disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella and her story.
The Polyjuice Potion
It was the attack on Nick that caused panic amongst the students. He was already dead and someone or something managed to attack him, a ghost. There was a rush to book seats on the Hogwarts Express back home for Christmas. At this rate, Arabella, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson were going to be the only ones left over the holidays.
No one seemed to want to be around Harry over the holidays and they kept skirting around him in the corridors, pointing, muttering and hissing as he passed. Fred and George were the only ones that found this all very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through…."
Percy disapproved of their behaviour, Ginny did not find it amusing, and Malfoy looked increasingly sour each time he saw them.
"It's because he's bursting to say it's really him," said Ron. "You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."
"Not for long," said Hermione. "The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready. We'll be getting the truth out of him any day now."
Before the end of the term, Professor McGonagall pulled Arabella aside before she managed to enter the Great Hall for dinner.
"A word, Black," she said sharply. "Quick, it's urgent."
Arabella looked at Hermione briefly before following Professor McGonagall to her office quietly. Her office was on the first floor with windows overlooking the Quidditch pitch. There was a large fire already crackling on the left wall and McGonagall went to her desk where there was already a piece of parchment on top.
"Have a seat, Miss Black," said McGonagall, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk.
"Is something wrong, Professor McGonagall?" asked Arabella.
"Unfortunately, yes, Miss Black," said Professor McGonagall gravely. "I recently got a letter from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Department of Children and Family Services, and the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They will be paying you a visit shortly after Christmas. They will be coming here to ask you some questions about yourself and your living arrangement with Remus."
"But… but they asked me this years ago," said Arabella, confused.
"And a lot can change in a couple years, Miss Black," said McGonagall. "And they wish to revisit on your case for the time being, due to the nature of Remus's condition. I will be writing to Madam Amelia Bones to ask her to come and question you. She's just, fair and will hear you out."
"What about Remus?" asked Arabella. "Shouldn't he be here as well when they come?"
"Professor Dumbledore will be speaking to him, but it seems as though they wish to question you without the presence of your godfather. They believe that the presence of Remus would hold you back from answering truthfully."
"That's a lie!" shouted Arabella. "I would never –"
"Do not take that tone with me, Black," snipped McGonagall. "I know the truth and I am on your side in the matter. I will be writing to the Ministry to see if I may sit in with you or perhaps Professor Dumbledore. Until then, keep out of trouble and do not lose your head in this matter. It will all be resolved soon."
Arabella sighed and slumped against the chair in front of McGonagall's desk. She leaned forward and placed her head in her hands. It seemed as though things were going from bad to worse. People were getting attacked at Hogwarts, ghost were even getting petrified, everyone thought Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, and now the Ministry was coming to Hogwarts to interrogate her.
Arabella felt McGonagall's hand on her right shoulder and she squeezed it.
"They will not take you away from Remus, Miss Black," said McGonagall.
Arabella nodded and smiled at her professor. But that gave her little to no comfort. The Ministry was going to try to find a way to take Remus away from her.
She got up and went to the Great Hall for dinner. She stopped short of the grand doors and looked outside on the grounds. Snow was falling on the ground peacefully and she hoped Dumbledore managed to find Remus.
"What was that all about?" asked Hermione as Arabella took a seat next to her.
Arabella sighed. "The Ministry will be paying me a visit shortly after Christmas. They wish to interrogate me about living with Remus once again."
"Why?" asked Harry. "Is he in trouble? Are you in trouble?"
"They just want to reopen my case and make sure nothing's changed," said Arabella. "They probably don't have anything else to do. It's… stupid."
"That's a little odd," said Ron. "Why would they want to interrogate your or Mr. Lupin? You both are wizards and, as far as they know, neither one of you have ever gotten into trouble with the law." Ron shook his head. "It's ridiculous. I can write to my dad, see if he can find out what's really going on if you want."
