“Oh My Gosh; this is crazy! This place is absolutely packed!” My girlfriend Corrine shouted in my ear so she could be heard as we entered the bar.

“You knew it would be; Potterfest is always going to be super popular” I reminded her. She just smiled wanly as crowds were not her favorite thing.

Living in a college town two years removed from our graduation, we still liked to frequent our favorite places and get into events like their annual Potterfest. Every year on the weekend closest to Harry’s birthday, thousands of adults and kids came together to have some fun.

We had made our way through the street vendors and even watched a few of the demonstrations for the kids. We had seen adults and kids dressed up as just about every conceivable character as well as some that may have just been the usual college town people simply in their everyday gear walking around. My girlfriend had even joked that those would be the ones who would win the costume contest never knowing they were even entered.

We were both tired from walking by the time we made it into the bar which was calling itself “The Hog’s Head Tavern” for the night while serving food and drinks with Harry Potter names.

“Why don’t you go get us drinks” Corrine said to me “I’ll meet you over there” she pointed to a far corner that wasn’t as packed.

I nodded not even trying to be heard over the crowd and began to make my way through the throngs of people up to the bar.

I had to stop several times and really had to maneuver my way in to get up to the bar. After finally making eye contact with the blonde girl working behind the counter with 5 other bartenders I managed to yell loud enough for her to hear my order of “2 POLYJUICE POTIONS!”

She nodded and made them up for me. I dropped a 10 on the bar and took the drinks which were Vodka, Lime and Sprite and began to walk the gauntlet back to my girlfriend.

I was sweating by the time I gave her the one in my right hand. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes showing her thoughts on the crowd without saying a word.

“This is good!” she yelled at me as she was quickly making her way through her drink.

“Yeah!” I nodded and took another swig. We both finished up fast but as I looked into the bottom of the glass, I got a feeling like something was off. I looked at Corrine who was also staring into her empty glass with a weird look on her face.

Suddenly my body seized up and my face began to tingle. I saw Corrine put her hand to her cheek and pat, a confused look coming over her.

“What if this was real Polyjuice potion?” ran into my mind. “I must have bumped into a hundred people tonight! What if something from one of them got into the drink?” I thought as I scanned the bar and thought about the streets outside.

My eyes darted and scanned as the tingling sensation grew stronger over me. There was the college girl dressed like Luna and her friends Hermione and Moaning Myrtle. There was a Goth girl…a big dude with a Hagrid beard…the bartender…the other bartenders…

I spun and looked out the window and saw families walking by that we had watched demonstrations with…Moms…Dads…kids…