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It was the dead of night, when everyone in Hogwarts was supposed to be asleep, and five Gryffindor boys were playing a game.
“Neville, you go first!” Seamus shouted. He shoved Neville to the front of the group, facing the staircase.
Neville stood completely still as if petrified. His eyes were wide and full of panic. “I don’t know,” he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, looking back at the other four boys.
“Come on, Neville!” Dean clamped a hand onto Neville’s shoulder. “You can do it!”
Neville looked to his sides at Seamus and Dean, then back to the staircase looming before him. He took in a deep breath before creeping up to the stairs and oh so carefully planted a foot on the first step.
Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean watched with anticipation. They sighed in unison when Neville didn’t slide down. Maybe this would work. Maybe the spell on these stairs wore off over time.
Nevile looked over his shoulder at the boys watching him. He gave them a weary, unsure smile and a thumbs-up, climbing further up the staircase to the second step. It still didn’t give way beneath him.
Neville could see the girls' dormitories. They were nearly within reach. Just one more step and he would be there-
As he raised his leg, the steps collapsed and the staircase became a stone slide. He screamed as he fell back and landed on his ass. The other Gryffindor boys laughed at him. Well, other than Harry. Harry hadn’t said a word since their game began.
For once, no one was paying attention to the Boy Who Lived.
“Nice try!” Ron stuck out a hand for Neville. He took hold of it, and Ron pulled Neville up from the floor. “Let’s see if I can do any better.”
Unfortunately for him, the staircase seemed to know their game now. Because as soon as he stepped foot onto the first step, the steps disappeared and he came crashing back to the floor.
As Dean got Ron up, Seamus spoke. “It looks like the staircase understands the game we’re playing,” he said with a chuckle.
“Yeah,” Dean was now done helping Ron up. “We should probably stop. We need our rest for tomorrow.”
“How about I try?”
Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville turned around. Harry had spoken. They secretly wondered if it would ever happen. “Of course!” Ron wrapped an arm around his best friend. “If any boy can climb those stairs, it’d be Harry Freakin’ Potter!”
Harry slowly but surely inched towards the stairs leading to the girls’ dorms. For a reason that he didn’t understand, he wanted to go up there. He wanted to feel the feeling of walking up those stairs. So he braced himself for the incoming pain and stepped onto the first step.
He waited for a moment to make sure. The ground beneath him was steady. He felt his muscles lax. But there was still more to climb. So he climbed more.
The next step was just as steady as the first. The girls’ dorms were in sight. He could make out Hermione’s face in a peaceful slumber. He couldn’t help but smile. How he wished to look like her. How he wished to look like a girl.
Harry, with a newfound determination in his heart, climbed the next step and found himself standing directly in front of the girls’ dormitory.
He turned around to look at the boys at the bottom of the stairs. They all gaped at him. They all thought it couldn't be done. It looked like they were wrong.
From her bed, Hermione’s eyes shot open. “Harry?” she whispered while getting out of bed. “Why are you up here?” The realization hit her. “Wait, how are you up here?”
“I don’t know,” Harry shrugged helplessly. “We were just playing a silly game. I didn’t think I could do it, but…” he trailed off, not knowing how to finish his sentence.
Hermione peered at the Gryffindor boys standing at the bottom of the stairs, all looking very guilty. “You boys should be getting to bed,” she scolded them like a mother. “We have that Transfiguration test tomorrow, you know.”
As Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean hurried off to the boys’ dorms, Harry stayed at the top with Hermione. He recalled something that’d happened that day. During Transfiguration class, while they were preparing for the test, he kept thinking about the game they were planning to play later. There was an odd thought that came into his mind. Could he transfigure himself into a girl? Would that mean that he could successfully climb the stairs? The thought made him giddy inside for some reason. He didn’t understand his want to be a girl.
“No boy has ever done it before. I thought it was impossible,” Hermione whispered to herself in awe. She turned to face Harry. There was a realization in her eyes as she looked at him. “Come on, let’s chat. There’s something that I want to explain to you.”