The Christmas holiday hadn't lasted very long. It was already the final day before the new term began. Many young witches and wizards had returned to school, and the Hogwarts Express, remarkably punctual compared to most trains in Britain, had rolled in right on time.
After a restorative Christmas break, many of the less academically inclined students had returned full of energy, animatedly sharing tales of their holidays with friends. The school, which had grown quiet over the break, was once again brimming with youthful voices and bustling footsteps.
Naturally.
Some students were still clinging wistfully to the remnants of their holiday, feeling as though it had passed in the blink of an eye. The Gryffindor twins, for example, deeply regretted not having squeezed in a few more pranks on their younger brother.
Perhaps, for most students at Hogwarts, the holiday had flown by all too quickly. But for Ian, those two weeks had felt endlessly long, nearly two months.
He had, in fact, been caught in a time loop charm for quite a while, and by the time he saw his two familiar dormmates again, he noticed something peculiar: they both now stood just a touch shorter than him.
"How did you shoot up so much all of a sudden?" Michael, arms full of his luggage as he stepped into the dormitory, looked genuinely startled to see Ian rise to greet him.
William was no less shocked. He stood next to Ian and used exaggerated hand gestures to compare their heights, playing up the moment as usual; he had always excelled at dramatics.
In truth, Ian was barely taller by a whisper. But to his friends, it seemed as though he'd grown several centimetres in the span of just two weeks.
"I've always been this height, haven't I?" Ian resisted the urge to stand on tiptoe and feigned a look of bemused innocence.
"No chance! You definitely weren't this tall before!" Michael exclaimed, digging out a group photo from their first day at Hogwarts. In the image, Ian stood between the two of them, clearly the shortest by a noticeable margin.
Faced with undeniable evidence, Ian changed tack immediately. "Must've been all that studying over the holidays. Heavy knowledge piling on might've stretched me out a bit."
It was such an outlandish explanation that not even the most gullible Gryffindor would buy it, never mind two sharp-minded Ravenclaws like William and Michael.
"You've definitely been sneaking growth potions," Michael declared with confidence. "My mum's Spanish wild boar hasn't grown that fast, and she's been stuffing it with every Muggle-approved feed under the sun."
His comparison was just as wonderfully bizarre as always.
"…"
Ian was momentarily stunned into silence.
William, however, said nothing. The green-haired boy merely leaned closer, gazing up at Ian with pitiful eyes.
"Do you think that I could have some of that growth potion too?" He asked longingly.
"I haven't got any," Ian replied, lifting his hands in an expression of helplessness.
"Don't be stingy! Please, just a little bit of it!" William now seemed genuinely agitated by Ian's sudden height advantage.
He hadn't cared a jot about his stature before the holidays.
"Fine."
Ian, clearly pestered into submission, thought for a moment before producing a small bottle of leftover potion. William, never one to hesitate, seized it and downed it in one swift gulp.
"Tastes a bit odd."
Even as the words left his mouth, the potion took hold. Before Ian and Michael's astonished eyes, William began growing rapidly. His already loose school robes strained and stretched. He hastily pulled them off to prevent tearing.
The transformation was dramatic and immediate. It was as if someone had cast a time-acceleration charm on him, his body elongated quickly, his once-small frame now almost adult-sized. Muscles began to take shape, still with the soft awkwardness of adolescence, but now clearly outlined with strength.
His facial features sharpened considerably.
"Merlin's beard! What is that potion? The effect's amazing!" Michael stared up at William, who now towered at about one metre seventy-five, in absolute disbelief.
"Aging Potion," Ian said simply, glancing down at the bottle William had discarded on the floor.
"So it was just an Aging Potion... I was hoping it'd be something with a permanent effect." Michael's voice dropped slightly with disappointment; he clearly understood the limitations of such potions.
"Oh no!"
William didn't seem to care about the fine print. He dashed to the bathroom to inspect himself in the mirror, then trudged out, looking thoroughly crestfallen.
"Too short?" Ian asked, tilting his head.
"??????"
William looked entirely bewildered.
"Then… too thin?" Ian hazarded another guess.
Realizing what Ian was implying, Michael suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, while William's expression darkened further into tragic dismay.
"It's because I'm too short."
William let out a deep sigh, leaving Ian slightly confused. At that moment, Michael, who had clearly remembered something, quickly stepped in to explain William's odd behaviour.
"He told me on the train that a gorgeous older witch moved in next door, at least one metre seventy-eight, long legs, the works."
With Michael's explanation, Ian instantly understood the root of William's sudden concern about his height. It was a classic case: a teenage crush on the neighbour's older sister.
"Don't worry." Ian recognised it was time to put his comforting talents to good use.
And he was quite skilled at this sort of thing.
"By the time you're grown up, that witch next door will probably have a couple of little ones already, and if you're still not taller than her, it won't make much difference, you won't be the one marrying her, anyway."
A sincere and thoroughly logical analysis.
Ian thought this would be more than enough to console his roommate.
However,
"??????"
William's expression stiffened, his cheeks flushing with defiant colour. Though he now looked about eighteen, with a deeper voice to match, he clearly hadn't let go of his hope.
"In just three years, no, two, I'll definitely be old enough to start courting someone," He declared. Though he didn't say her name, his words practically glowed with adoration for the older neighbour.
"That makes things easier."
Ian walked over to the window and dragged a stool closer.
"Since you're still not tall enough, I can enchant a chair for you, one that adjusts its height on its own. That way, if you do end up marrying her, you can still enjoy a happy post-wedding life."
William's face turned crimson at once.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He didn't fully catch the implication, but seeing Michael doubled over on the bed, practically howling with laughter, made it quite clear Ian's comment had another layer.
"Uh…"
Ian was still considering how best to phrase it.
Michael stood up, eager to assist, using both words and animated hand gestures.
"Ian means you wouldn't even be able to reach her!"
It was honestly impressive.
His behaviour was quite typical. Whether he'd picked up these cheeky notions from dodgy wizarding periodicals at home remained uncertain. Either way, William's face was now as red as a Hippogriff's backside.
"That's not what I meant at all! This is love, alright? Do you two even understand what love is?!" William said hurriedly, clearly flustered.
Even with his temporary height of around one seventy-five and an adult's frame, there was still plenty separating him from a real eighteen-year-old.
(To Be Continued…)
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