Ten points from Hufflepuff!

"Su Er Bones!!!" Madam Hooch's shriek rang out over the lawn. "Get down here right now!!!"

Su Er had not actually flown very high, only about four and a half meters above the ground, but Madam Hooch was too tightly wound to care. She watched the young wizards' every move, ready to explode at the slightest mishap.

Just like now...

Su Er obediently climbed off his broom and ducked his head, enduring Madam Hooch's furious, spittle-flecked tirade.

He had simply been too excited. The problem that had plagued him for a week was finally about to be solved.

It was not as though he had never asked Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore, but both professors were old hands at speaking in riddles.

"It's a very strange feeling. Feel it with your heart, Mr. Bones." The two professors had phrased it differently, but their answers amounted to the same thing.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff!" Madam Hooch's lips trembled, but seeing how sincerely Su Er admitted his mistake, she swallowed the words that would have banned him from flying class.

Su Er had no objection to losing points. It was only ten, after all. The ever-helpful Professor Flitwick probably would not mind earning them back for him. Failing that, there was always Professor Sprout.

"Sorry, Professor. I'd do it again."

"Mm..." Madam Hooch nodded and let the matter drop.

She turned and walked toward the other students, only to stop halfway. Huh? Had something sounded wrong just now?

After class, Su Er could hardly wait to tell Hermione about his new discovery, but he spent the entire lunch break waiting without catching sight of her.

He was a little puzzled, but thought little of it until he ran into Neville on his way to the Great Hall after Charms that afternoon. Only then did he learn that Hermione had missed her afternoon lessons as well.

In just one afternoon, the Great Hall had been completely transformed. Colorful Halloween decorations hung on the walls, thousands of bats wheeled overhead like banks of low-hanging storm clouds, and candles nestled inside pumpkins floated above the dining tables.

The whole Great Hall was steeped in the Halloween spirit.

Only then did Su Er realize that Halloween had already arrived.

Hermione was still absent from the Great Hall, while Harry and Ron, the two protagonists of the original story, stood gaping and looking around like a pair of fools.

Could it be...? A sense of foreboding stirred in Su Er's heart.

"Excuse me?" Su Er stopped a girl. He remembered that she shared a dormitory with Hermione.

"Can I help you?" Parvati Patil seemed a little surprised that a handsome boy she did not know had stopped her.

"Do you know where Hermione is?" Su Er asked politely.

"You mean Granger?" Parvati tilted her head. "I saw her in the girls' bathroom."

His ominous hunch had come true.

"Thank you." Su Er hastily thanked her, then turned without hesitation and ran out of the Great Hall.

"Hey..." Parvati opened her mouth, watching his retreating back as she murmured, "I wasn't finished. I just saw Granger on my way here."

But the lively atmosphere in the Great Hall soon drew Parvati's attention away. That handsome young wizard would be back soon enough anyway.

What danger could there possibly be in Hogwarts Castle?

Su Er hurried against the flow of the crowd and through the corridors, his destination clear: the bathroom near the classrooms on the first basement level.

According to the part of the plot he knew in advance, Hermione had to be there.

But he failed to notice a puzzled, curious gaze in the crowd. "Huh?"

"Hermione, are you there?" Su Er hurried up to the bathroom and called softly from the doorway, but it was utterly silent inside.

"Hermione isn't here?" Su Er muttered. He still felt uneasy. Oh, well. I'd better go in and check.

But this is the girls' bathroom...

Su Er glanced at the skirted figure on the sign by the door, gritted his teeth, and stepped inside.

He never noticed the shocked gaze behind him. Then a young witch emerged from the shadows. It was Hermione, the very person Su Er was looking for.

She had spotted the anxious-looking Su Er among the crowd near the Great Hall. She had meant to call out to him, but curiosity had suddenly gotten the better of her, and she had followed him instead.

Su Er was in such a hurry just to come here? But... this is the girls' bathroom.

Hermione was utterly dumbstruck.

As Hermione hesitated at the entrance, wondering whether to leave or go inside, Su Er came out and found himself face-to-face with her.

"Hermione?" Su Er asked in confusion, then breathed a sigh of relief. "So there you are."

"You..." Hermione looked as though she wanted to say something but could not, her eyes drifting awkwardly toward the girls' sign above and to the right of the bathroom door.

"I came to find you," Su Er said with a perfectly straight face, suppressing his embarrassment. He had no time to wonder why Hermione was not in the bathroom as she had been in the film he had watched in his previous life.

"Your dormmate told me you were in the bathroom. I called for you a few times from the doorway, but nobody answered, so..."

"Find me?" Hermione asked. "What for?"

"It doesn't matter now." Su Er stepped forward and caught Hermione by the wrist. "The feast is about to start. We'd better hurry."

Hermione looked bewildered as Su Er dragged her along. "W-wait..."

Su Er jogged on with his head down until, at a bend leading to the stairs, he spotted a panicked Voldemort-Quirinus Quirrell.

He hastily stopped and ducked into the shadows.

"What is it?" Unable to stop in time, Hermione collided with his chest and could not help asking.

"Shh. Someone's there," Su Er whispered, raising his index finger to his lips.

Hermione peeked out. She could only see a figure hurrying away, but that silhouette was unmistakable in Hogwarts Castle. "Is that Professor Quirrell?"

Quirrell was the only person in the castle who wore such a large turban.

"Why is he here?" Hermione looked up at Su Er, only to find his expression grave.

A faint, foul odor drifted through the air.

"Can you smell anything?" Su Er asked.

Hermione looked puzzled, then sniffed hard. Her face promptly turned green.

"Ugh... something stinks."

Then they heard a low grunting sound, followed by the noise of something enormous dragging across the floor.

"W-what is that?" Hermione's face went white in an instant.

"A troll," Su Er said gravely. "Look over there."

A patch of moonlight fell near where they stood, casting the hulking creature's shadow clearly across the corridor. The shadow grew larger and larger, and its footsteps grew heavier, telling them that the troll was approaching.

Su Er swiftly clapped a hand over Hermione's open mouth.

"Shh. Don't speak. Don't draw its attention."

Hermione nodded vigorously, terror in her eyes, and laid her small hand over Su Er's. They shrank farther into the shadows, holding their breath as they stared unblinkingly at the shadow in the moonlight.