The Last Heir of Merlin

Jake and Hermione were up early on the following Thursday morning, like usual, when Hermione noticed something pinned in the Common Room. She walked up and saw that it was talking about Flying Lessons for the First Years, "Oh... I don't know about that..."

"Why not? It could be useful, learning to ride on a broomstick," Jake said, which still felt weird to say, despite having enough time to get used to the Wizarding World.

"I just don't like the idea of getting very high off the ground is all..." Hermione said with uncertainty.

"Look on the bright side, all of the First Years will be in the same class this afternoon," he said with a smile plastered stupidly on his face.

"Great, so I can make a fool of myself in front of every First Year..." she said dismally.

He looked down at his feet, realizing his attempt to cheer her up only made things worse. He looked back up to the board and thought about how cool it would be to fly on a Broomstick for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. His enthusiasm for the moment was short lived when he remembered that First Years almost never made their House Team. He kind of wanted to join the team, but if he ended up actually hating to Fly, then his hopes would be crushed, so he resorted to just getting the Flying class over with so he can get back to more important things for this year.

He was brought from his thoughts when Hermione suddenly walked away from him, "Where are you going?"

"The Library," was all she said, exiting the Common Room now that curfew had been officially lifted. Jake didn't quite know what Hermione was going to find there, but even after just a week, he knew to not try and stop her.

Later at breakfast, he'd found out why Hermione went to the Library. She read up, rather quickly at that, a book called Quidditch Through the Ages . Had he known, he actually would have tried stopping her, because you can't read on how to fly. It's like riding a bike or driving a car, you can read up all you want, but until you actually try, you don't know how easy or difficult it will be.

Hermione had been explaining to everyone what the book said, and Neville was hanging on every word, since he didn't know how to fly either. Jake saw the looks on everyone's faces and decided to intervene, "Hermione," he said, drawing her from her speech, everyone thankful she stopped, "I don't want to sound rude saying this, but you can't learn how to fly from reading a book. And you especially can't learn how to fly well from a book either. It's something that comes with experience."

She seemed to realize her error and stopped talking about the book, "It's still a good read, for anyone interested in Quidditch," she said quietly before going silent altogether.

The Owl Post soon arrived, Jake getting nothing, not that he expected to get anything. He did, however, hear Malfoy gloating about his 'father' sending him things every morning. Jake got sick of hearing Malfoy mention his father. He was brought out of his thoughts when Neville had a package dropped off in front of him. He looked over and saw Neville opening the package which contained a Remembrall, "It's a Remembrall!" He exclaimed excitedly, "Gran knows I forget things, this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red it - oh..." His face fell in despair, because the white/grey smoke inside the Remembrall suddenly turned red, "means you've forgotten something... the worst part is when you can't remember what you've forgotten..."

Neville was busy scrunching his face up, trying desperately to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco came strutting over, passing the Gryffindor table and snatching the Remembrall out of his hand. Jake was about to stand up and confront Malfoy, but settled himself back into his seat when he saw Professor McGonagall walking over. Harry and Ron had jumped to their feet, and to Jake, it looked like they wanted to fight Malfoy, despite the size of Crabbe and Goyle. When McGonagall arrived, she was quick to let them know of her presence, "What's going on here?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor," Neville explained to her.

Malfoy quickly put the Remembrall back on the table, his face had a scowl plastered onto it, "I was just looking at it," he said and skulked away.

Before he got out of earshot, Jake had to speak up, "Yeah, without asking the owner of said Remembrall first." He saw Malfoy look back and sneer at him before they went back to the Slytherin table.

*******

At three-thirty that afternoon, Jake and Hermione, and all of the other First Years, hurried down the front steps into the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their shoes as they marched down the sloping lawns towards the smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. Jake was intrigued by the Forbidden Forest and wondered what creatures were housed inside it.

