Year Two: The Secret of Slytherin

Part 14

Both girls made their way up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom after stealing three large sets of Slytherin uniforms from the laundry.

Anne was stirring the last of the ingredients into the cauldron when Harry and Ron came bursting in.

"Did you get them?" asked Hermione, who was already dressed in one of the large Slytherin uniforms.

Harry and Ron held up their hands to show the girls small tufts of hair.

"Good. We sneaked those spare robes out of the laundry," said Anne, pointing to the two remaining robes.

The potion resembled a thick, dark, bubbling mud.

"I'm sure I've done everything right," muttered Anne nervously looking through the pages of Moste Potente Potions. "It looks like the book says it should. Once you've drunk it, you'll have exactly one hour before you change back into yourselves."

"Now what?" Ron whispered, after he and Harry changed into the large Slytherin robes.

"We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs," Hermione instructed.

Anne ladled large dollops of the potion into each of the glasses. The potion hissed like a boiling kettle and frothed madly as the hairs were added. It then turned a sick ort of yellow.

"Ugh! Essence of Crabbe.." Ron muttered. He, Harry, and Hermione raised their glasses to their lips.

"I can't watch!" Anne muttered as she turned away covering her eyes.

"Think I'm gonna be sick!" she heard Ron moaning, then run into one of the stalls.

"Me too!" Hermione groaned running into another stall.

Anne kept her face hidden unsure how her friends were going to turn out. After what seemed like a minute, she slowly turned around.

In front of her stood Goyle. "How do you feel?" she asked seeing how strange it was to see Harry in Goyle's body.

"All right, but strange," Goyle's low rasp of a voice issued from Harry's mouth.

Ron emerged from his stall. He was undistinguishable from Crabbe, from the pudding-bowl haircut to the gorilla arms. "Harry? Anne?"

"Ron!" both Harry and Anne cried out.

"Bloody hell!" replied Ron in Crabbe's low voice.

Anne smiled impressed. Her good potion work had paid off.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron then asked.

"I--I don't think I'm going," Hermione answered behind her stall. "Go on without me."

"Hermione, are you okay? Surely you don't look that bad!" Anne called out to her friend.

"All three of you go! You're wasting time!"

"All right. C'mon guys, I'll lead you to the Slytherin common room."

Harry and Ron followed Anne down the marble staircase to the dungeons.

"Now once we get into the Slytherin common room all you guys have do is--" Anne instructed before a voice echoed off to the side.

Draco was strolling toward them. "Crabbe! Goyle! Where have you been? Pigging out in the Great Hall all this time?" When he saw Anne, his demeanor changed somewhat. "What are you doing out here, Borden? You know it's not safe to be out here with a monster running loose. I would hate to see you become another victim of the Heir of Slytherin. Thank goodness these two found you."

"Since when do you care, Draco?" Anne asked lowly.

"I care about everyone in Slytheirn ," he answered.

Anne scoffed. "Yeah, right!"

A fire was cracking under the elaborately carved mantlepiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins silhouetted around it.

Anne settled herself in her usual dark corner with a book. She glanced saideways to Harry and Ron who were standing stiffly as Draco made himself at home on a black sleek couch.

"Well, sit down," Draco motioned to Harry and Ron to a pair of empty chairs across from him. "You'd never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave. They're an embarrassment to the Wizarding World. All of them!" he said casually.

Ron's face was contorted with fury.

"What's wrong with you, Crabbe?"

"Stomachache," Ron grunted.

Draco continued on undetered. "You know, I'm surprised that the Daily Prophet hasn't done a report on all these attacks. I suppose Dumbledore is trying to hush it all up. Father always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that ever happened to this place."

"You're wrong!" Harry yelled. Anne tensed wondering if he was going to punch Draco or something.

"What? You think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore?" Draco interjected. "Who then?"

Harry gulped nervously. "Harry Potter."

"Good one, Goyle. You're absolutely right! Saint Potter! And people actually think that he's the Heir of Slytherin!"

Harry, Anne, and Ron waited with bated breath; Draco was surely seconds away from telling them it was him.

"But then you must have some idea who's behind it all," said Harry naively.

"You know I don't, Goyle!" Draco snapped. "I told you yesterday. How many times do I have to tell you? But my father did say this; it's been fifty years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it----only that they were expelled. The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time. As for me, I hope it's Granger," he said with relish.

Anne dropped her book as she jumped to her feet. "That's a very cruel thing to say! You make me sick!"

Draco shot her a menacing look. "You keep your opinions to yourself, Borden!"

Ron had shot to his feet wanting to punch the lights out of him. Harry restrained him.

"What's the matter with you two?" he asked glancing back at Harry and Ron. "You're acting very....odd."

"It's his stomachache," Harry explained. "Calm down," he said to Ron.

Ron stared at Harry wide-eyed and a little panicked. He pointed to Harry's forehead. Harry, too, had the same expression. Anne looked over at them and saw Ron's red hair coming into focus and Harry's scar becoming visible on his forehead.

"C'mon! I need to get you two out of here!" she gestured to them.

They dashed out with Anne following close behind.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Draco shouted after them.

They didn't stop until they made it back to the bathroom.

"That was close!" Ron panted back to his old self.

"You're telling me!" Anne commented. "How are you, Harry?"

"Okay." The large Slytherin robes hung on him like loose sheets. "Hermione, come out! We've got loads to tell you!"

"Go away!" Hermione cried.

Moaning Myrtle glided down to them. Anne had never seen her looking so giddy and happy.

"Wait till you see. It's awful," she giggled.

Curious and bewildered, the three went over to Hermione's stall. The stall door slowly opened.

Hermione slowly uncovered her face with her robes. Her face was covered in fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long pointed ears poking through her hair. "Do you remember me telling you that Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformations? It was cat hair I plucked off Millicent's robes. Look at my face!"

"Look at your tail!" Ron laughed.

"Oh Ron! She's had enough teasing!" Anne groaned.