[PLOT] Hiccoughing || open

Sunday, 13 September 1920
Evening, before dinner
Apothecary

---

Alice looked over as Blustwick scurried about, attempting to do everything by herself at once. She looked over at the Apothecary where disgusting smells were permeating. She could almost barf, if she were honest about it. Yet she felt bad for the woman who had always been as sweet as a grandmother to her. Alice had learned a lot from the woman, but she was clearly flustered with everything happening now.

She gulped, looking back at the Apothecary. She offered to help clean up the room, along with the spoiled potions – some of which (most of which) should not be spoiled as they were just brewed. Alice didn’t know a lot about potions, but she knew that the ones in the Hospital Wing lasted longer than these had.

Alice opened the door and made a disgusted face when she was hit with a green cloud of… funk. Dirty socks. Bile. And other unmentionable nastiness hit her nose and she almost vomited herself. But she had promised to help Blustwick with this portion, considering how much work the woman was buried under at the moment.

So after standing there for a moment, willing herself to get used to the stench, she finally entered the room and made her way to the cabinets that held the potions. The stench was worse when she opened the doors and peered inside. Weird colors she had never seen before in the potions – some with… things in them, floating around. What were those things? This was so gross.

Alice picked one up and set it to the side. She’d be shocked if any of them were still good. After looking at three more, she picked up one that looked – surprisingly – normal. She looked at it closely before holding her breath and uncorking it. She looked inside, smelling nothing weird coming from it.

Which one was this? Alice looked at the label and nodded, then as she looked back at it again – it suddenly hiccuped and splashed her in the face. The potion got in her mouth – just a drop – and she set the thing down, backing away from it. She did NOT like potions. At all.

Alice spit out the little bit of potion that had landed in her mouth, but not soon enough. A strong hiccup escaped her mouth and her eyes widened.

“No, no, (hic), no…” she begged, trying to spit more of the potion out of her mouth but it was long gone. No, she was now stuck hiccuping.

“Alice, dear, just hold your breath,” Blustwick said as she entered the room. Alice nodded and held her breath, her cheeks puffed out big. She watched the woman go to the cabinet of potions as a loud cough came from the area the patients were in. “I need a coughing potion. These were gone through?” the woman asked. Alice, in her hiccuping state, nodded because she wasn’t paying attention to what Blustwick grabbed.

“Perfect,” she said and uncapped it. Just as she did a green slime was coughed out of the vial and landed in the Healer’s face. Alice’s eyes widened in horror as the woman began coughing up a storm.

The Deputy was here somewhere. Where? Alice ran out of the apothecary as it sounded like Blustwick was going to cough up a lung. “Deputy!” she shouted, finally spotting him. “(hic) Help!”

Was it just her, or were things getting worse with each day she came back to the hospital wing to lend a hand? It hadn't been...terribly awful before. Sure, Halloway had made things interesting for the nurse and all of them who liked to spend some time helping her out, but even with all the magical tampering, things had never been THIS bad.

Just the day before, Tilly had found the greenhouse a mess of decay. Plants that once grew just fine had wilted. One could swear they'd been left unattended for years rather than the few months they'd been on break. Even then, the elves were meant to be keeping up with them. There shouldn't have been any reason for the floral carnage that had left her friend so distressed.

The chaos didn't end there.

Rae had noticed the foul smell from the moment she'd walked into the wing. Try as she did to ignore it, the scent only seemed to get stronger. It was a noxious mixture of stale potions and something distinctly pungent. Yet another thing that shouldn't have been possible. Even if the plants had managed to fall under the radar of care, the girl knew for a fact that the potions were fresh. Some of her friends had helped the nurse brew them, and she'd helped to bottle a few of them after. Many of the potions couldn't have been more than a week old, with shelf lives that went far beyond what they were displaying now.

Seeing Alice run from the apothecary drew her attention. Abandoning the sheets she'd been straightening, Rae drifted over. She, too, saw the nurse looking like she was seconds away from hacking up a lung.

Her friend had already gone to get the deputy who'd been skulking around the place for whatever reason, but Rae was struck with a sense of urgency. Was the woman choking? Had something happened?

"Anapneo!" she tried, having no idea whether it would actually work or if she'd be able to pull it off. Her only focus was on not having the woman succumb to whatever might be blocking her throat.

Was the deputy coming?

