Chapter 17 A/N I do not own Harry Potter, whatever i took from the book belongs to JKRowling, not me. Although, if it were mine, Lupin wouldn't have died, and neither would have snape or dobby or Gred (Can't remember which one)

Harry and Ron had barely finished their third helpings of Christmas pudding when Hermione ushered them out of the hall to finalize their plans for the evening.

"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into," said Hermione matter-of-factly, as though she were sending them to the supermarket for laundry detergent. "And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe's and Goyle's; they're Malfoy's best friends, he'll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him."

"Wow, 'Mione. Anything else to add?" Cassie asked teasingly, earning a glare from the small bushy-haired girl. "Okay, I'll stop with the jokes now. Touch-y"

"I've got it all worked out," she went on smoothly, ignoring Harry's and Ron's stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes. "I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom closet."

Harry and Ron looked incredulously at each other.

"Hermione, I don't think-" Harry started as Ron said, "That could go seriously wrong-"

But Hermione had a steely glint in her eye not unlike the one Professor McGonagall sometimes had.

"The potion will be useless without Crabbe's and Goyle's hair," she said sternly. "You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?"

"Oh, all right, all right," said Harry. "But what about you three? Whose hair are you ripping out?"

"We've got some seventh year Slytherin's. We'll just be in the common room in the background. Malfoy won't even pay us any attention." Merlin answered.

"I've already got mine!" said Hermione brightly, pulling a tiny bottle out of her pocket and showing them the single hair inside it. "Remember Millicent Bulstrode wrestling with me at the Dueling Club? She left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle me! And she's gone home for Christmas - so I'll just have to tell the Slytherins I've decided to come back."

When Hermione had bustled off to check on the Polyjuice Potion again, Ron turned to Harry, Merlin and Cassie with a doom-laden expression.

"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?"

"Many." Merlin deadpanned.

"I'm assuming over half of those were yours?" Cassie aside with a quirked eyebrow, nothing was going to ruin her good mood at pranking the teachers, and getting five points for it!

"I'll say more than half, and tell you the stories some other time." Merlin acquiesced.

But to Harry's and Ron's utter amazement, stage one of the operation went just as smoothly as Hermione had said. They lurked in the deserted entrance hall after Christmas tea, waiting for Crabbe and Goyle who had remained alone at the Slytherin table, shoveling down fourth helpings of trifle. Harry had perched the chocolate cakes on the end of the banisters. When they spotted Crabbe and Goyle coming out of the Great Hall, Harry and Ron hid quickly behind a suit of armor where Merlin and Cassie were crouched next to the front door.

"How thick can you get?" Ron whispered ecstatically as Crabbe gleefully pointed out the cakes to Goyle and grabbed them. Grinning stupidly, they stuffed the cakes whole into their large mouths. For a moment, both of them chewed greedily, looks of triumph on their faces. Then, without the smallest change of expression, they both keeled over backward onto the floor.

"Come on, we'll help you drag them to a hidden spot." Merlin whispered excitedly.

By far the hardest part was hiding them in the closet across the hall. Once they were safely stowed among the buckets and mops, Harry yanked out a couple of the bristles that covered Goyle's forehead and Ron pulled out several of Crabbe's hairs. They also stole their shoes, because their own were far too small for Crabbe- and Goyle-size feet. Then, still stunned at what they had just done, the four of them sprinted up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

They could hardly see for the thick black smoke issuing from the stall in which Hermione was stirring the cauldron. Pulling their robes up over their faces, Harry and Ron knocked softly on the door.

"Hermione?"

They heard the scrape of the lock and Hermione emerged, shiny-faced and looking anxious. Behind her they heard the gloop gloop of the bubbling, glutinous potion. Five glass tumblers stood ready on the toilet seat.

"Did you get them?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

Harry showed her Goyle's hair.

"Good. And I sneaked these spare robes out of the laundry," Hermione said, holding up a small sack. "You'll need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle. So will you two."

"Thanks." Cassie said, digging through the sack and grabbing the robes for each of them, handing them out according to size.

The three of them stared into the cauldron. Close up, the potion looked like thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly.

"I'm sure we've done everything right," said Hermione, nervously rereading the splotched page of Moste Potente Potions. "It looks like the book says it should... once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves."

"Now what?" Ron whispered.

"We separate it into the glasses and add the hairs." Merlin told him.

Hermione ladled large dollops of the potion into each of the glasses. Then, her hand trembling, she shook Millicent Bulstrode's hair out of its bottle into the first glass.

The potion hissed loudly like a boiling kettle and frothed madly. A second later, it had turned a sick sort of yellow.

"Urgh - essence of Millicent Bulstrode," said Ron, eyeing it with loathing. "Bet it tastes disgusting."

