Chapter 74: Polyjuice Potion

When Harry arrived at the library carrying his books, his mind was still in turmoil. Zhang Qiu asked him anxiously what was wrong; after hesitating, he told her.

“I’m troubled by two things,” Harry said. “First, because I spoke Parseltongue in the Dueling Club, many people think I’m the Heir of Slytherin. Second, Neville told me pure-blood families can’t be trusted—we won’t find allies in the wizarding world to fight Voldemort.”

“As long as you didn’t open the Chamber,” Zhang Qiu comforted him, “at least I support you—and the Magical Communist International won’t allow Voldemort to bring fascism here.”

“That’s half good news,” Harry suddenly remembered something. “By the way, did your Master’s divination say who opened the Chamber?”

“Because Quirrell doesn’t seem to get along with the Two-Faced Man, I didn’t think the divination was reliable, so I didn’t tell you,” Zhang Qiu said hesitantly. “Besides, this year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts professor isn’t the ‘Master of Tall Tales,’ and you weren’t caught that night when the Bludger hit you—nor did we catch Dobby. I think you should just forget the divination.”

“Tell me anyway. Even a hint would help,” Harry said.

“Alright,” Zhang Qiu sighed. “There are two people who opened the Chamber. One is a girl you’d never suspect—and the other is a boy who’s given you a lot of help.”

Hearing this, Harry felt even worse. If the girl he couldn’t suspect was hard to guess, the boy who’d helped him so much was unmistakably Malfoy. He had once believed Malfoy would see clearly in matters of right and wrong, that Malfoy’s self-investigation group had good intentions.

But now Harry realized Malfoy’s self-investigation group was meant only to divert his attention from the real suspect. Every meeting invited Harry to observe, yet all eight participants were innocent—so Harry found nothing. Malfoy didn’t need to deceive those using notebooks; he only needed to deceive Harry.

The true opener of the Chamber was surely a Slytherin girl Malfoy had instructed, after extracting key information from the diary. Harry likely didn’t know her at all—so he’d never suspect her.

Then tonight’s meeting looked suspiciously like a cover-up. If Malfoy truly suspected Harry, he’d have warned Eve and Ginny’s Gryffindor group not to slip up. But the truth was, Eve practically rushed to slip up—just to make sure Harry came to observe. Then he’d pretend to analyze Harry as the Heir. No matter who believed him, Harry would never guess that Malfoy, the one frantically hunting the Heir, was the real mastermind.

If that were true, Harry thought, he had a chance to expose Malfoy—the key was Polyjuice Potion. If Malfoy discovered Harry was observing, he’d be smug, certain he’d fooled Harry. In that moment of arrogance and lowered guard, “Crabbe” and “Goyle” could approach him—and perhaps uncover the truth.

Of course, Harry considered a faint possibility: if Malfoy were truly innocent, spying would ruin the relationship between Harry, Eve, and Malfoy. That’s why Harry decided to devise a new plan.

“Ron, Neville, I have a plan,” Harry explained after returning to the dormitory. “Tomorrow night, we strike two ways. Neville and I will use Polyjuice Potion to become Crabbe and Goyle and infiltrate Malfoy’s circle. You’ll wear the Invisibility Cloak and eavesdrop in the classroom—if Malfoy’s goal is to lull me into complacency, your presence will make him relax.”

“Why not you and Neville transform, and you eavesdrop like before?” Ron asked.

“Because if Malfoy really is innocent, he doesn’t want you spying,” Harry explained. “If he notices an invisible person, he’ll either ignore you or expose you. If I’m exposed, it’s embarrassing. But if they find out it’s you, we can still save face.”

“Why save face with Malfoy?” Ron grumbled. “And if I’m caught, what do I say?”

“Say you saw Ginny leaving at night and suspected she had a boyfriend, so you came to check,” Harry offered a plausible excuse. “As for saving face—would you rather be mocked in the hallway for no reason, or get cursed by accident on the pitch?”

