Time to Test Our Acting Skills

After Aaron left, Harry glanced at Draco, who was still eating, and then gave Hermione a wink, "It's time to move out."

Hermione nodded and went to the laundry room without hesitation.

"So what should we do next?" Ron asked in a low voice. "Crabbe and Goyle are gluttons, it's easy to fool them, but Malfoy isn't stupid."

"So we need to have a plan."

"What plan? That's Malfoy!"

"He hates the two of us the most. If we brought him the cake, he'd probably throw it in our faces." Ron said, somewhat speechless, "How about we try a duel with him again? How about an eating contest?"

"No, he won't accept that challenge."

Furthermore, we need to find a way to get them to stay in the Great Hall as long as possible; the fewer people there are, the easier it will be for us to move around.

Ron was about to say something when he noticed Malfoy had stood up, seemingly intending to leave.

"Oh dear! I think we need to hurry."

Harry also noticed Malfoy's movements. "We can't let him leave. We have to keep him calm no matter what."

"But there's no plan yet!"

"Let's just play it by ear!" Harry placed the three chocolate cakes on a tray and went to the Slytherin Long Table.

Ron sighed and followed.

"Malfoy, wait a moment, we have something we'd like to discuss with you."

"Potter, and Weasley too." Draco frowned slightly, somewhat surprised, and sneered, "How strange! Isn't Granger with you?"

"This is a private matter and has nothing to do with Hermione," Ron said.

"Oh, but I don't think I have anything to say to you." Draco smiled meaningfully. "Crabbe, Goyle, we're leaving."

"It's Quidditch," Harry hurriedly said, as it was the most suitable topic he could think of.

Draco Time Stop that you mention it, I'm actually quite interested."

"Actually, I came here specifically to apologize." Harry forced a smile, even though he was seething with hatred inside, he still tried his best to make his expression look kind.

"You actually apologized?" Draco looked at Harry in surprise, somewhat disbelieving, but inexplicably feeling a sense of satisfaction.

"Is that unexpected?" Harry sat down and said seriously, "I was impulsive in the Quidditch match, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten your arm injured."

Draco thought about the situation at the time and couldn't help but tease him, "I remember you looked like you were injured, Lockhart probably ripped your bones off!"

And in the end, we were the ones who won; Slytherin defeated Gryffindor.

"These are two different things. At the time, I wanted to drag you down with me and share the pressure."

"No need to explain, Potter, anyone can see it."

However, since you seem to have a good intention, I'll reluctantly accept it.

Harry suppressed his frustration and gritted his teeth as he said, "Thank you."

"Please make way now, we need to go back to the Common Room."

Harry immediately gave Ron a wink, signaling that it was Ron's turn.

Although Ron was reluctant, he didn't want anything to go wrong in his part.

Moreover, Harry had shown him that as long as you have thick skin and a big heart, it's not impossible to stall for time.

"Wait a mininute."

"What is it now?" Draco asked impatiently. "Don't tell me you're here to apologize too?"

"Indeed, it is." Ron pursed his lips. "But not to you, it's to Goyle."

Goyle spat out the half-eaten cake, pointed incredulously at himself, and said, "Me? You're apologizing to me?"

Ron nodded. "Yes."

"But why?"

"The Dueling Club," Ron said somewhat embarrassedly. "I don't know what came over me, but I didn't follow the Warlock duel rules and beat you up with my bare hands."

"That was a sneak attack, and it seems like I had the upper hand," Goyle retorted, unconvinced. "If someone hadn't pulled me away in time, I would have beaten you so badly that even your own mother wouldn't recognize you."

Upon hearing this, Ron's breathing suddenly became rapid, and his fists clenched involuntarily, as if he wanted to punch Goyle's fat face.

At this moment Harry coughed and gave him a warning look, conveying two meanings: the overall situation is important, figuring out the Secret Chamber is crucial; they outnumber us, and we are likely to suffer losses if we fight.

"Perhaps!" Ron swallowed his anger. "But in any case, I was wrong back then, so I came to you tonight to apologize and hope you can forgive me."

Goyle paused for a moment, then turned to look at Draco.

He would have accepted it if it were anyone else, but this was Weasley, the family his eldest brother Malfoy despised the most.

Draco hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Consider it a fun and unexpected Christmas present!"

"Since Malfoy has spoken, I will reluctantly forgive you."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, and feeling the time was right, they pushed the tray containing three acrylic cakes toward Draco.

