Ron and John returned to the Gryffindor common room, both of them seemingly more content than when they left, as opposed to looking tired.
"Wow, you two are finally coming out of the closet!" Harry said when they sat down with the others.
"Oh yeah, did you know? Ron and I have been together for ages", John replied teasingly.
"Can't trust anyone like I trust him, can I?" Ron added, causing the others to laugh.
"Enough of that, you still have work to do", said Hermione.
"Yeah I know", sighed John, before he and Ron did just that.
However, a sudden outburst from John snapped everyone present, even the other people in the common room to look at him as if he'd grown an extra limb or two.
"I've got it!" he yelled.
Once he saw everyone staring at him, he grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry", he said and the the other Gryffindors went back to their business.
"What have you got?" Delilah asked.
"I'm a brown bear", said John, grinning.
It took a moment before it dawned on them what John was talking about.
"Your animagus form", said Delilah, nodding.
"Yeah! Now I just need to find McGonagall and head onto the next step!" said John happily.
"Blimey, well done mate, tell us what you need to do next, again, if we can help, we will", said Ron, clapping John on the back.
"Will do. I'll head down to see McGonagall right now, she'll be in right? On a weekend?" asked John.
"She should be. Hey, ask her if she's seen Crouch while you're there", said Harry.
"Definitely. See you in a bit", said John.
John picked up his parchment and jogged down to McGonagall's office with a spring in his step.
"Well done Potter, though I daresay, I was expecting you to have narrowed it down a little earlier", said McGonagall, once John had presented his findings.
"Yeah, I did too, I've just been a bit distracted. Nothing serious though. So what's next?" asked John.
"You may not enjoy this part", said McGonagall, with an uncharacteristic grin on her face.
"Why's that?" John asked cautiously.
"The next thing you must do is to hold the leaf of a mandrake in your mouth for a thirty days and thirty nights, non stop. Also, on each of these days, once per day, you must recite the incantation Amato Animo Animato Animagus. I will write it down for you, and I suggest you keep it on your bedside table to perform the incantation in the mornings as you wake up", said McGonagall.
"A mandrake leaf in my mouth. For a month..." John said flatly.
"I'm afraid so", said McGonagall.
"No alternatives?" John asked.
"I'm afraid not. The leaf will be used in a potion. I have told professor Snape and you may take the ingredients from his store rooms as long as he knows about it. Professor Sprout can provide you with the leaf. I believe she is in greenhouse two as of now", said McGonagall.
John nodded, and the talk of Snape's store rooms reminded him about Crouch, the man who supposedly snuck into it.
"Professor... have you seen Mr. Crouch recently?" he asked.
McGonagall frowned.
"Why do you ask?" she asked.
"No real reason, it's just that... well... he was one of the biggest organizers of the tournament, but no one seems to have seen him in months. It just doesn't make sense", said John.
"You are correct, but unfortunately, I cannot say I've seen him lately. Move along now, you have a lot of materials to gather", said McGonagall.
"Yeah, thanks professor", said John, who started the long jog down to the herbology greenhosues.
McGonagall hadn't seen Crouch, and she was almost always with Dumbledore when it came to tournament business. Where was he? John made a note to bring it up when he met up with the others later as he knocked on the glass door to the greenhosue in which Professor Sprout was working in.
"Come in. John, what can I do for you?" asked Professor Sprout.
"Hi professor. So I don't know if Professor McGonagall told you, but I'm working on becoming an animagus with her", said John.
"Ah, she did. I must say, I'm impressed. There have only been seven animagi this century. I understand you will need a mandrake leaf?" said Sprout.
"Yeah. I'm supposed to keep it in my mouth for a month", said John trying hard but failing not to grimace.
Professor Sprout laughed.
"I must wish you luck on that. I'll also give you a fair warning. These leaves are somewhat acidic. Nothing that will damage your mouth, but they'll be extremely sour. I'd avoid eating any desserts for the next month", said Sprout.
"Oh, perfect" John said sarcastically.
"A small price to pay for becoming an animagus in my eyes though! I daresay I could do with not eating desserts for a month", she said, chuckling to herself whilst opening up a drawer filled with carefully arranged plant parts.
"Nonsense", said John, smirking.
"You're too kind. Ah, here we are! If I were to offer advice, I'd leave it on the inside of one of your cheeks with a non-permanent sticking charm. Good luck!" she said cheerfully, handing him the leaf.
"Thanks", said John, before leaving the greenhouse. John was looking at the leaf as if it had personally insulted his family in public. He wasn't looking forward to having it in his mouth for a month.
