An American at Hogwarts

Hermeownie

As winter approached, our plan was going well. Like Hermione and Marie had said, nobody used the bathroom we were using to brew the potion. We had a few awkward run ins with Myrtle, who was frankly more depressing than annoying or scary in my book, but beyond that, nothing really came up. Me and Marie had a brief lesson with McGonagall about becoming animagi, which went relatively well. Turns out, the pain involved in the transformation was, at least in her experience, quite over exaggerated, which dispelled my main concern. Still, it was difficult, and I wanted to stick with Marie through it. The day before people went home for the break, we set our plan in motion. Early that morning, we snuck into the bathroom and put the finishing touches on the polyjuice potion. It had gone well, albeit with one small hiccup. There was only enough for three of us.

"Y/N, you ought to go. You've always got some plan in mind, if something goes wrong you should be there." Said Ron, which surprised me a bit. He wasn't one for that sort of... flattery? Was flattery the right word?

Nonetheless, I shook my head. "Gonna have to disagree there. Me in a room with unfiltered Malfoy isn't a good idea. Who knows what he'll say. I honestly don't trust myself to not react if he says something stupid. I also can't quite do the accent. Plus, I've heard that stuff tastes horrible. I'd hate it anyways. You and Harry go, have some fun, the two of you. God knows you need it."

Ron frowned slightly, but nodded in agreement. "Fine. You got those cupcakes Hermione made, Harry?"

Harry nodded, and turned to Hermione. "You have that hair you took off that Slytherin girl, right?"

"Yes! You two go take care of Crabbe and Goyle now! Quick! Millicent could wake up any minute!"

I sighed. "Hermione, we hit her with a stunner straight to the back of the head and stuck her in a locked closet. She isn't getting out anytime soon. You do have a point, though, better we get this done as soon as we can. Go on, you two. Move it!"

With that, Harry and Ron rushed out. I slumped down along the wall, next to Marie.

"This isn't going to go well, is it?"

Marie laughed a bit and nodded. "Probably not, no. But when do our plans ever go perfectly? We've always managed to make it out somehow, no?"

"True. True. Still. Something about this whole plan is bothering me."

She softly kissed me on the cheek. "You're overthinking it, dear. It'll work out. I promise."

We sat there chatting for around fifteen minutes before Harry and Ron burst back in, both holding clumps of hair.

"Jesus, you didn't need to tear out a fistful of it..."

Ron smirked. "Yeah, but don't you want to see the two of them panic to cover up a bald spot?"

I snorted a bit in response. "Kind of, yeah. Go drink your juice now. Lets get this over with."

With that, they dropped a strand of hair into their bottles and made their way into the stalls to change into Slytherin robes I had managed to steal from the spares the school kept. A couple minutes later, Harry and Ron emerged. But not as Harry and Ron. Instead, they looked identical to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well?" Asked Harry, who I recognized from the voice.

"Perfect!" I responded. "But make your voice deeper, you don't quite sound like him."

The two of them practiced their best Crabbe and Goyle impression for a bit, and eventually called out for Hermione to join them, as she had yet to leave her stall.

"I... I'm not coming! Go ahead without me!"

I frowned. This whole thing was her idea. It wasn't like her to dip out at the last minute like this. Harry seemed to concur.

"You okay, Hermione?"

"Yes! You two, go! Before it runs out!"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but Ron grabbed him and began tugging him towards the door. Me and Marie sat there for a moment, confused at what was happening, before I got up.

"Hermione? Is everything alright? Millicent is a bit ugly, I know, but it can't be that bad?"

Hermione simply shrieked a bit in response.

"Hermione, open up, please! I'm worried about you!"

"Y... Y/N, could you leave the room for a moment? I just want to talk to Marie quickly."

I frowned and glanced towards Marie, who shrugged, seemingly as confused as I was.

"I... yeah, of course. Just one of you call for me whenever you're ready."

With that, I made my way out, and shut the door tight, doing my best to look inconspicuous. Unfortunately, Lockhart just so happened to choose that moment to walk by.

"Y/N! Dear boy! How are you? I've heard wondrous things of your capabilities! Would you mind helping me with a small problem?"

I frowned slightly and groaned. "What sort of problem, Lockhart? I have somewhere to be in a bit."

He simply smiled in response, seemingly unaware of my clear distaste for him. "I, well, am having a bit of trouble with some Billywigs in my classroom."

I sighed. "How... can't you just ask... fine. But only because it's important for student safety."

"Wonderful! Come with me, then!"

I, rather begrudgingly, followed him. Somehow, Lockhart continued to astound me with his incompetence. Relying on a second year to deal with a Billywig? Seriously? But like I told him, it was rather important that it be dealt with, and since he was clearly too embarrassed to ask any of the other staff, it was better I do it before they stung any of the other students. Twenty minutes or so later, I was done. It wasn't particularly challenging, at least once I found where the bastards were. They were rather fast. Regardless, I quickly rushed back towards the bathroom, hoping nothing had gone wrong while I was away. Sure enough, though, it had. As I rounded the corner, Harry, Ron, Marie, and Hermione emerged from the bathroom, Hermione hidden beneath the spare Slytherin cloaks.

"Well?" I exclaimed.

"It's not Malfoy. You were right." Replied Harry, motioning for me to follow.

"I... wait. What's with Hermione?"

In response, Hermione flipped down the hood covering her face.

"Ah. Well that explains it." Was my only response. It was really the only response that made sense, since, well...

Hermione now looked like a cat.