The bags under his eyes were currently packed for a transcontinental voyage by sea. Gideon was exhausted. When he took this position there were certain expectations. Watch the children. Keep the children safe. Maintain order. Blah Blah Blah. NOWHERE in the contract was it specified that he would be dealing with storage cupboards vomiting linens in his face. Thankfully they were clean, small favors, but it was still a massive mess and annoying problem. That was the bulk of his days (and nights), dealing with annoying problems. Faulty magic around the castle was at least keeping it interesting.

With the kitchen set right and a few small issues that were easily rectified, he thought things were going well, and then Nurse Blustwick had sounded the alarm in the Hospital Wing. The list was lengthy, and ever growing…

The first alarm was raised in the Hospital Greenhouse, the poor Gryffindor girl was distraught at the state of the plants, but her anger spurred her on to clean and get the greenhouse back to rights. Then the dumbwaiter started to malfunction. Spitting out the plants being sent up from the castle greenhouse, which caused quite the mess. It also made restocking the Hospital Greenhouse a very time consuming job. At this point, all plants were staying out of the wing. When ingredients were needed, a volunteer would go and retrieve them. No reason to have another full extinction event with new plants.

The storage cupboards were his current project, and seemed to be nearly done. There would be a lot of refolding of linens and reorganizing supplies, but at least supplies weren’t being tossed at his head. Gideon walked out of the storage room and through the greenhouse nodding at the red head hard at work setting up the raised beds for when plants were brought back up. The girl was a plant perfectionist, which was coming in handy at the moment.

“Deputy! (hic) Help!”

Awww Fucking Hell….

Gideon picked up his pace, crossing through the greenhouse and exiting into the waiting room, The door to the Apothecary and potions storage was open, and from within he could hear people talking, hiccups and a large amount of coughing.

"Anapneo!" Awww, shit, was someone choking?

Crossing into the room, he could see Nurse Blustwick bent over, attempting to cough up her lungs onto the wood floor. Then, the smell hit him. “What in Merlin’s name is going on here? What is that smell? And why is she trying to cough up a lung?”

"Anapneo!"

The voice was familiar and Alice’s face lit up when she saw Rae attempting to help Blustwick. Gideon, her head of house, was coming too.

“What in Merlin’s name is going on here? What is that smell? And why is she trying to cough up a lung?”

Alice shook her head and attempted to stop the hiccups so she could speak clearly. But it didn’t work. “The (hic) coughing pot-(hic)-ion coughed and (hic) she got hit and now she (hic) can’t stop cough-(hic)-ing and I can’t stop hic-(hic)-cuping.”

The Hufflepuff closed her eyes and held her breath, like she’d always heard would work. But after a moment, when she opened her eyes, she began hiccuping again.

“The potions are (hic) bad, I think all of ‘em need to be (hic) tossed,” she added. The stench in the apothecary was enough to make anyone gag and Alice desperately needed some fresh air.

Blustwick, whose coughing was not affected at all by Ruth’s anti-choking spell, looked angry and totally exhausted. She slammed the potion down on the counter and glared daggers at the Deputy. Another cough could be heard coming from the nasty, slimy potion.

“I cannot and I will not continue to work in these conditions,” she stated matter-of-factly.

Alice looked at the woman, her eyes big as she continued to hiccup uncontrollably. Panic was beginning to set in; she’d never seen Blustwick angry before.

Footsteps approached, these heeled, and Alice knew it was the Headmistress without even seeing her. Impeccable timing, she thought to herself as she continued to hiccup. The Headmistress’ normally calm demeanor had faded and concern was beginning to cross her face.

“Miss Blustwick,” Headmistress Haswell said, her eyes scanning the potion cabinet. Clearly they were unusable. Her blue eyes focused on the older woman, who then began shouting more while also coughing uncontrollably.

“What in Merlin’s name is going on here? What is that smell? And why is she trying to cough up a lung?”

....

"...Helpful, sir. Real helpful." Rae answered, taking a moment out of her day to side-eye the deputy who'd crossed the room to ask inane questions in lieu of calm composure and any meaningful contribution to the dilemma as was typical of those who worked within the wing. He wasn't here very often, and it showed. Most of the kids, who liked to hang out and volunteer when they could, all knew better and would've been preferred if this was the extent of Blackwood's ability to do anything.

"If we knew why she was coughing, I assure you she wouldn't be anymore."

