In An Alternate Universe ~ The Prequel

Chapter 6 ~ Beginning of the Golden Trio

In Charms class, Snape tried to help Ron do the Wingardium Leviosa spell by showing him the proper pronunciation of the levitation spell. Angry, Ron told him to do it if he knew so much, and Severus did. He was highly praised by professor Flitwick

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.

"It's no wonder no one can stand him," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the
crowded corridor, "he's a nightmare, honestly. "

Suddenly someone knocked into Harry and caught Ron by the shoulder.

“I was just trying to help you, you stupid prat,” Severus hissed at him. “If I didn’t want to sully my record, I’d punch you square in the nose, you ungrateful git!”

Severus stormed off.

"I think he heard you."

"So, he heard me," said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. That had been close. Severus had a bad temper, bookworm or not. "He must've noticed he's got no friends."

Severus didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry and Ron overheard Neville telling his friend Dean that Severus was raging in the boy’s bathroom and wanted to be left alone.

Ron looked still more worried at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Severus out of their minds.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll -- in the dungeons -- thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy was in his element.

"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.

"I've just thought -- Severus."

"What about him?"

"He doesn't know about the troll."

Ron bit his lip.

"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the boys' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin. Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Granger. She crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"What's she doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't she down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Search me."

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Granger's fading footsteps.

"She's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.

"Can you smell something?"

Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. And then they heard it -- a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet.

Ron pointed -- at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.
It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

"The key’s in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," said Ron nervously.

They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.

'Yes!"
Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop -- a loud, horrified shout -- and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.

"Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.

"It's the boys' bathroom!" Harry gasped.

"Severus!" they said together.

It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran inside.

Severus Snape was pressed against the wall opposite, his wand drawn, ineffectively firing hexes and looking as if his heart was going to stop. The troll was advancing on him, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Severus. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.

"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.

"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Severus, trying to pull him toward the door, but he resisted, determined to overcome the troll, his face in a snarl.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape. Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there,but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped – it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

Severus ran forward, wand drawn as Ron pulled out his own wand -- not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head:

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over -- and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.

It was Severus who spoke first.

"I think you killed it.”

I don't think so," said Harry, I think it's just been knocked out."

He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.

"Urgh -- troll boogers."

He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Granger, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Granger bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. Severus had the presence of mind to dip into the shadows and quickly tucked his own wand away successfully. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Granger gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Ron would put his wand down.

Then a hesitant voice came out of the shadows.

"Professor McGonagall -- they were looking for me."

"Mr. Snape!"

Severus walked out to where everyone could clearly see him.

I went looking for the troll. I thought I could deal with it because I've read all about them."

Ron dropped his wand. Severus Snape, telling a lie to a teacher?

"If they hadn't helped me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.

"Well -- in that case..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Mr. Snape, you foolish boy, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Severus hung his head. Harry was speechless. Severus was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here he was, pretending he had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Granger had started handing out sweets.

"Mr. Snape, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Severus left.

Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have gotten more than ten points," Ron grumbled.

"Five, you mean, once she's taken off Severus's."

"Good of him to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save him."

"He might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with him," Harry reminded him.

They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Pig snout," they said and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Severus, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.

But from that moment on, Severus Snape became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

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Throughout the following years, Harry, Severus and Ron had many adventures, much to the consternation of Granger, who often paid for their successes in flesh and blood. There was tragedy, too, one of the worst being the death of Dumbledore by Granger’s hand, followed by numerous other deaths until Harry managed to vanquish the dark lord for good.

It was later found out that Granger had not killed Dumbledore in essence, but she was captured and imprisoned for more than a year before the Headmaster returned, whole and healthy via Horcrux after Voldemort’s death. He retrieve Granger, and she returned to teaching potions.

Harry, Ron and Severus were all young men now, with quite a bit of experience behind them. At least as far as fighting evil went. But when it came to witches, the boys didn’t have a clue.

Well, Severus did, technically. The problem was the application of his knowledge and honing his abilities.

It didn’t help that he had a terrible, terrible crush on the snarkiest, most unapproachable witch in the wizarding world . . .

Professor Hermione Granger.

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A/N: I added the friendship chapter because it was important. And this is where the prequel ends and the story, “In an Alternate Universe” begins. Link: http://hp.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600012352

As I said, this prequel consists mainly of JKR’s writing so I can take no credit for creativity or storyline. This is “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” almost word for word. All I did was manipulate it slightly to make it a suitable beginning to my fanfic. Mostly I did this because it was challenging and fun, and I had rewrote the Pensieve scene earlier. Then I thought, why not take it further and make it a prequel to “In an Alternate Universe.” So I did it. Again I have to state this is almost entirely verbatim from JKR’s work. Still, thanks for reading.