Polyjuice Potion

November. A time of... well for us mostly potion brewing. We go to the game, of course, Gryffindor against Slytherin, where I try my hardest to ignore Quirrell trying to kill Harry and trying even harder to ignore Slytherin losing the match against Gryffindor.
"Are we sure the fluxweed from the storage was definitely picked during a full moon?" asks Lorinda during breakfast the Sunday after the match.
I shrug "It says so on the bottle."
"I've been thinking..." she says "Just in case, there's a full moon tonight. Maybe we should get some of out own. To be safe."
I nod "I assume that's a good idea. Where would we find it though?"
"There's some in the greenhouses." says Elijah.
"Can you get the map for tonight?" asks Aidan "Out of bed is bad enough, but if we plan on going outside we'll need some reassurance."
"I thought I'd just go as Sprout." I say.
Aidan sighs "I wanna do fun stuff too, sometimes."
"Yeah!" insists Nia "Our potion, our sneaking around."
"Considering how pissed you guys were at me two months ago this is really insulting." I laugh.
"Just get the map, Wilderwald." says Elijah.
I sigh "I'll try. Only, if you guys promise to not throw a tantrum over having to give it back."
They all nod.
I raise my hand to my heart "Cross my heart." I say.
They raise their hands as well and say in unison "Hope to die."
"Fine." I get up and walk over to the Gryffindor table and tap Fred on the shoulder "Can we talk?"
"What's up?" he asks.
"Not here, maybe?"
Lee Jordan chuckles quietly and Fred grins but gets up and follows me to the door "What's up?" he asks again.
"We have to get to the greenhouse tonight." I say quietly, pointing at my friends "I was wondering-"
"You need the map?"
I nod "You'll get it back first thing tomorrow."
"You sure about that?" he asks looking over to them.
"One hundred percent."
"I'm gonna need a pinky promise for that one." he laughs and holds out his little finger.
I sigh and hook my own little finger up with his, which leads to some burning stares from the Gryffindor table. I turn red and quickly let go of Fred.
"Aight let me finish breakfast and I'll go get it." he says and walks back to his seat. Lee Jordan punches him in the arm, laughing. Fred whispers something in his ear and Lee laughs even harder.
"Got it." I say sitting down next to Aidan.
"Perfect." he says.
"I can't wait for this stupid potion to be done." mutters Lorinda.
After breakfast I shortly meet Fred outside the Great Hall, where he slides the map into my pocket "First thing tomorrow. If I don't have it back by nine-thirty, I'll jinx you."
I laugh "Don't worry Weasley. I pinky promised, remember?"
He nods seriously "Yes, the pinky promise is stronger than the unbreakable vow."
I nod just as seriously.
"Alright, I've gotta go to practice now." he says "Still gotta beat Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw."
I nod "Have fun."
He smiles "Always." then walks away.
The day flies by quickly and after supper we all go to take a nap. Lorinda's alarm goes off at eleven and we all rise from our sleep.
"Turn it off." I whisper "Before Pixie wakes up."
We sneak into the common room "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." I reveal the map to see Aidan and Elijah leave their dorm. "They're coming."
I check the map to look for teachers. Dumbledore is pacing his study as always, but the rest of them seem to be in their own chambers. "Filch is all the way up in the fifth floor." I say. "But that can change quickly, we better get going."
They nod and we run out to the courtyard as quickly as possible.
"It's like he's got his own alarm system." I mutter, watching Filch walk down the stairs. "Go!"
We run down the hill towards the greenhouses. The grass and rooftops are lit up by the soft light of the full moon. I stare up to the sky and take in the view of the moon and the stars. It amazes me every time. I could never see the stars when I was in London.
"Which greenhouse is it?" I ask Elijah and he points at it.
We quickly sneak in and Elijah points at a green plant with purple flowers "That's it."
I carefully cut off a few of the stems.
"We need sixteen scruples, at least." reminds Lorinda.
