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My Life In Hufflepuff

"Sprout...what?" I asked.

"The staff had a meeting early this morning," said Stabbie. "Sprout never showed! They went to her bedroom but there was no trace of her!"

"How do you know all ths?"

"Oh, I was hiding out in one of my secret tunnels in the staff room, listening for gossip. I do it a lot."

"You have a secret tunnel leading to the staff room?"

"I thought we were bros by now, kid! Thought you understood that I'm Stabbie! I've got secret tunnels everywhere. I've seen some shit, kid!"

"Like what?" I asked. In truth I was trying to delay him. I was trying to figure out in my mind what could have happened to Sprout. She knew about the evil under Hogwarts, she'd said she was going to do some investigating. I should have told Stabbie all of this, but I felt strangely reluctant. My converstaions with Sprout were private. I still didn't want to let Stabbie in on them, let him know I'd been tempted by her. I felt guilty for talking to her, but why?

"Crazy shit!" he said. "At the Christmas party last year, Trelawney from Divination and Flitwick getting off with each other! Scarred me for life."

"Wow, that is crazy shit," I said.

"So Sprout going missing, must have something to do with Roger, right?" asked Stabbie.

"What?" I said. My secret was about to be discovered...

"Because she's the head of Hufflepuff! Keep up, kid!"

"Oh, right, of course," I said, relieved. "Yeah. He's taken her, must have. But how'd he get out with the tunnel blocked? And how are we going to get in?" I hadn't planned on saying that last bit. It just came out. But I knew that I had to rescue Sprout.

"You think we should rescue her like we rescued Hugh? It's risky..." said Stabbie.

"Risk isn't my middle name," I said. "Obviously. But I'm willing to take one. We saved Hugh, like you said. We can save her too. It was a mistake to leave that tunnel blocked up. I was turning away from my destiny!"

"Umm, okay," said Stabbie.

"The Aurors and Dumbledore are all too busy fighting the Death Eaters. The Sorting Hat is useless! It's up to us to rescue Sprout, Stabbie. And to finally stop Roger Fry before he hurts anyone else."

"I'm not goign to argue with you, kid," said Stabbie. "I don't want to you die horribly underneath the school or anything like that, but I do think you can handle yourself. And it's about time I did something worthwhile."

"If only we had a bomb or something, blow that tunnel wide open," I said.

"Yeah, Roger knows how to make magical bombs, pity we don't," said Stabbie.

"No," I said, suddenly getting an idea. "But I know some people who CAN make explosives. Come on, Stabbie. We're going to see Professor Firenze!"
 
Luckily Firenze didn't have a class that morning, so I found him outside galloping near Hagrid's shack. As I walked over Firenze stopped and waited, his back to me.

"Wotcher, Hugo," he said, without looking round.

"You knew I was coming," I said. I was not creeped out by this, like I would have been just a couple of months earlier.

"I've always knowing," he said. "You have seen much since we last met."

"Yes," I said. "And now I need your help. But I'm sure you know that..."

"The dark magic is clouding the stars," said Firenze, looking up at the sky, even though it was daytime and the stars weren't out. I wondered if maybe he could still see them with some centaur sense. "But it seems you want some kind of explosive?"

"There's a tunnel," I said. "It's blocked up. I think Sprout's down there. I can save her." He finally turned to face me now.

"Yes, I think you probably could," he said. "Unfortunately the stars can't tell me if you will succeed. But they are sure on one thing..." A long dramatic pause as he caught me in his deep dark centaur gaze.

"That Hermione and Harry Potter are totally doing it?" I asked. I didn't really want to know waht the stars were sure of.

"This is no time for jokes," said Firenze, sadly. "The stars tell me there will be deaths. At least three shall die for sure, Hugo. Possibly more. Possibly many more."

"And you don't know if I'm going to be one of those three, I take it," I said.

"If you go down into that tunnel the chances of you being one of them will greatly increase," said Firenze.

"Well, duh," I said. But I felt chills going down my spine. Maybe I really was going to die? I'd watched students torn apart by a War Troll. What made me any different? I could die just as they had.

"I can make a special exploding pumpking for you," said Firenze. "It will be able to burrown through the blockage and explode in the right place to create a passage for you. If you're suer that's what you want."

"I'm sure," I said. "I have to do this."

"There are many powerful wizards at Hogwarts, even some students, who could help you," he said.

"It has to be me," I said. "Look at the stars. What do they say"? He actually did look up at the clear sky for a moment.

"That it has to be you," said Firenze. My destiny, I thought. Sprout and I were entangled together. "The bomb will be ready for you tonight." So soon.

"Thank you," I said. He nodded. I started to walk away.

"You are a very brave young man," Firenze said. I didn't feel like it.

I decided I wasn't going to go to lessons. I asked Stabbie if he could show me some of his secret tunnels. I want to know what was going on.

"You're quite big, you know," said Stabbie. It was true, I was much larger than him and all the children in my year. "But there's one tunnel, under the floor...you can watch Gryffindor's common room, if you want. See what those fuckwits are up to. Ain't none of them as cool as you, though!"

"I'll do that," I said. I wanted to watch normal school life. I wanted to pretend I was a part of it.

I crawled a long way behind Stabbie. It was tight, but finally we came to a stop. He directed me to a hole in the floor. I looked up...and realised I was looking right up a girl's skirt.

"Stabbie," I whispered. He grinned.

"Happy birthday, merry Christmas and all the rest, kid!" he said. I stared in awe for minutes. How had Stabbie known the girl would be sitting right there? Finally I heard someone sitting next to her. I heard her speak.

"I'm studying, Ron!" she said. It was, of course, Hermione.

"You always sit here in the same place studying every day!" he said. "It's boring! Let's go cast stink spells at Draco!"

"NO, Ron!" she said. "Studying is more important than being neddlessly mean!"

"God you're square!" he said. What a dick he was. I'd hated Hermione after she got my name wrong...wanted to, anyway. In truth I never could hate her. She was lovely. I suddenly felt guilty and dirty looking up her skirt.

"Come on, Stabbie," I whispered. "I've seen enough."

"Going back to your bed for a wank?" he said. "I don't blame you!"

"Sure," I said, as we crawled out. I thought about Hermione as I did. Thought about how I'd probably never see her again. I thought about death...then I felt something. I heard something, in my mind.

"Hugo!" said a voice. A weak voice. Sprout's voice. "Please, save me! It's Roger, he's going to kill everyone! Only you are strong enough! You must come for me..." Then she was gone from my head. I would save her. Of course I'd save her! I wasn't going to die, that wasn't my destiny. I'd save Sprout and she'd teach me the forbidden spells. Then I'd be more powerful than anyone else in the school.

Oddly it was only then that I got an erection.
 
I didn't do much else for the rest of the day. I just lay in my bed, thinking. I tried not to imagine saving Sprout and her teaching me everything she knew. I didn't want to convince myself that it would be that easy. But I knew something was going to happen. I knew my life was about to change. No, not change: begin. Everything up until now had just been prelude. I had thought when the Sorting Hat gave me my mission that finally life had begun. That seemed like nothing now.

