Chapter 43: To the Slytherin Common Room

The Great Dining Hall presented a magnificent appearance for the Christmas party.

A dozen Christmas trees covered in silver frost, interspersed with thick bands of mistletoe and holly running across the ceiling, were enchanted with warm, dry snowflakes falling gently from the ceiling.

They all ate with gusto and when Ivan and Harry had just finished their third pudding. Hermione led them out of the Great Dining Room to begin their plan.

The first thing to take care of was Crabbe and Goyle, which wasn't too difficult.

With two cupcakes filled with a sleeping potion, those two were at her mercy.

But the hard part was Ivan and Harry hiding them in the hall closet, making sure they weren't seen, and finally pulling out a few hairs and removing their clothes.

The problem was Hermione, Ivan insisted that the black hair in her hand was not McGonagall's hair, but the hair of a cat.

"Impossible, Ivan! This is what I got from her clothes!" said Hermione stubbornly.

Ivan, in the face of stubborn Hermione, said helplessly, "But her animagus form is a cat, you got the hair that way since it's almost identical to her, so be careful."

Finally, after Ivan's insistence, the three of them had to return to the great hall in search of an opportunity to get someone else's hair.

When they saw Pansy Parkinson get up from the table and head towards Snape, Hermione headbutted her. And pulled some of her hair out before the other had a chance to say anything.

When Hermione apologized to her, Ivan and Harry saw Snape looking at them with a hostile sneer that sent shivers down their spines, so they both stood up and ran to the bathroom without a second too late.

"Guys, I think Snape knows about our plan, I think we should find another opportunity," Harry said uncertainly.

Hermione picked up the potion and poured it into three cups, saying, "No, tonight is the best chance, the students are going to start going back to school after Christmas is over. The potion looks just like the book says, after the user drinks it, they will have exactly one hour before they change themselves back. Our plan is foolproof, and Snape will only see Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson."

Hermione scooped up the Multijuice potion with a ladle and poured it into three glasses.

Her hands shook as she put Parkinson's hair in the glass.

The potion made a bubbling noise and a second later turned an ugly brownish black color.

"It's your turn to add the stuff," Hermione said.

Harry hurried to pour in Goyle's hair and Ivan to pour in Crabbe's hair.

The two cups began to bubble and hiss. the cup with Goyle's hair turned an earthy yellow while Crabbe's turned a dark brown.

"What do we do now?" asked Harry.

"Of course we drink it," said Hermione nervously.

"Let's hope the taste isn't too bad, cheers," said Ivan, he took the cup and swallowed it in one gulp, then turned and ran to the nearest bathroom.

The Multijuice potion tasted horrible, and when he swallowed it, he felt a burning sensation spread through his stomach, into his fingers and toes, and he had the feeling that he was melting.

His skin felt like a bubble of hot wax falling to the floor, he saw his hands begin to grow, his fingers thickening, his nails widening, and his knuckles bulging like bolts.

Ivan's shoulders began to stretch, causing Ivan excruciating pain.

A tingling sensation in his forehead told him that his head was changing, his robe was swelling as his chest grew, and his feet were squeezing painfully in his shoes that were four sizes too small.

It all happened quickly and stopped quickly.

Although he read about it countless times in the book, the feeling of becoming Crabbe was an indescribable feeling. Ivan effortlessly took off his small uniform and put on Crabbe's clothes.

Then, Ivan heard Goyle's voice call out, "Are you okay, you two?"

"I'm fine!" replied Ivan in Crabbe's voice.

Ivan went to the mirror to look at himself, he looked exactly like Crabbe.

Harry and Hermione had also turned into Goyle and Parkinson.

Hermione looked at his new appearance and said, "Okay, you two need to stop looking, we've already wasted more than five minutes of precious time! We'd better go to the Slytherin common room and hope Malfoy is there."

They then carefully opened the bathroom door and saw that no one was there.

Then they mimicked the movements of the person they were supposed to be.

Under Hermione's leadership, the trio headed towards the Slytherin common room, they stopped immediately when Ivan saw Snape standing in front of them with a smirk on his face, as if he was waiting for them here specifically.

"Good evening, Parkinson, Goyle and Crabbe, what are you doing here?" said Snape in a low, slow voice.

Ivan and Harry looked at each other, not knowing what to say, so they stammered, "I, us...."

But Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be like that normally, so Snape ignored them and watched Hermione with interest.

"Professor, we're going back to the common room," Hermione said cautiously.

"Why? Mrs. Parkinson, before that, please come to my office, regarding the topic that was just discussed at the party, I think it needs to be discussed at length." said Snape quietly.

"But, Professor....," said Harry, trying to stop Snape from taking Hermione, but stopped himself as he had no reason to stop Snape from taking "Pansy Parkinson".

Not to mention Hermione had gestured behind her for the two to leave her alone.

Ivan and Harry could only watch helplessly as Snape took Hermione away.

Harry asked anxiously, "Is this also called foolproof? Snape must have found out something, I wonder what will happen to Hermione"

"I think we should stick to the original plan, and when we're done with Malfoy, then we'll try to save Hermione," Ivan said.

Harry said dejectedly, "That's easy to say, but do you have any idea where the Slytherin common room is?"

Ivan shook his head as he realized this problem.

The empty corridor of the dungeon was like a maze, after a quarter of an hour they were back where they started.

They came to a corridor with three entrances, one was to Snape's office, the other was where Nick Nearly Decapitated held his birthday party, and the other was one where they had never been before.

But Ivan saw a painting of a silver fruit bowl that should be the secret path leading to the Hogwarts kitchen.

"No, here, I remember this mirror, we saw it before, maybe we should go left," Harry said unsure.

But Ivan shook his head, saying, "No, that leads to the Hufflepuff common room."

As the two were filled with despair, they saw Draco Malfoy walking towards them, this was the first time Ivan was happy to see him.

Draco said arrogantly, "What are you two standing here for, I thought you'd be back by now?"

Ivan and Harry nodded, and Malfoy led them to the right side of a damp, empty stone wall.

"What's the new password?", Malfoy asked Harry.

"What...?", Harry hesitated.

"Oh, yes, pureblood!", Malfoy said.

As soon as his voice dropped, they saw an opening slowly in the wall, and Malfoy entered, followed by Ivan and Harry.