Chapter Eleven: Into the Snake's Den
Winter break had come at last, and many of the students were leaving Hogwarts for their own safety. Among those who were staying were Harry, Hermione, Tony, Riley, and the Weasley siblings. Hermione, Riley, and Tony had written to their parents ahead of time, and were given permission to stay at the school for the holidays. Unfortunately for Harry, even as the students were leaving, they still didn't let up on him. Even Fred and George picked on Harry about being the Heir of Slytherin.
"Hey, look, everyone!" Fred called out, looking at Harry. "It's the Heir of Slytherin!"
"Be careful! He's a seriously evil wizard!" George added, jokingly.
Tony shook his head at the two as they walked away, laughing.
"And my dad thinks I'm bad." he said.
Ron looked over at Harry and saw that his brothers were doing more harm than good with their joking.
"Come on, Harry, Fred and George are just having a laugh." he said.
"They're the only ones." Harry told him, irritated.
"Okay, so half the school thinks you're opening the Chamber of Secrets every night, who cares?"
"Maybe they're right!"
Harry marched off back into the school, leaving his friends to stand there behind him for a moment in the freezing winter cold before hurrying after him.
"Harry." Hermione called, trying to get her friend's attention. "Harry! Oh, come on!"
Harry managed to climb up the stairs partially before stopping to turn back to his friends.
"Look, I didn't know I could speak Parseltongue!" he snapped. "What else don't I know about myself?!"
None of the four friends before him answered. Harry then took a breath and calmed down.
"Look, maybe you can do something, even something horrible, and not know you did it." he wondered aloud.
"You don't believe that, Harry." Hermione said, shaking her head. "I know you don't. And if it makes you feel any better, according to Tony, Malfoy is staying for the holidays, too."
Ron looked at her, confused.
"Why would that make anyone feel any better?" he asked, slowly.
"Use your head, buddy." Tony told him.
"Because in a few days, the Polyjuice Potion will be ready." Hermione answered, looking between her friends. "In a few days, we may truly know who the Heir of Slytherin is."
This bit of news cheered Harry up considerably.
On Christmas Eve evening, Hermione had gathered the team together to go over the plan. Tony hurried over to the table that Harry, Ron, and Riley were sitting at.
"I got the robes." he whispered, taking a seat. "And I've filled in a few of my friends in Slytherin House what was going on."
"Is that a good idea?" asked Ron.
"We're not the only people who hate Malfoy and his little posse, Ron."
Harry noticed that the Slytherin boy was looking very cheery about all this.
"Tony, you're starting to scare me with your eagerness." he said.
"Sorry, it's just...I've been looking forward to this for ages." Tony told his friends. "I always wanted you guys to come by my dorm to hang out."
"Hang on. I know we'll never be welcomed into the Slytherin dorm, but do you think if McGonagall and Dumbledore give us permission, we could have Tony over sometime?" asked Riley.
"We'll find out sometime." Ron answered, going back to his meal.
Just then, Hermione finally hurried over to the four of them.
"Everything's set." she whispered. "We just need a bit of who you're changing into."
"Crabbe and Goyle." Harry nodded, understanding what she meant.
"We also need to make sure that the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating Malfoy."
"How?" asked Ron.
"I've got it all worked out."
Hermione reached into her pocket and took out two cupcakes.
"I filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught." she explained. "Simple, but powerful. Now, once they're asleep, hide them in the broomstick cupboard, and pull out a few of their hairs. I trust Tony already has a spare set of uniforms for you guys?"
Tony nodded, letting her know that he did his job.
"Good." said Hermione. "While you help us get into Slytherin's dormitory, Riley will make sure that Crabbe and Goyle stay out of sight."
"Whose hair are you ripping out then?" asked Ron.
"I've already got mine."
The female Gryffindor took out a small vial with a few noticeable hairs in it.
"Millicent Bulstrode." she announced. "Slytherin. I got this off of her robes."
Harry and Ron nodded at her, while Tony looked concerned.
"Uh, Hermione, are you sure that's her hair?" he asked.
"Positive." replied Hermione. "Why do you ask?"
"Millicent Bulstrode has a cat. Cats shed hair."
