Chapter 56: The Polyjuice Potion

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"Your detention today: sort and organize the new potion ingredients," Snape roughly gestured toward a massive package in the corner of his office.

Apparently overstuffed with ingredients, it suddenly burst open, scattering materials across the floor, covering nearly half the storage room.

Snape frowned, strode out briskly, and closed the door behind him.

Jane examined the ingredients, noting they were from Slug & Jiggers Apothecary in Diagon Alley.

Oddly, while the shop usually delivered neatly packaged materials, today everything was jumbled together.

Mistletoe berries, aconite root, jobberknoll feathers, valerian sprigs, peppermint, and daisy roots...

All seemed to be common potion ingredients.

But while sorting lavender, she noticed something unusual.

Under the dried leaves, there were some different items mixed in.

They were fragments that, judging by their shape and texture, appeared to be horn material.

She picked up the pieces, trying to fit them together—it was bicorn horn!

After pocketing these pieces, she continued sorting and discovered long, scaly, dried skin membranes under the bat wings—damaged boomslang skin!

Puzzled, she checked the potions inventory list, but found Snape hadn't ordered these ingredients.

Apparently, the shop assistants had mixed them in by mistake.

How careless.

With her stolen ingredients, she met Harry and the others again in an abandoned classroom.

The trio looked at her as if she were Merlin himself.

"Merlin's beard!" Ron exclaimed, "Just surviving Snape's class is my limit, but you serve detention there weekly, steal ingredients, and live to tell about it—that's incredible!"

Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"The brewing will progress quickly now. I hadn't expected you to get these so soon."

Hermione happily told Jane to await her good news.

...

In the Slytherin common room.

Jane let Harry and Ron in, directing them to sit on the long bench.

Only two came because Hermione had transformed into a half-cat creature—she'd accidentally used hair from Millicent's cat in her potion.

Harry felt nervous as he watched Malfoy saunter toward them.

"Finally back from stuffing yourselves in the Great Hall?" Malfoy drawled in his usual haughty manner, "I've been looking for you. Want to show you this."

He tossed a newspaper clipping onto Ron's lap.

Ron's face—or rather, Crabbe's face—gradually turned red, his expression twisting.

The clipping read: "INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC - Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, has been fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car."

Malfoy continued his contemptuous mockery:

"Father says he should resign immediately. These blood-traitor purebloods don't deserve positions at the Ministry."

Ron looked ready to draw his wand and hex him.

Harry had to grip his best friend's sleeve tightly to prevent their cover from being blown. He awkwardly steered the conversation:

"But they're friends with Potter—maybe the heir would support the Weasleys—"

He held his breath, hoping Malfoy would reveal the heir's identity.

"Saint Potter? The heir?" Malfoy's voice immediately turned sharp, as if he'd heard the funniest joke ever, "Goyle, I sometimes wonder if you're too stupid to be in Slytherin."

He stood up, looking down at them with contempt:

"How many times must I tell you, Goyle, Crabbe? Father won't tell me who the heir is, or anything about when the Chamber was last opened. But it's definitely not Potter."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances, continuing their clumsy inquiry:

"But surely you know something... about the Chamber... the heir..."

Malfoy's expression turned troubled:

"Well, I do have my suspicions..."

"I've been trying to guide her back to the right path, but she keeps getting deceived by those stupid lions."

"We had an argument at the start of term." He suddenly exploded, slamming the chair back, "Damn it, she said I couldn't compare to Weasley? That blood-traitor family's red-haired mole? I'm the sole heir to the Malfoy family!"

"Crabbe's" face reddened further, growing increasingly uncomfortable.

"Anyway, I've written to Father to stop Dumbledore from expelling her," Malfoy continued, looking worried again, "I don't understand why she's so fond of those Gryffindor idiots... but I've already got her an eagle owl for Christmas, she should like that kind of large owl—what's wrong with you two?"

Harry and Ron jumped up.

Ron's hair was turning red, his nose lengthening; Harry's body was shrinking—the potion was wearing off!

"Stomach ache—" Ron mumbled, bolting for the exit.

They ran panting to the abandoned classroom where Hermione waited.

"Can't believe Malfoy did something decent," Harry said, "Even though he suspects Yu, at least his father's stopping her expulsion..."

They recounted the entire conversation to Hermione.

"So you learned nothing?" Hermione shrieked, her face covered in yellow-black cat fur and sporting pointed ears, "I ended up looking this horrible! And you discovered nothing!"

"Er..." Ron's neck retracted, his face reddening, "Not exactly nothing—at least we know Yu's on our side, she even said Malfoy couldn't compare to me... and she really likes Gryffindor..."

Hermione looked ready to pounce on Ron with her newly grown cat fangs:

"You were—still doubting her loyalty?"

"She's obviously been framed! We're supposed to find the real heir to stop people suspecting Yu and Harry!"

She angrily yanked open the stall door and shouted at them:

"You explain this to Yu yourselves! She risked stealing ingredients from under Snape's nose—and you learned nothing! And you, Ronald Weasley, you're still suspecting she's the heir?!"

...

Harry and Ron nervously approached Jane.

They stammered through their explanation of what happened.

Jane felt dizzy.

So this was why Dumbledore hadn't expelled her—it was Malfoy's doing!

She wondered if he'd developed some strange McDonald's syndrome.

After she'd angered him so much, instead of writing to his father to force her expulsion, he was preventing it!

Perhaps he should convince Harry to give him the title and rename himself "Saint Malfoy"!

What an absolute betrayal!

"It's fine..." she said weakly, pressing her aching stomach, "I'll think of something else..."

Clearly, the heir had nothing to do with him. She needed to try a different approach.

Seeing her condition, Harry and Ron felt even more ashamed.

"We'll come to you immediately if we notice anything unusual," they promised.