"As a token of our apologies, we've also prepared one for Crabbe."

Without thinking much, the three of them each picked up one and stuffed it into their mouths.

"I must say, it actually tastes pretty good."

Draco nodded as he chewed, a smug smile on his face.

Potter and Weasley actually backed down on the same day, instantly satisfying their vanity like never before.

But he soon stopped laughing, because he felt sleepy like never before, and slumped onto the table, as did Crabbe and Goyle.

"Merry Christmas," Ron said casually.

"Don't waste time, let's get started!"

Harry helped Crabbe up, Ron pulled Goyle, and they took them to the broomstick room, followed by Malfoy.

They weren't very polite to the three of them, roughly stuffing the food into the cabinet and that was it. But before that, they took off the three of their shoes.

Harry and Ron, carrying three pairs of shoes, rushed to the weeping Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom.

"Hermione, we're here."

"Have you taken the sushi yet?" Hermione came out of a private room, carrying two large sets of uniforms.

"All three pairs of shoes are here," Ron said breathlessly, then looked at Hermione's Warlock robes with some surprise. "Don't tell me these are Malfoy's?"

"I don't want to pretend to be a fat person."

"No, you misunderstood me. I think Harry should ask."

"His questions are easy to expose, so we need to ask indirect questions rather than interrogate him directly."

"That makes sense." Harry nodded. "It doesn't matter who you pretend to be, the important thing is to get the truth out of the door."

"Okay, I have no objection."

Harry and Ron changed into Goyle and Crabbe's clothes and shoes respectively, and Hermione changed into Malfoy's shoes.

With everything ready, the three of them simultaneously turned their attention to the three glasses.

"I bet they'll taste awful," Ron said with a look of disgust.

"You still have to drink it." Harry handed Polyjuice Potion to the two of them, keeping the portion that could turn him into Goyle for himself.

None of the three wanted to taste the Polyjuice Potion, so after clinking glasses, they pinched their noses and drank it down in one gulp.

"I'm about to throw up." Ron dropped the cup in his hand and quickly ran to a private room, locking himself inside.

Hermione felt the same way, and with a grim expression, she threw down the cup and ran to another private room.

Harry had a slightly higher tolerance, but he was still so disgusted that he could barely stand.

The effects of the medicine were quickly apparent. His entire body made Gollum sounds, and countless bumps rose and fell inside him, like a pot of thick soup being simmered.

Harry was breathing heavily, feeling uncomfortable. He noticed that his hands were getting thicker and his nails were getting wider.

His shoulders, skull, even his hair and eyebrows were changing. A moment later, Harry looked in the mirror in disbelief. His face had completely changed to resemble Goyle's, though his vision was a little blurry.

Harry then realized that Goyle didn't wear glasses, so he placed his glasses on the sink, and the world became clear.

"Are you all alright?" Harry asked, but it was Goyle's voice that came out.

"It's nothing." Ron came out of the private room, walked to the mirror and touched his face. "It's amazing, Jane and Crabbe look exactly alike."

"Even the voice is the same." Hermione, with Draco's face on her back, slowly walked up to the two of them. "I really didn't expect that I would fail on my first attempt at preparing Polyjuice Potion."

But this look still feels a bit strange; I'm not used to it.

"Let's hurry!" Harry said. "We only have one hour, so we need to try to make it look as convincing as possible."

"Draco Malfoy walked in front, with a hint of arrogance on his face," Ron said. "Crabbe and Goyle followed behind him like bodyguards."

"It's time for you two to put your acting skills to the test."

"I don't need you to remind me." Hermione shrugged and was the first to leave the bathroom.

The three of them quickly descended the stone steps and walked deeper and deeper into the dark passageway.

Harry kept glancing at his watch, and after almost ten minutes, he asked with some concern, "We haven't gone to the wrong place, have we?"

"No, the Slytherin Common Room is a bit hard to find, but I did look into it beforehand."

"We'll be there soon." Hermione said, stopping in front of a damp stone wall.

"Um..." Ron pursed his lips, "If this is a door, how do we open it?"

Is the Alohomora?

"The unlocking charm won't work; we need to use a mouth." Harry said helplessly. "Looks like we'll have to wait for a real Slytherin to come and take us in."

Hopefully we'll be lucky, otherwise things will get bad once the effects of the medicine wear off.