Big Steps
Saturday 7th of November 1952
Poppy leaned her transfigurations book against the milk can, then imediately put it down again because she needed the milk for her cerial.
"Already given up?" Irma commented while she watched the sighing girl pour the milk.
"No i just can´t seem to think straight today," she didn´t even try opening the book again against any other object.
"Professor Dumbledore is going to ask us about this stuff in two days and i dont even understand the first paragraph."
The 6th year shoveled the cerial with her left hand while she waved her right hand around to illustrate her worries.
"I now everyone says its important and i need it for my career," the ravenclaw lowered her voice "but really? Nobody is seriously going about their day thinking:"
She swallowed and moved her hand in a secretive way, as if to indicate the private thoughts of a really strange person "i dont like that ... pelican it should be a ... butter knife. What kind of a sick person..."
"You just dont like it because its hard and you dont´t get it right away, like anything else you try." Irma meant to tease her best friend, but it strangely turned into admiration.
"comman misconception" the irish girl answered dramaticaly.
"Wich of those two FACTS do you mean?" Irma asked her best friend conversationaly over her tea.
"First of all..." Poppy, leaned into the Drama to entertain her friend, but she also truly felt strongly about that topic.
"... I do not feel like I get everything right away. Especialy in such stupid subjects as Transfigurations. My inner core rejects the essence of this "Subject" "she put that last word in agresssive quotes.
"It just is a very complex joke. It is a common misconception, that things that are hard have to be important. Thay are not."
"Now you are going to make the medicine point." the red haired witch threw into her best friends rambling.
"And i would be right. Medicine: hard and important. And its not EVEN a subject. Its far more important to know some healing magic, than how to turn a tea kettle into a Turtle. I would say."
She raised her hands like someone expressing a very controvercial opinion, her spoon still in hand.
Irma giggled. That was all Poppy wanted from that discussion.
"But seriously. I just don´t want to know this stuff. Its so..." girl gestured frustated at the closed book.
"long, boring..." Irma now participated in attacing the book with her index finger "soul crushing, useless, over complicated and... and the letters are to small" Irma smiled amused and fixed the ribbon in her hair.
"Im on your side, Pops, t think next Monday is gonna be an absolute Nightmare. But it´ll pass. Half of that stuff we learned for the OWL´s. And the NEWT´s are only next year. So Cheer up Pops! Its a beautyfull Saturday. You can help Miss Melrose, talking of usefull. Im going to lay in bed and listen to the radio. I just came down here for Saturday croissants." She downed her tea and made efforts to stand up.
"Thats a really good idea!" Poppy said "I would do that too, if I hadn´t promised Madam Melrose."
Irma took her fourth croissant for the way. "Hey later we can try to get the muggle channel again, we landed that one time."
"Sounds Great!" Poppy smiled looking up at her friend that stood on the other side of the table.
"And" Irma then stroked an imaginative beard, leaned forward and knocked on the table in front of her best friend: "Keep up the good work", and winked.
"Now that was easily the best Dumbledore impression i ever saw." Poppy said giggeling.
"Bye, Pops, dont let anybody die."
Irma left the great hall visibely exited for her morning plans.
Poppy ate up her breakfast and put the transfigurations book away. She turned to leave the great hall to go down to the Quidditch pitch.
She had asked the school nurse Madam Melrose if she could please let her help today at the Game, and the old witch agreed under the warning, that if the girl would in any way prevent her from doing her job, she´d never be given a chance again.
So because of that Poppy left kind of nervous but so very exited. In front of the great hall she passed two of the Griffindor Players.
The tall, dark haired girl smiled at her, while the boy with the dirty brown hair next to her continued talking to her seemingly without noticing the passing ravenclaw .
When Poppy was pased them she turned her head to look at the Girl again.
She walked into the Hall with big direced stepps. Her Robe was flowing hehind her.
Poppy briefly thought it looked like a queen entering her court.
Of corse Poppy knew who that girl was, she had already been in the paper.
It was Minerva McGonagall. She hadn´t stood in the paper for Quidditch, although she was quite good at that too. There had been a notice of her surprisingly academic talent after she did her OWLs, apparently noone had ever get such a good score, since the system had been introduced. She had been called "a promising talent to watch out for".
But also before that, Poppy had seen Minerva in the hall and in the corridors. Since her 5th year Minerva was a prefect and was popping up even more on The 6th years radar.
It got to the point where Poppy would sometimes check if Minerva was in the corridors she was walking in, or the hall when she entered.
The tall girls presence calmed and exited the young girl at the same time.
She thought that Minerva was the single most interesting person in Hogwarts, but at the same time she never heared any gossip about her.
Not a word. No small emberrassments, that the students loved to bring up. No condesending word about her alleged genius. No Boyfriend. Not the tiniest bit of gossip.
And Poppy was sure because, Irma loved to gossip and she likely knew about everything.
Which couples were going steady, which girl influenced what new fashion, who coppied it and which boys weren´t trustworthy. Irma loved telling and Poppy loved hearing about it.
But so far nothing about Hogwarts star student.
After that smile while passing, Poppy felt starstruck. That small greeting made her so inexplicably happy.
Until now she hadn´t felt like she existed in the same realm as her.
She walked down to the pitch with such a funny feeling in her stomach.
She waved her arm from a far to greet the sour looking nurse standing on the other side of the pitch. The nurse didn´t return the greeting and turned to magically set a table with mesical supplies next to her. But Poppy was in such a good mood that she refused to let the old witch bring her down.
