Chapter 15: The Shrinking Solution and the Slippery Dungeon part-2
The potion had splashed onto the stone floor.
(Liquids Manipulation: Reduce viscosity to zero.)
I altered the properties of the puddle on the floor. It became slipperier than ice, slipperier than oil. It became a friction-less surface.
As Harry rushed forward to drape his cloak over the exposed and shrinking Hermione, his foot hit the puddle.
"Whoa!"
Harry's legs flew out from under him with cartoonish speed. He didn't just fall; he became a projectile.
He slid forward across the slick floor, directly at Hermione.
Hermione, seeing him coming, tried to jump out of the way. But her shoes were also coated in the zero-friction liquid.
She slipped.
She fell backward. Harry slid forward.
History has a funny way of repeating itself, but with variations. Harry slid underneath her just as she fell.
He landed on his back. She landed on top of him.
But because her clothes were shrinking and tightening, her movement was restricted. She couldn't catch herself with her arms. She landed squarely on Harry's chest.
And then, the final catastrophe.
Her skirt, unable to withstand the sudden stretch of her legs spreading as she fell, ripped entirely down the back seam.
She was now lying on top of Harry Potter in the middle of the dungeon, wearing the tattered remnants of a child-sized shirt and a skirt that was no longer a skirt.
Harry, lying on his back, found his face pressed directly into the soft, shrinking cotton of her camisole. His hands, which he had raised to catch her, were gripping her bare thighs because there was no fabric left to grab.
(...cough...)
"Get off! Get off!" Hermione screamed, her voice bordering on hysteria.
"I am trying!" Harry yelled, his voice muffled by her anatomy. "I cannot get a grip! It is too slippery!"
Snape stood over them, his face a mask of pure revulsion and delight at Gryffindor's misfortune.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor," Snape said softly, his voice echoing in the silent dungeon. "For public indecency and the abysmal brewing of a simple potion."
"It wasn't my fault!" Hermione cried, rolling off Harry and curling into a ball on the wet floor, trying to cover herself with the rags of her uniform. "The potion... it just exploded!"
"Clearly," Snape sneered. "Potter, cover her up and take her to the hospital wing. Before she shrinks out of existence."
Harry scrambled up, slipping twice more before managing to regain his footing. He ripped his cloak off and threw it over Hermione. He was bright red, sweating and looked like he had just run a marathon.
"Come on, Hermione," Harry whispered, helping her up. She was shaking like a leaf.
As she stood, clutching Harry's cloak around her, she looked at me. Her eyes were wild.
"Ron," she whimpered. "Why? Why is the universe doing this to me?"
"I don't know, Hermione," I said, putting on a look of profound sympathy. "Maybe you walked under a ladder? Or broke a mirror?"
"I am going to find out," she vowed, her voice cracking. "I am going to the library."
"Maybe get changed first?" I suggested helpfully.
She let out a sob and ran out of the dungeon, Harry trailing behind her like a loyal, traumatized guard dog.
"System Alert," the voice soothed my mind. "Incident recorded. Type: The 'Incredible Shrinking Clothes' combined with 'Zero Friction Floor'. Outcome: Total wardrobe failure and intimate contact. Target: Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. Rating: S-class. Reward: Skill 'Sound Manipulation (Basic)' and fifty attribute points."
I sat back on my stool, feeling a warm glow of accomplishment.
"Weasley," Snape snapped, turning his gaze to me. "Wipe that idiotic grin off your face and vanish this mess. Or you will be joining them."
"Yes, Professor," I said obediently.
I raised my wand.
"Scourgify," I muttered.
The puddle vanished.
I looked at the chalkboard. Sound Manipulation. That was going to be fun. I could ventriloquize voices. I could make silent farts loud, or loud screams silent.
I could make Hermione hear things that weren't there.
As the class resumed, Dean Thomas leaned over to me.
"Mate," he whispered. "Did you see..."
"See what?" I asked innocently.
"Nothing," Dean shook his head, looking dazed. "Just... Harry is a lucky bloke, isn't he?"
"I suppose so," I said, stirring my potion. "Depends on your definition of luck."
Harry was currently in the hallway, likely trying to explain to a sobbing Hermione that he hadn't meant to squeeze her thigh, but his hand had just... slipped.
The "Flash Your Wife System" was working perfectly. And the best part? The system had mentioned that it spreads. I wondered how close Harry was to unlocking his own interface. If his "resistance to accidental intimacy" kept dropping, he might be joining the game sooner than I thought.
But for now, I was the sole player and the game was just getting started. Lunch in the Great Hall was a subdued affair, at least for the Gryffindor trio. Hermione Granger had returned from the dormitory wearing a fresh set of robes.
However, she moved with the stiffness of a wooden marionette. She sat down gingerly, kept her knees locked together and refused to reach for the salt cellar, asking Neville to pass it instead.
I sat across from her, chewing on a roast potato and observing her behavior with the clinical detachment of a scientist observing a lab rat.
(She has taken countermeasures,) I deduced. (Her posture is rigid. She is not adjusting her clothes. She has likely applied Sticking Charms to her hemline. Clever girl. But magic has rules and rules can be exploited.)
"Are you feeling better, Hermione?" Harry asked, his voice gentle. He looked exhausted, likely from the emotional toll of seeing his best friend in various states of undress three times before noon.
"I am fine," Hermione said, her voice tight. "I have taken precautions. I cast a Glutinous Adhaereo charm on my skirt. It is stuck to my legs. It will not fly up, it will not slide down and it will not fall off. I am practically fused to my clothing."
.....
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
....