[Special] What Happened Between Viktor and Daphne? 2/2
The moment he saw the vial in the girl's hand and heard her calmly planning something so twisted, Viktor felt a surge of anger. She might have been the most unhinged fan he had ever encountered. A love potion, then blackmail. Obviously insane.
There was no way he was going to stand there and do nothing.
He walked toward her with a cold, irritated expression, his wand already in hand just in case. He had no intention of listening to excuses.
"You're truly disgusting," Viktor said flatly, making the young woman flinch as she realized she was no longer alone and turned around. She looked at him in confusion.
"Did your parents fail to raise you properly?" he continued, his tone edged with quiet contempt.
She only stared at him, not understanding.
"Or did they simply ignore what you were becoming? Because to act like this… you must have grown up without a shred of shame."
His gaze hardened.
"Raising a daughter capable of drugging someone and then blackmailing him… they must be so proud."
He did not raise his voice, but the sarcasm in it was unmistakable.
"No wonder you have to force love. No one in their right mind would choose something like that."
He could not deny she was beautiful. But now her expression seemed revolting to him. The exterior did not match what he had just witnessed. And that only made him angrier.
For a brief second, her eyes turned cold.
Or maybe that was just his imagination.
"And you still walk around Hogwarts as if you deserve to be here. I heard it's not the best school, nor the safest. You should at least respect the ground you stand on. I suppose it's easy to feel important when no one at home ever taught you limits. You're nothing but a horrib—"
Before Viktor could finish, the girl suddenly lunged at him.
He lifted his wand instantly and cast a spell to stop her. But she ducked, avoiding it with the kind of ease only someone properly trained could have.
With sharp reflexes, Viktor flicked his wrist downward as he saw her crouch and began, "Repul—"
Too slow.
Before he could finish the repulsion charm, she surged up in a swift motion, grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard, forcing him to drop his wand. Then she drove a kick straight into the side of his knee, making him collapse onto one leg.
Viktor lifted his head in shock at how trained her movements were.
That was a mistake.
Because the moment he looked up, he saw the vial aimed directly at his mouth.
He shut his lips on instinct. But the glass struck him hard across them, pain flaring instantly. The impact forced his mouth slightly open, and in that split second he tasted blood from his lip mixing with the sickly sweetness of the liquid. He tried not to swallow, but she had already wrapped her arm around his head, holding him in place, pressing the vial forward and pinching his nose shut so he could not even pull away.
He struggled to push her away. Even though she was much smaller than him, roots suddenly burst from the ground and wrapped tightly around his legs and arms, holding him in place. If he did not swallow, he would suffocate.
So he had no choice but to accept his fate.
Once he finished swallowing the potion, he glared at her with pure hatred, convinced that at any moment he would start feeling infatuated with her. The thought only made him angrier.
The girl took a couple of steps back and watched him closely, pulling out what looked like a camera, though smaller than usual.
"You're truly a piece of—"
Before he could finish, something strange spread through his body. It felt as if his muscles were bubbling beneath his skin. As if even his voice hurt slightly when he tried to force it out.
That made him nervous.
Maybe it was not a love potion.
Maybe it was poison.
But before he could react, a burst of smoke enveloped him, leaving him slightly dazed.
He waved his arms, trying to clear it away.
And when the smoke thinned, he saw slender, delicate arms.
Smooth hands.
His hands.
His body felt wrong. He touched his stomach. Then his chest.
A chest that should not have been there.
Slowly, with complete disbelief, he looked down.
He saw two things a man should not have.
And worse still, he felt the absence of something that undeniably made him one.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
In that moment of total confusion, the sound of shutters and flashes, painfully familiar to him, echoed around.
Viktor lifted his head.
The girl was staring at him with a wicked smile, pressing the button again and again, taking picture after picture.
As his mind clawed its way out of the shock, he understood what had just happened.
And he was not stupid.
It was not an illusion.
Not some shallow spell.
He had been transformed into a woman.
"What… what… what did you do?" he shouted in complete panic, hearing how his voice had shifted into something softer, unmistakably feminine. He looked at her as she kept watching him with that same cruel smile.
"Oh. Just proving a point," she replied calmly.
"By the way, as a man you're far from the most handsome in school. But as a woman… I could give you a few extra points. Perhaps we should see how you look in a proper dress. And with a little makeup," she added, openly amused.
Viktor's tall, well trained body was gone.
In its place was long, dark hair cascading smoothly down his back. His eyes looked softer than his former stern expression, though the panic on his face ruined part of that delicacy. Long lashes that would inevitably draw attention. A slim figure, developed in all the right places.
Not exaggerated.
But more than enough for more than one boy to turn his head if he saw her crossing the courtyard.
Daphne smiled before snapping her fingers.
At once, a house elf appeared. She glanced first at her mistress. Then at the camera in her hands. Then at Viktor, now in female form, still bound by roots rising from the ground, panic written all over his face.
And finally, at the empty vial on the floor.
The elf let out a tired sigh.
"Miss Daphne, if your mother finds out you were playing with that again, she will be just as upset as when you transformed young Master Draco," the elf said seriously.
"Don't worry, Laki. They're perfectly legal now." Daphne replied with a cheerful smile, giving a thumbs up.
"Now go fetch my makeup kit. And a couple of dresses."
The elf sighed once more before disappearing, clearly obeying despite her disapproval.
"Well… I had all of this prepared for Luciel. But of course, you're a champion too. So you'll be useful as well." Daphne tilted her head slightly.
"By the way… what did you say your name was?"
She looked at him again with a cruel smile.
"Ah, yes. I'm Daphne Greengrass. A pleasure… my dear colleague."
Viktor tried to speak.
But no words came out.
And then he realized something worse.
He had never been the original target.
But now…
Now it seemed he had become the center of everything that young woman had prepared.
And she was still watching him.
Smiling.
Back in the present, Viktor looked at Daphne's retreating figure and let out another sigh. It was not rage. Not entirely. It was something closer to resignation.
Even so, he could not deny that because of that encounter, he had managed to overcome his task against the three headed dog. Now he analyzed before acting. Now he prepared before stepping forward. And he no longer attacked out of pride alone.
Besides, she believed she had won.
A faint smile curved on his lips.
After all… he knew how to return favors too.
And this was far from over.