"We get to see if you've managed to make it properly or not – though I doubt you got it wrong – and we get to hear what Malfoy might know about it, or if he even is the Heir," Cedric said.
"Somehow, I get the feeling that you're leaning towards him possibly knowing something," Harry said. Cedric nodded.
"As Dobby is most likely from a Slytherin pure-blood fanatic family and knows what he does – even if he wasn't able to tell you it all – it makes sense that the children of pure-blood fanatics would also know," Cedric said. "You just have to bring it about in a way that it doesn't look suspicious, but, considering who you're going to be impersonating, I don't think you'll have to worry about it all that much."
They stepped off the stone staircase at the top and Professor McGonagall rapped on the door. It opened silently and they entered. Professor McGonagall told Harry to wait, and left him there, alone.
"Alone with you're own thoughts. Not a good thing," Hermione said. "Knowing you, you'll begin to think depressing thoughts again."
Harry looked around. One thing was certain: of all the teachers' offices Harry had visited so far this year, Dumbledore's was by far the most interesting.
"I wonder what makes it so interesting," Hermione said.
If he hadn't been scared out of his wits that he was about to be thrown out of school, he would have been very pleased to have a chance to look around it.
"You can still look around," Hermione said, wanting to know what the office looked like.
It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke.
"What do those do?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Cedric said. "I've never been to the office."
The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat – the Sorting Hat.
"Why do I get the feeling that the emphasis on it means something," Cedric said.
"Probably because I've had the whole thing 'I might be the heir of Slytherin' on my mind at the moment," Harry said. "I don't think it'll hurt if I try it on and see if it put me into the right house."
"Somehow, I don't see it changing it's mind," Hermione said. "It wanted you in Slytherin, and that's where it'll say you should be."
Harry hesitated. He cast a wary eye around the sleeping witches and wizards on the walls. Surely it couldn't hurt if he took the Hat down and tried it on again? Just to see ... just to make sure it had put him in the right house.
"Honestly, I think you are in the right house, it just tried to make you want another house. Why, though, I don't know," Luna said.
"Yeah, because, while you can be pretty cunning, you don't seem all that ambitious, unless one counts your desire not to be known as you are to the world as ambition," Hermione said.
He walked quietly around the desk, lifted the Hat from its shelf, and lowered it slowly onto his head. It was much too large and slipped down over his eyes, just as it had done the last time he'd put it on.
"I wonder if it's possible for it to ever fit a person's head or not ," Hermione mused.
Harry stared at the black inside of the Hat, waiting. Then a small voice said in his ear, "Bee in your bonnet, Harry Potter?"
"Er, yes," Harry muttered. "Er – sorry to bother you – I wanted to ask –"
"I think he'll know what you want to know, Harry," Cedric said.
"You've been wondering whether I put you in the right house," said the Hat smartly. "Yes ... you were particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I said before –" Harry's heart leapt
"Why would you're heart leap when you already know that he thought you would do well in Slytherin?" Hermione asked.
"Don't know," Harry said, sighing. "I could have forgotten that the hat had wanted that."
"– you would have done well in Slytherin."
Harry's stomach plummeted.
"That wasn't what I wanted to hear," Harry said.
He grabbed the point of the Hat and pulled it off. It hung limply in his hand, grubby and faded.
"You would never suspect that it it could talk with the way it would look at that moment," Cedric said.
Harry pushed it back onto its shelf, feeling sick.
"Because it didn't say something to help keep me from feeling like the rumors are true," Harry said.
"You're wrong," he said aloud to the still and silent Hat. It didn't move. Harry backed away, watching it. Then a strange, gagging noise behind him made him wheel around.
"Does Dumbledore have a pet in his office?" Hermione asked.
"I think he has a phoenix," Cedric said.
"A phoenix? As in, a bird who will burst into flames when it come time to die and then is reborn from the ashes?" Hermione asked. "They're real?"
"Yes, they are," Luna said. "They're just extremely rare. They only come to those who they feel deserve their companionship."
He wasn't alone after all. Standing on a golden perch behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird which resembled a half-plucked turkey.
"I think it's close to a burning day," Luna said.
"It would explain the reason why he looks like that," Cedric said.
Harry stared at it and the bird looked balefully back, making its gagging noise again. Harry thought it looked very ill. Its eyes were dull and, even as Harry watched, a couple more feathers fell out of its tail.
"Oh no," Hermione said, looking at Harry. "The last thing you need is for the bird to die while you're in there. You'll probably think that you'll be blamed for it."
Harry was just thinking that all he needed was for Dumbledore's pet bird to die while he was alone in the office with it,
"See," Hermione said.
when the bird burst into flames.
"That's going to be a shock to me," Harry said.
Harry yelled in shock and backed away into the desk. He looked feverishly around in case there was a glass of water somewhere, but couldn't see one.
"It wouldn't help anyways," Luna said. "The magic that causes it can't be extinguished by any means until there is only ash left, in which it'll extinguish itself."
The bird, meanwhile, had become a fireball; it gave one loud shriek and next second there was nothing but a smouldering pile of ash on the floor.
The office door opened. Dumbledore came in, looking very sombre.
"That's not going to help my nerves," Harry said.
"Professor," Harry gasped, "your bird – I couldn't do anything – he just caught fire –"
"Dumbledore won't be surprised at that. He'll also be able to explain it to you," Cedric said.
"Which will be a relief to me," Harry said.
To Harry's astonishment, Dumbledore smiled.
"No doubt. That'll confuse me quite a bit," Harry said.
"About time, too," he said. "He's been looking dreadful for days, I've been telling him to get a move on."
