A Study in Magic
by Books of Change
Warning/Notes: This is a BBC Sherlock and Harry Potter crossover AU. The HP timeline and BBC Sherlock's timeline has been shifted forwards and backwards to match up. One major BBC Sherlock character's gender has changed for the sake of the plot. The story was planned and written before season 2 (but incorporating elements of thereof as much as possible). Readers beware!
Chapter Sixty Two: A Quiet Convergence
Everyone unfamiliar with Robert Dongyi Ju MD eventually got over the pain of seeing him close-up. Once they did so, Dr. Robert went straight to the business of brewing the Polyjuice potion.
"It's a Class A banned potion in most Magical States of America—definitely the DMV area, which is where I live," Dr. Robert explained. "Making it and distributing it as illegal as distributing cocaine. So I'm shocked students in the UK learn how to brew it at school."
"Only if you take N.E.W.T. Potions," said Hermione. "And do you mean you've never brewed the potion before?"
"Nope," said Dr. Robert. "And I wasn't planning on ever brewing it, until this came up."
Hermione bit her lip.
"Isn't it hypocritical of you to wonder if I'm qualified to brew it when you were ready to brew it on your own?" said Dr. Robert offhandedly as he pulled out a printout. "Now relax," he added when Hermione turned bright red. "The first stage of Polyjuice potion brewing creates an elixir called Primum ens Melissae, which I have brewed many times. The whole potion isn't that difficult to brew, really—it just takes a long time. The brewing time is one of the main reasons why it's not as abused as it could be, really…"
"How long are we talking about?" Ron asked.
"Twenty-two days is the official minimum, since the standard recipe calls for lacewings to be stewed for twenty-one days and then let the potion stew for another eighteen hours after all the ingredients are in, assuming you're brewing it in a Copper Cauldron," muttered Dr. Robert as he read the recipe.
"But the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon!" protested Hermione as she read the notes herself. "Doesn't that mean it'll be ready in about a month?"
"A month?" said Ron. "That's barely enough time to be ready before the Second Task!"
Dr. Robert frowned at the recipe while Hermione glared at Ron, who withered. Then, abruptly, Dr. Robert crumpled the printout into a ball and threw it over his head.
"You know what, forget it, this is insane," he said.
Hermione turned shocked. "But…!"
"No one wants to brew a potion for month," Dr. Robert declared. "With a bit of know-how and careful thinking, we should be able to brew Polyjuice in eleven days."
This time Hermione stared with a different kind of shock, and so did everyone else. Unconcerned of his audience, as he often was, Dr. Robert clasped his hands together briefly, stuck out a few fingers in a weird contorted way, unclasped his hands and a wheeled blackboard burst out between his palms.
"That was wandless magic!" Hermione whispered. "I thought only Grandmaster Shin could do it!"
"Hand Seal (手印) based magic, actually," said Julia. "He did the Im (임[臨]) sign."
Hermione's eyes went wider. "Is this something your grandfather taught you?"
Julia shook her head. "Nah, something I read when I snuck into his office before he chased me out."
"Should I have a word with your grandfather?" said Dr. Robert as he wrote on the board by hand. "It sounds like he doesn't want to teach you."
"Mmm, no," said Julia as she fiddled with a robe sleeve. "He does teach me stuff, but I think he's worried I might turn out just like my mum so he keeps the more dangerous things to himself."
"I'll definitely have a word with him, then," said Dr. Robert as he finished scribbling. "There, take a look."
He stepped aside. On the board was the Polyjuice potion's recipe written in an abbreviated way; each step only listed the key ingredient, required action if any and the temperature (left blank). Below the recipe was a table that had categories vessel, ingredients, temperature and time in the header, and blank boxes on the row beneath that.
"Four things are vital in creating a potion," Dr. Robert began, "Vessel, ingredients, temperature and time. Mess up any one of these things, and you get a bad potion. That said: let's first consider what kind of vessel we want to use to brew the polyjuice potion."
"You mean Copper verse Brass verse Copper?" said Hermione.
"No," said Dr. Robert. "You're assuming we'll use a Cauldron. We don't have to. You can brew a potion in a stock pot," he conjured an aluminium one, "a Dutch oven," he pulled out a blue tinted enamel one from thin air, "or a cast-iron skillet." He hefted a thick nine inch one. "Remember, a Cauldron is a vessel. The purpose of a vessel is holding stuff and distributing heat to the contents. If you have another type of vessel that does a better job, why bother?