The others followed suit, Merlin's turning a murky greenish-brown color, and Cassie's, surprisingly, turning a deep almost wine-like red. Both Hufflepuff's held them in one hand with the Slytherin robes in the other.

"Mine's not so bad. Not sure what her name is, but still…" Cassie trailed off at seeing the three Gryffindor's astonished faces. "Okay, I'll shut up now."

"Add yours, then," said Hermione when she noticed that Harry and Ron hadn't.

Harry dropped Goyle's hair into the middle glass and Ron put Crabbe's into the last one. Both glasses hissed and frothed: Goyle's turned the khaki color of a booger, Crabbe's a dark, murky brown.

"Hang on," said Harry as Ron and Hermione reached for their glasses. "We'd better not all drink them in here... Once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle we won't fit. And Millicent Bulstrode's no pixie. Not sure about the others, but we still wouldn't fit."

"Yeah, and there's no way I'm changing in front of them." Cassie said, looking at the three boys. "May not be my body, but still…"

"Good thinking," said Ron, unlocking the door. "We'll take separate stalls."

Careful not to spill a drop of his Polyjuice Potion, Harry slipped into the middle stall.

"Ready?" he called.

"Ready," came the other's voices.

"One - two - three-"

Stealing herself, Cassie drank the potion down in two large gulps. It tasted like a sweet wine that would pair perfectly with a nice pudding. "She must be nice." she mumbled to herself thoughtfully.

Immediately, her insides started writhing as though she'd just swallowed live snakes - doubled up, she wondered whether she was going to be sick - then a burning sensation spread rapidly from her stomach to the very ends of her fingers and toes - next, bringing her gasping to all fours, came a horrible melting feeling, as the skin all over her body bubbled like hot wax - and before her eyes, her hands began to grow, the fingers elongated, and her palm grew in size- her shoulders stretched painfully and a prickling on her forehead told her that hair was creeping down toward her eyebrows-apparently she had bangs- Thankfully, she'd thought ahead and changed before taking the potion, or else her robes would have ripped as her chest expanded, her feet were agony in shoes three sizes too small, she had completely forgotten about those.

As suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. Cassie lay face down on the stone-cold floor, listening to Myrtle gurgling morosely in the end toilet. With difficulty, she kicked off the shoes and stood up. Her slender hand trembling, she opened the door and reached up to brush her hair out of her eyes, sweeping the bangs to the side as she had no way to curl them up at the moment.

"Are you two okay?" Goyle's low rasp of a voice issued from somewhere in the bathroom.

"Yeah," came the deep grunt of Crabbe from Cassie's right.

"All good here." came the rather husky voice of the Slytherin boy.

"Other than being completely freaked out by the transformation, I could get used to this body. This girl has some serious legs!" Cassie said in the silvery voice of the girl, not a hint of her accent.

Harry unlocked his door and stepped in front of the cracked mirror. Goyle stared back at him out of dull, deepset eyes. Harry scratched his ear. So did Goyle.

Ron's door opened. They stared at each other. Except that he looked pale and shocked, Ron was indistinguishable from Crabbe, from the pudding-bowl haircut to the long, gorilla arms.

"This is unbelievable," said Ron, approaching the mirror and prodding Crabbe's flat nose. "Unbelievable."

"Don't get used to it, Ron. I much prefer the gangly red-head you to this buffoon." Cassie said, walking out of the stall she was in so she could properly do her hair in the mirror. "Oh, I have no make-up on. I'm sure this girl would be wearing makeup. She seems like the type."

"Have you ever met her?" Merlin asked in the blond Slytherin's voice.

"No, but with these eyes, she'd be a fool not to." Cassie said in the girl's voice. "Gorgeous hazel would look beautiful with dark eyeliner."

"We'd better get going," said Harry, loosening the watch that was cutting into Goyle's thick wrist. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow..."

"We know where it is, just follow a few paces behind us, I doubt those two bunch-back'd toads would be hanging out with seventh year Slytherins." Cassie said, sashaying towards the door slowly, enjoying the older girl's beauty and making those three stare after her. 'I can't wait until I can do this in my body. Stupid short legs!'

Ron, who had been gazing at Cassie, said, "You don't know how bizarre it is to see a nice Slytherin." He looked over at Harry and added, "Or Goyle thinking." He banged on Hermione's door. "C'mon, we need to go-"

A high-pitched voice answered him. "I - I don't think I'm going to come after all. You go on without me."

"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly, no one's going to know it's you-"

"No - really - I don't think I'll come. You two hurry up, you're wasting time-"

Harry looked at Ron, bewildered.

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to stay?" Merlin asked, hoping nothing had happened, it went perfectly fine for everyone else.

"No, go!" Hermione said once again.

Harry looked at Ron, bewildered.

"That looks more like Goyle," said Ron. "That's how he looks every time a teacher asks him a question."

"Hermione, are you okay?" said Harry through the door.

