[ Location: Charms Classroom ][ Date: October 31st, 1991 - Halloween Morning ]
Halloween at Hogwarts smelled like baking pumpkin and anticipation.
Professor Flitwick was vibrating with excitement on his stack of books. "Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing! Swish and flick!"
I sat next to Hermione. We had a white feather between us.
"You do it," I whispered. "I'm trying to conserve energy."
"You're just lazy," she whispered back, though she smiled. She raised her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather rose beautifully, hovering four feet above our heads.
"Oh, well done!" Flitwick cried. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
I clapped. "Show off."
"Jealous?" she teased.
"Terrified of your competence," I winked.
At the next table, Ron Weasley was having a meltdown. He was hacking at the air with his wand like it was a machete.
"Wingardrium Leviosar!" he shouted.
"Stop, stop, stop," Hermione leaned over. "You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Levi-O-sa, not Levio-SA."
Ron snapped. "You do it then, if you're so clever. Go on, go on!"
Hermione did it again. Perfection.
Ron looked like he wanted to eat his wand.
[ Location: Courtyard ][ Time: 12:30 PM ]
"It's no wonder no one can stand her," Ron said loudly to Harry as they pushed their way through the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly."
Harry looked uncomfortable, but he didn't stop him.
Someone bumped past Harry. It was Hermione. She was clutching her books to her chest, hiding her face. But I saw the tears.
She ran past them, disappearing into the crowd.
'And there it is.'
I stopped walking. The crowd parted around me. I stared at the back of Ron's head.
'I could hex him. I could kick him in balls. '
But words hurt more.
"Hey, Weasley," I called out.
Ron turned around. "What?"
I walked up to him. I was taller than him (thanks to the working out). I loomed.
"You know," I said calmly, "for a guy whose family is famous for being kind and inclusive, you really are a disappointment."
Ron's face went red. "Shut up, Vivan. You don't know anything about my family and me."
"I know enough," I said. "I know she helped you in Charms. I know she helped you with your Transfiguration essay last week. And this is how you repay her? By being a bully?"
"She's annoying!" Ron defended weakly.
"She's lonely," I corrected. "And she's trying to make friends the only way she knows how—by being helpful. But you're too insecure to see that."
I stepped closer. "If I hear you talk about her like that again, I won't use words. And unlike Malfoy, I won't miss."
I turned and walked away, heading toward the girls' bathroom direction.
"Where are you going?" Shikamaru asked, appearing from the shadows of a pillar.
"To find her," I said. "You coming?"
"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed. "But I suppose I can't let you start an incident alone."
[ Location: Corridor - Outside the Great Hall ]
We checked the library. We checked the courtyard. Nothing.
'She's in the First Floor Girls' Bathroom. I remember it now. I need to get her out before the feast starts.'
I turned toward the staircase leading to the first floor.
"Mr. Frostwell! Mr. Shikamaru!"
'Its Nara, well forget it'
A sharp voice stopped me. It was Percy Weasley, shining badge gleaming on his chest.
"The feast is about to begin," Percy said pompously, blocking the path. "Students are required in the Great Hall. Now."
"We just need to check something—" I started.
"No wandering," Percy crossed his arms. "Headmaster's orders. Everyone inside. Move along."
Other students were streaming in behind us, creating a bottleneck. Professor McGonagall was watching from the doorway.
'Damn it. If I push past him, I get detention or house points lost, and they will drag me back anyway. I'm trapped.'
"Fine," I gritted my teeth.
I grabbed Shikamaru's arm. "We go inside. We sit near the door. The second things go south, we bolt."
[ Location: The Great Hall - The Feast ]
The Great Hall was loud, bright, and smelled amazing. I couldn't enjoy any of it.
I sat on the very edge of the Gryffindor bench, my leg bouncing nervously.
"You're vibrating," Shikamaru noted, sitting next to me.
"She's not here," I whispered, scanning the tables. "Hermione. She's in the bathroom. Alone."
"So go get her," Shikamaru said.
"I can't," I hissed, tilting my head toward the doors where Percy and the other prefects were standing guard until the feast officially started. "Not yet. I need a distraction."
"Parvati said she's in the girls' bathroom on the first floor," Harry whispered to Ron nearby. "She's been crying all afternoon."
Ron looked guilty.
"Yeah, you should feel guilty, Merlin Saggy left red hairy testicle."
I stared at the heavy oak doors. 'Come on, Quirrell. Where are you?.'
Suddenly, the doors banged open.
Professor Quirrell sprinted into the hall, his turban askew, terror on his face.
"TROLL!" he screamed. "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!"
The hall went silent.
"Thought you ought to know," Quirrell whimpered, and then fainted dead away.
'There's my exit.'
Chaos erupted. Screaming. Panicked running.
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore's voice boomed, freezing the room. "Prefects, lead your houses back to the dormitories."
Percy Weasley puffed out his chest. "Gryffindors! Follow me!"
The students swarmed toward the doors. The prefects were distracted, trying to organize lines.
Harry grabbed Ron, and they ducked under the chaos, disappearing into the crowd.
I turned to Shikamaru. He was already standing.
"Troll?" Shikamaru asked.
"Troll," I confirmed. "Let's go save her."
[ Location: First Floor Girls' Bathroom ]
We sprinted down the corridor. We could smell it before we saw it.
A mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet that hasn't been cleaned in a decade.
"Ugh," I gagged. "That is foul."
We heard a scream. High-pitched and terrified.