Her brows crinkled at the way her spell fizzled. Had it fizzled? Or were her airways not blocked to begin with? Rae looked down at her wand, briefly turning it in her palms. She silently weighed it, wondering whether something had changed or if the magic was just acting up again. It was a consideration for another time. The school nurse was, according to Alice's information, reacting to a coughing potion?

Who in Merlin's beard brewed that? What illness was that meant to cure? She scowled, finally registering the way Alice hiccoughed as well. "I see someone tried sneaking a few potions into our stock again. Fucking Gryffindors, probably. Everything's a joke to them." It seemed just the thing many of them would've done on a dare just to watch the nurses scramble, wondering why their patients were suddenly 'ill' when all they'd come in with was a few scrapes and bruises.

It explained why that potion wasn't a dud like all the others were, too. It couldn't have been here long. Planted the night before, maybe.

"We gotta start--"

“I cannot and I will not continue to work in these conditions.”

She didn't blame her. Things around the wing had been...weird. A lot of the time, they'd ended up having to do things manually, which made things take unnecessarily long and often required more manpower than the few students who'd essentially made the wing their second common room. Things weren't getting better, only worse, and now the potions that may have saved the woman from this off-coloured prank were...ghastly in smell and likely to kill her sooner than they'd heal her.

What a predicament this was.

"Try taking some deep breaths, Healer Blustwick. Step out into the corridor if you need to. We'll have to brew you something fresh."

Brown eyes shifted to the newest bystander, the headmistress herself. If never before, Rae could now appreciate the reason they had strict visiting hours. Not that it ever stopped this sort. "The peanut gallery is that way," Rae gestured back to the waiting area. "Come on, Alice. We've got to get this stuff cleaned and get something for the nurse. Then we can start replacing these."

It was going to take ages with such few hands.

"...Helpful, sir. Real helpful." Arms crossed over his chest, a well placed glare targeted the only Slytherin in the mix. It would probably send the wrong message if he gave her detention… but it would make him happier. So much happier. “Never said I was a Healer Miss Elliot, try watching the tone next time.”

“The (hic) coughing pot-(hic)-ion coughed and (hic) she got hit and now she (hic) can’t stop cough-(hic)-ing and I can’t stop hic-(hic)-cuping.” Alice, one of his own, spoke up, trying to talk through intermittent hiccups. This was such a freaking circus.

All the potions spoiled? This could get really bad really fast. “Is the headache potion spoiled? If so, that is on the top of the list for replacement… Make a gallon.”

“The potions are (hic) bad, I think all of ‘em need to be (hic) tossed,”

Head hanging, eyes shut, Gideon tried to breath deep while pinching the bridge of his nose. That headache potion would come in REALLY FREAKING HANDY right now. Ruby appeared, thank goodness, maybe he could back away slowly. Out the door, down the hall and all the way to the castle gates.

“I cannot and I will not continue to work in these conditions.”

Well that won’t do. The last thing they needed was to lose the ancient healer. “Ma’am, Why don’t we get you some nice tea, get off your feet. Let's see what we can do about that coughing.” He had the ability to be nice, on special occasions, which this seemed to be. Maybe a nice shot of whisky in her tea would help sooth her a bit.

"Try taking some deep breaths, Healer Blustwick. Step out into the corridor if you need to. We'll have to brew you something fresh." Sure, brew up some more potions, which would take ages. Especially since the ingredients were all questionable. Roan would need to come help, all hands on deck and all that. Getting an idea that might help with the current issue.

“OYE!” Gideon yelled in the direction of the Greenhouse. What in the hell was her name? “RED! MATHELDA! BREW UP SOME TEA FOR A COUGH AND ONE FOR HICCUPS. QUICK LIKE PLEASE.”

"The peanut gallery is that way, Come on, Alice. We've got to get this stuff cleaned and get something for the nurse. Then we can start replacing these." This one had spunk, but at this moment, the attitude needed to be turned down a notch.

“You can shoot those barbs elsewhere, Miss Elliot. Unless you would like to clean all the potions bottles by hand. It can be arranged.”

Walking over to the potions cupboard, Gideon took stock of the horror show. Every last potion needed to be remade. Moving to the ingredients cupboard, he opened the door and got a face full of putrid smells. “For the love…”

“From what I can gather, the wards meant to keep temperature and humidity stable in the greenhouse and in the rest of the wing malfunctioned. That's why all the plants died and why I’m guessing all the potions spoiled. Keeping them at a constant temperature is vital, if the temperatures were too high or near freezing, it can cause irreparable damage. As we have seen. Some of the potion ingredients seem to be fine, anything that isn’t affected by temperature fluctuations. Everything else will need to be tossed, cleaned and gathered.”