He noticed that the Slytherins were absent among the other First Years, and he realized quickly that it was because they were already down there, along with several dozen brooms on the ground. Jake walked up to one of the brooms, him being the only one to do so, when Madam Hooch, their instructor arrived. Her hair was short and grey and she had yellow eyes like a hawk, "Well, what are you waiting for? Your classmate has already taken the initiative. Follow his lead and stand next to a broomstick!" She barked at them. Jake felt a smirk on his face at being the only one next to a broomstick when she arrived, even if it was by pure accident because he wanted to see the Brooms up close. "Now, we're going to jump straight into it, stick out your right hand over the broom," she demonstrated it with her own broom, "and say, 'UP!'" Her broom jumped straight into her hand.

"UP!" was the collective sound that could be heard.

Jake had said it with such intensity that when his broom shot up into his hand, it almost dislocated his wrist and his palm felt like it was on fire. He looked around and saw that his, Harry's, and no others had jumped up in a single use of the word. He saw Hermione and noticed her broom rolled around a bit and Neville's didn't move at all. He caught her eye when she looked up from not hearing him a second time, seeing his broom in his hand. Her eyes widened and she glared at him; that was the second time he'd shown her up in a lesson, not counting Potions because Hermione even admitted to not being as good as him in Potions class.

When everyone finally did get their broom to rise into the air and into their hand, Madam Hooch showed them all how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end of it. She walked around, correcting anyone who was gripping the broomstick wrong; Jake smirked when he heard her correcting Malfoy, that made a lot of people realize how full of it Draco really was.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard, understood?" She looked around at all of them. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle! Three, Two-" she didn't get to finish as Neville, nervous, jumpy, and frightened of being left on the ground, suddenly pushed off hard before the whistle even came close to touching her lips, "Come back, boy!"

"Professor... I don't think he knows how," Jake said to her. He looked back up at Neville, knowing that it wouldn't be too hard for him to come back down, but with how jittery Neville was, trying to get him to lean slightly forward would be like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall.

Neville kept rising higher, and soon he reached about thirty feet off the ground. Jake saw how scared Neville was, and Neville's eyes almost bulged out of his head when he suddenly slid off the side. He fell with the grace of a flailing toddler, Jake honestly wondered why Madam Hooch wasn't doing anything to save him, and he himself didn't know the spell to slow Neville's descent, it wasn't in his Grade 1 or 2 book for Charms class.

Everyone flinched upon Neville's painful return to the ground. You could hear a 'crack' sound just as he hit the ground, meaning something had probably broken in his body. Upon looking back up at the broom, Jake didn't see it anywhere, wondering where exactly it went.

He looked back to Madam Hooch when he heard her speak, "Broken arm... come on boy, up you get, you'll be alright once I get you to Madam Pomfrey," she then turned and addressed the rest of the First Years, "None of you are to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts faster than you can say Quidditch!" She proceeded to take Neville, who was groaning in pain, away from the rest of the First Years.

No sooner than they were out of earshot, Jake heard Draco burst out into laughter, "Did you see his face, the great lump?" And of course, the other Slytherin joined in.

"Yeah, real easy to make fun of someone when no teacher is around, isn't it?" Jake challenged Draco, stepping forward.

"Sticking up for Longbottom are you, Fernandes?" The Slytherin girl named Pansy asked him.

"I don't remember talking to you, pug-face," Jake said, getting 'ooh's' from the non-Slytherins. Pansy's face burned in frustration at that.

Draco ignored them and quickly darted forward when Jake's attention was diverted, "Look!" He exclaimed, picking something up, "it's that stupid thing that he said his gran sent him!"

Jake saw that it was Neville's Remembrall, "Give that here, Malfoy," Jake heard Harry say behind him, his voice getting closer when he spoke.

Malfoy smirked nastily at the Remembrall in his hands, "I think I'll leave it somewhere instead, somewhere that Longbottom will have a hard time getting to it. How about... up a tree?" Everyone watched as he got onto his broom and started to rise into the air, "Come and get it, Potter, Fernandes!"

