Fanny safely led the three into the Slytherin common room. Most students had gone home for the Christmas holidays, so Hogwarts was nearly empty, and they hadn't encountered a single person on the way.
"Wow, I always thought Slytherin's common room being in the dungeons would be kind of awful," Ron said, sinking into an armchair and patting the armrest with amazement. "But it turns out it's under the lake! Look at this chair, way fancier than anything in Gryffindor!"
Harry and Hermione also looked around curiously. After all, they might not get another chance to be in the Slytherin common room again.
Eventually, Fanny couldn't take it anymore. She shoved Ron and Harry toward the boys' dormitory tunnel and pointed, "Hurry up! Malfoy's dorm is the fifth one down that hall. His bed's the one with the fancy pale-gold curtains, the most luxurious one. He usually keeps his letters in the top drawer of his bedside table. Once you find them, come straight back out!"
"Got it!" Harry replied as he and Ron disappeared into the boys' dormitory passage.
Hermione took the chance to walk around and explore the Slytherin common room. After all, her main role in this mission had been frontloaded into the planning stage.
She looked up and noticed something she'd missed earlier, the ceiling. It was made of transparent crystal. Since it was nighttime, the view above was just inky black, but it was still mesmerizing.
Fanny came over and pointed out, "Noticed the ceiling? It's a clear crystal. In the summer, during the day, the view is the best of the whole year. You can see most of the lake creatures clearly. This past summer I saw mermaids and even a giant squid more than once. It's a shame it's winter now, and nighttime too, there's not much to see."
As Fanny sighed, a thought suddenly struck her. She grinned like she'd remembered a hidden treasure. "Oh! Hermione, want to see the dorm I share with Anne? You'd never guess what her bed and desk look like, she seems so serious all the time, like a little grown-up!"
Thinking of Anne with her serious expression lecturing her, Hermione chuckled and nodded.
The girls entered the corridor leading to the girls' dormitories. A simple oak door hung with a wooden plaque marked "Second Year." When they pushed the door open, the first thing they saw was a modest fireplace, in front of which sat a rug and three armchairs. The fire was crackling merrily, making the whole room warm and cozy. Unlike the circular Gryffindor dormitories at the top of the tower, this room was more of a large, uneven square.
Directly opposite the door stood the fireplace. To the left of the entrance were two beds, and three more were lined up on the right. Each bed was enclosed in a different colored curtain, and next to each stood a wooden desk with a tall wardrobe. On the walls above the desks, three-tiered pine bookshelves were mounted.
Hermione also noticed that the ceiling wasn't entirely stone. In the center of it was a smaller section of transparent crystal.
Fanny walked over to the bed in the far left corner, only a meter or so from the fireplace, and pointed proudly. "Here it is, Anne's bed. She has the warmest spot, yet she's always the last one to get up."
Hermione looked at Anne's bed, swathed in thick camel-colored velvet curtains. It looked cozy, and she couldn't help but smile. "Maybe that's why she sleeps in, because it's too warm to get out of bed! But her bed doesn't look messy at all. The colors are nice, and it feels warm."
Fanny smirked. "Ha, that's only because you haven't pulled back the curtains. But I won't do that now." She led Hermione over to Anne's desk. "Take a look at her desk instead, then you'll see how messy she really is. And this is just her normal state, you should see it when she's doing experiments..."
Only the top shelf of Anne's bookshelf held actual books. The other two were cluttered with variously sized glass bottles, a set of scales, wooden boxes, and a potted plant. The desk itself was piled with books, some opened and stacked on top, and an assortment of colorful potions. A wooden box lay open, revealing various metal instruments. Glass labware was scattered in the top right corner. The biggest mess, however, was paper, ordinary Muggle white paper, not parchment. Some had writing, some didn't, and many were crumpled into balls. Anne's school bag was slung over the wooden chair.
Hermione stared at the chaotic desk. So this was what Anne was like in private.
"Surprised, aren't you? Always acting like she's got it all together, but look at this mess! Sometimes she does tidy it up, but give it two days and it's back to this. Then she'll complain about how annoying it is to clean…" Fanny suddenly trailed off and glanced toward the door, her expression tense. "Anne!?"
Hermione's heart skipped a beat when Fanny shouted, but she quickly reminded herself: You're Pansy. Stay calm. She won't notice anything. Still, beneath the anxiety was a strange thrill of excitement.
"Are you okay?" Fanny's voice was full of concern.
Hermione turned around to see Anne standing in the doorway, looking a mess.
She clutched a black cloth bag in her right hand. Her hair and shoulders were dusted with snow, and her black robes were rumpled and speckled with mud. Her knees were caked in it, as if she'd fAaron. A shallow gash on her left hand was dripping blood onto the floor.
Hermione gasped and rushed forward.
