Polyjuice Potion and the Infiltration Plan (5)

Ron's eyes rolled back. With the last of his willpower, he craned his neck, his throat convulsing violently several times before he finally forced down that deadly mouthful of swill. He collapsed into the armchair, gasping for breath, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.

Then the potion's effects hit like a tidal wave! Harry felt as though his bones were being pulled apart and reshaped by enormous pincers! Beneath his skin, countless scorching maggots seemed to be writhing and burrowing madly! Intense pain and unbearable numbness and itching swept through his entire body in an instant!

He curled up in agony, a suppressed groan escaping his throat. Everything before his eyes began to spin and warp. The outline of Crabbe's huge, clumsy body seemed to be swelling out from within his own, crowding out his original bones and muscles. His vision blurred, and everything around him became a chaotic mess of colors and light.

He heard Ron let out a muffled grunt beside him, followed by a louder crash—Ron had lost his footing and slammed his knee into the stone floor.

Hermione was panting too, but her reaction was far more controlled than either of theirs.

Who knew how long passed? It felt as long as a century before that heart-rending pain finally receded like the tide. Harry gasped for breath and struggled to push himself up from the floor—he had rolled onto it from the pain just now.

He looked down. What he saw was no longer his familiar hand, but a thick, powerful one, with blackened knuckles and gray-black grime packed beneath the nails—a hand belonging to Vincent Crabbe. His robes had become tight, his belly bulged far forward, and his whole body looked like an inflated balloon.

He raised his head and looked to the side—Ron had