I only left the Common Room once, to get something to eat. I didn't much feel like it but Stabbie insisted. "Can't fight evil on an empty stomach, kid," he said. I saw Jimmy, Angelica and Mark on my way back. They were laughing and joking, without a care in the world, even Mark. Part of me envied them. Another part felt pity. They were so small, so weak, compared to how I would be soon...

I saw Hugh in the Common Room. I felt like saying "I'm going to kill your brother today!" to him. I wanted to hurt him. I'm not sure why. But I said nothing. He didn't even scowl at me when I walked past. He was in a world of his own.

Finally, when it was dark outside, Stabbie came to me. "The bomb's ready," he said. "Firenze is waiting outside." I nodded. This was it. I picked up my wand and felt for my father's pebble in my pocket. I didn't have much hope that he would ever speak to me again.

I was annoyed to find Hagrid waiting with Firenze by the tree. "Why'd you tell that spacktard!" I yelled at Firenze.

"Hagrid is much wiser than you give him credit for," said Firenze. "He helped me with the burrowing pumpkin bomb. You should be thanking him."

"Fuck him," I said. Stabbie rolled his eyes at me.

"Arr, I'm 'appy to 'elp!" said Hagrid. "But young master Hugo, you really should tell Professor Dumbledore! He can 'elp you, lad! He's away tonight, but tomorrw..."

"Shut up!" I said. "You know nothing of what I've been through. This is MY destiny. None of yours! You're lucky I'm even letting you come along, Stabbie!" I didn't mean it, of course. I hoped Stabbie didn't think I did.

"The darkness inside you is growing," observed Firenze. "You must be careful..."

"Back off, horsey," I said. "Tell anyone what I'm doing and I'll tell the Ministry Of Magic that you BOTH molested me!"

"Arr, why is everyone always threatening to say I molsted them!" siad Hagrid. "That incident with the fifth year girl was just a misunderstanding, and Dumbledore covered it up anyway! Such a pretty little thing..."

"Come on, Stabbie," I said. "You two," I said, looking at Hagrid and Firenze. "If I don't come back out of here...that means Roger Fry has won. You have to stop him. Blow the whole tunnel up with pumpkin bombs if you think he's coming out."

"We'll be ready," said Firenze. "The stars say I should wish you luck."

"Whatever," I said, taking the pumpking bomb from him. I crawled inside with Stabbie following. We reached the secret room and I set the bomb down by the blockage. After a few seconds, it began to move, magically. It appeared to drill right through the concrete. Stabbie and I stood back.

"This is it, kid," said Stabbie. "The last few months, hanging out with you...they've been the best of my life."

"Mine too," I said, meaning it. There was an explosion. The blockage was gone, like it had never been there. I crawled into the deeper tunnel, Stabbie behind me again. I could definitely feel a presence. And, worringly, just like the last time it felt like more than just Roger. We crawled on and on in darkness. And then, there was light. We came to the end of the tunnel and found ourselves in a large chamber, lit by torchlight.

There was a pit in the floor ahead of me. I felt myself being draw to it. Then I noticed two people on the other side. Sprout, chained to a chair. She looked hurt. And next to her, Roger Fry, his axe over his shoulder. He looked at me with his haunted eyes.

And then things started to come out of the pit.
 
if this were an unnamed television series on AMC this would be the season finale and wacky wouldn't write again until next november.

thank gods it's not, eh what?
 
Six figures came out of the pit. They looked to be about human sized, but as they slowly came into the light I could see that they definitely were not human. They looked almost lizardlike, but also somewhat like trolls. Yet there was more intelligence in their eyes than I had seen in any troll.

"Trollkins," whispered a shocked Stabbie. "I can't believe it."

"What are they," I said, backing away, my wand at the ready. "Young trolls?" All six were staring at me, moving slowly around the edge of the chamber. Trying to surround me.

"No," said Stabbie, shaking his head. He had his knife ready. "They're related to trolls...they were thought to be extinct. Some say they're a crossbreed, trolls mixed with...people."

"Fuck," I said.

"Want to make a run for it?" asked Stabbie. "We could still get out the...hey, where did the tunnel go?" I looked back to where Stabbie and I had entered the room. The entrance to the tunnel was nowhere to be seen.

"How does Roger Fry do it?" I asked. "I didn't see him cast any spell." The trollkins were just watching me and Stabbie now, but I hadn't taken my eyes off them. They could strike at any moment.

"I don't know," said Stabbie. "But if we could get Sprout free she could help us kick some arse!"

"PROFFESOR SPROUT!" I shouted over the pit. "WE'RE HERE TO RECUSE YOU!" But she did not look up. I wondered what Roger had done to her. Roger pointed at me with his axe.

"Oh shit," said Stabbie. The trollkins charged towards us now. I threw a stunning curse at one, knocking it back, but another almost grabbed a hold of me. I manged to side-step. I could see Stabbie rolling between a trollkin's legs, then stabbing upwards with is knife. Two were near me now. One sliced at me with its clawed hand. I ducked and managed to hit it with a stunning spell right in the chest. But another trollkin had grabbed me in a bear hug. It twisted me round, squeezing. I looked it right in the eys...then got sprayed in the face by its blood. Stabbie had climbed up on the trollkin's back and slit its throat! It dropped me roughly the floor. Stabbie stood over me, pointing his knife threateningly at the other two remaining trollkins.

"Thanks," I said, pulling myself to my feet.

"No problem, kid," he said. "These bastards aren't so tough! And there's only two left...uh oh."

"What?" I said, then looked at the pit. More trollkins were pulling themselves out. A lot more. Stabbie and I started to back away. There looked to be more than a dozen additional trollkins coming now. Maybe twenty.

"We should find that tunnel," said Stabbie. "Get help from Hagrid and Firenze, we can't do this alone!" I desperately looked for Sprout, but I could barely make her out now. She still hadn't moved.

"Maybe you're right," I said, reluctantly. We both turned round...and saw three more figures steppig out of the darkness. I almost hit them with a stunning spell before I worked out who they were.

Jimmy, Mark and Angelica!

"Where the fuck did you come from!"? asked Stabbie.

"The tunnel, same as you!" said Jimmy. "Hey, where did the entrance go...it was right there!"

"You followed me!" I said.

"Well, duh," said Mark.

"You idiot kids!" I said. "You're going to get killed!"

"Hugo!" said Angelica, her little face red with anger in the torchlight. "You're a kid too! And we're your friends! Deep down you know that! We knew you were trying to protect us before, but we want to help."

"The four houses of Hogwarts, united against evil," said Jimmy. The five of us had started moving into a back to back formation now, as the twenty or more trollkins surrounded us.

"Okay," I said. My anger at them had been replaced by a feeling of companionship. I wasn't totally alone in this after all. "Let's lick some trollkin arse!"

"Eww," said Mark, as the trollkins charged and the four of us began to fire every spell we knew at them...
 
