Change

Ron was having a blast being the center of attention as everyone listened and laughed at his jokes, but just as they were about to leave the courtyard he suddenly felt a tug.

Together with Hermione, they lifted Ron by the britches watching him squirm in fear and slight pain. Everyone stopped what they were doing and began to laugh at his misfortune with the only exception being Harry.

Ron wailing- "AAAAAAH! What's going on!? Harry help me!"

"I'm trying, stop kicking," said Harry who was trying to grab his flailing legs and pull him back down.

Trenton grinned- "There, isn't that better? Serves him right."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle at the silly form of Ron wiggling around in the air- "Hehe, yes, but I think we should let him down now," she said lowering her wand.

Trenton on the other hand wasn't ready to end it, he had this funny feeling in the back of his head that this wasn't enough.

"Maybe or maybe I'll give him just a bit more," said Trenton as he moved his wand in the opposite direction, lifting it even higher.

"Um Trent, don't you think that's enough, he only made fun of me a little," said a now concerned Hermione as she watched Ron go higher.

The scared Ron however didn't miss the two in the back with wands pointed at him as he continued to scream,- "AAAAAH! Let me down! Let me down!... (spotting them)... You! I should have known, I swear I'll make you pay!" he yelled towards Hermione, thinking she was the mastermind.

Everyone then looked back to see Hermione next to Trenton who was pointing his wand at Ron.

Trenton smirked- "Is that so?" He said giving a twist with his wand which twisted Ron's britches that much harder into him, resulting in another wail.

Everyone looked back at Ron wincing when they finally realized what was going on underneath his robe.

"Trent, I think you should stop now," said Hermione who was growing more nervous by the second after everyone identified them.

However, that funny feeling in the back of his mind was starting to crawl its way forward, an itch that he couldn't leave alone, and then it hit him. Trenton's grin fell, slowly turning into an angry scowl, the grip on his wand tightened.

The sightless, formless magic, suddenly burst forth into a dark red mass of energy gathering at the tip of his wand.

Hermione grew scared when she saw how drastically Trenton changed, she didn't understand what was happening,- "Trent?" she asked weakly.

Trenton, however, heard nothing as he was consumed by the memories playing out before him, all stemming from this red-headed bastard in front of him. He had to stop him, he had to stop him from ever doing that again, he had to protect her!

Ron not missing anything grew even more scared as his face went deathly pale. Pointing out he screamed,- "AAAAH He's Trying To Kill Me, Help, Help, Somebody Help me!"

Everyone eye's going wide upon seeing some unknown form of evil-looking magic that was slowly growing bigger.

Hermione aware of the stares started to grow scared not only for herself but for Trenton. She didn't understand what was happening, but she didn't want to see him get hurt or hurt anyone.

Hermione looked up to Trenton to call out to him again but was shocked to see his eyes glowing with a reddish light just underneath his contacts.

Seeing the reddish glow begin to eat away at his contacts, she freaked out knowing if anyone were to notice, things could become very bad.

Tearing up she rushed in hugging him,- "Trenton! Your eyes! Please stop! You're scaring me." she yelled at him.

Trenton feeling the hug, froze when he heard the words, 'you're scaring me.' That was the last thing he ever wanted to do.

Snapping out of it, he noticed the dark red energy ball of death at the end of his wand flickering menacingly, but he had no time to figure out what was going on since stopping prematurely was beginning to destabilize it,

Acting fast, he threw the wand up as high as he could before hugging Hermione and turning her around, making sure to cover her from the impending blast that was to come.

Those who knew the dangers yelled for others to get to cover as the wand flickered one last time before exploding.

'Boom!'

Trenton being the closest took the brunt of the force as his robes for the first time activated their protection charm, a shimmering golden glow enveloped him, keeping him mostly safe despite a bit of cracking due to the close proximity and strength of the blast.

Giving a small grunt as it hit him in the back, he was going to be sore in the morning if nothing was done.

Hermione was momentarily shocked when Trenton hugged and protected her, screaming when she heard it explode, hoping Trenton would be fine.

When it was over she looked up tearfully, checking to see if he was okay,- "Trenton are you okay?"

Trenton grinned,- "Of course I am, what could happen to me? Don't forget about the protection charms."

That was when the teachers began to arrive, Snape being the first to show up.

Snape first headed to the blast location, finding Trenton and Hermione who were just recovering,- "You two, tell me what's going on here."

