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Chapter 15 – The Mystery Continues
The next day seemed to come far too early for the Ravenclaws. As Steven came out of the boys dorm hall, he saw Megan sitting on one of the couches with her cat. He walked over and sat down and the cat santered over and sat down on his lap. "Hey Megan."
"Hello, Steven. Sleep much?" she asked as a smile broke out on her face.
"Not nearly," Steven said as his eyes rolled back into his head. Whiskers, Megan's cat, put his front paws on Steven's chest and began licking his chin. "Stop that, Whiskers. I need sleep."
"Oh, come on, Steven. It's time for breakfast anyway."
Megan and Steven were the only first years from Ravenclaw that made it to breakfast on time. The rest of them, except Terry, came in about halfway through. "What is today anyway?" Fred asked with his head on the table.
"Monday, I think," said Lisa.
"Good, maybe Flitwick will have pity on us."
"No, today is Tuesday. Potions first thing," said Steven.
They all groaned. "Great, just great. That's all I need to do is mess up a potion and blow myself up." Victor said.
"Maybe Snape will have pity on us?" Megan said.
There was a resounding, "Doubt it." And they finished breakfast and made their way to Potions.
Snape began the lesson ominously, "Today will be difficult for most of you. If you get lost or need help, notify me immediately as this potion is extremely dangerous when mixed incorrectly. You should have seen what the Gryffindors did to it. Anyway, the directions are on the board and ingredients can be found in the student store."
Steven and Fred sat beside each other in Potions. They were both alright, but neither was sensational when it came to the 'finer art of Potions.' Soon enough, Steven found out why this Potion was dangerous.
"Could you hand me some aconite, Fred?" Steven asked.
"Sure," Fred said as his hand swept across the table. Before anyone knew what had happened, Fred hit Steven's cauldron with the bottle he thought was aconite. The bottle actually contained asphodel, which mixed with the ingredients in the cauldron and spilled all over Steven.
As Snape turned from the students he was helping, all he saw was an overturned cauldron and Fred sitting there stunned. Steven lay sopping in the floor, unconscious. "Mr. Glick, what happened?"
Fred stuttered at first while Snape crossed the room and knelt over Steven, "I hit his cauldron and it overturned and the aconite mixed with it."
Padma picked up the bottle, "Fred, this is asphodel, not aconite."
Snape made a horrible face and retreated to his office. He returned with his wand and a jar of powder. Snape sprinkled the powder on Steven from head to toe and then levitated Steven with his wand. "No one is to touch that liquid. Gather up your things, leave your potions behind, and leave the room as soon as possible. Class dismissed."
Next thing Steven knew, he was waking up in the hospital ward. Madam Pomfrey saw him rise up in bed and walked over to him. "Welcome back to the world, Mr. Pront. You gave us quite a scare."
Steven propped against the wall behind the bed, "What happened?"
"Well, Professor Snape said that your cauldron spilled and was contaminated with other ingredients. It made something very nasty and knocked you clean out for two days."
"TWO DAYS?!" Steven yelled.
Madam Pomfrey shooshed him and gave him a glass of water. "Calm down, Steven. You're okay. Just knocked you out real good. Now, you'll stay here tonight and go to classes tomorrow."
Steven settled back into the bed and tried to go to sleep as Madam Pomfrey made her nightly rounds and left the room. It wasn't long after Steven awoke again to the sound of slow footsteps. He rolled off of his stomach onto his side and looked at the doorway. He could make out a shadow on the hallway's wall just opposite the doorway.
As the figure grew larger, Steven got a very ominous feeling that something bad was about to happen. In a flurry of action, Steven threw the sheet off of him and ran behind the changing curtain. Apparently, the figure didn't hear him because it didn't stop or go faster.
Steven looked under the curtain and saw two shoes moving across the hospital room. As they reached the foot of Steven's bed, they stopped and turned around in circles. Whoever it was, they were looking for Steven. He started to sweat as the shoes came straight for the curtain. Steven reached for his wand but realized that he didn't have it on him; it was on the nightstand by his bed.
"ACCIO WAND!" Steven yelled as he reached his arm out for the wand. Once it flew into his hand he stood up in time to see the intruder throw the curtain back. Steven couldn't see the face; in fact, the entire body was covered. "IMPEDIMENTA!"
Steven's spell hit the intruder hard in the chest, throwing them backwards. Without looking back, Steven ran out of the hospital room and straight for Ravenclaw's common room.
