Chapter 12: Switching Spell & Draco's explosion accident
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. IT BELONGS TO JK ROWLING.
A/N: Read, enjoy, and remember not to take either life or my writing too seriously.
Harry stared at Hermione with open admiration.
"Hermione," he said sincerely, "you might actually be the most brilliant person alive."
A faint blush colored her cheeks at the compliment.
"So where exactly should we redirect the air?" she asked thoughtfully. "It has to be somewhere nearby… preferably outside… but not close to the—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
A familiar drawling voice interrupted them.
"Well well… if it isn't Scarface and his Mudblood beaver."
Harry turned immediately, gripping his wand.
Standing there was Draco Malfoy, his head still wrapped in thick bandages from the recent explosion. The bandages covered the top of his scalp completely, and he appeared to have lost both his eyebrows and eyelashes.
Harry blinked.
"I thought ferrets had fur," he said before he could stop himself.
Then he added thoughtfully,
"You look more like a Ferret Mummy now."
Malfoy's face twisted in anger.
"Shut up, Potter."
He reached for his wand.
Hermione suddenly looked over Malfoy's shoulder.
"Oh! Hello Professor Moody!" she called loudly.
Malfoy reacted instantly.
He spun around in alarm.
No one was there.
Hermione smiled sweetly.
"Jumping a bit there, Ferret Mummy?"
Malfoy turned back furiously, but he had twisted his neck so sharply that it locked sideways.
Harry calmly stepped forward and snatched Malfoy's wand out of his hand before tossing it down the corridor.
Then Harry leaned very close to Malfoy's ear and whispered quietly.
"If you ever insult Hermione again, I'll personally drag you into the Forbidden Forest and leave you near the acromantulas."
"I hear they enjoy eating ferrets."
A moment later Harry heard a liquid splashing sound on the floor.
He glanced downward.
"Oh look," Harry said calmly. "The Ferret Mummy seems to have a bladder control issue as well."
With that Harry simply took Hermione's arm and walked away, leaving Draco attempting to shuffle down the hallway toward his wand.
Behind them a suspicious wet trail followed Malfoy's slow progress.
Hermione chuckled quietly.
"Well," she said, "I know exactly where Ron's air should be redirected."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Where?"
Hermione grinned mischievously.
"The Slytherin common room."
Harry blinked.
"Can you actually do that?"
Hermione looked offended.
"Of course I can. It's a basic switching charm. I simply link the trigger of the jinx to a fixed location inside the Slytherin common room."
Harry stared at her in admiration.
"Simple for you maybe."
Before Hermione could respond, Harry suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her into an empty broom closet.
The enthusiastic snogging session that followed made them several minutes late for Minerva McGonagall's Transfiguration class.
When they finally entered the classroom, slightly disheveled and two minutes late, Professor McGonagall fixed them with a sharp stare.
She immediately noticed their appearance.
Quietly she muttered to herself,
"At least I won the betting pool."
Then she addressed them.
"Mister Potter, Miss Granger, would you care to explain why you are late?"
Hermione answered immediately.
"Yes Professor. We were reviewing switching spells and lost track of time."
McGonagall raised an eyebrow but nodded.
"Very well. Just make sure it does not happen again."
Then she muttered quietly,
"Switching spells indeed… looks more like they were attempting to switch each other's clothing."
After class Hermione retrieved the enchanted parchment containing Ron's jinxed agreement.
Harry showed her the exact location of the entrance to the Slytherin common room.
Hermione concentrated carefully before performing a complex sequence of wand movements and incantations.
After finishing she looked satisfied.
"That should do it," she said.
"As long as Ron remains inside Hogwarts, the spell will function."
Later that evening Harry sat comfortably in an armchair inside the Gryffindor common room.
Hermione sat sideways across his lap with her head resting on his shoulder while reading her Charms textbook.
The portrait hole opened.
Ron Weasley entered the room.
His arm was bandaged nearly to the elbow from the earlier boil incident.
Ron spotted Harry and Hermione sitting together.
He scowled and marched past them without speaking.