"Fine - I'm fine - go on-"

Harry looked at his watch. Five of their precious sixty minutes had already passed.

"We'll meet you back here, all right?" he said.

Harry, Ron, Merlin and Cassie opened the door of the bathroom carefully, checked that the coast was clear, and set off.

"Don't swing your arms like that," Harry muttered to Ron.

"Eh?"

"Crabbe holds them sort of stiff..."

"How's this?"

"Yeah, that's better..."

"Let me take your arm, Merlin. I see them doing it quite often."

"Well, they are courting." he said, holding his arm out for her to take.

Harry and Ron stayed a few paces behind Merlin and Cassie, but lost them when they rounded a corner and were stopped by another seventh year in Ravenclaw talking to them.

"Oh, you're back together? I thought you two split up last week."

"Any ideas?" muttered Harry when they were forced to keep going.

"The Slytherins always come up to breakfast from over there," said Ron, nodding at the entrance to the dungeons. The words had barely left his mouth when a girl with long, curly hair emerged from the entrance.

"Just for the night." Cassie said suggestively, she was loving playing this part. "The common room is so empty, and there's no one to really talk to there." she pouted, batting her eyelashes at the Ravenclaw.

"Well, don't let me stop you. Have fun." the Ravenclaw boy said, wiggling his eyebrows at Merlin who was looking around the corner, making sure those two didn't make a mistake.

"Don't worry, we will." he replied, smirking lasciviously.

"Excuse me," said Ron, hurrying up to her. "We've forgotten the way to our common room."

"I beg your pardon?" said the girl stiffly. "Our common room? I'm a Ravenclaw."

She walked away, looking suspiciously back at them.

Harry and Ron hurried down the stone steps into the darkness, their footsteps echoing particularly loudly as Crabbe's and Goyle's huge feet hit the floor, feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as they had hoped. Merlin and Cassie followed closely behind as quickly as they dared.

"Those two are going to ruin everything! Asking a Ravenclaw where to go, honestly!" Merlin hissed nervously.

"That's Gryffindors for you, they lack brains when they're doing something foolish. And this definitely constitutes foolishness!" Cassie replied just as nervous. "So, like my acting?" Cassie asked, looking at him and batting 'her' eyelashes.

"We won't be able to walk ahead of them now, you know. It'll look too suspicious. And there's bound to be someone patrolling."

"Honestly, they should have just waited! It wouldn't have looked odd. Those two always seem lost in here unless they're with Malfoy."

"Right!"

The labyrinthine passages were deserted. They walked deeper and deeper under the school, constantly checking their watches to see how much time they had left. After a quarter of an hour, just when Ron and Harry were getting desperate, they heard a sudden movement ahead.

"Ha!" said Ron excitedly. "There's one of them now!"

The figure was emerging from a side room. As they hurried nearer, however, their hearts sank. It wasn't a Slytherin, it was Percy.

"Slow down! Percy's there."

"What're you doing down here?" said Ron in surprise.

Percy looked affronted. "That," he said stiffly, "is none of your business. It's Crabbe, isn't it?"

"Wh - oh, yeah," said Ron.

"Well, get off to your dormitories," said Percy sternly. "It's not safe to go wandering around dark corridors these days."

"You are," Ron pointed out.

"Quick, against the wall, someone's coming!" Merlin said, pushing Cassie against the wall and pretending to be kissing her neck.

"I," said Percy, drawing himself up, "am a prefect. Nothing's about to attack me."

A voice suddenly echoed behind Harry and Ron. Draco Malfoy was strolling toward them, and for the first time in his life, Harry was pleased to see him.

"There you are," he drawled, looking at them. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you; I want to show you something really funny."

Malfoy glanced witheringly at Percy.

"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" he sneered.

Percy looked outraged. "You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!"

Malfoy sneered and motioned for Harry and Ron to follow him. Harry almost said something apologetic to Percy but caught himself just in time. He and Ron hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley-"

"Percy," Ron corrected him automatically.

"Whatever," said Malfoy. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed."

He gave a short, derisive laugh. Harry and Ron exchanged excited looks.

Malfoy paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall. "What's the new password again?" he said to Harry.

"Er -" said Harry.

"Oh, yeah - pure-blood!" said Malfoy, not listening, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. Malfoy marched through it, and Harry and Ron followed him.

Thankfully, Cassie and Merlin were waiting with bated breath, straining their ears to hear.

"Come on. They won't even notice." Cassie said, pushing Merlin off her and dragging him to the entrance. "Pure-blood."

The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs.

"Wait here," said Malfoy to Harry and Ron, motioning them to a pair of empty chairs set back from the fire. "I'll go and get it my father's just sent it to me-"

Wondering what Malfoy was going to show them, Harry and Ron sat down, doing their best to look at home.