Jake was unmoved, but Harry took the bait and mounted his broom, causing Hermione to try and intervene, "No! Did you not hear what Madam Hooch said? You'll get into trouble, Harry, if you go after him!"

Harry had, predictably, ignored her and Jake watched him rise into the air. He heard Hermione mutter beside him, "What an idiot," which caused him to chuckle. They hovered level with each other for a moment when Jake saw Harry lean forward and lunge towards Malfoy. He missed, but turned back around without effort, like he'd been doing it for years, despite it being his first time riding a broom. Draco suddenly turned and chucked the Remembrall, throwing it a surprising distance. Harry darted after the Remembrall, everyone could see that he was quickly gaining on it, but also on a window, and if Jake's memory was right, that was Professor McGonagall's office. Harry started to return to them after catching the Remembrall, everyone but the Slytherin's cheering for him.

Draco tried to return to the surface once he saw Professor McGonagall coming towards them, but it was too late, she had seen him up on his broom, and Madam Hooch was nowhere to be seen, "HARRY POTTER! DRACO MALFOY!" Everyone, literally everyone, went dead silent, they could hear their hearts pounding in their heads. "Never, in all my time at Hogwarts-" she was seething with anger, "Fifty points from Slytherin for reckless behavior! As for you, Potter, you'll have to follow me," she said with a squint of her eyes as she glared at Harry. Parvati and Ron tried to defend Harry, but McGonagall wasn't hearing it.

Jake could only wonder what trouble awaited Harry.

*******

"Excuse me," Hermione said after she and Jake walked up to Harry and Ron at dinner time.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" Asked Ron. His dislike for Hermione was not hidden in his tone.

"Watch your tongue, Weasley, or I'll rip it out," Jake said quietly, getting Ron to shut up.

Hermione pressed forth as though they said nothing, "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying-"

"Bet you could," Ron said.

"One more, Weasley, and see what happens," Jake said, staring coldly into Ron's eyes. The Red Head shrunk under his gaze.

"And you mustn't go wandering around the school at night! Think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor, and you're bound to be caught. It's actually very selfish of you," Hermione tried to explain to them.

"And it's really none of your business, is it?" Harry said rather harshly to her.

Jake looked at Hermione and saw that she was unfazed, but he knew it really bothered her. He turned his attention back to Harry, "So was Professor Snape right? You're so full of yourself that you would do something so selfish that you'd risk being at Hogwarts for something stupid? I expected better of you, Potter." He said to Harry, who actually looked regretful of the words he had said. Out of the corner of his eye, Ron was about to say something, but he was quick on the draw of his wand, "I thought I told you to shut up?" Ron stayed quiet and Jake put his wand away.

He and Hermione turned and left them to their own devices, "If they want to get detention and lose Gryffindor points, then that's their business, Hermione, let's just leave them to their own stupidity."

Hermione said nothing, which worried him. He looked at her and saw that she was trying her best to not let their words get to her.

Later in the evening, Jake had not returned to his room at all except to change clothing. He and Hermione were going to, for some reason, talk them out of going to the duel. He was content to let them get caught and be done with it, but Hermione was persistent. It was almost Eleven-thirty when he spoke up, "Hermione?"

"Yes?" She asked, looking up from her book.

"Are you trying to stop them purely for Gryffindor's sake? Or for their sake as well?" He asked straight-forwardly.

She didn't respond for a moment, "Both, I suppose."

"Why? After the way they-" he stopped talking when he heard footsteps descending the staircase from the boys dorms.

Jake stared into the fireplace, it's low flame crackling on the wood that was almost used up. On the bright side, the illuminating light hid their presence in the chairs. When they were almost to the portrait, Hermione spoke up, standing as she spoke, "I can't believe you're going to go through with this, Harry."

Jake saw them look over and Hermione turned a lamp on on the table beside her, "You!" Ron sounded furious.

He heard footsteps walking towards Hermione and he revealed himself, "Weasley."

