Harley! Put on a Dress!

After Professor Snape had walked away, Kyle leaned in toward the three of them again.

"Professor Snape's deeply beloved first love was murdered by an old man..."

Voldemort had been born in 1926.

When he killed Harry's mother—and Snape's first love, Lily—in 1981, he was already over fifty.

So there was nothing wrong with calling Voldemort an old man.

Hermione covered her mouth in shock.

"Snape used to be a lively, cheerful boy. Ever since that happened, he became like this." Kyle had made that up.

Even if Lily had not been murdered, Snape would still have looked like someone owed him a million gold Galleons.

Kyle stared at Harry and Ron.

"Because of that, Professor Snape particularly hates men. And on top of the relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin..."

Snape was the Head of House of Slytherin House.

Slytherin and Gryffindor had been bitter rivals ever since Hogwarts was founded a thousand years ago.

Kyle folded his arms. "If you don't want to die horribly in Potions, put on a dress."

Just then, a noisy flapping of wings came from overhead as more than a hundred owls suddenly swooped into the dining hall.

The owls flew around the tables until they found their respective owners, dropping letters or packages into their laps.

Harry's owl, Hedwig, fluttered down between the jam dish and sugar bowl and placed a note on Harry's plate.

Kyle also received an identical note delivered by Idataqi.

The handwriting on the note was wild and messy, but Kyle could barely make out what it said.

Hagrid was inviting them to have tea with him on Friday afternoon.

Kyle took out a quill, casually scribbled a reply on the back of the note, and let Idataqi carry it away.

Harry did much the same.

After replying to Hagrid, Kyle looked back at Harry and Ron.

"So? Will you consider my suggestion?"

Ron shook his head frantically. "Wearing women's clothes is impossible. I'll never wear women's clothes in this lifetime."

Well, what a pity.

If Ron dressed as a girl, Snape would be even more likely to beat him to death in the middle of Potions.

Kyle looked at Harry. "What about you, Harry?"

Harry recalled the look Professor Snape had given him during the welcome feast. He could tell that Professor Snape did not like him.

So unlike Ron, Harry did not refuse outright. He hesitated deeply.

Kyle's words rang in Harry's ears again like a devil's whisper.

"You don't want Professor Snape picking on you either, do you? Plenty of older students have been bullied to tears by Snape!"

Harry imagined himself being picked on by Snape until he cried in Potions, then being laughed at by Draco and the other two...

He violently shook his head, banishing the image from his mind, then looked at Kyle with resolve.

"What do I need to do?"

Kyle opened the Ninja Tool Pouch at his waist. Inside were the disguise tools he had once used to enter and leave the Three Broomsticks Bar.

"Finish eating first, then I'll do your makeup. Don't worry, there's enough time."

Potions was held in a Dungeon Classroom, colder than the castle's upper floors.

Glass jars lined the walls, and the animal specimens soaking inside them were enough to make anyone shudder.

Miss Harley sat restlessly beside the little beaver, feeling as though the students around him were all giving him strange looks.

In truth, Kyle's makeup skills were exceptional. No one had noticed that she was actually Harry.

Besides altering his face, Kyle had used Transfiguration to turn Harry's already fairly long hair into shoulder-length locks, then dyed it the same red as his mother's.

And eleven-year-old boys had only just entered puberty, so their Adam's apples were hardly noticeable.

On top of that, young wizards' robes did not make much distinction between boys' and girls' styles...

So apart from the few people who had witnessed Harry's transformation into Harley from start to finish, no one could possibly recognize this little red-haired girl as the famous Savior.

Harley's worries were only an illusion.

Beside her, Ron discreetly swallowed as he looked at the rosy-lipped, white-toothed little Harley.

If only Harry really were Harley.

The thought made Ron suddenly want to slap himself.

What the hell was he thinking?

The dungeon door slammed open, and a giant bat flapped its wings as it flew in.

"In my classroom, there will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations."

Without even glancing at the young wizards below the podium, Severus Snape strode toward it.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making."

Snape picked up the roll call as he spoke.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic..."

When his gaze reached the Gryffindor students, the roll call slipped from Snape's hand and slapped onto the floor.

Harley now looked exactly like Lily had as a child.

That was thanks to the memory scene Dumbledore had previously shown Kyle, allowing him to recreate her so perfectly.

Ron caught Snape's gaze and looked at Harley beside him in surprise.

Could what Kyle said be true?

Had turning Harry into Harley actually worked?

Snape quickly realized he had lost his composure and hurriedly picked up the roll call from the floor.

"I do not expect you..." Snape's gaze drifted toward Gryffindor before he hurriedly looked away.

"To truly understand the..."

Snape suddenly realized that he could not continue. He could not stop his eyes from darting toward Harley.

"...the softly simmering cauldron... with its shimmering fumes... and delicate aromas..."

He could not go on!

In exasperation, Snape threw the roll call onto the desk and began taking attendance.

When he reached Harley's name, Snape took a deep breath and read it aloud in a slightly trembling voice.

"Harley Potter!"

Harley gave a weak response.

Over at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy whipped his head around in shock. This was fucking Harry?

As he studied Harley's appearance, an imperceptible blush crept onto Draco's pale cheeks.

Awkwardly, he turned back around and stopped looking at Harley.

Crabbe and Goyle, however, found Harry becoming Harley so utterly absurd that they burst into unrestrained laughter.

Two Tongue-Tying Curses instantly struck them in the face.

Crabbe and Goyle turned around and saw Snape holding his wand, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.

"Potter!" Snape suddenly said. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

What root powder in what solution?

Harley looked at Ron. Ron was just as stunned as she was.

Hermione's arm shot high into the air.

"I... I don't know, sir," Harley said.

"Honesty. Ten points to Gryffindor." Snape's tone had never been so gentle.

Ron, Hermione: ???

Draco, Crabbe, Goyle: ???

All the other Gryffindor and Slytherin students: ???

Realizing he had misspoken, Snape angrily fixed every young wizard giving him a strange look with his death glare.

Potions continued. Although Snape treated Harley gently, the little lions' situation did not improve.

Snape split them into pairs and instructed them to brew a simple potion for curing boils.

The old bat dragged his long black cloak around the classroom, watching the young wizards weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs.

Almost every student was criticized, except for Miss Harley, who was really a boy dressed as a girl.

Just as Snape stood beside Harley, carefully guiding the flattered Harley through boiling horned slugs, a cloud of acidic green smoke suddenly rose in the Dungeon Classroom, accompanied by a loud hissing sound.

Somehow, Neville had melted Seamus's cauldron into a crooked lump.

The potion spilled across the stone floor, burning holes through the students' shoes.

Within seconds, the entire class was standing on their stools.

When the cauldron tipped over, Neville was drenched in the potion.

His arms and legs were suddenly covered in swollen red boils, and he screamed in pain.

"Idiot!" Snape roared, waving his wand to clear away every drop of potion spilled on the floor.

"I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire, didn't you?"

Neville began to sob, and a whole cluster of boils suddenly appeared even across his nose.

"Take him to the hospital wing upstairs," Snape snapped at Seamus.

Then Snape turned to Harley, his voice gentle. "Harley, you weren't hurt, were you?"

Another book recommendation!

Honestly, I really like Kung Fu Panda.