Chapter 4
The four arguing Hogwarts students headed toward the ugly gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office. They stopped next to it.
"Do any of you know the password?" asked Harry.
"Nope," the rest replied simultaneously.
"Then how are we going to get in?" questioned Harry. No one replied. They just stared at the gargoyle.
"Desperate times require desperate measures," stated Harry. He pulled out his wand. He needed to get Ginny help fast! His entire love life was at stake! If it took blasting the Headmaster's office apart, then so be it! He raised his wand and was about to yell "REDUCTO!" when Ginny suddenly spun around and walked away.
"This is stupid. I'm missing out on Hogsmeade," she yawned.
"Wait!" cried Harry desperately, "Come back Ginny-wobbles darling!" Ginny gave him a nasty look along with an obscene hand gesture and continued on her way. Harry felt like crying again. The old Ginny would never do that to him! He crouched down and stared at the marble tiling. Ginny had shattered his spirit as if he was nothing more than a booger in her nose.
"Maybe," said Ron hesitantly (he was still kind of paranoid), "we could feed her a love potion and get her to fall in love with you all over again."
"NO WAY!" yelled Hermione in a scandalized tone, "You don't know what sort of effects it has! Besides, I've read up on love potions and they only create an obsessive sort of love! Professor Slughorn said so too! Remember? 'It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love…' and it 'will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession…'" Harry felt annoyed with how Hermione could memorize word for word everything a teacher said. She was such a know-it-all!
"Well," replied Ron, "Ginny was already obsessed with Harry to begin with."
"Yea," agreed Harry, "She sent me that naughty love letter in my second year."
"It wasn't naughty!" scowled Hermione, "It was just bad poetry!"
"I like to think of it as naughty," sighed Harry with a dreamy look on his face. Hermione felt really disgusted and wanted to slap him, but that would be mean, and he had already been slapped twice that morning. Ron suddenly got a suspicious look on his face.
"Why were you reading about love potions?" he asked shrewdly. Hermione blushed a bit.
"That's none of your business!" she snapped. Harry noticed that her cheeks were remarkably red.
"You put some in Vicky's potion didn't you," asked Ron scathingly.
"Don't callVictor Vicky! And no, I did not! That rumor was purely Rita Skeeter and that cow Pansy!"
"Yea, right," said Ron sarcastically. He did not look like he believed her one bit!
"Honestly Ron!" yelled Hermione, "I did not feed Victor Krum a love potion, and I am not in love with him! Stop being jealous!"
"Jealous?" returned Ron, "Rubbish! Why should I be jealous of that bloody git? And why should I be jealous over you?"
"Don't call Victor Krum a git!" screeched Hermione. Her hair seemed to grow to ten times its usual size. She scowled horribly at him and stomped away like an ugly male giant.
"Nice going Ron," grumbled Harry, "She's the only one that can brew a love potion for us."
"Why don't you ask Professor Slughorn? I'm sure he'd do anything for you!" suggested Ron. His face was still red and he was breathing rather heavily.
"Ok…" said Harry. He was really desperate. They hurried down to Professor Slughorn's office and banged on the door. Slughorn opened it and peered out.
"Harry m'boy!" greeted Professor Slughorn with a wide grin, "Everything going well I trust? Your friend Ralph here not in need of another bezoar?" He chuckled at his lame joke.
"It's Ron!" yelled Harry and Ron at the same time.
"Eh? I didn't hear you! Well come in! Come in!" Professor Slughorn gestured the two Gryffindors into his office. "Have some oak-matured mead! No worries! No poison in it this time! I've had the house elves check every bottle! Some crystallized pineapple?" He shoved Ron and Harry into their seats and waved his wand. The snacks appeared in front of them.
"What d'you want?" he asked, "This isn't just a social call is it m'boy?" His whole belly shook as he laughed loudly.
"Professor Slughorn…" began Harry hesitantly, "Well, a friend of mine has been having problems with a girl—"
"Say no more Harry!" interrupted Slughorn with a jolly laugh, "You want me to brew a love potion for your 'friend' eh?"
"Er… yea," replied Harry.
"Terribly sorry Harry," sighed Slughorn, "But love potions are banned from this school. I'll lose my job!"
"But professor! Please! It's Ginny! She's not herself! She hates me now!" begged Harry desperately.
"Miss Weasley eh? I'm sorry to say but she's always been the flighty type!" replied Slughorn.
"But professor…" groveled Harry. He stared up at Slughorn with his bile-colored eyes.
"You truly have your mother's eyes… why… I remember your father came to me with the very same problem! Begged me to brew a love potion he did! But I turned him down and they still came out alright!" chortled Slughorn. Harry decided to target Slughorn's weak points.
"Ginny's very talented isn't she," remarked Harry.
"Why yes! She's a talented little witch! Best Bat-bogey Hex I've ever seen!" replied the professor.
"She's the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter so I suppose that enhances her abilities," stated Harry carelessly.
"Of course! Extremely talented… yes…." Slughorn's eyes lingered over the precious photos of his successful former students.
"Imagine," said Harry, laying it on thick now, "If the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter married me, the Chosen One! What children we could have!" Harry winced inwardly. It was totally unlike him to say something like that, but desperate times required desperate measures! "And we would say that it was all thanks to you Professor, who brought us both together so that we could conceive such marvelous, talented children!" Ron stared at Harry, openmouthed and looking gormless. Ron began to get his paranoid ideas again. He's not Harry, he thought. I need to get out of here. He could be Voldemort trying to get Professor Slughorn and Ginny and I'm probably next! Or he could be another Dark Lord and I could be Voldemort and he could be trying to get rid of me!
"Hm…" Professor Slughorn considered this. Harry and Ginny's child could become the next minister, and he would probably get an unlimited supply of crystallized pineapples and oak-matured mead.
"Excuse me!" cried Ron, bolting out of his chair, "I suddenly have something else to do! Good-bye!" He rushed out the door.
"Well, now…" said Professor Slughorn. There were no witnesses present anymore, so he was free to bend a few Hogwarts rules. "Ok. I'll brew a love potion for you."
"YEEES!" cried Harry leaping out of his chair, "Thank you professor! Thank you so much! I'll name the super powerful baby after you!" He pumped Professor Slughorn's hand furiously. Slughorn started to have a few misgivings. Super powerful? Voldemort was like that… what if… Harry and Ginny's child came out super powerful and went wrong like Tom Riddle? Then he would get all the blame… no… a love potion would be out of the question…
"Er… I didn't think you were serious m'boy!" cried Slughorn, "I was just fooling with you! I'm sorry! Hogwart's rules!" And he shoved the stunned Harry out of his office. Harry tumbled to the ground as the door slammed shut behind him.
Oh brutal world! Harry wept. The whole world was out to get him! It was cruel of Slughorn to suddenly raise his hopes and then crush them! His shattered spirits were now ground into fine dust. He turned over onto his stomach and sobbed into the cold, hard marble floor of the castle. Harry was desolate! He had nothing left in the world. Harry decided to accept his fate. Voldemort would kill him and all would be over. Then he could see his parents and Sirius and Dumbledore again. His red and yellow scarf fluttered into his face. Red! RED! Red hair! Weasley! A ray of hope glimmered like a slick eyeball in the sunlight. Fred and George! Fred and George and their marvelous inventions! Fred and George and their joke shop! Fred and George and the stuff they sold in their joke shop! Fred and George and their love potions! Fred and George saying, " Harry help yourself to anything you want, all right? No charge… Take whatever you like…" Fred and George! Harry leaped up with renewed vigor and rushed up to his dormitory, eager to put quill to parchment.