"I'm telling you, Chang doesn't stand a chance against Diggory," Susan said and Hermione rolled her eyes. Susan had started the trash talk that was customary among students before Quidditch matches just before their match to open the Quidditch season. Not wanting to stoop to such a level, Hermione left any teasing uncommented.
She stroked her hand over her belly filled with sweets and pumpkin pie and sighed contentedly. The Halloween feast had been very nice, no troll in the dungeon at all. She said goodbye to Susan, who was heading to the Hufflepuffs' common room and followed the stream of chattering students up towards Ravenclaw Tower. In her mind she was already going over the tactics McFinley had worked out with his Chasers.
She was so lost in thought that she suddenly collided with the student in front of her who had stopped. Surprised, Hermione looked up and recognised Professor McGonagall's pointed hat. She appeared to be blocking the students' path. The students around her began to whisper and Penelope Clearwater, Hermione's prefect, directed them down another corridor.
As they walked to the common room, rumours reached Hermione's ears that Filch's cat must have been found dead or unconscious in front of a message on the wall. It was also said that Harry Potter had found her, which raised suspicions among some that he himself had done this evil deed. Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head. How did the boy always manage to get into such trouble?
Hermione narrowed her eyes and frowned as the wording of the message came to her ears. The students reported that it had said on the wall that the Heir of Slytherin had opened the Chamber of Secrets and was going to haunt his enemies. She had never heard about a Chamber of Secrets before. Not even in 'Hogwarts: A History' was there any mention of such a chamber. She resolved to find out more about it the next time she visited the library.
But even there she could find little information. When she finally asked Professor Binns about the chamber in the next lesson, her whole class hung on his every word, something he was not used to at all. Delighted by the unusual attention, the ghost told them about the legend of the chamber, which Salazar Slytherin was supposed to have installed when the school was built.
Only his heir was said to be able to open the chamber to unleash terror and purge the school of, in Slytherin's eyes, unworthy students such as Muggle-borns. Hermione had been shocked and felt ostracised and persecuted. Even the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff couldn't banish the queasy feeling that had been inherent in her ever since she had heard Professor Binn's tale.
"Hermione!" she heard a familiar voice call behind her. She turned and caught sight of Susan, dressed in yellow, coming towards her with her broom over her shoulder.
"Hey Susan, good luck later! You're going to need it," Hermione greeted her best friend, who started to laugh at her comment. They both grinned at each other and high-fived, wishing each other a good game.
"Want to bet on who will score more goals?" asked Susan and Hermione raised her eyebrows but nodded. "How about this. Whoever scores fewer goals owes the other a dare three times" she suggested, twitching her eyebrows in quick succession, which made Hermione giggle and blush a little too.
"Alright, get ready for a scoring flurry!" said Hermione, pulling her shrunken broom out of her pocket. When they arrived at the Quidditch stadium, which was already alive with the chants of each fan camp, they separated to join their teams in their respective dressing rooms.
Hermione could feel excitement and anticipation spreading through her abruptly. Finally, it would become apparent whether the hard training of the last few months had paid off. Most of her team was already in the cabin and greeted Hermione euphorically, but she could see the tension in her team members' faces as well.
When Cho Chang had also joined them, McFinley gave a speech and quickly repeated the individual tactics they had worked out for this game. Finally, he concluded his speech with their battle cry.
"Raven!" he shouted, while the rest of the team yelled "Claw!".
"Raven!"
"Claw!"
"Raven!"
"Claw!"
"And here they are, our teams, with many promising new players this year," Lee Jordan's magically amplified voice rang through the stadium. One by one he read out the first names of the team members, whose surnames were then completed by the audience. Hermione got goosebumps as her name resounded through the stadium.
"The teams are getting ready and the captains of the teams are now shaking hands," Jordan commented as McFinley walked towards Cedric Diggory. They shook hands and said a few words, then both laughed and got on their brooms.
Hermione also got on her broom, her knees a little wobbly, but at Madam Hooch's whistle, she pushed herself hard off the ground and immediately became more confident as she dashed determinedly towards the quaffle Madam Hooch had tossed into the air. Her Nimbus was quicker than Susan's Clean Sweep and so she was able to grab the Quaffle, which she immediately passed to Roger Davies.
"The toss goes to Granger, who like lightning passes the quaffle to Davies. Davies expertly flies around a bludger and passes the quaffle on to Bradley, who gets hold of it with his fingertips! He goes for the throw, but what's this? Bones has snatched the quaffle out of his hand and is on her way towards McFinley. Bones throws! GOAL! Goal for Hufflepuff after a throw from almost 30 yards! The young talent immediately shows what she's made of," Jordan commented with his incomparable enthusiasm.
Hermione groaned and made her way to the centre circle where the throw-off would be taken for her team. Susan grinned at her from the opposite side. Hermione squinted and concentrated on the throw-off.
"And here's the throw-off for Ravenclaw, Davies throws way forward but there's no teammate there, what was he thinking? What's that? Granger shoots forward like a flash, picks up the quaffle elegantly and is already behind the line of the caught-off-guard Hufflepuffs! Now only Summers is between her and the goal rings. Which one will she choose? Granger throws, GOAL! Ravenclaw equalises and it's 10-10!"
Hermione jerked her fist in the air and did a quick lap behind the goal rings to celebrate the goal with the Ravenclaw spectators.
"This gives us a taste of what we can expect in this game and this season. That should give the Slytherins in particular a good pile of brown pants!"
"Jordan!" the outraged Professor McGonagall shouted into the magically amplified mouthpiece, causing the stadium to resound in laughter and a few boos from Slytherins. Hermione giggled and winked at Susan.
"Sorry Professor. Back to the game. Hufflepuff has the throw-off, and immediately Bones passes to Hopkins who flies towards the goal rings. Ouch! With a precise bludger, he drops the quaffle, which is caught by Bradley and immediately passed on to Granger. Granger is up and away, sets to throw, but passes to Davies at the last moment! GOAL! Davies is able to easily sink the quaffle into the empty goal ring, which was unguarded because of Granger's last-second pass."
A flurry of goals erupted, but both sides remained evenly matched, increasing the pressure on the Seekers to end the contested game by catching the snitch. It started to rain. It had been cloudy all day, but now a dark cloud was right over the stadium, releasing its contents over the pitch.
Hermione was glad she had knotted her hair tightly into a braid. So the weather only bothered her to the extent that her vision was hampered by the rain in her eyes. She resolved to look up a spell in the library for the next game that would make it easier to see in the rain. But this way, like the other players, she had to cope with the more difficult conditions.