It was chaos. The four of us were firing spells so fast and so recklessly that it was a wonder we didn't hit each other. I tried to look out for the others as much as possible. I saw a trollkin slashing at Jimmy and hit it in the face with the most powerful stunning spell I could cast. Jimmy nodded thanks. He was bleeding. What had these kids gotten themselves into for me?

Angelica, the smallest of us four students was doing better, ducking around trollkins and hitting spells from all angles. Mark seemed to be doing well too, until a trollkin kicked him in the back of the head out of nowhere. Stabbie quickly stabbed the trollking then jumped to another. Stabbie had been moving so fast that I had barely seen him since the fighting had begun.

I ran over to Mark. He was groggy but still conscious. I stood over him, firing spells at any trollkin I could see. Once charge right into me, knocking me down, then climbed on top of me. I realised I had dropped me wand as it did. I looked right into the trollkin's eyes. It looked more intelligent than the war troll. It looked almost human. It was grabbed me aruond the throat...and I kneed it in its trollkin testicles. I managed to pull myself out from under it as it moaned in pain. I grabbed my wand, stunned it, and joined the others.

Mark was back on his feet now, standing close to Angelica and Jimmy. Jimmy didn't seem to be bleeding as bad now, but I could see a nasty cut on his arm. We had taken out man of the trollkins now and the others seemed reluctant to come close.

"Where's Stabbie?" I asked. Then I saw a knife flying through the air and hitting a charging trollkin in the eye. "Oh," I said, as he retrieved his knife.

"They're giving up!" he said.

"We've done it!" said Jimmy.

"With school spirit!" said Angelica.

"My fucking head hurts," said Mark.

But then there was a noise from the pit. Something else was climbing out, something huge. A war troll, like the one that had attacking Hogwarts and killed several students.

"Shit," I said. "It took Harry, Ron and Hermione working together to beat the last one!"

"I'm not as good as Hermione," said Angelica, sadly. "She's so pretty."

"And I'm no Harry Potter, much as I'd like to be," said Jimmy.

"Yeah, okay, but we're all better than that ginger whinger Ron!" said Mark. Jimmy and Angelica thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Damn right," I said. The war troll was coming right for us. We only had a moment to decide which spell to cast. I whispered something and the other four nodded.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" all four of us said, pointing our wands at the tours. With the combined strength of our four levitation spells, we picked it up off the ground. We all walked forward, confidently, the war troll moving back through the air as we did. Then we all pointed our wands downwards and the troll fell right back into the pit.

"That should plug the hole!" said Angelica.

"Is that them all?" asked Stabbie.

"I think so," I said. I looked over the pit to see professor Sprout...and saw a wave of energy coming across. It was moving far too fast for me to avoid it, yet somehow it simply passed through me with seemingly no effect. I span round following its path and saw it hit Jimmy, Mark and Angelica...and knock them hard to the floor. Stabbie managed to dive out of the way, but he hit his head hard on a pillar. I didn't know if he was alive or dead.

I looked at the bodies of me three friends and couldn't tell if they were breathing or not. I remembered what Firenze had said. At least three would die.

I turned round to see where the energy blast had come from...and was almost floored myself by the shock of what I saw.

Standing on the other side of the pit, side by side with Roger Fry, and looking perfectly healthy, was Professor Sprout. Her wand was still in her hand having just cast the spell that had possibly killed my friends.

"Well, Hugo," she said, smiling wickedly. "I think it's about time to complete your education!"
 
I just stared for a while. Sprout and Roger were standing together. He was looking at her affectionately. She was staring at me. She looked smug, but powerful. Had she engineered this whole thing? But why? If she was the evil in Hufflepuff, what did she want with me?

"You're the evil!" was all I could say.

"Oh come now, Hugo," she said. She and Roger had walked halfway round the pit now, but weren't coming any closer. "With all you've seen since you started school here you know that things are a lot more complicated than mere good and evil!"

"You killed my friends!" I said, looking at Mark, Jimmy and Angelica, who still hadn't moved.

"I stunned them, with a special spell," Sprout said. "I wouldn't harm a child so needlessly!"

"And Stabbie?" I said, looking at my little friend. His head was twisted back. I was convinced he'd broken his neck.

"Accidents happen," said Sprout.

"YOU BITCH!" I shouted and charged at her. I was thrown back by an invisible forcefield.

"I didn't want things to happen this way," said Sprout, sounding annoyingly genuine.

"Everything that's happened is down to you!" I said. "All the attacks on the school! The War Troll ate students because of you!"

"No!" said Sprout, angrily. "That one wasn't me. That was Roger being silly. We had a bit of a falling out and he managed to call the War Troll out of the Pit Of Forever to attack me...things went wrong. But that was not me, Hugo! Please, you must let me explain..."

"But the bombings on Halloween, that was you," I said. "You could have killed the whole school."

"I knew you'd stop me," said Sprout, smiling. "I have always had such faith in you."

"You sicken me!" I said. But did she?

"Please, it's all Roger's fault that I'm having to explain this all at once to you," said Sprout. Roger looked down at his feet, shamed. "I planned to tell you over several months. To make you understand."

"You want Hufflepuff to look good and you're willing to kill students from other houses to do it," I said. "It's pretty easy to understand."

"There's so much more than that," said Sprout. "You can feel it, can't you? Coming from the Pit Of Forever. That's power, Hugo. Old power."

"It's evil," I said.

"Is it?" she asked. "I thought that at first. But perhaps that evil feeling comes from what you fear you would do with that power. Let me take you back to the very beginning, Hugo. I was like you once. Young, ambitious. I felt like I could become the most powerful wizard of all. A hero. Then I was sorted to Hufflepuff...and I resented it, much as you did. But I kept it quiet. I worked hard. I became top of my class, the top student in my year, not just in Hufflepuff but the whole school! And I came to love Hufflepuff, truly I did. Years later I became a teacher and the head of Hufflepuff House. I gained access to all the secret tunnels in Hogwarts. One day I fell down a hole. And I ended up here. I found something no one else in Hufflepuff knew about. This pit contains the essence of some very old creatures, Hugo. The trolls, the trollkins, they're just servants of what's under there."

"Something old and evil," I said. "No impressed. Might as well be Voldemort."

"There was evil...there was power before Voldemort!" said Sprout. "Voldemort's a little shit! Yes, I admire him in a way, he has harnessed magic in ways some cowards who fight on the side of 'good' never will. But he is nothing compared to what is in that pit. I was scared by it. I ran away. I feared the power because I didn't think I'd be able to control myself if I possessed it. It wasn't until years later that I returned! You see, there was a prophey. A rogue centaur told me it one night. She said a great hero would come to make Hufflepuff great. And I would mentor that hero to greatness! When Cedric Diggory came to the school I thought it would be him. Then he sadly died. But then there was Roger..."

"Him?" I scoffed, looking at the pathetic figure of Roger Fry. "He told Hugh a bunch of shit about having some evil girlfriend, what's that got to do with you?"

"Oh, I can answer that one," said Sprout. Then she grabbed Roger's bum and rammed her tongue down his throat.

"FUCK!" I said.
 
They had been kissing for really quite a long tme.