"I wonder if the phoenix could tell that there was something going on, and didn't want to be out of action," Hermione said. "I mean, I get the feeling that the phoenix was trying to delay his dying, because he might not be ready for any full action if he's a newborn."
He chuckled at the stunned look on Harry's face.
"Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. Watch him ..."
Harry looked down in time to see a tiny, wrinkled, new-born bird poke its head out of the ashes. It was quite as ugly as the old one.
"I wonder if you'll ever seem him when he's fully matured and not about to enter a Burning Day," Luna said. "Phoenixes are said to be quite beautiful, after all."
"It's a shame you had to see him on a Burning Day," said Dumbledore, seating himself behind his desk. "He's really very handsome most of the time: wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers and they make highly faithful pets."
"I wouldn't call them pets," Luna said. "They're companions, not pets."
In the shock of Fawkes catching fire, Harry had forgotten what he was there for,
"Yeah, that would be something that would dominate the mind a bit," Hermione said.
but it all came back to him as Dumbledore settled himself in the high-backed chair behind the desk and fixed Harry with his penetrating, light-blue stare.
"That would probably make me nervous," Harry said.
Before Dumbledore could speak another word, however, the door of the office flew open with an almighty bang and Hagrid burst in, a wild look in his eyes, his balaclava perched on top of his shaggy black head and the dead rooster still swinging from his hand.
"Why is he there?" Harry asked.
"It wasn' Harry, Professor Dumbledore!" said Hagrid urgently. "I was talkin' ter him seconds before that kid was found, he never had time, sir ..."
Dumbledore tried to say something, but Hagrid went ranting on, waving the rooster around in his agitation, sending feathers everywhere.
"... It can't've bin him, I'll swear it in front o' the Ministry o' Magic if I have to ..."
"Hagrid, I –"
"... Yeh've got the wrong boy, sir, I know Harry never –"
"I think we've found someone who has a slightly higher place in Hagrid's mind over Dumbledore," Cedric said. "With the way he's defending you, willing to swear it in front of the Ministry of Magic and all...that's a serious thing to do, meaning he feels very strongly about it."
"Hagrid!" said Dumbledore loudly. "I do not think that Harry attacked those people."
"He doesn't. Then why did I have to go there?" Harry asked.
"I think he might have told McGonagall to bring whoever finds an attack to him rather than to bring you straight to him. Either that, or McGonagall just brought you there by her own will," Hermione said. "I mean, you read what she said, before. 'This is out of my hands, Potter'. She probably had to bring you there because you were there, and the biggest suspect. I mean, people suspect that you tried to attack Justin at the club, and now he's petrified with you standing over him...it's not a good scene to see."
"Oh," said Hagrid, the rooster falling limply at his side. "Right. I'll wait outside then, Headmaster."
And he stomped out looking embarrassed.
"While I feel a bit sorry that he feels embarrassed about the scene he just created, I am extremely glad that he was willing to embarrass himself in order to let it be known that he doesn't believe it was you," Hermione said.
"I have to wonder, if he wasn't also at Hogwarts at the time the Chamber was opened, you know, the time Dobby mentioned," Luna said.
"It's possible, but, without a time frame of when it was open, and without knowing what years Hagrid was a student before being expelled and if he's ever left Hogwarts since then, though it doesn't seem like it, but, in the off chance that he did, when did he do that and how long was he gone..." Hermione said, listing any reason she could think of to show that it's not a fool-proof thing that Hagrid would automatically know.
"You don't think it was me, Professor?" Harry repeated hopefully, as Dumbledore brushed rooster feathers off his desk.
"No, Harry, I don't," said Dumbledore, though his face was sombre again. "But I still want to talk to you."
"I think he's worried about you," Hermione said. "I mean, you seem to be in the middle of it all, and, like the group of Hufflepuffs, I think it's easy to see that all of the 'victims' all have you in common."
Harry waited nervously while Dumbledore considered him, the tips of his long fingers together.
"I must ask you, Harry, whether there is anything you'd like to tell me," he said gently. "Anything at all."
"I'm not sure if you should tell him, and what you should tell him," Hermione said. "I mean, I do believe that you should tell him something, but what, I'm not sure."
Harry didn't know what to say. He thought of Malfoy shouting, 'You'll be next, Mudbloods!'
"That's something you should mention to him, though I don't think he'll do anything," Cedric said. "Malfoy's not the first person to call someone that word in the school."
and of the Polyjuice Potion, simmering away in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"I don't think you should tell him about that, though you could mention something about how you think Malfoy is the heir of Slytherin, or you could ask Dumbledore if there is any way of tracing a family's ancestry," Luna said. "You could find other suspects that way, if there is. Or, you could find your own family lines."
"That would be nice," Harry said.
Then he thought of the disembodied voice he had heard twice and remembered what Ron had said: "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."
"Now that you're there alone, it would be a good idea to ask him that," Cedric said.
He thought, too, about what everyone was saying about him, and his growing dread that he was somehow connected with Salazar Slytherin …
"Which would be either confirmed or erased if you were able to look up your family lines," Luna said.
"No," said Harry, "there isn't anything, Professor."
"I wonder why you don't seem to want to tell him anything," Hermione said, sighing.
The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick turned what had hitherto been nervousness into real panic. Curiously, it was Nearly Headless Nick's fate that seemed to worry people most.
"That does make sense, since there are not many things that could harm a ghost," Cedric said. "In fact, I don't think I've ever heard anything harming a ghost."
What could possibly do that to a ghost, people asked each other; what terrible power could harm someone who was already dead? There was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could go home for Christmas.