The list of tasks that Gideon had was just tripled. With a sigh, he ran his hand through his hair, now standing on end in different directions from how often he was nervously running his hands through it.

“We will need to check with Professor Roan, he may have potions that we need, but until the wards are fixed, we do not want them back in the Wing.”

Matilda was almost done. After the endless cleaning that was needed once the plants all died, now she was getting the raised beds ready to start the replanting process. They had brought in a few plants, but thought it best to leave the bulk in the castle greenhouse, if they had a mass death again, it could be catastrophic.

Standing tall, arching her back hearing a pop pop pop as she stretched. Ugh, that felt good.

“OYE! RED! MATHELDA! BREW UP SOME TEA FOR A COUGH AND ONE FOR HICCUPS. QUICK LIKE PLEASE.”

He did NOT? SERIOUSLY?

Walking, well limping out of the greenhouse, Matilda saw Healer Blustwick in a puffy chair in the waiting area, coughing to the point of not being able to breath. Well, at least she knew where the tea was needed. Thankfully, she had a few tea blends ready for different ailments. Sure, potions helped in most cases, but sometimes a nice hot cup of tea helped more. It was soothing where a bitter potion was not.

Going to the storage cupboard in the ward, Matilda grabbed a small sachet of loose leaf tea. It was a custom blend of Marshmallow Root, Slippery Elm, Licorice Root and sweetened with honey. Once brewed, Matilda took it to the Healer, hoping it would help. “Here you go Ma’am. If you want more please let me know.”

The Deputy had also screamed for a hiccup tea. If there was such a thing, Matilda didn’t know about it. She did know one thing that always worked in a pinch.

Grabbing two metal trays, Tilly walked into the apothecary quietly, it was obviously Alice who had the hiccups, as her whole body convulsed every other second. Sneaking up behind her, Tilly slammed both trays together loudly.

BANG!

Stopping, Matilda looked at the shocked looks of those in the small room. Staring at Alice, Tilly noticed that the hiccups were gone. Yep, scaring them away always worked.

“There. If you need me I'll be with the plants. And Deputy, my name is MA-TIL-DA. If you’re going to summon me at such a volume, at least get my name correct.”

As she limped out of the room, not bothering to see what they were all pissed off about, she was pretty sure she heard Deputy Blackwood mutter, “The cheek on that one.”


((PP approved by Alice and Gideon))

It was all just chaos. Between her own hiccuping making it hard for her to catch her breath and the Healer’s unstoppable coughing, Alice didn’t know how to handle what was going on. The Hospital Wing was a mess – all of the potions were spoiled and needed to be re-brewed. She didn’t even know if there was anything that could stop her affliction, though she knew that there were other things for coughing. She thought.

Potions were not her strong suit. As she continued hiccuping, her head of house bellowed for Mathilda. Alice, too distraught by her hiccuping, didn’t bother correcting him, though she knew the redhead would the second that she made it to the wing.

"I see someone tried sneaking a few potions into our stock again. Fucking Gryffindors, probably. Everything's a joke to them."

The Hufflepuff prefect glared at Rae, but didn’t feel like trying to speak while hiccuping again, so she let it slide.

With the Healer sat in a comfy chair, and Deputy Blackwood explaining theories as to why the potion stock went bad, Alice was ready to be in bed. The stress of the endless hiccups were doing her in. She felt weary.

Tilly made some tea and delivered it to Blustwick, who eagerly downed the entire thing. The girl moved a bit closer to the woman to hear what she was going to do next when –

BANG!

Alice nearly jumped out of her skin, a scream escaping from her lips. She scowled at Tilly, who was limping away already. She’d get her cousin back for that later. Taking a breath, she realized the scare had worked, and she was now free from the hiccups.

“It’s unsafe, and I will not work in these conditions. Things have been too up in the air all term already, and if things are going to continue going awry, then I want no part of it.”

Alice’s eyes widened as the old woman stood up and patted her chest a bit as if her throat hurt – or maybe to keep more coughs at bay.

