You have no idea how excited I am - only 5 more chapters left then we can get onto the third book! More actions in that one.
Okay, I noticed that a lot of you were panicking over the note that I left - I mean trying to separate them, sorry - my wordings weren't right.
Thanks for all the help with the fire animals - they really helped me more than you realise.
Chapter 10: Polyjuice Potion, Problems and Troubles.
"Are you all ready?" Ron asked from where he was sitting on the floor next to the fire. Hermione just looked at him. He had been anxious about getting the Polyjuice Potion ready and questioning Draco Malfoy.
"Yeah, you just need to get some hairs of the people you'll be turning in to," she told him and Mia winced slightly.
"Sorry, I can't join you," Mia told them.
"How come?" Ron asked and Mia rolled her eyes.
"Professor McGonagall is taking my detention - I kinda annoyed Snape too much," she admitted and Harry laughed.
"What are you like?" he asked and she shrugged, not really bothered about the detentions.
"Hey, at least I'm not getting detention with him," Mia defended and Harry snorted.
"I bet he planned that because he wouldn't want you to annoy him even more in detention would he?" Harry asked and Mia stuck her tongue out at him, not happy.
"We still have the three of us - that'll make it easier to question Malfoy because he doesn't hang around with a lot of Slytherins," Hermione told them.
"Whose hair are we going to use?" Ron asked.
"I thought that you and Harry could take some of Goyle and Crabbe's hair. I have mine already - I took it from Pansy Parkinson during the Duelling club," Hermione told them and Mia grimaced.
"And all of a sudden, I'm glad that I'm not involved," she told them and Harry laughed.
"Yeah, I bet you are," Harry told her.
"How are we supposed to get the hairs?" Ron asked and Hermione nodded to Mia, who reached into her bag and pulled out a small box and opened it before placing it on the table, revealing two cakes.
"These cakes are filled with a simple sleeping draught. One bite and they'll go out like a light," Hermione explained. "All you two need to do is make sure they are somewhere where they boys can find them, they'll eat the cakes and put them somewhere where they are less likely to barge in on us questioning Malfoy and grab some hairs from them."
Harry and Ron looked at each other, both sorting out a plan in their mind.
"What are you two planning?" Mia asked. Both boys just smiled and she rolled her eyes. She decided that she was better off not knowing.
Ron and Harry made their way down to the Great Hall. Mia had gone off to her detention with McGonagall and Hermione had gone off to the girls' bathroom so she could stir the potion and get it ready.
They stopped just a few feet away from the Great Hall and placed the cakes on the ground before hurrying off to stand behind a pillar. Ron grabbed his wand and started to clear his throat to cast a spell when Harry reached out and stopped Ron.
"Maybe I should do it?" he asked and Ron looked at his broken wand before nodded and Harry waved his own. "Wingardium Leviosa," Harry cast and the two cakes rose up into the air just as Goyle and Crabbe were coming out of the Great Hall, their arms filled with cakes.
They stopped when they saw the sweets floating in the air and grinned, greedily, at each other before they grabbed the cakes and bit into them. They enjoyed it till their eyes rolled up into the back of their head and they slumped to the ground, dead to the world.
"Just how thick could you get?" Ron asked, bewildered as he shook his head.
"Come on, we don't have enough time," Harry told him as they both rushed over and dragged each boys over to the nearest closest. They pulled out some strands of the couple's hair before shutting the door and rushed back up the stairs to the girls' bathroom, where Hermione was stirring the potion.
"Did you get them?" she asked and both boys produced the hair. "Great," she lifted up three goblets and handed one to each boys before she grabbed the spoon and poured some of the potion into each. "Now, we have to add the hairs," she told them and they all added the hairs.
Ron grimaced when he saw his potion go a murky green colour and groaned.
"The essence of Crabbe," he moaned while Harry stuck his tongue out at the sight of his.
"Bottoms up," Harry told them and they clinked goblets before drinking them down. Hermione covered her mouth before she dropped her goblet and hurried into one of the stalls. Ron shook his head before he dropped his goblet and hurried into another one.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," he claimed.