"Yeah, makes sense," Cedric said. "Though, just because many want to go home doesn't mean that they will be able to. I mean, if they said they would stay, then their parents could have made plans already."
"At this rate, we'll be the only ones left," Ron told Harry and Hermione. "Us, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."
"Well, I doubt that the pure-bloods are wanting to leave all that much, since, as far as they know, they don't have a reason to leave; they're not being threatened. Same for a good number of half-bloods, who also probably stayed. It's probably mostly the Muggleborns who would want to leave," Cedric said. "I wouldn't be surprised if most of the Slytherin house stays behind, because many of them are probably having fun and wanting to know whose next."
"Many of them," Hermione said. "You don't think all of them?"
"No. I do think there are some there who don't agree with the philosophy that pure-bloods are better and are actually true Slytherins as the Sorting Hat says they're meant to be – cunning and ambitious," Cedric said. "You just wouldn't know it because those who do agree with the philosophy kind of overpower those who don't and it would probably get those who don't hurt if they were known."
Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy did,
"That we know of," Luna said. "They could do something else if they wanted to. You just haven't seen them do that."
had signed up to stay over the holidays too. But Harry was glad that most people were leaving.
"So a good number of people are leaving," Hermione said.
He was tired of people skirting around him in the corridors, as though he was about to sprout fangs or spit poison; tired of all the muttering, pointing and hissing as he passed.
"Sounds almost like what I went through the first year, but with them trying not to be loud," Harry said. "They're probably afraid that I might turn on them if I heard what they said."
"It not like you wouldn't know what they are saying anyway," Hermione said.
Fred and George, however, found all this very funny.
"Probably because they don't believe that it's you," Cedric said. "And they find it funny that others think it is, so they'll make a joke out of it."
They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through ..."
Harry couldn't help the snigger that came through his mouth.
"That will definitely help my mood," he said. "Knowing that they think that it's so ridiculous and all."
Percy was deeply disapproving of this behaviour.
"Of course he does," Hermione said. "He doesn't think it's appropriate for someone to try and other feel better by laughing."
"It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly.
"I won't lie and say that that not true, but that still doesn't mean that they are wrong to show support to Harry," Hermione said.
"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Harry's in a hurry."
"Probably have class," Harry said.
"Yeah, he's nipping off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant," said George, chortling.
"I definitely love them right now," Hermione said, giggling. "There's no way that wouldn't make you feel better."
Ginny didn't find it amusing either.
"Why?" Harry asked. "From what said, she's more like Ron and the twins that Percy. At least, that's the impression I get."
"It's a true one," Luna said. "Ginny is more like the twins the Percy. So why would she not think of it as amusing when it is. Unless she either thinks that it is you, or there's something else going on with her."
"Well, we know that she's slightly overreacting with Mrs. Norris's fate, and that she was distraught about Colin's petrification – though that one is understandable, assuming they were becoming great friends – and, we haven't heard of her reaction to Justin, so we can't say how she reacted there, but not finding something the twins are doing as funny – especially when it is funny to hear - and the fact that she's more like them than Percy...that's a bit suspicious," Hermione said.
"Well, I'd say she's a suspect, though I doubt the Weasleys would have anything to do with the something like this," Cedric said. "But, I do think she might know more about it than she's saying, and she, other than what her last name and inability to speak parselmouth, does fit the possible suspect list that we've come up with; at least, if we're going with the 'insane fan girl' theory."
"When you say that, it makes me thing that Ginny's at least part of it in some way," Hermione said. "What if she's does have something to do with this, which is why she's upset with the twins?"
"I think we have to read more to know," Harry said, motioning for Hermione to read.
"Oh, don't," she wailed every time Fred asked Harry loudly who he was planning to attack next,
"I ought to play along, say it's going to be one of the Slytherins. That would probably freak them out," Harry said. "I mean, if I can't stop them from thinking it's me, I might as well have fun with it."
"I think, whoever it is, even if they are an insane fan, probably is purposely keeping it to being Muggleborns in like with the legend," Cedric said. "And that, no matter who you are mad at, they might only keep it to Muggleborns."
"Which makes it appear like I hate my mother and Hermione here," Harry said, sighing. "People just don't think, do they? I mean, they seem to only think about things that would make it seem like that."
"That's true," Hermione said, thinking about how they said that Harry hated his Muggle relative, meaning that he must hate Muggleborns, based on that evidence alone, despite the fact that he's never said anything bad about Muggleborns around the school. Then, another thought occurred to her.
"Wait, now that I think about it, how did the school know that you don't care for you Muggle relatives? I mean, you never seem to say anything about it, to me or Ron, and, we're you're closest friends, so why would you say something about them to someone else and not us," Hermione said.
"You know, now that you say that, that is a good question," Harry said. "I never actually tell anyone that about them, and, other than Ron and the twins, who know what they're like now in the book because of the bars, but I don't think they would tell anyone like it was gossip at the school..."
"I'll agree with the twins on that front," Hermione said. "And I think that Ron's a good enough friend not to talk about it, I probably don't know...maybe someone else overheard you talking about it in the house, and mentioned it to their friends, who took it out of line on what it means. Or, perhaps someone heard that you did magic there and thought you'd done something bad instead of what you were actually accused of doing. I mean, we already know that the people there at the ministry have no problem speaking about their work at home, or what happened in other departments. Mr. Weasley already shows that quite well."
or George pretended to ward Harry off with a large clove of garlic when they met.
"I'm not a vampire," Harry said, remembering that garlic was used to ward of Dracula when he read the book a few years back – it was long, hard and not particularly really good, but managed to get through it, before deciding to keep it to children's chapter books for a while.
