Tickling the Giant Squid and other Grand Adventures

49. Avila

Easter break was equal parts terrifying and exhausting. The teachers assigned us so much homework that nobody even considered going home for break, and after what happened, Karou and Aaron and I spent the entire time in the library working through it all.

It was the Friday before break started and the following weekend that was terrifying.

Farid and I have Transfiguration together first thing in the morning, and we'd been working on turning chalices into mice and back again. Farid and I had gotten it rather quickly - Farid was good at magic, and I always pushed us to practice. We'd started pushing what kinds of cups we could get the mice to turn into when Farid collapsed.

I didn't see her go down, and at first, I thought she'd dropped something and had bent down to pick it up. When I'd turned my mouse into three different kinds of cups (A chalice, a wine glass, and a tea mug) and called her name a few times, but Farid still hadn't reappeared, I looked down and found her sprawled on the ground.

"Farid!" I whisper-shouted. She didn't respond, so I crouched down and inspected her. She didn't respond to being pushed or poked or slapped in the face. I checked her head for blood, but there was none. There was no reason for her to have collapsed.

I stood and got Professor Love's attention. "Farid passed out. I don't know why, she doesn't have sleeping problems, as far as I'm aware. May I take her to the hospital?"

Professor Love gasped and rushed over to us, and I pointed her to Faird. She started fussing over my friend and I watcher her detachedly.

I know it's kind of weird that I didn't freak out so much, but I'm used to it. People get hurt a lot on hunts and if you freak out every time, it's going to be a lot worse. Farid may be a friend, but she's not family, and even then, I don't freak out very much. I'm just not that kind of person.

I accompanied Professor Love to the Hospital Wing and managed to be allowed to be left there after promising to attend my next class. I watched as Madam Pomfrey came rushing over and took her vitals. When she pulled out her wand, I asked if she could teach me some healing spells. She looked startled, but agreed, and showed me how to do the spells she used to check vitals and to do a sort of magical check-up on the body and a few other things. She didn't let me try any though ("Maybe as a third year, dear. They're rather difficult spells.").

She did ask me about Farid's sleeping and eating habits, and I answered diligently. Near the end of the period, she cast a spell that would identify foreign bodies and Farid's whole body lit up blue - but with little red dots everywhere. She cast another spell, and she frowned when nothing happened. She cast it again and I asked what it was supposed to do.

"It should reveal in my mind what the parasite is, or point me towards a book I can use to identify it if I don't already know, but nothing's happening. But the only way that's possible is if..." Madam Pomfrey trailed off and never finished her sentence. She looked up after a moment and sent me to my next class.

---

I was late to Herbology and Karou immediately realized that something was wrong - I had never been late to a class before. We didn't have a chance to talk until lunch though, and when I explained what happened, her face drained of color. We ate quickly and silently and hurried to the Hospital Wing, only to find the doors locked. Karou tried to knock, but the second her knuckles touched the door, both of us were pushed back from the door. We came to a stop about ten feet away from the doors and couldn't get any closer.

We spent the rest of lunch trying to get closer. When the bell rang, we went our different ways after agreeing to try again after eating dinner.

I think both of us spent the rest of the day in quiet suspense or distress and once again ate in silence. Neither of us ate very much - worry does that to you - and hurried back to the Hospital Wing. We were able to enter once more, but Madam Pomfrey came rushing out of her office to meet us.