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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Chapter 10 - Hallowe'en
When Malfoy sees Harry and Ron the following day alive and well, he is shocked. Harry informs Ron of the mystery behind the object that was moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and the two spend the remainder of the day trying to decipher what it is. Neville and Hermione do not care what the mysterious object is. At lunch that day, the owl drops a package for Harry with a letter from McGonagall explaining what is inside. It is a Nimbus Two Thousand broom, the highest speed and latest model, given to Harry by the Gryffindor Quidditch team. McGonagall wants to keep this news quiet, since first years are not allowed broomsticks. Nonetheless, Harry is to meet Woods that afternoon for the team's first practice. Malfoy grabs Harry's package, realizes what it is, and is prepared to turn him in. However, Professor Flitwick suddenly appears, inquiring as to the chatter, congratulating Harry on his new broom and position on the Quidditch team. Malfoy is appalled and confused, wondering how Harry could be in such good standing with the professors. Harry informs Malfoy that it is all because of him that he is so lucky. Hermione walks up behind Ron and Harry, upset about them breaking the rules, yet again. She still does not care about the package or the broomstick and leaves in a huff with her nose in the air.
Harry finds his first Quidditch practice on the field with the older boys and Woods. Woods explains the entire game to him, that with seven players on each time, there are the positions of Chaser, Keeper, and Seeker, the ball is called the Quaffle, and the team hopes to snag the Snitch. Harry comments that the sport seems like basketball, only with broomsticks and six hoops. Harry flies in the air and catches so many balls that he impresses Woods and the rest of the teammates. He is compared to the great Quidditch player, Charlie Weasley, one of Ron's older brothers.
Two months goes by and Harry can hardly believe how comfortable he feels at Hogwarts. He is busy with classes, Quidditch practice, and mastering all the magic. One day in Charms class, the students begin to make feathers fly. Ron has difficulty pronouncing a spell and Hermione helps him. Hers works perfectly and her feather flies, causing the teacher to congratulate her in public. Ron makes a derogatory comment behind her back to Harry about her lack of friends and pompous attitude. Harry sees Hermione leave the class in tears. They find out that she is absent for the rest of the day, crying in the bathroom.
Topic Tracking: Magic 8
Topic Tracking: Friendship 7
Later, that day, Professor Quirrell runs down the hall frantically claiming that there is a monstrous troll loose in the basement. At Dumbledore's request, the older kids lead everyone out to safekeeping. Ron and Harry, however, remember that Hermione doesn't know about the troll. They decide to leave the group to find her and save her. They see Snape roaming the campus outside the group, away from where he should be. In their search, they begin to smell something foul and find themselves in direct contact with the troll.
"It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, 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 holing a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long." Chapter 10, pg. 129
Harry and Ron decide to lock it inside the chamber. Yet, when the walk away, they hear a high-pitched scream that belongs to Hermione, also locked inside the women's bathroom chamber with the giant troll. They go back inside to save her in an enormous fight against the monster. Harry jumps on its neck and sticks his wand inside one of its nostrils, causing it severe pain, while Ron uses his wand to retrieve Harry's. Eventually, they overtake the troll through magic and survive unscathed. Professor McGonagall finds the three students and is furious. Hermione lies to her, claiming that she wanted to go and fight the troll on her own, and Ron and Harry found and saved her. McGonagall is infuriated with Hermione, for she cannot believe that such a perfect girl has suddenly done something horribly wrong. She docks Gryffindor five points for Hermione's behavior and adds on ten points for Harry's bravery. They return to Gryffindor through the fat lady's picture and become three musketeers - an inseparable trio of friends.
