Chapter 11: A Furry Problem
The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick turned what had been nervousness into real panic. There was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could go home for Christmas.
"At this rate, we'll be the only ones left," Ron told Claire, Harry, and Hermione as they walked into the Gryffindor common room. "Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle."
"What a lovely holiday it's going to be." Claire muttered.
"Make way for the Heir of Slytherin!" Fred and George said as they saw them walking into the common room.
Fred and George found the whole idea of Harry being the Heir of Slytherin as complete funny business. Claire rolled her eyes at their childish antics.
"The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready." Hermione said. "However, I don't think there will be enough for all four of us."
"I don't have to drink it. I could be the lookout." Claire said.
"Alright, then." Hermione said.
The term soon ended and the only ones in Gryffindor Tower were the Weasleys, Claire, Hermione, and Harry. They didn't mind this though as they could play Exploding Snap as loud as they wanted without bothering anyone. Christmas morning dawned, cold and white. Harry and Ron were woken very early by Hermione and Claire, who both burst in, fully dressed and carrying presents for them both.
"Wake up!" Claire said loudly, pulling back the curtains at the window.
"Claire-get out of here-" Ron said, shielding his eyes against the light.
"Merry Christmas to you, too," Claire said, throwing him his present.
"We've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready." Hermione said.
Harry sat up, suddenly wide awake.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," Hermione said, shifting Scabbers the rat so that she could sit down on the end of Ron's four-poster.
"I can't believe you let that rat sleep in your bed," Claire said to Ron in disgust.
"If we're going to do it, I say it should be tonight." Hermione said.
Later that evening at the Christmas dinner, Hermione and Claire pulled Ron and Harry out of the hall to finalize their plans for the evening.
"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into," Hermione said matter-of-factly, as though she were sending them to the supermarket for laundry detergent. "And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe's and Goyle's; they're Malfoy's best friends, he'll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him."
"We've got it all worked out," Claire said, ignoring Harry's and Ron's stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes. "Hermione and I filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught."
"All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them." Hermione said. "You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom closet."
Harry and Ron looked incredulously at each other.
"I don't think-"
"That could go seriously wrong-"
"Listen," Claire began. "We've spent weeks preparing the Polyjuice Potion. If you two don't agree to this, those weeks would've been a complete waste of time."
"You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?" Hermione questioned.
"Oh, all right, all right," Harry said. "But what about you, Hermione? Whose hair are you ripping out?"
"I've already got mine," Hermione said brightly, pulling out a tiny bottle that held a single strand of hair. "I managed to sneak it off one of the Slytherin's robes. Now, you two go take care of Crabbe and Goyle while Claire and I go add the final touches to the potion."
Claire and Hermione went to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and waited for the boys. The boys soon arrived.
"Did you get them?" Hermione asked breathlessly.
Harry showed them the hairs.
"Good. And Claire and I got these spare robes out of the laundry," Hermione said, holding up a small sack. "You'll need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle."
The four of them stared into the cauldron. Close up, the potion looked thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly.
"I'm sure I've done everything right," Hermione said, nervously rereading the splotched page of Moste Potente Potions. "It looks like the book says it should…once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves."
"Now what?" Ron whispered.
"We separate it into the glasses and add the hairs."
Hermione then ladled large dollops of the potion into each of the glasses. Then, her hand trembling, she shook the hair out of its bottle into the first glass. Harry and Ron followed suit. They watched as Hermione's turned yellow, Harry's turned the khaki color of a booger, and Ron's turned a dark, murky brown. Claire grimaced at the sight of their potions.
"I'm glad that I'm not drinking that," Claire said. "By the way you three probably shouldn't all drink it in here. Once you two turn into Crabbe and Goyle not all of us will fit."
"Good thinking," Ron said, unlocking the door. "We'll take separate stalls."
Claire walked out of the stall. Harry and Ron went to the other stalls. Claire waited for them to finish. Less than a minute later, Ron and Harry came out of the stalls as Crabbe and Goyle.
"You alright?" Claire asked them.
"This is unbelievable," Ron said, approaching the mirror and prodding Crabbe's flat nose. "Unbelievable."
Claire noticed that Hermione hadn't come out. She went over to her stall and knocked on it.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Claire said.
"I-I don't think I'm going to come after all. Harry, Ron go on without me." Hermione said.
Harry and Ron looked at each other hesitantly.
"Just go," Claire told them. "You only have an hour before the potion stops working. I'll stay here with Hermione."
Harry and Ron then left.
"What happened Hermione?" Claire asked once the boys left.
Hermione didn't reply. Claire sighed. After what felt like an eternity, Hermione finally spoke.
"Promise not to laugh," Hermione said.
"Promise." Claire replied. "Now will you tell me?"
Hermione unlocked her stall door and Claire was shocked to see Hermione covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking through her hair.
"It was cat's hair," Claire said in shock.
Hermione nodded. "I look horrible!"
"You should be back to normal in an hour, shouldn't you?" Claire asked.
"No," Hermione said. "The potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"
Just then, they heard the bathroom door open. Hermione shut the stall and locked it again. Then, Ron and Harry burst into the bathroom panting. They were back to normal now.
"How'd it go?" Claire asked them.
"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," Ron panted. "We still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoys' drawing room."
"Did you see Saxton?" Claire asked.
"No, we brought him up in the conversation but Malfoy said he went home for the holidays." Harry said.
"Is Hermione still in the stall?" Ron asked.
"Yes, but she might of had a bit of a problem with her potion," Claire said.
"What happened?" Ron questioned.
"Hermione, come out of the stall!" Claire said. "They won't say anything stupid. If they do I'll hex them both into oblivion."
"Why would we say anything stupid-" Ron stopped talking when Hermione unlocked the stall and came out of it. Ron backed into the sink.
"Bloody hell! You're a cat!" Ron said in shocked.
Claire hit him upside the head.
"Blimey, Claire!" Ron said rubbing his head.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Hermione's hair turned out to be cat hair and Polyjuice Potion only works for human transformations not animal transformations." Claire said.
"Uh-oh," Ron said.
"C'mon Hermione," Harry said. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions…."