NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Reflections Pt. 5
Millicent Bulstrode's shoulder length hair was light brown, almost a dirty blonde, and very curly. Her cat was a short hair breed with a wiry, black coat of short, straight hairs. The cat was pure black without a hint of any other color. Even the shortest of Millicent's hairs would be a great deal longer, not to mention curlier, than her cat's. Because Millicent was female and almost no girls wore a buzz cut. Especially not in the wizarding world.
So there was no way Hermione could've mistaken a hair from that cat for Ms. Bulstrode's hair. Yet she claimed she had. Even going so far as to allow him to see a black furred cat tail under the door of the bathroom stall she'd gone into for the transformation. A tail Ron had made certain Harry saw by silently pointing it out while snickering. Which meant Ron had been in on the deception though at the time he hadn't known that any more than he'd known Hermione was deceiving him.
Hindsight though was a wonderful and a cursed thing. Hindsight allowed Harry to see everything he'd missed at the time and to curse himself for his own ignorance. With the benefit of hindsight, Harry could see there were many things about that potion that didn't add up. Things, he hadn't given the attention they deserved because he was far too grateful to have someone claiming they believed in him and willing to hang around with him to see the smoothness of her claims couldn't be honest.
Even as smart as she clearly was, she couldn't have been that far advanced in her reading to know everything she'd claimed to have known that year. Magic was too new to her for that. He'd spent the summer reading books about the magical world and what children his age raised in it went to school already knowing. Yet he knew he'd not only never heard of the Polyjuice Potion, he also knew there was no way he could've brewed it as she did.
Not then. Nowadays he could and often had as it was one of the many potions he kept fresh and ready to use all the time. Being famous in that world and under observation in this one, there were often times when that potion came in very handy for him. But back then he hadn't even known it existed.
Now he knew he'd very neatly been set up. She and Ron had convinced him to provide a distraction in Potions so she could visit the Master's storeroom to get the ingredients they needed for the potion. He hadn't even questioned why she needed to access the Master's storeroom for the ingredients as both were available in the student storeroom. Nor had he thought to question how she planned to access Professor Snape's private stores which were locked against any and all students. Yet she'd clearly told him she had to get into his storeroom.
Ron had provided the firework for him to throw, suggesting Harry throw it into Malfoy's cauldron and like a fool he'd done it. He could've refused. He could've just thrown it into the air and let it distract the classroom. He still would've gotten into trouble but it would've provided the distraction she claimed to need all the same. Yet he'd done what Ron suggested without hesitation.
While he wouldn't say Ron knew he could have seriously injured or killed Malfoy by doing so, he did know Ron wouldn't have lost any sleep over it if that had occurred. Because Ronald Weasely didn't like Draco Malfoy. But also because Ron didn't actually throw the firecracker. Harry did. And just one more step in his brewing would've seen Draco severely harmed by the explosion that firecracker had caused. One more step.
She'd slipped from the room while the Professor was tearing well deserved strips out of Harry's hide. That meant, in the entire incident, he was the only one to actually do something wrong though at the time he'd thought they were all equally guilty of wrong doing. He really should have figured that out at the time since there was no way Snape would've missed Hermione entering his private storeroom.
Naturally, he was the only one who actually got into trouble over the incident. But he hadn't caught on. Hadn't figured it out. Just like he'd never paused to wonder why exactly Ron had a firecracker from his brothers, the twins, supply of mischief makers in his pocket that day. If he could get a firecracker, couldn't he also have gotten something less volatile like an untainted candy or the wrapper from one? Neither of those would've caused an explosion that could hurt anyone. But then, an explosion is what Ron had wanted. And if someone got hurt, all the better for Dumbledore's plans. Because that was leverage to use against Harry.