Hermione had been acting mysterious these past few days, and Su Er was always nowhere to be seen.
This left Harry and Ron wondering whether the two of them were doing something together.
There had been no news about the Polyjuice Potion either. With Christmas fast approaching, Harry and Ron were getting anxious.
But no matter how they questioned Hermione or Su Er, the answer was always a smile, or a vague, "Soon, soon..."
At that moment, Hermione and Su Er were in the Room of Requirement on the Seventh Floor.
Small bubbles rose with a gentle gurgle from the potion in the cauldron. Hermione was stirring it gently with a glass rod, the rising steam making her little face look rosy.
"Now's the time," Hermione said loudly and happily. "According to the steps in the book, we should put the snakeskin in now."
Su Er deftly picked up the snakeskin with tweezers and placed it in the bubbling cauldron.
"Three and a half turns to the left, then two to the right," Hermione muttered, methodically stirring the glass rod in strict accordance with the book's instructions.
"Then wait a few minutes for the snakeskin to react fully with the potion, and add the powdered bicorn horn when it turns pale yellow."
After the final ingredient went in, the potion, which had looked fairly nice before, turned into a cauldron of pitch-black, bubbling liquid, with wisps of black smoke hovering over it.
"Oh, that color really doesn't make you want to drink it," Hermione couldn't help commenting.
Although they had already read the description of the finished Polyjuice Potion in the book, the actual result still left something to be desired.
Calling it a potion brewed by an old witch in a fairy tale would fit perfectly.
"Now we just