"Seven to six in my favour," Hermione heard Susan's voice next to her ear as they positioned themselves at the centre circle for the throw-off after a goal for Hufflepuff. Hermione snorted and grabbed the quaffle immediately after the toss. Vividly commented on by Lee Jordan, she shot flat on the broom pressed towards the goal rings. With a roll, she dodged a bludger and was within a few feet of the Hufflepuffs' keeper.
"Granger only has Summers to go, which ring will she choose? She - what is that? GOAL! Goal for Ravenclaw by Granger, who shoots through the goal ring like a bolt of lightning along with the Quaffle past the astonished Summers. I've never seen anything like it, dear spectators!" Jordan commented, joining in with the Ravenclaw students chanting Hermione's name, which earned him another reprimand from Professor McGonagall.
Hermione flew back to the centre circle after a short lap and twitched her eyebrows at Susan, who shook her head with a grin. Hermione's head spun around as a flash of lightning lit up the stadium, followed shortly by loud, rumbling thunder. Euphoria spread through Hermione. At last, she could complete the Animagus transformation. She had already given up hope that a thunderstorm would pass over Hogwarts before winter, but she had been rewarded for her patience.
"A truly outstanding match, what both teams are showing here! It brings Ravenclaw back within a goal of Hufflepuff, with the score 130-160 in Hufflepuff's favour. A true goal festival is being celebrated here today, dear spectators! And still, no Snitch in sight or Diggory and Chang have their eyes elsewhere!"
"Jordan!"
"Just a little joke, Professor. The next throw-off from Hufflepuff. Bones passes to Hopkins, and Hopkins passes back to Bones. What's that? I think Diggory's seen the Snitch! With a jolt, he drops his broom into a dive. Will he reach the Snitch? Chang seems to have spotted it too, as she is only a broom length behind Diggory. GOAL! Goal by Bones, but Diggory has just reached out! HE'S GOT IT! He's caught the Snitch! Hufflepuff thus wins this hard-fought game against Ravenclaw, who might as well have got off the broom as winners here!"
Hermione cursed and started to descend like her teammates. Diggory was surrounded by his team and hoisted onto their shoulders. Hermione walked over to her dejected teammates.
"Hey, you guys were great, everyone! We won't have to hide from Gryffindor and Slytherin if we put in another performance like we did today!" said McFinley, patting each of his teammates on the back. Hermione comforted the tearful Cho and then went to the Hufflepuffs first to congratulate them on their victory. Susan's team was clearly pleased with the congratulations and also complimented her on her good game.
"Eight to seven. Three times dare, my darling," Susan breathed into her ear as they hugged. Hermione laughed and walked off the field with her as they told each other about their game highlights.
"Your flight through the goal ring was brutal," Susan said appreciatively, adding that Hermione was probably the only player brave and delicate enough to do that. Hermione grinned and shrugged her shoulders. In fact, she felt a little queasy every time she flew towards a goal ring, but she trusted her instincts.
By the time she had stripped off her soaked protective clothing and her team uniform, she felt twenty pounds lighter. She went to the shower, where she was joined a little later by the still sad Cho. Hermione cheered her up because the game had been so close.
"We'll blow Slytherin right out of the stadium, you'll see!" said Hermione cheerfully, stepping out of the shower with her towel around her body. A few minutes later, she exited the locker room and was surprised by Lancelot landing on her shoulder and dropping a small roll of parchment into her hand.
Hastily, she unrolled the parchment and jumped with delight when she read the short message that she should come to Dumbledore's after dinner today. Her private lesson with Professor Snape had been postponed until Sunday after the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match. Happily, Hermione looked up at the sky and squinted as single raindrops hit her eyes.
In the afternoon, the thunderstorm intensified and Hermione was glad that they hadn't had to play in those conditions. She sat in the warm library with Luna, reading about protection spells for rain, as she had planned to do at the game.
" Hey, Hermione?" asked Luna in a whisper. She had to nudge Hermione again, who was so engrossed in the book that she hadn't heard Luna at first. She looked up and looked at the giggling Luna, who asked her if she had thought about the practice lessons again.
"Yes, I asked Professor Flitwick if we could use a classroom on the sixth floor. He agreed as long as we leave the room whole," Hermione said smiling and Luna smiled broadly. "You know what, I'll finish reading this chapter and then we can go upstairs and do some practice, what do you think?"
Luna nodded enthusiastically and so a little later they went up to the sixth floor where Hermione locked the classroom behind them so they wouldn't be disturbed.
"So, do you want to start straight away with new spells or do you have any questions about the spells you've learnt so far?" asked Hermione, conjuring up a few cushions which she spread out on the floor. She couldn't manage chairs and armchairs yet, but she could conjure pillows with no problem due to her understanding of conjuration gained in Professor Dumbledore's private lessons.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" said Luna and a moment later Hermione was hit in the head by a floating pillow. They both laughed and Hermione returned the favour by also flinging a pillow gently at Luna.
"I think right now I'm pretty good at all the spells we've learned," Luna said a little more seriously and Hermione nodded delightedly.
"Then we can start with something simple, but also very effective," she said and stood next to Luna. She explained to her the pronunciation and movement for the Full Body Bind Curse and after a few tries was ready for Luna to practice the curse on her. First, however, she still showed her the simple 'Finite' spell so that Luna could also release her from the freeze.
"Are you absolutely sure you want me to put the curse on you?" asked Luna a little uncertainly, but Hermione nodded at her. Luna took one deep breath and finally called out 'Petrificus Totalus'. Instantly Hermione's arms and legs folded and she toppled backwards onto the pillows she had piled there to cushion Hermione's fall.
"Finite!" exclaimed Luna immediately and Hermione clapped her hands together.
"Very good, right on the first try!"
Luna blushed slightly and grinned. They repeated the spell a few more times, Luna seeming to have no trouble immobilising Hermione. She could tell that Luna was very quick to understand what was needed to cast a spell. She even had that ahead of some of Hermione's classmates.
"Then there's a slightly less brutal way of silencing people, but it's really advanced. They don't usually teach the spell until fifth year, but I think you can do it with practice," Hermione said, and Luna's eyes got wide.
"I'll try hard," she said and Hermione showed her the basics of the Silencio Charm. To introduce Luna to the spell on humans step by step, she rummaged in her bag a bit and finally pulled out her old wristwatch.