Arabella shook her head. "No, it's fine, honestly. It must have something to do with my father. I don't want to cause any more trouble with the Ministry. I'll just answer their questions and get the whole thing over with as soon as possible."
"Sure puts a damper on Christmas, huh?" asked Ron.
When term ended, the common room was nearly empty, save for Arabella, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys. They had the run of the Gryffindor Tower, and they played Exploding Snap loudly and practiced dueling in private.
When Christmas morning came, Arabella and Hermione woke up extra early to add more lacewings to the Polyjuice Potion. Hermione looked over the instructions once more and was muttering under her breath while Arabella stirred the potion mindlessly. Her mind was still on her upcoming visit from the Ministry.
What is they actually… what if they actually take her away from Remus? They wouldn't do that, would they? It was cold, heartless and… it would absolutely destroy her. Remus was all she truly had in this world and… she cannot let some Ministry buffoon sweep in and take that all away. She can't let that happen, she will not allow it to happen. Arabella sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. Now, more than ever, she wished she was back home – Remus's home – under her warm covers and away from everyone, away from the Ministry.
"You all right, Arabella?" asked Hermione.
Arabella snapped out of her trance. "Yeah, why?"
"Because Myrtle just splashed toilet water on the floor and your slippers are soaking wet."
Arabella looked down to see her feet soaked in toilet water. She inhaled sharply and Hermione waved her way, heating her feet up.
"Are you still thinking about your upcoming visit?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah," mumbled Arabella.
"It'll be over before you know it," said Hermione. "And they have no reason to take you away from Mr. Lupin. It's not as though he's some dangerous man or anything."
Arabella grimaced as they went back to their dormitory. Arabella threw her slippers in the corner as Hermione began to open her presents.
"Good pile this year," said Hermione. "Mum and Dad managed to send me Hogwarts, A History and the new edition of a couple Jane Austen books. It's got a lovely discussion session at the end of the book."
"That's nice," mumbled Arabella and began to unwrap her pile.
Hagrid sent her a tin of treacle toffee. Ron gave her a book called Flying with the Cannons, which she found quite insulting considering they're the enemy. Hermione gave her a set of new quills and Harry got her a box of Chocolate Frogs. Andromeda and Ted got her a new bed robe that was dark blue with lovely purple stitching while Nymphadora got her Weird Sisters figurines.
To her utter and complete surprise, Alastor Moody got her a gift as well: Defensive Magic and Dark Magic: How to Defend Yourself and Fight Your Enemy. She couldn't remember the last time Mad-Eye got her a gift. Must have been years ago, though he did always come around for Christmas dinner at the house or the Tonks if Arabella was there.
Mrs. Weasley gave her another hand-knitted sweater that was dark red, and Remus got her a new leather bound notebook and some colourful ink.
The last gift was in the form of an envelope and it was addressed as Miss Black. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
She already knew it was from the Ministry, it was the same envelope and same handwriting as before. She ripped it open quickly and read the note.
Miss Arabella Black,
I will be visiting you the day after Christmas to speak with you about your living arrangement with Remus Lupin and his treatment of you the past couple years. This is to make sure that Mr. Lupin is not mistreating you. I already spoke with Minerva McGonagall and we will be using her office for our meeting. Two other wizard will be with us during our meeting, Clarence Anges from the Department of Children and Family Services, as well as Theodore Guthrie from the Beast Division of the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They both will be asking you questions as well.
If you recall last year we allowed Prisoner Sirius Black to send you a gift, and we are allowing it this year as well. This is with a good heart and Christmas spirit that we are doing this. Prisoner Black wished for you to have this as well and wishes you Merry Christmas. You are not allowed to send a gift back to him.