I nod and mutter with my wand between my teeth "No problem. There's plenty."
"Not to ruin the mood or anything but Filch is coming closer." Aidan stares at the map.
"Fuck." I mutter "Out the back, down the hill. Let's go." I look at them "And turn off the fucking lights."
"Nox." we all whisper and begin running down the hill behind the greenhouses. "Somewhere down there should be a hidden entrance." I point at the black lake. "Should get us straight to the dungeons."
We arrive at the castle where the walls are covered with thick ivy. "Map." I say to Aidan and he hands it to me. I move towards the right and watch my name slowly approach the secret door shown on the map. Moving some of the ivy aside I reveal a small steel door.
Filch seems to just be wandering the courtyard not quite sure where to go next. "We got rid of him."
Lorinda laughs in relief as the door to the common room closes behind us "Merlin's beard we really did it!"
"With this map we could do literally everything." says Aidan.
"Mischief managed." I say "Remember what you promised. It's gone first thing in the morning."
They look disappointed "Maybe we should figure out how it's done..." says Nia "make our own."
I nod "It's quite a bit of effort though."
"We've got seven years to get it done. I'd say we'll be fine." grins Aidan. "Anyways I'm going to bed now. Goodnight."
Elijah nods and follows him "Yeah, goodnight."
"Goodnight." we say and go up to the girls dorms.
During potions class Snape remains at our table for a suspiciously long time "This looks oddly familiar." he says pointing at the glass of leeches in front of me.
"It does?" I ask.
He leans forward staring me down as if he's reading my mind "Any possibility you might have been searching through my personal belongings, Mrs. Wilderwald?"
Fuck, he is reading my mind. How many people have this fucking ability?
"I would never, Professor."
"I'm assuming I wouldn't find any Boomslang skin, if I went looking through your dormitories then, would I?"
I shake my head, when in this charming car this charming man why pamper life's complexity... I sing a song in my head as I say "No, Professor."
"Very well then, better tend back to your potion then." he walks away and I swallow heavily.
"He scares the living hell out of me." mutters Aidan "You okay?"
I shrug "Yeah, I don't mind him."
"Should we go to the match?" asks Aidan while we all sit in the common room.
"I don't really care for it." shrugs Lorinda.
"Yeah Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw... it's kind of dull." nods Elijah.
I smile "Everybody else is going. Including Parkinson. The potion is almost done. I'd say... we'll have some time to experiment."
"I like your way of thinking, Wilderwald." grins Aidan.
"May we enter?" asks Aidan at the bottom of the the stairway leaving up to the girls dorms.
"Yes, Aidan Hubbard and Elijah Montgomery, you may come up to the girl's dormitories." I laugh and they walk up the staircase.
"Ugh it looks like... snot and mud and just everything gross." frowns Lorinda looking down into the potion.
Aidan smiles as he stirs it one last time "Alright, I'll need a glass now."
Elijah hands Aidan a glass which he fills with a small amount of the potion. "Haven, if you will?"
I sigh and turn into Snape. Aidan rips a hair from my head and frowns "Greasy." before he throws it into the glass. He then carefully waves his wand.
"There's no way this works..." says Lorinda inspecting the glass.
"Well, we'll find out now." laughs Aidan. He takes a deep breath "Cheers mates." with a suffering look in his eyes he takes a big sip. "Oh this is worse than mom's stew." he frowns "So much worse." he shakes heavily at the taste. And mere seconds later his skin begins bubbling and blubbering and slowly turning paler and paler. His fluttering eyes turn black, his hair grows a little and he slowly begins growing taller and taller.
"Well luckily he's wearing the big sweater." laughs Elijah once we're all sitting in the middle of the dorm, next to Snape in a now tight blue sweater and even tighter, almost tearing pyjama pants. We shake in laughter at the sight of Snape in his striped socks.
"Well, are you guys gonna do it too?" Snape's face asks with Aidan's high voice.