“I am sorry, Haswell, but I refuse to do this any longer. Perhaps the Ministry will take this more seriously than you clearly do. Consider this my resignation.”

Without waiting for a response, Blustwick made her way to her office and into her quarters. Alice looked over at Blackwood, her eyes wide.

The Headmistress, clearly taken aback by the woman’s rash decision, rushed after her, trying to reassure her that everything was fine, that nothing was deadly that was happening.

“No Healer?” Alice asked, looking at Rae, panic rising behind her brown eyes. Thankfully the two girls were experienced enough to know the general ways of running the Wing, but… they couldn’t do the very advanced stuff.

“Deputy…?” she asked, her eyes still wide.

This...was why the peanut gallery was out in the waiting area. This was exactly why. Most of them didn't know how to conduct themselves on the wing.

Rae deadpanned as the bumbling lot that gathered proceeded to take the situation from bad to worse. This was the hospital wing. It wasn't the place for shouting and loud bangs. It wasn't the place for hysterics. It was a place of healing. They had patients, not many thankfully, who were trying to rest and recover on the beds not far away, yet here they all were in a ruckus like they'd never seen magic go bad in their entire lives.

“Never said I was a Healer Miss Elliot, try watching the tone next time.”

"Evidently," Rae replied, blinking at the man who continued to make himself an added burden in the wing. "You're all making it incredibly difficult for those in our care to get the rest they require, and if you can't conduct yourselves appropriately, we'll have to ask you to leave." she said, pulling for her best impression of the school's head nurse when she had to get strict with rowdy visitors."The sky isn't falling, there's no need to act like it is--not in here anyway."

Again, this was a place for rest, not--

“OYE! RED! MATHELDA! BREW UP SOME TEA FOR A COUGH AND ONE FOR HICCUPS. QUICK LIKE PLEASE.”

As it turned out, things really could get worse.

The 14-year-old watched in abject horror as the man continued to flout the rules of the infirmary. Screaming. Choosing herbal tea over a well-brewed potion. Yeah, she could tell he wasn't a healer. There was no further confirmation needed.

“You can shoot those barbs elsewhere, Miss Elliot. Unless you would like to clean all the potion bottles by hand. It can be arranged.”

"With pleasure if it gets you lot out of here sooner," came her dry reply. The bang was damn near the final straw. They had made a mockery of the hospital wing, carrying on like they were out in a marketplace, and it was all she could do to keep her composure in the face of these adults who should've known better and been setting the example for them and Matilda, who worked in the wing long enough to know loud noises weren't welcome. By the time the healer declared she'd quit, Rae had tossed her final straw to the wind.

“No Healer?” Alice had questioned, and in that split second, Rae's mind was made up. If the woman wasn't their healer anymore, she wouldn't waste her time brewing a potion for her. Let her sip her tea and wait patiently for whenever the herbs kicked in, and let her do it somewhere else. Let them all do it somewhere else.

“Deputy…?”

"Don't bother, he doesn't have any answers." Rae said, nudging her friend along. If they didn't have a healer anymore, it put them squarely in charge. That meant they now had a lot of work to do while the grown-ups figured out how to be grown-ups. "Besides, he's busy going to find Professor Roan, aren't you, Deputy Headmaster? No need to stick around here any longer. You and the Headmistress must lead terribly busy lives inside the castle. We'll have this mess cleaned up, and I'll ensure you haven't frightened any of the patients too awfully."

She didn't know where to start, but she didn't reckon any of them did either. It was time to take matters into hers--and Alice's--hands.

“MISS Elliot! You seem to be under some delusion that you are in charge here. Let me make this perfectly clear, you are not.” Gideon was usually pretty even keeled, but this one was testing every nerve that wasn’t already frayed.

"You're all making it incredibly difficult for those in our care to get the rest they require, and if you can't conduct yourselves appropriately, we'll have to ask you to leave. The sky isn't falling, there's no need to act like it is--not in here anyway." He stood there, calm, watching her try and take control. She seemed to think that talking down to the second in charge of the castle was a smart move, one that wouldn’t come back to bite her in the ass, she would be mistaken in this fact.

“Miss Elliot, you seem to forget that the wards in the wing are still not fixed. Would you like to spend the next few days remaking all these potions just for them to spoil again? You do not have all the facts in this situation. Don’t for one second think that you are running this show.”

