Better than Charlie Weasley. That was something Tori was shocked to hear. Angelina and Tori were seated across from Wood, going over the tryout papers from that very day.

Tori had crossed Morrison's name out to many times. She was honestly shocked at his nerve to even show up to tryouts after last year. Angelina seemed shook about it too. She had marched up to him, demanding he leaves at once. Unfortunately, he didn't.

Angelina pointed to Katie Bell's name. "I like her. She's a team player, she's very talented and determined." Tori nodded along. "I agree, she's fast and has a really good arm,"

"She's a second year." Wood pointed out. "So were we," Tori told him. Wood nodded writing down Katie's name. "We'll talk about reserves tomorrow. Happy Halloween, you two."

"Happy Halloween."

"Finally! I thought he'd never leave!" Lee jumped into the seat next to Angelina, trying to wrap his arm around her. "Welp. I tried." He shrugged, getting a glare from Angelina.

"Just wait until Quidditch starts, then you'll be able to use all your new moves," Tori smirked at the boy who smirked back. Angelina groaned, "Go away, Lee."

To Angelina's dismay, Lee didn't. Instead, he wrapped his arm around Tori's shoulder as they continued to talk about quidditch.

Alicia appeared, pulling her hair up into a neat bun. "You guys headed down? Or are we waiting for the wicked twins?" Tori looked at her friend, confused.

"Wicked? What did they do now?" Lee pulled on Tori's hair lightly, but she smacked his hand. "They decided to put something, I still don't know what, in my shampoo. Luckily, I grew up with three of my older cousins. So I always smell my shampoo. Reckon it would turn my hair blue."

"Oh, you're no fun." George popped up, sliding into a chair. He raised an eyebrow at Lee's arm around Tori, "Lee, I see you moved on from Angelina. Does that mean she's free?"

"She's, not interested, Weasley." Angelina glared at both boys intensely. "And, I, have not moved on. I am simply heartbroken."

Tori faked a gasp. "You're using me? We're over!" She shoved Lee's arm away, clutching her chest. Lee pretended to look distraught. "My first girlfriend, and we're over within less than five minutes!"

"Tori and you were dating?" Fred leaned against the back of George's chair. Tori shook her head but Lee interrupted, giving him a dramatic sigh. "It was amazing while it lasted, but I'm truly heartbroken."

"Yeah, while that's over, I'm starving. Can we go now?" Alicia stood up, tilting her head at the people around her. Tori was quick to agree,  helping Lee upwards off his chair. The group left the common room, taking one of the moving stairs down towards the Great Hall.

"I hope they have Pumpkin Pasties." George felt his stomach grumble at the thought. "They'll have them. They always do." Tori replied, jumping off the stairs before it could float away again.

The Great Hall was decorated with jack-o-lanterns lighting the extravagant ceiling. The sky of the hall stroke with bolts of lighting, causing some unexpecting to jump with fright. Tori sat next to the twins, watching a couple of first years file inside.

Dumbledore greeted them, wishing them all a happy Halloween and reminding them not to fill up on to much candy. Of course, laughter filled the Great Hall. Tori glanced over at the Slytherin table. Dove sat with that Malfoy kid and Avalon, talking about who knows what. Tori wondered if that would have been her if she was sorted into Slytherin. Probably.

She pried her eyes away from the green table and back to her friend's conversations. She picked up a brownie, biting into it as she watched Alicia and Lee argue about the fact that Lee had lost his giant spider.

"Now that thing is running around somewhere!"

"That thing is my pet! And I'll find him!"

"You better! If I find it anywhere near our dormitory, I'll kill it and then you!"

Tori widened her eyes in response to Fred's face her made at her. She was actually on Alicia's side on this one. She better not find that spider anywhere near her.

There was a loud bang on the Great Hall door and Professor Quirrell burst in. "TROLL!" He screamed, catching everyone's attention. Tori dropped her lollipop onto her plate, she glanced at the twins, thinking this was another one of their pranks. Fred knew what she was thinking and shook his head.

The kooky Professor rushed up to the teacher's table, reaching for Dumbledore's chair. "Troll— in the dungeon— thought you ought to know." He then dropped dead in a faint. The hall became silent as everyone processed this new information.

There was a sudden crash of lighting, causing the students to jump up with panic. Tori, herself, screamed loudly as she grabbed Fred's shoulder. They were going to die!

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore stood up from his chair, staring at his students who had once again gone quiet. "Prefects," He rumbled, "lead your Housed back to the dormitories immediately!"

If he wasn't so worried, Tori was sure Percy would be thrilled about this. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

Tori was clutching Fred and Angelina's hand tightly as students were pushing and shoving through the corridors. Tori noticed one first-year falling behind. The young girl was crying so hard, her eyes were shut. She could just imagine Dove right now...

Tori ripped away from her friends, moving throughout the crowd. "Tori!" She heard Angelina yell at her. "Hold on!" She shouted back, stopping the first year from crashing into a wall.

"Hey. Hi," Tori kneeled down towards the girl, who was sobbing relentlessly. "Parvati and I got s-separated... I-I'm scared!" She cried, the girl was shaking with fear. "I know, I know. But come on, we need to get somewhere safe."

The young girl nodded, grabbing Tori's hand as she lead them back up the stairway. She was about to rejoin her friends when the stairs moved, taking the Gryffindor crowd away.

Tori silently cursed and the young girl began to cry harder now. "Hey. It's alright... Please don't cry, I don't know how to deal with crying children..." She thought back to when Dove has first learned about Dementors. Dove was so scared she thought that shadows outside were dementors, Tori had to comfort the six-year-old almost the entire night.

Tori snapped out of it, bending down to reach the first years' height. "Hey, it's alright. What's your name?"

"L-l-Lavender." The girl whimpered, looking back where the stairs should be. "Lavender. That's a pretty name. You can call me Tori, okay Lavender? We're going to be okay. The stairs will be back."

"What if the troll finds us first?" Lavender was now staring at the door as if the troll was going to burst in at any second. "Then I'll protect you, we're going to be okay. Okay?"

The girl nodded, rubbing her eyes to get rid of her tears. She was still holding onto Tori's hand tightly, watching the stairs move around. Tori, on the other hand, was praying the troll wouldn't come in. Of course, she would keep her promise to Lavender, but Tori didn't know how long she could last fighting a mountain troll.

To both of their luck, the stairs slowly came back. The two girls raced up them, immediately rushing down the corridor. They found the rest of the crowd running through the Portia home. Lavender ran off to hug on of her friends as Tori searched for hers.

Fred was the first to check up on her. "You okay?" He asked her quickly. Tori nodded, "Yeah, a bit startled. But I'm good."

Percy started demanding the first and second years go up to their dormitories. "Percy, everyone's on edge. I doubt anyone's going to be able to sleep." He didn't see this as an excuse, almost pushing the younger kids up the stairs.

Tori turned to see Lavender talking loudly to a group of girls, but she didn't see Lavender. Instead, she saw little Dove Silvers.

hey, y'all!!
how are you guys doing?
i want to thank all of you guys for 10,000 reads on this story!

i never imagined tori getting so much love as she does!

i love you guys!!