"It's easier with inanimate objects. Try to put the charm on the watch so you can't hear it ticking anymore. Don't be afraid of it breaking, I can fix it if something really happens. The more confidence you have, the more likely you are to succeed in casting magic,' Hermione said, trying to motivate Luna and take away her fear. Luna swallowed and nodded with a serious face. Hermione placed the watch on a table in front of her and signalled her to start the spell.
"Silencio!" shouted Luna, waving her wand. The clock twitched for a moment, but when Hermione held it to her ear, she could still hear the ticking of the movement.
"Try to move in a more fluid motion with your wand. Watch this," she said, demonstrating to her how Luna should move the wand with a somewhat exaggerated and sweeping motion. Luna nodded and tried again. This time the clock remained still, but Hermione thought the ticking had quietened, though it was still slightly audible.
She praised Luna and lifted the charm so Luna could try again. It took her three more tries before the clock had completely stopped. Hermione cheered and handed the clock to Luna so she could hear for herself that the clock was completely silent.
"Very good, you're learning really fast!" she said, sitting down on one of the cushions that were still spread out on the floor. "Are you exhausted yet?" she asked Luna, who also settled down on a cushion. "Don't worry, it's quite normal. When you practice such demanding spells, it takes a little while for your body to get used to the high magic consumption," she added when Luna looked at her shyly. It was readable on her face that she had had some trepidation about asking Hermione for a break.
"Promise me to always take enough breaks when you practice spells. Torturing yourself is counterproductive," Hermione said seriously and Luna nodded. Luna stood up, picked up her bag and pulled out a water bottle. Hermione conjured a glass for herself and filled it with an Aguamenti, which Luna watched with a smile.
"If you keep going at this rate, you'll be able to do it soon," she said, making the glass disappear with another spell. "You are really good. You can practise in everyday life too. Infusing spells into normal situations can also help you perform them more intuitively, thus making them easier. Like just now, for example. You could have used a summoning charm to get the bottle," she said and Luna looked at her in amazement.
"I hadn't thought of it that way, but it makes sense," she replied and Hermione smiled. She was happy to make use of the knowledge she had gained in private lessons and to share it. After a while, Luna wanted to try again and immediately managed to silence the clock once more. Hermione looked around the room and went to a large wall clock that ticked louder than her old wristwatch.
Luna was also able to completely turn off the sound of this clock on her second attempt, which earned her high praise from Hermione.
"I think it's a good time to end. If you practice the charm on inanimate objects in your spare time, we can continue with a living being next time," she said, glancing at her blue-bronze wristwatch. If they walked comfortably down to the Great Hall, they would be on time for dinner.
"Thank you so much, Hermione. That was really fun. You're a great teacher!" said Luna with her dreamy smile. Hermione ruffled her hair and the two of them headed off to dinner. One pumpkin pie later, Hermione made her way to the Headmaster's Tower. For a second time that day, adrenaline surged through her body and an anticipatory tremor spread through her.
"Good evening, Hermione," Dumbledore greeted her delightedly, sitting relaxed behind his desk.
"Good evening, Professor," she replied, settling into the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"You really flew phenomenally today. Filius almost jumped off the spectator's tower, even though the game was lost," he said appreciatively.
"Thank you, Professor!" said Hermione, putting all her gratitude into her voice. She still sometimes couldn't believe the privilege she had, to be supported so much by her teachers. Dumbledore smiled broadly at her and pulled out a small crystal vial.
"As you can see, the potion was successfully brewed. I hope you have been casting the spell every morning and evening," he said, and with a wave of his wand, floated the vial of now red liquid over to the nodding Hermione. "Well, then, you should drink the potion if you're really sure. Be aware that from the moment you transform, you will be breaking wizarding law, even if you do so at my request."
Hermione nodded with a serious look. She had often thought about the risks, but she knew that Dumbledore had her best interests in mind. She pointed her wand at her chest and spoke the formula once more. Then she uncorked the vial and emptied it without hesitation. She didn't want to lose any more time after she had already harboured the wish to perform the transformation for a year.
For a moment nothing happened, but then it felt as if someone was forcibly pulling her brain out of her skull. Her eyes went black, but she was still in control of her senses. She gasped in pain and moved her head to see something in the darkness.
The pain intensified and after a few seconds, she suddenly saw something round flashing in the darkness. It was a dark eye. A rustling sound reached her ears. The fluttering of wings. And then a shiny black bird burst out of the darkness. It stretched its wings as far as it could and seemed to embrace her with them the next moment.
A surge of adrenaline shot through her body, erasing the pain that was replaced by euphoria. Then she opened her eyes, gasping, and looked at Dumbledore, who was already handing her a goblet of pumpkin juice. Gratefully, Hermione accepted the sweet juice and emptied the goblet in great gulps.
"Well? Is it what I think it is?" asked Dumbledore and Hermione nodded with a smile. There had been no doubt in her mind either as to which animal form she would become. But seeing the great raven had relieved her all the same. Despite her certainty, she had been slightly worried she might become a spider or an earthworm.
"According to Minerva, you should feel two hearts beating in your chest by now," Dumbledore said. Hermione raised her eyebrows and tried to concentrate on her heartbeat. Sure enough, next to her human heart, she could hear a faster beating, smaller heart inside her chest.
As she became aware of the heart, the image of the raven she had seen in the vision manifested in her mind. Without thinking, she made the transformation, which felt completely natural to her. Again everything went dark. She could feel the warm fabric of her robe above her head and realised a moment later that she had wings.
She moved her head and struggled out of the collapsed robe that had not transformed with her. Hermione felt the blood rush to her head, though a moment later she became aware again that she was not actually naked, but in her animal form.
She looked around Dumbledore's office and noticed that she had the same field of vision as when she took possession of Lancelot. She turned her head towards the interested-looking Dumbledore and fluttered her wings.
"A truly marvellous raven!" exclaimed Dumbledore, clapping his hands together. Hermione was about to say something, but a low crow came from her beak instead. She fluttered onto the desk and took a few steps. It still felt a little clumsy, but she felt comfortable in her form.
"Let me see," Dumbledore said, and with a wave of his wand, made a book appear in his hand. He leafed through it a few times as he kept glancing at Hermione over his half-moon spectacles. "I think your animal form is that of a Corvus Corax. It's the largest raven species common in the world."
Hermione spread her wings and indeed her wingspan measured considerably more than that of Lancelot, for example. Her head wheeled around sharply as she became aware of a voice behind her.