As Healer Blustwick left the wing, Gideon sighed. Finding a new healer would be top priority. He had a few connections at St Mungos, and even more at the ministry. Finding someone wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t impossible. Running his hand over his face, Gideon began processing the priorities. Losing the Head Nurse was of course a blow, but they would survive.

“Deputy…?” Turning towards Alice, who no longer had hiccups might he add, he opened his mouth to answer when another mouth beat him to the punch.

"Don't bother, he doesn't have any answers." His eyebrows went up in astonishment.

"Besides, he's busy going to find Professor Roan, aren't you, Deputy Headmaster? No need to stick around here any longer. You and the Headmistress must lead terribly busy lives inside the castle. We'll have this mess cleaned up, and I'll ensure you haven't frightened any of the patients too awfully."

“And that just earned you a detention. Be happy that I am not banning you from the wing, I have that authority, so don’t test me. We have enough going on in this castle to deal with, your attitude is not needed or wanted. If we don’t work together AS A TEAM, the castle will fall. So you will listen to my instructions and follow them, or detention will be the least of your worries.” He was seething with anger. He had enough to deal with as it was, reprimanding a 4th year was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment.

“First, you will make a list of all the potions needed in the wing, the most common at the top. Then, you will go to Professor Roan, tell him what has transpired here and see what he has in his storage. DO NOT, bring them up here until we have the wards set, nothing new comes in these walls before I say it’s ok. Next you will clean up the potions, magically. If you do not have that ability, I will help. After the spoiled potions are magically cleaned you will clean every bottle by hand, and then the shelves. We will take this opportunity to clean the entire Apothecary from top to bottom. You will scrub the shelves, worktables, and cauldrons. This will take time, so we will announce to the castle that volunteers are needed to help. As someone who knows their way around the wing, you will be expected to help, teach and work together. Do you understand? Or would you like me to write them down for you?”

Looking at Alice, he felt a little bad for his abrupt and negative attitude, but the Slytherin took him to the edge. Folding his arms, he turned and walked out of the Apothecary, he had owls to send and a new nurse to find. But… one more thing needed to be done. “MALINDA, TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR FOR QUICK THINKING.”

The growl that could be heard from the depths of the wing Greenhouse made him smirk, “IT’S MATILDA!” the red head yelled from beyond the door.

"Don't bother, he doesn't have any answers."

Alice looked at her friend, then back at the Deputy. She understood Rae taking this seriously, she did too, but she also knew to not cause waves. Things were already stressful without attitude, and Ruth was really shooting venom when she didn’t think she should be.

"Besides, he's busy going to find Professor Roan, aren't you, Deputy Headmaster? No need to stick around here any longer. You and the Headmistress must lead terribly busy lives inside the castle. We'll have this mess cleaned up, and I'll ensure you haven't frightened any of the patients too awfully."

Alice, who had the utmost respect for authority figures – or at least showed them respect – was shocked. She was nudged, but the surprise was apparent on her face. She was reluctant to go along with Rae, in fact, just because she felt she needed to apologize to her Head of House on the girl’s behalf.

Anger that she had never seen before was radiating off the Deputy, which made Alice feel sort of conflicted. She felt it too, the rage, and she wanted to tell Rae off for being so disrespectful. But she didn’t. Instead, she let the Deputy list out the demands he had, and the threats he had too.

[i“First, you will make a list of all the potions needed in the wing, the most common at the top. Then, you will go to Professor Roan, tell him what has transpired here and see what he has in his storage. DO NOT, bring them up here until we have the wards set, nothing new comes in these walls before I say it’s ok. Next you will clean up the potions, magically. If you do not have that ability, I will help. After the spoiled potions are magically cleaned you will clean every bottle by hand, and then the shelves. We will take this opportunity to clean the entire Apothecary from top to bottom. You will scrub the shelves, worktables, and cauldrons. This will take time, so we will announce to the castle that volunteers are needed to help. As someone who knows their way around the wing, you will be expected to help, teach and work together. Do you understand? Or would you like me to write them down for you?”[/i]

Brown eyes blinked and she nodded slightly, refusing to argue with an adult about the situation. It was important; she really hoped no one would get seriously injured before they found a new Head Nurse to take over the wing. While she felt confident in her and Ruth’s abilities to run the show, she would still love the support of an adult who was formally trained in the field of Healing.

