"I'll take my owl back," Draco suddenly found the courage to exclaim. "And if you dare interfere with me, my father will find out about everything, and you'll be in trouble!"
"I won't give it up!" Harry exclaimed and stood in Malfoy's way.
"We've got your bird as a hostage!" Ron exclaimed. "We'll get it back if you just get out of here and don't tell the teachers."
"Draco, I'm sorry, I think we went too far," Richard said. "We'll give you the owl."
"Richie, what are you doing?!" Harry looked at Rich in amazement. "But what about..." He gestured with his hands to a ball the size of a football, referring to the Philosopher's Stone but slightly exaggerating its size.
"We will," Richard said forcefully. "But not now! Draco, we want to be sure we won't be punished because of your tip. Perhaps Ron was overly harsh. Let us nurse your bird back to health and return it tonight."
- No way! I'll take her now.
It was unclear where Draco found so much courage, but he resolutely rushed past the stunned Harry and Ron to his bird, grabbed it and pulled it up.
At that moment, what Weasley and Potter had been so eagerly awaiting occurred. However, the reaction was far more powerful than anyone could have expected. In the owl's intestines, the fake Philosopher's Stone, after Richard's Finita, had turned into dry ice. It reacted violently and began releasing carbon dioxide at high speed. It accumulated in the intestines, slowly bloating the owl and chilling its internal organs. And then there was the horse dose of a powerful laxative, the Weasley twins' signature modified recipe. And the moment Malfoy disturbed the owl, a powerful stream of icy exhaust erupted from it.
The owl took flight from the blast, even with its wings bound. Draco struggled to hold the bird aloft with his arms outstretched. A spray of fine bird droppings flew straight at him, drenching him from head to toe. It was truly magical, like snowflakes sparkling in the sunlight in the bitter cold. Frosty white glitters of bird droppings adorned Draco's hair, face, and robes.
Harry and Ron's faces fell at the sight. Ron's mouth dropped open and he couldn't take his eyes off Draco and the owl. Harry, in disbelief, wiped his glasses.
"Richie," Ron said quietly, "you were right... This is an incredibly strange magical reaction..."
"Well, that's it, it's gone," Harry said sadly, referring to the Philosopher's Stone.
Draco was stunned, he froze motionless and resembled a statue of an extremely stunned boy wizard that was "loved" by doves.
"Guys," said Richard, "we need to treat this owl urgently, or it'll lose its legs! Do you have any potions?"
Ronald quickly got his bearings and reached into his bag.
"I have some healing potions," he replied. "Somewhere around here, just a second."
Weasley, looking victorious, took out several vials of potions and exclaimed:
- Harry, give me the owl, we'll treat it.
Potter rushed towards Malfoy and took the barely alive owl from his numb hands.
As Ron began pouring potions one after another into the owl's beak, Draco woke up and tried to shake off the frosty droppings with disgust.
"Hey!" he exclaimed indignantly, his voice quiet and tired, looking at Harry and Ron. "Wasn't the bullying enough for you? Are you going to finish off my bird?"
"On the contrary, we're trying to cure her," Harry replied.
The magic potions were indeed helping-this was clearly evident from the owl, whose legs and wings began to twitch. Harry began to free the bird from the tape, but ended up tearing it off along with its feathers. The owl was too exhausted to call out; it only wheezed in pain. But thanks to the potions, new feathers immediately grew back, and after all the abuse, it looked much better, almost like it had at the very beginning.
"Ron, where did you get so many healing potions?" Richard asked.
"It's all because of the twins," Weasley replied. "You never know what kind of nasty stuff they'll slip you. So I hedged my bets. I traded some for Chocolate Frog shells from the older students, and poured some out of the cauldron during Potions class."
As soon as Harry and Ron placed the bird on the floor, Draco abruptly stopped pretending to be a statue, jumped up, snatched up his owl, and flew out of the office. The boys could hear the retreating sound of Malfoy's running feet.
"Well, we're done for," Ron stated wearily. "That snitch will turn us in to Snape..."
"Let's say it was a joke," Richard said calmly, pleased that he had dealt with the fake philosopher's stone and the owl remained intact.
"A joke?" Weasley exclaimed indignantly. "You think anyone will believe that?!"
"Of course they'll believe it," Richard replied. "Or pretend to believe it. I've seen so much bullying in my year at Hogwarts, I won't even mention the senior Transfiguration classes, where students destroy mice en masse or transform them into who-knows-what. So our 'joke' isn't beyond the bounds of normal behavior among young wizards. At most, we'll get detention until the holidays start."
Ronald thought for a moment, then relief appeared on his face.
"Oh, really," he breathed. "Fred and George have pulled off a ton of equally awful pranks over the past couple of years, and all they've gotten is detention. Mum'll be mad," he added, looking upset.
"It's a shame the stone was destroyed," Potter said sadly. "At least Dumbledore won't get it! I hope at least we won't be expelled from Hogwarts. We'll survive the detentions somehow."
"So, we have a deal," said Richard. "We just need to agree on a cover story. Remember, we were relaxing outside, quietly and peacefully, after our History of Magic exam. Malfoy and his friends came up to us and provoked a conflict with some foul language. Then a fight broke out between us. We were upset with Malfoy and decided to play a joke on him. We brewed a joke potion and fed it to his owl. The joke worked-the owl shit all over Malfoy at the right moment, and he thought God knows what of us. We weren't cruel to animals, we didn't mean to harm the owl, and we thought everything through, preparing healing potions in advance so that if anything happened to the bird, we could help it. Understood?"
"Yes," Harry answered.
"Easy," Ron nodded in agreement.
"Ron..." Harry drawled, looking at his friend with a grin.
"What?" Ron asked apprehensively.
"Great idea to take Malfoy's owl with you on a mission!" Potter's voice was so full of irony and sarcasm that even a complete fool would have realized he thought otherwise.
"Harry, fuck you," Ron replied wearily. "I already realized that wasn't the best idea."
"It's all right, boys," Richard said soothingly. "The main thing is that we're alive and well. The rest is nothing. To hell with all this! We'd better hurry to dinner, otherwise I'm afraid we'll be stuck for a bite when the headmaster gets back. They'll definitely call us in for a scolding. Thank goodness they banned corporal punishment at Hogwarts!"
"That's true..." Ron involuntarily rubbed his right hand below his lower back. "Who else would have told Mum not to swear..." Catching Potter's mocking gaze, he perked up and added louder: "Yes, swear! And not what you think..."
"Yes, yes," Potter replied with exaggerated cheerfulness. "I believe... Of course, 'swear'..."
Richard's hand fell on Weasley's shoulder. Rich's gaze was filled with understanding and empathy.
"Ron, I understand you so well," he said. "I'll get scolded at home too... So much so that I won't be able to sit still for three days. But that's the price of adventurism, so accept it."