"Are you finished yet?" I asked, wanting to cast the killing curse on both of them.

"Oh yes, sorry," said Sprout, wiping her mouth. "Got carried away..."

"So let me see if I understand this now," I said. "You're just a pathetic Hufflepuffer with delusions of grandeur who stumbled across something bigger than herself, something she was awed by. It twisted and corrputed your mind until you started having sex with a student and pulled him into your dirty scheme. Together you had the brick monster attack, caused the great broomstick crash last year and blew up Ravenclaw's common room. Am I right so far?"

"You are intelligent," she said, not smiling now. "You really are. But you've got it so wrong. You understand only a little..."

"The bombing," I said. "On Halloween. You can't explain that away as trying to give Hufflepuff an advantage over the other houses. The first bomb, all the Hufflepuff students were safely away from it, but the second would have killed everyone!"

"Like I said, I know you'd stop me," she said. She sounded so sincere. "You see by that time I'd already fallen out with Roger. He wasn't the chosen one I'd been looking for. He was too weak, too slow-witted. He even told his little brother about me! So I used a spell to teleport him down here, chained him up and took his tongue from him so he couldn't cast any spells. For safety reasons, you see! Of course he somehow got out and managed to bring the War Troll forth from the Pit Of Forever...but that was later. When I saw you on that first day you were sorted to Hufflepuff I knew YOU were the chosen one! Not Roger! It had never been him! He sucks! But you, Hugo, you have so much potential, so much power. You can feel it, can't you?"

"All I can feel is my hatred for you."

"Yes, but you feel that hatred like you've never felt anything before, don't you? That hate has set you free. Let you access something you've always felt was there. You can now feel the power coursing through your body!"

It was true, but I wasn't going to tell her that. "You're saying you've done me a favour?" I scoffed.

"In time you will understand!" she said. "I had such faith in you that I set up that second bomb without a safety net. Everyone would have died if not for you...which is why I knew it wasn't even a possibility. Of course you'd stop that bomb! You're Hugo! The hero of Hufflepuff! Together you and I can forge an alliance with the darkness that lives in the Pit Of Forever, together we can bring peace to the wizarding world be overthrowing the corrupt Ministry Of Magic AND Voldemort! Finally, there will be order. Our order."

"I'll never join you!" I said. I was pointing my wand at her now. I wished I knew some spell to bring down her forcefield. "You probably just want to sleep with me!"

She looked me up and down. "Well, yes, obvious we'd sleep together," she said. "I've always liked young boys...nothing wrong with that! I molsted Harry Potter in his second year and he never told anyone BECAUSE HE ENJOYED IT! Well, that, and I drugged him..."

"You're sick!" I said. "As if I'd sleep with an old bag like you anyway!"

"Oh, you think I'd be in this form?" she said. "Do you think I slept with Roger in this aged body? Of course not! With Polyjuice Potion I can be anyone you desire! That's what I did for Roger. Found some hot girl, stole some of her hair, then took her form to make love to my special little man. That's why his brother didn't recognise me when I cast the teleportation spell right in front of him. That's right, I knew he was there...I liked the idea of him thinking his brother was dead. Turned me on like a second year in gym class...ahem. As I was saying, with Polyjuice I can be anyone for you. Even...HER!" Then she drank something and transformed before my eyes. Transformed into the form of Hermione Granger. "Am I not beautiful?" she asked, starting to strip.

"STOP!" I said. I felt more angry than ever now. I started casting stunning spells at the forcefield to break it. "You do NOT deserve to wear here skin, to look like her! She is pure and innocent, she is everything you are not!"

"She's only pure and innocent because she hasn't seen what I've seen, what you've seen! That there's dark power in the Pit Of Forever that no one can ever destroy, that will be here long after we have died! She'd be like me if she ever felt it!"

"She wouldn't!" I said. I could feel that power now, as if it was coming closer. I almost felt like I want to cast myself into the Pit. To kill myself to get away? Or to be closer to the power...

"We could make love right here, right on the very edge of the Pit," said Sprout, flicking her lovely Hermione hair.

"Never," I said. "You can blame Roger for ruining your plans all you want, but I never EVER would have joined you, no matter how you told me, no matter how you made it sound. You are a twist, sick old bat and I will KILL YOU before I let you harm anyone else in this school!"

"FINE," snarled Sprout. "If you don't want this gift...I'll give it to Roger. He's not as bad. At least he's loyal...when he's not betraying me. But he loves me, above all else. He always comes back to my side. And he'll kill you for me if I ask it of him. And I do ask it of him, NOW. DO IT, ROGER. KILL HUGO AND BE THE CHOSEN ONE AGAIN!" Then she cast a spell. I couldn't hear what she said, but I saw Roger open his mouth...and he had a tongue. She handed him a wand. Roger smiled, squeezed her bum, then charged right through the forcefield at me.

"SHE'S MINE!" he said.
 
I was surprised by the fury and itensity of Roger's attack. He'd seemed like such a pathetic figure to me, but now he had his voice back and he was fighting for something: to keep Sprout to himself.

He launched magical attack after attack at me from his wand, coming closer to me everytime. At first I could only deflect his attacks rather than cast any of my own. He kept coming at me. I dodged out of the way of one spell, but it hit a pillar behind me causing an explosion. Debris hit me and I almost dropped my wand. Roger was looming over me now, he practically had me at his mercy. But instead of finishing me off with magic, he kicked me right in the face.

"Haha, fuck you!" he said. He looked over at Sprout for approval. She showed no emotion on Hermione's face.

"You don't want to do this, Roger!" I said, trying to appeal to any humanity left inside of me. "You're not a bad person! You went to your brother and said what Sprout was doing was wrong! You tried to turn back to the good side!"

"Then she chained me up, tortured me, and made me see sense!" said Roger, madly. "When I got free I prayed to the Pit Of Forever for help. It sent the War Troll up. It killed people! BECAUSE OF ME! I can never go back..."

"But you still care about your brother!" I said.

"That's why I brought him down to my secret room, to protect him," said Roger. "BUT THEN YOU RUINED EVERYTHING BY TAKING HIM AWAY."

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said.

"I'm evil," said Roger, happily. "I have accepted it. I'll kill you and my dark mistress and I will rule the world!" He tried to kick me again. It was as if he'd forgotten for a moment that he could actually use magic. I rolled out of the way and cast Expelliarmus just as Roger brought his wand up to cast a spell. He dropped it on the ground and, when he reach for it, I kicked him right in the face the same way he'd kicked me.

I liked it. Saying his head jerk back in pain, blood coming from his nose. He deserved it. I wanted to hurt him. I hit him with Confundus. He stumbled around confused. He had his wand back in his hand, but didn't know where to aim it. I felt a rush of power. I cast stupefy, hurting him, but not knocking him down. He was strong. Good. I cast it again and agian. He reeled back, confused and stunned. He kept trying to aim his wand but couldn't. He fired a spell in completely the wrong direction.

"You're nothing," I said. "You're pathetic!" I could feel something now. Was it something from the Pit? Sprout? Or something inside myself. I look round at Sprout briefly. She was staring intently now. She nodded at me.