Ron froze and looked over at Jake. There was a sudden fear deep inside the redhead that told him slowly back away, which he did.

Hermione looked at Jake for a moment before readdressing the other two, "I almost told Percy, you know? He's a Prefect, he'd put a stop to this, without question."

"Come on," Harry said to Ron.

Jake shook his head, "How stupid you are, Potter. You'll be really famous for sabotaging Gryffindor's chance at the House Cup, you know that?"

Harry and Ron weren't listening. Hermione was persistent and followed them out. Jake wasn't going to leave her alone after what Ron almost did, so he went with them. "Do either of you care? Do you only care about yourselves? Is that it?"

"Go away," Rom said. Jake was real close to punching him.

"Fine, but we warned you. You just remember what we said when you're on the-" Hermione and Jake turned around to go back into the Tower, but the Fat Lady was nowhere to be seen, "Great, now what are we going to do?"

"Not our problem, we've got to get going," Ron said to them.

"We are going with you," Jake said to them.

"Oh no you're not," Ron said quickly.

"And who's gonna stop us, Weasley?" Jake asked him, but he said nothing, instead only turning red like his hair from being unable to retort properly. "That's what I thought," he said and he and Hermione tagged along with them.

They all crept their way quietly to the Trophy room that Harry and Draco were supposed to be dueling in, but when they arrived, it was past midnight and Draco wasn't there, "He's late, figures. Maybe he chickened out?" Ron asked.

"Or he lured you into a trap you dingbats," Jake said to them.

Ron was about to reply, but something got their attention. It was a sound in the near distance, and it was a sound none of them wanted to hear; meowing. Then they heard Filch talking to his cat, Mrs. Norris. The four of them quickly hurried away from there, not paying attention to where they were going. In their haste, Ron ran into a suit of armor, causing it to crash down, "Run!" Harry yelled.

They ran through doors and up a flight of stairs to get as far away from Filch as possible. They were all breathing heavily and Hermione talked to the two idiots they were stuck with, "I... told... you," she said in between breaths. Jake was the only one not breathing as heavily as them, "Oh... I think... I think I might... pass out..." Hermione complained about being out of shape.

"Come on, let's get back to Gryffindor Tower," Jake said to them. They didn't get very far as Peeves showed up. When he caught sight of them, he almost exploded with glee.

"Peeves, please be quiet? You'll get us thrown out if we get caught," Harry pleaded with the poltergeist. Jake hoped Harry was having a change of heart.

"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty!" Peeves was bursting at the seams, holding his voice at the level it was.

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves. Please?" Jake asked the poltergeist.

"Should tell Filch I should. It's for your own good, you know?" He said with an evil grin on his face.

Then Ron, surprise surprise, did and said something stupid, "Get out of the way!" He took a swipe at Peeves, who did not take kindly to that.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" Peeves bellowed out, drawing Filch to their location.

The four of them ran for their lives down to the end of the corridor and came to a locked door, which they only found out after Ron smacked into it, "This is it! We're done for, this is the end..." he said helplessly.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, move over!" Jake said frustratedly. He pulled his wand out and aimed it at the door, " Alohomora !" The lock clicked open and they pushed their way into the room, closing the door back behind them. They heard Filch and Peeves argue back and forth for a moment before they both disappeared.

"Ha, he thinks this door is locked," Harry said smugly.

"That's because it was locked, remember?" Hermione asked him.

Harry turned to say something, but then saw they weren't in a room, but another Corridor, "Where are we?"

Jake looked around and knew where they were, "The Third Floor Corridor that is forbidden, unless we want to find ourselves an untimely death," he then laughed evily, creeping Hermione out.

"Not necessary," she snapped at him. All he did was smile at her.

The corridor only had one other door in it, which was odd for Hogwarts standards. They decided to see where it led and went inside the door. It was dark enough that you couldn't even see a foot in front of you. There were no windows to illuminate anything.

