The clickity, clack of the train on the tracks was soothing to the young wizard sitting beside a window. He had gotten a sweet (or two) from the cart and watched the countryside roll by in a blur of green and brown and gray.
What would this semester hold? What would he learn? Was there going to be anyone new he would meet?
He got distracted from his thoughts as one of his housemates shouted.
“Five minutes to arrival!” his voice rang out down the car. Another student called down the next car; students gathered their belongings into their bookbags and watched excitedly out the windows.
Adrian, the young wizard about whom we are writing, dear reader, gathered his snacks and his cloak and hid his tattered teddy away safely in his bookbag.
The train station appeared over the hill like a dragon lying in a valley, its lumpy black back tipped with red and gold.
The students are escorted to the boats, to the school, and they make their way up to their dormitory halls. The Slytherin dorms were under the lake, so keeping the rooms warm required a fair bit of magic, but being able to watch the creatures of the lake was fascinating.
Adrian set down his bags, put away his school supplies, and set his teddy on his bed. The poor thing only had one eye and his nose was crooked and bare, having had the velvet rubbed off by years of kisses and stroking.
The young student whipped around after having sensed a presence entering the room. It was Professor Snape, his stern affect still as firm as it was last semester.
“Mister Brown. I see you’ve come back for another semester,” the professor says, his downturned mouth tight with no emotion leaking through his stern expression.
“Hello, Professor,” Adrian says, standing in front of his bed, hiding his bear as best as possible, unsure how the Slytherin house's head would receive it.
“I heard that you were almost late for the train,” he says, looking down at Adrian, one eyebrow raised.
“Uh… yeah… the platform almost didn’t let me through,” he chuckles softly.
The professor made a noise of acknowledgment before he turned and walked out of the dorm room, his cloak flowing behind him with great importance.
“Evening, Brown. Was Professor cross with you for nearly missing the train?” a familiar voice asked as a large thunk made Adrain jump.
It was Draco Malfoy with a smug smile painted on his face.
“No, he wasn’t, Malfoy,” Adrian quips back at him.
Draco didn’t reply; he instead gave his roommate a sneer and a roll of his eyes.
After unpacking a few items from their cases, the students headed down for supper.
Supper in the great hall consisted of roasted chicken, potatoes, tomato soup, fresh bread, plums and pears in a light syrup, roasted carrots with honey, and turkey legs. For dessert: chocolate cake, lemon cookies, and treacle and milk pudding.
The students ate and conversed among themselves before being sent off to bed for the evening to rest before classes were to begin in the morning.
The dorm hall chatter died down slowly as the candles extinguished themselves in the hallways, but Adrian couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned and wiggled in his bed; it was all in vain. He missed his home.
He decided instead of continuing to flop and toss about, he got up and quietly walked into the common room to watch the lake. The green hue of the lake water was dull and dark from the light of the moon that filtered in through the windows.
Adrian curled up in a comfortable chair and hugged his teddy that he snuck out of the dorm room. This was going to be a long semester…
The room grew blurry as tears collected in his eyes before rolling down his cheeks. He missed home… he missed how the air conditioning sounded when it came on at night, the sound of the wind chimes on the front porch, the sounds of the hallway settling. Not only did this place not sound like home, it didn’t smell like home either.
“Mister Brown. What are you doing out of bed?” A familiar voice asked, his way of speaking slow and clear.
He looks up at professor Snape, his under eyes covered in tears. He sniffs pitifully as he shrugs and looks back down and hugs his teddy closer.
The professor pauses for a moment and Adrian waits to be scolded, but Snape simply vanishes in a flutter of his cloak.
Adrian had a feeling he wasn’t gonna be able to sleep tonight.
Before he could think about much else, a cup was being held out in front of his face. It smelled sweet. He looks up at the cup and follows the hand to the wrist to the arm to the face of the professor holding it out for him.
“Drink.” He says, one long finger tapping the cup.
