6

Harry Potter and the Mid-Semester Night's Dream

By Laura Fountain

Act I Scene I

[Gryffindor common room. Harry and Cho-Chang on couch talking and cuddling. Warm fire blazing in fireplace. Enter Ron

Harry: Hey Ron, why the long face?

Ron: Would you say I'm handsome? I mean I like to think I'm not all that bad, but Hermione still never notices me. If only I was more like you, Harry, like if I had a famous scar or could speak parseltongue or something. Maybe then Hermione would like me. I wish I had with Hermione what you two have with each other.

Harry: Give her time, Ron. Don't be so hard on yourself. You never know!

Ron: Yeah. Anyway, it's getting late and Snape's potion test is tomorrow, which I haven't even started studying for. I think I'll just go to bed and cram tomorrow morning at breakfast. G'night!

Harry, Cho-Chang: Good night!!

[Harry and Cho-Chang remain chatting for a short time. Cho-Chang falls asleep on the couch; Harry covers her with a blanket and heads up to his own bed. The fire dies down.

Act I Scene II

[Hogwarts Corridor. Enter Hermione and Neville returning from the library to the Gryffindor common room. The Weasley twins are in Harry's invisibility cloak and eavesdropping in on Hermione and Neville's conversation.

Hermione: Wow, memorizing the recipes for the Aquamenti, the Felix Felicis, and the Polyjuice potion is hard work. I wonder if Harry and Ron are ready for Snape's potions test tomorrow.

Neville: Harry should be fine. I mean Snape doesn't really like him but he's smart. I don't know about Ron, though; we all know he waits till the last minute to study. Haha remember when he tried to turn his Rat into a goblet but didn't quite succeed?

Hermione: Ugh. That stupid rat SHOULD be a goblet.

Neville: Maybe you should give Ron and Scabbers a break…

Hermione: Well they're always tormenting poor Crookshanks. It's so annoying!

Neville: I think you like him…Ron that is.

Hermione: Yeah right! Between you and me, I'd rather eat slugs. I think I should be with someone who's most like me. Harry, for instance, is smart and for the most part, he makes good decisions and… and why am I talking about this? I'm wasting valuable study time!

Neville: Actually we both just need some sleep; otherwise we'll just pass out during Snape's test!

Hermione: Fine, you go to bed, but I think I'll just nap on the couch for a few hours and then continue studying. If I don't get perfect on this test I'll die!!

Neville: Well good night then. [He exits. The Fire has almost completely gone out, but Hermione can faintly distinguish Cho-Chang asleep on the couch, so she heads up to her bed instead. The Weasley twins remain outside the common room. They remove the cloak.

Fred: George, remember how Ron reacted when Hermione went to the ball with Victor Krum last year? As much as I love teasing Ron, I think maybe he really does like Hermione.

George: And maybe Neville's right, maybe Hermione likes Ron, too. Hey, remember how Dad talked about the ministry's of magic's problem with the Amorteni potion?

Fred: Of course I do! It's only the most powerful love potion in the world! One drop makes you fall in love with the first person you see.

George: You thinking what I'm thinking?

Fred: Well if you're thinking that we should use an Amorteni potion or something similar on Hermione to get her to fall for Ron, then yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking.

George: Ha! Great minds do think alike! Let's go check out the WonderWitch products and see what we can find.

Act II Scene I

[Fred and George in common room with a love potion

George: I love pulling pranks! It's what I do best!

Fred: We, George, what we do best!

George: Right. Anyway let's get a move on it.

Fred: It's a bit dark in here. We should get the fire going again so we can see what we are doing.

George: No Fred, we haven't much time! Hermione said she was just going to take a nap on the couch and then get up to finish studying. Just go over to her and put some of the potion onto her lips. Then when she wakes, we'll get Ron down here and the rest is history! Then we can celebrate this feat with some Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs!

Fred: Yeah okay. [In the dark, he stumbles across the room to the couch. He drops some of the potion on Cho-Chang's lips. And it's done! Hermione will never know what hit her!

[Fred and George head up to Ron's room, once again in the invisibility cloak, to wake him up and send him downstairs. They tell Ron in a hypnotic voice (as they are invisible) that a chocolate frog awaits him downstairs in the common room and that he better go get it before someone takes it. They then remain at the top of the stairs to listen. Enter Ron into the common room, half asleep. He stubs his toe on a coffee table and yelps. Cho-Chang wakes up.

Ron: OWWWWW!!!

Cho Chang: Ron, is that you?