Suddenly, there were six eyes staring at the four of them. Jake could almost feel his heart rate rise a little as fear crept into his mind. Torches that had been lining the wall were flickered on and they revealed a massive three headed dog. The dog must not have been expecting to see them, otherwise it would have attacked immediately. It was quick to get over it's shock and began growling.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione thought she'd seen something glowing.

Jake heard the door open behind them and looked to see that Harry had opened the door. The four of them bolted from the room, Harry slammed the door shut, and the four of them ran back to Gryffindor Tower.

When they got to the Fat Lady, she inquired, "Where on Earth have you all been?" Their disheveled looks piqued her interest as to their whereabouts to cause them to be in such states.

"Never mind that..." Harry was panting, "Pig Snout," he spoke the Password and she reluctantly opened the portrait for them.

"What kind of password is 'pig snout'?" Jake asked after they walked into the Common Room.

Hermione gave him an incredulous look, "Out of all the questions you have, that's the one you ask?" He nodded and she just sighed exasperatedly. She collapsed into an armchair, as did Harry and Ron, all three of them trying to calm down.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron asked after about five minutes of silence.

"You don't pay well enough attention, do you?" Hermione asked him, regaining her composure, "Did you not see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry asked, slightly annoyed, "I wasn't really looking at its feet, I was too busy staring at the heads. In case you missed it, there were three..."

"It's not the floor she's talking about. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's guarding something..." Jake said, his gaze staring out of a window.

Hermione smiled at him before standing up and glaring at the other two, "I hope you both are pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed, or worse, expelled. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed," she shifted her gaze back to Jake, "Good night, Jake, see you in the morning," she smiled at him before ascending the stairs.

He smiled back, "Good night, Hermione," and went to go up the stairs to his dorm room.

"No, we don't mind," he heard Ron say, probably staring after Hermione, "You'd think we dragged her along with us, wouldn't you?"

Jake had enough of Ron and turned around, walking back over to him. Ron's eyes widened when he saw Jake approaching and he felt a slap suddenly hit him across the face, "That was for being a stupid idiot, Weasley, be thankful it wasn't a punch," he said and turned back around to go to his dorm room. He crawled into bed and had wondered what exactly could be underneath that dog's feet. He then remembered reading in the paper about the break-in at Gringotts Bank, but nothing had been taken. Jake figured that whatever was in that vault, was now somewhere in that trapdoor.

*******

Even if Harry and Ron had almost gotten them killed, or expelled, he was glad to see the shocked look on Malfoy's face at seeing Harry and Ron still at Hogwarts. Hermione had told Jake she'd no interest in talking to Harry or Ron again, and Jake was honestly fine with that. "Hermione?" He got her attention, and she looked up from her breakfast at him, "If this isn't something you want to talk about, just tell me, but you remember the break-in that Gringotts had a little while back?"

"I do remember it, what about it?"

"Remember how the paper said nothing was taken from the vault?" Hermione nodded, "What if what was in that vault, is now underneath that dog?" He asked her quietly.

He could see the gears in her head working as she had shown some interest in it, "That's brilliant deductive reasoning, Jake, if I could I'd give you Fifty points for Gryffindor!"

"Well thanks, that's awfully nice of you to say," he smiled and looked up when the mail arrived. As expected, he got nothing, again. What was surprising was that Harry got something, though. It was obviously a broomstick, and probably a decently good one, Jake thought. He knew Harry had made the team, he overheard Harry and Ron talking about it, and the only position open was Seeker, so Harry probably got a fast broom.

Harry and Ron both left the Great Hall, wrapped up broom in hand. They probably went to unwrap it in private. He and Hermione stood up as well to go ahead and make their way to class, coming up to Harry and Ron just after a confrontation with Draco it seems. Hermione was about to say something, but Jake placed a hand on her arm, "What?" She looked back at him.

"We're not talking to them, remember? Don't give them the satisfaction," he said and let go of her arm.

"But he's being rewarded for breaking the rules," she huffed angrily.