"You have accomplished a magnificent feat, Daughter of the Raven," rang out the melodious voice of Fawkes, who was looking at her sharply with one of his yellow eyes. Hermione had never heard such a voice before. It was like a dyad, of such inhuman beauty that a soothing feeling spread through her chest at the sound of it.
"Thank you," Hermione said, lowering her head as she stretched a wing to the side and curtsied towards the phoenix. When she looked at him again, she noticed that his feathers were a little more ruffled and paler than the last time she had seen him. "Are you all right?" she asked.
"It will soon be time for my rebirth," the phoenix sang, and Hermione understood. Phoenixes burst into flames when a life cycle expired and were reborn from the ashes. She turned back to Dumbledore and tried to signal to him that she wanted to change back. She hopped back onto the robe on her chair and buried her head in it.
"I'll leave the room so you can get dressed without being disturbed. You'll find me on my balcony," he said, turning away. Hermione waited until she heard the click of the door and then changed back into her human form. Hastily, she put on her clothes and walked up the small staircase to the corridor that led to the Headmaster's balcony.
Hermione was glad that it was dark outside by now because she hoped that Dumbledore would not notice her blush when she joined him on the balcony. As it was very cold and she was only wearing her school cloak, she unceremoniously made a heat sphere appear on the balcony to warm her and Dumbledore. The Headmaster turned to her with a smile and thanked her for the warmth. For a moment the two stood quietly side by side, then Dumbledore broke the silence.
"I thought you might like to take a little trip to test out your new form."
Hermione nodded with a serious look on her face, this time making sure her clothes were transformed as well. She knew how to do it as if she had been able to do it since birth. It felt like she was being stuffed through a narrow tube, but it caused her no pain. She landed with her claws on the balustrade and spread her wings.
The wind brushed pleasantly through her feathers. She fluttered a few times in the air above the balustrade to test whether she could really fly by flapping her wings. It felt like walking and involved no effort. She crowed once to the smirking Dumbledore and then launched herself over the railing.
Like her first flight on a broom, a wave of adrenaline swept over her. Happily, she crowed and glided through the cold night air with her wings spread wide. Through her raven vision, she could see the contours of the landscape below her better than with her human eyes.
She began to flap her wings to regain altitude. The feeling was overwhelming. Being able to fly without any aids triggered a new feeling of freedom in her. If it were up to her, she could spend the rest of her life in the form of the raven. Through her beak, she sucked in the cool night air that still smelled of the passing rain. She closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy this moment to the fullest.
She flew around the black lake once, in which the illuminated windows of the castle were reflected on the surface, which was crisscrossed by small waves. On the headmaster's tower, she saw a white ball of light flare up. Dumbledore signalled her to return to him. She flapped her wings vigorously to climb higher.
A minute later she landed somewhat ungently on the balustrade. She needed to work on her landing a bit if she wanted to remain undetected as a raven. Dumbledore laughed and extinguished his illuminated wand.
"That was great! Thank you so much for your help, Professor!" exclaimed Hermione after she had changed back to her human form. In her joy, she leapt forward and hugged Professor Dumbledore tightly, who laughed and patted her back.
"Now, now. You did most of it yourself. I only revealed some of my knowledge and pulled some strings," he said, waving his wand, whereupon the door to the balcony opened. Hermione led the way and settled down in the chair opposite Dumbledore's desk, smiling happily.
"So you are now an Animaga. That means you now possess yet another ability that few wizards in history have ever gained. Apart from your already unique abilities. Forgive me for interrupting your euphoria with serious words, but I must make sure you know what responsibilities you now bear," he explained.
"I am aware of that. No one can know about this as long as I remain unregistered. Not even in front of a teacher or my best friend can it slip out. I accept that part of the deal and I will keep it," Hermione said with a serious look. Dumbledore's expression relaxed.
"As always, you are acting more adult than most wizards and witches of age. That is the trait I appreciate most about you. Allow me to say that sometimes you remind me a lot of myself, but a far older and more experienced version of myself than who I was at your age."
Hermione looked at him incredulously but could interpret the serious look behind his half-moon glasses. Once again she realised how much entering the wizarding world and coming into contact with the Elder Cathubodua had changed her character.
"Thank you, Professor," she said, realising that her eyes were moistening. This compliment triggered more in her than she would have thought. To receive such praise and compliments from probably the greatest wizard of all time was more than she had ever dared to dream of when she had first learned about magic from Professor Snape. It was hard to imagine that only a little over a year had passed since then. Now here she sat, able to turn into an animal.
"As I mentioned before, I think it's best not to reveal your Animaga status to anyone at the moment, not even other teachers. If at some point the time comes when Lord Voldemort returns to all of our lives, this ability may be of great use. And the benefit will be greater if it is not known that you are an Animaga and what you look like in animal form," Dumbledore said seriously. At the sound of Voldemort's name, a serious expression entered Hermione's face.
"What features of my human form do I bear as a raven?" she asked.
"Well, at first glance I noticed your head feathers sticking out a bit bushy. Even though you now prefer to knot your hair into braids, that seems to be one of your features," Dumbledore said with a smirk.
On the spot, Hermione transformed and flew over to a mirror that stood between two bookshelves. For the first time, she saw herself in animal form. After Dumbledore's description, she had briefly been afraid that the protruding feathers might look silly, but she found herself very appealing as a bird. The bushy feathers looked like a high collar, such as had often been worn by aristocrats in the Middle Ages. She also liked the feminine features on the raven form's face. One could tell she was a female raven and Hermione was proud of her animal form.
She spread her wings once and looked at herself in all her glory. For the first time in her life, she didn't want to change anything about herself when she looked in the mirror. She happily changed back and smiled broadly at Dumbledore.
"Can I transform on the castle grounds if I'm absolutely sure I'm unobserved? I might disillusion myself first," Hermione asked and was overjoyed to see Dumbledore nod. In his eyes, she could see the trust he had in her.
A short while later, she left the Headmaster's office happy and proud. Glancing at her watch, she realised that it was still a few hours until bedtime, whereupon she decided to head for the library. As she sat down at a table, however, her desire for knowledge turned to a desire for communication and she decided to write to her parents.
She wrote about joining the Quidditch team, her first game and the sheer joy of being at school. She wrote about the trip with Professor Snape where she had seen the Aurora Borealis. She felt a small twinge in her stomach at the thought of it. Her feelings for Professor Snape, which had been pushed to the back of her mind the last few days by the distraction in the form of Quidditch, came to the surface and Hermione sank into her thoughts.
