Chapter 109: Scrofungulus

After a pause, Merula said, "'R' wants me to testify in favor of the White-Robed Wizard."

Claire and Corey both looked surprised.

"That is quite the issue," Claire said.

"You can't testify in his favor!" Corey snapped. "If you do that — "

"It'll weaken my testimony against him," Claire finished.

"Look, I don't want him to go free either," Merula grimaced. "But I'm in a compromised position! If I testify in his favor, it would implicate me as an agent of 'R'. Whereas if I don't, it could make 'R' suspicious about me being a double agent. Ohh, I've been working myself up to the point where I feel sick."

Hearing the word 'sick,' Claire got an idea. She told Merula to meet her in the Infirmary, which Merula reluctantly agreed to. They met by the medicine cabinet after Madam Pomfrey left to tend to the students in the Infirmary further down.

"Merula, we're going to make you come down with a horrible illness," Claire said.

"Absolutely not!" Merula insisted. But upon realizing she was raising her voice, Merula checked to see if anyone heard her.

Fortunately, Madam Pomfrey didn't seem to be listening as she was too occupied with her work.

"I've already done a great deal for you already," Merula reminded Claire with her voice lowered. "But now you want to pile a disease on top of that? You really are crazy."

"Calm down, Merula," Claire said and rectified her earlier statement. "You're not actually going to get sick. All you have to do is pretend to be sick so you don't have to testify at the Wizengamot trial. Though preferably, it should be something contagious that would make the Wizengamot not want to risk exposing others."

"I suppose it's not the worst plan you've come up with," Merula said. "But how are we going to pull it off?"

"Luckily, I decided to ask an expert to meet us here and help with our plan," Claire responded. "She should be here now."

The Infirmary door creaked open as Chiara slipped in and stood next to Claire and Merula.

"Claire, I got the thing we discussed," Chiara said, looking nervously at Merula. "But I'm not sure why you need it."

"Oh, Merula's just nervous," Claire said.

"Petrified, actually," Merula lied, putting on her best fake worried face.

Chiara found Merula's behavior suspicious. "I thought you were supposed to be The Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts."

"Didn't know you had such bite behind that wimpy face, Lobosca," Merula said defensively. Upon seeing's Chiara's angry expression, though, Merula corrected herself. "But in all seriousness, I have a significant flaw that Krystal is helping me out with."

"What did you get, by the way?" Claire asked Chiara, trying to ease the obvious tension between the two.

"You were pretty vague when you asked me to get 'something that would cause a contagious illness' in the message you sent earlier," Chiara responded. "But I did find a jar of the fungus that causes Scrofungulus."

From her shoulder bag, Chiara held up a large jar full of bright green fungus.

"Don't open this jar under any circumstance," Chiara warned Claire. "Or we might have an outbreak of Scrofungulus on our hands."

"So what is Scrofungulus?" Claire asked.

"It's a contagious disease that can be fatal," Chiara answered. "The main sign of infection is tiny tentacles that erupt across the neck and face."

"Eww, gross," Merula said as shivered slightly. "I don't suppose I can just show the jar to the Wizengamot and claim I have Scrofungulus, can I?"

"They might dismiss your claim outright," Chiara guessed. "But they won't ignore you if you actually displayed symptoms of Scrofungulus."

"But you said I'm only going to pretend to get sick," Merula reminded Claire. "How are you going to do that?"

"For that, we're going to need to head to the Training Grounds," Claire said.

Chiara then gave the jar to Merula and left just as Madam Pomfrey was making her way back to the medicine cabinet. Quickly, Merula placed the jar in her jean pocket and got out of the Infirmary with Claire. Together, they made their way to the Training Grounds where Ben was practicing his spell-work on metal dummies.

"As you know, Ben is one of the best Charms students in our year," Claire reminded Merula. "We're going to have him cast a spell on you to make you look like you've been infected with Scrofungulus to fool the Wizengamot into not having you testify at the trial."

"Quite the tall order you're asking for, Claire," Ben said, having overheard Claire talking to Merula while concentrating on the metal dummies. "There's not a single spell that can make Merula look like a Scrofungulus victim. So we'll have to use a combination of spells."

Merula glanced nervously between Ben and Claire. "Is this just an excuse to hit me with Hexes and enjoy yourselves at my expense for all the times I bullied you?"

Ben broke his concentration from the metal dummies and stared directly at Merula. "If I was still a First-Year, I might have enjoyed hitting you with Hexes. Now, this is just something I have to do to help Claire and our group which includes you."

"Okay, so what kinds of spells did you have in mind?" Claire asked Ben. "We have to make it look like Merula is covered in small tentacles, since that's the main sign of infection from Scrofungulus according to Chiara."

Scratching his chin, Ben said, "I think a combination of the Pimple Jinx and the Jelly-Legs Curse should create small tentacles on the face."

Claire didn't sound convinced. "How do you know that for sure?"

"Let's just say I accidentally combined the two spells during one of my trips to Knockturn Alley," Ben replied vaguely.

"That I'd pay to see," Merula grinned. When Ben glared at her, she sighed. "All right, Copper, let's just get this over with. I don't like your presence as much as I know you don't like mine."

"Couldn't agree more," Ben said and took out his wand. "We'll need to cast the spells in quick succession, Claire."

"Got it," Claire answered, taking out her own wand. "I'll cast the Jelly-Legs Curse."

"Fine," Ben nodded. "Then I'll cast the Pimple Curse on the count of three. One…two…three…Furnunculus!"

"Locomotor Wibbly!" Claire recited immediately after Ben.

To be continued…