Harry doubled over before he made his way over to the sink and dropped the goblet, causing it to shatter. He looked into the mirror and saw his face were twisting and bubbling as his skin fought to change its shape.
Harry closed his eyes to settle his rolling stomach before he opened them once more and found himself staring into Goyle's reflection. He lifted up his hand and touched his face in shock. He had heard of Polyjuice potion but had never seen the effect of it.
One of the stalls opened and he turned to see Ron/Crabbe coming out.
"Ron?" he asked.
"Harry?" he asked and Harry smiled slightly. "Bloody hell." Harry frowned.
"Hermione, hurry up!" Harry called out as they both waited for Hermione to come out of her stall.
"You two go ahead," Hermione told them.
"Hermione?" Harry asked, concerned.
"I'll be fine - you're wasting time!" she called through.
"She's right," Ron told him. Harry was torn between finding out what was wrong with Hermione and satisfying Ron.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Harry called through the stall door.
"Yes! Now get moving!" she shot back and Harry backed off before they rushed out of the girls' bathroom and made their way down to the Slytherin common room.
Harry pointed to his right.
"The Slytherin common room is down there," Harry told him as they made their way down the corridor only to stop when they saw Percy making their way toward them.
"What the hell are you doing down here?" Ron/Crabbe demanded and Percy looked down his nose at him.
"I'm a prefect," Percy informed him. "And you shouldn't be wandering around the castle."
"Goyle, Crabbe!" a male voice shouted and they turned to see Malfoy making his way over to them. "Where have you two been? I've been looking all over the place for you!"
"Hospital wing," Harry/Goyle told him. "Must have ate something funny at dinner." Malfoy nodded before he turned to see Percy standing there.
"And what do you think you're doing?" Malfoy demanded and Percy arched an eyebrow at him.
"You do well to remember that I'm a prefect," Percy informed and Malfoy snorted.
"Get out of here, non Slytherin aren't allowed down here - you never know who is running around waiting to attack you lot," Malfoy informed him before he led Goyle and Crabbe away from Percy. "That guy needs to get his head out of his ass and stop acting like he the prime minister or something like that."
Crabbe/Ron snorted back his laughers as Goyle/Harry rolled his eyes as they came to a stop outside the portrait of the Slytherin common room.
"Pure Blood," Malfoy called out and the painting opened, allowing Crabbe and Goyle to step in after Malfoy.
They both looked around and were glad that they weren't in Slytherin. It was very dark and not completely welcoming. They made their way over to the two couches that sat across from each other in front of the fire.
"What do you think of the attacks?" Malfoy asked. "I haven't seen anyone in the papers talk about it - I suspect that they are hushing it up."
"Just wish that we knew who the attacker was," Goyle/Harry muttered and Malfoy snorted.
"Same here. I would help them. I even asked dad about who opened the chamber the last time but he refused to give me any details, but I can tell you this," Ron/Crabbe and Harry/Goyle leaned in, eager for information that could help him. "The last time a chamber was opened, a muggle born died."
"Do you know who?" Harry/Goyle asked and Draco shook his head.
"My dad wouldn't tell me, just told me that she got what she deserved," Draco informed him.
"I hope that if someone was to die this time, it would be that know it all mudblood Granger," Pansy snipped in and they all looked at her, shocked. They were under the impression that Pansy had gone home for the holiday. All of a sudden Harry was glad that Hermione wasn't there with them.
"Pansy, I thought you went home," Draco told her and she waved her hand.
"I begged my parents to let me come back early. I didn't want to miss anymore attacks and I hope that Granger gets it next," Pansy told him. Harry/Goyle to jump up, ready to plant his fist into her face.
Ron/Crabbe got up and held Harry's arm while Draco also got up. He knew it was Ron and Harry under the disguise and he also knew how much Harry hated the degrading name for muggleborns.
"Maybe you should go back to the hospital wing," Draco suggested. "You don't look well Goyle."