Ron: Yeah. Cho Chang? You're still here?

[George to Fred: Oh no we used the potion on the wrong person! Maybe I should've relit the fire!

Cho Chang: I was going to go home but then I fell asleep on the couch. But now that I see you, I'm glad I didn't. Did I ever tell you how much I love red hair? Oh and I think freckles are simply charming. I never said anything when we talking early, but I think you are handsome. In fact, so handsome, that I'm weak in the knees looking at you, and I'm sitting down!! Come here you…[She grabs Ron and kisses him

[Enter Harry, awakened by the noise. What is going on here?!

Fred to George: Hermione must be in her bedroom. Let's go put some of the love potion on her lips before she also wakes up from all the noise. [They drip the love potion onto her lips and return to the top of the stairs, still in invisibility cloak

Ron: It's not what you think. A voice told me there was a chocolate frog down here for me and so I came down to get it, and then Cho-Chang-

Harry: Save it Ron! I can't believe you would do this!

[Enter Hermione Ron, did I hear you yelling? You know, some people have to get up tomorrow and ace Snape's potions test and- [She looks at him- I mean its ok that you woke me up, I…I have to…to finish studying. Wow Ron, did you get a haircut or something, you look good.

Ron: What?

Hermione: Ahem… umm Ron, there's something I want to tell you. I can't stop thinking about you and I think that you are so smart and handsome and ever since I saw how bravely you played the real life chess in first year, all I wanted to do is this…. [She grabs his shoulders and pulls him in close and kisses him.

Ron: Is this some kind of joke?

Harry: Yeah that's what I'd like to know!

Ron: I can't believe you guys are mocking me! I mentioned to you before how I thought I wasn't good enough for Hermione, and you guys ran and told her! Now all three of you are making fun of me! Bloody Hell!

Harry: Give it a rest Ron. Don't try to hide the fact that you just came down to sneak a little action with my girlfriend! You've always been jealous of me, like that time I got into the Triwizard tournament!

Cho-Chang: Hey don't talk to him like that. C'mon Ron, let's go to the Hufflepuff common room, where maybe we can be alone…

Hermione: Excuse me, Miss Hufflepuff, BACK-OFF! Ron's mine, he's always had my heart, and now his is mine. You're not even allowed in here, you're lucky I don't rat you out! Go back to the Hufflepuff quarters… and by yourself!

Fred to George: George, this is going horribly wrong! What are we going to do?

George: What we need is the Draught of Living Dead.

Fred: Oh yes, you're absolutely right! By the way George, when did you start carrying Wormwood, Asphodel, Sopophorus Bean, and Valerian Roots in your back pocket?

George: Well, we have the invisibility cloak on, let's head to Snape's office and see if there's one already made.

[Exit Fred and George. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cho-Chang remain bickering.

Act III Scene I

[Enter Fred and George with sleeping potion just outside the Gryffindor common room still in invisibility cloak.

George: It was lucky Snape had exactly one Draught of Living Dead potion left. He must have been saving it for something…

Fred: Yes, Brilliant! Good thing he had a Wiggenweld potion too, otherwise we'd never be able to wake them up again. Let's go in and get to work.[Fred and George enter common room. While invisible, they place a drop of the sleeping draught onto each student's lips. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cho-Chang all fall down instantly in deep sleep. Cool!

George: Definitely! Okay, we need make sure Cho-Chang falls for Harry not Ron. [He places some of the love potion onto her lips. There, that should do it.

[Fred drags Harry's body over next to Cho Chang's. There, this guarantees that Harry will be the first person Cho-Chang sees when she wakes up.

George: Good thinking. Now let's use the Wiggenweld potion to wake them all up. [Still invisible, they drop the Wiggenweld potion onto each student's lips. They all slowly wake.

Cho-Chang: Harry? Oh Harry, I don't know what has come over me. I feel like I've been hypnotized or something… and why are we all here? Maybe I should go back to my own common room. Good night, Harry. See you tomorrow, sweetheart. [She kisses his forehead.

Harry: Good night. Wow, what a strange night, and yet I don't even remember what happened…

Hermione: Oh my, I don't feel very good…Ron? Ron? WHERE'S RON[She sees him. Oh, there you are! What's happened here?

Ron: I'm not really sure. Are you ok? Do you want me to make you some hot cocoa?

Hermione: Yeah, that would be great! Thanks, you're so good to me. You're my knight in shining armor… I love you, Ron. I always have.

[Fred and George whisper to each other: Mischief Managed!

Exeunt.