“What is it?” Adrian asks, taking the cup. It was warm and the closer he brought it to his face, the more it smelled like the milk drink from a Studio Ghibli movie. It even looked milky when he glanced into the cup.
“A sleep potion so you can get back to bed when you’re supposed to be,” he says, watching his charge. “Drink.”
Adrian obeys that order this time, drinking the whole cup down in three swallows.
“Thank you,” he says, holding out the cup.
Professor takes it and looks down at Adrian who rubbed his eyes and yawned.
“Back to bed now,” he says, gesturing toward the dormitory door.
Adrian shuffled off, now sleepy and none the wiser that the potion was indeed the milk drink from the movie. Muggles and their placebos, he thinks to himself. The corner of his mouth twitches in a flash of a smile.
They part ways and the night passes. Adrian slept until first light, not moving an inch once he was back in bed.
A few weeks later, after all had settled into a routine, there was something going around Hogwarts. There was an illness that was striking wizards down one by one. They were out of classes for three days at a time and people were nervous to even sit near their own friends.
It starts with a rash, then a sore throat, and then nausea and stomach cramps hit. This is when students know there is something wrong; students are left groaning and rolling in their bed, clutching their stomachs and sweating through their nightclothes. They’re ill for three days and then they feel much better and can return to class.
Adrian was nervous. When was he going to get it? He was distracted in class by an itch on his forearm. He pulls his cloak sleeve up and sees oddly shaped red spots on his skin. Uh oh…
He looks at his other arm- more spots. He forces himself to not think about it. Maybe the detergent was making him itchy! Yeah, maybe he was having a react- no… wizards use magic to clean their clothes. If he’s allergic to magic, he’s in big trouble.
Maybe Malloy put itching powder in his cloak? No… Malfoy was ill last in the room, though and he’s just now getting back to classes today.
Class ends and Adrian makes a beeline for the toilets. He sets his books on the cleanest section of the floor he can find, strips his cloak off and pulls up his pant legs to look at his skin. Spots upon spots upon spots…
He pulls up his shirt to look at his belly- spots. His chest? Spots. He was covered in spots. He wasn’t too itchy, or else he would be really panicking.
He was sick. He has the illness. He also had a test in potions tomorrow! He can’t miss it; professor Snape has a policy that a missed test is a zero, no make-ups.
He decided he would have to ignore this rash until it turned into something he couldn’t ignore.
Later that night, his throat was on fire. He wasn’t talking, he was barely swallowing, and supper looked painful.
Meats, cheeses, a nut loaf with honey, fried turkey nuggets, roasted potatoes, and an assortment of cookies for dessert.
He was praying that some soup would appear in a little cauldron just for him. Chicken noodle, tomato basil, creamy chicken and rice- anything warm and liquid would be lovely. He rubs his face and groans, trying to will his hunger away. When he looks up, there’s a steaming miniature cauldron sitting in front of him. He looks into it and sees that it’s creamy chicken and rice soup. It smells like how his mother makes it.
He picks up his spoon and starts eating; the warmth is soothing and thankfully, it doesn’t hurt too badly to eat. He gets about halfway through before he is full.
He had a feeling nagging in the back of his mind- the next symptom was nausea and stomach cramps…
That’ll have to wait until after the second period tomorrow. He can be as sick as he pleases after that. He needs to take this exam.
The students are all sent to bed and Adrian makes himself go to sleep so he can’t think about the illness.
In the morning, he feels gross. He felt stale like he had been sweating all night, and by the dampness of his nightclothes, he had. He forces himself up and to the showers before class. Maybe a shower would help him feel better?
Once he was clean, he realized he was wrong. This would not help him feel better. Still yucky and still slightly nauseous. He can handle the nausea; at least, he hopes he can.
His condition worsens every passing quarter-hour; by the time he gets to potions, he feels like smashed unicorn testicles. His tummy was gurgling and churning as he silently begged for his parchment scroll.
Professor Snape looked at his student and saw sweat gleaming on his upper lip and forehead. Adrian was pale and his eyes looked sunken in. He handed over the parchment scroll.