"Maybe I will," Harry/Goyle, told him and they both left, leaving Draco hoping that Harry would be okay. Pansy wondered what the hell was up with the two idiots.
"Hermione, we're back!" Harry called out as he and Ron rushed into the bathroom and over to the stall that Hermione was occupying. They had changed back into their normal selves just a few minutes after they left the Slytherin Common room and was really to tell Hermione what they had found out.
"Go away!" Hermione shouted through, causing Harry and Ron to look at each other, confused. Surely the potion would have worn off already?
"Hermione?" Harry asked only for him and Ron to jump back when Moaning Myrtle popped out of the closed door.
"Wait till you see her!" she giggled, causing Harry to arch an eyebrow before he pushed the door open and soon the light filled the dark area, revealing Hermione.
Harry and Ron felt their jaw drop when they saw that Hermione wasn't Hermione anymore. Her face was furry and she had whiskers. She had ears sticking out of head and her normal brown eyes were bright yellow.
"Remember when I told you that the Polyjuice potion was for human only?" Hermione reminded and understanding dawned on them. It wasn't human hair that she had taken; it was cat hair.
"Hermione…" Harry trailed off, unable to say anything.
"Look at my face," Hermione wailed before Ron smirked.
"Look at your tail!" Ron stated as he and Moaning Myrtle burst into laugher. Harry was torn between laughing and trying to find a way to bring Hermione back.
"Come on, we need to go to the hospital wing," Harry told her and Hermione shook her head, fear coursing through her body. "Yes Hermione, she never asks too many questions anyway."
"I don't want to go," she told him and Harry sighed.
"We need to," he replied as he reached in and took a hold of her arm and gently pulled her out of the stall, coaxing her out.
"But what about everyone between here and the hospital wing?" she demanded and Harry sighed.
"Ron," he called and Ron looked up. "Grab my invisibility cloak from my bag." Ron nodded as he hurried over to the bag and pulled out the cloak before he handed it to Harry. "Put this over you but you better come with us," Harry warned her and she nodded as she took the cloak and wrapped it around her, hiding her from view.
Both boys took up each side of Hermione and they led the way out of the Bathroom and on the way up to the hospital wing. Thankfully it seemed like all the students were in their common rooms so they were safe for the time being.
Harry and Ron opened the doors to the hospital wing and stepped in before closing the doors behind them. Madam Pomfrey came out, investigating the noise.
"Oh, it's you Mr. Potter," she told him and Harry shook his head.
"Not me," he told her before he grabbed the cloak and pulled it off Hermione's body with a fight, that he won and Madam Pomfrey just arched an eyebrow at the sight.
"Oh well," she sighed before she hurried over to the young woman and led her over to an empty bed.
A short while later Harry and Ron found themselves in the common room, sitting in front of a fire no closer to any answers when they heard the common room door opened and Mia came in.
"Hey, how did it go?" Mia asked as she made her way into the common room.
"Malfoy isn't the heir and he doesn't know who it is," Ron told her, glumly and Mia nodded.
"Hey, we expected it. Beside, do you really think that someone would go around bragging that they had been attacking muggle borns?" Mia asked and Ron shrugged.
"I was kinda hoping for a break through," he told her and she smiled.
"Yeah, hey, where's Hermione?" she asked as she looked around only for Ron to fight a grin from appearing on his face and Harry to sigh.
"The Polyjuice potion went wrong," Harry told her and she looked at him, curious. "Turned out that she had took cat hair instead of human."
"Oh my," Mia uttered as understanding dawned on her. "She turned into a cat?"
"Not completely. Her face went furry like a cat; she had a tail too. Everything of her was a cat except that she was still talking like a human and all that," Harry explained and Mia winced.
"She in the hospital wing?" she asked and Harry nodded.
"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey wasn't happy when she saw Hermione," Harry told her. "Said she'll be in the hospital for a short term till she had turned back to normal."
"And I bet Hermione kicked up a fuss about that," Mia stated.
"Sort of, she worried about her homework and her course work but she agreed when I told her that we would get her notes for her," Harry told her and Mia sighed.