Harry didn't mind; it made him feel better that Fred and George, at least, thought the idea of his being Slytherin's heir was quite ludicrous.
"Yeah, which is why I don't mind them doing that," Harry said.
But their antics seemed to be aggravating Draco Malfoy, who looked increasingly sour each time he saw them at it.
"Of course. He probably hates it that you are thought of being the heir of Slytherin because he can't stand the thought that you might have the blood of the 'greatest founder of Hogwarts' running through you," Cedric said. "After all, since your mother is Muggleborn, to him, you have mud running through your veins, so..."
"So it's insulting to think that the heir of Slytherin could have something as insulting and Muggle blood running through them," Harry finished.
"It's because he's bursting to say it's really him," said Ron knowingly.
"If it was him, he wouldn't be bursting to say it, because he'd most likely get in trouble if it was," Cedric said. "It's most likely what I said before."
"You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."
"Having credit taken away would probably make him a bit happy, since it means he would be getting away with it," Hermione said.
"Not for long," said Hermione in a satisfied tone.
"The potion must almost be ready," Luna said. "That's the only thing that would make you happy at the moment."
"The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready. We'll be getting the truth out of him any day now."
"Which is going to disappoint us severely," Hermione said, sighing.
At last the term ended, and a silence deep as the snow on the grounds descended on the castle. Harry found it peaceful, rather than gloomy, and enjoyed the fact that he, Hermione and the Weasleys had the run of Gryffindor Tower, which meant they could play Exploding Snap loudly without bothering anyone, and practise duelling in private.
"That sounds fun, and nice," Harry said.
"True," Hermione said.
Fred, George and Ginny had chosen to stay at school rather than visit Bill in Egypt with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
"More like they didn't have the money to all go," Harry said. "I mean, we know their financial status, so it's not like it's hard to say that they couldn't go, if they had wanted to."
"Whoever wrote the book was probably being nice about it," Hermione said.
Percy, who disapproved of what he termed their childish behaviour, didn't spend much time in the Gryffindor common room. He had already told them pompously that he was only staying over Christmas because it was his duty as a Prefect to support the teachers during this troubled time.
"Doubt it," Cedric said. "I think he has another reason for it."
"He probably thinks he'll be able to catch the heir himself," Hermione said.
Christmas morning dawned, cold and white. Harry and Ron, the only ones left in their dormitory, were woken very early by Hermione, who burst in, fully dressed and carrying presents for them both.
"Hermione, I don't think you're supposed to be going up to the boys dorm," Cedric said, chuckling a bit.
"The potion must be done," Luna said. "She wouldn't have done that otherwise."
"We'll find out if that's true or not some time later," Hermione said.
"Wake up," she said loudly, pulling back the curtains at the window.
"Yes, time to wake up," Luna said.
"Hermione – you're not supposed to be in here," said Ron, shielding his eyes against the light.
"Don't really care at the moment," Hermione said, shrugging.
"Merry Christmas to you, too," said Hermione, throwing him his present.
"I wonder what I get you two this year," Hermione said.
"I get the feeling that we won't know, since there's something more important to talk about," Luna said.
"I've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the Potion. It's ready."
Harry sat up, suddenly wide awake.
"Yeah, that would wake me up rather quickly," Harry said. "We can finally get an answer about whether or not it's Malfoy."
"Are you sure?"
"Don't why I asked that," Harry said. "I don't think Hermione would not be sure."
"Positive," said Hermione, shifting Scabbers the rat so that she could sit down on the end of his four-poster. "If we're going to do it, I say it should be tonight."
"That would be best. No chances of people being on the lookout for you at the moment," Cedric said.
At that moment, Hedwig swooped into the room, carrying a very small package in her beak.
"I get the feeling that you'll like her being there over what the gift is," Hermione said.
"Hello," said Harry happily, as she landed on his bed, "are you speaking to me again?"
"I take it this is the first time she's visited since you've arrived," Hermione said.
"I guess," Harry said.
She nibbled his ear in an affectionate sort of way, which was a far better present than the one which she had brought him, which turned out to be from the Dursleys.
"Which guarantees that it's not liked," Harry said.
They had sent Harry a tooth-pick and a note telling him to find out whether he'd be able to stay at Hogwarts for the summer holidays, too.
"I don't know if that's actually possible or not," Cedric said.
The rest of Harry's Christmas presents were far more satisfactory.
"Of course," Harry said. "Anything from my friends are more satisfactory over anything the Dursley's give me."
"Looks like I'll be able to know what I got you and what you're reaction is," Hermione said. "Of course, knowing that means that I'll have to do better in real life so that I can surprise you."
"And you'll know what not to get me if I don't like the gift. Not saying you will, but rather not assume I'll like everything and then have you get me something I don't like," Harry said.
"I know what you meant," Hermione said.
Hagrid had sent him a large tin of treacle fudge, which Harry decided to soften by the fire before eating;
"That would be a smart idea, considering that it glued your jaw shut the last time you had it," Hermione said.
Ron had given him a book called Flying with the Cannons, a book of interesting facts about his favourite Quidditch team;
"I don't think it's my favorite team," Harry said. "It doesn't sound like it's a good team at all."
and Hermione had bought him a luxury eagle-feather quill.
"That sounds nice," Harry said.
Harry opened the last present to find a new, hand-knitted jumper from Mrs Weasley, and a large plum cake.
"Why did she get me a plum cake?" Harry said. "I mean, I don't see it mentioning any one else getting something extra in theirs."