She thought of their first meeting at her parents' house in London. He had gone out of his way to gently open up to her that she was a witch, although he had been visibly uncomfortable talking to parents in other peoples' homes. She thought of the moment when she had been immersed in his memories. But instead of the red-haired girl, it was herself again, giving the young Snape furtive glances.
"Hermione!" a voice sounded from afar. Abruptly, she jolted up from her thoughts as someone snapped their fingers in front of her face. She noticed herself blushing and to her surprise saw Susan sitting opposite her at the table. There was an open book in front of Susan, so she must have been sitting there for a while.
"You've been dripping on your letter," she said with a giggle, pointing at the quill in Hermione's hand. Underneath it, a large black smudge had formed on the letter to her parents. Hermione cursed softly and pulled out her wand to remove the stain.
" You were in a whole other dimension, were you thinking of anyone in particular?" asked Susan with a mischievous grin and a knowing look on her face.
"Yes," Hermione said tersely, noticing the blood rising to her head once more. Susan giggled. "What are you doing in the library so late anyway?" asked Hermione with a furrowed brow.
"Looking for you, of course! I need help with my Transfiguration essay," Susan said with a plaintive look on her face. Hermione smiled and nodded as a sign that she would help Susan. Susan smiled broadly and formed her lips into a kissing mouth. Hermione giggled and finished the letter to her parents before helping Susan with her homework.
As she entered her dormitory that night, she couldn't help but change into her animal form once more. Happily, she hopped on her bed as a raven and fluttered her wings. She could hardly wait to meet Lancelot in her animal form for the first time. She made up her mind to go for a flight from her room the next morning before breakfast.
At this thought, something occurred to her that she had not thought of before. She stretched out a wing towards the window and tried to open it with the help of magic. The window trembled but did not open. Hermione, however, immediately understood what the problem was and channelled more magic into her spell. Slowly the window slid open and Hermione exhaustedly lowered the wing.
'Good to know,' she thought and transformed back. It was possible to cast magic, but it cost an enormous amount of magic, much like possessing highly magical animals. She was glad she hadn't passed out, though. Exhausted, she closed the window by hand and got ready for bed.
When she entered her mind library that night, she immediately noticed the new shelf that belonged to her new skill. Quickly she sorted the books that almost completely filled the shelf. Hermione interpreted the few empty spaces where books could still fit as a lack of experience. She was sure that with more practice she would be able to fill the shelf quickly.
As she did every night, she filed her memories away in her mental Pensieve. Once again she thought of Professor Snape and decided to look back at their trip to the islands in the northern part of Scotland. It had been a lovely trip. Once again she enjoyed the beautiful sight of the aurora borealis, but this time she was more captivated by Professor Snape.
With an absent-minded look, he stared at the bright green in the sky. It seemed as if he was completely lost in thought. She could see his eyes growing moist and he blinked hastily. Furtively, he looked to the still spellbound Memory-Hermione gazing at the sky, who had noticed nothing. With a relieved look, he looked up again, this time with a less absent look. Now it looked like he was actually recognising and admiring the beauty of the natural spectacle. Smiling, Hermione pulled back from the memory.
She wondered what he had been thinking about? Had it been the girl with the green eyes? Or something else entirely? Hermione liked that Professor Snape was a mysterious man who seemed to be so much more than was apparent at first glance. Happily, she sat down in the wing chair of her mental library and began to review the material from the last week of school and work on the first drafts of the essays she had been assigned as homework.
The next morning, when her wall clock hummed softly to wake Hermione, she was hard to stop. She brushed her teeth at record speed and then opened the window. She called out for Lancelot, who fluttered in to join her about a minute later. He greeted her stormily and settled on her shoulder. Hermione, however, held out her arm for him to look her in the eye while she spoke to him. He hopped on it and turned around.
"I have something to show you that I think you'll like. Sit on the desk and pay attention!" she said, lowering Lancelot off her arm on the desk. She sat down on her bed and changed into her raven form. She was a little confused, for she had expected Lancelot to startle or at least show some reaction. Instead, he merely eyed her with one of his sharp looks.
"I can't believe it, Mistress," Hermione heard a voice reach her ear. She could see Lancelot's beak open for a crow, but it was the same voice she could hear in her head as she read his thoughts.
"It's me, I've done it, Lancelot. I'm an Animaga!" cried Hermione delightedly, bouncing on the bed as Lancelot usually did. He, on the other hand, was still looking at her with a stare. "Is something wrong?" she asked anxiously.
"No, the opposite is the case, but allow me to pause for a moment to capture this dream come true in its fullness," Lancelot replied. Hermione would have blushed bright red at those words had she been in her human form. She raised the tip of one wing in front of her beak in embarrassment, which was acknowledged by Lancelot with a crowing laugh. Slowly he approached her. He seemed to have become a little shy, which was not usually his way at all. Hermione turned once in front of him.
"Like your human form, your animal form is breathtakingly beautiful," Lancelot said.
"Stop it, you old charmer! Do you approve that I can turn into a raven?" she asked, a little worried because Lancelot was acting so differently than usual.
"Of course! I hope you'll eventually take the time to go for a trip with me," he said, puffing out his chest a little. Hermione giggled and nodded. She hadn't expected Lancelot to react so guardedly.
"I'd be happy to fly with you, though we'll have to fly at night at Hogwarts, otherwise the risk of someone witnessing me transforming or flying out my window and back in is too high."
"I'm glad to hear that. Would it be possible for you to bring me some egg from your morning meal? Foraging was rather unsuccessful this morning," Lancelot said, lifting his wings apologetically into the air. Hermione laughed and nodded. She turned back and then stroked her raven's back, who closed his eyes in pleasure. "Come on, I'm sure no one's at breakfast yet, even Professor McGonagall sleeps in on Sundays," she said, offering her shoulder to Lancelot.
The raven crowed happily and fluttered up to her. As she had suspected, the castle was still deserted at this hour. Only Peeves could be heard rattling and laughing on a lower floor. As Hermione settled down at the Ravenclaw table, a row of plates appeared in front of her with everything she liked to eat for breakfast. Lancelot got his own plate today and as much egg as he wanted.