That was when Harry yelled out,- "Ron, Ron, are you okay Ron?" he asked trying to shake him awake after passing out from the fall.

Snape then headed over pushing kids out of the way,- "Move it, out of the way, let me through."

Trenton and Hermione wandered over to check and see if everything was fine with the latter feeling guilty and the former hoping he got lucky and eliminated him early.

Snape bent down to check the boy making sure it was nothing serious before standing back up,- "Who can tell me what happened?"

Harry glared at Trenton and Hermione, pointing at them,- "They did it, he tried to kill Ron."

Trenton lips twitched as he tried not to smirk while Hermione argued back,- "No we didn't, we were just trying to play a prank but it got out of hand."

Snape eyes quickly snapped to Hermione hearing the word prank,- "You think it's funny to bully someone do you?"

Trenton understanding Snape's reaction interjected before Hermione could say anything,- "That isn't it all sir, we were just trying to seek out a bit of justice, prank was a poor choice of words on her part."

Snape narrowed his eyes, raising his hand to keep others silent,- "Go on."

Trenton,- "You see Hermione was trying to help this poor fool out in class by explaining how to do spells properly but he repaid this kindness with mockery, so I decided to get a bit of revenge for her and it got a little out of hand." he explained.

Harry snapped,- "You call that a little!"

Snap- "Enough, -10 points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn... Now, who else saw what happened?"

Seeing a sea of hands rise, Snape picked one out randomly, who ended up explaining how Ron was raised into the air before some weird dark red magic took place.

Snape hearing about how the Weasly boy was punished by the two felt conflicted. On one hand, he was glad the Gryffindors were getting a taste of their own medicine, on the other hand, he really hated that particular form of harassment. Something he was intimately familiar with, having experienced it in the past, how poetic would it have been if it happened to the Potter boy instead.

After debating for a minute Snape decided it was still the Gryffindors fault in the end, as it always was.- "It seems this year's group is full of trouble makers... -50 points from Gryffindor for instigating a fight, -15 to Ravenclaw, and -25 to Hufflepuff for taking things too far."

There was immediate disapproval as strong cries of unfairness came from the Gryffindors.

Snape raised his voice,- "Silence! Unless you wish to lose more." he said shutting up the vast majority with the rest still grumbling under their breaths at the unfair treatment.

Professor McGonagall then entered the scene with Filius just behind,- "What on earth happened here?" She asked before spotting Ron and heading over to take a look.

Professor Snape,- "It seems they had a bit of a conflict and the Weasley boy ended up falling from the levitation charm before that one's wand exploded due to a form of magical overload, I have already dealt the necessary punishment."

Hermione seeing Professor McGonagall recalled Trenton's contacts were dissolving earlier. She quickly spun him around and checked his eyes while the Professors were discussing what happened.

Trenton- "Hermione?"

Hermione whispered,- "Trenton close your eyes, your contacts have been damaged and your real eyes are poking through."

Trenton didn't hesitate to do as she asked,- "Do you think anyone noticed?" He asked, whispering back. Feeling better his blurry eyesight wasn't due to any underlying damage from the blast or miss-use of magic.

Hermione shook her head,- "It's minor enough that one wouldn't notice without being closer and staring into them, let's ask Professor McGonagall for help."

After a bit of back and forth, Snape left, letting the other two take care of the rest, but the punishment stood much to the disappointment of Gryffindor. It was rare for other Professors to interfere in each other's punishments, usually, if they thought one was dishing things out unfairly, they would just provide more opportunities for the houses to earn it back.

As everyone was dispersing only Harry, Trenton and Hermione stayed with Professor McGonagall who was levitating Ron up so she could take him to the medical ward.

Harry scowled at them,- "What are you two still doing here, haven't you done enough?"

Professor McGonagall frowned seeing her favorite students not getting along,- "I don't know what exactly happened but I hope you will learn to forgive and forget, it would be much better if you all learned how to get along, now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking Ron to the Medical Wing, he'll be in good hands so no need to worry."

Harry- "If it's all the same, I'll like to come along."

Professor McGonagall,- "Very well, just be sure not to disturb the other patients, Madam Pomfrey won't take kindly to that, as for you two, do you need anything?"

Hermione ignoring Harry took Trenton by the hand and lead him closer so she could whisper in private with the Professor,- "Professor, it's about his eyes."

