With the matter of the Chamber finally laid to rest—at least for now—my life at Hogwarts returned to something resembling normalcy.
If you could call constant suspicion, whispered rumors, and a pair of idiots following me around normal.
It was mid-December.
Snow blanketed the grounds, frost patterned the windows, and the Great Hall smelled faintly of pine and cinnamon.
The enchanted ceiling shimmered with lazy flakes of snow that never quite reached the tables below.
Students were in their best moods—except, of course, for me.
Because the so-called Dunce Duo (Harry and Ron) had decided I was the villain of the year.
Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley—one half-twin brother and one overgrown pumpkin—had been convinced beyond reason that I was behind the attack on Mrs Norris.
Harry no doubt was being influenced by Lily into this belief, even though the evidence would show Harry was far closer to being the likely culprit.
They watched me in corridors, whispered in the library, and even tried to follow me after curfew once.
Once.
Using the Hallow cloak of invisibility they followed in my footsteps only to be called out by Lady Draconis as they approached the hidden hall.
Under threat of possible harm should the tresspasser continue the dorm defences would not hold back.
Hearing her claim i could only laugh, there were no such defenses but the dunce duo were quick to believe that and scampered away at the first chance they got.
At first, I'd tried to ignore them.
Then, I tried subtle warnings.
Then, I considered violence.
But no—violence was crude.
I had something better in mind for the pair of delinquents.
So, with the same precision I'd done just about everything else i sent forth a request to the Arcanum, and only a few days later they responded with what i had asked for.
A sleek wooden box containing within it my response to the meddling little kids.
I might have smiled, at the thought of the chaos to come.
~
The morning of the Great Hall incident began like any other.
A slow drift of snowflakes through the enchanted ceiling.
The clinking of cutlery.
The faint, grating sound of Potter's laugh echoing from the Gryffindor table as he hung around his one and only friend, avoiding the Slytherins as much as he could to attempt distancing himself from the Chamber mystery.
I was halfway through buttering toast when a familiar whisper brushed through my mind.
"You're smiling, hatchling."
Lady Draconis's voice carried its usual blend of amusement and mild disapproval.
"I'm thinking," I replied silently, sipping pumpkin juice. "Thinking about how sometimes revenge is an art form."
"Petty art, but art nonetheless," she mused. "Do try not to get expelled."
"Expulsion would require proof. I've ensured there won't be any."
"You always say that."
"And I'm always right."
At the Gryffindor table, Harry and Ron were already several bites into their porridge.
I waited, patient as a serpent in tall grass.
The first sign something was amiss came when Harry dropped his spoon.
It clattered against the table, sending oatmeal splattering across Ron's sleeve.
"Harry?" he frowned, watching him squirm in his seat.
He blinked rapidly, touching his throat.
"My—my voice—"
Except it wasn't his voice anymore.
It cracked higher, an octave too light, too airy.
Ron started to laugh—until his voice wavered, too.
Ginny at the table seated across from the pair could only exclaim, "Oh no."
Across the Great Hall, heads began to turn.
Potter's hair, usually a messy black tangle, was lengthening—softening into dark auburn curls that framed a much smaller, much rounder face.
His robes hung looser by the second, his frame narrowing, his cheeks flushing scarlet.
Ron wasn't far behind.
Freckles still dotted his skin, but his features were softening, his jaw shrinking, his shoulders drawing in.
His hair fell past his ears in loose strawberry curls.
By the time the transformation finished, the Gryffindor table had gone utterly silent.
No it wasnt just the Griffindor table, the entire hall, had fallen silent.
In the space where two second-year boys had sat now stood Henrietta Potter and Ronnie Weasley.
I could've sworn I heard someone drop a fork.
Then came the screaming.
"WHAT—WHAT—" Henrietta—Harry—was staring down at her own hands in horror, voice shrill enough to crack glass.
Ronnie squeaked beside her, clutching at her suddenly too-large robes. "Blimey—what—WHAT IS HAPPENING—"
I couldn't help it.
A laugh escaped me.
Soft, sharp, and absolutely worth it.
The sound drew a few nearby heads.
Draco Malfoy, seated a few tables over, caught my eye.
His smirk said he knew.
But it didnt matter following after my own laugh the entire hall burst into laughter reveling in the discomfort of the two young 'ladies'
Professor McGonagall was out of her seat within moments, voice cutting through the hall like a whip.
"Silence! All of you! Mister Potter—Miss—Weasley—what in Merlin's name—"
"Professor!" Henrietta wailed, clutching her chest as though her heart might escape. "We—we don't—know—"
Ronnie hiccuped mid-sentence, her voice an octave higher still.
Then Lily Evans arrived like a whirlwind of activity having heard yet something more had happened to her precious harry.
Though when she caught sight of her 'son' she stopped in her place, before slowly advancing forward.
Wrapping her new daughter in a close embrace.
"Oh harry! You look so cute! Let mommy put your hair up in some braids to help keep your hair out of your eyes."
Lily had all but forgotten this was an attack on her son, and had willingly adopted the change as if she had always longed for a daugher and now finally had one.
The excitement eventually faded as the boy... i mean girls were sent to the hospital wing where upon examination it was revealed that the particular brew the b-girls drank would have them remain in their current forms for a couple of weeks.
This of course meant extra special treatment, as Ginny got to have an older sister for a change much to Ronnie's displeasure, while Lily doted on her darling daughter even more than already.
The worst of it was the need to house to pair in the hospital the entire time rather than return to their dormitories since boys could not bunk with girls, and well boys turned into girls could not simply go to the girls dorms...
Meanwhile as this was all going on Cassius could only revel in the chaos he'd brought to the school while thinking about the future, when Ginny's next 'attack' would come, how he'd get Luna away from Ravenclaw, along with just where he planned to house a great beast such as a dragon when the summer break finally comes.