"Remember, she's trying to make you feel a part of the family, probably hoping that you'll be more receptive towards Ginny that way," Luna said.
He put up her card with a fresh surge of guilt, thinking about Mr Weasley's car, which hadn't been seen since its crash with the Whomping Willow, and the bout of rule-breaking he and Ron were planning next.
"Unlike the car, though, this is for a very good cause," Hermione said.
No one, not even someone dreading taking Polyjuice Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.
"Considering that the potion probably won't taste good, that makes a bit of sense," Cedric said.
The Great Hall looked magnificent.
"I would imagine so," Cedric said.
Not only were there a dozen frost-covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe criss-crossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry, from the ceiling.
"Sounds nice," Hermione said.
Dumbledore led them in a few of his favourite carols, Hagrid booming more and more loudly with every goblet of eggnog he consumed.
"I wonder if it's just eggnog that he was drinking," Harry said.
Percy, who hadn't noticed that Fred had bewitched his prefect badge so that it now read 'Pinhead', kept asking them all what they were sniggering at.
"And none of us are willing to tell him why," Hermione said.
Harry didn't even care that Draco Malfoy was making loud, snide remarks about his new jumper from the Slytherin table.
"Who cares. Chances are that his mother bought it, meaning that it's really worthless. A jumper would be better if it was made by someone who cared for the person, not bought," Hermione said.
With a bit of luck, Malfoy would be getting his come-uppance in a few hours' time.
"We are really going to be extremely disappointed," Hermione said, sighing.
Harry and Ron had barely finished their third helpings of Christmas pudding when Hermione ushered them out of the Hall to finalise their plans for the evening.
"We've wasted enough time," Hermione said. "And, thinking about it, I don't think we have the final bit we need." The others looked at her with a blank look. "The bit of the people we're going to change into," she said.
"Right," Harry said. "Forgot about that."
"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into," said Hermione matter-of-factly, as though she was sending them to the supermarket for washing-powder.
Cedric and Luna sniggered at that, while Harry rolled his eyes.
"And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe 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."
"How are we going to manage that?" Harry asked.
"I'm sure that I have a plan already," Hermione said.
"I've got it all worked out," she went on smoothly, ignoring Harry and Ron's stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes.
"That'll work," Cedric said, guessing what she was planning.
"I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them."
"Yeah, they'll definitely eat them without thinking," Harry said.
"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 cupboard."
Harry and Ron looked incredulously at each other.
"Hermione, I don't think –"
"That could go seriously wrong –"
"Do you really doubt her," Cedric said.
"I could be worried. I mean, this is the first time we're doing something like this. It makes sense that I'll want to worry about it," Harry said.
But Hermione had a steely glint in her eye not unlike the one Professor McGonagall sometimes had.
"Which probably looks scary on you," Luna said.
"The Potion will be useless without Crabbe and Goyle's hair," she said sternly. "You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?"
"Yes, we do," Harry said.
"Oh, all right, all right," said Harry. "But what about you? Whose hair are you ripping out?"
"Honestly, I think you should just have those two go," Cedric said. "It be better, because only Crabbe and Goyle are always around Malfoy, and I don't think he would speak freely around anyone else other than them."
"I probably want to be with them, though," Hermione said.
"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 Duelling Club? She left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle me!"
"Yeah, definitely don't do it," Cedric said. "There is no guarantee that it's her hair; she could have a cat."
"I take it that it would be bad if it's cat hair," Hermione said. Cedric nodded.
"The potion is only meant for humans," he said.
"And she's gone home for Christmas – so I'll just have to tell the Slytherins I've decided to come back."
"As stupid as some Slytherins are, it doesn't mean they're be stupid enough to believe that," Cedric said.
[b[When Hermione had bustled off to check on the Polyjuice Potion again, Ron turned to Harry with a doom-laden expression.
"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?"[/b]
"He has no faith in me," Hermione said, pouting and shaking his head.
But to Harry and Ron's utter amazement, stage one of the operation went just as smoothly as Hermione had said.
"Of course it would," Cedric said. "So far, it seems that Hermione is pretty good at everything she does, and if the sleeping draught is simple, there probably is no way she could mess it up."
"And, with the fact that Crabbe and Goyle will eat anything..." Luna said.
"They're so way it wouldn't go smoothly," Harry finished.
They lurked in the deserted Entrance Hall after Christmas tea, waiting for Crabbe and Goyle, who had remained alone at the Slytherin table, shovelling down fourth helpings of trifle.
"That sounds like too much food," Harry said, looking a bit sick.
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 armour next to the front door.
"So you can watch, without being seen," Cedric said, nodding his approval.
"How thick can you get?"
"Oh, I would have thought that the actions of people so far would have showed that there is no limit," Cedric said.
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 backwards onto the floor.
Luna sniggered at that.
"You must have made the potion really good," Cedric said. "It shows in the fact that they didn't make any faces at tasting it in the cakes – most people can't do that."
Much the most difficult bit was hiding them in the cupboard across the hall.
"Yeah, you're going to have a lot of fun moving them," Cedric said.
"Do you think there is a hovering spell we can use," Harry said. Luna shook her head.
"Wouldn't risk it," she said. "Ron's wand might cause trouble."
Once they were safely stowed amongst 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-sized feet.
"Good idea," Hermione said. "I'll probably have gotten robes for you, but I don't know how I could have gotten you shoes."
Then, still stunned at what they had just done, they sprinted up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
They could hardly see for the thick black smoke issuing from the cubicle in which Hermione was stirring the cauldron. Pulling their robes up over their faces, Harry and Ron knocked softly on the door.