Merry Christmas,
Madam A.S. Bones
Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement
It was a drawing with MERRY CHRISTMAS written on top of the parchment. The drawing, it was beautiful. The shading, the lighting, the lines – it was all very careful and intricate and it managed to catch Kassandra's beauty perfectly. Arabella stared at it for a moment. Kassandra was smiling up at her. Her beauty was mesmerizing and it seemed as though she was frozen in time and Arabella was as well. She was trying her best to recall that smile from her own memory, but settling for this drawing was good enough for her – at least for now.
She tucked the drawing into her old notebook where the other picture from Sirius was. She then got up and left the dormitory with Hermione and was about to go when she saw Fred and George emerged from the armchairs near the fireplace.
"You!" they said together. But they were not accusing her. They looked joyous.
"You go on, I'll be fine," Arabella told Hermione.
Just as Hermione disappeared up the boy's dormitory, Fred and George pulled her into a sandwich hug, squeezing the life out of her.
"We will always be in your service," said George, smacking her forehead with sloppy kisses while Fred said, "Thank you, my lady."
"I take that you opened your gift," said Arabella, laughing.
"Of course," said Fred as they both let go of her. "Though it is a small container."
"Well, then you're going to have to figure out how to make more of it," said Arabella. "If you wish to make everyone in this school's skin turn blue with yellow hair, then I suggest you find out how to make more of it."
"Oh, come on," whined George. "Can you just tell us?"
"I'm afraid not," said Arabella, shaking her head. "Took me a while to figure it out and I'm certainly not going to just tell you. And if you figure this out, I'll give you the colour bomb and the hair change liquid."
"You will?" asked Fred, his eyes shining.
"If you figure it out," said Arabella. "But, yes, I will."
Fred and George smiled at each other before heading up to their own dormitory. Arabella looked after them and shook her head. She then laid down on the couch and relished in the presence of the fire. She waited for Hermione, Harry and Ron so that they could head for breakfast together.
The Great Hall looked magnificent with a dozen Christmas trees and holly streamers and mistletoes everywhere. The ceiling was enchanted to make snow fall, but it was warm and dry. Dumbledore was leading them in a few of his favourite carols with Hagrid booming more and more loudly with each eggnog, while Percy kept asking everyone why they were sniggering at him. Fred had managed to bewitch his prefect badge so that it now read 'Pinhead'.
Harry and Ron managed to finish their helpings of Christmas pudding when Arabella and Hermione dragged them out of the hall to finalize their plans for the evening.
"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into," said Hermione, "and obviously, it'll be best of you can get something of Crabbe's, Goyle's and Parkinson's; they're Malfoy's best friends, he'll tell them anything. Parkinson loves Malfoy, he'll probably tell her the same as well. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him."
"We've filled these three chocolate cakes with Sleeping Draught," said Arabella, holding up some chocolate cakes. "We will have to make sure that they find them and eat them. Crabbe and Goyle will be easy enough to fool, obviously, but not Parkinson. Hopefully she'll take them, if not, I have another plan. Once they're asleep, we'll take some of their hairs and hide them in a nearby closet."
Harry and Ron looked doubtfully at each other.
"I don't think –"
"That could go seriously wrong –"
Arabella started to glare at them dangerously.
"Aren't you the ones that wanted to find out whether or not Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin?" asked Arabella. "We need to get their hairs. The potion will be useless without them and a complete waste of our time this last month."
"Oh, all right, all right," said Harry. "But, Hermione, what about you? Whose hair are you ripping out?"
"I've already got mine!" said Hermione brightly, pulling out a tiny bottle out of her pocket and showing them the single hair inside it. "Remember Millicent Bulstrode wrestling with me ("Us," coughed Arabella.), yes, yes, us, at the Dueling Club? She left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle me! And she's gone home for Christmas – so I'll just have to tell the Slytherins I've decided to come back."
When Hermione had gone off the check on the Polyjuice Potion again, Ron turned to Harry and Arabella with a pessimistic expression.
"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?"
"Nothing will go wrong, Ron," said Arabella. "It will with that attitude. Come on, we've got work to do."