"I think I've got her hair though, Tony. Don't worry. Now, I'm going to check on the Polyjuice Potion."
Before leaving, Hermione reminded the four boys to make certain that Crabbe and Goyle find and eat the cakes. Harry, Ron, Riley, and Tony took the cakes and headed off out of the Great Hall to do the next part of their job. Ron put the cakes on the ground, all four deciding to use the Levitation Charm to have them floating in mid-air, while they stayed out of sight. Harry saw that Ron was about to cast the spell, and quickly stopped him.
"Ron, maybe I should do it." Harry offered.
Ron looked at his broken wand, and nodded.
"Yeah. Right." he agreed, half-heartedly.
Harry took out his wand, and pointed it at the cakes.
"Wingardium Leviosa." he whispered.
The cakes started floating up into the air and just in time, too. Crabbe and Goyle were just leaving Great Hall, their arms filled up with cakes and sweets. They caught sight of the floating cakes and guffawed in glee.
"This is sad." Tony whispered, looking at his friends. "This is completely sad. I am embarrassed for them."
"He's right." Ron agreed, quietly. "I mean..."
He and the others watched as Crabbe and Goyle collapsed, the Sleeping Draught taking effect.
"...how thick could you get?" the youngest Weasley male finished.
He and Tony grabbed Crabbe, while Harry and Riley took Goyle, and the unconscious pair of Slytherin were dragged off down the hall into the broom cupboard. Inside were a clean pair of Slytherin robes that were the same size as Crabbe and Goyle's. Harry and Ron grabbed them up, and quickly plucked a few hairs from the two Slytherin students' heads, and followed Tony back to the girls' bathroom. Riley stayed behind and locked the door to the broom cupboard, ready to do his job.
Tony watched as Hermione filled up each cup with the Polyjuice Potion, grimacing in disgust. Harry and Ron exited their stalls, having finished dressing in their oversized student robes, and walked over to their friends.
"We'll have exactly one hour before we change back into ourselves." Hermione told her Housemates.
Once finished pouring the last of the potion into the cups, she started passing out a cup to Harry and Ron and instructed them to add in the hairs. Ron grimaced as he added in his hairs, and groaned.
"Essence of Crabbe." he muttered, disgusted.
"Cheers." said Hermione.
The three Gryffindors clinked their glasses together, and started to drink. Tony watched this with curiosity, and saw that Ron's face drained of color. To his surprise, Harry and Hermione looked the same.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." gasped Ron.
He dropped his glass, which shattered against the ground, and darted toward an empty stall.
"Ron?" Tony called after him, worried.
Hermione grimaced, agreeing with Ron, before dropping her glass and hurrying into a stall as well. Harry soon followed suit, but didn't have it in him to find a stall. Tony saw him doubling over toward a sink, and hurried to his side.
"Harry, are you okay?" he asked.
He watched as Harry's skin started to morph, and slowly looked up at the mirror. Harry's face started to change into Goyle's until it was like he was looking at an exact copy.
"Impressive." commented Tony.
He and Harry heard one of the stalls opening, and saw Ron leaving the stall. But he now looked exactly like Crabbe.
"Harry?" Ron's voice spoke.
"Ron." gasped Harry.
Tony looked between the two, surprised that they sounded the same. Harry had noticed the same thing, and told Ron that they needed to sound more like the people they were imitating.
"But where's Hermione?" asked Ron.
"I...I don't think I'm going." Hermione answered from inside the stall she was in. "You go on without me. Just follow after Tony."
"Hermione, are you okay?" asked Harry.
"Just go! You're wasting time!"
Tony lingered a little as Harry and Ron took off, and muttered to her.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you got cat hair." he guessed.
Hermione kicked at the door from inside the stall, surprising him, and making him fall on his back. Tony took the hint, and hurried after his friends. He led them down the corridors until they had stopped at a stone wall. Harry and Ron looked around, confused.
"Where's the portrait?" asked Harry.
"This is it." replied Tony. "Before we go in, if there are any Slytherin around that are tight with Malfoy, I'm going to rub the back of my neck. When I do, you guys need to act like Crabbe and Goyle, and bully me. And Harry, Goyle doesn't wear glasses."
