Hypochondriac
Hermione Granger
"I'M BLIND!"
Yeah. That's what I woke up to. It came from Stella's room… and I knew something was wrong.
I threw on a silk robe and a pair of fuzzy slippers and ran down the hall. "Stella?" I entered her room without knocking.
She was sitting on her bed, eyes open, looking at the ceiling. "I can't see!" She wailed. "I'm blind!"
"Calm down, Stella." I said slowly. I hoped she wasn't serious. "Are you SURE you can't see anything?
"Granger—it's something I'm POSTIVE about!" She was hysterical.
"Okay, Stella. This is what I want you to do. Close your eyes. Now, count to ten—slowly."
As she closed her eyes, I left the room. I stood in her doorway and looked in. "Four… Five… Six…" She opened her eyes and looked around quickly. She was faking.
"Granger?" She asked, getting up and putting her arms in front of her in mock blindness. "Where are you?"
"Stella." I sighed. "You're not blind."
"YES I AM!" She wailed.
I decided to test her. "Then let me perform a spell on you." I took out my wand. "This might hurt… I'm going to send a tiny rabbit into your pupil to see if it can find the problem."
"What? NO!" She ran from the room, and swerved just at the right moment to avoid hitting a chair. She could totally see!
"Stella, I was kidding." I rolled my eyes. "And I think you can see."
"I'm telling you—I can't!" She was flailing her arms around and trying to find her bed.
In the middle of all this, Luna walked in. "What's going on?" She asked, fear in her voice.
"Nothing."
I said. Your sister is pretending to have an illness."
"Granger,
I'm NOT pretending!"
We went back and forth like this several times. "Stella," I finally said. "You are a hypochondriac."
"A what?" She asked.
"A hypochondriac—someone who is constantly convinced that they have serious illnesses. Some do it for attention; others really have a psychological problem."
Stella started crying. "I hate you!" She screamed. "I'm going to get you fired!"
Then she ran from the room, making it obvious that she really could see.