"I didn't think you could be so polite and chivalrous," Hermione said as they both ate. She giggled because Lancelot, as expected, raised his beak indignantly. "I'm only joking," she said, stroking him on the head, whereupon he cooed happily. Even though she could now converse with him in raven form, she liked his cheery way of physical communication even better. When he was full, Lancelot fluttered onto her shoulder and seemingly read the Daily Prophet with her. When Luna joined her about half an hour later, she greeted Lancelot effusively, who immediately flew onto her outstretched arm. Hermione smiled and asked Luna how the spell practice was going.
"Fine, I think. Last night I managed to silence the fire in the common room. Penelope congratulated me," Luna said with a smile and Hermione complimented her on her progress.
"If Lancelot agrees, you can practice with him next," Hermione said, glancing at her raven, who bobbed up and down on Luna's arm and nodded his beak at the words. Luna and Hermione giggled and decided to practice a little with Lancelot by the lake before today's Quidditch game.
She realised that the step to a living target was considerably harder for Luna than it had been for Hermione. But she finally managed, after quite a few attempts, to get Lancelot to stop mid-crow for at least two seconds. He bobbed up and down excitedly and Hermione high-fived the euphoric Luna.
"That's enough for today, that was a really good try!" said Hermione, who saw two people with yellow and black striped scarves coming towards them in the corner of her eye. They greeted Susan and Ginny, who were coming to pick them up for the Quidditch game.
"Surely you want to cheer on your brothers, don't you?" asked Hermione and Ginny nodded. Hermione drew her wand and performed a simple transformation spell, whereupon one by one the scarves of herself, Luna, Ginny and Susan turned from their house colours to red and gold. "Come on, if we hurry we can still get good seats!" shouted Hermione, storming ahead.
Laughing, the others followed her and they climbed the long wooden staircase from one of the central observation towers, which gave the best view of the pitch. Susan bought her friends a portion of popcorn, which was sold by Honeydukes, the sweet shop in Hogsmeade, at every Quidditch game.
"Only one more year and we can go to Hogsmeade too," Susan said in a dreamy voice as she admired her chocolate caramel popcorn with glittering eyes. Hermione giggled but was looking forward as much as Susan to the trips to the adorable little village she had heard a lot about from older classmates.
The Quidditch game was already in full swing when Hermione was nudged by Ginny. She pointed at Harry, who was being chased by Ginny's brothers Fred and George. They were vehemently trying to keep a bludger off him, who seemed to have it in for Harry alone. Hermione frowned, for normally bludgers were not that persistent.
Hermione couldn't help but think of last term when Harry's broom had been hexed by Professor Quirrell. She suspected bad things but didn't let it show in front of Ginny. She looked through Susan's binoculars over to the teachers' lookout tower, which was just opposite the one the four of them were standing on.
She could see worried looks on Professor McGonagall's and Professor Sprout's faces, while Professor Snape was looking around for suspicious activity. He also seemed to be thinking about last year, for he was eyeing Professor Lockhart with a suspicious look. The latter, however, was not paying attention to the game at all but seemed to be pushing one of his stories on a visibly annoyed Professor Flitwick with sweeping movements.
The audience cried out as Harry was hit hard on the arm by the bludger. With a pained face, he looked at Malfoy, who was hovering in the air opposite him, eyeing him with a gleeful expression. Then everything happened very quickly. Harry yelled something and charged towards the startled, retreating Malfoy. A second later he weakly raised his fist to the sky, where the golden snitch glittered in the sun.
The stadium exploded in cheers and Hermione watched anxiously as Harry just managed to land on the pitch. Moments later, several teachers rushed onto the pitch, Professor Lockhart leading the way. Hermione's eyes widened, for she did not suspect anything good.
Their premonition was confirmed, for even before the other teachers had reached Harry, Lockhart had already performed a spell on Harry's arm. He held Harry's arm in front of him and a shocked outcry from the audience was the result of the sight of Harry's limp arm hanging down like a dead snake.
Lockhart's failed spell and the bludger gone wild dominated the students' conversations that afternoon after the game. Hermione went to visit Harry in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was about to send her away, but Harry begged her to let Hermione stay for a moment. When only Hermione and Ron were still within earshot, Harry opened up to her that they were going to find out who had opened the Chamber of Secrets.
"We think it's a Slytherin student, top of the list is Malfoy. If it's not him, though, he might know," Harry explained, his face contorting in pain every time he moved his arm after taking Skele-Grow. Hermione looked at him thoughtfully. So far Harry had rarely been right in his accusations against Slytherins, however, it made sense to her too that a member of Slytherin house must have opened the chamber.
"But how are you going to find out, just eavesdropping on Slytherins can take forever," Hermione said. Ron suggested sneaking into the Slytherin common room with Harry's invisibility cloak but was interrupted by Hermione.
"If the entrance to the Slytherin common room works the way ours does, it will only open to Slytherin students or reveal itself at all. The risk involved is very high. However, there is a way to make you Slytherins temporarily," Hermione explained. The idea had occurred to her when she had thought of asking Professor Snape tonight if he had any idea who had opened the chamber.
Harry and Ron looked at her eagerly and Hermione told them about the Polyjuice Potion, which, depending on its purity, could change one into the shape of another person for a long time. Hermione promised them both to look into the potion more and left the hospital wing in the direction of Professor Lockhart's office.
It was easy for her to talk the loquacious professor into signing for the loan of Highly Potent Potions. All she had had to do was listen to one of his stolen stories. By the time she knocked on Professor Snape's office door that evening, she had already read and memorised the chapter on the Polyjuice Potion.
"Good evening, Miss Granger," Snape said, trying to flash her a smile. She could tell by the look on his face that he was still a little grumpy from his house's defeat at the hands of the rival Gryffindors. She gave him a big smile.
"I'm sorry Slytherin lost," she said, chuckling when Professor Snape just pursed his lips and shrugged. "Professor, I have a few questions for you," she began cautiously. He was a little surprised but nodded the next moment. As the two strolled towards the Potions classroom, Hermione asked him first if he knew anything about who might have opened the Chamber of Secrets.
"I'm afraid not, but know that I'll do my best to find out more," he said. Hermione nodded and, as the two stood in front of a cauldron, asked if there were any alternatives to the hard-to-find ingredients in the Polyjuice Potion. They had already successfully substituted some of the ingredients described in the book in private lessons, but there were still many Hermione had never heard of.
"You've been to the Forbidden Section?" said Professor Snape with a slight smile on his lips. Hermione blushed but finally nodded. "How adventurous. Well, we've already discussed some of the ingredients, as I'm sure you've noticed," he said and Hermione nodded.