"Now if you look at this recipe, you'll notice at no point are we supposed to bring it to a boil," Dr. Robert continued. "Usually—but not always—this means the potion requires long and slow brewing at a low temperature. So the question is: at what temperature are we supposed to maintain the potion? Does it have to be exact? Is simmering enough? Are we supposed to think more on the lines of poaching? What?"
Harry could see the new-found attentiveness in his friends at this point. Hermione actually took out a sheet of parchment and started taking notes.
"Unfortunately, this recipe doesn't tell you these details," said Dr. Robert as he tapped the end of an extendable fork on the blackboard. "The hints we have are steps four and seven of stage one and step seven of stage two: brew eighty minutes for a Pewter Cauldron; a Brass Cauldron will only require sixty-eight, and a copper one only sixty; then reheat after putting in the leeches and two scoops of lacewing flies. This strongly suggests the potion needs to stay at a certain temperature, since different metals conduct heat differently. But. All cauldrons are different, even if they're made of the same material and subjected to the same manufacturing regulations. The season, temperature of the room, and how high above sea level you are at will influence how quickly the potion temperature rises, too. You also need to think about the size of a cauldron and the amount of potion you're making—larger mass requires more heat—but the recipe doesn't tell you what size Cauldron you're supposed to use, or whether or not you can double the recipe. Either way, rather than relying on estimates and predictions that may not be accurate, we should use a thermometer."
Everyone nodded except Neville, who didn't know what a thermometer was.
"I've already figured out the potion needs to stay at XXX degrees Fahrenheit—or XX Celsius, for you metric folk," said Dr. Robert. "Now thermometers: You can't just use anything. Mercury models are risky to handle. Alcohol based ones are notoriously inaccurate. There are electric probe models, and that's the type I recommend for their versatility and accuracy. Of course, if you want to go really Muggle, there's infrared."
Dr. Robert took out a white device that looked like a white barcode scanner and waved it around. A red laser light danced at the end of the nozzle accordingly.
"Now let's talk about heat control," said Dr. Robert after he put his infrared thermometer away. "For most potions, you can use an open fire. But this potion requires you to maintain a constant low temperature for days. That's hard to do with the typical setting of a cauldron on top of an open fire. Flames are inconsistent; water evaporates into the air, so you have to add more water ever so often and that drops the temperature; and you have to watch for boil-overs. I don't know about you, but that's way too much work for me."
Harry and Ron nodded fervently.
"That's why I chose," said Dr. Robert, grinning, "an electric skillet."
He waved a hand at the electric skillet that was standing on top of a nearby table.
"Note the temperature control setting," said Dr. Robert, pointing at the nob. "It will let us keep the potion at the desired temperature. Also note the heavy body, which helps even heat distribution." He gestured at the body, which was made of metal. "There's also a lid, so that reduces moisture loss due to evaporation." Dr. Robert clamped the lid on. "It's also a Muggle device, so when your muggle neighbours come over to visit, there is no danger of them going: D00de! Is that a Cauldron? Why you have a Cauldron in your house?!"
Hermione and Julia giggled, and Harry, Ron and Neville laughed.
"Okay, so now we have the vessel and temperature figured out," said Dr. Robert as he jotted them down on the board. "Let's talk ingredients, shall we?"
Dr. Robert proceeded to explain the magical contribution each of the ingredients gave to the Polyjuice potion, why they were entered in the order listed in the recipe, and what one may use as substitutes (Boomslang skin could be substituted with other types of shed snake skin; horn of bicorn, on the other hand, was one of the few substances that had the necessary magic to fuse two different beings, thus couldn't be). He also told them Primum ens Melissae, the elixir that formed before one added the powdered horn of bicorn, served as the base of many healing potions, including (but not limited to), the blood-replenishing potion, Skele-Grow and the Limb Attachment salve.
"Now all we have to think about is time," said Dr. Robert after he'd finished explaining. "As you've noted before, the fluxweeds needs to be picked during the full moon. The potion itself needs to sit for twenty-one days. If you did the later for cooking, all the ingredients would've disintegrated to mush. This means the magical property of the number involved is important. You may have noticed there are a lot of threes in the recipe."
"Three symbolizes balance, stability and unity," gasped Hermione.
"Twenty-one is three multiplied by seven," Julia added. "Seven means completeness and rest."