Harry nodded, and quickly removed his glasses.
"Pure-blood." Tony spoke, looking at the stone wall before them.
To the Gryffindor pair's surprise, the wall in front of them adjusted so that a passageway was created. The three of them walked inside, and ended up in the Slytherin common room. Inside were a few green leather couches and chairs, some tables and lamps, and even a fireplace. A few Slytherin students were in the common room, but Tony had not signaled his friends to attack him. One Slytherin girl, a girl about their age with long braided black hair and green eyes, looked at them.
"So they've arrived at last." she spoke, smiling. "But where's 'Millicent'?"
"Couldn't make it." replied Tony. "Anyone else here, Jasmine?"
"Just us, Jesse, and Scott."
Tony turned to look at Harry and Ron, smiling.
"Guys, these are my friends in Slytherin House." he told them. "This is Jasmine Willows,..."
Jasmine waved at the two Gryffindors politely.
"...her brother, Scott,..." Tony continued, pointing at another Slytherin.
A boy with neatly combed brown hair and green eyes nodded at them.
"...and Jesse Reigns." Tony finished, gesturing to the last of the other Slytherin.
"Nice to meet you." Jesse greeted, waving at the trio.
Jesse was a boy with shaggy brown hair with blond streaks. He wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, and seemed to be staring in another direction.
"Is he...?" Harry started, looking at him.
"'Blind'?" Jesse asked, smiling. "Yes, he is, Potter. I'm pure-blood, too. But my folks and I don't see the point of supremacy. We believe in equality, and that and my little problem is why I'm not exactly a favorite of our House."
He paused to raise his arm at the side.
"The Willowses here are half-Muggles, like you, Potter." he explained. "One Muggle parent, one Pureblood. But the Muggle parent was a wizard."
"Have all your parents been in Slytherin?" asked Harry.
"My parents were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, Jasmine and Scott's mother was in Hufflepuff, and their father was in Ravenclaw. It's not just where you come from that decides which House you belong to, it's the traits. You know, Gryffindors are brave and daring, Slytherins are cunning and real risk-takers, Hufflepuffs are dedicated to their family and will stand by each other through thick and thin, and Ravenclaws are intelligent and curious."
Harry nodded, understanding now. However, Ron slowly rounded on Tony.
"I thought you said there was another Muggleborn Slytherin." he commented.
"I kinda made that part up." Tony confessed, sheepishly.
Behind them, the passageway started to open once again, and Tony quickly backed away from the two Gryffindors to avoid suspicion. Just in time, too, because Draco was the one walking into the common room. He caught sight of Harry and Ron and glared at them.
"Crabbe! Goyle!" he called, angrily. "Where have you two been?!"
Harry and Ron turned to him, speechless.
"Pigging out in the Great Hall again?" asked Draco.
"You're surprised?" asked Tony.
"Watch your mouth, Mudblood!"
Ron nearly clocked him, but remembered that he wasn't Ron right now. For an hour, he had to be Crabbe. And Crabbe didn't defend Muggleborns. Draco, Ron, and Harry sat down at the couches, with Draco sitting on one by himself, facing who he thought were his two cronies.
"You'd never know the way the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave." said Draco. "They're an embarrassment to the wizarding world. All of them."
He noticed that "Crabbe"'s hand was starting to clench, and stared at him.
"What's wrong with you, Crabbe?" he asked.
Harry, Tony, Scott, and Jasmine all looked at Ron, who relaxed again.
"Must've been all that junk food he's been devouring." joked Jesse. "Prof. Snape always said that too much of something was a bad thing."
Ron took that as a hint, and nodded.
"Stomachache." he said.
Draco nodded, seemingly buying it, then looked away.
"You know, I'm surprised that the Daily Prophet hasn't done a report on all these attacks." he told them. "I suppose Dumbledore is trying to hush it all up. Father always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that ever happened to this place."
Harry couldn't help himself from speaking out.
"You're wrong!" he declared.
Behind Draco, the other Slytherin in the room shot Harry a look. Draco himself swung his legs off of the couch, and slowly got to his feet, glaring at "Goyle".