"It probably smells horrible," Cedric said.
"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, treacle-thick Potion. Three glass tumblers stood ready on the toilet seat.
"I've pretty much have it all set up," Hermione said.
"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."
"You did indeed get robes for them," Cedric said.
The three of them stared into the cauldron. Close up, the Potion looked like thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly.
Harry wrinkled his nose. They would be drinking that?
"I'm sure I've done everything right," said Hermione, nervously re-reading 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."
"You know, I just thought of something. I hope you know where the common room is already," Cedric said. "Because, if you don't, you're going to be wasting time trying to find it."
"Yeah, that's something I do not think we thought about in the book," Harry said.
"And we probably could have found it, too," Hermione said. "I mean, you do have the invisibility cloak that we could have used to follow some of them. We could have found where to go and get the password."
"But, of course, we didn't think of that before doing this," Harry said, shaking his head.
"Well, you sometimes realize things either after they happen, or, in our case, when we're reading about it," Luna said.
"Now what?" Ron whispered.
"We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs."
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.
"Ick," Hermione said. Cedric made a face, though he got the feeling that it wasn't right for some reason.
"Urgh – essence of Millicent Bulstrode," said Ron, eyeing it with loathing. "Bet it tastes disgusting."
"I think that's a given," Cedric said. "I don't think it can ever really taste good."
"Add yours, then," said Hermione.
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 colour of a bogey, Crabbe's a dark, murky brown.
"You know, I'm going to have to look that up, because I think that the colors are supposed to mean something," Cedric said. "Which makes me a bit confused about the color that you're glass turned, Hermione. I mean, the only thing about Polyjuice that I know is that the closer to gold the color is, the better, and with Millicent's being yellow, it strikes me as wrong somehow."
"I can understand that," Hermione said.
"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."
"Yeah, that would suck, drinking it, and being unable to move because you forgot to take in how big those your turning into are," Cedric said.
"Good thinking," said Ron, unlocking the door. "We'll take separate cubicles."
Careful not to spill a drop of his Polyjuice Potion, Harry slipped into the middle cubicle.
"Ready?" he called.
"Ready," came Ron and Hermione's voices.
"One ... two ... three ..."
"Moment of truth is coming up," Hermione said.
Pinching his nose, Harry drank the Potion down in two large gulps. It tasted like overcooked cabbage.
Harry wrinkled his nose.
Immediately, his insides started writhing as though he'd just swallowed live snakes – doubled up, he wondered whether he was going to be sick – then a burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach to the very ends of his fingers and toes. Next, bringing him gasping to all fours, came a horrible melting feeling, as the skin all over his body bubbled like hot wax, and before his eyes, his hands began to grow, the fingers thickened, the nails broadened and the knuckles were bulging like bolts. His shoulders stretched painfully and a prickling on his forehead told him that hair was creeping down towards his eyebrows; his robes ripped as his chest expanded like a barrel bursting its hoops; his feet were agony in shoes four sizes too small …
"That sounds horrible," Harry said.
"Why didn't yo take off your robes and shoes beforehand?" Luna asked. "I mean, you did make sure to grab them and you were told there were spare robes for you. How did you forget about it?"
"Don't know," Harry said.
As suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. Harry lay face down on the cold stone floor, listening to Myrtle gurgling morosely in the end toilet. With difficulty, he kicked off his shoes and stood up. So this was what it felt like, being Goyle.
"Is that really you're first thought?" Hermione asked. He shrugged.
"I guess," he said.
His large hands trembling, he pulled off his old robes, which were hanging a foot above his ankles, pulled on the spare ones and laced up Goyle's boat-like shoes. He reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes and met only the short growth of wiry bristles, low on his forehead.
"I think I forgot that I'm not in my body," Harry said.
Then he realised that his glasses were clouding his eyes,
"Or it's that you eyes were clouded, and you forgot you were wearing your glasses," Hermione said.
because Goyle obviously didn't need them. He took them off and called, "Are you two OK?" Goyle's low rasp of a voice issued from his mouth.
"Of course it did," Cedric said. "You are now Goyle, so his voice is the one you will hear."
"Yeah," came the deep grunt of Crabbe from his right.
"Well, we know Ron's alright," Cedric said, though he was a bit worried. It didn't mention if Hermione said anything... He hoped that she was okay as well.
Harry unlocked his door and stepped in front of the cracked mirror. Goyle stared back at him out of dull, deep-set 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-basin haircut to the long, gorilla arms.
"A perfect potion, then," Cedric said.
"This is unbelievable," said Ron, approaching the mirror and prodding Crabbe's flat nose. "Unbelievable."
"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 ..."
"So we think about it after the fact," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'm going to have to learn to check everything out before executing a plan."
Ron, who had been gazing at Harry, said, "You don't know how bizarre it is to see Goyle thinking."
There was a lot of laughing at that.
"I bet it does look weird. I mean, he isn't exactly the brightest looking person," Luna said.
He banged on Hermione's door. "C'mon, we need to go ..."
"Oh, yeah, it didn't say if you were okay or not," Harry said, looking a bit ashamed at not noticing that before. "Do you think you're all right?"
"I think it might have been a cat hair after all," Hermione said, sighing. "I'm probably planning on staying there until it fades away."
"You're going to have to go to the hospital wing," Cedric said. "Since the potion's not meant for animal transformations, it won't fade away without help."
A high-pitched voice answered him.
"Which should have clued Ron and I in, since I doubt Bulstrode has a high voice," Harry said.
"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."