Anne hadn't expected such bad luck. First, it had started snowing, and the wet bark had made the tree branches slippery. She'd gotten scratched and then, on her way back, had run into Peeves. That damn ghost! Next time she was sending the Bloody Baron to deal with him properly.
Seeing Pansy and Fanny chatting in the dorm, Anne sighed in relief. She needed help, and they were just the people to ask. She held out the cloth bag to Fanny. "It's nothing serious. The snow surprised me, and then I ran into Peeves. Can you put this in my wooden chest for me?"
Then, turning to Pansy, she greeted her simply, "Good evening, Pansy."
"Your hand…" Pansy (Hermione) pointed at the gash.
Fanny, now holding the bag, exclaimed, "Anne, your hand is bleeding!"
Anne held up her left hand to show them as she brushed past, heading toward the bathroom. "It's just a scratch from a tree branch. I'm going to shower. Fanny, after you put that away, can you grab my pajamas?"
Fanny waited until Anne disappeared into the bathroom before whispering to Hermione, "Hermione, I don't think Anne ran into Harry or Ron. It's about time. You should go wait for them in the common room. Once you get the letters, just leave. I won't join you for the dramatic reading, let's meet up later and go over it in our usual spot, okay?"
Hermione's eyes lingered on the bathroom door for a moment before she nodded and slipped out of the room.
Fanny headed to Anne's desk, pulled a wooden chest from underneath, opened it, and carefully placed the bag inside. Then she walked over to Anne's wardrobe to fetch her pajamas.
Back in the common room, Hermione checked her watch. 8:36 PM, only thirty minutes of Polyjuice Potion time left.
Ten more minutes passed. Still no sign of Harry or Ron. She was beginning to get anxious, pacing and glancing at the boys' dormitory tunnel.
"Pansy? What are you doing, pacing like that?"
It was Anne's voice.
Hermione turned and saw her. Anne's left hand was now bandaged, and she wore a thick, fleece-lined white bathrobe. Her damp hair steamed slightly, and the stark contrast between her white robe and black hair made her amber eyes gleam like a lazy cat's.
Anne blinked slowly at her, a little mischievously. "Phew. Good thing Malfoy's not here. He's the only boy who stayed behind for Christmas, so boring. Even just coming to the common room in pajamas, I have to be extra cautious…"
Anne came closer. Hermione froze and didn't respond. Anne assumed she was flustered by the mention of Malfoy, typical Pansy behavior, so she didn't press it. She just needed something off the shelf behind Pansy.
As Anne stepped in, Hermione instinctively backed away. Her back hit the shelf. Anne stopped just two fists away, radiating heat and that clean, fresh scent from her bath. Hermione's face turned red. Anne had grown taller, but she was still shorter than the slender Pansy. Looking down, she could see her reflection in Anne's eyes.
Anne took the notebook she needed and stepped back, flipping it open as she walked away toward the girls' dormitory tunnel. "Knew it was here, these are the notes I copied from that book last time…"
Hermione let out a long breath of relief. At that moment, footsteps echoed from the boys' dormitory. Harry and Ron appeared, Harry holding up two parchment envelopes.
"We got them!" he said excitedly.
Hermione glanced toward the girls' dorm corridor, no sign of movement. She nodded at them and led the way toward the common room exit. "Let's go. Anne's back…"
The three hurried out.
They sprinted all the way back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry pulled the letters from his pocket, eyes gleaming. "We've got ten minutes left before the potion wears off. Let's read them now, there are only two, from Malfoy's dad, this week and last week."
Ron's eyes didn't leave the envelopes. "Yes, let's! Good idea." Hermione agreed.
Harry handed one letter to Hermione. "We'll each read one."
He tore his open and scanned it quickly from top to bottom, then again more carefully. His hopeful gaze shifted to Hermione, but by then, Ron had already taken her letter and was reading it.
Hermione had a bad feeling, and when she met Harry's eyes, she confirmed it.
"No way!" Ron said, finishing both letters and looking stunned. "Malfoy's not the heir of Slytherin?! Then who is it?! But his dad's just as bad as he is, he actually told him not to interfere and to let the Heir of Slytherin carry on purging Muggle-borns from the school! That's disgusting!"
Hermione was more focused on another detail. "The letter says the Chamber was opened fifty years ago and a Muggle-born student died. Maybe we can dig into school history. There might be something about the heir…"
Ron groaned, stuffing the letter back into its envelope. "Too bad we didn't get any dirt on Malfoy…"
Harry stared down at the floor, deep in thought. After a moment, he looked up. "At least we've learned something new. The Chamber was opened fifty years ago. We'll find the Heir eventually. Time's almost up, let's get in the stalls."
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A/N: Amber eyes are actually pretty rare, that's why I gave them to Anne.
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