Year 2: Open Your Mind
Chapter 19: May 2016
As May fell upon Hogwarts, Molly and her friends began to study all their subjects cumulatively and systematically. There was only so much time before exams and they needed to be ready after all.
Unfortunately, Molly was not feeling her best. At first she thought maybe all the studying was getting to her, but she soon realized it was more than that. She refused to give in though, determined that if she could just push through, she'd make it to the other side of exams. She could be sick over the summer.
"Molly, aren't you going to join us for lunch?" Debbie asked one Sunday afternoon, as she, Sarah, and Julie all headed towards the corridor to go to the Great Hall.
Molly shook her head. "You guys go without me. I'm not hungry."
That she wasn't hungry was an understatement. Molly's stomach had been rolling all morning. Ever since those eggs and sausages she'd had at breakfast, she'd started feeling nauseous. She'd tried to hide it from her friends, but now that they were gone she was desperate for some fresh air.
Molly got up and crossed over to the window, opening the latch and swinging the pane outward. As the fresh outdoor air filled the fifth floor study room, she breathed in and sighed in relief. She started to feel a bit better.
Once she was satisfied she could focus, she sat back down at her desk and pulled her transfiguration notes towards her again. She couldn't afford to lose even an hour of study time if she wanted to maintain her straight O's again this year.
Molly's stomach did a flip, and suddenly she didn't feel well again. She raised a hand to cover her mouth and tried to force her stomach to sit still, but it was no use. She knew what was going to happen, and she knew she didn't have time to run to the bathroom, so she ran to the window and leaned out, emptying her breakfast into the air. She hoped nobody was walking below, or they would suddenly find themselves having a really bad day.
When she was finished, Molly collapsed back into her chair, holding her forehead and taking deep breaths to steady herself. It was over. Maybe now she could study.
She shuffled her transfiguration notes and tried to pay attention to the theory of switching spells, but it was difficult. Her stomach was still distracting her. She figured it would calm down eventually, once it got used to being empty once again, and tried to ignore it. But then, almost as quickly as it came on the first time, she felt it again, and had to frantically run back to the window.
It was worse than the first time, and when it was over, she needed even longer to compose herself before she could even stand to look at transfiguration again. She knew she should just go to Madam Eldridge and get a potion or something, but if she did, the hospital wing matron would insist she stick around, and Molly didn't have time to waste laying around in a hospital bed. She would have to handle this on her own.
She managed to study for a good while then, her stomach settling for a bit, and giving her some clarity of mind. But just as she was starting to feel secure, it began acting up again.
"Leave me alone!" Molly cried, yelling at her stomach. It was silly, she knew. Her stomach couldn't hear her, which meant that really she was talking to herself, which couldn't be healthy. But she was so fed up she didn't care.
When she felt it coming on, she ran for the window, hanging out of it in a way that she wouldn't accidentally get some on her robes, and holding her hair out of her face. She knew it would be better to go to the bathroom, but if she did that, she couldn't be as close to her notes, and she'd waste time walking back and forth.
Just as Molly was finishing, she heard the door open behind her and her friends returned from lunch.
"Molly, are you alright?" Debbie cried, immediately running to her friend's side.
"Molly it stinks in here!" Julie said, a little less sensitive than Debbie.
"Why haven't you gone to the hospital wing?" Sarah demanded.
Molly shook her head. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I don't need the hospital, I just need to study."
"You obviously need the hospital," Debbie said, helping Molly away from the window and into her chair. "You're not going to get any useful studying done in this condition."
"No," Molly disagreed. "I have to stay here. I can't afford to be sick."
"Molly we're not giving you a choice," Julie declared. "You are no longer welcome in this room until you go and see Madam Eldridge."
Molly glared at Julie. Though she hated it, she knew in her heart that Julie was right. She really did need to go to the hospital wing. And this wasn't an angry expulsion from the study room like it had been a month ago. This was Julie looking out for her and being a friend.