"Glad you brought up number twenty-one," said Dr. Robert, nodding. "The recipe calls for twenty-one days of stewing. Why days? If what you care about is the number, then the unit of time doesn't matter. So if you really want to, you can just let the potion sit for twenty-one hours. But magic increases in potency the longer it ferments, as it were, so thinking in terms of days instead of hours makes sense. But, are we really getting the kind of magic we need for the potion from the number twenty-one? Do we have to use number twenty-one?"
No one answered, not even Hermione.
"Bluntly put: no," said Dr. Robert. "Remember, Potions are essentially soup. So it's not as exacting as, say, making nitroglycerin." He looked at Ron and Neville's confused faces and said, "It's something dangerous and complicated. Just take my word for it, okay?"
"So when you said we can make the potion in eleven days, it's because we can use three plus seven instead of three times seven," said Julia thoughtfully.
"The smaller number won't make the potion weaker?" asked Harry.
"No, it's actually the opposite," said Hermione promptly. "Mixing too many numbers together often dilutes the magical properties of the resulting number. That's why most don't go over the number thirty. The number ten has its own magical properties, too. Since they include 'completion' and 'transition', it would only help the potion."
"Huh…" said Harry.
"Shouldn't you follow the recipe regardless?" asked Julia. "I doubt the agent thought to improve the existing recipe and even if he did, I don't think You-Know-Who would've let him mess around."
"If this was a chemical experiment, I would've followed the published recipe to the letter," said Dr. Robert. "But the whole point of brewing the Polyjuice potion is figuring out whether or not its transforming powers affect your DNA profile. We're also dealing with soup, not a bomb. Unlike a bomb, you can change a recipe and still get the same results. Potioneers do it all the time."
Dr. Robert wrote down 'ten days' on the board for the category 'Time'. Then he crossed off the '21' listed for the last step of stage one and wrote '10' on top of it.
"I think that covers the Polyjuice potion," said Dr. Robert, "Any questions?"
Julia raised her hand.
"How do you make the blood-replenishing potion from Primum ens Melissae?"
"You add whole heliotrope and let it stew for a day," Dr. Robert replied.
"What would happen if you, um, added shredded boomslang skin and heliotrope?" Julia asked again.
"Why are you asking me this?" asked Dr. Robert, staring unblinkingly.
Julia looked down. Then she hardened her expression and looked up.
"Say there's someone who is … has a curse that infects even your magic. Since magic is in the blood, won't the curse go away, at least temporarily, if you transform the blood into that of someone who doesn't have the curse?"
A hush fell in the room. It wasn't hard to guess which curse Julia had in mind. Harry quietly marvelled at the fact she was still thinking about werewolf treatments, even after all this time and after all that was going on. Then he observed Dr. Robert's intensely intrigued expression and felt his stomach do a giddy jump.
"You want to limit the polyjuice potion's transformative effects to just the blood," said Dr. Robert.
Julia nodded.
"The reasoning being, since the curse is in the blood, if the blood changes, the curse may be no more."
Julia nodded again.
"You can't take the effects of one potion and limit it to the scope of another potion, even if they have the same base," said Dr. Robert. "You're still blending two potions together. Golpalott's Second Law states a blend of different potions has more effects than the sum of its parts. What you want to do is the opposite."
"So you'll have to make a different kind of potion altogether," said Julia, crestfallen.
"Yes," said Dr. Robert, eyes twinkling. "But the purpose of the potion—changing the nature of a person's blood, therefore magic—can be achieved without a potion."
Everyone stared at Dr. Robert.
"When a wizard or witch gives their blood to someone else, he or she gives their Life to the recipient," he said. "Now, when you receive Life from another, the donor's magic imputes itself to your magic."
Harry saw the mystery unravelling before his eyes instantly.
"Therefore, if a wizard who doesn't have the curse gives his blood to someone who does have the curse, the former's magic might overwrite it!" said Harry breathlessly. "So the cure for lycanthropy is—"
"—Blood transfusion," said Dr. Robert. Then he beamed proudly at Julia, "Girl, you da bomb."
Julia just gaped at the floor, looking absolutely stunned, while everyone else cheered.
-oo00oo-
Dumbledore and Mr. Shin were silently regarding a gold ring inset with a black stone cracked in the middle when a rip appeared inside the headmaster's office. A second later, a young man burst out from the slit.
"HELLOoooo! I have good news and better news annnnd … not-so-good news," said Robert, shouting and waving his arms at first, but quickly shrivelling and quieting down when Shin levelled a glare at him. "Uh, should I come later?"