"There are some alternatives, though many of them are even harder to come by than the ingredients listed in the recipe. However, the ground Bicorn-Horn can be substituted for unicorn hair at a ratio of one to three. The Boomslang Skin, on the other hand, can be substituted for fresh bowtruckle leaves at a ratio of one to one. However, I would advise you against attempting to rip a leaf off a Bowtruckle," Professor Snape explained. "May I know why you are currently involved with the Polyjuice Potion?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Hermione used all the powers she had learnt in her one-to-one lessons with Professor Snape to conceal the truth.
"Oh, I was fascinated by the story of Midas Altunis, who pretended to be a prince for a year in the royal house of England. I read about that in 'Magic History of England'. The King doesn't seem to have known his son well if he doesn't figure out for a year that an impostor is impersonating him," Hermione said with a smile.
For a brief moment Professor Snape looked at her suspiciously, but Hermione's Occlumency achieved its effect and he nodded. She was glad that her story had passed, for she had indeed looked into said book once with her Blotts Book, but had made up the story about Midas Altunis.
"If you have no more questions, I would like to brew a potion with you today that requires significantly advanced skills," Professor Snape said, immediately having Hermione's full attention. "Brewing Veritaserum requires the utmost precision and skill, but should be possible for you under my supervision."
Hermione's eyes grew wide and she nodded excitedly. Professor Snape waved his wand, whereupon a recipe appeared on the blackboard. Hermione read it carefully and then started to get the ingredients from the pantry. She smiled when she saw the Gypsophila on the list of ingredients, which she had collected with Professor Snape on Orkney.
She also recognised a rare ingredient, Acromantula Poison, on the list, which she replaced with Diptam Essence. Professor Snape complimented her on her assortment of ingredients and waved his wand again, whereupon the brewing instructions appeared on the blackboard. Occasionally Hermione had to repeat a processing step because she had not yet worked cleanly enough.
It was extremely difficult to cut the Gypsophila in such a way that Professor Snape was satisfied with it, but she eventually managed. When she had finished the last step, she wiped the sweat from her forehead in exhaustion. After adding the Diptam Essence, the concoction had to simmer for another 15 minutes at exactly 96 degrees, which fortunately Professor Snape took care of.
"Excellent work as always, Miss Granger!" he finally said as he held the clear liquid in a vial close to his eye to inspect it. Hermione exhaled in relief and leaned back, relaxed, in the armchair Professor Snape had conjured for her.
Now that her concentration was off her brewing, she kept casting furtive glances at her teacher when she was sure he was distracted. At his praise, a warmth had spread through Hermione that she found difficult to describe. However, the Muggle saying 'butterflies in the tummy' applied to it best.
"Is it true that Occlumency can be used to counteract the effects of Veritaserum?" asked Hermione, to which Professor Snape looked up.
"Only a few who have fully mastered Occlumency can do that," he said.
"Can you?" asked Hermione with a slightly more challenging tone than she had intended. He gave her an amused look out of the corner of his eye but finally nodded.
"Are you suggesting we test the effects?" he said, and Hermione's face turned scarlet. However, as Professor Snape's expression still looked slightly amused, she nodded tentatively. "Very well," he said, decanting a tiny amount of the clear liquid into a glass, which he conjured up with a wave of his wand.
"That's enough for about two questions. I will, of course, try to resist using Occlumency, however, it will allow me to determine if the serum is having the desired effect," he said, drinking the tiny amount of serum. Hermione's eyes widened. Professor Snape looked at her promptingly.
"Are you the Head of House of Slytherin?" asked Hermione, who couldn't think of anything better off the top of her head.
"No. The serum is working, very well in fact," said Professor Snape, whose effort to fight the truth serum was apparent. Hermione thought for a moment. When she had an idea, she eyed Professor Snape assessingly for a moment. She had a question on her mind, but she didn't know how her teacher would react.
"What were you thinking about when you caught sight of the auroras on our trip?" asked Hermione finally, when she had found the courage. Professor Snape looked at her, visibly surprised, and was probably so distracted that an answer immediately bubbled out of him.
" The eyes of Lily Evans," he said, and a moment later looked at her somewhat dejectedly. Apparently, he couldn't stop the serum's effect on the second question, for his expression darkened somewhat. Hermione remained silent in response, for she could sense that another word on the subject might cause the mood to topple. She gave Professor Snape time to change the subject back to the brewed serum. His mood improved again when he complimented her again on the good result.
She inwardly took a breath and thanked him for the great one-to-one lesson. She helped him fill and clean up some more, then headed for the library to find out what Bowtruckles were. As she turned a corner on the second floor, her blood froze at the sight of a student lying on the floor.
In front of her lay a blond Gryffindor boy, gazing through his camera with a fear-filled expression. Hermione could tell immediately that something was wrong, for he did not move an inch and was not breathing. She drew her wand and looked around to make sure the attacker wasn't still lurking in the shadows.
"Revelio!" she said, pointing the wand into a dark corner of the corridor, but nothing happened. When she was sure no one was around, she sprinted back into the dungeon. She banged on Professor Snape's door, whereupon it was yanked open by an annoyed-looking Snape. His eyebrows furrowed as he caught sight of the panting Hermione.
"What happened?" he asked, and Hermione told him about the petrified student. His eyes grew wide and he immediately drew his wand. "You're staying here! Do not argue!" he said firmly and opened the door for Hermione to enter. Hermione stepped inside and winced slightly as the door slammed loudly into the lock behind Professor Snape, who was rushing out.
Hermione took one deep breath. She couldn't get the boy's fear-filled face out of her mind. She tried to distract herself and looked around the office she already knew from her Occlumency lessons. She settled down in the comfortable, run-down armchair and drew her knees to her chest. She wondered what this monster could be that could petrify people. She opened her Blotts Book and looked through the table of contents of 'Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them'. She skimmed a few chapters and also spotted the Bowtruckle, which she bookmarked for later.
Hermione couldn't find any creature that could petrify its victims, though. She jumped a little as the door flew open. Professor Snape looked at her with concern and reported that he had taken Colin Creevy to the hospital wing with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. He assured her that he could be cured, but the school's Mandrakes were still too young to produce a medicine.
"The Headmaster has decreed that from now on, students are only allowed to move through the corridors when accompanied by teachers. So I will escort you to Ravenclaw Tower," he said, beckoning her to join him. Hermione imagined for a brief moment that she was walking down a corridor pressed close to Professor Snape, while he protectively put an arm around her shoulder. She just managed to stop the blood from rushing to her head and nodded.