Elijah shivers "This is way too weird for me. If we do this we can't talk to anyone."
"Let's wait till next Saturday and then we'll go to Hogsmeade." I suggest.
"You're kidding right?" cries Aidan.
"Well better we tried it out now." I say "Now we can see how long it lasts and everything. Besides we'll have to get some clothes to pull it off successfully."
Snape's face is pulled into a frown "Smartass." he mutters.
The next weekend we finally get to properly try out the potion. We skip lunch and meet in our dorm.
I drop a bunch of robes in front of them "Last years. Ravenclaws, less suspicious since most of them are currently spending all their time studying."
"Brilliant." says Elijah "Are you certain about who won't be going to Hogsmeade?"
I nod "Spied on a few of them. They're either in the library or in their common room, but just to play it safe, we'll look a little different."
I step in font of a mirror and transform into a tall, bookish Ravenclaw. I turn his green eyes brown, his blonde hair black and curly and concentrate intensely to change his nose into a more hooked one. Then I quickly rip out a hair and throw it into the first glass. "Aidan, you do the honours."
He takes a sip after waving his wand, "This doesn't get better." he frowns "But at least it's not quite as disgusting as Snape."
I turn back to the mirror and turn into a girl with bright red hair. I straighten the curls, turn it a light brown and grow a little. I let the freckles disappear and make the eyes a bright blue colour. "Sorry about this one Elijah, but your voice is too high to be a seventh year."
Elijah frowns a little but drinks it without complaining, at least not about my choice of person "Ugh the taste! Aidan you really weren't lying." He sticks out his tongue in disgust.
I give Lorinda the hair of a short girl with dark, brown eyes and black hair and Nia turns into a girl with wild, brown, curly hair.
A second later I am surrounded by a group of teenagers with ridiculously small clothes "Well, change already." I point at the clothes. I, myself turn into a second boy, tall and buff, with a shaved, wide head and black eyes.
Once we're all changed we run out of the common room as quickly and leave through the secret door at the back of the castle.
"Now, from our experience with Aidan, this potion is goin to last about five hours. That's enough to get to Hogsmeade and back without any trouble." I say with an incredibly deep voice.
We walk hidden until we're off castle grounds. Here we could be anyone. Except of course, you're never just anyone, with the Weasley twins around.
"Would you look at this, George!" says Fred appearing behind us "Five students I've never seen before."
"It's truly fascinating." nods George "Who could those strangers be?"
I notice a piece of paper disappearing in Fred's coat. I'm assuming, polyjuice potion can't trick the Marauder's map.
Fred shakes his head "No idea... some older students probably. Transfers?" he asks, still clearly joking.
George nods with a serious face "Obviously."
Fred inspects us closely "So, what's your names? I'm Gred that's Forge and you are?"
I giggle quietly at Fred's stupid joke and he immediately turns to look at me "Wilderwald... that haircut... truly terrible."
"He knows?" asks Aidan.
"Well, now I do." laughs Fred.
I shake my head "They have the map. It can't be tricked by Polyjuice potion."
"Oh." Aidan stares at the ground.
"So, Hogsmeade again." says Fred to me "And this time you're taking your friends. With, what was that, polyjuice potion?"
I roll my eyes and nod.
"Well, good to know you're not all Metamorphmagi. That just wouldn't be fair." he and George exchange quick looks "Sell us some."
"No way." scoffs Lorinda.
I nod "Yeah that shit takes a month to make."
He smiles "That's why I said sell and not give."
"Or you could give us the recipe." says George.
"Yeah, where did you even find it?" asks Fred.
"And how does it work?" asks George.
"How long does it last?" adds Fred.
"Listen, sorry to disappoint but we would really like to go to Hogsmeade now." I am quite a lot taller than Fred and as soon as I make a step forward he steps back. Am I actually intimidating him for once?
"Always the killjoy." says George "Scared anyone else might get to have your powers, Wilderwald?"
