looking, he flashed him a smile and a thumbs-up. Harry’s heart suddenly grew lighter.

”Harry, Hermione, Oscar, dinner is in your common room, please head up there and try to keep out of trouble on the way.” McGonagall ordered, though her voice was a bit lighter, as she was in awe over the incapacitated troll.

“Actually, Minerva, I believe Harry and Hermione have visitors in Dumbledore’s office. They may want to go see them.” Quirrell smiled at the teens. They didn’t wait for further instruction they just ran towards the office.

When Entwistle turned to go back to Gryffindor tower, both Harry and Hermione grabbed his arms to stop him. “That was a good thing you did for us, Oscar… why don’t you come with us.”

For the first time that Harry had ever seen, Entwistle gave them a genuine smile that made both Harry and Hermione glow. “I’d like that. Oh and Hermione… I’m sorry for earlier… It’s just my parents… they don’t think highly of Muggleborns… and um…”

“Oscar. Think nothing of it.” Hermione gave him a quick hug to show him that it really was okay and to her surprise, he returned it. “You call me a Mudblood and then save my life. We’re even. But, there are more important things to talk about… like where Professor Snape was.” Harry stopped dead in his tracks when he realized that back in the bathroom, Professor Snape was nowhere to be found.

A/N: YAY! Everything I’ve been working towards has been realized here. I never intended Oscar to take Malfoy’s place. He was always going to be friends with Harry and Hermione, but I still couldn’t make it automatic. Well, I hope you enjoyed this one and I look forward to your reviews!

Next Chapter: Quidditch and Concerning Christmas.

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