Happy that the week was dry she tried to walk across the grass like Minerva did, with big steps and direkt, but she couldn´t help but bounce at the end of each step.
"Your in a good spirit today Pomfrey" The nurse noticed, as if in disaproval.
"It´s a beautyfull day Madam."
"So it is." Madam Melrose said, like it was beneath her to notice a good day.
"Today, Miss, you´ll have to focus only on the players. Always be ready. Its rare that noone gets hurt. When someone gets injured I take them up to the castle imediately after we perform the most necessary here." She gestured at the Table that was now set with Band-Aids and two different liquids in two big bottles.
"Yellow for Pain. Purple for Wounds." The Nurse answered Poppys unasked question.
"Do they have t drink it or do i put it on them?"
"Hatever you prefer, both works." Poppy looked surprised "See there is not much for you to ruin. But still enough." Madam Melrose looked at her testingly.
"There is not much to do for you now. Sit!"
Poppy sat down in a chair next to the table thet had already been set up. So much to being usefull she thought and reluctantly took the transfigurations book out again.
While she tried and tried to understand that one paragraph, more and more students in green and red filled the rows.
The atmosphere was great. It was the first match of the season and banners were crisp and fresh.
Lions roaring with great niose and bearing their teeth bravely.
Green dragons blowing green flames and shaking their heads condesendingly.
And Poppys personal favorite: a snake that was trying to catch a snitch that was circling its head and ending up in a big knot over and over again.
She abandoned the book again and watched the students, and her own exitement grew.
The rowes were filled and Minerva shook the hand of a blond slytherin boy, who had to slightly look up to meet her eye. She must been given the title of Captain for her last school year, Poppy figured. Then the game started and Minerva circled the hoopes like a crow flies above a cornfield. Definitely with a certain lingering quality, but also with the feeling of complete aweareness.
She had her eyes on every player. She watched the gryffindor Chasers as they formed lines and shot backwarts. Undoubtedly that was her strategy, they folowed.
And the first goal for gryffindor.
The Ravenclaw girl looked over to the gryffindor Keeper to see her reaction.
But Poppy didn´t catch Minerva smiling. But within a split second the dark haired girl rused forward and catched the Quaffle. She threw it surprisingly far to the boy she was talking to earlier.
He instantly scored again. The gryffindors were cheering, and a big banner bloomed from the mass. It said "Felix May may be our Luck"
Felix flew upwards triumphant und pointed at Minerva as if to credit her, but the croud was already chanting his name.
Minerva suddenly screamed: "FELIX!"
Felix turned his head in her direction and a bludger hit him right in the face. The crowd audibly ghasped in shock. He almost lost grip on his broom and headed towarts the ground imeadiately.
Poppy jumped up and ran towards the place he would land. Rather than having a smooth landing he flew into the ground. He tried to get up and as he half layed there. Knees and hands on the earth and face to the ground. She came to kneel next to him.
"Look at me" Poppy said. And almost squeeked as she saw Felix previously pretty face. Now it was bloody all over, so much that he coulden´t see. Thats why he couldn´t land propperly. He turned his head searching where the voice came from. His unseeing eyes were full of fear. He didnt make a sound. She took his arm. Whith an "Accio!" She called the flying stretcher. And guieded him to sit on it when it came flying. His nose was broken and his arms tried to grasp something but around him was nothing. His breathing fastened and he started to panic.
"It´s all right, your gonna be fine." Poppy tried to reasure him, while running back towards Madam Melrose, pushing the flowting stratcher with Felix on it in front of her. His silence scared her.
As soon as she arrived back, the nurse poured both liquids in his face at the same time. Now he tried to scream but the potions drown his attempts. He found Poppys arm and held it tight, instinctivly Poppy grabed his hand and he stopped screaming.
When Madam Melrose put the bottles away, there weren´t any open wounds in his face anymore. His nose was still broken, and he had bruises all over. The potion had washed the blood from his eyes and he could see again. He turned and spat out the mixture of liquids in his mouth. In the puddle in the grass also layed a few teeth. He looked horrified.
"Oh don´t worry dear," Madam Melrose said, in an for her untypically nice tone, "Youl´ll get new ones."
He nodded lightly and then passed out.
"Right. I´ll get him up to the castle and you have my back out here. Do as i said when something happens."
"Yes Mam." Poppy answered instantly, but feeling compleatly overwhelmed.
Then she noticed that the game had continued. Maby they had never even stopped. As the nurse and Felix left she looked back up.
Slytherin now had more players on the field and continued rough and fast.
In the next minutes Minerva held no less than eight attempts on the hoops, but when the snitch was seen right above her left hoop, it caused a caos and she ended up letting one through. The snitch disapered again. And Minerva continued circling the hoops.
Now it stood 10/10 and the gryffindors were audibly starting to worry.
Poppy worried too, but more about when, Madam Melrose would return.
Although she wouldn´t mind gryffindor winning, but didn´t really understand why.
Minutes passed and the old nurse didn´t return. But the snitch did.
Again right in front of Minerva. The gryffindor seeker shot like an arrow right past her and slightly disturbed her balance. The slytherin seeker came right after and pushed her to the side which pushed her compleately from her broom.
She waved her arms and turned in the air, like a giant red bird, who's wings stopped working in a sudden harsh wind.
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