"But my notes and things are all here," Molly protested. "I need to stay with them and study."
"You can bring some with you," Sarah reminded her. "If you have to stay in the hospital wing, you can bring your notes with you and study them there. It'll be just as effective as here, except you'll be in a much better position to get better."
Molly sighed. "Fine," she muttered, gathering as many notes as she could to stuff into her bag. "I'll go. But if I fail, I'm blaming all of you."
That last statement wasn't really true. If Molly failed, she'd only have herself to blame. For not studying further in advance, for not having a stronger immune system…
Debbie volunteered to take Molly down to the hospital wing, and Molly was torn between being grateful for her friend's support, or offended that she didn't think Molly would go if left on her own. Whatever the reason, they made it to the fourth floor without incident, and Debbie immediately called for Madam Eldridge.
"And what seems to be the problem here?" Madam Eldridge asked, bustling over. The hospital wing was surprisingly empty – it seemed that nobody in the castle but Molly was sick today.
"It's Molly," Debbie said, gesturing to her friend. "She's sick. I found her throwing up out a window."
"Is that so?" Madam Eldridge asked. "Well alright then dear, come along and lay down in one of these beds while I examine you."
As Molly climbed up into a bed, Debbie hovered awkwardly at the foot. She looked torn between staying to make sure Molly was alright and going back to her studies.
"You can go," Molly said, noticing her friend's dilemma. If Molly were in Debbie's place, she certainly wouldn't want to hang around in the hospital wing for no reason.
So Debbie left, and Madam Eldridge began to examine Molly, both with her hands and with her wand.
"When did you start feeling nauseous?" the hospital wing matron asked.
Molly thought about it. "Well I've been feeling uneasy for a few days, but I didn't feel like this until breakfast this morning."
Madam Eldridge nodded. "Any other symptoms?"
Molly shrugged. "Not really," she said. "It's just my stomach. And I feel kind of warm."
"Yes," Madam Eldridge nodded. "You do have a fever. Did you only throw up that one time?"
Molly shook her head in shame. "No, it was actually three times," she admitted.
If Madam Eldridge was judging her for not coming to her after the first, she didn't say anything. Instead, she only nodded and completed her examination.
"Well it's not too serious," she said, to Molly's delight. "Unfortunately, you will have to stay here overnight, and possibly through the day tomorrow if the fever hasn't subsided."
At this, Molly's heart sank. "Can't you just give me a potion and send me on my way?" she asked.
Madam Eldridge shook her head. "I can give you a potion, but with ailments of the stomach, they have to be slow-acting, or else they could end up making things worse."
This was bad news for Molly. She could handle staying the day and even overnight if she had to – she had her notes and could study here just as well as from the fifth floor. But if she had to stay the day tomorrow, she would miss some very important classes.
"Is there anything I can do to ensure that it works as quickly as possible?" Molly wondered.
Madam Eldridge shook her head. "Just rest and fluids I'm afraid," she said. "These things take time."
The woman produced a potion and instructed Molly to take two spoonsful of the stuff. Then she deposited it on Molly's side table, saying that in two hours she would have to take more, but that she would come and remind her. In the meantime, Madam Eldridge had some paperwork to work on, and would be just over in her office.
When the hospital wing matron had gone, Molly found herself curiously considering the potion bottle that had been left by her side. Madam Eldridge wanted her to take two spoonsful every two hours. But what if Molly took a little extra? Surely it would speed up the recovery process.
Checking to make sure Madam Eldridge wasn't looking, Molly unstoppered the bottle and raised it to her lips, taking a sip, and then another, and then another.
When the bottle was about half full, she put it back on the side table, satisfied that now she would surely improve at a much faster rate. With a nod to herself, she fumbled with her bag for a moment to get her transfiguration notes out and settled back against the pillows as she began to study.