"Oh no, do tell us now," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "I have a feeling you have very good news indeed."
Robert blinked a few times at Dumbledore before resuming his enthusiasm.
"Good news: I can have the Polyjuice ready in eleven days," said Robert brightly. "Better News: Mr. Shin's granddaughter got a brainwave on a werewolf cure. It's really promising. I contacted the Magical Institute of Health and they want to try it out ASAP."
Shin blinked. "…What?"
"This is wonderful news!" Dumbledore cried. "Do you mind if I relayed it to some of my werewolf contacts?"
"Oh, go ahead, if you think it's wise," said Robert as he bounced on the balls of his feet. "I'm about 95% sure it will work, but you never know. Anyway, gotta dash. Mr. Shin, I think you should rethink your stance on teaching your granddaughter. She's more than able to handle all the material."
And with that, Robert jumped back into the rip.
"So you have been teaching her," said Dumbledore. "I wondered when Minerva told me about the paper charm."
"She's a voracious learner," Shin sighed. "She badgered me for weeks when she discovered her magic."
"She has your tenacity and thirst for knowledge, I see."
Shin shook his head.
"Her hunger for knowledge probably comes from Yue Ying. As for the tenacity, that's all her father. Greg is not the brightest, but what he does not have in raw talent, he makes up by sheer hard work. That is how he managed to rise up through the ranks."
Dumbledore smiled.
"Indeed. Now, I wonder what Robert meant by not-so-good news."
"Your hand perhaps?" said Shin, as he glanced at Dumbledore's right hand, which was red and raw, as though burned. "He may have even noticed the ring for what is it."
"Quite possible," said Dumbledore.
The two old men sat in silence for a beat.
"Forgive me, I couldn't think of a better way to get the ring away from you," muttered Shin.
"There is nothing to apologise for. The ring had a terrible curse upon it. Had you not acted quickly as you had, even if I survived the initial contact my days would've been numbered."
"And what a disaster would that be," said Shin dryly.
There was another bout of silence.
"You will not ask why I so recklessly tried to put on the ring?" asked Dumbledore.
Shin shook his head.
"You have your secret hurts, and I have mine," he said. Then he noticed Dumbledore's watery eyes and scowled. "Oh, stop crying like a baby."
-oo00oo-
As far as Neville was concerned, the weeks following Christmas holidays were the Best. It felt like waking up from a long nightmare to a bright sunny morning.
The Polyjuice potion got brewed without any hiccups. The brewing had the additional benefit of having Dr. Robert around. Learning Potions from the doctor was certainly easier on the nerves, though his outfits had a tendency to make Neville's eyes throb in revolt. Harry in particular was thriving under his tutelage. As he rightly put it, Dr. Robert had the ability to make Potions make sense.
Dr. Robert's outfits eventually ceased to be a problem when Miss Jackie, who oversaw the potion when Neville and his friends weren't present, hid/burned/destroyed the wheeled suitcase that contained all of the doctor's clothes. The new wardrobe Miss Jackie provided in its stead was a relief to the eyes.
"At least you didn't stick to monochrome," Dr. Robert grumbled after the incident. "Say, how did you know I'd like this sweater?"
He plucked at the purple cashmere jumper he was wearing. Miss Jackie huffed.
"Purple is your favourite colour, Robert."
Dr. Robert put on the most gormlessly sappy look after she said that.
On the eleventh day, after the final dose of lacewings was added, the potion bubbling in the electric skillet looked more like dark mud than liquid. Dr. Robert bottled the glutinous potion in several vials and stored them in a white box. Then he ladled a bit of the remaining potion into a shot glass.
"Time to test it," he said. Then he plucked out one of his own hairs and dropped it into the glass.
The potion hissed loudly like a boiling kettle and frothed madly. A second later, it turned into a confusing medley of colours that smelled, oddly enough, like freshly baked bread.
"Looks about right," said Dr. Robert. Then he blinked up at them. "Who wants to try?"
Neville, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Julia and Ginny looked at each other for a moment.
"I'll do it," said Harry.
"Your mother's going to kill me," muttered Dr. Robert as he handed over the glass.
"No, she won't," said Harry as he eyed the potion. "And won't you be able to get away?"
"I'll probably just lie down and let her do what she wants if something goes wrong."
"Why don't we all try?" said Miss Jackie. "Not you, Robert; you should stand by in case something does go wrong."
