The Polyjuice Pandemonium and the Diary Debacle

Snow-covered Hogwarts was a sight to behold as students boarded sleighs to leave for the holidays. But for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Raja, it was the perfect time to commit moderate identity fraud in the name of justice.

Fred and George, never ones to let an opportunity pass, circled Harry like hungry wolves. "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin!" Fred declared.

George added, "Don't kill us, mighty Parselmouth!"

Harry groaned, but Raja clapped dramatically. "Bow before him, peasants! Or face his wrath!"

Trio Informed there plan to Raja and asked him for help in creating the potion and devicing a master plan to infiltrate the Slytherin dorms.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anyway, the Polyjuice Potion will be ready soon. We need to figure out how to use it."

Raja, grinning, leaned closer. "You guys are becoming more evil and started to embrace the Darkside?"

Hermione ignored him.

The plan was simple. Knock out Crabbe and Goyle. Steal their hair. Assume their identities. Infiltrate the Slytherin common room. Collect hot gossip from Malfoy.

"So basically, a Mission Impossible wizard edition?" Raja asked.

"Exactly," Hermione nodded. "But with more vomiting."

Raja handed out cakes laced with sleeping draughts. "Harry, you levitate them near Crabbe and Goyle."

"Should we feel bad about this?" Ron asked.

Raja shook his head. "Absolutely not."

Within minutes, Crabbe and Goyle proved their supreme intelligence by devouring the suspiciously floating cakes.

Harry and Ron dragged them into a cupboard, swiped their uniforms, and plucked hair samples. Hermione had already procured Millicent Bulstrode's hair during their last duel.

Raja leaned against the doorway. "This is why I love hanging out with you guys. Crimes. Always crimes."

In Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, the potion was ready. One sip later, gross transformations ensued.

Harry sprouted Crabbe's bulk, Ron gained Goyle's impressive lack of neck, but Hermione… refused to come out.

"Myrtle's laughing," Harry noted. "That's never a good sign."

"I'M A CAT!" Hermione wailed.

The door creaked open. Hermione had grown fur, ears, and a tail.

Raja, completely unfazed, took one look and pulled out a notebook. "Fascinating. Cat Hermione! Someone take notes."

Ignoring her glares, he pulled out a potion and handed it over. "Drink this. You'll be human again in a few hours."

"Where did you get that?" Ron asked.

Raja smiled. "Let's just say Snape's 'inventory' has been generously borrowed and yours Truly Most handsome Boy of Slytherin Concocted potion."

Ron and Harry left before Hermione could swat Raja with her newly clawed hands.

Navigating the Slytherin corridors, Harry and Ron bumbled their way through their newfound Crabbe and Goyle forms.

Percy Weasley stopped them. "What are you doing here?"

Before they could stutter an answer, Draco Malfoy appeared like a smug peacock.

"There you two are! Why are you wearing glasses, Goyle?" Draco squinted at Harry.

Harry panicked. "Er… for reading."

Draco snorted. "Reading? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say."

They made it to the Slytherin common room, where Draco effortlessly continued his role as Hogwarts' resident rich-kid villain.

"Father says Dumbledore's the worst thing that ever happened to Hogwarts."

Harry clenched his jaw.

"And he's sure the Chamber was opened fifty years ago."

Harry perked up. "Oh?"

Draco leaned in. "Someone died back then. A Mudblood. Father won't say who got expelled for it. But I hope it happens again."

Ron turned an impressive shade of red.

Harry, meanwhile, noticed his hands looking less Goyle-y by the second. "Uh-oh."

Before they could be exposed as impostors, they bolted out of the common room, just as the real Crabbe and Goyle emerged from the cupboard.

Draco blinked. "Why are you two coming from the—?"

Too late. Harry and Ron were gone.

Back in Myrtle's bathroom, they excitedly recounted their findings.

"That confirms it," Hermione said. "The Chamber was opened 50 years ago."

Before they could celebrate their success, Raja picked up a very wet, very cursed-looking book.

Myrtle wailed. "Someone threw it at me!"

Raja turned it over. Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Ron's face lit up. "I know that name! He got an award for 'Special Services to the School.'"

Raja rubbed his chin. "Suspicious. Clearly, this diary holds secrets."

Raja immediately began his evilest experimenting.

He dropped ink on the pages. It vanished.

He wrote, My name is Raja, most Handsome and Smart Boy of Slytherin. I will be the King of the Wizards!

Words appeared: Tom Riddle: …Are you serious?

Raja grinned. Of course. Do you know any royal spells?

Tom Riddle: No. What do you want?

Raja: To uncover secrets. Also, got any stock market tips?

Tom Riddle: …I don't understand.

Raja: Let's start simple. What's your favorite color underwear?

Tom Riddle: Are you kidding me?

Raja: This is important for our bond, Tom.

Tom Riddle: Please ask questions about Hogwarts past.

Raja: Due you think Salazar is a momma's boy or Godric is waiting for Dad's Approval? 

The trio watched in horror as Raja terrorized a dark artifact with nonsense.

After an hour of ridiculous questioning, Tom finally snapped.

Tom Riddle: FINE! Do you want to see the past or not?!

A swirling vortex sucked Raja straight into Hogwarts, 50 years ago.

Raja found himself in an older Hogwarts, watching a handsome but sinister boy—Tom Riddle himself.

Dumbledore appeared. "Tom, why are you out at night?"

Riddle gave his best orphan-in-trouble face. "I'm just worried about Hogwarts closing."

Dumbledore, already suspicious, let him go.

Raja followed Riddle, straight to Hagrid's hiding spot.

"You can't do this!" Hagrid protested.

"Your beast killed a girl," Riddle accused.

Hagrid's pet—Aragog—burst out of its box and scuttled away.

Before Raja could yell, he was yanked back into the present.

Raja gasped, landing back in the bathroom.

"IT WAS HAGRID!" he announced. "Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago!"

Hermione, Ron, and Harry stared in shock.

Raja, rubbing his hands together, grinned. "And this is about to get very interesting."

To Be Continued…