Using her memory of the terrain and her natural Feline stealth, she moved under the desks and chairs, easily slipping into Snape's unguarded office. Outside, Hermione blocked the doorway with her body, pretending to be choked by the smoke and coughing violently, her eyes fixed on the office out of the corner of her eye, her heart in her throat.
Lia jumped onto a shelf. The office was filled with the mixed scents of various herbs and strange materials, but her nose was exceptionally keen, quickly identifying the scents described in Moste Potente Potions.
Bicorn horn... Boomslang skin... Found them!
The storage cabinet door was only ajar. Just as she was about to hook it open with her claws, Snape's increasingly impatient roar echoed from outside the Dungeon, and footsteps seemed to be moving this way! Lia's fur stood on end, and her heart hammered in her chest.
Just then, a violent cough from Hermione—as if she were trying to hack up her lungs—rang out in the classroom, successfully making Snape's footsteps falter and turn toward her.
"Miss Granger, if you wish to cough up your lungs, I wouldn't mind helping you along!"
Lia seized those precious few seconds. She skillfully hooked open the cabinet door with her claws, picked up a small packet of dried snake skin in her mouth, and then precisely flicked a small piece of horn out of a jar with her claw, pinning it down with another.
Having succeeded, she immediately retraced her steps, slipping back to Hermione's feet like a ghost before the smoke cleared, and surreptitiously stuffed the items into her bag.
Hermione felt the movement in her bag, and her heart finally half-settled.
A few weeks later, the Polyjuice Potion was finally ready.
It was like thick, dark green mud, bubbling in the cauldron. Now, only the final step remained: adding the target person's hair.
Harry and Ron had successfully obtained hairs from Malfoy's two lackeys—Goyle and Crabbe. Hermione, meanwhile, had luckily plucked a hair from the robes of a Slytherin girl named Millicent Bulstrode.
"Is everyone ready?" Hermione divided the Potion into three parts and poured them into three glasses.
Harry and Ron looked at the revolting liquid in the glasses, their expressions twisting. The three of them clinked glasses and then downed the Potion as if facing death.
It tasted like cabbage that had been boiled for a month.
Harry felt his insides churning and melting. His body convulsed, his skin bubbled, and he watched as his palms grew larger and coarser.
Ron underwent the same painful process. Soon, two tall, burly figures with hairstyles like coconut shells—"Goyle" and "Crabbe"—appeared in the bathroom.
"Hermione? How are you doing?" Harry spoke, but what came out was Goyle's low, raspy voice.
One of the stall doors was tightly locked. Hermione's painful groans came from within, but she refused to come out.
"Hermione, we're out of time!" Ron urged anxiously.
"You guys go first... I... I think something's gone wrong..." Hermione's voice sounded strange, heavy with tears and despair.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look and decided to leave first.
After they left, silence returned to the bathroom. Lia crawled out of Hermione's robe pocket, transformed back into her Cat-girl form, and walked to the locked stall door. She could feel Hermione's frustration, panic, and an... overwhelming sense of shame.
"Hermione?" she whispered.
There was no response, only muffled, shallow sobs.
Lia tilted her head, her body shrinking once more in a shimmer of light, turning into a Ragdoll Cat.
She easily squeezed through the narrow gap under the door.
Then, she was stunned.
Sitting on the floor of the stall was a "monster." The "monster" wore a Hogwarts uniform, but her face... was not Hermione's face at all.
That face was covered in soft brown fur, her eyes had turned yellow with the vertical pupils characteristic of Felines, and several long, slightly trembling whiskers had grown above her mouth.
Most prominent were the pointed, furry cat ears sprouting from her bushy brown hair! Those ears were pinned back uneasily, showing the owner's extreme embarrassment and fear.
Hermione heard the movement, looked up, and saw Lia who had squeezed in.
Her yellow eyes instantly filled with tears, looking incredibly aggrieved.
She instinctively tried to cover her face with her hands, but felt only fur, which made her break down further, large tears rolling down.
Lia stared blankly at Hermione's new appearance. She didn't feel afraid, nor did she find it funny.
She just tilted her head, her sapphire-blue eyes showing a hint of pure confusion and an... indescribable sense of kinship.
The same ears.
The same form.
We... are the same now?
This thought flashed through Lia's mind.
She walked with an elegant Feline gait, lightly jumping onto the sink and leaning in toward Hermione.
Then, under Hermione's stunned gaze, Lia used her own furry cheek to gently and tenderly rub against Hermione's equally furry cheek.
The sensation was soft and warm.
"Purr... purr..."
A satisfied and soothing purr came from her throat, as if she were expressing the most direct welcome and acceptance to a bewildered fellow creature who had just joined the pack. Her tail also curled up, gently hooking around Hermione's trembling wrist.
We are the same now.
Don't be afraid.
Hermione felt the soft touch on her cheek, heard the familiar purring that seemed to soothe all anxiety, looked at her own ridiculous half-human, half-cat appearance in the mirror, and then at Lia's serious "we are the same kind" expression.
Shame, annoyance, helplessness, and a hint of absurd warmth—all sorts of emotions intertwined.
Those newly grown cat ears twitched uncontrollably because of Lia's proximity, and then slowly, very slowly, they perked up.
Finally, she could only let out a long sigh, reaching out with her hands that had grown some downy fur to tightly hug Lia, who was rubbing against her, burying her face deep into Lia's warm neck.
"Oh, Merlin..."
Her voice sounded muffled, filled with a despair that was both tearful and laughing.
"How could I have gotten a cat hair!"
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