"But then we'd have an odd number," Dr. Robert protested.
Miss Jackie ignored him and ladled the potion into six disposable cups. Dr. Robert looked extremely unhappy as everyone dropped one of their hairs into the cup of potion they were given. Neville watched his turn into a rather homey pale yellow.
"Ooh, yours look like baked potato soup," said Julia, looking at his glass. Neville noted Julia's was a pleasant leaf-green that smelled liked herbal tea.
"Label your cup, please," said Miss Jackie as she handed out pens. "Then switch your cup with someone else. No, not you," she added sternly when Dr. Robert made a move. "Can you conjure a few mirrors instead?"
Dr. Robert produced several standing mirrors. In the meantime, Neville took Harry's potion (which was a luxurious shade of gold), Hermione exchanged hers with Ginny's, Julia swapped cups with Miss Jackie, who then swapped cups with Ron. Harry kept his cup and Neville's potion was placed on a table.
"Ready?" said Dr. Robert.
"Ready," said everyone.
"Then go."
Neville drank the potion in one large gulp. It tasted like bittersweet chocolate.
Immediately his insides started writhing as though he'd just swallowed live snakes. Doubling up, he wondered whether he was going to be sick. Then a burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach to the very ends of his fingers and toes. Next came a horrible melting feeling, as the skin all over his body bubbled like hot wax— and before his eyes, his hands turned thinner and his arms grew longer. Then his vision went all blurry and—
As suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. Neville straighten himself up, trembling, as he squinted around. So this was what it felt like, being Harry. His eyesight was now so bad he could barely make out the hazy images of his friends. Someone gave Neville a pair of glasses. Neville put them on and instantly his vision became clearer.
This might just be the most bizarre thing he had ever seen, Neville thought. There were two Dr. Roberts, one wearing school robes that were far too small for him. The Ron lookalike was wearing Miss Jackie's white blouse and black slacks, and the Julia lookalike was swimming in Ron's old robes, looking bewildered. Neville turned to stare at a mirror nearby. Harry stared back at him. Neville scratched his ear. So did Harry. Weird.
"Feels a bit tight around the chest," said Ginny in teasing tone as Neville gazed at his new reflection.
"I think my slacks are falling down," said Hermione sardonically as she hitched them up through her robes.
"So this is what it's like to be tall," said Miss Jackie as she looked down at her exposed shins. "I'm not sure if I like it. How do you feel, Ron?"
Ron stepped in front of a mirror and turned shocked.
"This is unbelievable," said Ron as he fisted a hank of long dark brown hair. "Unbelievable."
Then he looked down and considered the neck opening of his robes.
"Don't even think about it," said Julia severely while Hermione turned furious.
"So it worked," said Dr. Robert. "Now you seven sit tight until the potion wears off. That could be anywhere from one to three hours. Oh, and hand me over a hair."
Dr. Robert left after collecting everyone's hair. Then they lolled around the music chamber making music videos to pass time.
As it turned out, it took two hours for the transformation to wear off. Hermione said that this was a sign the potion was extremely potent. Sherlock got back to them with the preliminary results a few days later: the Polyjuice Potion didn't change their DNA profile.
"That's good news," said Hermione. "But I thought it would, since the Polyjuice changes more than just surface appearance."
"Actually it makes more sense that it doesn't," said Sherlock. "Think! Does the information of the human Sirius cease to exist when he transforms into dog?"
Hermione crunched her face. "Mmm, no, I guess, since he can change back…"
"Precisely," said Sherlock. "Just because the medium that stored information is gone doesn't necessarily mean the information is gone."
Ron made a flying-over-one's-head gesture. Sherlock let out an impatient sigh.
"The Polyjuice potion is supposed to turn your body into a duplicate of your target person," Sherlock explained. "This would mean your brain was transformed to be a duplicate of the target person's brain as well. Memory is recorded in the brain. If the potion copies even information, your post-transformed self would possess the target person's memories since the brain was duplicated. Also, since you have the target person's brain, wouldn't you think and process information the same level as the target person?"
"Oh!"
"But that didn't happen," said Sherlock. "You still have your memories. You still think at the same level as you always did. Meaning, the potion's magic cannot touch certain kinds of fundamental information and its related processes. Therefore it cannot change DNA. This is quite in line with the fact DNA and the physical brain alone does not account for a person's appearance and intelligence."
