While no one was paying attention, Ted quietly pulled out the reward cards from the festival mission.
Just one look—and he nearly screamed!
"I completed that entire quest looking like a complete buffoon, and this is what I get?!"
Originally, Ted assumed that the [Shaking Tiger (Green)] card was a summoning card—maybe a spirit beast, or at the very least, a magical mount.
He was dead wrong.
--------------------
[Shaking Tiger (Green)]
Prop Card
Creates a magic toy rocker upon activation.
Duration: 30 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour.
--------------------
The illustration showed what seemed to be a ghostly tiger—but in reality, it was nothing more than a spring-mounted ride-on toy.
Without another thought, Ted activated the card near the front of the Great Hall.
As he raised his wand, a sturdy base locked onto the floor. With a soft clang, a toy tiger mounted on a coiled spring popped into view.
"Ted, what is that?" Hermione asked, eyeing it with cautious curiosity.
"Uh... it's a special Christmas toy I made. Want to give it a go?"
'I want to cry,' Ted thought, 'but I must stay strong.'
"Come on, I'll help you up—it's perfectly safe!"
Before Hermione could say no, Ted had already lifted her onto the rocking tiger.
The moment her bottom touched the saddle, the toy tiger lit up, eyes glowing bright as it began to sway back and forth like a wild mount.
And then—
"What's your daddy's daddy called? Daddy's daddy is Grandpa~"
Hermione froze.
"What?!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief as the toy tiger continued its ridiculous chant.
More students noticed the commotion. Within seconds, a crowd of twenty or thirty formed around them.
The tiger kept singing. "What's your daddy's mummy called? Daddy's mummy is Grandma What's your dad's brother's name? Who's your daddy? I'm your daddy"
Hermione's face turned bright red.
"Ted!! Get me off! This isn't a ride to wizarding preschool!"
As Hermione scrambled off in a fluster, Jerry shouted,
"My turn! My turn!"
Ted gave Hermione a sheepish look.
'See? They're loving it. There's a queue now!'
Young witches and wizards, many of whom had grown up in strict wizarding homes with few magical toys, were absolutely delighted.
One by one, they took their turns, giggling and bouncing on the ridiculous mount.
The last child barely got seated before the magic wore off.
The tiger gave one last bounce and disappeared, leaving a dozen disappointed faces in its wake.
"Can you make another one soon, Ted?!" they begged.
Ted could only sigh and agree to bring it back another time.
Later that afternoon, a spectacular Christmas feast took place in the Great Hall.
House-elves had outdone themselves with magical dishes, including the new showstopper: the "Hogwarts Eighteen-Arhat Turkey Platter."
...
After lunch, the group gathered in their "secret base"—a room tucked away behind a shifting tapestry.
Hermione gave her Polyjuice Potion one last stir while Harley finalized the infiltration plan.
After tea, it was time.
Operation Busting Malfoy had begun...
Harley and Jerry used enchanted cupcakes to knock out Crabbe and Goyle, yanking a few hairs before dragging them to the bathroom.
Neville and Jerry downed the Polyjuice Potion.
Instantly, they began morphing—bones cracking, skin stretching.
Neville stared into the mirror, aghast. "Is that my voice? It sounds awful."
Jerry grimaced. "We look like potatoes with limbs."
"Focus!" Ted snapped. "The potion doesn't last forever. Get moving!"
Wearing oversized Slytherin robes, the two stumbled out.
Neville walked like his knees had stopped functioning.
Ted watched them leave, suppressing the urge to hum something heroic.
'Be brave, my friends... There are no rainbows in Slytherin.'
He turned to Hermione. "You're next. You ready? Come out."
But Hermione was still hiding in the cubicle. She had said earlier she was feeling off and insisted the others go ahead.
Harley frowned. "Hermione? Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah! I'm fine!"
"Hermione," Ted said gently, "whatever happened, we're with you. You don't have to be alone."
Silence.
Then a meek voice replied, "Promise me—you must not laugh."
"I swear," Ted said solemnly.
"Me too," Harley added.
Ron blinked. "Right. Swearing now."
The cubicle door creaked open... and a fuzzy cat head peeked out.
Hermione had sprouted whiskers, tufted ears, and full feline features.
Apparently, the hair she'd used wasn't human—it was from a cat she bumped into at the Dueling Club.
Using Polyjuice Potion with animal hair?
A disaster.
She looked part-girl, part-cat. And very, very embarrassed.
Ron puffed his cheeks, trying not to laugh.
His face turned purple from the effort.
Harley bit her lip and pinched her thigh to stay serious.
Only Ted managed to keep a straight face.
"Hermione, it's going to be okay," he said, walking over to hug her gently. "Madam Pomfrey can fix this. Don't worry."
He patted her head.
'So soft,' he thought absently.
'Does she have a tail...? I wanna touch her... wait, phrasing...'