"She's mine!" said Roger. "The power!"

"You don't deserve power!" I said.

"Stupefy!" he mumbled.

"Ennervate," I said, casually, countering it. I was bored of him now. I realised that I wanted to kill him. What use was there in letting him live? He was a killer, just like he had said. He would have killed me if I hadn't bested him. But I couldn't bring myself to cast the killing curse.

So I cast the next best thing.

"CRUCIO!" I shouted. He writhed in agony at my feet. "CRUCIO, CRUCIO, CRUCIO!" I was felt like a man possed. I could feel an echo of his pain in my own body...and I liked it.

What had I become? I thought of what Roger said, that there was no way back for him after he sent the War Troll up to the school. It felt like there was no way back for me now. I'd just cast and unforgivable curse and it had felt like the most natural thing in the world.

I looked over at Sprout, still in the form of Hermione. She looked delighted. In that moment I realised she was the closest thing to the real Hermione I'd ever get. A dark, twisted version of Hermione for a dark twisted person like me. It was what I deserved. It was right.

"You feel it, don't you, boy," she said.

"Yes, mistress," I said. I had an erection like never before and I made no attempt to hide it. I could see Sproutmione looking at my crotch, pleased. Yes, she was sick and wrong in the head. But so was I.

"That darkness is inside us all," she said. "But only people like you and I are brave enough to tap into it. We can command the armies of darkness that reside in the pit. We can wipe out the corrupt, weak leaders of the magical world. Make a better world for you, for me, for everyone. Those who stand in our way? They'll end up where Roger is." I looked down at the pathetic figure of Roger Fry, shaking in terror at my feet.

"YES," I said. In that moment I was hers, uttery.

"The centaur spoke the truth," said Sproutmione. "You are the chosen one."

I smiled, proudly. This really was my destiny.

Suddenly, Roger lunged at me, with whatever strenght was left in him.

"CRUCIO" I said again, right in his face. I watched the agony return as my spell hit him full on. The pain tasted delicious in my mouth. I could hear a voice now, in my head, coming from the Pit Of Forever...

Join me, it said.

I spat on Roger.

"Good, Hugo, good!" said Sprout. "Kill him. Kill him NOW."
 
I knew I could do it. I could feel the hate - the power, the evil, whatever you want to call it - flowing through me. I knew I could say those two little words and kill Roger Fry. Avada Kedavra. I'd already cast one unforgibable curse. I was certainly capable of casting the worst of the three.

So why was I hesitating?

Asking that question is what saved me from commiting murder. I was so far gone at this pont. I was convinced that my destiny was to be with Sprout. And I knew for sure that I could cast the spell and I really want to do it. Yet something had stopped me. A little voice inside me had told me to at least think about it. Why? What was it?

I looked down at Roger. He was drooling from the mouth, twitching in pain, almost catatonic. I looked into his pitiful eyes and felt...sorry? Well, mostly I felt hatred. But a smell part of me felt sorry for him. How was that possible if I was evil?

Then the thought came to me: what if I was wrong? What if I wasn't evil like I thought I was? What if I still had a choice? What if it wasn't destiny to end up with Sprout? I'd regret killing Roger for the rest of my life.

The fact that I could still question myself, still debate the morality of taking another life, is what convinced me that I wasn't yet wholly evil. My wand hand wavered.

"DO IT," spat out Sprout. "Strike him down, boy! Give in to your hate! Only through it can you become the most powerful wizard to ever live!"

Please me, said the voice from the Pit of Forever.

"NO!" I said at last, aggressively thrusting my own wand into my pocket to stop myself. "I am a wizard, like my father before me. Like my mother. Like Professor Dumbledore. Like sweet Hermione Granger. Even like Harry Butthole Potter and Ron Fuckdamn Weasley. I will not take another man's life. I won't serve you! EITHER OF YOU! You've failed, Sprout. I'll never be yours!" I laughed right in her fucking face.

"So be it, wizard," said Sprout, darkly. A green bolt flashed from her wand without warning. I didn't have time to counter. All I could do was jump backwards. The bolt hit the ground in front of me, sending debris flying in my face and leaving a deep hole. I was knocked off my feet. Sprout was striding towards me now, still in Hermione's fit young body. I had no chance. She was standing over me, her wand point. I felt exhausted from the duel with Roger, from the emotional strain I'd been through. This was the end of me.

"You'll always be alone now!" I spat out at Sprout, insulting her was the only weapon I had left. Sprout's face was twisted and demented.

"You don't know what you've done, boy," she said. "Together we could have taken the school for the glory of Hufflepuff. Now? You've made me realise that I have failed. I've wasted years of my life trying to make Hufflepuff strong. All my little attacks on the other house were for nothing. Hufflepuff will NEVER be strong. It's like you said to me on your very first day. It's the retard house. And the retards of Hufflepuff shall DIE at my hand and at the hand of He Who I Serve, the darkness at the bottom of the Pit Of Forever. And it's because of you!"

She held her wand high above her head, ready to finish me...then a small figure jumped on her back.

"Stabbie?!" I said.

"GET OFF ME," said Sprout. "OWWW, FUCK, MY EAR!" Stabbie had bitten a huge chunk out of her ear!

"TASTE'S LIKE SHIT," he said, spitting it out. "Shoot her, kid!" I reached for my wand...but another figure had jumped out of the darkness, another house elf, attacking Stabbie, knocking him from Sprout's shoulder. Sprout smiled and aimed her wand.

"Stupefy!" I managed to say, stunning her. I wished that I'd had the courage and strength to cast somethign more powerful. Stabbie and the second house elf rolled on the floor fighting. It was Calla, Sprout's mangry house elf. Stabbie kicked her off, but she had a wand out and was aiming at him. She fired a green bolt at my friend. He barely got out of the way.

"I can't do magic," he said. "But I can fucking kinfe you!" He had his knife out. At the same time, Calla cast another spell. The green bolt and the knife both flew through the air.

Both hit their target. The knife hit Calla right in the heart. She died almost instantly. Stabbie too was hit in the chest and collapsed. He did not even twitch.

"No!" I said, running towards me friend, holding my wand in front of me.

"CRUCIO!" came Sprout's voice. She had recovered. Her spell knocked me off my feet and left me writhing in agony on the floor. And as I landed, my wand flew from my hand...and disappeared over the edge of the Pit of Forever. I was defenceless.
 
The thing about the Crucio curse is that it leaves no visible sign of the pain you feel on the inside. There are no scars, no bruises, no marks of any kind. But it was a pain worse than anything I hard ever felt before. It wasn't just the level of the pain, it was the fact that I had no escape. I couldn't zone out, couldn't even pass out. It was constant and it hurt every inch of me. I was completely at Sprouts mercy. She was standing over me now, looking down. I could see that Hermione's false face was starting to get fatter. She was changing back to her Sprout form. It was hideous to see.

"You really are a very silly boy," said Sprout, as if she'd just caught me spying on the girls changing again.

