Harry Potato and the Worthless stone - IX

To read Part - VIII, click here.

The next day, Harry, Pong and Hermione were at Horrid's hut. Pong knocked on the door.
The giant flung open the wooden door and said "Hey guys,"
"Hi Horrid. We were wondering if we could talk to you about something."
"Sure. But I won't be sharing any candies and my chocolate cake."
"Okay." Hermione smiled. Harry and Pong weren't happy though.

"Okay, so what do you want to know?" Horrid spoke with cake in his mouth.
"It's about Professor Escape. He's been trying to get past that three headed clown."
"Hey," Horrid was surprised. "Who told you about Clowny?"
"Clowny?" Hermione screamed. "That thing has a name?"
"Of course it does. Everyone has a name. So, I decided to give it a name too. I brought him at a Circus. They were forcing the poor guy to juggle. I gave him a piece of this chocolate cake and he followed me," Horrid pointed at the cake.
"But Professor Escape said mean things to Harry." Hermione interrupted.
"Like?"
"Getting sucked into a Vacuum cleaner."
"I was about to say that..." Pong said.
"And then there was the swallowing a dust ball and ending up being French fries."
"Again, I was about to say that. He even stared at me." Pong added.
"What does that have to do with saying mean things to Harry?" Horrid demanded.
"I had to say something," Pong looked up. Horrid, Harry and Hermione ignored him.

"Anyway," Harry said. "Why do you need a three headed clown in a school?"
"Listen to me. All three of you," Horrid cleared his throat. "What that Clown is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumpydoor and Nicholas Smell."
"What kind of a name is that? And who is Nicholas Smell?"
"No more questions. Now, leave. I've got to finish this cake."

Harry, Hermione and Pong left Horrid's hut. Harry kept wondering who Nicholas Smell was while Pong was thinking about the Chocolate cake.
Hermione looked at Harry and said "You should go to the Library and look for Nicholas Smell, Harry."
"I am scared of the dark. Why don't you guys come along."
"You're a real Potato. Nobody will recognize you."
"Even though that doesn't make any sense, I'll go." Harry said.

That night, Harry found himself in the library. After looking for Nicholas Smell everywhere, he managed to find a book. It spoke about why Nicholas had got that name. It said - Three years of avoiding a bath, he deserved that name. So kids, remember to take a bath.
Harry searched everywhere. All the books spoke about Nicholas Smell not taking a bath. None of them had anything about the thing Clowny was guarding.

Finally, harry left the library disappointed. He was now lost and couldn't find his way back to the Dormitory. He kept walking and arrived at a large classroom. This particular room was never used. It was dusty. But propped against the wall was a huge mirror.
The mirror looked like it didn't belong in that room. It looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

Harry moved nearer to the mirror and stepped in front of it. It was a reflection of a Supermarket. There were shelves on both the sides. The shelves were filled with vegetables. Most of them were potatoes. In between them were two odd veggies. There was Broccoli and Spinach. To his surprise, harry found them waving back at him.

"Hello Harry." there was a voice from behind. Harry jumped and fell on his back.
"Why did you scare me," Harry looked at the man. "Professor Dumpydoor?"
"Sorry about scaring you Harry. So, you have found this Mirror too."
"Sir, I was just," Harry said.
"So what do you see in it, Harry?"
"A Supermarket with lots of potatoes. I forgot to tell you earlier," Harry said. "Saving the potatoes was my job. But, I..."
"You forgot about it and got on the train to Togwarts." Professor Dumpydoor smiled. "I am glad you did Harry. There was a huge potato sale that day. The people at the Supermarket might have picked you off the shelves. You're a real Potato remember?"   (to be continued)