Quidditch practice took a lot of Megan's after class time, but she was still able to keep good marks. She barely noticed that it was already Halloween until Ron reminded her that morning.

"Oh, yeah, and they decorate the Great Hall, and there's a Halloween feast and everything." he was saying.

Megan was happy to have that to look forward too. She thought back at all the Halloweens she had had at the Dursley's. They had mainly consisted in Nathalie bringing home heaps of candy and thrusting them under her nose. The day was as normal as it could be at Hogwarts, except for Peeves the Poltergeist who was always trying to think of new ways to scare people. However, things went a little awry after Charms. They had been working on Levitation, and had to make a feather rise from their desk. Megan had succeeded with more ease than she had thought, and Harry had managed, even though he had not been able to lift it quite as high. Ron's feather, however, refused to lift.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione was telling him.

"I'm not! Look, it's Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Yes, but you're not stressing the right syllable. It's Wingardium Leviosa."

Ron didn't seem happy at being corrected.

"Go on, you do it, then, if you're so clever."

She flicked her wand at her feather and said in a clear voice:

"Wingardium Leviosa."

Her feather rose higher than Megan's, and hers had been the highest yet.

Hermione had something to ask Professor Flitwick after Charms, so Megan, Harry and Ron headed out ahead of her. But Ron was still angry at her for what he saw as showing off.

"It's Levi-o-sa, not leviosaa, she says," he was complaining as they headed to Herbology. "She's so full of herself!"

Someone knocked his shoulder. He was about to say something, but Megan nudged him hard in the ribs.

"I think she heard you." She said. "Ron, that was rather unfair to say. She was trying to help."

"Well, maybe but... she was awfully bossy about it," he said, uncomfortably.

They didn't see Hermione in Herbology, a few minutes later. Nor was she in Transfiguration afterwards.

Megan had another Quidditch practice, but it was raining outside.

"Oh, I wouldn't like training in this weather,..." Harry said.

"Wood's orders," Fred said. "C'mon, George. Megan?

"Right behind you." Megan said.

They tended to leave at different times so the others, in particular the Slytherins, wouldn't see them together and get suspicious.

It was very wet. Megan was drenched in minutes, and the rain was heavy so they charmed a golf ball, instead of risking the snitch.

"Wood, we can't train in this!" George complained.

A large rumble of thunder answered before Wood could.

"Yes, we can." He said, ignoring it. "Because if it turns out this bad on our first match, we'll have the advantage."

"But Wood, we'll never be able to play if we're all sick with pneumonia," Chaser Katie Bell said.

"That's nothing Madam Pomfrey can't handle," he said.

So they continued. Megan was speeding around, looking for the ball. Then, she saw it. Speeding forwards, she suddenly swerved upwards.

"Sorry, Fred!" she said, seeing her team mate at last.

He had been hidden by the rain and she had almost hit him.

"That's okay. Great reflexes." he said, zooming ahead.

A little later, Wood finally realised the weather was just too bad and they were allowed to get back inside. The feast was about to start anyway.

At the feast, Hermione was still nowhere to be seen. Megan, getting worried, turned to Neville.

"Neville, have you seen Hermione?"

He looked a little worried too.

"Parvati said she locked herself in the girls' bathroom on the second floor. She told me she'd been there all afternoon."

She turned to Ron.

"What?"

"You hurt her feelings," she said. "When she comes back, I suggest you apologise."

"All right, all right."

Just then, as they were talking about heading there with some food for her, the main door flew open and professor Quirrell came running in, white faced and wide-eyed.

"TROLL!!!"

There was a hush as he darted up the room, to the staff table.

"Troll in the dungeons! Troll in the dungeons!"

He panted for a second, gasped:

"Thought you ought to know..."

And fainted. There was uproar. Everyone looked around trying to push through to the door. Megan grabbed hold of Ginny's hand and held it tight. But Dumbledore's voiced boomed and silenced them.

"SILENCE!"