“Impersonating classmates and sneaking into the common room,” Neville added. “If caught, you might get expelled. But following your sister with the Invisibility Cloak? At most, five points.”

Ron, who had been about to agree, suddenly refused. “No way. A knight doesn’t put his king in danger.”

“Forget that,” Harry sighed. “If you see yourself as Percival, don’t think I’m King Arthur. I want to stand with you all as Merlin.”

Ron said nothing. His face showed confusion, as if thinking hard.

“Merlin’s beard—wait, Merlin doesn’t even have a beard,” Neville joked, sensing he’d said something wrong, trying to lighten the mood.

Ron couldn’t help laughing. Harry laughed too. Finally, Ron clapped his shoulder. “Fine. Whatever. We’ll follow you, Beardless Merlin.”

The next day, right after lunch, Hermione led them upstairs. She had brewed the Polyjuice Potion secretly in the abandoned girl’s bathroom where Moaning Myrtle lived.

“Donald gave me a lot of advice,” Hermione said. “The potion looks better than I expected—one sip lasts three hours, and there’s plenty. If you need longer, I suggest taking another dose mid-way.”

“Three hours should be enough, but better safe than sorry,” Harry said. “Let’s pour the extra into pumpkin juice bottles to disguise it.”

“Good idea,” Neville said. “Let’s confirm: you and I impersonate Crabbe and Goyle, and after dinner, we approach Malfoy to investigate his suspicious behavior. You impersonate Millicent, and after lunch, you wander the common room to see if any Slytherins left clues in their own house.”

“Plan changed,” Hermione said. “I originally planned to knock Millicent out, but the risk was too high. I heard Greengrass went home early—so I’ll impersonate her. If anyone asks, I’ll say I came back for something.”

“Then we split up,” Hermione said, dividing the potion into one large and two small portions. “If you see Greengrass in the common room, it’s me. But if I see Crabbe and Goyle, I won’t know if it’s you. So don’t speak to me. That way I’ll know: if Crabbe or Goyle talks to me, they’re the real ones.”

“You plan to act after dinner,” Hermione said, handing the potion to Harry and Neville. “So if I see Crabbe and Goyle talking to me after dinner, they’ve woken up early—I’ll try to delay them for you.” She added a hair to her own portion.

“I’m curious,” Harry said. “How did you know Greengrass would go home early? And how did you get her hair?”

“Cui Ge,” Hermione said. “Donald said I could ask him for help—he’s in Slytherin.”

“You seem pretty close to Professor Fontroy,” Harry muttered.

“Yes, he’s very…” Hermione paused, searching for words. “He’s a very kind person. I like him.”

“Alright, then we split up. Find a place to transform,” Neville pulled Harry away.

“About getting Crabbe and Goyle’s hair—didn’t you just mention ‘knocking out’?” Harry asked.

“I’ve prepared two chocolate cakes laced with sleeping potion,” Neville said. “You know how greedy those two are—if they see cake at dinner, they’ll eat it. Then while they’re unconscious, we pluck a hair and hide them in the broom closet.”

“But Crabbe and Goyle will remember tonight’s meeting,” Harry said. “When they wake up and realize they missed it, they’ll go apologize to Malfoy—we’ll be exposed.”

“Even if they know, they can’t prove anything,” Neville said. “The person who impersonated me on Halloween hasn’t been caught—and there’s no way to trace it. So the person who impersonated Crabbe and Goyle on Christmas won’t be found either.”

“I think that person was a student,” Harry said helplessly. “That’s all we know—because Snape’s materials are missing.”

“But Donald promised to keep the potion ingredients confidential,” Neville said. “So without Snape’s supplies lost, no one can trace who brewed the potion. It could easily be an outsider.”

Then Harry realized the potion had a preparation process—if it was a student, they might have borrowed the book *Advanced Potion-Making* from Madam Pince.