Fred smirks a little but rolls his eyes "She's always a little stubborn. But melts quicker than butter."
I actually gasp in offence "That is bullshit."
He smiles "We'll see. Well, would you older students mind escorting us to Hogsmeade? I'd love a business meeting in, let's say, the three broomsticks?"
I roll my eyes "You get an hour, with me. The others should go explore."
"Good deal." smiles Fred and whispers "Like butter, see."
I punch him in the arm and he gasps a little "Oh, this guy is a lot stronger than you are, hm?" he smiles but his voice is a little pained.
"Sorry." I mutter.
He shrugs "You guys are are becoming serious competition when it comes to being the greatest trouble makers at school." he says as we walk down the hill "We are the Weasley twins. But who are you?"
"What are you going on about?" asks Lorinda walking next to me.
"Every great group of mischiefs has a name. Just take the Marauders for example. No one knows who they were, but their name lives on. You need a legacy." he smiles.
In Hogsmeade the others wander off to Honeydukes to load up on sweets and I follow the twins into the three broomsticks.
"Would you mind ordering some fire whiskey?" asks Fred, quietly.
I frown "I would."
He sighs "I'd love to get a little tipsy."
"You're too young to drink that shit." I growl.
This makes both of the twins laugh "Look at the big guy. Calling us young."
"It's not good for you! You shouldn't drink that crap. Messes with your head."
"Bloody hell." George rolls his eyes.
"We'll have some butterbeer then." says Fred, smiling at his brother's annoyance. "So big guy, about the potion."
I sigh "It's difficult to brew and we had to steal some of the ingredients from Snape's personal stores."
Fred nods "Well, we can get you the ingredients quite easily."
"The Fluxweed has to be picked at midnight."
"I'm assuming that's why you needed to get to the greenhouses?"
I nod.
"Well, we have all of this covered." he says "How does it work?"
"Once the potion is done, you put a hair of the person you want to turn into, into the potion. You drink it and turn into them."
"I've never seen any of them before."
"It also works with metamorphmagus forms." I smile.
He smiles "Impressive."
"Does it taste good?" asks George.
I shake my head "Terribly."
They exchange quick looks "How would you feel about five galleons for five-hundred Milliliters?" asks Fred.
"You'd sell it?" I ask.
"Partially, yes." he nods.
"No." I say.
"What do you mean, 'no'?"
"I mean no. No deal."
"Seven galleons?" Fred stares intensely.
I shake my head "It was in the restricted section. We're not even supposed to know of the potion." I say "And it definitely shouldn't be sold."
"It would be a bestseller." says George.
Fred nods "We'd be rich in no time."
I laugh "And one day some evil motherfucker gets their hands on it and uses it to majorly fuck with us."
"Well, our customers are mostly... children, you know." grins Fred "No, evil mother..."
I roll my eyes.
George sighs "Name your price."
I tilt my head "It's not about the money."
"You just don't trust us." he scoffs.
I shake my head "That's not it."
George looks at his brother "Come on, why do we even bother? She'd rather have it all to herself." his words hurt me more than the hateful comments of any other students.
Fred smiles softly "Georgie we talked about this."
"Well, you're wrong, Fred." mutters George under his breath.
"I'm not-" Fred whispers something to George, too quietly for me to understand.
George rolls his eyes, shakes his head and whispers back. Fred laughs quietly. They keep whispering for a while and I just drum my fingers on the table, staring at the ceiling.
Finally George sighs "Maybe..." he stares at his brother "We can come to an agreement."
"You get control over who can be trusted." says Fred.
"Complete overview of all the buyers." mutters George.
I smile "I don't think I have a better judgement over the quality of a person's personality than you guys do."
George clenches his jaw.
"Look boys. I can give you some. For personal use. I have no problem with that. But there's no way in hell that I get, in any way, involved with selling it. It's wrong and potentially dangerous. Stick to prank candy. But this- it could be potentially dangerous. I trust you know that."