"I'm not saying I agree with it, but we can't really do anything about it," he said.

She knew he had a point, and huffed again, making her way to class, Jake following right behind her. He smirked, knowing that he had left her without a retort.

*******

Jake found it hard to believe that it was one day away until his two month mark of being at Hogwarts, but it was true. Today was Halloween and tomorrow would mark his two month arrival at Hogwarts. He couldn't believe how well his life had actually been at Hogwarts. He had probably one of the best friends in the whole world in Hermione Granger. She was able to keep him intellectually engaged and even though neither of them acknowledged it, they had a small rival between them in who could get new spells correct first. Hermione hadn't actually cared who it was between the both of them; sometimes it was her, other times it was him, but they had fun with it, so it mattered little.

In Charms class that morning, Professor Flitwick had announced, to everyone's delight, that he thought they were ready for making objects levitate. But for whatever reason, when Flitwick split them up into pairs, he paired Jake with Neville and Hermione with Ron. Jake walked up to the short Professor to talk quietly, "Professor, a word if you please?"

"Of course, Mr. Fernandes, what can I do for you?" Professor Flitwick asked him before they got started.

"Is it possible if you could switch Hermione and I? I don't mind if she and I aren't paired, but could you pair me with Ron instead of her?" Jake asked his squeaky-voiced Professor.

"I am sorry, but the pairings I have made make the most sense, Mr. Fernandes, I'm sure you can understand?"

"Yeah... yeah okay..." he said and went back to his seat. 'No, I don't understand... Professor...' Jake glared at Ron, daring him to try anything.

Professor Flitwick then addressed the whole class, "Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" He was perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important! Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Jake couldn't help but chuckle at the saying. Jake and Hermione were confident in their ability to perform the spell properly. Neville beside him was trying and failing miserably, the feather not even moving. Jake looked over and listened to Ron's attempts, " Wingardium Leviosar ," he shouted, and waved his arms like a madman.

"Stop, stop, stop. You're going to poke someone's eye out, plus, you're saying it wrong," Jake watched Hermione as she proceeded to show him how to do it right, "It's Levi-o-sa not Levi-o-sar ."

"You do it then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled at her. Jake wondered if Ron was also gnashing at the teeth before he saw Hermione look over at him and smirk. He knew what she was implying.

They both grabbed their wands, flicked them, and spoke the words at the same time, " Wingardium Leviosa! " They each raised their respective feather off the desk and into the air.

Flitwick was giddy at the fact that two students had it right at the same time, "Well done!" He was clapping from being so excited, "See here everyone! Mr. Fernandes and Miss Granger have done it! Five Points each for Gryffindor!" The both of them smiled at the Professor and then each other.

After class, Jake and Hermione were walking side by side, lagging behind Harry, Ron and the other Male Gryffindor First Years. Jake heard how frustrated Ron was, and it was going nowhere good, "It's no wonder no one can stand her," Jake heard him say. He didn't get the chance to keep him from speaking his next words, "She's a nightmare, honestly, no surprise she has no friends."

Before Jake could stop Hermione, she had already charged ahead, and he could hear the faintest sound of a whimper coming from her. She bumped into Harry and Ron, pushing through them. "I think she heard you..." Harry said, sounding completely remorseful about his friend.

"So?" Ron said, not sounding the least bit sorry, "She must've noticed she's got no friends!"

Jake was unable to control himself. He marched right up to Ron, turned him around, and laid him flat with one punch to his nose. Jake stood over him, his eyes glowing red. Ron ended up wetting his pants from the fear that coursed through him, "Don't you EVER say that again, Weasley," his eyes stopped glowing red, "Hermione has a friend; me. If you ever say that in front of me again, I will jam your wand through your eye and into your brain, do you understand me?" All Ron did was nod quickly. Jake calmly walked past everyone who had stopped to look at the scene. It was easy to do so because they were parting themselves like Moses did with water. He knew he wasn't going to find Hermione right now, unless she ran to their next class, because he had taken too long with the Weasel. He calmly walked to his next class, hoping to see Hermione there.

