Chapter 22
Scorpius narrowed his eyes at the bottle in front of him, uncertainty evident in his expression.
"So we just take it?" he asked, seeking clarification.
Albus, with a knowing look, replied, "Scorpius, do I really need to explain to you — übergeek and Potions expert — what Polyjuice does? Thanks to Delphi’s brilliant preparation work, we are going to take this potion and be transformed. Disguised, we will be able to enter the Ministry of Magic."
Scorpius nodded, processing the information. "Okay, two points," he began, "firstly, is it painful?"
Delphi interjected, her tone serious. "Very — as I understand it."
"Thank you, good to know," Scorpius muttered, a hint of apprehension in his voice. "Second point: Do either of you know what Polyjuice tastes of? Because I’ve heard it tastes of fish and if it does, I will just vomit it back up. Fish doesn’t agree with me. Never has. Never will."
"Consider us warned," Delphi replied before knocking back the potion. "It doesn’t taste of fish," she reassured them as she began to transform, the process clearly agonizing. "Actually, it tastes quite pleasant, yum. It is painful but..." She paused, interrupted by a loud burp. "Take it back. There is a — slight —" Another burp interrupted her transformation, and she turned into Hermione. "Slight — overpowering — fishy residue."
Albus chimed in, attempting to reassure Scorpius, "Don’t worry Scorpius, everybody’s Polyjuice tastes different. Okay, that’s — wow."
"Double wow," Scorpius added, his nerves evident.
Delphi, now in Hermione's form, exclaimed, "This really doesn’t feel how I — I even sound like her! Triple wow."
Albus took a deep breath, readying himself. "Right. Me next."
"No. No way, José," Scorpius objected, adamant. "If we’re doing this, we’re doing it together." He donned a pair of familiar-looking glasses with a smile.
"Three. Two. One," Albus counted down before they both swallowed the potion.
Albus winced in pain. "No, that’s good," he managed, though clearly suffering. "That’s less good."
As they both started to transform, the agony was palpable. Albus turned into Ron, while Scorpius became Harry.
The two looked at each other, a strange silence hanging in the air.
"This is going to be slightly weird, isn’t it?" Albus remarked, breaking the silence with a nervous laugh.
Scorpius, relishing the moment, added dramatically, "Go to your room. Go straight to your room. You’ve been an incredibly awful and bad son."
Albus chuckled, shaking his head. "Scorpius..."
Scorpius, tossing his cloak over his shoulder, quipped, "It was your idea — I be him and you be Ron! I just want to have a little fun before I..." Another loud burp cut him off. "Okay, so that’s utterly horrible."
"You know, he hides it well, but Uncle Ron’s got a bit of a gut growing.", Albus exclimed
"We should go — don’t you think?" Delphi interjected, eager to move forward.
They emerged onto the street and entered a telephone box, dialing a sequence of numbers.
"Welcome, Harry Potter. Welcome, Hermione Granger. Welcome, Ron Weasley," the telephone box greeted them before disappearing into the floor, leaving them to embark on their mission.