...
The three of them—Ted, Harley, and Ron—were trying to figure out how to sneak Hermione to the school hospital without raising suspicion.
But over in the Slytherin situation, Neville and Jerry weren't having an easy time either.
Just getting into the Slytherin common room took forever.
They loitered around the dungeons, pretending to look lost until, by dumb luck, they overheard another Slytherin mumbling the password near the entrance.
The Slytherin common room was buried deep under the castle, past damp stone corridors and torch-lit archways.
When they finally reached it, they stood before a stone wall carved with a massive serpent relief.
Neville hesitated, then spoke the password.
The stone snake came to life, slithering forward and revealing a hidden door behind it.
Once inside, they were momentarily stunned.
Silver and green banners draped from the dark stone walls, and portraits of stern-looking pure-blood wizards stared down at them from above.
The eerie green light filtering through the lake windows gave everything an underwater hue.
They didn't have a clue where to find Malfoy.
So they just stood there awkwardly.
But oddly enough, that helped.
Goyle and Crabbe—who they were impersonating—were often caught standing around aimlessly anyway.
After about three painfully long minutes, Malfoy strolled in, wearing his usual smug grin and a ridiculous scarf that screamed "my father works at the Ministry."
"Oi! How many times do I have to tell you two not to stand there like trolls? You're embarrassing!" Malfoy scoffed, puffing out his chest like a pompous peacock.
Neville and Jerry exchanged glances, then quickly shuffled after him.
As they walked through the common room, Malfoy wouldn't shut up. He was bragging about all the presents he got—an enchanted quill set, a broom polishing kit, even a silver Snitch-shaped locket.
Jerry had to bite his tongue to stop himself from hexing him.
They finally reached the boys' dormitory.
Malfoy flopped onto a velvet sofa, grabbed a book, and started thumbing through it like he was too important for everything else.
Jerry shot Neville a look and tried to nudge him. Neville stammered, "Oh, M-Malfoy—"
Jerry stepped on his foot. Hard.
He jumped in, "Draco, we're still a bit freaked out. I mean… you really don't know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"
Malfoy didn't even notice the strange way Neville had addressed him. He just grumbled and tossed the book aside.
He leaned in, lowering his voice. "For Merlin's sake, how many times do I have to say it? I'm not the Heir. I don't know who is. If the Chamber's been opened again and someone dies—like fifty years ago—we're all in danger. Don't be idiots. The monster doesn't care if you're pure-blood."
Jerry blinked. That actually sounded… sincere?
Neville asked, confused, "But… we're pure-blood. Doesn't that matter?"
Malfoy scoffed. "Oh really? Think the monster's gonna stop and ask for your family tree before killing you?"
That shut them both up.
Jerry kept pressing, trying to gauge Malfoy's intentions, throwing in some sly comments about recent Muggle-born students and whether Malfoy had his eyes on any of them.
But as he talked, Neville noticed something horrifying—Jerry's ear was changing. Shifting.
The Polyjuice Potion was wearing off!
Neville jolted. "Oh no, I forgot something—come on!"
He grabbed Jerry by the robe and dragged him out, leaving a very confused Malfoy staring after them.
They bolted out of the common room, which thankfully didn't require a password to exit.
Back in the dungeon corridors, Jerry's transformation sped up—his robes were slipping, his shoes half-off, and he was nearly tripping over himself.
The change was happening mid-run. If anyone had seen them, they'd have thought it was an Animagus gone wrong.
By the time they stumbled back into the abandoned classroom, Ansu was waiting.
"Where's Hermione?" Neville panted.
"Already sent to the hospital wing," Ansu said grimly.
They quickly changed out of the ill-fitting robes and sprinted to the hospital wing.
Spending Christmas in the hospital wing… not ideal.
Hermione's bed was hidden behind drawn curtains.
She didn't want anyone seeing her like this. Her feline transformation—complete with twitching whiskers and twitchy ears—was just too much.
Even though Ted kept saying how soft her head felt, Hermione wasn't having it.
Neville and Jerry filled the others in on everything Malfoy had said.
Oddly enough, Malfoy seemed genuinely nervous.
Maybe he didn't know as much as they thought.
All they'd confirmed was that the Chamber had been opened fifty years ago, someone had died, and Malfoy wasn't behind it this time.
Still, Hermione ended up in the hospital. Harley had tricked Malfoy, but it came at a cost—a very fuzzy one.
That evening, instead of joining the rest of the school for the grand Christmas feast, Ted, Harley, Ron, Neville, and Jerry brought heaps of food up to the hospital wing.
They gathered around Hermione's bed behind the curtains, sharing roast chicken, pumpkin tarts, and bottles of Butterbeer.
_______________________________
Word count: 1630
New translation out! "Mangaka in Marvel". If anyone's interested in Marvel fanfics with a lottery/gatcha system, then this is your cup of tea.
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