*******

Hermione had, unfortunately, not shown up in the next class, or all afternoon for that matter. Jake had been worried about her every second she was gone. He promised her dad he'd keep her safe; he was doing a damn fine job of it. He walked into the Great Hall and saw Halloween decorations all over the place, but he wasn't able to enjoy them without her being there. He had overheard Parvati telling Lavender that she'd been crying in the girls' toilet all afternoon. He stood up and was about to go and get her when Professor Quirrell ran in, flailing his arms about, "Troll! In the Dungeons! Troll in the Dungeons!" He stopped running about halfway towards the staff table, "Thought you ought to know," and then he fainted.

Panic overtook the Great Hall until Dumbledore stood up, "SILENCE!" His voice rang out, "Prefects! Lead your houses back to their dormitories immediately. Slytherin Prefects! Take the rest of the Slytherin students to the History of Magic classroom, expand the size as necessary, and house there until the Troll situation is dealt with!" He ordered the Prefects.

Percy stood up to take control of the Gryffindor students, but was outranked, technically, by the Seventh Year Prefects that began to lead the Gryffindor's back to Gryffindor Tower. Jake took this as the perfect opportunity to slip away and go find Hermione before the Troll did. He hurried away and went looking for the girls bathroom. He did come across one, but so did the troll, "What?" He asked himself, "I thought it was in the dungeons?" He was confused. Had it migrated all the way up to the Ground Floor? That didn't matter, because he soon heard a scream coming from inside the bathroom, "Hermione!" He opened the door so forcefully, it almost flew off its hinges.

The Troll raised its club and just barely missed Hermione. She saw Jake and screamed, "Help!" The next thing she saw, his eyes went red. He didn't raise his wand or anything, and she suddenly saw and without him saying a word, the Troll's head exploded into a bloody mess. She looked at Jake, slightly afraid of him, but when he fell forward and collapsed to the ground, she hurried to him from her hiding spot, "Jake!" She was on her knees next to him when Harry and Ron walked in. Tears were falling freely from her eyes and when Professor's McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell arrived, they were flabbergasted at the scene before them.

Hermione explained as best she could about his eyes glowing red, and the troll's head suddenly exploding. Minerva, Snape and Quirrell were all three aware of Jake's ancestry after Dumbledore informed the staff of it, but told them to keep it a secret from all students, including Jake, for the time being. They knew that him being a descendent of Merlin made him a prodigy with wandless and non-verbal magic. It was also very clear to Minerva that he was especially protective of Hermione, "Miss Granger, may I ask what you were doing down here in the first place?"

Hermione froze for a moment, but then answered swiftly, "I went looking for the troll, Professor." Harry and Ron stared at her wide-eyed, they knew she just incriminated herself. "I had read about them and thought I could take it on. I was very clearly wrong, and then when Jake showed up... well... I already explained that bit, I believe..."

"Well... Miss Granger I am very, very disappointed in you. I will be taking Ten Points from Gryffindor for your reckless behavior," she looked at the unconscious Jake on the floor, bringing her wand out and levitating him, "but I will be giving Twenty Points to Gryffindor for Mr. Fernandes's heroics. Now, I will take him to the Hospital Wing, I implore you three to return to the Gryffindor Common Room and join your classmates, who are all well under way of feasting on the Halloween food that has been transported there for your enjoyment."

"But can't I go with you, Professor?" Hermione asked her.

"You can check on him in the morning, Miss Granger, I will tell Poppy to grant you special permission to be there to see him at seven o'clock if you wish?" Minerva asked her and Hermione was more than happy to accept those terms.

The three Gryffindor who would be returning to the Tower had a silent moment between them, acknowledging the fact Hermione did not rat them out for being the reason she was there in the first place. The three of them had become friends, now it was up to Jake to see how he would feel about it.