They weren’t to unroll them before Snape had given the okay; even if they did, they were blank until Snape cast a reveal spell to show the questions, but Snape liked the uniformity of the students needing to wait.
Once the scrolls were all passed out, Adrian thought he was going to pass out. His hand had a white knuckle grip on his pant leg to try and keep himself conscious. How well this would work is yet to be seen.
The professor cast a reveal spell and the collective sound of unrolling parchment could be heard through the lecture hall. Adrian blinked a few times to try and think.
What ingredient is key for Tonic for trance detection?
Baneberry.
Where does one find Belladonna?
In the forest by a river.
You have centaury, camphorated spirit, and betony; what spell are you working on?
The famous French method for bite of a mad dog.
True or false- if a potion is too thin, you can use Flobberworm to thicken it.
True.
True or false: horned slug is used in a potion to reverse a laughing potion.
False.
Adrian had five more questions, but he also felt like he was going to vomit. His stomach jumped once. Uh oh.
He stands up and runs to the back of the room. His stomach jumps a second time.
He pushes through the door, his hand clamped over his mouth as he runs down the hall.
His stomach jumped for the third time and he knew what was coming next. He was still so far away from the toilets!
He wretches and gags in the hallway, his stomach forcefully emptying itself upward. He pulls his cloak out of the way just in time and bends forward in a wide stance so he won’t get any vomit on his shoes. He actually feels better for a second.
His lower jaw quivers and he’s frozen in place, unsure as to what to do next. He wipes his mouth with his hand, drool covering his chin.
“Mister Brown, what are you doing out of class?” He hears from beside him. He looks up and sees Professor McGonagall looking sternly at him.
“Professor McGon-hold on,” he says before vomiting again. This one was very unexpected.
“Oh my! Oh, child…” she says, looking down at Adrian.
“I’m sorry…” he says, drooling on himself again.
“I’ll handle this, Minerva,” a monotone voice says behind Adrian.
Professor McGonagall nods and turns away, going back into her classroom.
Snape magics the mess away and wordlessly leads Adrian down the hall toward the Slytherin dorm hall.
Neither speaks as they walk, Adrian more embarrassed than nauseous at the moment.
Snape was hard to read. Was he bothered by having to care for Adrian? Was he upset that he ran out of the room before finishing his test?
THE TEST!! Oh no! He didn’t finish! Oh god, he was going to get a zero…
His shoulders slumped forward and he sighed sadly. He was going to get a zero in his favorite class on the first test.
Snape saw his pupil wilt beside him.
“You’ll be able to retest once you’re feeling better,” Snape says.
Adrian looks up.
“Really? But I thought-“ Snape cuts him off.
“Yes, I usually don’t allow it, but with the illness going around, it wouldn’t be fair to punish you students for being ill,” he says, leading Adrian toward his private chambers.
Adrian was confused. Why was he going to Snape’s chambers? He has a bed.
Professor Snape slips into the room without Adrian. The sound of glass bottles clattering and jiggling in a case was heard before the professor emerged again and they went to the students' dorms.
His potions case. He was going to use potions on him to make him feel better! Cool.
Snape helps him get comfortable in bed with a bucket nearby, just in case.
He then stood at a desk near Adrian’s bed, potions case open and ready.
Liquids, solids, powders, and words were all mixed to create a bubbling blue concoction. It smelled like eggs…
Snape pours it over from his work bowl into a cup and holds it out for Adrian to take.
He makes a face before taking it and looking into the cup. The egg smell was more pungent now.
“Drink,” Snape says. Adrian makes another face before holding his nose and drinking it down in one big gulp.
It was… not that bad. It didn’t taste like it smelled. It tasted like pancake batter. It wasn’t bad, but it sure was thick.
He wasn’t as nauseous anymore, but his mouth was dry and he was getting sleepy. He tried to stay awake, but he couldn’t. He dozed off and slept heavily.
Snape stayed by him for a couple of hours, grading tests and checking on his charge.
