Halloween Eve (Part 1)

At Hogwarts, time passed quickly.

As the weather gradually turned colder, October arrived... A damp chill seemed to pervade the entire castle, and colds began spreading among the students and teachers.

Madam Pomfrey had specially asked Professor Snape to brew a Pepperup Potion. After taking it, one's whole head felt as though it had caught fire, steam pouring out in great gusts; but the cold was quickly cured as well.

Jon had been feeding the two South African Red Spiders the calming potion Professor Kettleburn had given him.

They seemed to be doing much better, though he was not sure whether it was the potion's effect or because the Basilisk had stopped moving about Hogwarts lately.

In fact, after that first Sunday, Jon Hart rarely moved about Hogwarts Castle alone.

Every morning and evening, he entered and left the common room alongside a group of Hufflepuff first-years.

No matter what, the Basilisk could not possibly attack someone in the castle in broad daylight, could it? And it certainly could not crawl into the two barrels at the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, could it?

He went to the Kitchen far less often now, basically only once every week or two... Fortunately, Klyne and the other House-elves eagerly stuffed his pockets full of snacks, enough to last him more than a week.

The time he spent practising spells in the Room of Requirement had also been drastically reduced. Usually, he only went there at noon or when he had no classes.

His Eye Blight Curse practice had progressed fairly well. He could now easily blast apart a Dummy's eyes with a single spell, though he did not know how effective it would be in actual combat. Occlumency, on the other hand, had run into considerable trouble, seeming to make no progress at all. Strictly speaking, he had no idea how far he had progressed with Occlumency, since the Room of Requirement could not conjure up a Dummy capable of casting "Legilimency."

His regular classes continued as normal.

Transfiguration class was still the same. His performance was not particularly outstanding; Ginny Weasley had the best grades. She could now turn a teapot into a mouse, and Professor McGonagall could not praise her enough.

Jon had been avoiding getting too close to Miss Weasley. She might end up thinking his name was John Hat.

Colin Cleever got along quite well with Miss Weasley, and they often whispered to each other during class. Jon could not help holding a moment of silence in his heart for that short Gryffindor boy.

His grades in Charms class were about the same as in Transfiguration class, placing him in the upper-middle of the class. Professor Flitwick had recently been teaching them the "Floating Charm," and it had taken Jon about a week to cast it successfully.

He performed quite well in Herbology class, and Professor Sprout thought highly of him... However, first-years could not yet take part in practical lessons. Professor Sprout merely taught them how to distinguish Shrivelfig from Monkshood, and introduced them to dangerous plants such as Devil's Snare and Mandrake.

There was even less need to mention Potions class. In every lesson, the potions Astoria and he brewed were extremely successful, to the point that even a teacher as harsh and biased as Snape could not help praising him a few times.

"You may be the only non-Slytherin student Professor Snape has ever praised!" Hufflepuff Prefect Gabriel Truman said excitedly when he heard the news.

Definitely not... At the very least, I'm the second... Jon thought to himself.

Defence Against the Dark Arts remained a farce. Professor Lockhart took turns calling on students to read passages from his books.

When it came to the climactic sections, he would invite a pretty Ravenclaw girl named Melinda Bobbin to perform them with him.

Out of habits formed in his previous life, Jon listened attentively in every class until the professor announced that class was over.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, October gradually drew to a close.

Jon knew very well that Hogwarts' peaceful life could not last much longer.

"The Draught of Living Death is perhaps the most advanced potion you will need to learn during your first year!" On the last day of October, Professor Snape's cold voice rang through every corner of the Potions classroom. "Frankly, I have no confidence whatsoever that you will successfully brew it at this stage. I only hope you will not fail too stupidly!"

As he spoke, Madeleine Yaxley's Cauldron exploded with a loud bang.

"Idiot!" Snape roared, waving his Wand and clearing away the potion splashed across the floor.

"Did I not remind you that you were supposed to add Hellebore first, and only then the Screech Owl feather? I truly do not know how you were sorted into my House!"

Ignoring Madeleine, who was crying there, he turned his gaze toward the first row.

Seeing the muddy mixture in Jon and Astoria's Cauldron, he gave a disdainful smile. "It seems Mr. Hart and Miss Greengrass cannot succeed every time either!"

"No... Professor!" Astoria gathered her courage and looked up. "We haven't added the liquorice extract yet."

As she spoke, Jon had already poured a small bottle of dark green liquid into the Cauldron... Violent changes immediately began taking place inside. The muddy mixture slowly dissolved bit by bit, until only a clear emerald-green liquid remained in the entire pot.

"Well... done..." Snape said dryly before striding away.

Astoria hurriedly got up and went to the last row to comfort Madeleine, who was silently crying there.

Jon quickly packed up his things and hurried to the Room of Requirement while it was still light outside.

Opening that thick, seemingly mouldy copy of "Advanced Potions," he felt that he was now capable of attempting some of the potions inside.

And he needed to try them. According to the original story, the Golden Trio should be going to the Library to borrow this book in a few days, so he had to return it within the next couple of days.

He turned to the page describing "Polyjuice Potion":

The illustration showed several people transforming into other people, their faces twisted in extreme pain.

Lacewing flies, leeches, Fluxweed, and Knotgrass... These materials were all easy to obtain; they were available in the students' supply cupboards.

There were also powdered Bicorn horn and a piece of African tree snake skin... Those two materials were beyond his reach.

But he had already thought of a way. He could find one of the school Owls and write to a potion ingredient shop in Diagon Alley to buy some... Hopefully, they would not be too expensive.

Dragon liver only cost seventeen Sickles. Could snake skin really be more expensive than dragon liver?

Fluxweed had to be picked on the full moon, and Lacewing flies had to be stewed for twenty days...

As long as he was lucky, he should be able to return to Southampton with a finished batch of Polyjuice Potion before the Christmas holiday...