Chapter 31
By now, the entire hall was looking on with interest.
Snape made his own incantations and wand gestures, getting the same colour results as Professor Flitwick.
"Interesting," he said. "I detect a loyalty potion and a love potion."
Professor McGonagall looked almost murderous. She glared at Ginny and said, "Come up here and empty your pockets, Miss Weasley!"
Ginny was starting to tear up as Harry moved off to the side. He, too, was glaring at Ginny with hate. He no longer had to mask his emotions.
Ginny made a show of moving her shaking hands, appearing to skip pockets and empty others onto the table before heras her hands seemed to flutter about.
When she stopped, there were no potion bottles or phials on the table.
The Professor drew her wand and exclaimed, "Accio potion phials!" while pointing her wand at the girl.
With a cry of dismay from Ginny, six small potion phials leapt out of her pockets and soared to the Professor. She caught all of them in her off arm against her chest.
From where he was standing, Harry could see two appeared empty.
Placing her wand on the table before her, the Professor reached up and grabbed all six phials, before placing them on the table next to her wand.
Turning to Ron, she said, "Now, your turn, Mister Weasley. Empty your pockets onto the table... all of your pockets."
Furious and embarrassed, Ron stepped forward and pulled things out of his pockets. He hesitated a moment and then pulled out six potion phials of his own, placing them on the table. He refused to look at anyone.
"My office, you two," she near-snarled. "Now!"
Ginny turned-tail and bolted from the hall, sobbing; while Ron followed behind, storming along in her wake.
Looking over at where he was sitting, Harry could see the two girls were sad but determined.
Turning back to look at Professor McGonagall, he was both furious and sad. "Professor, it is a criminal offence to attempt to ply someone with a love potion at Hogwarts, to anyone under the age of consent, and to anyone who does not otherwise give their consent if they are of-age.
"Miss Weasley is... allegedly... guilty on all three counts. As much as it pains me to do so, I want her charged. I also want the potions Ron had on him checked. If any of those are... keyed... to me or either of my bondmates; I want him charged, too."
"Yes, Mister Potter," said the Professor. "I'm aware of the law in this matter." Turning to Professor Snape, she said, "Severus, I request your presence in my office as expert witness while I talk to both youngest Weasley children and summon the aurors."
Professor Snape nodded once and followed Professor McGonagall from the hall. For once, the perpetual sneer was completely absent from his face. They took the dozen potion phials with them.
Harry returned to sit at the table and slumped as both girls put their arms around him. He felt he should get a BAFTA if he could pull this off.
Harry didn't notice the twins coming up until they sat down opposite the three where Ron and Ginny had sat.
"Harry, what's going on?" one twin asked.
"We know it must be bad, though," said the other.
"The matter is going to be investigated by the DMLE," said Harry. "But, Ginny distracted us by pointing out that Dumbledore hasn't returned, yet. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her tip something into my pumpkin juice. When I looked back, she'd withdrawn both hands under the table, and my juice... bubbled a bit.
"Because we've got the ever-paranoid Alastor Moody as a Professor here, now; I've decided his catch-cry of 'Constant Vigilance' has... you know... something to it. So, the three of us have been learning detection charms, just like he uses when he checks his food before eating it.
"I used one of those general detection charms on my juice and my goblet glowed blue. I had cast it upon the same goblet only a minute or two earlier, and it did not glow blue then. That it glowed blue means it was positive for a mind-altering potion of some sort. So, I took it to Professor McGonagall with my... suspicions. You saw what happened from there."
The twins looked at one another and one asked the other, "Do you think either of them would try to use a love potion?"
"She would, dear brother," said the other, sadly. "But, I don't know about Ronnikins."
"She's always been smitten with the idea of..." said the first.
"Catching the Boy-Who-Lived!" they both said.
"According to Professors Flitwick and Snape, it was both a love potion and a loyalty potion," Harry grimly said.
"Merlin!" said one twin. "Ginny's in a lot of trouble."
"So's Ron, if he was involved," said the other.
"We need to send an owl to mum," said the first.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," said Harry.
"Why not?" asked one, clearly curious.
Daphne pointedly asked, "Do you honestly believe either of those two is capable of brewing a love or loyalty potion?"
The twins looked at each other in surprise before the expressions on both suddenly changed to resignation.
"No," said one.
"Mum's the potioneer," said the other.
"As are you two," said Harry. "I know you have to be fudging your scores in potions. You'd not be able to develop many of the pranks you carry out, if you weren't."
Both twins looked a little sheepish, but one said, "We'd never do something like that..."
"... to you, Harry," said the other.
"The best thing you can do is contact your father," said Daphne, getting things back on track. "Just... not your mother. If she really is brewing the potions, then you'll alert her to destroying the evidence in your home. That'll get you in trouble with the DMLE."
"We'll owl Dad," said one.
"We'll use Pig," said the other.
Both twins then looked directly at them and said, "Sorry about this."
They then rose and left the Hall.
Before anyone else could come and see them, Harry said to both girls, "If this works, we'll be able to secure ourselves from the risk of being potioned from either of them ever again... maybe."
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