Polyjuice Potion

"Do you know Colin Cleever?"

"I vaguely remember... he's a short first-year Gryffindor."

"He was attacked by the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, right outside the Hospital Wing... He's lying in bed like a corpse now, petrified just like Mrs. Norris!"

"My God! I remember Cleever was Muggle-born... Could it really be like the legend says? Is Slytherin's Heir going to drive every Muggle-born wizard and Squib out of Hogwarts?"

"That's terrifying!"

Ever since Mrs. Norris was attacked, discussions about the Chamber of Secrets had never stopped in the Hufflepuff common room.

But with the appearance of a second victim, panic began to spread.

"Potter definitely did it!" Ernie Macmillan declared with utter certainty.

"How can you say that..." Hannah Abbott, her golden hair tied in a ponytail, tried to argue.

"Potter had a row with Filch, then Filch's cat was attacked, and Potter was the first to 'discover' her. Cleever, a first-year student, harassed Potter every day and angered him, then he was petrified right outside Potter's hospital room..." Macmillan reasoned with the air of a great detective.

"I still can't believe it. Harry stopped Voldemort, after all..." Kind-hearted Hannah was unwilling to accept this "reality."

"Don't be stupid! No one knows how he survived when Voldemort attacked him back then. I mean, he was still a baby when it happened. He should have been blown to pieces... Only a truly immensely powerful Dark wizard could escape Voldemort's curse." Ernie explained in a mysterious tone. "So..."

Jon made no attempt to stop the rumours from spreading, nor did he try to refute them.

The Muggle-born students of Hufflepuff were nearly all living in fear, especially Justin Finch-Fletchley. His face had been deathly pale these past few days, and he did not even dare attend class... Rumour had it that, during an accidental conversation after the school year began, he had told Harry Potter about his blood status.

Though Jon Hart was a first-year student, he was perhaps the calmest person in the entire House when it came to this matter.

His daily life remained much the same as usual, except that he chose to enter and leave the common room with other students.

However, when Professor Sprout came to collect the list of students staying at school over Christmas holiday... he was almost the first to sign under the column for students leaving school.

Like him, most students chose to leave, fleeing Hogwarts as though escaping a plague, afraid that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets might emerge at any moment and strike them dead.

Before Christmas holiday, however, Jon received an owl-delivered letter.

It contained many sparkling little ornaments. They looked delicate, though they were not worth much. Jon had asked Eric to buy them and send them over.

He took the little ornaments to the Kitchen and gave every one of them to the House-elves there.

"These are Christmas presents for you in advance. They aren't anything valuable!" he said earnestly in the Kitchen. "Thank you for taking such good care of me over the past half-year and stuffing me with so much delicious food..."

The House-elves were nearly crying too hard to speak. They quickly put on the little ornaments, though the decorations made them look rather mismatched.

Klyne clung to Jon's leg and wailed loudly. Jon had to comfort him nearly ten times before he finally let go.

"This is the first time a wizard has given Klyne a Christmas present... Thank you, Mr. Hart..."

In the end, the House-elves stuffed Jon's pockets full of every kind of snack. They only let him leave once there was no room left at all.

Of course, before leaving Hogwarts, there was one last matter—

The Polyjuice Potion was now complete.

Over the past week or so, he had added 2/3 of an ounce of Fluxweed picked during a full moon, half an ounce of powdered ammonium chloride, two ounces of powdered grass leaves, one teaspoon of Unicorn horn powder, as well as suitable amounts of saltpetre, mercury, iron filings, and dried African Tree Snake skin to the brewing potion.

Though the Polyjuice Potion recipe was extremely complex, the brewing process itself did not involve anything particularly profound. That was why, despite being such a dangerous potion, even first- and second-year students could successfully brew it.

Black smoke now rose continuously from the Cauldron, carrying a pungent smell.

That proved there should not have been any major issues with his brew.

Jon carefully poured the Polyjuice Potion into small Crystal Vials. It looked like black, viscous mud.

"Now then, it's time to test the effect!" he muttered to himself, taking out several yellow-black hairs he had stored in another Crystal Vial.

He carefully added the hairs to the Polyjuice Potion. The Crystal Vial immediately began to hiss and bubble... Within seconds, its colour turned a rich earthy yellow.

Just a small sip should maintain the transformation for around ten minutes.

Jon closed his eyes and downed the potion in one gulp.

Though he had prepared himself mentally, it tasted almost as awful as he had imagined... Like drinking a cup of petrol, it was revolting.

His insides began churning violently, as if he had just swallowed several live snakes!

Jon bent over and stripped off his clothes as quickly as possible.

Then a burning sensation spread from his stomach throughout his entire body. He felt as though his body were melting, as though every inch of skin were bubbling like scalding wax...

Jon dropped to the floor and watched his hands grow larger, his fingers thicken, his nails broaden, and his shoulders begin to stretch...

A minute later, he stood up... He was a head taller than before, his arms and calves had thickened considerably, his hair had turned into a messy black mop, and several freckles had appeared on his smooth face...

He hurriedly put on the oversized Hogwarts robes he had prepared beforehand.

If anyone else had been there, they would have recognised him at once:

He had become Hufflepuff Prefect Gabriel Truman.

Gabriel's hair had been secretly plucked by Jon and the others while they were celebrating their Quidditch match victory... solely to test the effects of the Polyjuice Potion.

He had wanted to get a strand of a teacher's hair, but the only ordinary adult male wizards at Hogwarts were Dumbledore and Snape, and both were far too difficult to deal with... So he had settled for the hair of an older student instead.

Now transformed into Gabriel, Jon raised his Wand. A Dummy immediately appeared before him.

"Viper-రెస్ట్ (Reducto)!" Gabriel's deep, slightly magnetic voice rang out.

But the Wand merely flashed faintly blue, with no other reaction.

Gabriel was a sixth-year Hogwarts student and an excellent one at that. There was no way he could fail to master the Viper-రెస్ట్, a basic Defence Against the Dark Arts spell for the OWLs exam...

So, just as expected, using Polyjuice Potion did not affect one's magical power in any way. Transforming into a powerful wizard did not mean one could use powerful spells.

Thinking about it, that was only natural. If Polyjuice Potion could duplicate magical power, wouldn't the Order of the Phoenix's battle against the Death Eaters become a hundred Dumbledores against a hundred Voldemorts?

If that were the case, the Order of the Phoenix would have an overwhelming advantage!

With a wave of his hand, the Dummy disappeared, replaced by a huge stone slab.

Jon set his Wand aside, then bent down...

A delightful surprise, just as he had expected!

The stone slab, which weighed nearly 30 kilograms and had been almost impossible for him to move before transforming, was lifted with ease!