Arabella, Harry and Ron waited on the other side of the deserted Entrance Hall after Christmas tea, waiting for Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson. Harry had perched the chocolate cakes on the end of the bannisters when they spotted Crabbe and Goyle coming out of the Great Hall. The three of them hid quickly behind a suit of armour next to the door. They watched as Crabbe and Goyle stuff the whole cake into their mouths with a stupid grin on their faces. Then, they both kneeled over backward onto the floor.
They managed to drag them into the closest closet across the hall. Harry and Ron were plucking hairs from them as Arabella hid once again, watching as Parkinson entered the Entrance Hall. She took one look at the cake and left without touching it.
Arabella cursed under her breath. "I thought this might happen."
She quickly grabbed the last remains of the cake and followed Parkinson, and took a small wooden box from inside her robes. It was the size of her fist and she opened the lid and stuffed the cake inside. She shut the lid tightly and threw it after Parkinson. She covered her mouth with her sleeve and made sure Harry and Ron followed suit. A few minutes later, they heard a thump and Arabella looked to see Parkinson knocked out on the floor.
"Give it a couple minutes before it wears off," Arabella told them.
"What did you do to her?" whispered Ron.
"The same thing we did to Crabbe and Goyle, said Arabella. "I used the potion from the cakes and put them in that box I just used. If you put something into it, it gives off a smell, like roses or vanilla, and it works the same with potions."
She then dragged Parkinson's body to the same closet as Crabbe and Goyle. She yanked out some hairs and took the shoes.
"She'll be fine, right?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, don't worry about that," said Arabella. "It works the same as though she ate the cake."
"Where did you get this from?" asked Ron, handing her the small box.
"Someone near Gloucester," said Arabella, pocketing it. "Me and Remus were out shopping and came across it. Couldn't resist."
She then closed the door and they sprinted up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They knocked softly on the door and Ron said, "Hermione?"
The stall in which Hermione emerged from had black smoke emerging from it. Arabella began to pull her robes off of her as she heard the potion boiling.
"What took you so long?" asked Hermione angrily. "Did you get them?"
"Pansy didn't eat the cake," said Arabella. "And we got them don't worry."
"Good," said Hermione, "and I sneaked these spare robes out of the laundry," she held up a small sack and pointed at Harry and Ron. "You two will need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle."
They then stared into the cauldron. The potion looking like thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly.
"Once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly one hour before we change back into ourselves."
"Now what?" whispered Ron.
"We separate it into four glasses and add the hairs."
Hermione poured large portions of the potion into their glasses. Then she added Millicent Bulstrode's hair into the first glass. The potion hissed loudly like a boiling kettle and bubbled madly. A second later, it had turned a sick sort of yellow.
"Urgh – essence of Millicent Bulstrode," said Ron, eyeing it with loathing. "Bet it tastes disgusting."
"Add your, then," said Hermione.
Arabella dropped Parkinson's hair into the glass next to Hermione's. It hissed and turned into a puke green colour. Goyle's turned into a booger colour while Crabbe's murky brown.
"Hang on," said Harry as Ron, Hermione and Arabella reached for their glasses. "We'd better not all drink them in here… Once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle we won't fit. And Millicent is no pixies."
"Good thinking," said Ron. "We'll take separate stalls."
Careful not to spill a drop of the potion, they slipped into different stalls.
"Ready?" called Harry.
"Ready," said Ron and Hermione.
"Let's just get this over with," mumbled Arabella.
And with that, Arabella took a large gulp of the potion. She gagged for a moment before drowning the rest of the potion. It tasted like rotten onions.
Her insides began to grumble and shake and she doubled over with a burning sensation spreading over her body. She looked at her hands and saw that they were changing, so was the rest of her body – her fingers and hands became small and she felt her body shrink in her clothes. Her body shrunk and her hair shortened. Her eyes were burning as they changed a different colour and her nose shrunk.
