Always knew it was you

The shrinking potion

I got up pretty early in the morning. I changed into my robes and entered the common room.

I saw Hermione writing something.

"Busy? ", I asked.

"No, no. Sit down", she said.

"What's happening to you, Hermione? Talking to Trelawney like that?", I asked.

"I don't know, Neville. It's Ron, my cat keeps trying to eat his rat. He's now angry with me", she said.

"No, you are taking too many classes. That's the problem ", I said.

"I'm not", she said.

"You are. You are thirteen, Hermione. Why are burdening yourself so much? ", I said.

"No, Neville. I can manage. It's not difficult ", she says.

"I knew you wouldn't listen to me but how are you taking all classes. Don't your classes clash with each other? ", I ask.

"Professor McGonagall made me promise that I won't tell anyone, sorry", she said.

"It's okay. But take care of yourself Hermione", I said.

"Okay", she said.

"I'd better go and wake up Dean and Seamus ", I said and entered the dorm.

Our first class was double Potions with Slytherins.  The past few days were a bit peaceful as Malfoy was still in the hospital wing. He had to be discharged by the same night but Snape gave Poppy a letter to let Malfoy stay.

"Why did Snape like Malfoy so much?", I thought.

Pansy Parkinson too didn't bully anyone, she looked worried all the time.

He showed up after an hour the period started.

"How is it, Draco?" simpered Pansy Parkinson. "Does it hurt much?"

"Yeah," said Malfoy but winked at Crabbe and Goyle. I rolled my eyes.

"Settle down, settle down," said Professor Snape idly.

If a Gryffindor had come this late, he would have taken points off Gryffindor and gave them detention too.

We were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution.

Malfoy made Ron cut his Daisy roots and Harry skin his shrivelfig.

I was still thinking about Hagrid. He hadn't been his own self lately, hadn't smiled at all.

I looked down at my potion it was
supposed to be acid green in colour.

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see.

"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one cat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

I looked down at the ground and trembled involuntarily.

"Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it right --"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as me.

"Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

"Help me!" I mouthed to Hermione.

What if the potion was wrong and Trevor was poisoned? What would my grandmother say?

Snape called, "You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's..."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed openly.

I was dying of fear.

Hermione was muttering instructions to me out of the corner of her mouth,

"Everyone gather 'round," said Snape, his black eyes glittering, "and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

The whole class was staring at me, Snape took a small spoon of the potion and shoved it forcefully into Trevor's throat.

I shut my eyes in fear. I opened my eyes to see Trevor had become a tadpole and was wriggling in Snape's arm.

All of the Gryffindors clapped. Snape pulled out a bottle and poured it on Trevor. He became a toad, once again.

"Thank you, Hermione ", I thought.

We walked down to the Great Hall for lunch.