Chapter 13: The Treacherous Bench and The Soup Tureen Catastrophe part-2
Wet white cotton has a very specific property: transparency.
(...cough...)
"My eyes!" Seamus Finnigan shouted from three seats away, shielding his face from the splash zone.
Hermione gasped, wiping soup from her eyes. She looked down at herself. Her shirt was clinging to her skin like a second skin. Every curve, every strap of her undergarments and the distinct outline of her bra were visible in high definition, highlighted by the red hue of the soup.
"Oh my god," Harry whispered.
He was lying directly beneath her. He had a panoramic view of the disaster. The soup dripped from her nose onto his glasses.
"Get off! Get off!" Hermione screamed, realizing her state of undress-by-transparency.
She tried to scramble up, but the floor was slick with soup. Her foot slipped.
She fell forward again. Her hands slapped onto Harry's chest to brace herself, but her face... her face went directly into his neck. And in the chaos, her knees slid apart, causing her skirt to ride up significantly high on her thighs.
"System Alert," the voice chimed happily. "Incident recorded. Type: The 'Wet T-Shirt' catastrophe combined with the 'Soup Slide'. Sustained physical contact in a high-visibility zone. Witnesses: The entire school. Target: Hermione Granger. Rating: SS-class. Reward: Skill 'Liquids Manipulation (Minor)' and seventy-five attribute points."
The entire Great Hall had gone silent. Even the ghosts stopped floating.
"Mr. Potter! Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall's voice boomed from the High Table. She was marching down the aisle, her face a mask of shock.
I stood up quickly, grabbing a large napkin.
"Don't worry, I have got you!" I shouted heroically.
I threw the napkin over Hermione's head. It was woefully inadequate, covering only her hair and left shoulder.
"Harry, stop lying there and help her up!" I commanded, suppressing a laugh.
"I cannot move!" Harry squeaked. "It is slippery!"
"Weasley!" Draco Malfoy's voice drifted from the Slytherin table. "Did Granger forget how to sit on a chair? Or is this just Gryffindor's new floor-cleaning service?"
Laughter erupted from the Slytherin table.
Hermione finally managed to find traction. She stood up, her face burning so hot it probably evaporated some of the soup. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to cover her transparent shirt.
"I... I..." tears welled up in her eyes. "I am going to the dormitory."
She turned and fled the Great Hall, her soup-soaked shoes squelching loudly with every step.
"Hermione, wait!" Harry scrambled up, dripping red soup from his robes. He looked like the victim of a very messy crime scene. He looked at me, panic in his eyes. "Ron, I... I have to go check on her."
"Go on, mate," I said solemnly. "I will clean this up."
Harry ran after her.
I looked down at the broken bench.
"Reparo," I muttered, waving my wand lazily.
The bench leg snapped back into place. The tablecloth flew back onto the table. The spilled soup vanished (mostly).
I sat back down and picked up a chicken leg.
"Tough luck, that," Neville Longbottom said, shaking his head. "That bench has been wobbly since first year."
"Indeed," I agreed, taking a bite of chicken. "Dangerous place, Hogwarts. You never know when gravity will betray you."
(System,) I thought. (Show me the details of 'Liquids Manipulation'.)
"Skill: Liquids Manipulation (Minor)," the system responded. "Allows the user to control the viscosity, temperature and movement of up to five liters of liquid. Range: Ten meters."
I looked at the goblet of pumpkin juice in front of me. I concentrated. The liquid inside the goblet began to swirl in a counter-clockwise direction without me touching the cup.
(Interesting,) I thought. (Very interesting. This opens up a whole new category of potential incidents. Spilled potions. Misdirected showers. Exploding inkwells.)
I looked toward the doors where Harry and Hermione had vanished. The "Flash Your Wife System" was cruel, yes. But it was also turning me into the most versatile wizard of the age.
I finished my dinner with gusto. The dessert appeared—treacle tart. I ate two slices.
Later that night, I entered the Gryffindor common room. The fire was crackling in the hearth. Harry was sitting in an armchair, staring into the flames. He looked exhausted.
"How is she?" I asked, sitting opposite him.
"She is in her room," Harry said quietly. "She used about twenty Scouring Charms on herself. She is convinced she is cursed, Ron. She thinks someone has hexed her with a Bad Luck Jinx."
"Did you tell her it was just a broken bench?" I asked.
"I tried," Harry sighed. "But she says it is too much of a coincidence. The rug, the gnome, the Quidditch match, the cake, the curtain, the train and now the soup. She is making a chart, Ron. She is analyzing the data."
(Uh oh,) I thought. (Hermione Granger analyzing data is dangerous.)
"She thinks," Harry continued, lowering his voice, "that it might be Peeves. She wants to set a trap for him."
I let out a breath of relief. "Peeves. Right. That makes sense. We should definitely help her catch him."
"Yeah," Harry nodded. Then he looked at me, his eyes haunted. "Ron... when the soup hit her..."
"Yeah?"
"It was... everything was visible," Harry whispered. "I know she is your future wife and all that, but... I cannot get the image out of my head."
"Don't worry about it, Harry," I said, patting his shoulder. "We are all friends here. Besides, it is not like you touched her."
"I did," Harry admitted miserably. "When she fell... my hand... it slipped. I think I grabbed her... well, her lower back. But it was very low."
"Accidents happen," I said, fighting a grin.
"I am going to bed," Harry announced, standing up. "I hope tomorrow is better. We have Potions first thing with the Slytherins."
"Potions," I repeated. "With liquids. And cauldrons. And volatile ingredients."
"Goodnight, Ron," Harry said, trudging up the stairs.
"Goodnight, Harry."
I sat alone in the common room for a moment.
Potions class.
.....
You can read the advanced chapters of all my novels at patreon for only 2.99$/ month at ultimate patreon tier
https://www.patreon.com/c/Vidhifate
....