They had more good news since then. Though whatever progress Professor Lupin made on his health were reversed after the full moon in mid-December, he was in extremely good spirits because he was shorted-listed to receive the experimental werewolf cure Julia discovered. The OBH wasn't going to broadcast the result, as they were primarily concerned about the Triwizard Tournament (and finding You-Know-Who's agent), but the event was going to be filmed and broadcasted via the news agency Miss Jackie founded. Though the agency was supposed to be a secret, they had privy to its existence thanks to Ron, who lately was running around like headless chicken because Miss Jackie put him in charge of directing the agency.
"The new hires are complete sods," Ron grumbled one evening. "Kept ignoring me until Miss Jackie said she's going to sack them all because they're not following company policy—namely listening to me. Then they balked when I showed them a YouTube video to give them an idea what we're planning. One of them flat out refused to watch because it's Muggle."
Hermione was outraged.
"I hope you gave them a piece of your mind!" she said furiously.
"I did," snarled Ron. "I told them I don't care if an idea came from a Wizard or Muggle or a bloody three-headed dog; if it's a good one, I'm going to use it. And if you don't want the Galleons rolling in, you can leave!"
Neville didn't know if the new hires stuck around or if Miss Jackie ended up sacking them all. But the first televised news appeared on the MMN a few days later. Students and teachers alike were fascinated. It was certainly something to see the actual event unfold before your eyes as a pretty witch in rose-coloured robes gave a verbal account of it. Soon it became a ritual for Hogwarts residents to sit at their tables in the Great Hall, take their MMN phones out and watch the daily news.
"At this rate, the agency is going to replace the Prophet as the major Wizarding News source," said Ginny.
"That's our goal," said Ron with grim satisfaction. "Take that, Daily Prophet."
There were, of course, bad moments. Ron and Hermione were bickering worse than ever. The evening when they'd mutually abused the new hires of the MMN for their prejudice against Muggles was one of the few civil conversations they'd had since the Yule Ball. It didn't help that Hermione was in techy mood because people kept teasing her for being the girl Viktor Krum took the Ball, and Ron was still getting snide remarks over Rita Skeeter's article (Malfoy in particular missing no opportunity to remind him of it) when he wasn't getting ribbed for taking the Grandmaster's Granddaughter to the Ball and living to tell the tale.
Curiously, Hermione took to talking about Viktor Krum when she as angry at Ron, and Ron lavished Julia with all matter of flattery when he was furious at Hermione. It came to the point whenever Krum's name came up, Harry shouted: "Not Interested!" and whenever Ron gave Julia a compliment, she replied: "You had another fight with Hermione, haven't you?"
Speaking of Julia, she appeared deeply ambivalent towards the growing excitement over her discovery. Very few people knew about it at first; Dr. Robert asked them to keep the information to themselves, as he didn't want to hype things up. All the newspapers were silent on the subject until the MMN reported that the IWWS (International Werewolf Welfare Society) was trying out a new remedy that was recently discovered. An increasing number of articles about the remedy were published on the Daily Prophet since then, though they were widely off on who discovered the remedy, what the remedy involved and what the healers were doing about it.
"Can they get any news right?" said Hermione incredulously after reading one such article.
"Who cares, it good for us," said Ron.
Hermione glared at him. "Don't you realise this means the wizarding world suffered from systemic misinformation for perhaps decades? Honestly, I'm appalled no one even thinks about it."
"You're not thinking about starting a society against false reporting, are you?" said Ron snidely.
"I could start something myself, of course, but Miss Jackie is already doing something about it," said Hermione.
Ron pointed a finger at himself, as though silently asking 'what about me?' Hermione pointedly ignored it.
"I'm kind of surprised Rita Skeeter isn't writing anything about it," Julia remarked. "You'd think she'd be right in the middle of all this gossip mongering."
"Who cares?" said Ron and Harry together.
"I have to agree," said Hermione. "We have enough going on already without that horrible Skeeter woman. Still, I do wonder what she's up to…"
So the days went by. Julia got an invitation to observe the first round of testing two weeks before the remedy was scheduled to be administered. She showed them the elaborate card inside the library, where the six of them had ensconced to do their homework, looking more subdued than happy.
"Aren't you glad for all those poor werewolves?" asked Hermione.
"Of course I am," sighed Julia. "I just don't want people to think I made a discovery."
"But you did," said Ron, frowning. "You discovered a way to get rid of the curse."
"No, I didn't. It was Dr. Ju who figured it out. If anything, I was completely off-course, thinking about potions."