After he left the greenhouse, he started jogging, and after he rounded the corner into the corridor which led back towards the grand staircase, he saw a flash of bushy brown hair and heard a grunt as he accidentally knocked someone over.
"Shit! Sorry, are you alright?" he asked, holding his hand out. He realized it was Hermione.
"Don't worry, I'm fine", she said, taking his hand as he helped her up. She got to her feet rather gingerly, and was holding her other wrist.
"Are you sure?" John asked.
"Ow... no, something's wrong with my wrist", she said.
"Shit... come on, I'll take you to the hospital wing", said John.
Really smooth John. Injure the girl you fancy. That'll get her interested.
Hermione nodded, cringing due to the pain in her wrist.
"What were you doing down here anyway? Thought you'd done your herbology homework?" John asked.
"I had, I just wanted to ask Professor Sprout a couple of things. What about you?", asked Hermione.
"Well the next thing I need to do for the animagus transformation involves keeping a mandrake leaf in my mouth for a month", said John.
"That can't be fun", said Hermione, gritting her teeth through the pain in her wrist.
"Yeah, I'm not too keen myself, but I'll have to do it", said John.
They continued discussing what it was that made John's animagus form likely to be a brown bear, before John opened the door to the hospital wing.
"Potter, why am I not surprised?" asked Madame Pomfrey.
"Good to see you too, but it's not me this time", said John.
Hermione showed her swollen wrist to Madame Pomfrey.
"Hmm... the wrist isn't broken, but some of the bones making it up are. You'll need the hand in a sling and take some skele-gro", said Madame Pomfrey.
"Skele-gro? The stuff Harry had when Lockhart removed some of his bones?" John asked.
"Precisely", said Madame Pomfrey.
Hermione grimaced - Harry told her what it tasted like.
"I'll see you later, alright? Couple of things I still need to do", said John. Hermione nodded as Madame Pomfrey started treating her injury.
John meanwhile, headed to the dungeons to see Professor Snape. He was about as happy to see John as a chicken would be to see a fox.
"Potter. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Snape asked sarcastically.
John wanted to make a snappy retort about how 'charming' Snape was, but held his tongue.
"Professor McGonagall told me to come to you about the animagus potion", said John without emotion.
"Very well. You will find the instructions in chapter seven of this book", said Snape, handing John an extremely advanced looking textbook.
"And the ingredient list will be there too. You may start brewing it here if you wish. The potion requires three months to fully brew. I suggest you start now if you already have the mandrake leaf", said Snape, taking out a small cauldron.
John nodded, and half-filled the cauldron with water. Looking at the book, he saw ingredients which he hadn't even seen before, let alone used. Thankfully, the book provided images. He could only perform the first step of the process at that moment, which was to add crushed ladybird shells to the water along with the petiole of his mandrake leaf to the mixture.
"Leave the cauldron here. I will look after it", said Snape.
"Thanks", said John, who turned around to leave.
"While I have you Potter..." Snape started.
It took all of John's willpower not to sigh and irritably ask Snape what he wanted.
"Your brother's performance in the black lake was impressive. Touching too, that his greatest treasure was you", said Snape nastily.
"So we've been told", said John, dryly.
"Would I be correct in assuming that he used gillyweed?" Snape asked.
"Yeah, he did", said John.
An unnerving look of satisfaction crossed Snape's face, but he didn't press on the issue at all.
"That will be all Potter. Run along", he said.
John nodded. He didn't need telling twice.
"Why would Snape be asking about what I used in the lake?" asked Harry.
"I don't know. Whatever the reason was though, it didn't look good. He looked really... I don't know, satisfied when I told him you used gillyweed", said John.
"Satisfied Snape... never good news", said Ron dryly.
"But you didn't do anything wrong. I wouldn't worry" Delilah assured Harry.
"He'll probably find a way to make it wrong", said Harry gloomily.
"Just ignore it for now, you're supposed to be enjoying yourself", said Delilah.
Just then, Hermione returned, with her hand in a sling, and her other hand carrying the bottle of skele-gro.
"What happened to you?" Harry asked.
"I... may have knocked her over", said John sheepishly.
"What? Why?" Delilah asked incredulously.
"He didn't do it on purpose, he was just excited about the next steps in his animagus work and wasn't looking where he was going", Hermione assured them as she sat down.
"Alright. So you're okay?" Delilah asked. Hermione nodded.
"Fair enough. Anyway John, what's next in your animagus work?" asked Harry.
John grimaced.