Cassie caught their eye and nodded, dragging Merlin over to the loveseat, sitting next to him and playing with his hand absentmindedly as they waited for Malfoy to come back.

Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper clipping. He thrust it under Ron's nose.

"That'll give you a laugh," he said.

Harry saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. He read the clipping quickly, gave a very forced laugh, and handed it to Harry.

It had been clipped out of the Daily Prophet , and it said:

INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car.

Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. Weasley's resignation. "Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," Mr. Malfoy told our reporter. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."

Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them.

"Well?" said Malfoy impatiently as Harry handed the clipping back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"

"Ha, ha," said Harry bleakly.

"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave."

Ron's - or rather, Crabbe's - face was contorted with fury.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy.

"Stomachache," Ron grunted.

"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy, snickering. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he went on thoughtfully. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in."

Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary camera and did a cruel but accurate impression of Colin: "`Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?" Cassie had to press her face into Merlin's shoulder, stifling a giggle at his impression. She felt terrible about it, but it was rather funny.

He dropped his hands and looked at Harry and Ron. "What's the matter with you two?"

Far too late, Harry and Ron forced themselves to laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake.

"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood. And people think he's Slytherin's heir!" Cassie shot them a triumphant look that obviously said, ' told you so.'

Harry and Ron waited with bated breath: Malfoy was surely seconds away from telling them it was him - but then "I wish I knew who it is," said Malfoy petulantly. "I could help them."

Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe looked even more clueless than usual. Fortunately, Malfoy didn't notice, and Harry, thinking fast, said, "You must have some idea who's behind it all..."

"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing - last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time... I hope it's Granger," he said with relish.

"Did he say one of them died fifty years ago?" Cassie whispered to Merlin.

"Yes, shush, I can't hear." he whispered back, putting her head back on his shoulder as he stared at the fireplace.

Ron was clenching Crabbe's gigantic fists. Feeling that it would be a bit of a giveaway if Ron punched Malfoy, Harry shot him a warning look and said, "D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?"

"Oh, yeah... whoever it was was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" said Harry, puzzled.

"Azkaban - the wizard prison, Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward."

He shifted restlessly in his chair and said, "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week?"

Harry tried to force Goyle's dull face into a look of concern.

"Yeah..." said Malfoy. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor-"

"Ho!" said Ron, but seeing Cassie's look of alarm stopped himself before revealing any more.

Malfoy looked at him. So did Harry. Ron blushed. Even his hair was turning red. His nose was also slowly lengthening - their hour was up, Ron was turning back into himself, and from the look of horror he was suddenly giving Harry, he must be, too.

"Oh, no. Let's go up to the rooms, I'll figure out a way to hide us." Merlin said, taking her hand and leading her to the door that led to the dorms.

They left the door open enough to hear Ron say, "Medicine for my stomach," and sprint out the Common Room.

"These robes are huge on me!" Cassie said, missing the long legs.

"Let me," Merlin said, and muttered under his breath making both their robes shrink to fit them. "Are you really barefoot?" he asked incredulously.

"I forgot about the shoes. And I have small feet." Cassie whined petulantly.

"Whatever, let's go. You're going with me to the Hospital wing because I broke my nose." Merlin said.

"There's no blood." Cassie told him. He took out a handkerchief and used his wand to stain it red.

"There is now. No one will take a second look at us. We look like we could be third years."

"Not with those ears, Malfoy will know it's you. Let me change your hair, a nice brunette." Cassie said, waving her wand quickly, then dragging him out with his head tilted up.

When they were out in the passageway, Cassie and Merlin dropped the pretense and ran quickly to Myrtle's bathroom. They got there in time to hear Hermione squeak "go away!"

"What's the matter?" said Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are."

But Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall door. Harry had never seen her looking so happy.

"Ooooooh, wait till you see," she said. "It's awful-"

They heard the lock slide back and Hermione emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head.

"What's up?" said Ron uncertainly. "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"

Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the sink. Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking through her hair.

"Oh, Hermione." Merlin said, getting closer to her and checking to see she wasn't hurt too badly, she obviously used animal hair, and that meant the rest of the holiday would be spent in the hospital wing.

"It was a c-cat hair!" she howled. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"

"Uh-oh," said Ron.

"You'll be teased something dreadful," said Myrtle happily.

"You're not helping, Myrtle!" Cassie scolded.

"It's okay, Hermione," said Harry quickly. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions..."

"Maybe not to you." Merlin mumbled, answering Cassie's curious look with, "I've had more than a couple broken bones since we got here. I don't think she believes that I'm just clumsy."

"Hermione, it'll be alright. Madam Pomfrey will reverse the effects, and she won't tell anyone. She's very discreet." Cassie said softly, staying in the Slytherin robes.

It took a long time to persuade Hermione to leave the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle sped them on their way with a hearty guffaw. "Wait till everyone finds out you've got a tail!"