"But if you didn't tell him your idea, Dr. Robert would've never made the connection," said Ginny. "You're not giving yourself enough credit."
"Whatever," Julia huffed. "Anyway, we still don't know if it's going to work. I don't know what I'm going to do if the results turn out disappointing."
"Your bright optimism is as inspiring as usual," said Harry dryly.
"Yeah, I'm totally sunshine and daisies," Julia retorted.
The conversation ended on that note, and everyone went back to their previous activities.
Neville quietly studied his friends at his vantage point of the table. Hermione was busy doing her Runes homework, several dictionaries and scrolls scattered all around her. Ron was comparing several charts and graphs, occasionally looking up to scribble something for his History of Magic essay. Julia was typing on her laptop, Ginny was reading the Quidditch Weekly, and Harry was using the summoning charm to retrieve the books he needed for homework.
They were all uniquely gifted, Neville thought. Harry had his deductions and deft hand in spells; Ron had excellent business sense, thus was able to manage the MMN since he was a third year; Ginny was bright, vibrant and popular, good at duelling and talented in Quidditch, if the last two-on-two match and her ability disable both Malfoy and Crabbe at the stands during the first task was any indication; Julia was nigh unbeatable when it came to the Cauldron and magic that didn't involve wands; Hermione, of course, was best at everything, so she could do whatever she wished…
What was he supposed to be doing? What was he good at? Nothing, really. His best subject was Herbology, but even there his marks were nowhere as good as Hermione's…
Neville was still brooding over his future when Ron hailed someone over.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
Neville looked up and saw Cedric Diggory head towards their table, carrying an armful of books. Neville thought he looked rather worn and tired.
"Hello, Ron … everyone," he said. "I'm looking up ways to breath underwater."
"Oh, for the second task," said Hermione.
"You haven't figured that out yet?" asked Ron.
"I first thought to use the Bubble-head charm," Cedric sighed. "Then I tested it underwater. It worked okay for the first thirty minutes, but then I started feeling dizzy…"
Hermione let out a small: 'Oh!'
"It's probably because you were breathing in all the bad air you breathed out," she said.
Cedric slapped his forehead.
"I didn't think about that!" he groaned. "The bubble head charm wouldn't circulate air now, would it?"
"No."
"I don't suppose making a bigger bubble would solve the problem."
"You'd look ridiculous," said Ron.
"And you'd probably have a hard time swimming," Hermione added.
Cedric groaned again.
The seven of them started talking about ways to breath underwater. Hermione expounded the idea of transfiguring oneself, at least partially, into a submarine or something similar until she realised Cedric didn't know what a submarine was. Ron quite liked the idea of partial transfiguration, and suggested different animals and fishes as alternatives. Julia rejected goldfish and frog, pointing out they didn't do well in freezing cold water, and also rejected all marine mammals, reminding Ron that they didn't actually breath underwater. Harry mentioned Aqua-lungs, and after hearing what they did, an idea came to Neville's mind.
"Mmm, what about Gillyweed?" said Neville tentatively.
Everyone stared at him.
"It's, um, a magical plant from the Mediterranean Sea," said Neville. "It gives you gills."
Everyone stared some more. Then Harry closed his mouth.
"Neville, that was absolutely brilliant," he said. "I should've known someone as good at Herbology as you would think that up."
Neville went pink.
-oo00oo-
Final Notes: I've been ITCHING for the chance to cover the werewolf treatment. ETA-made a mistake on who Ron transformed to; it should be Julia, not Jack.
I thought about why Snape would mention the Polyjuice potion during Second year. Lacewing flies, according to JKR, represents 'an intertwining or binding together of two identities'. The two potions mentioned in CS are Hair-raising potion and Swelling Solution. I postulated second year students learned about potions that laced different magical properties together (swelling properties of ingredient A; growing properties of ingredient B; lacewing files that does the binding). The Shrinking Solution mentioned in POA was done quite early in the school year, so it is possible Snape was reviewing the previous year's material, which included the Shrinking Solution. I figured Snape told the students the Polyjuice potion is an advanced form of this class of potions.
Am I the only person who thought Cedric should've passed out from carbon dioxide poisoning when he used the Bubble-head charm to tackle the second task? Or that a certain Bug would suffocate whilst stuck in a sealed jar?
Two more chapters and year four will be done, I think. Bah, who am I kidding? It would probably take twice the number of chapters at the rate I'm going…