They stare at each other then whisper again, then nod.
"We also get full access to your unlimited hair supply." says Fred.
"And since it won't bring in any profit, we get it for free. You get the ingredients in exchange." adds George.
I sigh "Fine. But I won't dedicate my life to brewing it for you. If I don't have it, you can't have it. It takes a month to make, so you better use it wisely."
They both nod "And our friend Lee can use it too." says George.
I nod "Under your supervision any of your friends can."
They smile at each other.
"But if I find out you sold a single drop of it you'll suffer serious consequences." I say seriously.
Fred grins and nods, George stares me down, nodding ever so slightly.
"You got yourselves a deal then." I sigh.
"Perfect." grins Fred and leans in to whisper into my ear "Told you, you'd melt." his breath on my neck sends shivers down my spine.
"Didn't melt, Weasley. It's called negotiating." I whisper back.
We stay in the Three Broomsticks for a while. The twins each drink a butterbeer and I eagerly sip on my lemonade tea mix.
"So, how did you like the match?" asks Fred me.
"We lost, how should I like it?"
"Well-" he shrugs "Your best friend caught the snitch, your favourite person in the entire world kept him safe from the Bludgers. Thought you might have a soft spot for the Gryffindor team."
"I hope you don't mean yourself when you say my favourite person." I laugh and add with a sigh "Besides I've hardly spoken to Harry. I highly doubt that he's my best friend."
"At least he calls you that." Fred says "All the time actually."
"He does?" I smile.
It's George who nods "Well, the exact words are one of his best friends, but it's still pretty close."
Fred squeezes my hand a little "Being in different houses always puts some distance between people and he's horribly busy at the time, being the new Seeker and all. But he likes you just as much as the day you arrived here."
A warm feeling fills my stomach "That's really good to hear."
Fred gives George a meaningful look to which he just rolls his eyes "Proves nothing." he mutters but his expression softens a bit.
Once our glasses are empty Fred pulls me out of my seat "I'll take you to a very special place now." he says "George has some business to tend to."
George just rolls his eyes "Next week it's your turn, don't forget that."
"What business?" I ask curiously, following Fred outside.
"Can't tell you."
"Why?"
"It's private... well not so much private, as just absolutely top-secret. Can't tell a soul."
I roll my eyes "Haven't I told you literally all of my secrets?"
He smiles "Yes, and I am very proud of myself for that but this stays between George and me. Sorry."
I frown but let it go. Fred takes me to a store called Zonko's Joke Shop. "No place greater than Zonko's." he smiles as he opens the door for me.
He shows me around for a while, showing me all his favourite products and telling me fun little anecdotes about them. "One time, George and I slipped this under Percy's pillow." he grins pointing at a thin string "He couldn't sleep for a week."
"What does it to?" I ask looking at the string. It looks more like thick hair than anything else.
Fred smiles and lays some of the string into his open palm and lays his other hand over it. "Listen." he whispers.
I lean down quite a bit and carefully lay my hand over his cupped hand. Suddenly my head is filled with loud laughter.
"See?" grins Fred "Percy of course had no idea this exists. Never stepped a foot into Zonko's. He simply thought he was going insane."
I laugh "Percy the prefect doubting himself? I would have loved to see that."
"Maybe one day I'll give you a chance." Fred winks at me. "Here," he reaches me a quill "You should get one of these. They're also sold at Honeydukes but they look realer here."
"What is it?" I ask taking the Quill out of his hands.
"Sugar Quill." he smiles "Perfect for class. Incredibly delicious." he takes a second quill. "Ooh, this is also fun." he says grabbing a piece of soap.
"Soap?"
He grins "Yes, regular soap in a joke shop."
I roll my eyes "What does it do, smartass?"
"Picture this." He says "You go to the bathroom to wash you hands, but instead of clean hands you get a bunch of frogs jumping at you. Might slip some into Ron's bathroom." he mutters to myself.