"Did you notice anything strange besides the petrified Creevy?" asked Professor Snape as they walked up to the Ravenclaw tower. Hermione shook her head. Just like him, she looked around carefully to avoid being ambushed. She had managed to get over her shock by now. She resolved to work with Harry to catch the culprit.
She thanked Professor Snape when they reached the eagle-shaped door knocker. In the common room, a worried Penelope immediately approached her and asked where she had been. Hermione briefly told her that Professor Snape had accompanied her. Penelope breathed a sigh of relief and reported that Professor Flitwick had already relayed the Headmaster's new orders to her.
Hermione immediately looked around the common room for Luna and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted her on a sofa, engrossed in a copy of the Quibbler. She sat down with her and opened her Blotts Book to read the chapter on Bowtruckles. Bowtruckles lived exclusively in trees, the wood of which was used to make wands. Hermione wondered if there were any wand trees in the Forbidden Forest. According to the book, they were not that rare.
She resolved to visit Hagrid the next day to ask him about them. She also remembered that she had once seen a whole strand of long white hair at Hagrid's hut. Since she knew that unicorns lived in the forest, there was a good chance that the hair came from unicorns.
The next day, after a morning visit to Hagrid, she told Harry about the current state of her research into the Polyjuice Potion. She had received several unicorn hairs from Hagrid. On top of that, he had told her that Hogwarts had its own breed of Bowtruckle deep in the forest, living in cedar trees. She didn't tell Harry any details about the ingredients though, only that she could brew the potion and it took about a month.
"Do you know where you can brew the potion yet without getting caught?" asked Harry and Hermione nodded. She told him about the loo where Moaning Myrtle lived. Harry rolled his eyes at the sound of the name. Apparently, he had already made her acquaintance.
"I'll see you at the Dueling Club later then," Harry said, to which Hermione looked at him questioningly. "Didn't you hear? Professor Lockhart wants to offer a course in self-defence. Although it won't do much good with him as the teacher if you ask me," he said and Hermione agreed with him.
Potions had been suppressed for her grade's duelling club that afternoon and Hermione wondered how Lockhart had persuaded Professor Snape to skip his class for it. She was all the more surprised when he greeted her at the entrance to the Great Hall.
"Then there's a chance we might learn something here after all," she whispered as she passed him. Their eyes met briefly and Professor Snape pressed his lips together and turned away briefly to hide his smile. Hermione giggled and stood by Susan, who greeted her happily.
As feared, the duelling club was primarily an event for Professor Lockhart's self-promotion. He expansively presented his not self-earned medals and bragged about his presumably non-existent abilities. Hermione couldn't help laughing when Professor Snape, whom Lockhart introduced as his assistant, swept him off the stage with a disarming charm. After Lockhart gave his excuse as to why he had been disarmed by Snape, he asked the students to practice in pairs.
"Come along," Hermione said to Susan with a grin, pulling her by the hand into the proximity of Malfoy, who had formed a pair with Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl. Malfoy was about to raise his wand to disarm Pansy when the wand flew out of his hand in a high arc. Red-faced, he picked it up and tried again, but again the wand flew out of his hand.
Susan giggled and the two quickly turned away, pretending to practise themselves as Malfoy looked around. Hermione sent a disarming spell at Susan, which she saw coming too late. While she was still casting the spell she had said, Hermione flicked her free hand in the direction of Malfoy, whose wand flew out of his hand again as he was about to attempt to disarm Pansy.
Susan managed to disarm Hermione after one failed attempt. She praised Susan while again disarming Malfoy with the nonverbal disarming spell. Susan giggled and shook her head at Hermione's abilities, which only she knew about besides the professors.
"Professor! Something's wrong with my wand!", Hermione heard Malfoy's almost whiny voice. Professor Snape was standing beside him a few seconds later, looking at him with a furrowed brow. Hermione averted her eyes a moment too late and felt herself turning pink as the black eyes looked into hers. She could see the corners of his mouth twitch barely noticeably.
He assured Malfoy, after a brief and obviously feigned inspection of his wand, that all was well with it. Then he looked at Hermione with a look that signalled she had played enough practical jokes on Malfoy. Hermione smiled innocently at him and turned back to Susan to disarm her.
After a while, Lockhart called the students together for a little exhibition match. Hermione rolled her eyes as Professor Snape suggested that Malfoy should take on Harry. Once again, he seemed to be guided by his hatred of Harry, for while Lockhart was still talking to Harry, Snape whispered something in Malfoy's ear, whereupon he conjured up a Black Snake.
"No need, I'll take care of it," Lockhart replied to Professor Snape's suggestion that he would vanish the animal for Harry. He strode forward and waved his wand wildly, whereupon the snake flew through the air in a high arc and landed back on the stage with a slapping sound.
Hermione was still busy fretting over Professor Snape's unnecessary action when a loud hiss made the students look up. Hermione looked at the snake, who was now looking at Harry as if transfixed. Again a rattling hiss sounded, however, it was Harry's mouth that moved. Her eyebrows drew together, for she had read about this phenomenon before.
Very few wizards could communicate directly with snakes. The language was called Parseltongue, was considered a sign of black magic and was most famous for Salazar Slytherin, the most famous Parseltongue. Again Harry hissed at the snake, whereupon it backed away and left the student alone whom it had threatened a moment ago.
Professor Snape stepped forward and made the snake disappear with a wave of his wand, though a worried expression was also visible on his face. Lockhart tried to lighten the mood but didn't really succeed. A little later Hermione ran after Harry to ask him about his ability.
To her surprise, he hadn't known it was unusual to talk to snakes until the incident. He had been a little worried when Hermione had told him about the Slytherin connection. Hermione told him that she had picked up on the way out of the Great Hall that many now thought he was the Heir of Slytherin. He seemed a little downcast and so Hermione assured him that she would start brewing the Polyjuice Potion as soon as possible so that they could put a stop to the evil deeds of the Heir of Slytherin.
A few minutes later, she sent Lancelot off with an order of the owl catalogue, which enabled her to procure most of the potion's ingredients. All that was now missing were the Bowtruckle leaves, but these were not needed until two weeks after the brewing process had begun.
Author's Note: Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing great and that you enjoyed the new chapter! Also, feel free to tell me what you think about the new cover image :)
If you liked the chapter, I would be happy to read a few lines from you. Also thank you to all the people that already reviewed, it really means a lot!
See you next time!