Chapter 9: The Curtain Call at Madam Malkin's part-2
Crucially, there was a heavy velvet curtain on a rail that ran between the two changing areas. It was currently pulled back, bunched up against the wall.
(Step one: The distraction,) I planned.
I focused my will on the row of mannequins near the front window. With a subtle flick of my fingers inside my pocket, I cast a low-powered Confundus Charm mixed with a Locomotor spell on the mannequin wearing the wedding dress.
The mannequin suddenly jerked to life. It began to wobble.
"Oh my!" a customer gasped.
Madam Malkin looked up from Hermione's hem. "What in the world?"
The mannequin fell forward, crashing into a rack of self-ironing shirts. The noise was loud—a clatter of metal and magic.
"Stay there, dear, do not move!" Madam Malkin told Hermione. "I will be right back."
She rushed over to the fallen mannequin. The assistant attending Harry also ran over to help.
Now, it was just Harry and Hermione, standing on their stools in the middle of the shop.
"Weird," Harry said, looking at the commotion.
"I just want to get out of here," Hermione whispered, standing stiffly in the pinned-up robe.
(Step two: The Reveal,) I thought. (Time to test the precision of my new magical control.)
I narrowed my eyes at the pins holding Hermione's robe together. There were three main pins securing the front closure.
I focused. I didn't need words. I just needed intent.
Click. Click. Click.
The pins unfastened.
Simultaneously, I turned my attention to the heavy curtain rail above them. Specifically, the bracket holding the rail to the ceiling directly between Harry and Hermione.
Severing Charm.
The bracket snapped with a sharp metallic ping.
The heavy velvet curtain rail detached from the ceiling on one side. It swung down like a pendulum.
"What the—?" Harry looked up.
The rail swung down and hit the side of Hermione's pedestal. The impact was jarring. The pedestal wobbled violently.
"Ah!" Hermione cried out, losing her balance.
She flailed her arms to steady herself. The movement was too much for the unpinned robe. The heavy black fabric, no longer secured, slid off her shoulders.
Because she was wearing so many layers underneath, this normally wouldn't be an issue. She would just be standing there in her denim jacket.
But I had anticipated this.
I had cast a Banishing Charm on the concept of friction regarding her denim jacket buttons earlier when I patted her on the shoulder.
As she flailed, the robe fell. She tried to grab the curtain rail to steady herself. She caught the velvet curtain. Her weight pulled the curtain down, entangling her.
She spun around, fighting the fabric. The curtain wrapped around her legs. She tripped.
She fell off the pedestal.
But she didn't hit the floor. She fell directly toward Harry's pedestal.
Harry, seeing her fall, instinctively reached out to catch her.
"I got you!" Harry yelled.
He caught her. But the momentum was significant. He was knocked off his own balance. They both tumbled off Harry's pedestal and landed in a heap on the floor of the shop.
The impact was softened by a pile of discarded robes, but the mechanics of the fall were... complex.
Hermione had fallen forward. Harry had fallen backward.
When the dust settled, Harry was lying on his back. Hermione was straddling his waist, her hands pressed against his chest.
The heavy velvet curtain had fallen on top of them, creating a sort of tent.
But here was the masterpiece: During the fall and the friction of the curtain and the failed structural integrity of her buttons... Hermione's denim jacket had popped open. Her turtleneck had snagged on Harry's glasses during the descent and been pulled down.
From the outside, all anyone could see was a large pile of velvet curtains moving suspiciously on the floor.
But inside the curtain...
(...cough...)
"System Alert," the voice chimed instantly. "Incident recorded. Type: The 'Changing Room Catastrophe'. Confined space intimacy with Target Harry Potter. Rating: S-class. Reward: Skill 'Telekinesis (Intermediate)' and fifty attribute points."
Inside the curtain tent, I could hear the panicked whispers.
"Harry! Move your knee!"
"I cannot! The curtain is wrapped around my leg! And... Hermione, your shirt!"
"Don't look! Do not look at me!"
"I am trying not to! But you are literally on top of me!"
"Get this thing off us!"
The entire shop had gone silent. Madam Malkin, the assistant and five other customers were staring at the writhing pile of curtains on the floor.
"Oh dear," Madam Malkin gasped. "Are they... are they fighting?"
I stepped forward, putting on my best 'concerned friend' face.
"Harry? Hermione?" I called out, approaching the curtain. "Are you two alive in there?"
"Ron! Help!" Harry's voice was muffled and desperate. "We are stuck!"
I grabbed the edge of the heavy velvet curtain.
(Decision time,) I thought. (Do I lift it slowly to give the shop a show? No, that might be too much for Hermione's sanity. Let us play the hero.)
"Hold on!" I shouted.
I didn't lift the curtain. Instead, I reached in blindly—or so it appeared. In reality, I used my new Telekinesis to locate Hermione's jacket and pull it closed over her chest before anyone else could see.
"I am pulling you out!" I yelled.
I grabbed Hermione's arm and hauled her out from under the heavy fabric. She emerged looking disheveled, her hair a bird's nest, clutching her jacket closed with a death grip. Her face was a vibrant shade of scarlet that clashed horribly with her hair.
Harry crawled out a second later, looking like he had just wrestled a giant squid. His glasses were crooked and he had a suspicious amount of lint in his hair.
"We fell," Harry panted, standing up and brushing himself off aggressively. "The rail... it just snapped."
"Terrible workmanship," I shook my head, looking up at the broken bracket. "You really should get that checked, Madam Malkin. It could have been dangerous."
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