"JUST KILL ME," I spat out at her. I couldn't move from the pain. My wand was out of reach anyway. Stabbie was dead. Mark, Jimmy and Angelica were too, for all I knew, Sprout easily could have lied about merely stunning them. I wondered if the warning I had given Hagrid and Firenze would make a difference, if they would destroy the tunnel before Sprout came out. Somehow I doubted it. All hope was gone.

"I really did believe in you," said Sprout. "We would have sent a small army to attack the school. Then, you and I, Hufflepuff's head and greatest student, would show up to save the day. There only would have been a few deaths! We would have become heroes with little bloodshed! And then the world would be ours, with our secret ally in the pit helping us...but now? NOW? Do you know what's in that pit, Hugo, you CHILD? Dark powers have been drawn to it for thousands of years! Armies live in there! A MILLION TROLLKINS! A HUNDRED THOUSAND WAR TROLLS! THOUSANDS OF WEREWOLVES, VAMPIRES, GOBLINS, GIANT SPIDERS, EVIL DUCKS! And they will all walk the Earth under my command THANKS TO YOU!"

"If there's any good in you...you'll walk away from this pit. No one has to die!" I found myself saying. I might have given up hope for myself, but I didn't want the world going to Hell.

"Fuck the world," said Sprout, darkly. "A war is coming between Dumbledore's dullards and Voldemort's drones anyway. I'm just wiping out both sides before they all kill each other anyway."

"You're the worst teacher ever," I said. Sprout pointed her wand at me and I found myself levitating now. She held me in the air in front of me.

"Crucio," she said again and the agony doubled. "To call forth the kind of army I require I'll need to sacrifice someone to the power in the pit. You. Your life ending shall bring about armageddon!" Then she started slashing the air with her wand and I felt my flesh being slashed as if by a knife. And unlike Crucio, this was actaully physically happening to me. I could see a pool of blood on the ground before me. It had come from me. I was bleeding out. I was nearly blind from the pain caused by Crucio, but I could see Sprout getting smaller. I was moving through the air, I realised. I was now suspended directly above the Pit of Forever.

"Someone will stop you," I said. "You're still just a pathetic Huffster! The most pathetic of them all!" Then I felt pain in my throat. She was slitting it open. I couldn't move my hand to it. I could feel blood dripping out...then it stopped.

"On second thoughts," said Sprout, "I think I'll let you live...for now. I think I'll kill your three idiot friends first. I'll let you watch as they fall into the pit. You'll see all three die...before the army comes forth and kills you." Suddenly I was plummeting down into the pit, but then I was thrown roughly against the side. I found myself lying on a ledge, quite far down in the Pit of Forever. There was no way out, even if I wasn't too hurt to move.

I could feel the darkness, the evil, the power, whatever you want to call it, of the pit more intensely than ever. I could feel its history, that it had walked the Earth before men had, before the dinosaurs even. There was no way Sprout could ever make a deal with this pwoer, I knew then. It would kill her along with everyone else. That, at least, was some small comfort.

I lay in agony for what seemed like hours, but was really only minutes, perhaps even seconds. The pain from Crucio was still there, but without Sprout directly controlling it I finally felt like I could close my eyes. Like I could just go to sleep.

"No, Hugo," said a voice. "You still have work to do." It wasn't the voice from the pit, but it was familiar. Where had I heard it before?

Then I remembered the pebble in my pocket.

It was my father.
 
i kinda want to read this aloud audio-book style and upload it to soundcloud for everyone - would that be something folks would like?
 
i kinda want to read this aloud audio-book style and upload it to soundcloud for everyone - would that be something folks would like?

That would be awesome!
 
"HAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed, madly. "You finally talk to me, after all this time and it's just when I'm about to die!"

"You're only die if you give up," said my father's voice. How did I know it was really him? I just...knew. Like in a dream where you're in some unfamiliar situation but you know exactly what's going on?

Was this a dream?

"Let's just say this is real," I said, still laughing to myself. "I can't fucking move. Sprout's cut me open. I'm still bleeding, I could bleed to death soon if it doesn't stop. And then there's Crucio. I feel it in every atom of my body...dad." I laughed again.

"I am your father, Hugo," the voice said, seriously. Sadly. "I wish I could have been there for you your whole life, watched you grow up..."

"But you died," I said. "Hagrid told me it was Voldermort, but I checked the dates and he wasn't around when you died. So what was it? Did you kill mum then kill yourself?"

"I LOVED YOU MOTHER," he said. I felt a shudder. It almost dulled the pain from Crucio.

"Okay," I said. "Sorry."

"There's power in you, lad," he said. "Power you must tap to defeat Sprout and stop this madness."

"Sprout used that same speech on me," I said. "Turned out she wanted to shag me then conquer the Earth. I don't really want to tap that power if that's the result, dad."

"The power itself isn't evil, Hugo, only how you use it," he said. "I have much to explain. We don't have much time, I wish I could say more, but...I'm just a shadow of your father that he created for you and put in this pebble. I'm sorry I'm not more..."

"Just get on with it," I said, bitterly, gritting my teeth. Of course it wasn't my real father. He was long dead. This was just some magic bullshit.

"Do you know where spells come from?" he asked.

"From...magic?" I said. It was a strange question.

"The actual words you say to cast the spells. Why do they work?"

"I guess some ancient wizards created the spells with those words," I said. "Years ago."

"Yes, Hugo," he said. "MANY years ago. That's the part I always wondered about. Why were all the spells we used in Hogwarts so old? Why had they stopped creating NEW spells and when? And was it possible to create a new spell from nothing?"

"And...did you?" I asked, interested. "Create new spells?"

"It took a long time," he said. "A lot of work. Your mother almost left me...this was after we'd graduated from Hogwarts. I'd been working on it during my final years and then beyond. I kept trying to come up with words that would cause some magic reaction in my wand. Sometimes things happened...but never quite what I wanted. That is, until my breakthrough. Until I realised the truth."

"Yes?" I prompted.

"The magic comes from within!" he said, as if this was the most profound statement possible. "The actual words are just a small part of it! They don't cause the magic, you do! When you're casting a spell it's not about the words, it's about how you feel on the inside! You must have felt it, Hugo. When you're casting a spell, you can TASTE them in you."

"Yes," I said. "That does sound like something I've experienced, actually..."

"The magic comes from us," he said. "The words, the wands, they are just a conduit. You don't even need them! Non-verbal spells are possible, spells without wands are even possible! You just need to know how to do it."

"But that troll," I said. "When I saved Hermione, I said words...words that came to me from you."

"The words themselves were nonsense," the pebble said. "I just helped you access the magic inside you. You used the words, the wand, to thrust the spell outwards! The words are just there to help you remember how it felt."

"If anyone can do this, why aren't more people doing it?" I asked.

"Not anyone can," said my father. "Your mother couldn't. She tried to create new spells, but nothing came. It's a trait passed down from my father to me and now to you."

"So I can make any new spell I want?" I said. "I just have to...feel it?"

"Essentially."

"That's...power," I said.