"I'm not exactly picky about how I look," Hermione said, rolling her eyes at what Ron said; she figured that it was him because he'd been the one talking already, and it would have said if it was Harry. "It's not her being ugly that would keep me from stepping out of the stall."
"No – really – I don't think I'll come. You two hurry up, you're wasting time."
"They really need to get going," Luna said.
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 OK?" said Harry through the door.
At least one of them is worried about her Cedric thought, not very impressed with Ron's attitude or the fact that he didn't ask that himself.
"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.
"Just go," Hermione said, shaking her head.
Harry and Ron 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 ..."
"That's actually a good thing to say," Cedric said. "You've got to act like them as much as possible, and even the smallest detail is good to know."
"How's this?"
"Yeah, that's better."
They went down the marble staircase. All they needed now was a Slytherin whom they could follow to the Slytherin common room, but there was nobody around.
"Any ideas?" muttered Harry.
"This is why we should have done some kind of recon about the situation earlier," Harry said.
"Well, if you ever need to get into another houses' common room, you know what you need to do to prepare for it," Luna said.
"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.
"Make sure she's a Slytherin before you say anything to her," Cedric warned.
"Why would she be down there if she wasn't," Hermione said.
"I don't know," he said, "but it's better to make sure than to just assume."
"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."
"See," Cedric said.
"I still want to know what she was doing down there," Hermione muttered. Cedric was kind of curious as well.
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 and Goyle's huge feet hit the floor, feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as they had hoped.
"Yeah, that would have been too good to be true if it was as easy as hoped," Harry said.
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 they were getting desperate, they heard a sudden movement ahead.
"Ha!" said Ron excitedly. "There's one of them now!"
"Again, you can't assume it's one of the Slytherins," Cedric said. "It could be a prefect; I think maybe the other girl was either another prefect, or she was meeting her boyfriend."
"I take it you just came up with that excuse a few minutes ago," Hermione said. He nodded.
"Yes, though, thinking about it, it should have seemed obvious," he said. "I mean, the prefects probably do still patrol, and, if you want to meet a boy- or girlfriend, especially if they are in another house, you're going to want to meet them somewhere you won't be expected to be."
The figure was emerging from a side room. As they hurried nearer, however, their hearts sank. It wasn't a Slytherin, it was Percy.
"What's he doing down there?" Luna asked.
"He's possibly patrolling," Hermione said.
"But didn't they say he emerged from a side room," Luna said.
"Yes..." Hermione said slowly. "He could have been checking the room." The defense sounded weak, though.
"He could be the person that the girl was meeting," Harry said. They all looked at each other.
"It's plausible," Cedric said.
"What're you doing down here?" said Ron in surprise.
Percy looked affronted.
"That," he said stiffly, "is none of your business."
"I think that's says that he wasn't patrolling," Hermione said.
"So, chances are, the girl is his girlfriend," Luna said. Hermione nodded.
"It's Crabbe, isn't it?"
"Wh— oh, yeah," said Ron.
"He almost forgot, not good," Cedric said. "He got to remember that if he wants to appear as if he's the person he's pretending to be, he needs to be careful of what he says."
"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.
"I," said Percy, drawing himself up, "am a Prefect. Nothing's about to attack me."
"I wonder what he's going to do if a prefect gets attacked," Cedric said. "Though I won't lie – he probably is right about not being attacked, but that's because he's a pure-blood, not a prefect."
A voice suddenly echoed behind Harry and Ron. Draco Malfoy was strolling towards them, and for the first time in his life, Harry was pleased to see him.
"If I was in the position you are, I would be too," Hermione said.
"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."
"Anything he thinks is funny is not going to be good," Luna said.
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 Harry and Ron to follow him. Harry almost said something apologetic to Percy but caught himself just in time.
"At least you're smart enough to make sure that you didn't," Hermione said.
He and Ron hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley –"
"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."
"No, I think he's trying to meet up with his girlfriend with anyone noticing," Cedric said. "And, considering who he's related to, it makes a bit of sense."
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.
"Here's where doing recon would have been good," Harry said.
"Er –" said Harry.
"Oh yeah – pure-blood!" said Malfoy, not listening,
"At least you got lucky," Hermione said.
and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. Malfoy marched through it and Harry and Ron followed him.
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 carved chairs.
"Sounds depressing," Hermione said. "I think it's a good think I wasn't able to go. I don't think I could pretend that I belonged there."
"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.
"You probably just barely succeed," Cedric said, "as I don't think either of you two would be comfortable there, either."
Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper cutting. He thrust it under Ron's nose.
"That'll give you a laugh," he said.
"Somehow, I think that means that neither Harry nor Ron will laugh," Hermione said.
Harry saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. He read the cutting quickly, gave a very forced laugh and handed it to Harry.
It had been clipped out of the Daily Prophet, and it said:
ENQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car.
"Yeah, definitely not something either of us would really laugh at," Harry said.
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 ourlaws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."
"I think the fact that Mr. Malfoy is considered to be someone worth listening too isn't a good thing, and I hope they can get him on something," Hermione said. "That protection act would be a good thing to have, and I hope people are smart enough to make sure that it isn't scrapped."
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 cutting back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"
"No, I don't," Harry said.
"You're going to have to act like you do, though," Cedric said. Harry made a face at that.
"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.
"He need to control himself better," Hermione said.
"Stomach ache," 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.
"That is something to wonder about," Hermione said, slightly reluctantly.
"I think Dumbledore might be trying to keep it hushed up," Cedric said. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the reason why no one else knows about the fact that it was opened years ago. I mean, Dumbledore does seem to attempt to control what goes on at the school a bit. At least, that we've noticed."
