Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Hermione got the potion book the next morning and Evan ordered the herbs that afternoon.

That night, they gathered in the girl’s bathroom on the third floor. There was no moaning and it was very peaceful. Moaning Myrtle was no longer present in the bathroom anymore, Evan looked around and saw a tiny snake on the side of a copper faucet.

“That faucet is broken.”

Hermione turned the thick potion book to the page of the Polyjuice potion and checked the formula for the herbs she had just acquired.

“It’s the most complicated potion I’ve ever seen.” muttered Hermione, pointing to the ingredient list with her fingers, “Fluxweed, Knotgrass, Lacewing flies stewed for twenty-one days, Leeches, Horn of Bicorn, Lacewing fly boomslang skin and a piece of a person’s hair you want to turn into.”

“God, Evan, how much did you spend on these things, they aren’t cheap!”

“300 Galleons, this is all the money the newspaper recently made.” Shrugged Evan, “I was going to use the money to buy a Christmas present for everyone but there are more important things”

“You’re saying all these herbs are worth 300 Galleons?” said Ron while being a little distressed over the price.

“Yes,” Evan was also a little distressed.

“Well, we have everything we need for the potion except something from the person we want to turn into.”

“What do you mean, something from the person? I will not drink it if it has Crabbe’s toenails in it!”

Hermione seemed to not hear him.

Ron turned to Harry, speechless, and Harry’s face was the same as his.

“The question now is, how long will it take to concoct the potion?” asked Evan.

“Well, you need to boil the Lacewing flies for 21 days.”

“21 days! Malfoy will take out half of the muggle-born students by then,” said Ron.

“Then do you have a better idea?” Hermione snapped the book and glared at Ron.

“What about the house elf that has been causing Harry trouble. What if we make Malfoy a horrible meal when he is at home for the holidays, that makes him stay at home for the entire term.” Ron’s voice was getting smaller and smaller as Hermione looked at Ron angrily.

“We aren’t sure if it’s Malfoy.” said Evan as he shook his head, “Besides the herbs have already been bought, so there is no turning back.”

“You’re right Evan!”

Ron seeing Hermione about to argue with him, hastily agreed, “It is bad to waste Galleons, but please don’t use toenails, okay.”

The people discussed the plan once more, and after confirming that there were no omissions, they started preparing the materials according to the recipe.

Time gradually passed by; the atmosphere of the school was still a little grim.

Evan stopped by Lockhart’s class during one of his classes.

He had been asked by Lockhart to act as a creature he wrote in one of his books, it was a new teaching activity recently created by Lockhart.

“Evan, your performance was marvellous”

“I’m happy to be of help, Professor.”

“What else do you have for me to do? My next class is Professor McGonagall’s transfiguration, I shouldn’t be late,” said Evan

“Is that so.” said Lockhart while showing off his iconic smile, “I’m hoping to start a duelling club in the wake of the current events at the school.”

“Duelling club?”

“Yes, you know I have more experience with dealing with magical creatures than the other professors.” said Lockhart, “I’m not bragging but I don’t mind imparting some of this experience on you to help you improve your fighting power.”

“Excellent idea, what do you need me to do?”

“I’ll put the message on the bulletin board, and you can advertise in the paper, that’s about it,” said Lockhart.

Lockhart wanted to put it on the front page, but he didn’t want his name published, he said it was to keep it mysterious and give everyone a big surprise. Thinking about it made Evan have a wry smile.

“What can Lockhart teach us, how to get rid of bones?” thought Evan

But he readily consented to the other party’s request, after thinking that there wasn’t anything worth promoting. Perhaps it would be a chance to redeem the newspaper’s ever-lowering sales with the duelling clubs influence.

‘The school will start a duelling club’ read the article.

In the latest issue of the newspaper, Evan paced a big question mark, following that was a list of possible teachers for the Duelling club, their strengths and past achievements. After a lot of publicity, this issue of the Hogwarts’ Magic newspaper sold like it did before the second attack.

Under the wording of Evan’s article, most people thought that the teacher would be Dumbledore.

It was shocking because Professor Dumbledore hadn’t used magic in public for many years, he used it slightly before Voldemort’s downfall.

Needless to say, it excited many young wizards, many adult wizards who ordered the paper wanted to come to school to have the opportunity to learn from the greatest wizard of the modern ages. It was exciting just thinking about it.

The editor of the Daily Prophet wrote him shortly after he heard the news of the duelling club. He wanted to send someone to interview the duelling club.

However, it was rejected which made students even more curious, most people thought it would be Dumbledore.

Because of Evan’s propaganda, the duelling club which was originally supposed to be in a small area of the dungeon had to be moved to the great hall because of the number of students.

At eight o’clock in the evening on Wednesday, the students returned to the great hall after they rested in the common room after dinner. The long tables vanished and were replaced by a magnificent stage illuminated by hundreds of candles floating above.

Soon the ceiling once again became as dark as a moonless night.

Evan who knew the truth was dragged by Colin and Ginny from the library to the Great Hall. In their words, I hope Evan will guide them on defensive spells so that all the freshmen will know that Evan’s spells are the best of his peers.

Everyone was squeezed together, each holding this wand while being excited.

“When is the headmaster coming, what do you think he will teach us?”

“Don’t be silly Ron!”

Because of how loud the crowd was, Hermione had to raise her voice and shout, “It can’t be, Professor Dumbledore hasn’t taught in years. Besides if it was him there was no need to be mysterious, he is just a gimmick.”

“Not Dumbledore.”

“Wasn’t Flitwick a duelling champion when he was young, maybe he will be the one to teach us,” said Hermione while being unsure.

“Evan must know, he wrote the article.”

Harry and Ron hurriedly went to Evan, who was near Colin and Ginny, Nevil also joined in with a look of anticipation.

“Don’t look at me like that, I thought when you saw the article you could figure out who it was!”

“Wait a minute, you don’t mean…….”

Before Harry’s words finished, they turned into a groan as he saw Lockhart go onto the stage wearing a radiant purple robe.

“Yes, it’s him!” said Evan, “And he seems to have brought a special guest with him.”

The lively atmosphere of the great hall suddenly became a bit grim when they saw who was beside Lockhart.

It was Snape who was dressed in his usual black clothes.