When everyone had calmed down, he said in a calm voice:

"Prefects, take the students back to your house common rooms. Teachers, will you please accompany me to the dungeons."

Percy called out for order and took the lead. Megan and the others stayed behind, making sure some others weren't left behind. Then, they hurried after the others. Suddenly, one foot on the steps, Megan stopped dead, wide-eyed.

"Oh, no!"

"What?"

"Hermione! She has no idea about the troll!"

Ron bit his lip.

"We better not be seen by Percy or he'll have our throats."

They doubled over and hurried back the other way after the Hufflepuffs, before taking a right to the girls' toilet. The door was closed and Megan was about to open it when a low groan reached their ears. Pulling the boys back into a corner, they hid and waited.

"Is that... the troll?" she asked, trying to keep her heart rate steady.

Before they could answer a huge lump of grey and brown appeared, a large wooden club sliding along the floor. It had a tiny head, and a huge body which gave it an overall grotesque appearance. And the smell was horrible. It was like a mixture of rotten eggs, bin bags and mouldy socks.

"Yep... that's the troll all right..." Ron whispered.

And what was worse, was that it was headed for the girl's bathroom.

"Oh, no, Hermione!"

It opened the door and lowered its tiny head to get its huge body through the frame. And seconds later there was a loud scream and crashing noises.

"Hermione!"

Without hesitation, Megan darted forwards and hurried into the bathroom behind the troll.

"Megan, wait!"

Harry and Ron followed. Hermione was cowering in a corner, eyes wide with fright. Megan was trying to distract it by throwing whatever she could find at it, her wand in her hand.

"Hermione, get out of the way!" Harry called.

But she seemed unable to answer.

"Hey, Peabrain!"

Ron aimed a piece of ceramic sink at it and it hit squarely, sounding very hollow.

"Blimey, he really has a pea brain."

But it had now turned on Ron, who wasn't so confident now. Megan, however, seized the opportunity to reach Hermione, Harry right behind her.

"You okay?"

She was just able to nod.

"Harry, you stay with her. I'll try and hit it hard enough to knock it out."

"What?!"

She didn't answer and got to her feet. She then took one big jump and managed to lock her arms around his neck, but she had had to let go of her wand to do so, and it had lodged itself in the troll's nose.

"Megan, what are you doing!"

Before she could say anything, though, the troll almost threw her off and she had to throw all her energy into hanging on.

"Use its club!" she managed to call.

"But..."

Harry was behind it and the troll was too close to them.

"RON!" Megan called.

"What can I do?"

"Anything! Hurry! I can't occupy him much longer!"

Ron pulled out his own wand and shouted:

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The huge club was lifted clean out of the troll's hand, who looked up at it confused. Then, Megan let go of him and landed hard on the floor. The club hit the troll hard on the head and it swayed a little. Megan only had time to roll out of the way before it fell to the floor with a loud thud. There was a stunned silence. They looked at each other, panting, wide-eyed. Then, Megan got to her feet.

"You okay, Hermione?"

"Ye...Yes..."

Then, they turned to the troll.

"Is it dead...?"

"No, I don't think so. Just out cold. Great Hovering Charm, Ron." Harry said.

Megan retrieved her wand from the troll's nostrils, and winced. It was covered in bogies.

"Ugh, troll bogies", Harry said.

She wiped it off the troll's already filthy trousers and was about to say something when they heard hurried footsteps and Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell appeared. They took one look at the troll and all looked at the four students aghast.

"Did you... How... Explain yourselves!"

Megan was about to, along with Harry, when Hermione said:

"They were looking for me..."

"You? What in the world were you doing out here?" McGonagall asked.

"Well... I read all about trolls... I though I could handle one... but if they hadn't found me... I'd probably be dead."

They all looked at her. Hermione Granger was lying!? She was lying to a teacher?!

"You seriously expected, being a first year, to be able to tackle a fully grown troll?! That was very foolish of you, Miss Granger. Five points for Gryffindor."

Then she turned to the other three.

