Of Monsters, Of Men

Chapter 42

The next day, Lawrence, Nina, Polly, and Myrtle shuffled into the Room of Requirement, each in various stages of a hangover. Harry passed out Pepper-up Potions to each of them, keeping the last two for himself. Tom never seemed to get hangovers or need Pepper-up Potions the day after. What Harry wouldn't give to trade their livers.

The first few minutes passed in silence as everyone chugged their potions, waiting for the effects to take hold. Harry grimaced as the first vial's contents made its way down his throat but dutifully held the second vial up to his mouth. Once a few more minutes had passed and everyone seemed to have sufficiently brightened up, himself included, Harry cleared his throat.

"How was last night?"

"It went well on my end," Nina said, grinning. "I've convinced Zara Shafiq to vote for us. She won't be swayed by what the Slytherins will say to her, I just know."

Harry smiled. Some good news.

Myrtle said, "Lawrence and I have also convinced Anna Chang to our side. She really likes our initiative to educate incoming muggleborns about the Wizarding World; she said that she loves learning and adores teaching others."

Tom nodded.

"I was able to convince Ackley Diggory," Polly said. "I'm quite certain that he has a crush on me, so his vote is guaranteed."

Lawrence wore a pensive expression at this, and Harry bit back a laugh. As if Polly looks at anyone but you.

"I think that Caspar Crouch is more inclined to vote for us than not," Harry ventured. "Unfortunately, I can't say his vote is guaranteed."

Myrtle pursed her lips.

"I'll try talking to him again later," Harry said. "He revealed to me that Walburga Black confided in him that she believes FiGS is 'not unifying the student body but actively sowing division within it'."

Nina scowled. "Fucking bitch. I hate her."

"We all do," Lawrence muttered.

Harry bit his lip, looking at Tom, anxiety curdling in his gut. Now for the bad news...

"I talked to Connor McLaggen yesterday," Tom said. "He told me that Walburga Black and Abraxas Malfoy made him a deal he couldn't possibly refuse. They would give him anything he wanted, granted that two school-age Slytherins could reasonably acquire it for him."

Instantly, the mood dropped.

"Fuck!" Nina swore.

"What should we do?" Polly asked, her eyebrows knitted together, the worry evident in her face.

"Yesterday, I talked with Tom about it after running into him, and we came up with a solution." Harry paused before adding, "We didn't tell you last night because we wanted you to enjoy the afterparty."

Myrtle nodded. "That makes sense. What's your solution?"

Harry winced. "Do you have any ideas? Ours is a last resort. We'd like to hear your ideas so if something better comes up, we can do that instead."

The room fell quiet, and then Myrtle said softly, "Bribery won't work. We're bound to be outbid if we do. We can't force him to vote for us. In that case, we can only try to appeal to his innate Gryffindor goodness. He should want to do the right thing, no?"

Nina snorted. "Appealing to his morals won't work. He's not enough of a Gryffindor for that." She met everyone's eyes as she continued, "What I mean is, if he was a better Gryffindor, he'd vote for us without question and we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with."