Something Hairy This Way Comes

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Ron?"

They were both sitting on the edge of Harry's bed in their dormitory, flipping through an enormous spell book. "I mean, look at what happened to Eloise Midgen when she tried to do something like this."

"Yeah, well, this is different," snapped Ron. "She was ugly even without the acne so it didn't do her any good."

His eyes traveled quickly down the page when suddenly he yelped, causing Harry to jerk with surprise. Ron stabbed his finger at an entry on the bottom of the page. Harry leaned forward and frowned.

"The Hair Growth Spell?" Harry scanned the instructions and raised his eyebrows. "Erm, maybe we ought to get Hermione in here to do this. It looks like a lot could go wrong." Harry grimaced at the illustration of a braid of hair strangling a witch.

"No." replied Ron flatly. "She'll just tell us we're being stupid and then go snitch on us to McGonagall. Besides, we're pretty smart. We can handle this."

Harry glanced sideways at Ron, who was beginning to look a bit pale. "You know, the twins could be wrong. I mean, look at your other brothers! Look at Bill! He has super long hair and Charlie doesn't seem to be losing his. Just because your father is going bald doesn't mean you will!"

"Look! I found a huge wad of hair in my comb this morning! Fred and George said it's hereditary and I reckon they're right! I'll probably be completely bald by the time I hit my seventh year!"

Harry frowned at Ron. He decided to not point out the reliability of the twins, given their track record. There was also the fact that they had supplied Ron with the appropriate spell book, insisting that they had used the spell themselves. Unfortunately, Ron seemed to have worked himself into a right state and there was no stopping him now.

Ron grabbed the book and stomped over to the writing desk opposite Harry's bed. He threw the book down and glanced into the mirror that hung above the desk. Ron grimaced as he ran his fingers through his hair and whirled around to face Harry.

"You see!" said Ron furiously, waving a wad of hair in Harry's face. "It'll be gone by nightfall at this rate!"

"Okay! Okay!" replied Harry, just as furiously back. He was getting tired of Ron's tirade and just wanted to get the spell over with. "Let's do it then."

Ron gave a half nod, half grimace. He glanced back at the mirror, then turned and faced Harry. Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it steadily at Ron, who gulped and closed his eyes.

"Capillusaugeo!" Harry shouted as he slashed the wand downwards. A shower of orange light shot out of Harry's wand and engulfed Ron's head in what seemed to be fire. Ron yelped with pain and fell backwards behind Seamus's bed, the orange light disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

"Ron? What happened? Did it work?" Harry stared at Seamus's bed, waiting for Ron to get up. Harry heard a muffled groan and then watched in awe as Ron stood up. "R-Ron! Look at your hair!"

Ron turned and stared in amazement into the mirror. His hair was no longer short and scruffy; it was sleek and long, past his shoulders. Harry grinned at Ron in the mirror, who grinned back, his eyes glinting with excitement.

"Wow! This is better than I thought it would be! Wait until Fred and George get a load of this!" said Ron happily. He ran his fingers through his new hair and sighed contently.

Harry, however, had started to frown. Ron's hair, which had been just past his shoulders moments before was now longer than Hermione's. "Erm, Ron," began Harry nervously, moving closer to inspect Ron's hair more carefully. "I think something went wrong. Wasn't your hair supposed to stop growing after a few inches? It's still going!"

"Oh no!" cried Ron, shocked at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was now past his knees and was steadily making its way to the floor. "What did you do?"

Harry took a few steps back as Ron's hair began to crawl along the floor. The hair seemed to have a life of its own as it weaved its way around the room, past the beds and towards the door. Harry jumped onto his bed as Ron's hair made a grab for his feet.

"Harry! What did you do?" yelled Ron as he was slowly engulfed in the sea of red hair. The hair had made it to the door and was beginning to push against it, making it creak and splinter from the sheer force.

"I don't know!" cried Harry from the top of his bed. He had climbed up one of the posters on his bed and was desperately trying to hold on as the hair nipped at his ankles. "What does the book say?"

"I can't reach it!" cried Ron, his eyes wide with terror. The hair had wound its way around his body and was now up to his neck. Ron managed a good yelp before the hair completely engulfed him.

"RON!" screamed Harry desperately. The hair had grabbed a hold of Harry's foot and was trying to drag him down. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP US!"

The door was beginning to bow from the weight of the hair. Harry heard footsteps on the other side of the door and the unmistakable voice of Hermione.

"Honestly! What did you two do this time?"

"No time to explain, just help us! Ron's hair has gone mad!" he called as the hair slinked up his leg and wrapped around his waist. It gave a hefty tug and Harry fell into the sea of hair. Harry tried to give a yell but Ron's hair had wrapped itself around his mouth, cutting him off.

"All right, but this is the last time I help you two out of these messes! Stand back!" Harry rolled his eyes and braced himself. A bright blue light shot through the cracks in the door and it flew open with a loud bang. Hermione stood with her wand pointed at the room and gasped as the hair reared up to engulf her as well. She quickly flicked her wand and a stream of blue light shot forwards and lit up the room. The hair instantly fell limp and stopped moving. Harry yanked the hair away from his mouth and shakily stood up.

"Harry! Are you all right?" cried Hermione, concern etched over her face. She began to climb over the mountains of hair towards Harry and stumbled as she fell over Ron, still struggling to free himself from his own hair.

"Ow!" said Ron, rubbing his head. He glanced over to where Hermione was sprawled out, her limbs getting tangled in Ron's hair. "Took you long enough, Hermione!"

Hermione's mouth flew open and her eyes narrowed dangerously. She untangled herself out of the hair and made her way towards the door. Ron and Harry grinned at each other as they watched her stumble out of the room. They rolled their eyes and began to untangle themselves.

Harry had just pulled the last bit of hair off his legs and was about to attack Ron's hair with a pair of scissors when a loud cough drew their attention to the door. Hermione was standing in the doorway, her wand pointed directly at them, a look of satisfaction on her face.

"Hermione! No!" cried Harry, realizing what Hermione was about to do. He started towards the door.

Hermione's smile widened as she waved her wand quickly. "Capillusaugeo! Capillusaugeo!"

Harry watched in horror as two shots of orange light engulfed them both. He looked over at Ron, whose hair had begun to grow again and then felt a fresh wave of horror as his own hair began to worm its way down his back. He stared back at Hermione, who flashed them a self satisfied grin and closed the door.