"Do the three of you realise that no first years could stop a beast this size and live to tell the tale? I guess you have a lucky star, don't you, miss Potter. Five points to each of you. Now, if you're not hurt, you should hurry off to your common room."

They were relieved to not get into any further trouble so they hurried off.

"How did a troll get in?" Megan asked later as they went up the steps.

"I dunno, they're really stupid, generally. Maybe Peeves let him in for a joke, he's been playing stupid pranks on everyone who crossed him."

"Maybe... but I don't think he's that crazy."

"But then, who and why..." Megan asked thoughtfully.

She thought at all the strange things that had happened.

"I think it was more than a prank." she said calmly.

The others exchanged confused looks.

"Come off it," Ron said. "You don't think someone let the troll in on purpose, everyone knows they're dangerous!"

"They're also the perfect diversion. It's obvious the teachers were expected to go all together to the place where the troll was supposed to be."

"Diversion? Whatever for?" Hermione asked.

She looked around to see if anyone was listening. Then, she dropped her voice.

"When Hagrid took me to Diagon alley, he took something out of the vaults, very secret. He couldn't tell me what it was. But that was the exact same day the robbery took place!"

"You think it's connected?"

"Well, it's too big to be a coincidence for my taste." Megan said. "I mean, how often has Gringotts been robbed?"

"But who could have done it?"

"I'm not sure..."

They were so absorbed in their conversation, they didn't realise where they were until Hermione said:

"Oh, no, we have to go now or we'll be in trouble!"

Looking up, they stopped, anxious. They had ended up in the third floor corridor.

"We can't stay here, if Filch catches us or any other teacher... after the troll, we'll never slip out of it!"

"Are you joking? I want to see what's so scary in there!"

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm.

"Are you out of your mind? Professor Dumbledore expressively warned us we should never go in there!"

"And miss the chance to see why? No way. Come on, live a little!"

He freed himself from her and headed to the door.

"Ron, we've pushed our luck enough tonight..." Harry began, but it was too late.

He had opened the door and slipped inside, leaving it open. The others didn't want to leave him all alone and followed.

There was just a small torch lighting the corridor they entered, but they could see it was long and narrow. They had made just a few steps inside, with Ron looking around.

"Don't know what the fuss was about, there's nothing in here."

Just then, a shadow caught Megan's eye and she wheeled around.

"Oh no..."

It was Mrs Norris. She was Filch's cat and whenever you were caught by her breaking the rules, Filch was never far behind.

"If she gets Filch," Harry whispered, "we're finished."

"Run!" Megan called.

They bolted down the corridor. But suddenly they hit a dead end.

"Locked! We're finished!" Ron wailed.

"Move," Megan said, pulling out her wand. "Alohomora!"

The door unlocked and they slipped inside as fast as they could; just in time, too, for Megan, with her acute ears, heard Filch's voice.

"Anyone here, my sweet? We'll rat them out if there are, you see if we don't."

But finally he was gone. They heaved a sigh of relief.

"That's lucky. But why would someone condemn a corridor with nothing in it?" Ron asked.

'That's why..." Megan said suddenly, backing against the wall.

They looked in the direction she pointed in, and their eyes widened. In front of them, looking as puzzled as they looked terrified, was a huge dark brown three headed dog. Its large black eyes looked at them, unsure what to make of it. But it soon recognised them as intruders, because it started growling and sniffing at them suspiciously.

"RUN!" Megan yelled.

She yanked the door open, pushed Harry, Hermione and Ron out, darted behind them, slammed the door shut in the dog's face and shouted:

"Colloportus!"

Then, they hurried back up the corridor and into the main staircase. The knew they were supposed to be in their common room, but at least now, they could always say they were lost.

"This is completely crazy! Locking a beast like that in a school! What in the world are they thinking?!"

"Didn't you notice what it was standing on?"

"The trapdoor?" Megan asked.

"Yes! The trapdoor. It's guarding something."

"Well excuse me for being more occupied by its three heads than it's feet," Ron said.