"What the story that we're to tell the teachers?" Mia asked.
"That she contracted a flu. Madam Pomfrey will make sure that no one will get to see her," Harry explained.
"Great, let hope that Dumbledore and Snape doesn't get a hold of this. If they suspect us using Polyjuice potion, we'll be in major trouble," Mia told them and Harry laughed.
"When are we not in trouble?" he asked and she smiled back at him.
"Lets head to bed, I'm shattered," Ron told them and got agreements in return.
"Yeah, beside, we have plenty of classes to go through and looks like we're no closer to solving this mystery anytime soon," Mia told them and they headed up to their separate dormitories.
Hermione had been in the Hospital wing for several weeks and thanks to the attacks, rumours had been spread around the school saying that she had been the latest victim, much to Mia's annoyance. It ended up with a line of curious people trying to catch a glimpse of Hermione, which forced Mia into chasing them off and Madam Pomfrey setting up a screen around the bed to help the recovering witch.
"Do you know why no one seems to believe the flu story?" Ron asked and Harry shook his head.
"No, no matter how many times I tell it, they just look at me with this disbelieving look and walk off. Makes me want to put them into a wall. How hard is it to believe that a muggle born girl has a flu that not even a potion can make go away in seconds?" he demanded and Ron shrugged.
"Have you seen Hermione?" Ron asked and Harry nodded.
"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey says she'll be out soon, once she stopped coughing up fur balls," Harry told him and Ron snickered slightly before they jumped when they heard a loud voice.
"NO MORE!" they looked around the corner and saw that Filch was furious. "All I do I mop, mop and mop. Well, we'll see about that!" with that, he stalked out of sight.
"Looks like Moaning Myrtle has flooded the bathroom again," Harry told Ron when they saw the water on the ground.
"Yeah," Ron muttered.
"Come on, let's see if we can figure out what ticked her off this time," Harry told him and they both ran along the watery ground before they made their way into the bathroom and saw Moaning Myrtle was sitting at the window, wailing.
All the taps were on, causing the flooding.
"Myrtle?" Harry asked and Moaning Myrtle turned to face him before a look of anger crossed her face.
"Come back to throw something else at me, have you?" she demanded as she swooped down.
"Why would I throw something at you?" Harry asked, incredulous at the accusation.
"Oh I don't know, like five points if you get it through her body," she plunged her hand through Ron's body. "50 points if you get it through the head," she plunged her hand into Ron's head, causing him to blanch.
"Did you see what was thrown at you?" Harry asked and Moaning Myrtle just waved her hand over in a general direction.
"They threw it over there," she told him.
"Did you see who it was?" Harry asked and she looked at him, affronted.
"No, I was busy minding my own business," she informed him, tartly before she continued on her way, wailing as she did.
"She's barmy," Ron told him and Harry smirked as he moved over to the wall and saw a small black book in one of the sinks. He picked it up and flipped through it only to see it was empty.
"That's weird, why would anyone throw an empty book away?" Harry asked as Ron looked over his shoulder before he shrugged.
"Come on, we'll ask Hermione. Maybe she could shed some light on it," Ron suggested and Harry nodded as he placed the book into his bag and they both left the bathroom only to bump into Mia, who was running.
"Hey," Harry greeted. "Why were you running?" he asked.
"Filch is in a bad mood. He caught sight of me and tried to take his temper out on me. Thankfully, Professor Flitwick came by and I managed to escape," Mia explained. "Why were you in the bathroom?" she asked and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Moaning Myrtle flooded the bathroom because someone threw something at her. That's why Filch was in a bad mood," Harry explained.
"We found what was thrown at her but its empty so Harry wants to know why someone would throw an empty book away," Ron told her.
"You going up to see Hermione?" she asked and got nods in reply. "Great, I'll come up with you. It's probably safer up there than it is down here."
"Let's go," Ron told them and they made their way up to the Hospital Wing.