"Yes, which is why the Death-Eaters were so interested in me," said my father, sadly. "I took out as many as I could, but they had me at last...said they would torture me until I served them. I couldn't let that happen. I cast a sucide spell of my own invention."

"But mother!" I said.

"Was already dead," he said. "Killed by Death-Eaters before my eyes. And it was my fault."

"So, what, are you telling me I shouldn't use this power? That it's too dangerous?"

"You should speak to Dumbledore. I told him about my ability, left the pebble with him in case anything happened to me. He wanted to help me, but I was so arrogant! But right now, in this situation...you need to heal yourself. You need to get out of this pit and stop Sprout. Because there isn't much time."

"I can't!" I said. "Even if I could feel it...it took you years to learn how to do it. I'm not going to learn in minutes...and certainly not without my wand!"

"That's true," he said. "But you see, you have your wand."

"I do not, it feel down..."

"Just look down," he said. "Right next to your head." And I managed, through the agony still coursing through my body, to look over the edge of the ledge. There, not a foot from me, was my wand, on a smaller ledge just below.

"That's amazing that it landed there," I said, in wonder. "What are the odds?"

"Fate is on your side," my father said. "Enough to keep your wand close to you. But the next part...fate can't help you there. It's all up to you now, Hugo."
 
I reached down, which caused some not inconsiderable pain, and got a hold of my wand. Just holding it helped me feel the magic inside me.

"So what do I say now?" I asked. But there was no reply from my father. I felt the pebble in the my pocket. It was just that now, a pebble in my pocket. "Okay..." I said. I needed to heal myself. I concentrated really hard on that.

"HEAL!" I said, pointing my wand at myself. Nothing happened. I concentrated some more. I imagined everything that needed to happen: my cuts healed, the bleeding stopped, the pain from Crucio gone. I imagined it as if it was had really happened and I was sitting up, perfectly fine again.

"Healius...me...ius," I whispered. Then I blacked out just as I felt the magic surging through my body. The next thing I knew, my cuts had healed, the bleeding had stopps and the pain from Crucio was gone. I sat up, perfectly fine again.

Now I needed to get out of the pit. I certainly couldn't climb. The only option I could think of was to fly. But without a broomstick? I thought about it. I tried to imagine how it would feel. I imagined it as if I was sitting on an invisible broomstick.

I don't remember the exact words I said, but as soon as I said them I was in the air. It literally felt like I was riding on an invisible broomstick. It was so surprising that I lost control and found myself plummeting into the pit. I could feel the darkness like never before now. I could see images in my mind of the dark power below walking the Earth, millions of years before humans had come. It ruled the entire world once, until the very first wizards trapped it in the Pit Of Forever. But with its connectio to Sprout on the surface, finally it had a means to escape. For a moment I felt like just letting myself fall into the pit, for surely it was futile to attempt to fight such an ancient evil?

Futile or not, I knew I had to try to stop it. I gained control of my invisible broomstick. I flew up and right out of the pit. I landed roughly in darkness.

Most of the lights from before were out now. Only one remained, on the other side of the pit. I could see two figures standing there: Sprout and Roger Fry. She was completely back to herself now, no trace of Hermione's body remained. They hadn't seen me yet. They were looking down at three bodies on the floor: Jimmy, Mark and Angelica. For a dreaful moment I thought Sprout had already killed them. Then I heard her talk.

"Well, I've fully healed you now, Roger," she said. "I don't need to tell you again what a great disappointment you've been. But there is one more thing you can do for me. Kill these three brats! It won't mean as much coming from me, I've already sent sacrifices to my dark master. But you...you were once good. Pure, almost. He likes it when good things are corrupted. DO IT. And I may share your bed once more."

"They're just children," said Roger. "I mean, Hugo, he was trying to take you from me. But these three...I can't!"

"You've killed children before," said Sprout, cruelly. "Your War Troll..."

"I didn't mean it, I didn't mean for any of this to happen!" said Roger.

"Don't think of trying to defy me again," said Sprout. "Remember what happened before. KILL THEM, NOW."

Roger took his wand out...then pointed it at Sprout. "Don't try it," said Sprout. "You know how easily I would crush you. There is no choice for you, kill them!"

Then Roger suddenly pointed the wand at his own head and said "Avada Kedavra!" He dropped dead on the floor before I or Sprout could even move.

"Foolish child," said Sprout, sighing. "He was getting too old for me anyway. I can have any lover I want once I rule the world! I'll just kill these three myself and Roger can join them in the Pit..."

"No," said a small voice. "I won't let you!" It was Stabbie! Still alive, once again, crawling on his belly.

"I should have known," said Sprout, grabbing a hold of him around the throat. "Calla never did have the power to cast the killing curse."

"And I shagged her at the Christmas party that one time," said Stabbie. Then he spat on Sprout's face.

"Silly little rodent," said Sprout. "You shall die first..."

"NO," I said, finally stepping out of the shadows. Sprout's jaw dropped in shock. "Not my Stabbie, bitch."
 
"But...but how!" said Stabbie, dropping Stabbie hard on the floor and giving him no further thought.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Surprised to see me? Didn't you say all along that I was the Chosen One?"

"There's no way you could have healed yourself and got out of the pit, there are no spells you know that could free you!" said Sprout.

"I make my own spells, ho," I said.

"I don't believe it!" she pointed her wand at me in fear. I didn't even flinch. She had no power of me now. I was more powerful than her.

"I thought you knew forbidden spells," I smirked. "Thought you could teach me a thing or two!"

"I...yes, yes!" said Sprout, desperately. "I can help you control your new powers! Without my help, you'll end up destroying yourself! I can teach you...and together we can rule the world!"

"Fuck off, fatty," I said. I slowly reached for my wand. The anticipation of feeling it in my hand was almost too much. The power was surging through me like never before. For a moment I wondered if maybe Sprout was right, if I'd end up blowing myself up with some new spell go awry. But as I touched my wand, I knew I didn't care. I was a living God now...

"Avada Kedavra!" said Sprout, out of nowhere, staggering backwards as she cast it. I simply waved my wand through the air and her killing curse disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Is that all you've got?" I asked.

"You're going to kill me!" she said, then laughed like the madwoman she was. "HAHAHA! You'll kill me and take MY place as the Dark One's chief servant! Brilliant! When I die, I'll die with the satisfaction of knowing that you will bring about the end of the world!"

"I'm not serving that pathetic creature in the Pit Of Forever," I said. I felt a chill down my spine as I said it. The dark entity trapped there was not happy with me. "If anything, it should be serving me! Don't you get it? I'm done taking orders, following the rules! I'm making my own kind of magic now!"

"No, you're the one who doesn't get it!" spat out Sprout, in one final cruel act of defiance. "It's already over!" Then she kicked Roger Fry's dead body. It was a surprise, of all the things she could have done this was not one I expected. Then I realised, too late, what had happened. Roger was lying right at the end of the Pit. When Sprout kicking him his body rolled over the side and fell.

"No," I said, running to the edge. I had to use some spell to catch Roger's body before it fell, before the Dark One received the sacrificial offering Sprout had just given it and sent its army out.