The following day, everyone was talking about the troll incident. People soon moved off that, however, as the first Quidditch match of the season was due that Saturday. The day was particularly long, because they had double of everything. The only good moment, was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Cedric and three other Hufflepuffs, who had been asked to tutor some of the younger students, were on the same table as they were.

"So, how are you acclimating?" he asked, with a smile.

"Oh, it's all right," Megan said as they worked on Puffapods, large marshmallow like mushrooms. "I mean, it's like all schools, there are good parts and not so good parts."

They both reached out to put some seeds in the earth, when their hands touched.

"Oh, sorry," she said, pulling back.

"No, it's okay."

They looked at each other, embarrassed.

A little later, Neville developed an allergic reaction when a puffapod accidentally burst near him. He sneezed and red boils appeared on his face.

"Oh, lord... Someone take him to Madam Pomfrey, please."

So Megan volunteered, and, an arm around Neville's shoulders, led him out.

"You're really not very lucky with classes are you?" she said sympathetically.

"I'm a -Aaatchoo!- walking disaster..." He said miserably.

"No you're not, it's just that you're insecure. You should have seen me when I arrived. I grew up with Muggles, I thought I'd be hopeless, and I made it through! You'll manage, I'm sure."

She soon left him in the capable hands of Madam Ponfrey and was heading back to class when she heard something that made her stop.

'Blasted thing... almost ripped my leg off..."

Peering through the crack in the door, she saw Filch bandaging Snape's leg.

She backed away quickly before he saw her and hurried back to class.

And finally, the first match came up. Megan was both really excited and terribly nervous. She had discovered the thrill and joy of playing Quidditch, and couldn't wait for a real match but she didn't want to make the team loose... was she really good enough? She had never actually faced another seeker yet. They all said she would be fine, but she wouldn't be sure until she had tried. The morning of the match, she could hardly touch her plate.

"Megan, c'mon, you need to eat. Have a bit of toast, at least!"

"Ron's right, you'll need your strength for today."

Megan was so nervous she was amazed she'd been able to sleep.

"I'm not hungry..."

"You've got to have something, or you won't last," Harry warned her. "Quidditch is very strenuous."

She'd felt that from her practices. But so much was buzzing in her mind...

"Good luck today, Potter."

She looked up at Professor Snape. He had a tiny forced smile.

"Thank you, sir..." she said, hesitantly.

"After defeating a troll, a simple game of Quidditch should show no difficulty." he said, before walking off.

Megan instantly noticed he wasn't walking but limping. She immediately connected that and his words to her with what had happened the day before during Herbology.

"What if..." she whispered to herself.

"What?" Harry asked.

"He's limping. And with all the commotion he could easily have gotten out of sight to find what Hagrid hid in the castle."

"Why would the two be related?" Ron asked.

Megan hadn't had time to tell them about her adventure in the castle during Herbology. She told them and they all agreed it was suspicious. Well, almost.

"Snape is a teacher, he's not going to do something like this, even if he isn't very nice..."

"Hermione, teacher doesn't mean honest," Ron said exasperatedly. "I agree, he's fishy all right. How are we going to bust him out, though?"

"Well, first, Megan needs to strengthen up for the match," Harry said. "Come on, you're going to do fine."

Megan wished she could be so confident. She managed to swallow a little pumpkin juice and toast. And finally, it was time.

Wood commented approvingly on the weather as they went to the changing rooms. Megan had been given a set of fabulous scarlet and gold robes with a proud number fifteen on it. On the front, right where her heart was, stood a roaring lion. She was overjoyed with her robes as she pulled them on. Then, they headed off to the pitch.

"Scared, Megan?"

"A little," she admitted.

"Don't worry. It'll go when you're in the air."

Madam Hooch advanced, the crate in her arms. She placed it at her feet, and looked sternly upon them all.

"Captains, shake hands."

They did, though it seemed rather tighter than was necessary.

"Now, I want a clean, fair game from you all. Understood? Good. Mount your brooms. On my whistle."

Megan raised her leg over her shining Nimbus, and waited, her heart racing. This was it. And then, the whistle blew.