Hermione.
We burst into the bathroom.
It was chaos. The Troll—twelve feet tall, skin like granite, holding a wooden club the size of a tree trunk—was smashing the stalls.
Hermione was huddled in the corner, paralyzed with fear, shielding her head as debris rained down on her.
The Troll roared and turned toward Hermione. It raised the club high above its head.
'She's going to die.'
"NO!" I screamed.
I didn't think. I moved.
I sprinted across the wet floor. I didn't have a plan. I just needed to be between the club and the girl.
I slid in front of Hermione just as the club swung down.
[ Ability Active: Telekinesis (Shield). ]
I threw my hands up. I pushed with my mind against the club.
THUD.
The club slammed into my invisible barrier. It didn't shatter. Level 4 Telekinesis meant I could stop a van, and I could stop this. The air shimmered as the shield absorbed the massive impact, groaning under the strain but holding firm.
But physics is a cruel mistress. I blocked the object, but I couldn't cancel the momentum.
BAM.
The force transferred through the shield and launched me like a ragdoll. I flew sideways, slamming into the sinks. Porcelain shattered. Water sprayed everywhere.
"VIVAN!" Hermione screamed.
I groaned, sliding down the wall. My shoulder was on fire. My health bar (if I had one) just dropped into the red. But I wasn't paste.
'I think my collarbone is still in one piece. Mostly.'
The Troll roared, annoyed that its bug hadn't squashed. It raised the club again for a finishing blow on Hermione.
"Shadow Bind!" a voice said calmly.
Shikamaru stood in the doorway. His hands were formed in a specific seal. His shadow stretched across the floor, extending unnaturally fast until it connected with the Troll's shadow.
The Troll froze mid-swing. It struggled, its muscles bulging, but it couldn't move.
Harry and ron also arrived.
"What is he doing?!" Ron gasped.
"Shadow... Charm!" I wheezed, sitting up in the puddle. "Ron! Levitate the club!"
Ron pointed his wand, shaking like a leaf. "Wingardium... Wingardium Leviosa!"
Nothing happened. He was too scared. His pronunciation was garbage.
"I can't!" Ron yelled. "It's too heavy!"
The Troll roared, fighting Shikamaru's hold. The shadow was stretching thin.
"Troublesome strength," Shikamaru grunted, sweat beading on his forehead. "I can't hold it much longer!"
I looked at the club.
'Fine. If you want something done right...'
I narrowed my eyes. My headache flared, mixing with the pain in my shoulder.
'Telekinesis: GRIP.'
[ Ability Active: Telekinesis (Maximum Effort). ]
I didn't use a spell. I used pure, mental force. I visualized a giant hand wrapping around the club.
"Let... GO!" I screamed.
I yanked my mind upward.
The Troll's grip failed. The massive wooden club ripped out of its hand and shot toward the ceiling.
The Troll looked up, confused. Its tiny brain tried to process where its weapon went.
'Now for the finish.'
I glared at the floating club.
'DROP.'
I didn't just let gravity do the work. I threw it down.
CRACK-THUD.
The club smashed onto the Troll's head with the force of a hydraulic press.
The beast swayed. Its eyes rolled back into its head. It crashed face-first onto the floor, shaking the entire room and sending a wave of dirty water over our shoes.
Harry fell back, scrambling away from the massive body. Ron stood there, wand still raised, mouth open.
Silence. Just the sound of rushing water and heavy breathing.
Hermione crawled over to me. Her face was pale, streaked with tears and dust.
"Vivan?" she touched my shoulder. I winced. "You... you jumped."
"Yeah," I gritted my teeth, sitting up. "Hero complex. It's a condition."
She looked at me. Then, without a word, she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me. It was tight. Desperate.
"You idiot," she sobbed into my wet robes. "You complete idiot."
"I know," I patted her hair with my good arm. "I know."
[ System Notice: Relationship with Hermione Granger upgraded to "Crush (High)". ][ Telekinesis Proficiency Increased (99%) ]
Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell burst into the room.
McGonagall looked at the destroyed bathroom. The unconscious Troll. The water. Me and Hermione on the floor.
"What on earth were you thinking?!" McGonagall shouted, her lips white.
Harry and Ron looked at each other. They were about to speak.
"It was my fault, Professor," Hermione said, standing up. She didn't let go of my hand.
"Miss Granger?"
"I went looking for the troll," she lied smoothly. "I've read about them and thought I could handle it. But I was wrong. If Vivan, Shikamaru, Harry, and.... Ron hadn't come and found me... I'd probably be dead."
McGonagall stared at her. Hermione Granger, lying to a teacher? It was unprecedented.
"Five points... will be taken from Gryffindor for this serious lack of judgment," McGonagall said. "However..."
She looked at the Troll. She looked at Shikamaru (who was leaning against the doorframe looking bored) and me (soaking wet and bruising).
"Five points to each of you. For sheer dumb luck."
I grinned.
'20 points gained. 5 lost. Net profit is15. And one traumatized but grateful witch.'
We walked back to the common room. The smell of the troll lingered, but the tension between the trio was gone.
"Thanks," Harry muttered to me. "For coming."
"Anything for her," I said.
Ron looked at the floor. "I tried the spell. I just... I froze."
"It happens," I said, surprisingly gently. "Next time, don't freeze."
Ron nodded. He looked at Hermione. "Friends?"
"Friends," Hermione nodded.
But she didn't walk with them. She walked with me, her hand still gripping mine.
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