Profile of a True Gryffindor

Today's Date: 7 September, 1973

Name: Nell Howard

Practical Potions Exam I

The fumes in the room still make me want to gag. The dull throb in my head isn't helping anything as I attempt to remember what a bezoar is. I remember something about a goat and an answer fills up the sheet in front of me. This headache has been with me since yesterday's flying lesson.

Another sharp stab of pain hits me in the side of the head. I feel like there is an elephant tap dancing on the side of my face. I have to keep going. If I ignore it, it might go away.

I hate using quills. Re-inking the ruddy things every few seconds is wearing on my nerves. I manage to scratch out a few more answers before I notice that my inkpot is nearly completely empty. I have to remember to check my supplies before the beginning of classes.

When I change the position of my head to re-ink my quill again, the elephant on my head stops tap dancing, and starts playing football with my brain. I try to tune it out as I only have a few more questions to answer.

The bell rings harshly in my ears, and I carefully turn my assignment in to Professor Slughorn.

"Feeling all right, young lady?" the professor inquires from behind his desk. "You look a bit peaky."

"I'm fine," I lie quickly. "I don't want to be late, professor."

I don't look back at him. I'm not trying to be rude, but I may be sick if I say another word. I only have one more class.

It seems as though only one eye is working right now as I enter Transfiguration. We are only taking notes. This is a huge relief. There is no telling what could happen if you asked me to use a wand right now.

I am leaning hard on one hand as I work on the assignment that has been set on the board. Nothing I do gives me any relief. I am not going to ask for any help.

"Nell, you okay?" inquires Abbey. "You haven't looked right since you left our dorm room this morning."

"I'm fine," I whisper dismissively. "Just a stupid headache."

"Miss Howard," Professor McGonagall calls from the front of the classroom. "Please come see me."

I drop my quill and look up at my teacher in fear that I have done something horribly wrong. My head feels like it weighs a ton as I leave my seat.

When I reach the teacher's desk, instead of an angry look on her face, she has an expression of utmost concern. "Eleanor, I told you at the beginning of the term that if you have a headache, you were to see the school nurse right away. Professor Slughorn sent word you seemed ill last period. I am going to ask you to tell me the truth. Do you have a headache?" Her eyes bore straight into my soul, and I know there is no way to lie to her.

"It's been hurting all day, but ..." I stumble over the last few words. I can't figure out all the fuss.

" I don't want to sound like a baby who needs Mummy to kiss and make it better."

My exasperated professor hands me a note and sends me off to the school nurse under pain of detention or worse. I make my way back to my desk and gather my things carefully so I don't make my head pound any harder.

"Nell, where are you going?" Abbey inquires in a whisper, handing me my quill on the desk. "Want me to go with you?"

Before I can answer, a snigger bubbles up from behind me. It is a Slytherin boy named, Regulus Black. He was in the group who laughed when I was tripped getting off of the train.

"Did they snap your wand already, Mudblood?" Regulus inquires in a whispered jeer.

Before I can reply, Abbey spins around in her seat and barks, "Shut it..."

"Miss Bones and Mr. Black! See me after class. Miss Howard, I believe you were dismissed."

I walk out of the door with eyes following my every move towards the classroom door. I don't think I will ever live this down. What will Abbey think? She ended up with detention by defending me.

It seems to take an eternity before I get to the waiting area near the nurse's desk. The hospital wing seems to be nearly deserted in the late afternoon. The blinding sunshine streams into the ward, causing my eyes to snap shut painfully. I want to run to my own bed so I can be left alone. Give me an aspirin and let me sleep it off.

"Eleanor, is it?" I hear Madam Pomfrey inquire from a distance. "I was wondering when I would see you. Who sent you here?" I hold the piece of parchment blindly out into space and am relieved of it an instant later. "How long have you had a headache?"

"Since this morning," I lie as I find myself guided to a bed. I don't want to let on how much pain I am in; however, I can't function right now. This is not how I wanted to start out the term. "It's not that big of a deal. I usually take something and go back to class." a

Madam Pomfrey reaches into a wardrobe next to the bed to retrieve a pair of striped pajamas. I am totally confused about all of this fuss. Last year, I would go to the school nurse's office take some medication and lie down for a while. My head would still hurt a bit, but I would go back to class.