Chapter 15 – The Mystery Continues
The next day seemed to come far too early for the Ravenclaws. As Steven came out of the boys dorm hall, he saw Megan sitting on one of the couches with her cat. He walked over and sat down and the cat santered over and sat down on his lap. "Hey Megan."
"Hello, Steven. Sleep much?" she asked as a smile broke out on her face.
"Not nearly," Steven said as his eyes rolled back into his head. Whiskers, Megan's cat, put his front paws on Steven's chest and began licking his chin. "Stop that, Whiskers. I need sleep."
"Oh, come on, Steven. It's time for breakfast anyway."
Megan and Steven were the only first years from Ravenclaw that made it to breakfast on time. The rest of them, except Terry, came in about halfway through. "What is today anyway?" Fred asked with his head on the table.
"Monday, I think," said Lisa.
"Good, maybe Flitwick will have pity on us."
"No, today is Tuesday. Potions first thing," said Steven.
They all groaned. "Great, just great. That's all I need to do is mess up a potion and blow myself up." Victor said.
"Maybe Snape will have pity on us?" Megan said.
There was a resounding, "Doubt it." And they finished breakfast and made their way to Potions.
Snape began the lesson ominously, "Today will be difficult for most of you. If you get lost or need help, notify me immediately as this potion is extremely dangerous when mixed incorrectly. You should have seen what the Gryffindors did to it. Anyway, the directions are on the board and ingredients can be found in the student store."
Steven and Fred sat beside each other in Potions. They were both alright, but neither was sensational when it came to the 'finer art of Potions.' Soon enough, Steven found out why this Potion was dangerous.
"Could you hand me some aconite, Fred?" Steven asked.
"Sure," Fred said as his hand swept across the table. Before anyone knew what had happened, Fred hit Steven's cauldron with the bottle he thought was aconite. The bottle actually contained asphodel, which mixed with the ingredients in the cauldron and spilled all over Steven.
As Snape turned from the students he was helping, all he saw was an overturned cauldron and Fred sitting there stunned. Steven lay sopping in the floor, unconscious. "Mr. Glick, what happened?"
Fred stuttered at first while Snape crossed the room and knelt over Steven, "I hit his cauldron and it overturned and the aconite mixed with it."
Padma picked up the bottle, "Fred, this is asphodel, not aconite."
Snape made a horrible face and retreated to his office. He returned with his wand and a jar of powder. Snape sprinkled the powder on Steven from head to toe and then levitated Steven with his wand. "No one is to touch that liquid. Gather up your things, leave your potions behind, and leave the room as soon as possible. Class dismissed."
Next thing Steven knew, he was waking up in the hospital ward. Madam Pomfrey saw him rise up in bed and walked over to him. "Welcome back to the world, Mr. Pront. You gave us quite a scare."
Steven propped against the wall behind the bed, "What happened?"
"Well, Professor Snape said that your cauldron spilled and was contaminated with other ingredients. It made something very nasty and knocked you clean out for two days."
"TWO DAYS?!" Steven yelled.
Madam Pomfrey shooshed him and gave him a glass of water. "Calm down, Steven. You're okay. Just knocked you out real good. Now, you'll stay here tonight and go to classes tomorrow."
Steven settled back into the bed and tried to go to sleep as Madam Pomfrey made her nightly rounds and left the room. It wasn't long after Steven awoke again to the sound of slow footsteps. He rolled off of his stomach onto his side and looked at the doorway. He could make out a shadow on the hallway's wall just opposite the doorway.
As the figure grew larger, Steven got a very ominous feeling that something bad was about to happen. In a flurry of action, Steven threw the sheet off of him and ran behind the changing curtain. Apparently, the figure didn't hear him because it didn't stop or go faster.
Steven looked under the curtain and saw two shoes moving across the hospital room. As they reached the foot of Steven's bed, they stopped and turned around in circles. Whoever it was, they were looking for Steven. He started to sweat as the shoes came straight for the curtain. Steven reached for his wand but realized that he didn't have it on him; it was on the nightstand by his bed.
"ACCIO WAND!" Steven yelled as he reached his arm out for the wand. Once it flew into his hand he stood up in time to see the intruder throw the curtain back. Steven couldn't see the face; in fact, the entire body was covered. "IMPEDIMENTA!"
Steven's spell hit the intruder hard in the chest, throwing them backwards. Without looking back, Steven ran out of the hospital room and straight for Ravenclaw's common room.