Then everything stopped. Arabella was on the floor, breathing heavily. Slowly, she got off the floor and unlocked the stall. She went to the cracked mirror and stared at Parkinson's face. She then began to pull the Slytherin robes on herself and straightened everything out.
"You lot all right?" came a low rasp.
"Yeah," grunted another.
Then two figures came out of the stalls. Arabella stared at Crabbe and Goyle as they looked at each other.
"This is unbelievable," said Ron in Crabbe's voice, approaching the mirror and prodding Crabbe's flat nose. "Unbelievable."
"We better get going," said Harry. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow…"
Arabella went to Hermione's stall. "C'mon, Hermione, we need to –"
Parkinson's voice sounded weird and high-pitched compared to her own. It was strange to be inside of Parkinson's skin.
"I – I don't think I'm going to come after all. You go on without me."
"Hermione, we know Bulstrode's ugly. Parkinson's no princess either. No one's going to know –"
Harry looked at Arabella, bewildered.
"That looks more like Goyle," said Ron. "That's how he looks every time a teacher asks him a question."
"Hermione, are you okay?" said Harry through the door.
"Fine – I'm fine – go on – you're wasting time –"
Harry then looked at his watched and inhaled sharply. "We'll meet you back here, all right?" he called to Hermione.
Arabella, Harry and Ron then opened the bathroom door carefully, checked the empty corridor and set off.
"Don't swing your arms like that," Harry muttered to Ron. He then looked at Arabella and said, "Look like you've got something smelly under your nose."
They went down the marble staircase and all they needed now was a Slytherin to follow into their common room. Unfortunately, there was no one around.
"Any ideas?" muttered Harry.
"The Slytherins always come up to breakfast from over there," said Ron, nodding at the entrance to the dungeons.
As soon as he said that, a girl with long, curly hair emerged from the entrance.
"Excuse me," said Ron, hurrying up to her. "We've forgotten the way to our common room."
"I beg your pardon?" said the girl stiffly. "Our common room? I'm a Ravenclaw."
She walked away, looking suspiciously back at them. Harry, Ron and Arabella hurried down the stone steps. The passages were deserted and they constantly kept checking their watch to see how much time they had left. After a quarter of an hour, they heard a sudden movement ahead.
"Ha!" said Ron excitedly. "There's one of them now!"
The figure was emerging from a side room. As they hurried nearer, they realized that it wasn't a Slytherin. It was Percy.
"What are you doing here?" said Arabella, crossing her arms and looking at him in disgust, like a real Parkinson. It helped considering it was Percy and she knew he did not like her one bit.
Percy looked insulted. "That," he said stiffly, "is none of your business. It's Pansy Parkinson, isn't it?"
"And what if it is?" said Arabella, giving him a weird look.
"Well, go off to your dormitories," said Percy sternly. "It's not safe to go wandering around dark corridors these days."
"You are," Arabella pointed out with a small annoying high pitched voice.
"I am a prefect. Nothing's about to attack me."
A voice suddenly echoed behind them. Malfoy was walking towards them, and for the first time in their lives, they were happy to see him.
"There you are," he drawled, looking at them. 'Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? Where have you been Pansy? I've been looking for the three of you; I want to show you something really funny."
Malfoy glanced at Percy.
"And what are you doing down here, Weasley?" he sneered.
Percy looked outraged.
"You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!"
Malfoy sneered and motioned for Arabella, Harry and Ron to follow him. They hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley –"
"Percy," corrected Ron.
"Whatever," said Malfoy. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed."
He gave a short, derisive laugh. He paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.
'Pure-blood!' said Malfoy and a stone wall concealed in the wall slid open. Malfoy marched through and they followed him.
The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, green lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were around it in high-backed chairs.
"Wait here," said Malfoy to the three of them, motioning them to empty chairs. "I'll go and get it – my father's just sent it to me –"
Arabella sat down and tried her best to look at home. She glanced at Harry and Ron, wondering what Malfoy could possible show them.
Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper clipping. He threw it at Arabella.
"That'll give you a laugh."
Arabella's eyes widened at the headline of the Daily Prophet and quickly read the rest of the article:
INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car. Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. Weasley's resignation.
'Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute,' Mr. Malfoy told our reporter. 'He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately.'
Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them.
Arabella then passed it to Ron and Harry, giving a forced laugh.
Once Harry handed it back to Malfoy, he said, "Well? Don't you think it's funny?"
"Ha, ha," said Ron and Harry bleakly.
"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were pureblood, the way they behave."
Ron's — or rather, Crabbe's — face was contorted with fury.
"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy.
"Stomach ache," Ron grunted.
"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy, snickering. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he went on thoughtfully. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in. Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend. He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped-up Granger Mudblood or that disgrace of a Black. And people think he's Slytherin's heir!"
Arabella, Harry and Ron waited with bated breath: Malfoy was surely seconds away from telling them it was him — but then —
"I wish I knew who it is," said Malfoy petulantly. "I could help them."
Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe looked even more clueless than usual. Fortunately, Malfoy didn't notice, and Harry, thinking fast, said, "You must have some idea who's behind it all…."
"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing — last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time…. I hope it's Granger," he said with relish.
Ron clenched his fists and Arabella and Harry shot him a warming look.
"Do you know if that person was caught, Draco?" asked Arabella in a sweet voice.
"Oh, yeah… whoever it was was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."
"Azkaban?" said Harry, puzzled.
"Azkaban – the wizard prison, Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief. "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward." He then shifted in his chair. "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week? Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor —"
"Ho!" said Ron.
Malfoy looked at him. So did Harry and Arabella. Ron's hair was turning red. His nose started to lengthened – their hour was up, Ron was turning back into himself, and so were Harry and Arabella.
They jumped to their feet.
"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted.
"Time of the month," blurted Arabella, holding her stomach. "I'll – I'll probably bleed all over this place if I don't go and take care of it right now."
They sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall, and dashed up the passage, hoping that Malfoy hadn't noticed anything. Arabella could feel her feet squeeze against Parkinson's shoes as they ran through the Entrance Hall. They stopped at the closet where the real Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson were and dropped off the shoes. They then sprinted towards Myrtle's bathroom.
As soon as they closed the door behind them, Arabella leaned against the wall and panted, "I – I told – told you he wasn't – wasn't the Heir."
She then began to punch Ron and Harry's arms and repeated, "I – told – you – he – wasn't – the – Heir." And with each word, they received a punch.
"Okay – okay – stop it," said Harry as Ron blocked her attack. They both began to rub their shoulders as Arabella leaned against the wall once again, exhausted.
"Well, that wasn't a complete waste of time," said Ron. "I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoys' drawing room."
Arabella then checked the mirror and she was back to normal, to her relief. It was nice to be back in her own skin, as compared to Parkinson's. Ron then went to Hermione's stall and hammered on the door.
"Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you –"
"Go away!" squeaked Hermione.
Arabella, Ron and Harry looked at each other.
"What's the matter?" said Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are –"
But Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall door. She was looking happy.
"Oooooooh, wait till you see," she said. "It's awful –"
They heard the lock slide back and Hermione merged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head.
"What's up?" said Ron uncertainly. "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"
Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the sink.
Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking through her hair.
"It was a c –cat hair!" she howled. "M –Millicent must have a c –cat! And the p –potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"
"Uh –oh," said Ron.
"You'll be teased something dreadful," said Myrtle happily.
"Shut up Myrtle," snapped Arabella. "Everything's going to be okay Hermione."
'We'll take you up to the hospital wing," said Harry. "Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions…"
It took a long time to persuade Hermione to leave the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle sped them on their way with a hearty laugh. "Wait till everyone finds out you've got a tail!"
Thank you all for reading! Tell me what you think!