Once I'm changed I lie on the bed with my eyes shut, wishing I were in class instead of here. Somehow, the droning of Professor Binns doesn't seem so horrible to endure right now.

I open my eyes when I see Madam Pomfrey standing next to the bed with something I didn't expect. Instead of the 'horse-pills' of painkiller Mum normally gives me, I am being handed a goblet with a substance that looks like oatmeal that has been left in a rubbish tip for a week. It smells just as bad. It takes every ounce of self-control not to vomit on the woman.

I look from her to the smoking goblet and back again several times in disbelief. I really don't think I can drink it.

"Well go on," she urges. "I want you to finish that entire goblet."

There is no way around it so I swallow the foul slime in several gulps. The taste horrible! It is a combination of a rotten cabbage and shoe polish.

As I lay back against the starched pillows, I notice the pain is ebbing away quickly. The lights seem less painful, and my thoughts are becoming sluggish. Nothing Mum ever gave me worked this quick.

Madam Pomfrey gives me a satisfied look as I yawn continuously. As she walks away from my curtained off area, I close my eyes for the last time.

My dreams are bizarre to say the least. There are brooms chasing me down the hallways, laughing at me as I attempt to blast them with my wand. In another, I keep replaying the fall I had on that stupid pony.

I awaken to a horrible throb in my head. The pain has returned with a vengeance. Even my hair aches as I turn over with a groan. Madam Pomfrey must have heard me, because she walks out of her office in a dressing gown, carrying another goblet of potion for my headache.

It isn't the same horrible-tasting slime that she fed me before. The liquid is cool and soothing as it hits my stomach. The throbbing stops long enough for me to drift into a dreamless sleep.

When I wake up hours later, it is late morning. The headache is gone, but I now have the sensation of a boulder sitting in my stomach. I don't like attention being called to myself, especially over something as stupid as a headache. Mum turned completely mental after my accident last year, and she wouldn't stop ringing the school wanting to know how I was doing. I'm just happy there are no phones here, but I worry about some poor owl that is running back and forth between Mum and the school. Is there a Wizarding world version of the RSPCA?

A noise pulls my thoughts to the present as I see Madam Pomfrey with my breakfast. I have absolutely no appetite right now. I am sure she is going to make me every bite on that tray.

The school matron sets down the tray on the bedside table, takes my pulse, and notes it on a chart at the end of the bed.

"You seem to be feeling much better this morning, Eleanor," she says, moving the tray to my lap. "Once you finish your breakfast, you may go back to your common room and rest. I do mean rest until Monday."

"I have some homework from my classes that I need to finish for Monday. I doubt I will be doing too much," I tell her, looking down at my eggs so I cannot let her see how embarrassed I am right now.

"If you start to feel ill again, I want you to come back. You were in a great deal of pain, and it could have been prevented." She pulls my chin up so I can look at her. "Is that a promise, Eleanor?"

"Could you please call me Nell?" I ask. "Hardly anyone calls me Eleanor."

The only times I am called by my given name are when I am in big trouble with Mum, or Auntie refuses to respect the idea I would rather be called Nell.

"That's fine if that makes you feel better." She walks over to a chair next to my bed, and I see my favorite jeans and a jumper folded on the seat. "Your friend, Abbey, came by to bring you some fresh clothing this morning. She said she would meet you after detention this afternoon."

Guilt bubbles up like a volcano from my gut. I remember how Abbey received detention for sticking up for me.

I realize that Madam Pomfrey is staring at me. I know there isn't a chance she will let me out of her sight without me finishing my breakfast. The normally mouth-watering toast is now like chewing jam-covered carpet.

After another half hour of poking and prodding, I am finally sprung from the hospital wing. Although I don't know short cuts, I do have a decent sense of direction. Luckily, I pick a corridor that seems to be deserted, or so I thought.

"Miss Howard." It's Professor McGonagall. I want to turn and run. "I see that you are feeling better."

Although I've had classes with her for a week, I'm still not sure what her agenda is. She has such a stern look on her face, but she took the time to notice I was in pain. I don't quite know what to think.

