Snape's Potions class began.
"Only five minutes." Rove stared at the rock-hard "Special Lembas" hidden in his sleeve, counting down silently. "Must create an opportunity for Hermione."
He glanced at Hermione on the other side of the classroom. She was nervously stirring her cauldron, but her eyes kept drifting toward Snape's private store cupboard behind him. Inside were their objectives—powdered bicorn horn and shredded boomslang skin.
"Ready, Rove?" Harry asked in a low voice. The original plan was for him to throw a Filibuster firework, but Rove insisted on executing a tactic that was "more covert, more destructive, and capable of creating perfect chaos."
"Stand by, Ring-bearer." Rove stared unblinkingly at Goyle at the Slytherin table. "Wait for the optimal bombing window. Wind correction... distance locked... Target: Goyle's cauldron."
Snape patrolled the classroom, stopping in front of Ron's cauldron with a sneer.
"Weasley, if you slice those slugs that thickly again, I shall transfigure you into a slug and feed you to my snake."
"Now!"
Rove flicked his wrist sharply. The special Lembas described a parabola in the air and landed with a plop into Goyle's boiling cauldron of Swelling Solution.
Plop.
The potion, originally a disgusting grass-green, suddenly turned a dangerous purple-red like an enraged troll and began to expand violently, emitting a hissing sound.
> [Warning: Alchemical Reaction Critical]
> [High-Energy Reaction Detected: Isengard Gunpowder Bomb]
> [Catalyst: High-Density Elven Rations + Swelling Solution]
> [Countdown: 3... 2... 1...]
"Get down!" Rove roared, shoving Justin Finch-Fletchley next to him under the table. "Incoming fire!"
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion shook dust from the ceiling. Goyle's cauldron burst completely, shards flying everywhere, and the purple-red potion splashed across the entire classroom like a volcanic eruption.
"AAHHH!"
Screams rose one after another. Students splashed by the potion watched in horror as their body parts began to swell at a visible rate. Goyle's eyes swelled to the size of dinner plates, blinding him completely; Malfoy's nose turned into a pink balloon, distorting his entire face; even Snape's robes caught a few drops, sizzling with white smoke.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Amidst the chaotic screams and purple smoke, Rove jumped out from under the table. Waving the frying pan he pulled from his bag, he shouted commands through the smog.
"Orc bio-weapon leak! Everyone retreat to the vents! Keep airways clear! Do not touch wounds with hands!"
As he shouted, he deliberately made more noise, kicking over several empty cauldrons to make them clang on the floor, and even splashed a bucket of clear water meant for cleaning test tubes in Snape's direction, yelling, "Dilute the gas! It's the only way to neutralize it!"
"Baggins!" Snape roared, his voice sounding exceptionally terrifying through the smoke. "What are you doing?! Put down that foolish pan!"
"I am controlling the scene, sir!" Rove replied loudly, his voice resonant. "This is standard biohazard response protocol! We are containing the spread!"
But his true gaze bypassed the chaotic crowd, glancing toward the store cupboard.
Through the thick smoke, he saw a petite figure slip into the half-open door like an agile cat while everyone was busy screaming and fleeing.
> [Mission Status: Infiltrator has entered target zone]
> [Tactical Feint: Effect significant]
> [Chaos Index: 95% (Perfect)]
"Silence! SILENCE!" Snape waved his wand, casting a strong wind charm to clear the purple smoke from the air. "No one move! Swallow those damned screams!"
He strode toward Goyle's bubbling wreckage, his face dark. From the pile of deformed cauldron fragments, he used his wand to pick up a piece of incompletely melted, incredibly hard black residue.
"What is this?" Snape narrowed his eyes, his gaze seeming to pierce Rove's soul.
Rove straightened his back and stood at attention.
"Report, that is a piece of expired bread, Professor." Rove said with a straight face. "I intended to throw it in the bin, but the wind direction was off, plus an anomaly in gravitational pull..."
"Wind direction?" Snape's voice was frighteningly low. "In a dungeon? Gravitational anomaly?"
"Yes, Professor. There is an evil airflow here, possibly residual Dark Magic." Rove spouted nonsense solemnly. "It interfered with the object's flight path. Very dangerous, Professor."
Snape stared at Rove for a full ten seconds. In those ten seconds, Rove felt like he was being repeatedly scanned by the Eye of Sauron, every nerve screaming to run. But he didn't flinch, maintaining an innocent "I'm doing my duty" expression, even blinking.
Finally, just a second before Snape was about to explode, Hermione reappeared at the edge of the smoke, her robe pockets bulging, giving Rove an imperceptible "OK" sign.
Snape seemed to sense something, but when he looked back, Hermione had already blended into the crowd.
Snape threw the bread back into the cauldron. "For throwing rubbish in my class... twenty points from Hufflepuff. For your foolish excuses, and attempting to murder your Potions Master..."
"Yes, sir! Thank you for your mercy!" Rove answered loudly, interrupting him.
When they finished cleaning the classroom and walked down the corridor smelling of potion fumes, Ron was still rubbing his swollen fingers.
"That was insane, Rove." Ron complained, but his tone was more admiring. "You actually dared to splash water on Snape!"
"Tactical cover." Hermione patted her bulging pocket, her face flushed with excitement, eyes shining. "I got it! Bicorn horn and boomslang skin! Got it all! That cupboard is a treasure trove!"
"That's right." Rove nodded with satisfaction. "Sacrificing a few points was worth it. And we field-tested the 'High-Explosive Lembas'."
He looked back at the gloomy dungeon entrance, as if feeling those black eyes still watching them.
"However," Rove lowered his voice, "I don't think Snape fully believed me. He looked at me like I was a Hobbit who knew too many secrets. He suspects me."
> [System Alert: Severus Snape's attention on you has increased]
> [Threat Level: Orange (Alert) → Red (Locked)]
> [Achievement Acquired: Successful Tactical Deception]
"Anyway, we succeeded." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Now we just wait for the potion to brew, and we can unmask Malfoy."
"Yes, but before that," Rove looked around, "we'd better take a shower. I think I have some of Goyle's snot on my cloak."