Adrian moved in his sleep and his teddy fell from his arms onto the floor. Snape looked at the small object on the floor. He picks it up and turns it over in his hands. Soft, light brown, one eye missing, a naked nose, and a patch on one of the bear's feet. Obviously, this is a beloved object.
Snape lifts Adrian’s arm and slips the bear into his grasp. The young wizard sleeps on.
Adrian rests, not realizing Snape graded his test by what he had finished before he ran out and got a one-hundred percent. He wouldn't have to retest.
Snape mixes up another potion as Adrian wakes up for the student to take. This one was pink and smelled like coconut water.
Adrian groaned as he sat up, his hair sticking up from his head. Snape nearly chuckled as he handed over the potion.
This potion was sour, but it made Adrian feel better once it was all down. He appreciated being taken care of. He had never been away from home and sick before and he could only assume that isn’t always going to be this easy.
Snape leaves the room after this last potion once he knows Adrian is feeling better. He had been researching healing spells. Hopefully, this would kill whatever bug was getting the students of Hogwarts sick. If so, he could give the recipe to the nurse and send the ill students her way.
The Slytherin students were surprised to see Adrian in the Great Hall that evening for supper.
“Brown? What are you doing here?” Malfoy asks, a sneer covering his face.
“I feel fine; I took a nap and-” Adrian was interrupted by the snotty blonde.
“But you puked in the hallway this morning; Potter told me he was worried about you,” he chided.
“Yeah, must have been something I ate because I feel fine now,” Adrian says, taking an apple off the fruit tray on the table.
Malfoy turned away, but right as the conversation died, Adrian heard him mutter something.
“Damn! I was sure that would have worked. How is he not sick?! Spat on his toothbrush and everything.” Malfoy muttered.
Adrian was too stunned to speak. Malfoy got him sick. On purpose!!
What the actual hell… Adrian bit his tongue and kept that secret close to his vest. He did his best to not let on that he knew what the wretched blonde had done, but it wasn’t easy.
He brought his toothbrush to class with him in his book bag to prevent another contamination and kept an eye on Malfoy in the common room.
A while later, they got their potion tests back and Malfoy was smiling like a cat who got the cream.
“Ninety-five percent. Ha! What did you get, Brown?” He asks.
Adrian smirks to himself. “A one hundred percent,” he says simply.
Malfoy’s pale face grew red and his expression grew hard.
“Cheater!!” He shouts, bolting up from his seat, pointing a finger at his classmate.
“Mister Malfoy. That is enough.” Snape says, raising his voice.
Adrian simply sat on his bench, looking as innocent as he was.
“He had to have cheated, Professor!! He couldn’t have gotten a one-hundred percent!” Malfoy continued to shout, the other students now staring as well.
Adrain’s cheeks turned pink as he wasn’t used to all this attention.
“Mister Malfoy, one more word out of you and it will be evening detention for a fortnight.” Snape scolds.
Malfoy looked from the professor to Adrian; an idea was brewing behind his eyes and Adrian was nervous.
Adrian dropped his wand out of his sleeve into his hand just in case Malfoy tried anything.
As soon as Snape's back was turned, Malfoy cast Incendio in Adrian’s direction, but Adrian was just as quick to cast protego.
Malfoy drops to the floor, screaming and holding his forearm; he had been burned by his own ambitions. The smell of burnt flesh wafted around the room, students covering their noses with their cloak sleeves.
“Detention!!” Snape barks, turning to see Malfoy on the floor.
Adrian looks down at Malfoy and thinks about whether he should cast Reparifors or not; he rolls his eyes and stands before kneeling beside the screaming classmate.
He cast the spell and Malfoy slowly stopped screaming and writhing. He looked down at his arm; there was now only a bright pink spot where there was previously a deep, throbbing burn.
Snape looked impressed. He didn’t expect Adrian to pay kindness toward someone who, moments before, accused him of cheating.
Adrian sat back down in his seat on the bench, not knowing how Snape approved of his actions.