In one perfect movement, fourteen brooms soared into the air. Wood had been right. The excitement and thrill of flying had shattered her nerves. But she knew that her place wasn't assured until she won the match. Not to her, at least. So, flying slightly above the others, she looked around, watching the players evolve, listening to Lee Jordan's colourful commentary.

"Gryffindor in possession thanks to a magnificent move by Johnson. Pelting forwards, passes Beater and – oh, that was close, nearly hit by a bludger! - And she speeds on. But Slytherin Chaser Pucey heading in her direction, careful, Angelina! Yes, beautiful pass to Spinnet, who zooms out of their reach like water! Passes the Slytherins like wind, she aims, and shoots... Yes! Gryffindor score!"

Megan beamed and gave them the thumbs up as they passed her. She was looking around for the Snitch, but it was so small, she had to be careful, and remain aware of the other players and bludgers. She narrowly missed one from Pucey, which earned the Gryffindor team a penalty which Angelina nailed squarely.

"Twenty points to Gryffindor! And now, the game continues, with an admittedly good move from Pucey, there, and Slytherin in possession. Katie and Angelina dart after him, Pucey passes Spinnet, and aims... Nice try, Wood, but Slytherin score.

It had been a great attempt. Pucey had aimed for the whole on Wood's left, causing Wood to head that way before actually shooting in the middle hoop. Wood had tried to do a save that Megan thought reminded her strongly of football, with his two fists clenched together. But the throw had been too strong. But just then, Slytherin Captain chaser Marcus Flint came forwards, ready to give it another go as Wood sent the Quaffle to Alicia. But while Pucey headed off after her, Megan saw Flint take a team mate's club and take a powerful hit at a bludger that was passing. Before Megan could warn Wood or do anything, he was hit in the stomach and fell.

"Wood!"

Megan darted forwards and caught him before he hit the ground. Madam Hooch caught his broom.

"Penalty to Gryffindor!" she said angrily. "No attacks to the Keeper unless the Quaffle is in the scoring area!"

This time, Alicia took the penalty and made it while Wood was taken to Madam Pomfrey. They were still in the lead, but Megan knew she had to find the Snitch soon or they would loose the lead. She was happy to fill in for Wood until she saw the Snitch but when she did, the goalposts would be unguarded, and the Slytherins would never let that pass without taking advantage of it. They only needed to score twice and they'd be even, so she had to find it before then. She was just thinking whether to call time off to discuss it with the others when Angelina headed to her and said:

"Don't worry, I'll fill his post. You concentrate on the Snitch. We have to catch it quickly or they'll beat us."

"But you'll be a chaser down!"

"It's part of our tactics, don't worry. Keeper and Seeker are the two most targeted positions, he'd prepared for something like this. Any sign of it yet?"

"Not one..."

"Then, go around the field. You'll never get it by staying here."

"Okay. Good luck."

She flew off, rising above to overlook the game. She was about to cross the field to look at the other end, when her broom jerked. Then, it bucked, went sideways, up, down... it was going crazy, and Megan was only just hanging in. She wanted to signal for time out, but the rocking was so bad she would almost definitely fall if she held on only with one hand. What was going on?!

People in the crowd were starting to ask themselves the same question, apparently, because students were pointing, gasping.

Down in the stands, Harry, Hermione and Ron were watching anxiously. Then, Hermione pulled out her binoculars and looked straight ahead, into the other stands.

"What's up with Megan? It looks like she's lost control, but she can't have!" Hagrid said, frowning as he watched.

"It's Snape! He's jinxing her broom!" Hermione answered, still looking at him.

"What?!"

"What do we do, she'll fall off if he keeps at it any longer!"

Just then, as if to verify his words, Megan slipped and only just managed to hold on to her broom with one hand. Mercifully, it stood still long enough for her to grab on with her other hand.

"Leave it to me."

And with no further explanation, she vanished. She dashed across the stands, eyeing Megan who was holding on for all she was worth, with the Weasley twins trying to get near enough to get her onto their brooms, or at least catch her if she fell.