"I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggleborns. A decent Headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in."
"Actually, despite what Malfoy thinks, the Headmaster actually doesn't have the power to stop Muggleborns from attending," Cedric said. "I looked it up, and the school bylaws say that Mugglesborns have to attend, no matter what the headmaster or headmistress wishes. Of course, that doesn't mean that the Muggleborns have to be treated correctly." This last part was said a bit bitterly.
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?"
"I really, really hate Malfoy right now," Hermione said, her voice icy.
"You're not the only one," Luna said.
He dropped his hands and looked at Harry and Ron.
"What's the matter with you two?"
"It's not who you think it is," Harry said.
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!"
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."
"He's sick," Hermione said. "How could he want to help with what's happening."
"I don't know why you seem so surprised," Cedric said. "I would have thought it was obvious in his character."
"I guess I didn't want to think of someone so...evil," Hermione said, before returning to the chapter.
Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe's face looked even more gormless than usual.
"Of course, he just found out that he was wrong," Harry said.
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,"
"Well, we have a time frame of when it was last open now," Hermione said.
"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."
"And we also have a death to look for to go with it," Harry said, a bit grimly.
"So I bet it's only a matter of time before one of them's killed this time ... I hope it's Granger," he said with relish.
Harry and Cedric clenched their fists.
"You know, if I find out where the chamber is, I am very tempted to become the heir, if only to get rid of him," Harry said darkly. Cedric nodded.
"You'd be the only one of us who can, otherwise I would do it myself," he said.
"And, in my opinion, Malfoy's not even human, so killing or having him killed wouldn't matter one bit," Luna said.
Hermione was touched by the defense they were giving her. However, the fact that they were premediating his murder scared her a bit.
"Guys, while I'm glad for the defense, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you doing the premediated murder deal," Hermione said. "And, sadly, I can't want him dead because of his words. I mean, it's not his fault that he's saying that because it's what he's been taught."
"He's been taught to want you dead?" Cedric said, sounding a bit confused.
"No, it's the fact that he's been taught that Muggleborns don't matter, among other things. Him wanting me dead is mostly a result of the fact that, after being taught that, I'm clearly showing that it isn't true confuses him, and messes up his world," Hermione said. "I think, so long as his words are just that, words, you shouldn't be premediating his murder, unless we see something in the books that show that it's needed. I mean, if he kills or actually has some kind of action to his words..."
"Them planning his death can be eased up a bit, since he'll have earned it over us doing that for someone who, while all talk, is innocent by actions," Cedric said.
"Yeah," Hermione said.
Ron was clenching Crabbe's gigantic fists. Feeling that it would be a bit of a give-away if Ron punched Malfoy,
"That's true. While I don't mind the fact that he hates that idea, I would rather he not bungle everything up," Hermione said.
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?" Hermione asked.
"Wizard prison," Cedric said.
"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 backwards."
"Yeah, great friend, isn't he," Luna said sarcastically.
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,"
"The only filth there is you," Cedric growled.
"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?"
"Maybe we can find a way to get something on Malfoy that can be passed onto the law enforcement," Cedric said, looking happy at the idea.
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 –"
"Well, we know where we should hint at them to look, though I don't think that it'll be something easy to get into," Cedric said. "If only we had some way of ensuring it would be easily found..."
"Ho!" said Ron.
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.
"Get out of there," Hermione said.
They both jumped to their feet.
"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted, and without further ado they sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall and dashed up the passage, hoping against hope that Malfoy hadn't noticed anything.
"Doubt it," Cedric said. "He's already proven that he's not the most observant of people."
Harry could feel his feet slipping around in Goyle's huge shoes and had to hoist up his robes as he shrank; they crashed up the steps into the dark Entrance Hall, which was full of a muffled pounding coming from the cupboard where they'd locked Crabbe and Goyle.
"Those two are probably wondering how in hell they ended up there," Cedric said.
Leaving their shoes outside the cupboard door, they sprinted in their socks up the marble staircase towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," Ron panted, closing the bathroom door behind them.
"True, you did learn some useful information about the last time the chamber was opened," Hermione said.
"I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoys' drawing room."
"Of course, there's also that, but what Cedric said earlier is probably true – there's probably some sort of protection on it that keeps it from being easily found," Hermione said.
Harry checked his face in the cracked mirror. He was back to normal. He put his glasses on as Ron hammered on the door of Hermione's cubicle.
"Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you –"
"Go away!" Hermione squeaked.
"I must not want them to see what I look like," Hermione said.
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
"What's the matter?" said Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are ..."
"Well, at least I know that he has some faith in my skills," Hermione sighed.
But Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the cubicle door. Harry had never seen her looking so happy.
"Well, we know what makes her happy now," Luna said.
"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.
"He's so supportive," Hermione said sarcastically.
Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had gone yellow and there were long pointed ears poking through her hair.
"It was a c-cat hair!" she howled. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat!"
"I was stupid not to think of that," Hermione said. "I shouldn't've automatically assumed that it was her hair."
"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.
"Really not liking her right now," Cedric said.
"It's OK, Hermione," said Harry quickly. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions ..."
"Mostly because she knows that she'll be lied to, and that, if she does ask too many questions, no one will go to her," Cedric said. "She's rather you come to her if you're badly hurt than have you attempt to heal yourselves."
It took a long time to persuade Hermione to leave the bathroom.
"Of course, I don't want to be seen like that," Hermione said.
Moaning Myrtle sped them on their way with a hearty guffaw.
"Wait till everyone finds out you've got a tail!"
"That's it for that chapter," Hermione said, handing the book over to Cedric.