Hermione slid down to the floor, leaning against the office door with her heart was still pounding wildly in her chest.
Lockhart's final meaningful look lingered in her mind. Why was he so invested in love potions? Why did he say the side effects were wonderful?
The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
She couldn't stop her mind from racing, she was just built that way, her curiosity always taking over and refusing to rest until she found an answer.
Most nerds were like that.
Hermione, a Gryffindor nerd, was even more obvious and reckless. Sure enough, after staring repeatedly at "Snape" on the ceiling, Hermione's mind made a shocking leap of logic.
"Unless Professor Lockhart is really fond of old English traditions..." Hermione's eyes suddenly widened as a ridiculous thought surfaced. "He's been paying attention to Professor Snape!"
"And he wants to use a love potion on Professor Snape." Holding the small slip of paper, Hermione secretly unfolded it and glanced at it. Its "ambiguous" message made her scalp tingle.
There were only a few words.
They simply told her to go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office later. Had this note been given to Hermione herself, she might have thought Lockhart was planning a special tutoring session.
However... this note was addressed to Professor Snape.
There was no way Lockhart was trying to tutor Professor Snape. That made absolutely no sense! The more she thought about it, the more suspicious the small slip of paper became.
"Heavens! Did I accidentally discover a secret between professors?"
Hermione felt waves crashing in her chest as she nervously twisted the excess fabric of the black robe sleeve. Thinking back on Lockhart's earlier words, everything seemed even stranger.
"I must treat you to my lemon cake sometime!"
That practically sounded like a date invitation!
"Oh, Merlin above..." Hermione covered her burning face as her thoughts ran wild. "This is too explosive. If the other Gryffindors found out..."
Her thoughts didn't drift too far.
Suddenly...
A sense of danger rose in her chest. A strand of long, black hair silently drifted down and brushed her nose before falling to the floor.
Of course, it was Snape's hair. Hermione was still in Snape's likeness, anyone who had survived Polyjuice Potion would know this. According to Moste Potente Potions, the potion's duration varies based on the amount consumed. Snape had given Hermione an extremely large dose to prevent her from reverting during class.
It would last at least twelve hours.
There was still plenty of time before she turned back. Ever since experiencing the magic of the potion, Hermione had pondered a bizarre question: If someone added their childhood hair to Polyjuice Potion, would they turn into their childhood self?
She didn't know the answer.
But if Ian were here, he would definitely know. Since older witches and wizards like Fleur, Fred, George, and Mundungus could turn into Harry, becoming younger was clearly possible. Therefore, if someone kept hair from their childhood... say, baby hair, it should be possible to become an infant version of oneself.
Potions were just that magical.
"Miss Granger, even when facing a dangerous attack, you can still daydream like this?" Snape's annoyed yet helpless voice came from above. Hermione jolted in fright and then fell into a dazed stare.
These Gryffindors really did have nerves thicker than trolls.
"Uh...you attacked me?"
Hermione froze.
Feeling the gaze of the bat hanging upside down above her, a chill crawled up her spine. Thanks to Ron's influence, she even began to suspect that Snape was going to silence her permanently.
"Miss Granger."
Obviously, Snape could see through her wild speculations. He was far too experienced. Even without Legilimency, reading Hermione's ever-changing expressions was enough for him to guess her thoughts.
"Uh... I wasn't... I'm not anymore." Hermione quickly lifted her head and saw Snape hanging upside down, his wand aimed at her. A thin wisp of dark smoke still lingered at its tip.
Her face flushed as she jumped to her feet. She wanted to protest but could only offer a guilt-ridden retraction:
"I was just thinking... whether Lockhart will report this!"
Honestly, not a bad attempt at changing the subject. The little beaver's quick instincts helped sometimes.
Sure enough, Snape was also concerned about this issue. Unable to figure it out immediately, he fell into deep thought and hesitation. The office sank into an eerie silence.
On the floor... Neville's frozen "Stupefy!" pose grew even stiffer.