Hermione was sitting up in bed; her features had turned back to normal. All she had to do was wait till she stopped coughing up fur balls; then she would be able to get back to her normal schedules. She was looking over a book when she heard the door opened and turned to see Harry, Mia and Ron making their way over to her.
"Hey," she greeted. They smiled back at her as Mia sat on the chair to her right, Harry sat on the edge of the bed at her foot and Ron sat on the chair to her left, placing his hand on the bed when he felt something under the pillow.
"What the?" Ron muttered as his hand encountered something slightly hard. With a small frown, he spread his fingers out till he grabbed an edge and pulled it from under the pillow.
"No, don't!" Hermione started but it was too late. Ron brought the card up to his face only for disgust to show clearly on his face.
"You sleep with this under your pillow?" he demanded.
"What?" Harry asked as he moved closer to Ron only for his eyebrows to rise when he saw a picture of a grinning, winking Lockhart on the front. Ron opened it and they saw it was a get-well card from Lockhart. "You have got to be kidding me," Harry complained.
Hermione flushed as she grabbed the card and stuffed it back under her pillow.
"He's just being nice!" Hermione defended and Mia shook her head.
"Oh come on, he's beefing up his ego here!" Harry complained and Hermione sighed as she shot Harry a dark look.
"And I'm sure you don't mind when a certain female is beefing up your own," she shot back, just as darkly. Mia jumped in before a blood bath could start.
"I think we're getting off topic here," she jumped in and they looked at her. "We came here to see how Hermione was and what the diary could contain?" she reminded.
"Oh yeah!" Harry remembered before he pulled out the black book from his bag and handed it over to Hermione. "Moaning Myrtle threw a fit, she flooded the bathroom cause someone threw this at her. She never saw who it was."
"Hm, I wonder why they threw it away - there's nothing written in it," Hermione agreed with them as she flipped through the book. She suddenly snapped her fingers before she reached into her schoolbook and pulled out a small white rubber. "I got this in Diagon Alley, it's a revealers rubber*," she explained as she rubbed the rubber hard on the page but nothing turned up.
"Maybe they couldn't be bothered to write in it and the person threw it away for no reason?" Ron suggested and Hermione shook her head.
"No, there's no point in that," Hermione told him before she turned to the back and saw it belonged to a T.M. Riddle.
"I remember that name - he got a shield 50 years ago for services of the school," Ron told them and Hermione sighed.
"Well, that doesn't help much," Hermione, told him before Mia leaned in.
"Maybe it does. I mean, wasn't it 50 years ago the chamber was last opened?" she reminded and Hermione's eyes lit up.
"Then that means whoever owned this diary could have information on it but there isn't anything in it and nothing seems to be working," Hermione told her and Mia sighed as she rested her back on the chair.
"The Polyjuice was a bust now this, we'll be lucky if we ever find out who it was!" she exclaimed and Harry raised his hands.
"We're all tired and overworked at the moment. How about we get some sleep and maybe we have a fresh idea on what to do next?" he suggested and Ron nodded in agreement.
"I'm agreeing. We have potions tomorrow and I doubt Snape will be pleased if I fall asleep during it," he told them.
"Oh no! That'll means I'll be behind on my notes!" Hermione fretted, provoking Harry into laying a hand on her shoulder.
"Relax, I'll take notes for you," he told her and she nodded.
"Hermione, you are getting a free day from classes and you're worried about notes?" Ron asked before shaking his head. "Always knew you were mental." With that, he walked out with Mia rolling her eyes after him.
"Catch you later," she told Hermione before she hurried out of the hospital wing and Harry smiled down at her.
"Don't worry, I'll keep a leash on them, I've been doing it with Mia ever since she was born," he teased before he nuzzled Hermione's hair. He left with Hermione staring after him with a small smile.
Hermione just lay back on the back on the bed before she puzzled over the book once more. She had a feeling that things just got a lot more dangerous at Hogwarts for everybody.
TBC
* Rubber is Eraser in America.
The Release Date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the 21st of July 2007! Not that long to go!
One question - in third year, should Mia defend Buckbeak? It's up to you if you want her to or not.