Professor McGonagall,- "Alright follow along, I'll take care of it after we drop Mr. Weasely off and then you two can explain what exactly happened."

Trenton spoke up- "Oh and Professor, I'll be needing a new wand."

Professor McGonagall sighed- "Honestly, why did you have to cause such trouble? I expect better of you lot."

Hermione could only sadly look down and apologize,- "We didn't mean for it to get so out of control, I'm sorry."

Harry sighed, he wasn't immune to her sad puppy dog look,- "I'm sure Ron didn't mean anything by it, let's just put it behind us, I'll talk to Ron when he wakes up, he shouldn't have been saying those things."

Trenton snorted which got him a glare from Harry that he couldn't see with his eyes closed.

Hermione tugged his arm,- "Trent, be nice, it's our fault that things ended up this way."

Professor McGonagall was happy hearing them make progress, though Trenton's attitude made her frown, she hoped they could all become friends.

Reaching the Medical Ward, Madam Pomfrey found a bed for Ron, letting Harry know that he could only stay for a bit and that Ron was fine and just needed his rest, promising she only needed to keep an eye on him for precautionary reasons.

Just as Professor McGonagall, Hermione, and Trenton were about to leave they were stopped by Madam Pomfrey,- "Where do you think you're going? I assumed you were here to get healed up as well?"

Professor McGonagall turned back around- "I'm sorry?"

Madam Pomfrey,- "Talking about that one with the closed eyes, isn't he also here for some healing? Get back here and let me take care of that."

They turned to look at Trenton.

Hermione- "Trent, are you hurt?"

Trenton feeling slightly awkward didn't think anything of it- "I'm fine, just a bit sore from the blast is all."

Madam Pomfrey walked over in a huff lifting his shirt causing him to wince- "Nonsense, look at these bruises, now just sit over there and let me do my job, it'll only take a moment."

Hermione gasped before tearing up again remember how he protected her,- "Oh my gosh, Trent, are you okay."

Professor McGonagall- "Oh dear, that looks painful."

Madam Pomfrey snorted as she started healing him,- "Men, they think they can handle anything and ignore injuries they could easily take care of if they only asked. Don't worry though, I'll have you as good as new in just a second."

Professor McGonagall- "That's right they said your wand exploded, but the protection charm should have protected you." she said taking the robes to check it.

Professor McGonagall was shocked to find it cracked,- "What on earth did you do to crack it... (Growing solemn) after Madam Pomfrey heals you, you'll have some explaining to do." Wondering how a first-year even managed to crack it

Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue,- "If the protection charm always worked then why am I here? I really wish Albus would upgrade the charms, but he says not all lessons can be learned if there are no consequences."

Professor McGonagall furrowed her brows- "Pomfrey! Not in front of the children."

Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes- "Oh alright, there you are, all better now, be more careful in the future, it might not seem like much, but if you're in pain that means your body is trying to tell you something, you should always get it checked out, my doors are always open."

Trenton thanked her saying he would do just that before leaving with Hermione who said he better, and Professor McGonagall, heading to her office to fix his contacts and discuss what happened.

________________________________________________________________________________

In a faraway place, deep underground, something stirred.

A creature long thought dead, the first of his kind.

Little did they know he was just waiting, biding his time for the moment, this moment, as the empty orb hanging in the middle of the room suddenly burst to life with a dark red glow.

The pitch dark cave room was empty save for one intricately carved throne situated on top of a carved out platform. There sat the hibernating form of a king long forgotten by the rest of the world. Reduced to stories to scare young children and perpetuate fear and hate against his kind, thought as nothing more than a myth or legend, something made up.

Hardly recognizable due to his dried husk form, having forgone any form of nourishment during his long slumber. He sat in perpetual silence save for the drips of water that managed to seep its way through the rocky exterior.

Then for the first time in centuries light illuminated the room, the dark red energy bathing every inch of it in its glow.

The dried leathery skin of the eyelid began to crack as the eye underneath awoke, snapping open as two completely blood-red colored eyes shot open staring intently at the hanging orb. (All blood-red except a black pupil, no whites to the eyes.)

"So it begins." He said with a deep dry, rasping voice, sounding in desperate need of a drink.

Darkness suddenly began to circle him as the cave started to shake, the throne cracking under the intense pressure as he signaled his awakening to the rest of his kind who should be patiently waiting for his return just beyond.

Growing sick of the light, he shot the darkness at the orb, obliterating it.

"And I shall win."