Certain Dark Things || Book Two

xxxviii. watchful eyes

"Hermione, you're going to miss your train."

"It's fine," the witch in question replied, waving an idle hand without taking her eyes off the cauldron. "I've plenty of time yet."

"If by plenty of time you mean fifteen minutes, then yeah."

Hermione gave the potion another stir, and Harriet huffed. As they stood clustered in the damp stall, the three Slytherin witches could hear the occasional voice passing in the corridor, followed by jogging footsteps or squealing familiars or thumping pieces of luggage. Harriet knew if Hermione managed to miss her train home, she and Elara would somehow catch the blame, and she wasn't keen on spending the whole of the holiday chopping ingredients for Snape.

Elara would probably end up stabbing him with a paring knife.

"—Harriet."

"Hmm?"

She turned her gaze to Hermione again and almost went cross-eyed looking at the small vial she held up to her nose. "Be careful," Hermione said as Harriet took the vial, scrutinizing the insides. "That's the only hair I managed to get off of Professor Sinistra."

"This plan is barmy, I hope you know."

"It's not. It's perfectly logical! Professor Sinistra doesn't often leave the Astronomy Tower, thus lowering the prospective chances of you being caught—but she does leave sometimes, which means your—or her—presence won't be suspicious. Elara will go to her office and keep the professor busy with questions just to ensure she doesn't wander down to the staff room."

"And how am I supposed to get information, Hermione? 'Jolly good, let me freshen your cuppa, Slytherin—oh, by the way, what's in your great-great-great grandda's secret chamber there?'"

"Don't be glib, Harriet. You'll do no such thing." Hermione gave the cauldron a final stir, then removed the ladle, returning it to the open kit. "No, professors gossip just as much as any student. I can't even begin to tell you the things I've heard them half-say before they realize I'm in the room with another teacher—but that's not the point. No, you're just there to learn what they know, not interrogate them. That'd be an intolerable risk and—foolish."

"But what if I don't find anything out? What if I actually do manage to make the potion, but none of the professors are around or they just don't mention the Chamber? What then?"

"That's the only risk we should be taking, really." Hermione took a deep breath, then exhaled. "The potion is a means to an end, Harriet—and if we can't find out what we want to know safely, then there's no point to it, is there? If you don't learn anything new, so be it. We'll find another way—find a spell, or another potion, or something. We're clever enough and cunning enough not to get caught by being silly."

"If you say so," Harriet mumbled, blinking owlishly as she looked down into the Polyjuice Potion, still holding the vial with Professor Sinistra's hair. It was a convoluted but bizarrely simple plan in her opinion, and if Harriet followed Hermione's directions, she'd manage all right. She knew from experience adults became much more chatty when they didn't know children were around, and while Harriet believed Slytherin would be more circumspect, the professor did have an arrogant streak in him that could work in their favor.

Harriet groaned and rubbed at her eyes, almost knocking off her glasses.

"Don't touch your face, you're in a loo, Harriet."

"I didn't put my hands in the toilet or something, Elara, for Merlin's sake."

"Still. It's unsanitary."