Just as he reached the stairs—
PPPWWWWTTTTPPPPPPPWWWTTTT!
Every student in the common room jumped to their feet.
Wands were drawn instantly, ready to cast the familiar cleaning charms.
But something was different.
There was no smell.
Students slowly lowered their wands.
A collective sigh of relief swept through the room.
Harry leaned closer to Hermione.
"You are absolutely brilliant."
"And I'm very glad you're mine."
Hermione blushed slightly before kissing him briefly and returning to her reading.
Deep within the dungeons below the castle, Draco Malfoy was walking back toward the Slytherin common room.
He had spent the entire day in the hospital wing recovering from his stiff neck.
"Damn Potter and that Mudblood," he muttered angrily.
"When my father hears about—"
He stopped suddenly.
A loud disturbance was coming from the entrance wall of the Slytherin common room.
He had barely begun speaking the password when the entrance burst open.
Dozens of Slytherins poured out of the doorway in a frantic rush.
None of them noticed Draco standing there.
They trampled directly over him as they fled.
"Uh…" Draco groaned weakly as pain from several new injuries overwhelmed him.
Then the smell reached him.
The same smell that had caused the Slytherins to flee.
Draco immediately vomited all over himself.
A few minutes later Severus Snape arrived to investigate the disturbance.
He found Draco crawling weakly down the hallway.
With a weary sigh Snape levitated his injured student back to the hospital wing.
The following morning Harry woke early and waited in the common room.
He kept glancing toward the staircase leading to the girls' dormitory.
At first he ignored the strange noise coming from upstairs.
Then he heard it again.
THUMP
THUMP
There was a pause.
Then a grunt.
THUMP
Harry frowned.
Then he heard Hermione's voice.
"There's an easier way. Harry? Are you down there?"
"Yes," Harry replied. "What's happening?"
"Perfect," Hermione said.
A moment later she rushed down the stairs.
She greeted Harry with a quick hug and kiss.
"What was all that noise?" Harry asked.
"Oh," Hermione said casually.
"I just need your help with something."
"Could you step onto the staircase for a moment?"
Harry hesitated.
"Won't that trigger the ward?"
"That's exactly what I want."
Still confused, Harry stepped onto the stairs.
Immediately the staircase transformed into a smooth ramp.
Harry jumped back in surprise.
A scraping sound followed from above.
Something began sliding down the ramp.
Finally a long red-haired figure slid into view.
Ginny Weasley.
She was completely immobilized by a Full Body Bind.
"Thanks Harry," Hermione said cheerfully. "I was trying to drag her down but she kept getting stuck on the steps."
At that moment the portrait hole swung open.
Professor McGonagall entered, looking slightly out of breath.
"What is happening here?" she demanded.
Then she noticed Ginny.
"Why is Miss Weasley lying on the floor in a body bind?"
Hermione explained quickly.
"My protective wards woke me when Ginny entered my dormitory last night with her wand pointed at me."
"Fortunately I keep my wand under my pillow."
"Before she could attack me I immobilized her."
McGonagall frowned.
"You expected something like this?"
Hermione nodded.
"She already tried attacking me yesterday morning."
McGonagall sighed.
"Release her."
Hermione lifted the spell.
Ginny immediately ran for the stairs.
Unfortunately the stairs were still in ramp form.
She slipped and hit her head hard before sliding back down.
Moments later she stood again… looking furious… and extremely embarrassed.
McGonagall deducted thirty points from Gryffindor and assigned Ginny a week of detention.
Once the professor left, Harry turned to Hermione.
"You left her body-bound all night?"
Hermione shrugged.
"Of course not."
"I moved her under my bed so no one would trip over her."
Harry blinked.
"You dragged her down the stairs this morning?"
Hermione smiled calmly.
"She threatened me twice in one day."
"I wanted to make sure she understood the message."
Harry shook his head in amazement.
"You can be terrifying sometimes."
Hermione smiled sweetly.
"Just making sure everyone knows you're mine."
"Now… shall we go to breakfast?"
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