Christmas was approaching.
However, there wasn't much festive cheer at Hogwarts, as Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff had become the latest victim of an attack.
Once again, Harry and Ron were found at the scene of the crime!
The two felt incredibly wronged, especially Harry.
He hadn't wanted to wander the halls at all. He'd just wanted to lie quietly on his bed and reminisce about the 250th day anniversary of his first conversation with Cho.
But Ron had insisted on dragging him out of bed to search the school's rubbish bins for Scabbers' corpse.
Ron wanted to give Scabbers a proper funeral and even hoped to collect some donations to buy himself a Christmas gift.
Seriously! profiting from a dead rat? Ron's boldness was incredible! If he didn't go into media work, it'd be a waste of talent!
Unfortunately, they didn't find Scabbers' body. Instead, they stumbled upon Justin's unconscious form, making things very awkward.
Peeves had been floating around the scene and immediately started shouting, "Potter and Weasley are murderers!"
The reasoning was simple.
According to Justin's roommate, Ernie Macmillan, on the night of the Dueling Club, Justin had been paired up against Ron by Snape. At that time, he'd punched Ron in the head.
Not to mention that Justin was Muggle-born and had told Harry he was initially going to attend Eton.
This only made people more scared.
It wasn't just Harry, Ron was being ostracized too. The two had earned a new nickname: The Creepy Duo.
Rumors spread that the two of them had partnered up to commit crimes across the school.
In simple terms: one scouted, one followed, one attacked, and one kept watch. A male duo working together, making their actions much easier!
However, these rumors didn't affect William and his group. They were focused on using the remaining time before the holidays to thoroughly search one of the main branches of the school's underground sewer system.
"We're not going home for Christmas!" Fred declared, stuffing a few Galleons he'd found in the pipes into his pocket.
"What about the Mr. and Mrs. Weasleys?" William asked, marking their sewer map.
"They're going to Romania to visit Charlie. Home's off-limits right now, it's swarming with reporters," George explained.
Since Ron had injured Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy had been stirring trouble everywhere, trying to get Mr. Weasley sacked from the Ministry.
Reporters had even camped outside the Weasley home, hoping to get valuable scoops.
No one seemed to be talking about the Hogwarts attacks, Dumbledore and the Ministry had clearly suppressed the news.
"Are you going home?" George asked.
"I am. I haven't been home in a long time," Cedric replied.
"So am I," William said with a smile.
He had already arranged to go home and spend Christmas with Annie. Hermione was also heading home and wouldn't be spending the holidays at school.
"During Christmas, we should be able to finish searching the sewers and find the Chamber of Secrets," Fred said optimistically.
William hesitated before shaking his head. "We're stopping all activities during the holiday."
Since he wouldn't be at school, he didn't want the twins getting into trouble.
After all, Dumbledore had already informed him, the mastermind behind the attacks could be one of Voldemort's enchanted artifacts.
The level of danger had increased dramatically.
"Fair enough," George agreed. "We can keep an eye on Ron and Harry so they don't wander off."
"Can you really stop them?" William chuckled. "They're planning to spy on Malfoy today."
"Spy on Malfoy?"
"Yeah, they think the diary incident is connected to the Malfoy family, so they want to pry some information out of him.
"If everything goes according to plan, they should be in the Slytherin common room by now."
"Won't that be dangerous?" Fred asked, concerned, "Since Ron hurt Malfoy, they're definitely not welcome in Slytherin."
As if they'd ever been welcome there before.
"It should be fine," William replied confidently. "They've got Polyjuice Potion, and Hermione's with them."
Just as William finished speaking, his ring suddenly heated up. He pulled out a magical conch made by Nicolas Flamel, and Hermione's tearful voice echoed from it:
"William, where are you? Please come and save me!"
"..."
William felt his face flush with heat—he could practically feel Hermione slapping him from afar.
So much for confidence. Sometimes, life really had a way of serving up karmic slaps at just the right moment.
...
…
Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom.
Moaning Myrtle was humming a cheerful tune. She knocked on the door and called out, "Granger, come out already!"
"No..."
"If you don't come out, I'll call everyone to come and see!" Myrtle threatened.
"No...!"
William hurried into the bathroom just in time to witness the ridiculous scene.
After half a year of airing out, the rancid stench of rotting food had finally dissipated from the bathroom.
Seeing William arrive, Myrtle lit up with excitement and said, "William, you're here! Oh, how terrifying! Finally, someone uglier than me!"
Her gleeful expression reminded William of a scene from a comedy sketch he'd seen, where someone gloated after watching someone else's face get deformed.
"Where's Hermione?" William asked.
Myrtle pointed toward one of the bathroom stalls before floating off, eager to spread the news to the other students.
William walked over and pushed the stall door, but it didn't budge.
"Hermione, open the door—it's me."
Only soft sobbing came from within.
"If you don't open the door, how can I help you?"
Hermione's voice was choked with tears. "I... I brewed the Polyjuice Potion... but it only lasts for an hour... When the time is up... I'll turn back!"
"Polyjuice Potion doesn't work on animal transformations. You won't turn back after an hour." William's voice was firm.
The sobbing inside grew louder, but Hermione still wouldn't open the door.
"Myrtle's going to call the other students. If you don't open the door, everyone will come, you don't want that, do you?"
Click!
The lock clicked open.
William gently pushed the door open.
Hermione was curled up in the corner, using her robes to cover her head, trying desperately to hide herself.
William sat down on the toilet seat and gently reached out to lift her robes. Hermione clutched the fabric tightly, refusing to let go.
"Don't... William!" Hermione's lips quivered as she sobbed.
"Come on, be good," William coaxed gently.
At his second attempt, Hermione finally loosened her grip.
Underneath the robes, Hermione had turned into a real-life catwoman. Her face was covered in black fur, her eyes had become yellow, and two pointed ears stuck out from her hair. A long, slender cat's tail curled behind her.
She wailed in despair. "Mi—Millicent must have a cat! I didn't grab her hair—I grabbed cat fur!"
"..."
Honestly, it was William's first time seeing something like this. Though he was supposed to be professional... he really wanted to laugh.
But he didn't dare. He suppressed the urge and turned his head slightly to the side.
"...!!"
Hermione grabbed her robe, ready to hurl it at his face. But after raising her hand halfway, she couldn't bring herself to throw it at him.
Instead, she turned away again, pressing her forehead against the cold wall, tears streaming silently down her face.
William sighed softly and composed himself. He reached out to wipe the tears from her cheek.
Since Hermione wouldn't turn her head, William knelt down and gently cupped her chin, slowly turning her face toward him.
In a soft voice, he said, "Silly girl, it's just a transformation, isn't it? Think about it, I've turned into a sea eagle before. That wasn't much better, was it?"
"That's different... you could turn back at will!" Hermione's voice was thick with sobs.
"As long as I'm here, you can turn back too."
William took out a vial of Polyjuice Potion from his ring. He gazed into her eyes, his expression sincere and unwavering.
"If you can't turn back, I'll drink a Polyjuice Potion with cat hair too and stay like this forever with you. How about that?"
Hermione stared blankly at him, nodded through her tears, then suddenly shook her head. She took the vial and threw it into the toilet.
Tears welled in her eyes as she cried, "I don't want you to drink it!"
William smiled, stood up, and bent down to lift Hermione into his arms.
He pushed the door open and carried her out of the bathroom.
Hermione rested her head against William's chest. Her long, slender tail swayed in the air before curling gently around his neck.
William froze for a second before his face broke into a bright smile.
Yes—
Her tail was soft and thin...
And his neck...
It tickled a little.