"Got to stick this in my mouth and leave it there for a month and use this incantation every day for thirty days. Then I put the leaf in a potion", said John.
"Nice", said Ron sarcastically.
"So I do want to be able to talk and eat while I do it... anyone know how to do a non-permanent sticking charm? I'm sticking it to the inside of my cheek", said John.
"I can help you with that", said Hermione.
"Surprise surprise", said Ron.
Hermione blushed but didn't protest.
"Alright then, go for it", said John, putting the leaf in his mouth and leaving it open. Hermione pointed her wand at John's open mouth.
"Colloshus!" she incanted.
John grimaced.
"It worked. But fuck me this tastes bad..." said John.
"You'll get used to it eventually. Besides, I'm sure your saliva will dissolve the taste away within a few hours", said Delilah.
"I really hope you're right", said John.
"Actually mandrakes have restorative properties. The leaf will be regenerating whatever it is that makes it taste so bad every day", said Hermione.
"Goddamnit", said John, causing Harry to laugh.
"Laugh it up Harry. You won't laugh too hard when I'm a fucking bear", said John.
"I know, but it's still funny", Harry said through his laughter, and the others, minus John joined in, even Hermione. John did allow himself a small grin.
It didn't take Harry long to find out what the issue with Snape and the gillyweed was. He kept Harry after a potions lesson and accused him of stealing from his store rooms. Apparently, lacewing flies and boomslang skin were also missing. Ingredients for polyjuice potion. He was two years late on that front, so obviously someone else was stealing polyjuice ingredients. He did persist with a threat though, as he pulled out a clear bottle.
"Know what it is?" he asked.
Harry shook his head.
"Veritaserum. Two drops of this will have you spilling your darkest secrets on demand. Use of it on a student is... regretably forbidden. However. Should you steal from my store rooms again, my hand might just slip over your morning pumpkin juice", said Snape.
Harry just looked at his professor defiantly.
When he caught up to the others, he brought up the fact that polyjuice ingredients were missing.
"Another question to add to the list", said John, who was writing everything he knew to Sirius.
Ron had also received a reply from Percy, but unfortunately, they learned nothing from it, and Percy seemed annoyed that he was even being asked.
"None of this is making any sense", said John, frowning once he sent off Achilles with the letter.
"Do any of these ridiculous situations we keep finding ever make sense until the absolute end?" Delilah asked.
"No. That's what's so damn annoying" said Ron.
"Whatever the case though, I don't think it'll be on us to sort this time. This is big, it involves ministry officials. It'll likely be sorted by other ministry officials or Dumbledore or someone of the sort", said Hermione.
"You're right, but it still involves Harry. I'm not backing out", said John.
"I didn't say you should", said Hermione.
Harry stayed silent. The more they found out, the more questions were raised, and his brain was beginning to hurt as he continued thinking about it. It was in fact, a trend with his state of mind which seemed to refuse to leave.
Furhermore, Cedric and Cho still constantly being seen together was making it worse. Granted, Cedric had earned some goodwill in his eyes, but he still couldn't help but want to punch Cedric in the face every time he saw them.
On the other hand, John had gotten used to the mandrake leaf in his mouth roughly two days after Hermione used the sticking charm on it, though he wasn't spending any time sleeping with girls now that he had the leaf to worry about. He didn't seem frustrated about it though, much to Harry's surprise. He seemed much more interested in making sure for certain that the potion he was brewing would be brewed flawlessly.
Snape wasn't making it easy at all, and John decided that he needed a break.
"You know what? Let's just forget all of this and get some food", said John.
"Ah, your one size fits all solution", said Hermione.
"Actually that sounds good", said Ron.
"Of course it does", said Hermione, shaking her head fondly.
"Actually that gives me a chance to give Dobby the socks I bought him", said Harry.
The mere mention of making a house elf happy made Hermione far more receptive to the idea.
"Harry Potter is too kind to Dobby!" Dobby squeaked when Harry presented the socks to him.
"You really dragged me out of a tough situation Dobby, it's the least I could do", said Harry.
Hermione however, was looking at Winky, who was sat in a corner with some butterbeer.
"She is getting through six bottles a day now", Dobby said solemnly.
"Still can't accept that Dumbledore's her boss then?" Ron asked quietly.
"No sir", said Dobby.
Unfortunately, when Hermione politely asked Winky about Crouch, she descended into hysterics once again. Nothing seemed to work to calm her down, and Dobby suggested they leave, which they did without question.
"Percy doesn't know, Winky doesn't know, McGonagall doesn't know, where the hell is he?" asked Harry.