He didn't dare let his eyelashes tremble.
"Lockhart," Snape finally said, his voice squeezed out through clenched teeth. "His thoughts and actions are both utterly irrational. Until this curse is lifted, you must avoid him."
Indeed.
At that moment, Snape felt as though he had been cursed by a Lirim, too. Hanging upside down from the ceiling, he truly looked like a bat. He had nearly become desensitized to his own childhood traumas.
Of course...
That was assuming other little wizards didn't see him like this again. Three had already seen him, and that alone made him want to collapse. If he could, he would cast a Memory Charm on all three of them.
Unfortunately, Albus Dumbledore would obviously never approve.
"Yes, I understand. I also felt that his eyes were sharp. He's probably already noticed something strange. His questions about potion ingredients were just a way to test me." Hermione nodded, still shaken. Her gaze drifted to the neatly severed strand of hair on the floor. "Professor, that magic just now..."
Her curiosity was clearly rising again.
"That is not something you need to concern yourself with. You can't even cast simple spells properly, yet you want to learn such advanced magic?" Snape's wand crackled threateningly.
"Greedy people always die miserably."
His muttered words dripped with malice.
But Hermione didn't mind as much as she used to. Snape's unpleasant manner was something she had grown accustomed to. As long as he wasn't saying something unreasonable, she could tolerate it.
"Well, I am allowed to worry about my friend, right?"
Hermione hurried over to the stunned Ron and knelt down to check his pulse. Seeing how faint it was, she panicked again. "Professor Snape, what did you do to Ron?"
She was afraid that Ron had actually died.
"Weasley isn't going to die."
Snape sneered. "To prevent him from making things worse with his troll-like intelligence, this was necessary. The Weasleys are always foolish and oblivious."
His hostility toward the Weasleys was something else entirely.
The reason...
---naturally had to do with some of their more "righteous" views. Hermione didn't argue. Instead, she quickly moved to Ron and Neville and tore off the tape sealing their mouths.
She frowned.
"They were too curious."
Clearly, Ron and Neville had barged in and seen Snape hanging upside down.
"This is why Gryffindors die young." Snape responded coldly.
"How do I save them?" Hermione still hadn't realized that Neville was pretending to be unconscious.
Snape didn't reply. He simply cast a spell. A silver cauldron flew in front of Hermione.
He began instructing her on refining potions.
Very quickly, the cauldron began bubbling with a dark green brew.
"Stir clockwise seven times and add two drops of peppermint extract," Snape instructed icily. Snape instructed icily. "If you don't want him to sleep forever, pay attention to the dosage."
Terrified she might accidentally harm Ron, Hermione worked with total concentration. When she added the final drop, the potion turned an eerie, fluorescent color.
It looked unsettling.
"Give it to him." Snape ordered curtly.
It must be said that potion-making under his personal guidance was exceptionally effective. The moment the potion touched Ron's lips, he shot upright.
"Ugh! This tastes like a vixen's urine mixed with a troll's booger!"
His eyes were suddenly crystal clear.
"I... I'm all better now!" Neville, whose hearing was remarkably sharp, heard Ron's description. He immediately sat up straight, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
"I absolutely do NOT need to drink that!"
He violently refused the potion that Hermione held out to him.
Still bound, Neville could only wiggle his chubby body to dodge it.
"Why are there two Snapes?!" Ron's shout exploded through the office.
"Cough... cough! I'm not seeing things, am I? That's really..." Ron let out a breath and widened his eyes at Hermione. "Merlin's balls! Why are there two Snape?"
"I'm Hermione!" Hermione finally snapped, tugging at her collar to reveal the Gryffindor crest underneath. Perhaps she was trying to remind herself that she was still a Gryffindor.
"I gave you so many hints!"
Her voice was full of exasperation.
"You..." Ron stammered, "Why did you turn into Snape, too?"
With his level of knowledge, he obviously couldn't explain this.