It was mere minutes before her stomach started to protest. It started off slowly, doing a couple of angry flips and gurgling at her. Soon though, it felt like her stomach was swirling and she could feel herself wanting to throw up again. Throwing her notes to the end of her bed, Molly frantically looked around for something she could use. There was a small bucket under the adjacent bed, so she grabbed it and leaned over it.
It was just in time, as the first wave hit right then. It was worse than throwing up out the window, because now it wasn't going anywhere, and the smell of it filled her nostrils and only made her even sicker.
Madam Eldridge was there in a heartbeat, rubbing Molly's back as she emptied her stomach contents into the bucket. When she finished, she leaned back against the pillows in exhaustion and Madam Eldridge promptly removed the bucket, returning with a fresh one that she placed on the floor directly to Molly's left.
"Don't worry, it's to be expected," Madam Eldridge assured her. "The potion needs time to work."
"That wasn't supposed to happen," Molly moaned. "I took the extra potion so that it would work faster, not make me throw up again!"
"Extra potion?" Madam Eldridge asked, her tone worried. "What do you mean."
Sheepishly, Molly gestured to the potion bottle that now contained a significantly smaller amount of potion than before.
"Oh dear," Madam Eldridge said, holding it up to see how much was gone. "Oh dear. You drank all this?"
Molly nodded, now feeling dumb for having done it.
"I know I was only supposed to take the two spoonsful at two hour intervals, but I figured this way I'd heal faster," Molly defended herself.
"Don't you know that with medicinal potions, increasing the dose can have disastrous consequences?" Madam Eldridge cried.
Come to think of it, Molly realized she did know that. Her stomach flipped and she wasn't sure if it was the nausea or the guilt.
"Sorry," Molly apologized.
Madam Eldridge shook her head. "Don't apologize to me," she said. "Apologize to yourself. It's going to take much longer to get better after what you've done. We'll have to wait for the large dose of potion to leave your system and then start over with the appropriate small doses."
Molly wanted to punch something she was so mad at herself. Now she would certainly be stuck here during classes tomorrow, maybe even the next day depending on how long it took for her body to expel all the potion. She hadn't been thinking – if she had, she'd have known that Madam Eldridge would be doing everything possible to get her out her the hospital as quickly as possible, and that nothing Molly could think of on her own would speed it up.
She didn't have long to ponder on that though, because in seconds she found herself grabbing the bucket and heaving into in once again. When she finished that time, she found that she was exhausted, and before she could even think about studying transfiguration, she was falling asleep.
MmMmMmMmMmM
The next morning, Madam Eldridge force-fed Molly some toast, claiming that it would be good to get some food back into her system. Molly hadn't thrown up all night, and Madam Eldridge saw that as a good sign that she would soon be ready to start taking the potion properly.
For her part, Molly was feeling much better than the previous day, and told Madam Eldridge so, claiming that she felt well enough to go to classes. Madam Eldridge didn't think so though, and put a quick end to the discussion. Then she retreated to her office to do some paperwork.
Left alone, Molly started to form a plan. She understood that she couldn't be released from the hospital wing until she was all better – Madam Eldridge had to keep an eye on her. But Madam Eldridge also retreated to her office for extended periods of time, so it wasn't as though she needed to keep a constant eye on her. And Molly had some important classes happening that day – with exams coming up, it was suicide to skip even a single lesson.
And since Molly was feeling so much better, she saw no reason why she couldn't go to classes and just come back here when they were over. So with a glance to Madam Eldridge's office, Molly climbed off her hospital bed and slowly began to tiptoe towards the large doors of the hospital wing.
Molly didn't make it very far though, before she felt her stomach start to betray her. It did a few rolls and flips, and Molly had to run back to her bedside and grab the bucket before she made a mess on the hospital wing floor.
Madam Eldridge hurried over immediately, helping Molly through it. When it was over, she helped her back into bed, probably assuming that she'd simply fallen out in her quest for the bucket.
