Title: A Short Problem
Author: caz251
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Harry Potter, mentions of Ron, Madame Pomphrey, Snape and the Slytherins
Rating: G
Summary: After an accident in potions Harry thinks on a small problem.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
AN: Written for schmoop_bingo Prompt: de-age (physical)
Harry stared in the mirror at himself, wondering how everything had gone so wrong, it was all Ron's fault. If Ron hadn't gotten in such a strop that Harry wouldn't help him with his work then this would never have happened. Ron had slapped his hand down on the table, upsetting both cauldron's on the workbench in front of them, the liquid spilling from Ron's cauldron mixing with the ingredients that Harry was still preparing. Ron had backed away immediately, getting out of the way of whatever was about to happen, and hopefully out of Snape's line of fire.
Harry wasn't as lucky though, he didn't manage to get away quickly enough not to get splashed by Ron's substandard potion, as well as inhaling the fumes. He couldn't remember much after that, and he had woken up in the hospital wing about ten minutes ago. He had immediately tried to get out of bed before Madam Pomphrey found out that he was awake and confined him to it indefinitely, only to find that he was a lot shorter than he remembered. He had eventually got off the bed and made his way to the bathroom to find a mirror, what he saw in the mirror terrified him, he was short, child short.
Harry had never really been particularly large, but now he looked like he was five years old. It was a shock to say the least, it certainly hadn't been what he had expected from the potions accident but he was just glad that he hadn't grown or lost any limbs. He wondered what was being done to fix him, and how long it would take Snape to put him to rights, as he was sure that if Madame Pomphrey could fix him he wouldn't have woken up like this.
He wondered what his next action should be, did he play dumb, act like a child and hope that things would fall into place for him, or let on that he had a full memory of everything that happened. He supposed he could go for bits and pieces, he had the memory up to the age he'd been shrunk to, but is very wary of Ron as if his body mind remembers the trouble the other teen put him through. That could work, and it would mean that he wouldn't have to deal with Ron, Madame Pomphrey was sure to remove anyone that distressed him from her hospital wing, it was a perfect plan.
He moved out of the bathroom and quickly got back into bed, waiting quietly for someone to come into the room, hoping to turn this whole situation to his advantage. Ron may have turned him into a child temporarily, but that wouldn't stop him having fun. If he carried out his plan properly he could attach himself to Snape until the other man turned him back, and spend the time with his real friends in the dungeons. He knew that Draco and the others would love to spend time with him as a child even if he did have his mind intact, Draco and Pansy would no doubt salivate at the chance to dress him up. Yes, being this short was a problem for reaching things and getting off of beds, but it could be worth it just to get out of the lions den for a while.