After all,
Even though the old Weasley family was pure-blood, they couldn't afford Polyjuice Potion. Ron would never jump to that conclusion because he had almost never encountered it.
"It's Polyjuice Potion," Neville suddenly said, still a bit breathless. "I smelled something strange earlier... kind of like..."
For once, the chubby boy was displaying his excellent Herbology knowledge.
Of course, he was probably a theory king. Once he actually did things hands-on, the results were disastrous. He was the type of student Snape said was likely to die in Potions class.
Hermione smiled slightly. "You guessed right. It really is Polyjuice Potion."
Ron was too shocked to speak. "So...you're Hermione? You turned yourself into Snape? Are you going to brew him into a potion? Good job!"
"What did you just say?" Snape roared, dangling upside down, and flicked his wand. A green flash shot across.
"Waaah!" Ron clapped a hand over his mouth as a fat slug shot out and splatted onto the floor.
"Ron!" Hermione rushed forward to wipe the remaining slime from his lips.
"Professor Snape!" She turned to glare at Snape like a small cat with its fur standing on end. "He's my friend! How could you jinx him?"
"He insulted me," Snape said coldly.
"He was worried about me!" Hermione snapped. "Do you know what they thought? They thought you turned me into a potion, so they rushed in to save me. That's what friends do!"
At those words—
The friendless Snape went silent.
He remained quiet for a moment, something complicated flickering in his eyes.
"The Weasley family gets more idiotic with each generation. Who believes a wizard can be used as an ingredient? Are they still living in the Middle Ages? That's not something a normal person would think."
Snape's voice was cold and disdainful.
With that...
The originally furious Hermione became silent. She had had similar thoughts about Ron's bizarre imagination, just more tactfully.
"Don't insult my family!"
Ron's face turned scarlet. He jumped up, reaching for his wand, but his gag reflex kicked in again and he vomited another slug. The sticky creature hit the floor with an even louder splat.
Hermione and Neville both instinctively backed away.
"Next time, don't barge into a professor's office," Hermione said helplessly. She had no idea how to undo the jinx. "Especially now, when I look like Snape."
"How were we supposed to know it was you?" Neville muttered. "You acted too much like him."
Hermione frowned. "You two are way too curious."
She sounded like a big sister scolding her younger brothers. Of the three of them, she was the most curious but when it came to courting death, the one on the floor puking slugs was undoubtedly the champion.
Fortunately, Snape didn't intend to torment Ron for long. Soon, he had Hermione brew another potion for him while someone in the corner trembled, seemingly having realized something.
Snape was teaching Hermione. Ron was the volunteer test subject who kept offering himself up.
The clever Neville immediately shut up.
He even wiggled around on the floor to reattach the tape to his mouth. As Neville expected, once Hermione finished brewing the potion, she reverted to her normal size.
However, Snape merely ordered Hermione to return to Gryffindor and come back the next day for more potion and the so-called "antidote." He did not allow her to take Neville or Ron, the two unlucky sacrificial lambs.
"You may leave," Snape said gloomily. "But they stay."
"What? But..."
Snape's wand glowed green, looking seconds away from casting. "Either you leave now, or you stay and experience my newly developed vomiting curse with them."
Honestly...
Even the threat of the Killing Curse couldn't compare to how terrifying the idea of vomiting slugs was to a young girl. After weighing her options, and trusting that Snape wouldn't actually kill anyone, Hermione reluctantly abandoned her attempt to rescue her two friends.
She left the office.
Even after stepping out of the dungeons, Hermione's heart still clenched with worry for Ron and Neville. Exhausted, she dragged herself up the stairs, only to see a flash of dazzling gold under the torchlight in the entrance hall.
There…
Lockhart was leaning casually against the stair railing, and his usual flamboyant smile was gone.
"Miss Granger." His blue eyes were unnaturally sharp.
"Didn't we agree you'd come to my office?"
His half-smile, half-threatening tone—
Instantly froze Hermione's blood.
(End of Chapter)
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