"I guess the toast wasn't such a good idea," Molly muttered weakly.
Madam Eldridge nodded. "There's still much more potion in your system than we'd thought. We won't be able to start the new dosage until tonight at the earliest."
Molly didn't like the sound of that, but knew there was nothing she could do about it. Taking more potion now would only make things worse.
"Well let me take care of this," Madam Eldridge sighed, picking up the bucket. "I'll bring a new one shortly."
Madam Eldridge disappeared, and Molly knew this was her chance. Now that she'd thrown up again, Madam Eldridge would try to monitor her even more closely, and once she brought that bucket back there'd be no escape. Molly climbed out of bed once again and quickly scurried over to the doors, pulling them open and slipping through them.
She was free!
Though she didn't have her notes, or her textbook, or anything useful really, Molly didn't care. She just needed to go to class. One of her friends would be able to lend her a quill and some parchment surely.
Her first period was potions, so she hurried down to the dungeons, not wanting to be late. She was already cutting it a little close, but she managed to slip in before her teacher started the lesson.
"Molly!" Professor Abbott-Longbottom said in surprise when she saw her. "I wasn't expecting you. I received a note from Madam Eldridge that you would be in the hospital wing today."
"Yes, well I'm all better now," Molly declared.
"That's excellent," Professor Abbott-Longbottom smiled. "If you wouldn't mind just giving me your note, and then we can start the class."
"My note?" Molly asked.
Professor Abbott-Longbottom nodded. "Yes," she confirmed. "Your note from Madam Eldridge. The one that signifies that you're alright and that you've been discharged from the hospital wing."
"Oh that note," Molly nodded, pretending to know what her professor was talking about. "Yes well actually, Madam Eldridge didn't have time to write it if I was going to make it on time, but she said that my word would be enough for you."
Professor Abbott-Longbottom narrowed her eyes. "Well unfortunately I'm not allowed to take students at their word in this regard," she said. "When Madam Eldridge takes charge of a patient, we aren't to allow them back into class until we receive written confirmation that they are healed. It's for both your benefit, and the benefit of the rest of the students. We can't have everyone getting sick after all, and your recovery will be much faster that way."
"I'd love to go back and get a note," Molly lied. "But I really don't want to miss this lesson, and the hospital wing is so far away."
Professor Abbott-Longbottom sympathized, but claimed she still couldn't allow Molly to stay without documentation.
Molly was frantically trying to think of something else she could say to try to stay in potions class when the door behind her burst open and Madam Eldridge stumbled in.
"There you are!" she cried, pointing an accusing finger at Molly. "Professor, this one has escaped!"
The adults were acting like this was some kind of jailbreak scenario rather than a simple case of a student wanting to attend a lesson.
"What's the big deal?" Molly cried in frustration. "I just want to learn about potions!"
"I'm afraid you have to come with me," Madam Eldridge demanded, grabbing Molly by the arm and dragging her out of class.
"I'll let you copy my notes later!" Debbie offered, calling after Molly as she was dragged from the dungeons.
Madam Eldridge was not happy.
"I can't believe you snuck out after I expressly told you that you couldn't go to class today!" Madam Eldridge cried when they returned to the hospital wing. "Do you have no concern for your health?"
"Sure I do," Molly nodded. "But I was feeling fine and it's really important that I don't miss classes right now. It's almost exam time, after all."
"Well if you don't take the time to get better now, you won't even be writing those exams," Madam Eldridge declared. "Is that what you want?"
"No ma'am," Molly said, bowing her head in appropriate shame. That would be the worst. If she had to miss her exams and take them in August – it would be the height of humiliation. Especially if she could have prevented it by just staying in the hospital wing.
"I'll stay put this time," Molly assured the hospital wing matron. "I promise. I want to get better. I can't go to summer school."
"Very good then," Madam Eldridge nodded, satisfied. "I'll be in my office. Call if you need anything."