"What?" he asked. "Do you think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore? Well? Do you?"
Harry remained quiet for a moment, then came up with an answer.
"Harry Potter?" he tried.
The room went deadly quiet for a moment, then Draco nodded in agreement.
"Good one, Goyle. You're absolutely right." he agreed. "Saint Potter. And people actually think that he's the Heir of Slytherin?"
"But then you must have some idea who's behind it all." Harry wondered aloud.
"You know I don't, Goyle. I told you yesterday."
Draco started walking towards a table as he spoke, and picked up a small box.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" he asked.
He paused to shake up the box in his hand by his ear, and asked "Goyle" if it was his. Harry shook his head, and Draco pocketed it.
"But my father did say this: It's been fifty years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it, only that they were expelled." he told Harry and Ron. "The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time."
Tony looked at Harry and Ron in horror for a moment, then looked at where the Willows siblings and Jesse were standing. They all had the same expressions on their faces as well.
"As for me,..." Draco continued, in a malicious voice. "I hope it's Granger."
Harry saw Ron leaping out of his seat to attack Draco, and quickly grabbed him. Draco heard them getting up and looked at them.
"What's the matter with you two?!" he asked. "You're acting very...odd."
"It's his...stomachache." replied Harry.
Ron nodded in agreement, and Draco ignored them to look at the present he had stolen, then he remembered that Tony was still in the room and looked at him.
"Who knows, Gabriel, it might be you instead of Granger that dies, too." he sneered. "A Mudblood in Slytherin, you should've been the first to be attacked."
"I may be a Muggleborn, Malfoy, but even Salazar Slytherin himself can't deny that I'm a better wizard than you'll ever be." Tony retorted, angrily.
Draco glared at him for a moment, then heard the sounds of footsteps rushing out of the room. Looking back at Ron and Harry, he saw that they were running out of the dormitory.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" he demanded.
"Maybe those two should go on a no-sweets diet." joked Jesse.
Riley stood in front of the stall that Hermione was in, and tapped his foot impatiently.
"Hermione, will you come out of there already?" he asked. "It feels like deja vu all over again."
"No!" Hermione answered, irritated. "I'm not coming out there!"
Riley turned away from the stall, and raised his arms to the sky.
"Women!" he exclaimed. "I don't get them!"
A pair of footsteps alerted him to someone approaching the girls' bathroom, and looked back to see Harry and Ron heading his way. They appeared back to their normal selves.
"That was close." Ron panted, as they hurried into the bathroom.
"An hour's up already?" asked Riley.
"And we've got good news and bad news." replied Harry. "Hermione, come out. We've got loads to tell you guys."
"Go away!" Hermione shouted from behind the stall door.
Moaning Myrtle floated out towards them, snickering.
"Wait till you see." she giggled. "It's awful."
The three Gryffindor males looked at her, then back at the stall.
"Hermione?" Harry called, concerned. "A-Are you okay?"
He pushed the door open, and Ron and Riley's faces turned to one of shock.
"Merciful Zeus." gasped Riley.
Harry's hand scrambled for his glasses to try and see what the others were looking at.
"Do you remember me telling you that the Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformations?" asked Hermione. "Tony was right. It was cat hair I plucked off Millicent Bulstrode's robes."
She turned to face her friends, just as Harry put on his glasses. She had partially transformed into a cat. Complete with the face, whiskers, ears, and tail.
"Look at my face." Hermione whispered, miserably.
"Look at your tail!" exclaimed Ron.
Harry and Riley looked at each other as their friends laughed at Hermione's predicament.
"So, how are we going to explain this?" asked Riley.
"That's a good question." replied Harry.
Since Tony was a Slytherin, and a friend of the gang's, I decided to have him lead Harry and Ron to the Slytherin Dungeon. I also added new OCs to the Slytherin House, the ones Tony was talking about. I know I mentioned another Muggleborn Slytherin, but I'm saving that for another time. I wanted Tony to be the only Muggleborn Slytherin for this story, I will try to introduce more in the future.
Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, the Gabriels, Jesse Reigns, Scott and Jasmine Willows. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.