Author's note: I realize that there is a long time between my postings. I'm sorry about that. I'm just posting little bits as I have time to write them. I had several great reviews for the first part, and then only two for the second. I hope that people are still reading. If you haven't read, or don't remember the first two parts, please check them out, as I'm rather proud of them.
Part 1 is located at http://www.fanfiction.net/master.cfm?action=story-read&storyid=12291
Part 2 may be found at http://www.fanfiction.net/master.cfm?action=story-read&storyid=14569
Disclaimer: The only characters in this story who are mine are Ember, Goody, the first-year students, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, if I decide to introduce him in this part. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 4- A Couple of Green Thumbs
A few weeks after the beginning of the year, Ember had settled into her new situation very well. She immensely enjoyed all of her experiences at Hogwarts, and her unique position at the school. Because of her status as neither student nor teacher, she was able to socialize with both groups on fairly equal terms. She found that the students, particularly the members of Gryffindor House, with which she had the closest contact, were a constant source of amusement. Fred and George, the Weasley twins, while they had to focus more seriously on their studies than they had in previous years, still found time for several pranks, all of them entertaining. Ember also found their conversational style to be particularly diverting, and spent hours listening to them talk, laughing throughout. In addition, Neville Longbottom, a fifth-year student who was rather accident-prone, frequently provided additional sources of amusement. His most recent exploit originated in his charms class. While attempting a fairly advanced charm for his skill-level, he hiccuped in the middle of the incantation, slewing the words and turning the charm upon himself. The result was an interesting situation where flowers sprung up behind him wherever he walked. As yet, no one was able to reverse the spell, a previously unknown "green thumb" charm, and it showed no sign of fading away. The school was now criss-crossed with lines of garden in the hallways and classrooms, and Filch, the caretaker, was in constant motion trying to keep the situation under control. While she recognized the inconvenience, Ember was personally fond of the flowers, as it meant that the castle was very cheerful and also smelled very nice. Neville, however, tended to have problems seeing his books or the front of the room if he sat at a chair too long, as the flowers would grow to obscure his vision.
In terms of Ember's work, she was currently involved in intensive interviews with Nearly Headless Nick, and was collecting valuable information for her thesis. She found a favorite spot in an armchair by the fire in the Gryffindor common room, and spent most of her evenings there, comfortably reviewing her work from the day. She was sitting in this spot one afternoon, the only person in the room, with her legs drawn up beneath her in the chair and her papers strewn across the desk in front of her, when Harry and Ron came into the room, not expecting anyone else to be there. They didn't see her, as her chair was turned toward the fire, and as she did not make her presence known immediately, they continued with their conversation.
"Do you suppose you ought to go to Madame Pomfrey? You did seem to be in a lot of pain," came Harry's voice.
"I really don't think that will be necessary," answered Ron, "Really, it feels fine now that some time has passed. It's just swelling a little bit and. . .Hey! Did you hear something?"
"For the last time, no! What is with you this evening?" Harry sounded somewhat irritated. "You've been jumpy ever since you hurt yourself."
Ember stuck her head around the side of the chair and greeted the pair, "Hi guys! What's up?" Harry looked a little startled, but recovered quickly and greeted Ember with a smile. Ron, however, jumped about three feet into the air and let out a strangled gasp.
"Good grief, Ember! Don't sneak up on people like that! You're going to kill somebody that way!" He was clearly disturbed by the surprise. He folded his arms closely in front of himself and looked around the room suspiciously. "Is there anyone else hiding in here? I feel like we're being watched. . ."
Harry rolled his eyes. "He's been acting like this for the past half hour. It started out pretty mildly, but it's gotten steadily worse. I'm not sure if it's paranoia or nerves or what, but it's certainly annoying. Ever since he hurt his thumb."
Ember was concerned. "What happened to your thumb, Ron?" she asked. He warily showed her his left hand. There was a small mark like a puncture on one side, and the entire digit was swelling rather large. In addition, it was starting to look green. "I think you really ought to go to the infirmary. In fact, I think we ought to get you there right now."
It took a great deal of arguing to convince Ron to go to see Madame Pomfrey. He seemed to feel that his injury was not worth worrying over and he also said, "The infirmary is creepy! I don't want to hang out with all the sick people!" They eventually convinced him to go, but only if Harry walked on one side of him and Ember on the other, and they only walked well-lit passageways.
Madame Pomfrey took one look at Ron's thumb and another at his state of mind and immediately diagnosed him. "It's the Heebie-Jeebies. The best cure for that is a small, brightly lit room with no outside noise and a wall against his back. We should have him out of here within the week. But this means there must be a Ghoulie somewhere in the castle, that bit him." She turned to Harry, "Where was it that he got the bite? Was there a dark shadow nearby?"
"He was under his bed, trying to find his wand. He'd accidentally kicked it under there. The whole place was a shadow."
"Well, that's where the Ghoulie will be, then. I need to get Ron settled here, but someone needs to take care of that thing before it decides to move elsewhere in the castle." She turned to Ember. "Would you mind terribly finding Professor Edwards and asking him to look into it?"
Ember gave a little salute. "No problem, glad to be of service." She set out to find the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.