"What's happening to your broom?" George asked.

No one was paying any more attention to the Slytherin team who had scored six times since Megan's broom had become wild.

"Don't know... can't hold much longer!"

The broom kept moving around, and Megan's hands, though gloved, were slipping. And every time the twins tried to get closer, it just rose higher. Back in the stands, Hermione pulled out her wand and whispered something; Blue flames touched Snape's long black cloak and the commotion knocked him sideways, blocking Megan from his view. Megan felt the broom stop twitching and Fred soared up, holding out his hand.

"Get us that Snitch," he smiled as she got back into position. "We're still in the lead, you can do it."

She nodded and thanked them. She was touched by their immediate reaction when she had almost been thrown off her broom. They hadn't hesitated in stopping everything to help her. She looked around, desperate for the snitch. Whether they counted the points Flint had put in during the incident didn't matter, because even if they did and Gryffindor were no longer in the lead, she had to get the Snitch before they did or they lost. Just then, almost right under her nose, was a flash of gold. And she quickly saw it was the Snitch. Her eyes widened. She sped after it as it zoomed away. Soon, she heard another broom flying behind her. She glanced behind and saw Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs was tailing her closely. She kept her focus ahead, not wanting to lose sight of the Snitch. She didn't know if Slytherin's score had changed or not, so she couldn't afford to let it slip away again. They engaged in a dive. They were shoulder to shoulder, neither giving in. The flicker of gold was glistening in front of them. But they were also heading for the ground. Megan pressed on, Higgs following, then, at twenty feet from the ground, Higgs pulled up, leaving Megan clear to chase the Snitch. She yanked her broom up at half the distance he had, and sped forwards, her hand outstretched. But she leaned out too far and toppled forwards, only just managing to shield her face. There was a gasp, and Terence Higgs soared forwards hopefully. But Megan got to her feet, clamping her hand to her mouth. Then, after a slight jerk, she felt the small gold ball slip into her cupped hands. She stood frozen for a few seconds, disbelieving. She had done it. She had actually won her team the match! The clapping and cheering was almost muted by her disbelief. It was only when a recovered Wood hugged her and the Weasley twins heaved her onto their shoulders that the full impact of everyone's joy hit her. There were even Hufflepuffs and Raveclaws came to congratulate her, as they wanted as much as anyone to see Slytherin beaten. Megan could hardly believe it.

"Great game, everyone."

"Are you okay, Wood?" she asked. "You took a nasty blow."

"I'm good as new, credits to Madam Pomfrey. But I would have been far worse off if you hadn't caught me."

Megan flushed. They headed back inside to change and relax after the excitement of the game. Harry, Hermione and Ron hurried to her.

"Told you you'd do great," Harry said.

"Thanks guys. Hey, how did my broom stop jerking?"

"It was Snape, he was jinxing it from the stands. Jinxes are all about eye contact, and he didn't even blink. Hermione stopped him."

"But why would he try and kill a student?" Ron asked.

"I think I can answer that. Because Voldemort wants me dead." Megan said.

They flinched at his name, but she ignored it.

"So you're saying he's after whatever was almost stolen from Gringotts and you, both for Voldemort?"

"I don't know about the Gringotts incident, but I'm pretty sure Voldemort wants me dead. I'm not sure why, though."

"I reckon he's scared," Hermione said as they walked back to the castle. "He probably thinks you beat him intentionally somehow, and that you're going to try again."

"Maybe..." Megan said. "But I doubt I would pose any real threat if he came to attack me."

They were unable to pursue the subject, however because they had reached the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Caput Draconis", Harry said.

They entered the common room. It was bustling with chatting and cheering from the victory.

************************************

Wouhou! Megan won her first match! Even when she was almost thrown off! Congratulate her with a vote! Would you like to play Quidditch? What position? Tell us in a comment!

Something strange is stirring in the background... Can you feel it? What could it be? Who could be behind it? Find out now with the next chapter!