“C’mon, Rae… we can make the list and then figure out who wants to go to Roan and who wants to start cleaning,” Alice said, grabbing Ruth by the arm and pulling her back towards the potions. “If you’d rather, though, you could go check on patients and then come back.” Honestly, Alice didn’t mind either way. She just wanted her friend to calm down.

There he went saying things she didn't care about again.

Rae stared blinkless at the man, waiting for him to be done his latest spiel. He thought she had an attitude for pointing out the obvious. An attitude. From the girl who'd kept her tone level, if not a bit forceful, the entire time. She hadn't rolled her eyes or raised her voice; she'd conducted herself like a nurse on the wing, trying to maintain order while they introduced nothing but added chaos to an already bad situation.

It figured, like every other adult, when corrected over something he was actually fucking up, rather than take it for what it was, he took it as a personal assault. Shouting on the wing, carrying on the way they all were, it wouldn't help anything, only further exacerbate the already poor situation. Acting like headless chickens didn't inspire confidence that they knew what they were doing, and it certainly didn't make her think she could depend on them to get it sorted if coughing and some foul potions were enough to leave them all so flustered.

Healers and those who worked in the field needed to be able to maintain a practiced calm while they assessed a situation; not all this yelling back and forth.

Frankly, she was disappointed in Alice. The girl who was always so no-nonsense, who was also aware of the rules and the importance of following them, had remained silent, save for her own panic. Why was everyone panicking? Why had it become the disaster it didn't need to be? Why was she the only one who understood the importance of keeping a level head?

"So you will listen to my instructions and follow them, or detention will be the least of your worries.”

She would not.

The deputy had proven himself weak in a time of "crisis," and the small girl didn't respond to such failings. It was strength that drew her in, assurance, the appearance of someone who knew who they were and exuded confidence in a room. Not bumbling middle-aged men on ego trips because they didn't like to be told when they were wrong. Let detentions not be the worst of her problems; her 'attitude', as he called it, would soon be the least of his.

"Do you understand? Or would you like me to write them down for you?”

She didn't reply. Rae continued her unblinking stare, pretending she hadn't heard a word of his long mandate. All that work and sending her off to her head of house as if she were a bloody owl doing runs. He must've had her confused for a hard-working, unquestioning Hufflepuff. Perhaps he was talking to Alice. She seemed fine to let chaos reign and meekly wait to be told what to do.

Yes, he must've meant Alice. Let the other girl fall to her knees for the man. Rae had no intention of doing so.

And there he went, yelling again. A grimace tugged at the corners of her lips, bringing them into a deep scowl at the incorrigible man who held no respect for the wing he claimed to be trying to help. Was it really so difficult to act appropriately?

“C’mon, Rae… we can make the list and then figure out who wants to go to Roan and who wants to start cleaning.”

She wasn't going to Roan.

Rae pulled away from her friend once they were back by the potions, ignoring the foul scent that permeated the air. Inside, her blood boiled, and she'd never been one to keep things to herself.

"What the hell, Alice?" she demanded, turning to face her friend. "You just...you just stood there, watching him desecrate the wing, and you didn't--not once did you even try to correct him. You were panicking like everyone else. That's not what Healer Blustwick taught us. What's the matter with you?"

As long as she'd known Alice, the girl had always been about the rules and order, yet she'd folded so quickly.

Gideon had other things to worry about at the moment. Sarcastic, disrespectful 4th year snakes would have to wait. Although, he did have a few good ideas for her upcoming detention. Afterall, if she loved cleaning so much, without magic. That could be arranged.

Before heading off to discuss the new, unfortunate, events with Ruby, Gideon went back to the storage area of the wing to finish fixing the stubborn storage cupboards. Thankfully, what he had previously worked on, seemed to be holding strong.

Walking over to the dumb waiter, Gideon went through a few spells to help diagnose the issues. With every new problem, there were diagnostic spells he could use to help decipher where the wards had been tampered with. Was it a trojan horse-like spell waiting to break the magic? Or maybe Nick had been dismantling the magic piece by piece, but things finally broke in a spectacular fashion.

It didn’t take long for him to figure out the issue here, but the fix would take a day or so. He made a mental note of what he would need. For this job, specifically two people. One on the wing end, and another at the base of the castle near the greenhouse. Making a few notes in his notebook, pocketing the paper away when he was done. Nick was a smart, crafty man. Thankfully locked away for the rest of his, hopefully, short life. Now they just needed to finish the fixes so that the castle could finally run without incident.