The Curse of Time (Harry Potter Fanfic)

I was in the infirmary in front of a bed with the curtains drawn, preventing anyone from seeing who was sick or injured. However, I knew exactly who was behind the curtain because the trio was no longer a duo.

"I should be congratulating you on successfully brewing a second-year potion, but I won't, because you've been incredibly reckless."

Hermione had managed to brew the Polyjuice Potion, and it had worked well initially, but she had made a critical mistake with the final and essential ingredient. Instead of human DNA, she had mistakenly used cat hair. As a result, after an hour, she failed to revert to her original form and still retained a feline appearance.

"It was absolutely foolish to use hair or fur picked up from your victim's clothing. In case you don't realize it, people shed hair everywhere, and it flies around. You could have turned into a stuffed animal, a rat, or worse. The only reliable DNA is the one you take directly from the person you intend to transform into. Can you even imagine what would have happened if you had transformed into a magical creature?"

I could see her eyes droop with shame at her own foolishness and for not having considered that possibility.

Fortunately, it wasn't a stray hair or beard hair from Hagrid, as the consequences would have been far worse.

"As punishment, I'm deducting 15 points each from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor—not because you were reckless enough to brew Polyjuice Potion, but because you jumped to conclusions and accused someone who turned out not to be the Heir of Slytherin."

Of course, there's a chance he has some of Salazar's genes, but there's no way he's the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets. He isn't clever enough to keep a basilisk from running wild.

The true Heir of Salazar, the one who opened the Chamber, is someone who attacks when you least expect it. I don't think they'll strike again for a while—at least not until we've lowered our guard.

After having a brief talk with her, I left and went to the Room of Requirement to practice the Body-Strengthening Charm, which would be incredibly useful for mastering the katana and becoming more reactive against counter-charms.

When I entered the room, it had transformed into a large bath area where Marie was already enjoying herself. She tried to persuade me to join her, but I insisted on training first, planning to sweat and wash afterward.

I'm not sure what's going on in her head, but she suddenly started bleeding from the nose when I mentioned sweating. How perverse of her.

I picked up my katana, whose scabbard now bore additional runes I had learned. These runes ensured that no one but me could summon the blade through an invocation spell or unsheathe it.

I wonder if, once the scabbard is completed, I could harvest basilisk venom to strengthen my wand, which would, in turn, enhance my blade indirectly.

Thanks to Hagrid, my wand already includes phoenix feather, unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, a piece of thestral tail hair, an Acromantula fang, and various other magical components from creatures in the Forbidden Forest.

It would be logical to acquire some basilisk venom to further strengthen my wand, thereby enabling my katana to destroy any type of material.

Additionally, having the venom of such an ancient creature would be perfect for experimenting with various antidotes and other alchemical studies.

But enough procrastinating—it's time to start my daily katana exercises.

I asked the room to conjure a training mannequin programmed with various patterns for me to practice against. Initially, I thought the Room of Requirement could only provide items that had been placed in it before, but I was mistaken—it can actually create things from nothing.