Chapter 325: The Switch
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 325: The Switch
The gargoyle mechanism activated as soon as Harry and Snape got close to the entrance.
"How strange… it did not ask for the password." Snape stopped in his tracks and stared at the moving stairs.
"It must be broken," Harry told him.
Snape's eyebrows twitched a few times.
"Potter, I know you are hiding something… I won't ask about it, but don't take me for a fool!"
Harry glanced at him with a serene expression. "I am hiding many things. You may learn some of them soon while others… you will never get to know. And I will only take you for a fool when you do something foolish."
"Potter!" Snape stood in front of him with clenched teeth.
"You will show me the proper respect."
Harry returned his aggressive glare with a face that didn't give anything away.
"Is that an attempt to intimidate me? Because you have no idea how funny that is to me."
Before Snape could begin yelling, Harry spoke again.
"But, I believe the Headmaster is waiting for us to arrive at his office. Unless you want to keep him waiting?"
Snape muttered a few curses under his breath before going up the stairs.
When they walked inside, they found Neville discussing something with the Headmaster.
"A magical contract?" the boy asked.
"That is correct. Every Tournament Champion is tied to the Goblet of Fire by a magical contract until the tournament is concluded. Breaking such a contract would have terrible consequences, but…" His clear blue eyes moved to the new arrivals.
"I don't think you need to be concerned about that."
"How can I not? I—" It was then that Neville realized there were two more people in the office now.
"Harry… what are you… Professor Snape?!" His face went a few shades paler.
The Headmaster had told him they were waiting for someone, but…
"I thought you called for my grandma."
"I believe that conversation can wait until tomorrow." Dumbledore was already dreading talking to that stubborn woman again.
"But…" Neville still didn't understand what his classmate and Potions professor could be doing here.
"Allow me to explain this, Neville… this is going to take a bit of time, so I would ask you to bear with me and be patient."
Dumbledore told him all about Voldemort's return and his plans to involve him in the tournament.
"You-Know-Who is back?" Neville's body shook with terror while sitting in his chair.
"I'm afraid so. This has been confirmed to me by various sources, and all of them are very reliable."
"But, what does he want with me?! Hasn't he already done enough to my family?" Neville still didn't know about the prophecy that was the main trigger that caused the death of his parents all those years back.
Dumbledore didn't feel it was necessary to tell him due to the fact that the prophecy was no longer in effect. So, there was no need to put that extra burden on Neville.
And knowing him, there was a good possibility that he would end up blaming himself for what happened that night if he were to learn the full truth.
"The motivations behind Voldemort's actions are not important at this precise moment. But now that he has decided to go after you, well… he is not the type to change his mind. Let's just say that." Dumbledore sighed.
"So… he is the reason my name came out of the Goblet of Fire then? Can't you at least tell that to everyone so they don't think of me as a cheater?" Neville requested without much thought.
"You want me to announce the return of the Dark Lord to every professor and student in Hogwarts?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.
"Ehh… well…" Now that the Headmaster was saying it like that, it did not seem like such a great idea anymore.
"People's complaints about your presence in the tournament are going to disappear after the first test… trust me," Harry told him.
"Really? But even if that is true…" Neville lowered his head in defeat. "I don't want to be in the tournament…"
"About that." Dumbledore started. "I believe it's time to tell you the next part… you won't really be participating in the tournament."
"What? But you said before—"
"Voldemort expects to see Neville Longbottom taking part in the tests." The Headmaster moved his eyes to Harry.
"But thanks to the wonders of magic, there are many ways to accomplish that without putting you in any real danger."
Harry took something out of his pocket. It was the same tiny box that Daphne had given to him on the first day of school. He placed it on the desk and gave it a gentle tap with his wand.
The box grew in size until it resembled a briefcase.
"We will be using this," Harry said as he opened the case.
Inside it were around twenty vials, all with identical contents and carefully stored to avoid any breakage.
"Potions?... wait…" Neville gave the case a sniff.
He may have been terrible at making potions, but he was great at recognizing the ingredients of a potion just by smell alone.
However, there was someone else with much more expertise already in the room who had already recognized the identity of the potions inside these vials.
"That's Polyjuice Potion!" Snape had only been given part of the plan, but now that he saw this, he finally understood how Harry was going to participate in the tournament.
"Correct, this is a large supply of Polyjuice Potions. More than enough for the task. But we are going to need everyone's cooperation for this to work." Harry glanced at Neville.
" Will you help us?"
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