Harry had managed for the most part to enjoy Hogwarts normally for the next few weeks, and the summer weather was a welcome addition as it always was. On May the twenty-forth, he woke up and looked out onto the grounds as he usually did to force his eyes to get used to the morning light, but as he looked out to the Quidditch pitches, he noticed hedges growing on them. Massive hedges. He had no idea why, and it genuinely bothered him that the Quidditch pitch was in such a state. Upon a closer look, he saw that not all of the pitch was covered in hedges. Some of it was, and they made weird, crossing shapes seemingly with no rhyme or reason as to why.
In fact, he realized with a start that today was the day the champions would be finding out about the third task, and Harry found out that he was meant to go to the Quidditch pitch to find out. The hedges must have had something to do with it.
Cedric was even angrier than Harry about the state of the pitch and everyone knew it.
"What have they done?" he asked angrily.
Harry spotted Ludo Bagman coming to them with Krum and Fleur in tow.
"Don't worry, your pitch will be back to normal once the task is done! Can you guess what this actually will be?" Bagman asked happily.
"Maze", grunted Krum.
"Exactly! Hagrid'll have it twenty feet tall in a month! All you have to do is make your way through the maze to the centre and grab the triwizard cup! Though... there will be obstacles you'll have to fight of course. Also, you will be entering the maze in an order based upon your current running scores", said Bagman.
When Harry told John, Hermione, Ron and Delilah, they all came to the same conclusion almost instantly.
"You need to start learning some serious hexes", said John, speaking for all of them.
"And the shield charm", said Hermione.
"Do you know how to cast it?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head.
Ron groaned.
"I'm sorry Ron, but where else do you expect to find the information?" Hermione asked.
Harry knew that Hermione had the library in mind.
Sure enough, they found themselves in the library mere minutes later.
"The reductor curse... could come in handy", John offered.
"The impediment jinx. Harry, write these down!" Hermione ordered.
"Yes mum", Harry quipped.
Ron hid his laughs with coughs for fear of the wrath of both Hermione and Madame Pince.
Before long, Daphne showed up, apparently looking for John.
"Hey Daphne, what's going on?" John asked.
"Hi John. Can I talk to you for a moment? I won't keep you for too long", she said.
"Sure, I'll be right back guys", said John.
John and Daphne walked to a secluded corner of the library, before she turned to him.
"I just wanted to say that I figured out why you've been sleeping with a bunch of girls. Not so much recently, but I know what's going on", she said.
John frowned.
"Do you really? I mean... I've barely told anyone", he said.
Daphne nodded.
"It's Hermione Granger, isn't it?" she asked.
"Wow. How did you figure it out?" he asked back.
"Honestly? You look at her the same way I used to look at Terry Boot. I'm over him now by the way, don't worry about that" she said.
"Glad to hear it. But... you won't tell her, will you?" John asked.
"Of course not. You should though", she said.
"I want to, believe me. Problem is I'm pretty sure she's not feeling the same way as I am", said John.
"The thing is, it doesn't matter. She's still your friend, she deserves to know. I'm telling you this as a friend who's worried for you, alright?" Daphne said.
"Worried? I'm fine, seriously", said John.
"Maybe you are, but it's not healthy to keep it bottled up. Besides, even if she doesn't feel the same way, she can help you if she knows", Daphne reasoned.
"You and Ron seem to agree on that at least" John mused.
"It just makes sense" Daphne said.
"Look, I do plan on telling her, it's just a timing thing really. We're pretty focused on keeping Harry alive right now" John quipped.
Daphne nodded.
"Well that's fair. But when the tournament is over, you really should talk to her", said Daphne.
"I will. Thanks by the way", said John.
"Any time. I also wanted to ask another question though", said Daphne.
"Go ahead", said John.
"You haven't really been sleeping around much this past month. What's going on? And yes, I'm asking for partially selfish reasons too" she asked, blushing slightly.
John smirked.
"I'm just working on something. It'll be done in about a month, and I can make it up to you in two days, since the big part'll be done then" John replied.
"Working on something?" she pressed.
"I'm keeping it a secret on purpose. Don't worry though, I have my reasons", said John.
Daphne pouted jokingly.
"You can't just... let the secret slide for me?" she asked.
"Tempting... but no", he replied, smirking.
"Alright... but I'm holding you to the promise of making it up to me", she said, winking at him.
"Don't worry about that, it's a guarantee", said John.
"I'm counting on it. I'll see you later then", she said before John rejoined the others.