Obviously, other than Lockhart, there was no better candidate than him. In the end, after Hermione put in a few good words for Lockhart, he gladly signed the slip of paper without even looking at the book they wanted to borrow.
Therefore, they easily obtained the formula, but there were still two problems in front of them: they didn't have a venue, and they didn't have the materials.
Hermione chose the venue in Weeping Myrtle's worn-out bathroom, because no one in their right mind would want to come here, so the three of them could be guaranteed not to be discovered. Weeping Myrtle burst into tears in her private room. They ignored her, and she ignored them.
After that, they encountered a second problem: materials. Most materials could be obtained from the students' lockers, but some rare materials were too difficult to obtain. Powdered horns of a two-horned beast — they did not know where to find them. Fragments of an African tree snake's skin — that was also difficult to obtain. But they thought that Snape might have them in his private warehouse.
Then finally, they needed something from the person they wanted to change.
"We can hardly find a chance to get in touch with her," Ron said helplessly.
"Opportunities can always be created." Harry encouraged him.
-----
On Saturday afternoon, Malfoy felt that he had done something wrong and regretted it.
He warned Dobby not to tamper with the Quidditch game before the game because he was afraid that the out-of-control Wander Ball would hurt others. As a result, he seemed to have underestimated the power of someone's protagonist aura. Without the interference of the Wander Ball, Harry ended the game faster than people thought.
Now Pansy was crying sadly in the lounge. She blamed herself more and more. Their tactics had almost not been implemented, and the game was over. She felt that it was all her fault.
In all fairness, Malfoy was very satisfied with their training, and their performance on the field was normal, but someone's luck was too strong.
He spent most of the afternoon comforting Pansy, and in the evening, there was news of another student who had been petrified. Colin Creevey, Harry's sidekick, had gone to visit Harry in the ward and had been petrified in the corridor.
Dobby could only listen to his master's words, so he did not put his attention on the walking ball this time. Instead, when everyone cheered for Harry and lifted him high into the air, he cast a spell on those people at the same time. When Malfoy heard the news, he guessed that his strength was loose, so Gryffindor's team members threw their team's hero to the ground. History was always surprisingly similar. Lockhart cast a "perfect" boneless spell, so Harry had to be hospitalized.
On Monday morning the news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was lying like a dead man in a hospital room spread through the school. All of a sudden, rumors were flying around the school, and everyone was suspicious. The freshmen now always moved in groups of three or five, as if they were afraid that if they moved alone, they would be attacked.
After that, the Weasley brothers' rooster cries were sold out again, and the two brothers once again made a killing.
In the second week of December, Professor McGonagall came over as usual to collect the list of students who would stay for Christmas. Harry, Ron, and Hermione signed the list. They heard that Malfoy was going to stay, and felt that it was very suspicious. During the holidays, they could use the compound decoction to get the truth out of Malfoy.
Of course, Malfoy was staying to find the truth.
Harry and the rest had prepared almost everything, except for the horns of the two-horned beast and the skin of the African tree snake. Therefore, in Snape's Potions class, Harry and Ron were prepared to sacrifice themselves and cause trouble in class to prepare time for Hermione to steal the ingredients from Snape's private storage.
The Potions class was held in a classroom under the ground. The Thursday afternoon class started as usual. Between the wooden tables, there were 20 crucibles, and on the tables were copper scales and jars of ingredients. Snape patrolled back and forth in a cloud of smoke, rudely criticizing the work of the Gryffindor students, while the Slythrin students snickered at their misfortune.
Harry and Ron were about to use the Strenuous Smoke they got from Fred, when they suddenly heard a gurgling sound. Almost all the students were shocked by this sudden sound, and most of the students made mistakes. The potions splashed everywhere, and the class was noisy. Almost everyone began to run around.
"Neville Longbottom!" Snape roared in his deep voice, and then said, "The next time you bring this to class, I'll expel you!" He continued, "Gryffindor will have 20 points deducted! Now, everyone be quiet! Quiet! Students who are splashed by the potions, come to me to get the anti-swelling medicine. "
"I think we should treat Neville to a meal," said Ron.
"Today is the only day I'm happy that we got points deducted." Although it felt bad, Harry was genuinely happy.
After class, Hermione successfully got the new ingredients. They hurried to Myrtle's washroom and threw them into the crucibles.
"He knows it's me," said Hermione worriedly as she stirred the potions.
"But he doesn't have evidence, right?" Harry comforted her.
"He won't look at evidence, Harry." Ron poured cold water on them.
"Alright," muttered Harry, and then said, "At most, we'll admit our mistakes together."
"Are you kidding?" Hermione raised her voice. "I'm the only one who steals because I have no criminal record. Don't worry, he won't have evidence. At most, he'll make things difficult for us." She stared at Harry and said, "Anyway, we're used to it, aren't we?"
"That's true." Harry touched his nose.