I stare at it, now noticing the small dots all over the soap. Unhatched eggs, most likely. I imagine the scream Pansy would let out if I were to use it on her, but I also imagine a bunch of frogs in our shared bathroom and most likely our beds and discard of that idea.
"You want me to show you the secret passage from Honeydukes to Hogwarts?" Fred asks once we leave the shop but I shake my head and point over to the group of 'teenagers' standing by the fountain.
"I'm gonna go annoy them a bit." I smile.
Fred laughs "That might be a problem."
"What do you mean?"
He just shrugs "I'd say you're not quite as annoying anymore."
"Sure, Weasley." but I blush a little and look at my feet.
"It's probably the bald head." he laughs "If I saw you in the streets... I'd walk a large circle around you."
I laugh "Good, maybe try that next time."
He grins "You know you love my company, Wilderwald. See you around." he waves at me and walks towards Honeydukes.
I join the rest of the group and Nia stares at me "So? How did it go?"
"What?"
"Are you selling?" she asks then corrects herself "I mean are we selling?"
I shake my head "No. They'll get us the ingredients and get a small amount of the potion in return but we're not selling."
She shrugs "Well, good enough. Where did the other one go?"
"George had to take care of some business." I say. "Wish I knew what."
Nia shrugs "Who cares. They're weird."
I frown "Don't say that."
She raises her eyebrows but stays silent.
Aidan and Elijah are trying all kinds of different candies and chatting happily and Lorinda is reading through a small book.
"What's that?" I ask her.
"Jinxes and stuff." she laughs, showing me the title which says exactly that "Silly little pranks. Got it at the joke shop.
"Any good ones?"
She nods "Fantastic ones. None of them require to say the incantation out loud either. This guy Freddie Bexx invented all of them." she looks a little sad "One of them must've went wrong. He accidentally killed himself trying to develop a new spell, but still, he must've been a genius."
I nod "I don't assume inventing spells comes easily."
She shakes her head "Apparently not."
"You guys are depressing." says Elijah on a visible sugar high "We should do something fun! Go... go" he looks around and points at a hill "Go sledging."
Nia smiles at him "It's only the first snow. No sledging yet."
Elijah frowns and chews on a liquorice wand "Let's goo dancing!"
Aidan laughs and closes the bag of candy "Buddy I think we should head back to the castle."
I nod "We have about an hour left."
Back in the castle we sneak to an empty corridor where we wait for the potion to wear off. We watch Peeves and the Bloody Baron having a heated discussion.
"How many first years do you think managed to do what we did?" asks Lorinda.
I shrug "Not many."
She nods "Exactly. Do you think your twin friends were capable of even half of it when they were our age."
I laugh "No. Where are you going with this?"
"I've been thinking about what one of them said."
"Which one?" I laugh.
She shrugs "How would I know? They're identical. The one you were actually talking to."
"Fred." I smile.
"Fine, Fred." she rolls her eyes. "The thing he said about a legacy. About needing a name."
"Yes! A name!" Elijah says with bight eyes.
Aidan looks at me "Any suggestions?"
I shrug "No idea."
We sit for a while, pitching ideas.
The Bloody Baron catches my eye when he scares away Peeves.
"How about... the Bloody Barons?" I ask after a while.
"Why him?" asks Lorinda.
"Well-" I say "The Weasleys are the current masters of mischief." I joke with a dramatic tone. "They're basically Peeves. But who is Peeves more scared of than the Bloody Baron?" I smirk.
"I thought you liked the Weasleys?"
"I do. But there's nothing I like more than some friendly competition."
"Question." says Elijah "Is it the Bloody Baron's as in we're his? Or is it the Bloody Barons, plural?"
We all stare at him in disbelief.
"Take a wild guess." says Aidan.
"Plural?"
We clap sarcastically "You figured it out.
He nods "Then I like it."
Aidan nods as well.
"The Bloody Barons it is." smiles Lorinda.