"Much better, Professor." I answer nervously. "I have been told to stay in my dorm and rest until Monday. I promise I will have my assignments turned in on time." My cheeks are burning with embarrassment.

"I don't want you to end up suffering that much again. Next time, tell me or another teacher you are feeling ill," she orders gently. "Now, run along to your dormitory. Your friend Abbey should be back by lunch from serving detention."

I open up my mouth to protest that Abbey received detention for defending my honor, but she is already walking away from me.

The portrait of the Fat Lady is a welcome sight as I give the password. I want to make it to my own bed so I can get my head together. In the common room, I find Abbey walking down the stairs.

"Nell, I was just coming to see you." Abbey looks like she has been outside for most of the morning. Her cheeks look a bit wind-burnt. "I would have come sooner, but I had detention this morning."

"I'm sorry about you getting detention because of me," I blurt out quickly. I hope she won't hate me. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let..."

"Sorry about what?" she inquires loudly. "Regulus Black is a rotten little toe-rag. It is time someone put him in his place. You're getting jinxes the quickest, why don't you come up with something." She starts to smile. "Are you feeling better now? My auntie used to get horrible headaches too. Did it really hurt that much? You looked dreadful."

This is just what I need: more questions. I don't like talking about this, and I wish there were a better topic of discussion.

"I'm fine now. By the way, where is everyone?" I inquire. I look around and notice there are only a few others in the common room.

"Everyone's watching Quidditch tryouts. You know Quidditch, I told you about it that night on the train. If we go out now, we can get a look at the new team this year. My brother was on the Ravenclaw team while at school. Maybe I will play Chaser like him," she says, pretending to throw a Quaffle into the room. "Let's go."

"Sorry, I have to stay here. I'm supposed to rest," I tell her dejectedly. I feel like my bloody headaches have cheated me out of something again. "You go on. I'll stay here."

Although she seems a bit crestfallen, Abbey motions to the stairs and says, "Well, I guess we can take this time to come up with a couple of good jinxes to use on Regulus and his mates."

Abbey and I spend most of the afternoon with a book her brother has given her with some simple jinxes that will be very handy: One is a spell that trips you, a second makes you laugh uncontrollably, and another makes you seize up like a block of stone. It is wonderful to be with your friends.

Monday rolls in with absolutely foul weather as rain lashes at the windows of the castle. Classes outside in the greenhouses are cancelled, and we are all sent to study in the library about the various uses of mandrake root. Abbey and I attempt to finish our assignment, but we cannot seem to focus. Abbey could not stop talking about who might be picked for the Quidditch team. I think she should have gone down to tryouts instead of staying in with me.

Abbey's discussion rolls on until we enter Transfiguration, and she only shuts it when I remind her of the detention she just served. As class settles in, I notice today's topic is changing beetles into buttons. This could be a little bit difficult for me. I hate bugs. I don't like anything with too many legs.

I take a deep breath as a beetle dances on the desk before me. I remind myself to picture what I want the bloody creature to turn into, make the correct wand movements, and direct my magic towards it. To my shock, I actually get it right the first time.

I hear a movement over my shoulder and see that Professor McGonagall is inspecting my work. She seems rather pleased with it. I hope this erases the headache fiasco of Friday afternoon.

It takes Abbey and Constance a few more tries to get the beetle to turn into a form resembling a button. Abbey's button still has six legs, but at least it isn't moving around the desk anymore.

I decide to take one of the last beetles so I can see if I can transfigure another into a button. I manage to do it on the first try for a second time with squeals of delight from my friends. My happiness is short-lived.

"Just wait until you have to do some real magic, Howard." It's Regulus. He is standing at his desk with several beetles crawling up his jacket.

"You haven't even been able to do a simple spell, so I have nothing to worry about," I jeer, holding up my newly transfigured button.

Before I can say anything else, we have to clean up our desks and turn in our buttons to be graded. I know that I definitely passed this one. Regulus can just stuff it. He can't handle me one-upping him.

As we leave the classroom, he gives me a nasty stare. I hear him say something, point at me, and have a good laugh with his friends. I am not sure if I should be worried or not. I will just remember to watch my back from now on.