"TRIPLIUS STUPEFY!" said Sprout. I deflected the first stupefy, but was hit by a second and then a third, knocking me flying in the opposite direciton I wanted to go. "I do know some spells after all," said Sprout. She cast another. I held up my wand to block, but I was too late: the spell knocked the wand from my hand.

"I don't need a wand to kill you!" I said. I concentrated hard. I could feel the magic inside me, but without my wand I couldn't quite channel it. I tried to make it all come out at once...and the room started to shake.

"DIE, DIE, DIE!" said Sprout, sending spells after spell at me, but she was losing her footing as the ground shook. I rolled out of the way of her spells and each exploded just inches from me. I had a clear look at my wand. If I could just get it...I reached out with my hand.

"TO ME!" I said. Suddenly, my wand jumped off the floor and flew right into my hand. I was Luke Fucking Skywalker!

Sprout was standing right above me, looking more crazed than ever. She swung her wand down...just as mine reached my hand. I quickly cast Expelliarmus, disarming her.

"No," she said. "Please!"

"Fuck you," I said.

"You won't cast the killing curse, yout don't have the balls!" she said.

"No," I said. "I have something else in mind." The words just came to me.

"EXPLODIOUS, FATASSIUS!" I said. Power rippled through my entire body. I could barely hold onto my wand as an energy beam shot out. It hit Sprout right in the chest.

I was showered in meat, guts and blood.
 
Rowling really dropped the ball when she left out Hugo, the ass kicking hufflepuff.
 
I sat on the ground for a while. I felt unable to move. I had just killed Professor Sprout. I had blown her the fuck up. And I loved it. I was scared of what I was becoming, yes. But mostly I just wanted to do it again.

"Kid..." said Stabbie, staring at me. I had actually completely forgotten about him. I casually though of blowing him up to. I felt connected to everything now, connected through magic. I could feel every atom, including those in Stabbie's body. All I had to do was...but he was my friend.

"She's dead,"I laughed. "I did it. I'm a hero! A HERO, HAHAHAHA!" I felt the ground shake.

"You've gone too far, kid," said Stabbie. "You have to stop. Your magic is out of control. This whole place is about to collapse. You could bring down the whole school!"

"Maybe that's the only way to stop the dark army getting out," I said, glancing over at the Pit of Forever. "Destroy Hogwarts to save the world! That's my destiny!"

Stabbie slapped me hard in the face. "STOP BEING SO FUCKING CRAZY!" he screamed. He was shaking, but I wasn't sure if it was with rage or fear.

"Okay," I said, after a long moment. "I'll try..."

"We need to get Jimmy, Angelica and Mark out of here," said Stabbie. I'd completely forgotten about them too. They were still lying in a row, sleeping peacefully, where Sprout had position them.

"I'll wake them up," I said. I concnetrated on the three of them. "Awakius!" I whispered.

All three sat up pretty quickly, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"What happened?" asked Jimmy.

"We'd just been whopping some arse and then..." said Mark.

"Sprout!" finished Angelica.

"That's right, she's evil," I said. "Don't worry, I blew her up. I think that's a piece of her brain in your hair, sorry Angelica."

"Eww!" said Angelica, brushing some Sprout matter out of her hair.

"Hugo, what the heck!" said Jimmy. "You can't go blowing people up!"

"Apparently I can," I said.

"And I thought I was supposed to be the evil one," said Mark.

"Look, we can debate who's evil later, we need to get the fuck out of here before the whole place comes down," said Stabbie. A noise came from the Pit. Trollkins were starting to claw their way out. A lot of them. "Or before we're brutally murdered," Stabbie added.

"I can take care of them," I said. I waved my wand, almost bored, and an energy wave shot out. It passed right through my friends but turned the first wave of trollkins to dust. "They're nothing."

All five of us were knocked off our feet by the ground shaking. Parts of the roof started to fall on us. The others were panicking, but I felt nothing. I was so beyond them now.

"What do we do?" asked Jimmy.

"RUN LIKE FUCK!" shouted Stabbie.
 
Jimmy, Angelica, Mark and Stabbie ran. I floated. Well, not literally. I think my feet were still on the ground. But I didn't feel like I was in the same situation as them. I was connected now, to everything. I could feel it all. Every atom calling out to me. There was so much I could do...

Jimmy tackeld me and I hit the ground just as a pile of rubble landed where I had been standing. Even with my new healing spell I doubt I could have survived.

"Okay," I said. "I get it. We have to go." I ran after the others now, up the tunnel which was opened again with Sprout dead and her magic broken, and into Roger's secret room. I glanced at a moving photo of Roger and Hugh together. He looked so normal on it. I remembered the pathetic figure he had become, cowering at my feet as I tortured him. I understood now why he had taken his own life. I wondered if I could bring him back, give him a second chance. Was I that powerful?

"Get up there, kids," said Stabbie, as the other three climbed up into the tunnel leading back outside. "Come on, I can hear bad guys coming," he said to me.

"There's a few," I said. Some more trollkins had clawed their way out. Their bigger cousins would be coming soon. "I could turn them to dust with but a thought." Even as I said it I felt the whole school shake.

"You can't control your powers yet!" said Stabbie. "Don't even think it!"

"Fine," I said. "But when this is over...I will be great."

We climbed out and crawled along the tunnel. Finally we saw moonlight. Jimmy and Angelica were huddled up together. Mark was explaiing what had happened to Firenze and Hagrid. I noticed Hagrid had a huge pumpkin under his arm.

"Is that the bomb?" I asked. Hagrid looked startled to see me.

"Hugo, lad, you look...different," he said. He was scared of me. He was right to be.

"The main chamber is coming down by itself," said Stabbie. "But the tunnel is still there. We need to plant that pumpkin bomb in Hugh's secret room and seal that hellhole up once and for all."

"Okay, my bomb obeys magic commands," said Hagrid. "I'll just go inside and..."

"You think you can fit in that tunnel, you fat bastard?" I asked.

"Careful, Hugo," said Firenze.

"Oh shut up, freak," I said. "You can't fit in that tunnel either. I'll take the bomb, I'll make sure it goes off in the right place. I'll save the fucking day again."

"God you're a dick," said Mark, stepping towards me. I waved my hand, throwing Mark, Hagrid, Firenze and Stabbie several feet backwards.

"Don't try to stop me," I said. I took the bomb and crawled in.

"What's happened to him?" asked Angelica, crying. Jimmy just stroked her hair.

I crawled down the tunnel quickly. I was focused. This was nothing. I easily made the pumpkin bomb move with my mind. I could sense where it was going. I probed the bomb and could feel how big its explosion would be. It would be enough. I streed it to its destination. For a while I was the pumpkin bomb, so connected to it I had become. I wasn't aware of my surroundings anymore, just the task in hand, blowing up that tunnel. I set the bomb off. It was amazing. It felt better than any wank I'd ever had. I laughed as I felt the destruction begin.

I was enjoying it so much that I didn't even notice the trollkin sneak up and grab me around the neck...
 
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